5 50 763 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/574089206b642f83a9cda68af3648a4b.pdf c2acc0b496c7bfee40ab932cc3769fde PDF Text Text 22 SLOVAKIA wownd was adm1nistered anew, when a free and independent Slow.Ilda was born. They are squirnl.in,g like a wounded snaJke and wd:11 not recognize the truth that there was no other way out for the .sa1viation of the Slovak nation, except that wMch the ,present lead~s in Slovakia had taken . . . . " Amedcans of .Slovffik descent kneiw the meaning o.f freedom and independence. They enjoyed the bJess,i ngs of the American way of life. As tTue Ameniicans they CO'llld not wish less to the nation they descended from. It is to their everliasting oredit that the,y ruoted as manfully as they did when the Slovak Republic wrus born on March 14, 1939. God bles,s Amerioa, God 1bless and protect the Slovak nation in this darkest period of its history! • • • HISTORICAL TRUTH AND :F ALSE LEGENDS Francis Hrusovsky Theil'e rure people who are not bl1nd, b1u t do not want to see the true face of reality. They aTe not deaif, but their ears are not a;c,cessi:ble to the voice of truth. Nor are they inteHectuaUy so dull as nOlt to ,be aJble to comprehend a matter in its .sulbstance, :if they only wanted to. Such people distort even the s1mplest matter and enravel it with a veil of confusion oocording to their o,w n conceptions and their own selfish interests. The,y are cowardly to kno,w and confess the truth and PTefer to deceive themse1ves and ha;ve suf:fiicient courage to deceive others. In this manner it is possiible to charructerize the ,p eople who present the historical fact of the proclamation of the state independence of Slovrukia in a false light and then with consistent stubbornness endeavo,r to 1present in a false light everything that is connected with the Slovak Republic. The utterly simple historical fact is that on March 14, 1939, the Slovak Assembliy declared Slovakia an independent Slovruk State This historical fact was acknowledged by many states (27), which recognized the SlovaJk Republic either de jure or de facto and esta:blished drplomaUc rela- �SLOVAKIA 23 tions with it. And not-even the worst distortion oif the truth can deny the incontrovertible reality that the Sloivak nation accepted the decision of the Slovruk Ass,emlbly spontaneously, but even with sincere enthusiasm. Whoever obsevved the internail developmelllt of the Sloivak Republic with open eyes and without prejudice, and whoever wanted to see how bhe relationship of the Slovak nation to Slo,vaik independence was being for.med, very easily could have convinced himself that their relationship was always positive and was constantly becoming more ardent. It was really and truly only a natural developcnent. Even though the historical facts were and still are easily ascertainaJble, some people, nevertheless. did not and still do not like the simple and plain truth and, therefore, dress the historical e,v ent in garments orf false legends. The gist o,f the matter is lost to them in a flood of details, and by stressing secondary, frequently insignificaint phenomena, the,y stun or cover up the real sUJbSitance. Of cours z, they know what they are doing; they know what they wish to attain by doing so. When e,v aluating a historical fact, such as the declaration o,,f the state independence of Slovakia, the only question of real s,i:gnifiicance is whether the SloiVruk nation had the rrght to declare its country an independent state. It may be interesting, .but utterly secondary, whether this historical dedsion of the Slovak Assembly was made under this or that international situation which, aifter all, fol'med only the outer frame for March 14, 1939. The Slovak nation itself never doubted arbout its inherent right to. freedom and state independernJCe. And it will not debate about this right with aruy one. '.Dhe incontr01Vertible truth is that it does possess this right in the same measure as do other nations of the earth. The people who created and are still creating false legends rubout March 14, 1939, do not have the courage to openly denry the Slovak nation the r:ght to state inclepe,n dence: in fact, b principle they recognize this right_ and th€1oretiically hruve no objections a:gainst it. Nevertheless, for reasons olbvious and best known to themselves, they present the very event of �24 SLOVAKIA the declaration of the independence of the Slov,ak State in a fal:se light. Into the forefront of the historical scene they are pushing per.sons who did not have a deciding role in the issue and are magnifying phenomena whi'ch were only secondary ~isodes. Even though they know that Dr. Joseph Tiso and Karol Sidor repudiated Hitler's proposition, and even though they know that neither Hitler nor his people had any influence on the members of the Slovak Assembly, nevertheless they maintain and continue to ~peat that the decl·a ration of the state independence of Slovakia was dictated to the Slovalks from the outside. This is a conscious and intentional falsification of a historical fact. Such a presentation o.f the matter is proof of not comprehending historical development and is an insult for the Slovak nation which is thereby pre,se,nted as a child without its own will. They created this false legend so that they might devaluate the state independence of SlovaJkia and validate their own interests . .Am,other false legend is the story that by declaring the ind~ndence cxf Slovakia the Slovaiks committed treason against the state, the state which during 1ts entire existence never fol.!f,Bled the dghteous demands of the Slovalk nation and with its political ideo.Jogy and its internal management stood in opposition to the ,vital interests of Slovakia. Allegations of "treason" against the. Sl01Va)k nation are proof that, a:ccording to such- an opinion, the SlOIVak nation was db1rged to r emain until the end of time in union with a state whrch did not satisfy the needs of a free Sl01Vaik way of life. That Js, the SJ01VaJks, even though theoretically the right to independence was not denied them, were not to be allowed to use this right in practice, nay, even had to surrend<eT it. The ,p eople who .talik about the "treason" of the Slovak nation in thts fashion naturally would have to see even a greater treason in the declaration olf independence of the United S'tates and would have to condemp. the course of every nation whi!ch has already declared the independence of its country or which is still endeavori.I.J:g- to attain_its in- �SLOVAKIA 25 dependence. Of course, ithey are wise eno1UJgh not to mention any such nonsense. The srume ,people - the Benes Czeohs ( Czech Socialists and pro-1Soviet Czechs) and the so-ica11ed "Czechoslovaks" (Slovak renegades in the pay oif the Benes Czechs) - talJked long and loudly alboiut the "treason" of the Slovak nation against Slavdom. But this legend lasted only as long as coonmtmist Moscow appeared in a Slovruk mamtie so thait it might thereby more effectiively realize its own designs in the ensl·a ved .SlOV1anic (1Shwic) countries. When Ml()SICow discarded this imam.tle., these people immediately ceased talking about Slawdom, 1because the legend lost tts attraictiveness. Perhrups the greatest inconsistency and confused contriadiction was found in ,tJhe legend aJbout SlOIVak "fascism," whiich stated that by declaring its independence Slovakiia had ,t hrwst herself into the embrace. of nruzism. If the authors of this legend really were interested in the truth, they would necessarily have to adrmit and give pulblic testimony to the fact that the Slovak Reipubl.ic, mana;ged in ,t he spirit of the slogan "loyal to ourselrves . . ." by President J oseiph Tiso,, was the most secure iprotection of SlovaJk lilfe against the influence of German nruzism. The legend, whiich was farthest from historical truth and is the crown of a}ll falsehoods and misrepresentations about the Slwak RepU!blic, is the legend aJbout tilie SO'-lealled "national uprising" and its "great a·chievemeruts," which the "CzechoslovaJks" invented in their fantasy and described. in such glowing teI'lmS, declaring that in the union oif the Comm'UI1ist-dominated National Front "the Sl'OIVruks were governing themselves." As shameful as was the content of this legend with all its details, so just as shamel:f.trl and inglorious was also its end. All these legends, blown wp beyond credi!ble dimensions by the fanfare of irresistible propaganda, were dispelied li!ke a dirty, ma}odorous mist. There remained onil.y lbare rea}lity and historical triuth. And suich a reality and clerur, undenia;ble and unaltera'b le histoTiical truth is the fact that the Slovalk nation did have its -own indepernderut staite and that in this state. even .with all its faults and shortcomings, the Slo- �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- � 22 SLOVAKIA wownd was adm1nistered anew, when a free and independent Slow.Ilda was born. They are squirnl.in,g like a wounded snaJke and wd:11 not recognize the truth that there was no other way out for the .sa1viation of the Slovak nation, except that wMch the ,present lead~s in Slovakia had taken . . . . " Amedcans of .Slovffik descent kneiw the meaning o.f freedom and independence. They enjoyed the bJess,i ngs of the American way of life. As tTue Ameniicans they CO'llld not wish less to the nation they descended from. It is to their everliasting oredit that the,y ruoted as manfully as they did when the Slovak Republic wrus born on March 14, 1939. God bles,s Amerioa, God 1bless and protect the Slovak nation in this darkest period of its history! • • • HISTORICAL TRUTH AND :F ALSE LEGENDS Francis Hrusovsky Theil'e rure people who are not bl1nd, b1u t do not want to see the true face of reality. They aTe not deaif, but their ears are not a;c,cessi:ble to the voice of truth. Nor are they inteHectuaUy so dull as nOlt to ,be aJble to comprehend a matter in its .sulbstance, :if they only wanted to. Such people distort even the s1mplest matter and enravel it with a veil of confusion oocording to their o,w n conceptions and their own selfish interests. The,y are cowardly to kno,w and confess the truth and PTefer to deceive themse1ves and ha;ve suf:fiicient courage to deceive others. In this manner it is possiible to charructerize the ,p eople who present the historical fact of the proclamation of the state independence of Slovrukia in a false light and then with consistent stubbornness endeavo,r to 1present in a false light everything that is connected with the Slovak Republic. The utterly simple historical fact is that on March 14, 1939, the Slovak Assembliy declared Slovakia an independent Slovruk State This historical fact was acknowledged by many states (27), which recognized the SlovaJk Republic either de jure or de facto and esta:blished drplomaUc rela- �SLOVAKIA 23 tions with it. And not-even the worst distortion oif the truth can deny the incontrovertible reality that the Sloivak nation accepted the decision of the Slovruk Ass,emlbly spontaneously, but even with sincere enthusiasm. Whoever obsevved the internail developmelllt of the Sloivak Republic with open eyes and without prejudice, and whoever wanted to see how bhe relationship of the Slovak nation to Slo,vaik independence was being for.med, very easily could have convinced himself that their relationship was always positive and was constantly becoming more ardent. It was really and truly only a natural developcnent. Even though the historical facts were and still are easily ascertainaJble, some people, nevertheless. did not and still do not like the simple and plain truth and, therefore, dress the historical e,v ent in garments orf false legends. The gist o,f the matter is lost to them in a flood of details, and by stressing secondary, frequently insignificaint phenomena, the,y stun or cover up the real sUJbSitance. Of cours z, they know what they are doing; they know what they wish to attain by doing so. When e,v aluating a historical fact, such as the declaration o,,f the state independence of Slovakia, the only question of real s,i:gnifiicance is whether the SloiVruk nation had the rrght to declare its country an independent state. It may be interesting, .but utterly secondary, whether this historical dedsion of the Slovak Assembly was made under this or that international situation which, aifter all, fol'med only the outer frame for March 14, 1939. The Slovak nation itself never doubted arbout its inherent right to. freedom and state independernJCe. And it will not debate about this right with aruy one. '.Dhe incontr01Vertible truth is that it does possess this right in the same measure as do other nations of the earth. The people who created and are still creating false legends rubout March 14, 1939, do not have the courage to openly denry the Slovak nation the r:ght to state inclepe,n dence: in fact, b principle they recognize this right_ and th€1oretiically hruve no objections a:gainst it. Nevertheless, for reasons olbvious and best known to themselves, they present the very event of �24 SLOVAKIA the declaration of the independence of the Slov,ak State in a fal:se light. Into the forefront of the historical scene they are pushing per.sons who did not have a deciding role in the issue and are magnifying phenomena whi'ch were only secondary ~isodes. Even though they know that Dr. Joseph Tiso and Karol Sidor repudiated Hitler's proposition, and even though they know that neither Hitler nor his people had any influence on the members of the Slovak Assembly, nevertheless they maintain and continue to ~peat that the decl·a ration of the state independence of Slovakia was dictated to the Slovalks from the outside. This is a conscious and intentional falsification of a historical fact. Such a presentation o.f the matter is proof of not comprehending historical development and is an insult for the Slovak nation which is thereby pre,se,nted as a child without its own will. They created this false legend so that they might devaluate the state independence of SlovaJkia and validate their own interests . .Am,other false legend is the story that by declaring the ind~ndence cxf Slovakia the Slovaiks committed treason against the state, the state which during 1ts entire existence never fol.!f,Bled the dghteous demands of the Slovalk nation and with its political ideo.Jogy and its internal management stood in opposition to the ,vital interests of Slovakia. Allegations of "treason" against the. Sl01Va)k nation are proof that, a:ccording to such- an opinion, the SlOIVak nation was db1rged to r emain until the end of time in union with a state whrch did not satisfy the needs of a free Sl01Vaik way of life. That Js, the SJ01VaJks, even though theoretically the right to independence was not denied them, were not to be allowed to use this right in practice, nay, even had to surrend<eT it. The ,p eople who .talik about the "treason" of the Slovak nation in thts fashion naturally would have to see even a greater treason in the declaration olf independence of the United S'tates and would have to condemp. the course of every nation whi!ch has already declared the independence of its country or which is still endeavori.I.J:g- to attain_its in- �SLOVAKIA 25 dependence. Of course, ithey are wise eno1UJgh not to mention any such nonsense. The srume ,people - the Benes Czeohs ( Czech Socialists and pro-1Soviet Czechs) and the so-ica11ed "Czechoslovaks" (Slovak renegades in the pay oif the Benes Czechs) - talJked long and loudly alboiut the "treason" of the Slovak nation against Slavdom. But this legend lasted only as long as coonmtmist Moscow appeared in a Slovruk mamtie so thait it might thereby more effectiively realize its own designs in the ensl·a ved .SlOV1anic (1Shwic) countries. When Ml()SICow discarded this imam.tle., these people immediately ceased talking about Slawdom, 1because the legend lost tts attraictiveness. Perhrups the greatest inconsistency and confused contriadiction was found in ,tJhe legend aJbout SlOIVak "fascism," whiich stated that by declaring its independence Slovakiia had ,t hrwst herself into the embrace. of nruzism. If the authors of this legend really were interested in the truth, they would necessarily have to adrmit and give pulblic testimony to the fact that the Slovak Reipubl.ic, mana;ged in ,t he spirit of the slogan "loyal to ourselrves . . ." by President J oseiph Tiso,, was the most secure iprotection of SlovaJk lilfe against the influence of German nruzism. The legend, whiich was farthest from historical truth and is the crown of a}ll falsehoods and misrepresentations about the Slwak RepU!blic, is the legend aJbout tilie SO'-lealled "national uprising" and its "great a·chievemeruts," which the "CzechoslovaJks" invented in their fantasy and described. in such glowing teI'lmS, declaring that in the union oif the Comm'UI1ist-dominated National Front "the Sl'OIVruks were governing themselves." As shameful as was the content of this legend with all its details, so just as shamel:f.trl and inglorious was also its end. All these legends, blown wp beyond credi!ble dimensions by the fanfare of irresistible propaganda, were dispelied li!ke a dirty, ma}odorous mist. There remained onil.y lbare rea}lity and historical triuth. And suich a reality and clerur, undenia;ble and unaltera'b le histoTiical truth is the fact that the Slovalk nation did have its -own indepernderut staite and that in this state. even .with all its faults and shortcomings, the Slo- �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- � 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 22 SLOVAKIA wownd was adm1nistered anew, when a free and independent Slow.Ilda was born. They are squirnl.in,g like a wounded snaJke and wd:11 not recognize the truth that there was no other way out for the .sa1viation of the Slovak nation, except that wMch the ,present lead~s in Slovakia had taken . . . . " Amedcans of .Slovffik descent kneiw the meaning o.f freedom and independence. They enjoyed the bJess,i ngs of the American way of life. As tTue Ameniicans they CO'llld not wish less to the nation they descended from. It is to their everliasting oredit that the,y ruoted as manfully as they did when the Slovak Republic wrus born on March 14, 1939. God bles,s Amerioa, God 1bless and protect the Slovak nation in this darkest period of its history! • • • HISTORICAL TRUTH AND :F ALSE LEGENDS Francis Hrusovsky Theil'e rure people who are not bl1nd, b1u t do not want to see the true face of reality. They aTe not deaif, but their ears are not a;c,cessi:ble to the voice of truth. Nor are they inteHectuaUy so dull as nOlt to ,be aJble to comprehend a matter in its .sulbstance, :if they only wanted to. Such people distort even the s1mplest matter and enravel it with a veil of confusion oocording to their o,w n conceptions and their own selfish interests. The,y are cowardly to kno,w and confess the truth and PTefer to deceive themse1ves and ha;ve suf:fiicient courage to deceive others. In this manner it is possiible to charructerize the ,p eople who present the historical fact of the proclamation of the state independence of Slovrukia in a false light and then with consistent stubbornness endeavo,r to 1present in a false light everything that is connected with the Slovak Republic. The utterly simple historical fact is that on March 14, 1939, the Slovak Assembliy declared Slovakia an independent Slovruk State This historical fact was acknowledged by many states (27), which recognized the SlovaJk Republic either de jure or de facto and esta:blished drplomaUc rela- SLOVAKIA 23 tions with it. And not-even the worst distortion oif the truth can deny the incontrovertible reality that the Sloivak nation accepted the decision of the Slovruk Ass,emlbly spontaneously, but even with sincere enthusiasm. Whoever obsevved the internail developmelllt of the Sloivak Republic with open eyes and without prejudice, and whoever wanted to see how bhe relationship of the Slovak nation to Slo,vaik independence was being for.med, very easily could have convinced himself that their relationship was always positive and was constantly becoming more ardent. It was really and truly only a natural developcnent. Even though the historical facts were and still are easily ascertainaJble, some people, nevertheless. did not and still do not like the simple and plain truth and, therefore, dress the historical e,v ent in garments orf false legends. The gist o,f the matter is lost to them in a flood of details, and by stressing secondary, frequently insignificaint phenomena, the,y stun or cover up the real sUJbSitance. Of cours z, they know what they are doing; they know what they wish to attain by doing so. When e,v aluating a historical fact, such as the declaration o,,f the state independence of Slovakia, the only question of real s,i:gnifiicance is whether the SloiVruk nation had the rrght to declare its country an independent state. It may be interesting, .but utterly secondary, whether this historical dedsion of the Slovak Assembly was made under this or that international situation which, aifter all, fol'med only the outer frame for March 14, 1939. The Slovak nation itself never doubted arbout its inherent right to. freedom and state independernJCe. And it will not debate about this right with aruy one. '.Dhe incontr01Vertible truth is that it does possess this right in the same measure as do other nations of the earth. The people who created and are still creating false legends rubout March 14, 1939, do not have the courage to openly denry the Slovak nation the r:ght to state inclepe,n dence: in fact, b principle they recognize this right_ and th€1oretiically hruve no objections a:gainst it. Nevertheless, for reasons olbvious and best known to themselves, they present the very event of 24 SLOVAKIA the declaration of the independence of the Slov,ak State in a fal:se light. Into the forefront of the historical scene they are pushing per.sons who did not have a deciding role in the issue and are magnifying phenomena whi'ch were only secondary ~isodes. Even though they know that Dr. Joseph Tiso and Karol Sidor repudiated Hitler's proposition, and even though they know that neither Hitler nor his people had any influence on the members of the Slovak Assembly, nevertheless they maintain and continue to ~peat that the decl·a ration of the state independence of Slovakia was dictated to the Slovalks from the outside. This is a conscious and intentional falsification of a historical fact. Such a presentation o.f the matter is proof of not comprehending historical development and is an insult for the Slovak nation which is thereby pre,se,nted as a child without its own will. They created this false legend so that they might devaluate the state independence of SlovaJkia and validate their own interests . .Am,other false legend is the story that by declaring the ind~ndence cxf Slovakia the Slovaiks committed treason against the state, the state which during 1ts entire existence never fol.!f,Bled the dghteous demands of the Slovalk nation and with its political ideo.Jogy and its internal management stood in opposition to the ,vital interests of Slovakia. Allegations of "treason" against the. Sl01Va)k nation are proof that, a:ccording to such- an opinion, the SlOIVak nation was db1rged to r emain until the end of time in union with a state whrch did not satisfy the needs of a free Sl01Vaik way of life. That Js, the SJ01VaJks, even though theoretically the right to independence was not denied them, were not to be allowed to use this right in practice, nay, even had to surrend<eT it. The ,p eople who .talik about the "treason" of the Slovak nation in thts fashion naturally would have to see even a greater treason in the declaration olf independence of the United S'tates and would have to condemp. the course of every nation whi!ch has already declared the independence of its country or which is still endeavori.I.J:g- to attain_its in- SLOVAKIA 25 dependence. Of course, ithey are wise eno1UJgh not to mention any such nonsense. The srume ,people - the Benes Czeohs ( Czech Socialists and pro-1Soviet Czechs) and the so-ica11ed "Czechoslovaks" (Slovak renegades in the pay oif the Benes Czechs) - talJked long and loudly alboiut the "treason" of the Slovak nation against Slavdom. But this legend lasted only as long as coonmtmist Moscow appeared in a Slovruk mamtie so thait it might thereby more effectiively realize its own designs in the ensl·a ved .SlOV1anic (1Shwic) countries. When Ml()SICow discarded this imam.tle., these people immediately ceased talking about Slawdom, 1because the legend lost tts attraictiveness. Perhrups the greatest inconsistency and confused contriadiction was found in ,tJhe legend aJbout SlOIVak "fascism," whiich stated that by declaring its independence Slovakiia had ,t hrwst herself into the embrace. of nruzism. If the authors of this legend really were interested in the truth, they would necessarily have to adrmit and give pulblic testimony to the fact that the Slovak Reipubl.ic, mana;ged in ,t he spirit of the slogan "loyal to ourselrves . . ." by President J oseiph Tiso,, was the most secure iprotection of SlovaJk lilfe against the influence of German nruzism. The legend, whiich was farthest from historical truth and is the crown of a}ll falsehoods and misrepresentations about the Slwak RepU!blic, is the legend aJbout tilie SO'-lealled "national uprising" and its "great a·chievemeruts," which the "CzechoslovaJks" invented in their fantasy and described. in such glowing teI'lmS, declaring that in the union oif the Comm'UI1ist-dominated National Front "the Sl'OIVruks were governing themselves." As shameful as was the content of this legend with all its details, so just as shamel:f.trl and inglorious was also its end. All these legends, blown wp beyond credi!ble dimensions by the fanfare of irresistible propaganda, were dispelied li!ke a dirty, ma}odorous mist. There remained onil.y lbare rea}lity and historical triuth. And suich a reality and clerur, undenia;ble and unaltera'b le histoTiical truth is the fact that the Slovalk nation did have its -own indepernderut staite and that in this state. even .with all its faults and shortcomings, the Slo- 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-  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 Historical Truth and False Legends Description An account of the resource Francis Hrušovský Slovakia, Vol. 4, No. 1 (10), March 1954 pp. 22-26 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrušovský, František, 1903-1956 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1954 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/864a2938c5418c427330e8baa3ace748.pdf 409a5a98741444fa357d39c956137f93 PDF Text Text 12 SLOVAKIA DR. HRUSOVSKY'S LAST COLUMN (,P repared and sent to press by Dr. Hrusovsky the day before he died; it appeared in the Cleveland weekly SLOVAK NEWS dated the day of his funeral, September 13.) A number of our Slovak compatriot s recently under~ took a trip from America to 'Slova,kia. They had waited a long time for an opportunity to visit with their parents who had often written their sons and daughters in America that they yearned for the comfort of at least one more visit together. Naturally, once they undertook the long voyage, the visitors hoped also to meet their other relatives and friends and to extend their travels to other parts of S1ovakia. Travel agencies dispatched all that was necessary and our Slovak friends set out from America within a few weeks or a few months. They left with the fond hope that they would spend at least a short stay beneath their family roof, that beloved home they had to leave a long time ago, and they looked forward to being in· the circle of their dearest ones who expected them with open arms. lncidentally too, they were anxious to see for themselves in just what kind of circumstan ces their kin now live in Slovakia. ~he Czecho-Slovaik Communis t ,b oards which expedited these trips of our Slovak countryme n from the United States to Slovakia certainly did not do, it in order to affocd American Slovaks an opportunit y to visit with their closest relatives. They did it ·b ecause they covet American dollars which are very welcome even in Communist ic countries and they hoped to per.suade visitors from America that the Slovak peop1e feel satisfied and happy under the current Red regime. A Slovak lady fr,O!Ill Cleveland made one of these trips to Slorva!kia. On arriving in Prague, she wrote a letter to her husband in America, describing how the American Slovruk visitors were welcomed at the station with a .playing band and with flowers. The elated husband ma;de a full report to the editorial office of the .Communis tic paper �SLOVAKIA 13 "l'.,udove Noviny" of Chicago, which in turn relayed to its readers the message that the Communists extend to Slo. vak visitoo-s from America a signal welcome with music and bouquets. The entire affair merely hides a ruse of the crafty Communists, an artifice which might mislead superficially-minded persons w'ho return to their enslaved homeland. The implication is that the casual visitor to America is not pomipousily welcomed; he is not showered with flowers; he is not greeted with melody and song. But he comes into a free country; it is his privilege to move about at will anywhere firom New York to San Francisco, to con. verse with whomever he wishes. He is at full liberty to fo:mn his own convictions about the life of free citirens living in a democracy, and he bases his conclusions and opinions on personal contacts, on firsthand impressions, and on unrestricted study. The Communists are iprepared to delude visitors from the first moment of their arrival at a railroad, station or airport. They pay them a stirring march and send a coached committee of children to present flowers. They are meticulously solicitous about their guests; they take pains to point out whaitever featurns will redound to their advantage or credit and they proceed along a studied plan to create a favora1ble impression and to lead their visitors to conclude that the American press is circulating untrue reports about Communist-controlled countries . The Communists have made punctilious arrangements for the visits of our countrymen from America and their schedules orf entertainment are nothing but a studied scheme of propaganda. One who is not sufficiently shrewd and discerning, who has not the faculty to see things with his own eyes as they really are and to formulate his own judgments with a nicety of discretion becomes the gulhble victim of this Communistic propaganda program and accepts without question all this artificial ~litter. But there are and have been visitOTs to Slovrukia who have no need of anyone's reception with floral tokens and music, who have no disposition to learn what the Com- �14 SLOVAKIA munists themselves wish to tell them. Accustomed to life in a free and democratic land, they look for this liiberty and democracy in Slovakia. They draw comparisons between the life of a laborer in America and the lot of a worker in Slovakia. They hear what the Slo,va,k pea;sants ha:ve to tell them, the sad e~periences of men who have been despoiled of their property. They see for themselVFis how jaded Slovak women have become. They cannot fail to observe that the people are scantily clothed. They learn that it is extremely hard to ma;ke a living on the meager earnings that are realized, and at every step their convictions are confirmed that under Communistic domination there is no contentment, no prosperity, no paradise, none of those advantages and blessings which Communistic propa,ganda repeatedly and volubly advertises. If guests from America are given the occasion to speak with their relatives in ,priivate, removed from the hearing of witnesses or spies, they are informed not only of the abject servitude imposed upon Slovakia, not only of her resistance to Communism, but also of the vital hope which sustains the Slovaiks in the ho,p e that liberty and independence will yet be granted to the country. Who has eyes to _see will not be blinded by flowers. Who has ears to hear will not be deafened by CO!mIDunistic music. And he who has a rational mind for thinking will not become confused by Communist propaganda. Many SlO'V'aks who retU1I1I1 from Slovakia bring us reports which only cor.firm the fact that today S1ovakia enjoys neither freedom nor democracy, because under Red rule only terror and misery and iviolence prevail. The Slova!k people never accepted Communism; they will never become reconciled with it, and they only await the opportunity to throw off the despised yoke. And when they throw off this yoke, they will likewise throw off Czech doonination, and Slovakia will again be an independent republic. 1 • • 'Il.HE SLOVAKS by Peter P. Yurchak, should be in every pUiblic library, in every college ·a nd university, in the home of every American of Slovak descent. Get your copy NOW. Paper bound copy - $2.00; in cloth $3.00. � 12 SLOVAKIA DR. HRUSOVSKY'S LAST COLUMN (,P repared and sent to press by Dr. Hrusovsky the day before he died; it appeared in the Cleveland weekly SLOVAK NEWS dated the day of his funeral, September 13.) A number of our Slovak compatriot s recently under~ took a trip from America to 'Slova,kia. They had waited a long time for an opportunity to visit with their parents who had often written their sons and daughters in America that they yearned for the comfort of at least one more visit together. Naturally, once they undertook the long voyage, the visitors hoped also to meet their other relatives and friends and to extend their travels to other parts of S1ovakia. Travel agencies dispatched all that was necessary and our Slovak friends set out from America within a few weeks or a few months. They left with the fond hope that they would spend at least a short stay beneath their family roof, that beloved home they had to leave a long time ago, and they looked forward to being in· the circle of their dearest ones who expected them with open arms. lncidentally too, they were anxious to see for themselves in just what kind of circumstan ces their kin now live in Slovakia. ~he Czecho-Slovaik Communis t ,b oards which expedited these trips of our Slovak countryme n from the United States to Slovakia certainly did not do, it in order to affocd American Slovaks an opportunit y to visit with their closest relatives. They did it ·b ecause they covet American dollars which are very welcome even in Communist ic countries and they hoped to per.suade visitors from America that the Slovak peop1e feel satisfied and happy under the current Red regime. A Slovak lady fr,O!Ill Cleveland made one of these trips to Slorva!kia. On arriving in Prague, she wrote a letter to her husband in America, describing how the American Slovruk visitors were welcomed at the station with a .playing band and with flowers. The elated husband ma;de a full report to the editorial office of the .Communis tic paper �SLOVAKIA 13 "l'.,udove Noviny" of Chicago, which in turn relayed to its readers the message that the Communists extend to Slo. vak visitoo-s from America a signal welcome with music and bouquets. The entire affair merely hides a ruse of the crafty Communists, an artifice which might mislead superficially-minded persons w'ho return to their enslaved homeland. The implication is that the casual visitor to America is not pomipousily welcomed; he is not showered with flowers; he is not greeted with melody and song. But he comes into a free country; it is his privilege to move about at will anywhere firom New York to San Francisco, to con. verse with whomever he wishes. He is at full liberty to fo:mn his own convictions about the life of free citirens living in a democracy, and he bases his conclusions and opinions on personal contacts, on firsthand impressions, and on unrestricted study. The Communists are iprepared to delude visitors from the first moment of their arrival at a railroad, station or airport. They pay them a stirring march and send a coached committee of children to present flowers. They are meticulously solicitous about their guests; they take pains to point out whaitever featurns will redound to their advantage or credit and they proceed along a studied plan to create a favora1ble impression and to lead their visitors to conclude that the American press is circulating untrue reports about Communist-controlled countries . The Communists have made punctilious arrangements for the visits of our countrymen from America and their schedules orf entertainment are nothing but a studied scheme of propaganda. One who is not sufficiently shrewd and discerning, who has not the faculty to see things with his own eyes as they really are and to formulate his own judgments with a nicety of discretion becomes the gulhble victim of this Communistic propaganda program and accepts without question all this artificial ~litter. But there are and have been visitOTs to Slovrukia who have no need of anyone's reception with floral tokens and music, who have no disposition to learn what the Com- �14 SLOVAKIA munists themselves wish to tell them. Accustomed to life in a free and democratic land, they look for this liiberty and democracy in Slovakia. They draw comparisons between the life of a laborer in America and the lot of a worker in Slovakia. They hear what the Slo,va,k pea;sants ha:ve to tell them, the sad e~periences of men who have been despoiled of their property. They see for themselVFis how jaded Slovak women have become. They cannot fail to observe that the people are scantily clothed. They learn that it is extremely hard to ma;ke a living on the meager earnings that are realized, and at every step their convictions are confirmed that under Communistic domination there is no contentment, no prosperity, no paradise, none of those advantages and blessings which Communistic propa,ganda repeatedly and volubly advertises. If guests from America are given the occasion to speak with their relatives in ,priivate, removed from the hearing of witnesses or spies, they are informed not only of the abject servitude imposed upon Slovakia, not only of her resistance to Communism, but also of the vital hope which sustains the Slovaiks in the ho,p e that liberty and independence will yet be granted to the country. Who has eyes to _see will not be blinded by flowers. Who has ears to hear will not be deafened by CO!mIDunistic music. And he who has a rational mind for thinking will not become confused by Communist propaganda. Many SlO'V'aks who retU1I1I1 from Slovakia bring us reports which only cor.firm the fact that today S1ovakia enjoys neither freedom nor democracy, because under Red rule only terror and misery and iviolence prevail. The Slova!k people never accepted Communism; they will never become reconciled with it, and they only await the opportunity to throw off the despised yoke. And when they throw off this yoke, they will likewise throw off Czech doonination, and Slovakia will again be an independent republic. 1 • • 'Il.HE SLOVAKS by Peter P. Yurchak, should be in every pUiblic library, in every college ·a nd university, in the home of every American of Slovak descent. Get your copy NOW. Paper bound copy - $2.00; in cloth $3.00. � 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 12 SLOVAKIA DR. HRUSOVSKY'S LAST COLUMN (,P repared and sent to press by Dr. Hrusovsky the day before he died; it appeared in the Cleveland weekly SLOVAK NEWS dated the day of his funeral, September 13.) A number of our Slovak compatriot s recently under~ took a trip from America to 'Slova,kia. They had waited a long time for an opportunity to visit with their parents who had often written their sons and daughters in America that they yearned for the comfort of at least one more visit together. Naturally, once they undertook the long voyage, the visitors hoped also to meet their other relatives and friends and to extend their travels to other parts of S1ovakia. Travel agencies dispatched all that was necessary and our Slovak friends set out from America within a few weeks or a few months. They left with the fond hope that they would spend at least a short stay beneath their family roof, that beloved home they had to leave a long time ago, and they looked forward to being in· the circle of their dearest ones who expected them with open arms. lncidentally too, they were anxious to see for themselves in just what kind of circumstan ces their kin now live in Slovakia. ~he Czecho-Slovaik Communis t ,b oards which expedited these trips of our Slovak countryme n from the United States to Slovakia certainly did not do, it in order to affocd American Slovaks an opportunit y to visit with their closest relatives. They did it ·b ecause they covet American dollars which are very welcome even in Communist ic countries and they hoped to per.suade visitors from America that the Slovak peop1e feel satisfied and happy under the current Red regime. A Slovak lady fr,O!Ill Cleveland made one of these trips to Slorva!kia. On arriving in Prague, she wrote a letter to her husband in America, describing how the American Slovruk visitors were welcomed at the station with a .playing band and with flowers. The elated husband ma;de a full report to the editorial office of the .Communis tic paper SLOVAKIA 13 "l'.,udove Noviny" of Chicago, which in turn relayed to its readers the message that the Communists extend to Slo. vak visitoo-s from America a signal welcome with music and bouquets. The entire affair merely hides a ruse of the crafty Communists, an artifice which might mislead superficially-minded persons w'ho return to their enslaved homeland. The implication is that the casual visitor to America is not pomipousily welcomed; he is not showered with flowers; he is not greeted with melody and song. But he comes into a free country; it is his privilege to move about at will anywhere firom New York to San Francisco, to con. verse with whomever he wishes. He is at full liberty to fo:mn his own convictions about the life of free citirens living in a democracy, and he bases his conclusions and opinions on personal contacts, on firsthand impressions, and on unrestricted study. The Communists are iprepared to delude visitors from the first moment of their arrival at a railroad, station or airport. They pay them a stirring march and send a coached committee of children to present flowers. They are meticulously solicitous about their guests; they take pains to point out whaitever featurns will redound to their advantage or credit and they proceed along a studied plan to create a favora1ble impression and to lead their visitors to conclude that the American press is circulating untrue reports about Communist-controlled countries . The Communists have made punctilious arrangements for the visits of our countrymen from America and their schedules orf entertainment are nothing but a studied scheme of propaganda. One who is not sufficiently shrewd and discerning, who has not the faculty to see things with his own eyes as they really are and to formulate his own judgments with a nicety of discretion becomes the gulhble victim of this Communistic propaganda program and accepts without question all this artificial ~litter. But there are and have been visitOTs to Slovrukia who have no need of anyone's reception with floral tokens and music, who have no disposition to learn what the Com- 14 SLOVAKIA munists themselves wish to tell them. Accustomed to life in a free and democratic land, they look for this liiberty and democracy in Slovakia. They draw comparisons between the life of a laborer in America and the lot of a worker in Slovakia. They hear what the Slo,va,k pea;sants ha:ve to tell them, the sad e~periences of men who have been despoiled of their property. They see for themselVFis how jaded Slovak women have become. They cannot fail to observe that the people are scantily clothed. They learn that it is extremely hard to ma;ke a living on the meager earnings that are realized, and at every step their convictions are confirmed that under Communistic domination there is no contentment, no prosperity, no paradise, none of those advantages and blessings which Communistic propa,ganda repeatedly and volubly advertises. If guests from America are given the occasion to speak with their relatives in ,priivate, removed from the hearing of witnesses or spies, they are informed not only of the abject servitude imposed upon Slovakia, not only of her resistance to Communism, but also of the vital hope which sustains the Slovaiks in the ho,p e that liberty and independence will yet be granted to the country. Who has eyes to _see will not be blinded by flowers. Who has ears to hear will not be deafened by CO!mIDunistic music. And he who has a rational mind for thinking will not become confused by Communist propaganda. Many SlO'V'aks who retU1I1I1 from Slovakia bring us reports which only cor.firm the fact that today S1ovakia enjoys neither freedom nor democracy, because under Red rule only terror and misery and iviolence prevail. The Slova!k people never accepted Communism; they will never become reconciled with it, and they only await the opportunity to throw off the despised yoke. And when they throw off this yoke, they will likewise throw off Czech doonination, and Slovakia will again be an independent republic. 1 • • 'Il.HE SLOVAKS by Peter P. Yurchak, should be in every pUiblic library, in every college ·a nd university, in the home of every American of Slovak descent. Get your copy NOW. Paper bound copy - $2.00; in cloth $3.00.  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 Dr. Hrušovský's Last Column Description An account of the resource Dr. Francis Hrušovský Prepared and sent to press by Dr. Hrušovský the day before he died; it appeared in the Cleveland weekly SLOVAK NEWS dated the day of his funeral, September 13. Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 3-4 (20-21), September-December 1956 pp. 12-14 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrušovský, František, 1903-1956 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1956 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2c402ffb425450b873e1ac799e7f49be.pdf 6f28bbbb734e96f02c41e2505d11426d PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XVII 1967 NO. 40 SIXTY YEARS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AND SLOVAK LIFE By Dr. Francis Hrusovsky Living conditions and standards of Slovak emigrants changed radically in the new world. The temperament or character of the Slovak who had lived for centuries under Magyar rule was influenced to a large degree by his environment. His economic status in Slovakia was poor, hi~ social standing low, and as for political freedom and civil rights, these, for him, were non-existent. Everyday life for the average Slovak demanded the complete expenditure of his physical energy to eke out a livelihood. Poverty and misery were the common lot of the Slovak people. Thus, oppressed and overburdened, the Slovak, though perhaps seething within because of the intolerable conditions, was helpless not only because he lacked the courage but even the strength to throw off the shackles of servitude. He was, therefore, resigned to his sad fate and he became adjusted to conditions because there was no way out for him. Under these circumstances in which the Slovak people were forced to live and struggle for mere survival, it was difficult for the idea of Slovak national consciousness to take root and grow. Organized political action was an impossibility because he was caught and held fast in the web of feudal system which still existed in Hungary. The Slovak was quite aware of his nationality but the degree of his national pride was never high. It was merely a personal thing. The idea of national unity even if it �2 SLOVAKIA entered his mind was quickly dispelled by immediate necessities of his economic life. Obviously, under such adverse circumstances one cannot expect a simple peasant either to worry about national interests or grasp the idea of unified political action to achieve the aspiration of a whole people so that as a nation, organized and working in harmony, he and his fellow countrymen might win recog-nition of their just rights. Surprisingly, the Slovak people though suffering want and being subject to political oppression, did not become depressed in their hard surroundings. Somehow, the Slovaks worked out an amazing philosophy of life: they came to the conclusion that their privations and difficulties were inevitable consequences of an earthly existence . . . and hence they must bear up under their burdens patiently. And their enduring patience became a national virtue. Slovak immigrants in the new world found an entirely different atmosphere, particularly in democratic America. The first noticeable difference were seemingly endless opportunities for earning power. A typical immigrant from Slovakia was industrious because he had learned to work hard in the struggle for survival in his native homeland. At home his opportunities for work were, however, limited, and his chances for earning a little more money were poor. As a consequence, he was unable to improve his lot. This realization made him feel that he was doomed to remain poor all his life, as if it were a national inheritance down through the ages. Naturally, of course, in view of his abject poverty at home, the Slovak immigrant to America was primarily motivated by the desire to earn more money to assure him a brighter economic future . If he earned more money, he would be able to raise his standard of living and thus free himself from the curse of poverty. He did not shirk any work provided it meant higher wages and since jobs were plentiful, the newcomer found plenty of work. For that basic reason, the Slovak peasant, now an immigrant worker, willingly worked harder and longer hours so that he might improve the living conditions of his family across the sea. Most of the Slovak immigrants were workers and farm- �SLOVAKIA 3 ers, who had no skill or special training. But a simple person with the courage to go out into the world in search of an occupation and with an innate desire to work could do wonders. Moreover he was endowed with a source of inner strength to grapple with all kinds of hardships and obstacles in the new world. Because he was uneducated he was greatly under-rated in his homeland. Nevertheless, he possessed unusual natural ability and endurance. He often excelled in good judgment and had the determination to succeed. In the multivaried life of America the new immigrants learned much. Many of them would have wasted their energies as farmers had they remained at home. However in America they soon discovered opportunities for their talents. Quite a few, on the strength of their native talents, rose to high levels in American society. This would have been impossible in their native homeland. But the democratic atmosphere in America presented them with the opportunity to develop their natural ability to the utmost. As soon as the Slovak immigrant overcame the first difficulties that he encountered in America, he quickly learned by experience and readily became accustomed to his new way of life. He was more than satisfied with the substantial increase of his earning power. He did not squander his hard-earned money but set aside a portion as savings. Seeing the tangible results of his industrious work, he acquired a new sense of importance and human dignity. From a beaten down and oppressed servile person, he changed gradually into a proud citizen of a democratic country. In comparing his position and achievements with the lot of his fellow countrymen back in Slovakia, he could not but be content for here he was an equal among equals with unlimited opportunities in an enterprising democratic land. True, this process of personal re-orientation and rehabilitation in the new world did not affect all immigrants in quite the same way. It did not bring the same results in every case. Among the Slovak immigrants there were many failures as many were swallowed up in the new world. But, in general, the great majority of the Slovak newcomers reacted favorably and successfully to the new circumstan- �4 SLOVAKIA ces. Too long had they breathed the oppresive air of oppression inside Hungary, now they reveled in breathing the invigorating atmosphere of American freedom and democracy. In life every man constantly encounters obstacles and is forced to overcome handicaps, endure hardships and struggle along the pathway to a definite goal. The Slovak, accustomed to meet challenges along his course through life, was not afraid of difficulties nor did he shrink from obstacles in his path. At home he had become disillusioned, for he had become quite conscious of his failure to rise above his station in life. He realized the hopelessness of his situation and he made the most of it. In America, it was quite different. Here nothing could stop him from im• proving his condition, for here he was a free man, and he had the will to get ahead. Each day that he worked with determination and endurance, the Slovak immigrant's appreciation of personal liberty and equality grew and his work was manifestly a labor of love and gratitude for the opportunity to fulfill his ambitions in a new world. As his appreciation of the new life increased, he began to get used to the idea of being a free man as a normal situation, and his desire to work and prosper, his initiative and his enjoyment of life increased proportionately. In the United States the Slovak immigrant became acquainted with native Americans as well as with immigrants from other lands. This influenced him twofold: 1) As a stranger among strangers and without much knowledge of the English language he shied away from all non-Slovaks. 2) He searched for fellow Slovaks with whom he could communicate. These he could understand, and they could understand him. This immediate need for friends drew the Slovaks together in a foreign country. All Slovak immigrants felt the practical impact of living among strangers in a strange environment. They soon knew they were somehow different and they drew apart seeking their own kind to whom they were drawn because they spoke the same language, and they shared the same �SLOVAKIA 5 customs, traditions, ideals and experiences. Moreover, they all had come to America with the same goal: a better life. Loneliness drew the Slovak immigrants together. They felt insecure and unhappy in the strange world. It was only natural that they sought companionship among their own Slovak countrymen. Thus, drawn together by the magnet of kinship, the need for companionship and mutual understanding, wherever a group of Slovaks came together, there they organized societies, parishes and clubs. This common activity warded off their feelings of homesickness and nostalgia and helped them to overcome the longing for their homeland. Their organizations enabled them to protect their mutual interests and promote worthwhile social activities. The sudden realization that they were an island in a strange sea made the Slovaks aware of their national origin. They were not merely individuals now, but persons who belonged to a great unity: a nation. Their national consciousness was accentuated and their national pride increased as more and more societies sprang up. Their desire to unify their mutual interests was intensified. The ultimate attainment of their aspirations to national freedom was now visualized as they saw how the enjoyment of personal liberty could readily lead to the enjoyment of national freedom in their native homeland, if liberated from foreign domination. No doubt the example of the various nationality groups in America that had become strongly organized inspired the Slovak immigrants to imitate them so that they, too, could achieve greater progress and attain whatever goals they must reach in their lifetime. "What is perhaps a paradox is that in Slovakia, though the Slovaks were what they were and nothing else, they were not Slovaks in the sense that they could not publicly appear as themselves. They were subjects of Magyar overlords and, as such, feudal peasants who were officially listed as "Hungarian inhabitants". Their real national origin was to be denied and ultimately erased according to the designs of chauvinistic Magyar masters. No obstacles or limitations were placed upon American immigrants in the matter of their nationality. Here �6 SLOVAKIA a person could appear privately or publicly as a national, ie., he could freely manifest his national origin, speak his native language, organize freely and come and go freely without being subject to government interference, public insults or repression of any kind. As a matter of fact, he was treated with respect by native Americans and other nationality groups as a rule, and there were no restrictions placed upon an immigrant by a government agency or his employer. Slovaks who became citizens of the United States learned that even as full-fledged loyal citizens of their adopted country they did not loose their identity as native sons of Slovakia. Moreover, they could still actively help their fellow countrymen here and in their homeland. Not long after his coming to American shores of freedom, the Slovak immigrant noted that he could have his own convictions and opinions and express them freely in speach or writing. Slovak organizations that had the common interest of their fellow countrymen at heart provided their members with numerous occasions to appear in public. Slovak newspapers not only informed and instructed t heir readers but acted as bond of unity and communication for all the Slovaks in America. Slovak periodicals rendered a great service in that they were a forum for public opinion among the American Slovaks. The experiences, suggestions, advice, opinions, etc. of thousands of Slovaks found their way into the pages of daily and weekly publications. Thus, even the ordinary Slovak worker could publish his views, opinions and reactions on a multiplicity of topics. For many this opportunity gave them a postgraduate course in public expression. They often voiced their growing pride in their Slovak national ancestry. Every Slovak who was forced to migrate into far off foreign countries in search of a better living never lost his love for his native country ... it was an abiding love, sometimes sentimental perhaps, but nevertheless sincere and profound. This attachment from his youth was never quite lost; even after many years of absence from his native homeland he still could see the picture of his village home and the little white church with its cross on the steeple. �SLOVAKIA 7 To him this memory would always be sacred for it symbolized the faith of his people down through centuries of time, a faith that had sustained them through the hardships, dangers, and sufferings of countless ages. Always, as long as he lived, the Slovak immigrant, no matter how far from the native village where the Church, though oftentimes small, was a symbol of the indestructible faith of his forefathers , would remember that his religion was his greatest asset in a world of struggle. Without a church, without a priest and without prayer, life in a Slovak village would have been infinitely sad. And for him, though far removed from his birthplace, this remained t rue in the country of his adoption. Prayer is for the pious Slovak today what it was for his predecessors for centuries: a solace in time of grief, a bulwark, a mighty fortress in time of peril. Church prayers and hymns in his native Slovak tongue were a balm to his soul, an inspiration to his spirit. So long as he stayed close to his Church he felt safe amidst the confusions and storms of foreign currents that sometimes terrified him, at other times made him feel uneasy and uncertain as he faced each day's struggle in strange surroundings. Slovak life in America followed a definite pattern where enough settlers came from Slovakia. Parish churches and schools were built and much of the immigrant's social life centered around these religious institutions. As a rule, the more vital parish life of a Slovak group became the more solid and permanent became the national and cultural development of Slovak immigrant units that clustered around their own parishes. Loyalty to the faith of their fathers in the midst of the hubub and maelstrom of the big new world became the source of fidelity to the Slovak family, the native mother tongue and the Slovak homeland. At the end of a week ( 6 days ) of hard labor, the Slovak immigrant invariably went to Church on Sunday. He prayed fervently, sang with enthusiasm, listened to the weekly sermon, all in his native tongue. His heart was touched, his love rekindled each week, and he kept alive love of his homeland and native hearth. �8 SLOVAKIA Unique in every respect are the Slovak churches, rectories, schools and convents in many parts of the United States, for they are living testimonials of the profound religious faith of the people from Slovakia. In Slovakia, there were not societies or organizations of their own. A few that were permitted to function were in the service directly or indirectly of anti-Slovak interests. This denationalization policy unfortunately not infrequently crossed the threshold of the church itself. On the other hand, in America Slovak societies, schools, and churches, besides fulfilling their religious, social and cultural role, were at the same time centers of the Slovak spirit and national life. This left a strong impression on the Slovak immigrant in America. He grasped the full significance of this new life of personal liberty and national freedom. The new atmosphere changed him into a true patriot who was proud equally of his new citizenship and his Slovak ancestry. The tempo of life in America was much faster and fuller then the development of the new national spirit in Slovakia where many obstacles still existed. The democratic spirit of America was vital and refreshing, whereas the feudal system of Hungary was depressing and lifeless. Hungary's 20th century feudalism was outmoded but it kept the Slovak nation, the oldest nation in the Carpathian basin of the upper Danube, in a state of political bondage and economic servitude. The result was that the mass of Slovaks was unable to rise from its plight and live a normal national life. Slovak poets and writers who felt the pain of this tragic debasement of their nation feared the future consequences of this situation. In vain, however, were their efforts to wake up the Slovak masses; the years of oppression had been too many. They had taken their toll. Hundreds of thousands remained spiritless and turned a deaf ear to their pleadings. Slovak patriots endeavored to alert the people to the danger of remaining inactive in the crisis that threatened their national extinction. They, too, failed to arouse the inert masses to action. Every attempt to put a program into action was foiled by subversive activity of the enemy. �SLOVAKIA 9 Slovakia's national life, deprived of all vital sources by her oppressors, was all but dead. Her people lacked sufficient power and initiative for a flourishing national life and progress as a highly cultured and dynamic people. Stymied internally, therefore, the Slovak national organism which was physically healthy and vigorous, biologically sound, morally solid and potentially rich, needed an injection. And that is precisely what the Slovaks in America provided for the Slovak nation's life-an injection that thoroughly revitalized Slovakia's life as a nation in its historic homeland. We have no reliable statistics to show to what extent the influence of the American Slovak way of life was exerted in various parts of Slovakia. Perhaps at some future time this will become available. Only then shall we be able to get a precise, or at least a more accurate record of this impact of American democracy on the Slovaks' historic homeland in central Europe. Lacking statistics, we are still able, however, to indicate to some degree how American Slovaks after having acquired the new experience of a life of freedom affected the life of their fellow countrymen in Slovakia. A considerable number of Slovak emigrants who went to America in search of work and higher earning power returned to their native land. They had attained their goal, namely, the acquisition of a moderate fortune which enabled them to get a fresh start in life. Most of them, however, chose to make America their permanent home. Instances of individuals who lost all contact with their homeland and their fellow countrymen here are so few that they are negligible. Even those who elected to remain in America continued their interest in Slovak affairs and maintained a lively interest in their Slovak nation's destiny. In fact, many of them inspired their children and even their grandchildren to take an active part in Slovak life. In Slovakia the effect of the American way of life manifested itself in a number of ways but primarily in an economic sense, for the prime motive of Slovak emigration overseas was economic necessity. The returnees stimulated economic progress with their savings which were invested in the purchase of land, cattle, agricultural implements and �SLOVAKIA new homes. The sum total of this new capital proved a vital factor in renewing Slovakia's national economy. At first glance, perhaps, the role of American capital in the hands of the Slovak emigrants who returned to their homeland may seem unimportant but it proved to be an essential factor in rebuilding their lives. They were able to acquire land with their savings and this, alone, strengthened their power through ownership. Under the feudal system much of the land had fallen into the hands of a foreign aristocracy for whom the Slovak peasant tilled the soil. The products of his labor were not his, the land belonged to aliens and both land and produce, as well as his daily labors, served alien and not his own interests. Vast estates, forests and fields were in the hands of an ancient Slovak nobility that either had alienated itself or was rapidly alienating itself from the people. The loss of their native Slovak national pride meant the loss of their lands to Slovakia. One of the most serious practices among small landowners was the breaking-up of the estates through inheritance. This process was the more alarming because the high birth-rate among the farming families often forced the small landowners to make loans that not only weighed heavily upon the individual land-owner but often plunged him heavily into debt. This, too often, forced him to sell some or all of his lands. Another factor that created a serious problem for the small land-owner was the reccurence of bad crops. This and the need for money to make repairs, buy equipment or make an expansion often resulted in a huge debt so that the poor man frequently could not even pay the interest on a loan. Eventually such heavily mortgaged properties ended up in the hands of strangers who held the mortgage. For the Slovak national cause such failures had a twofold effect: 1) They decreased the number of Slovak landowners and proportionately increased non-Slovak ownership of the land; 2) Loss of land meant that the Slovak peasant lost his attachment to the land of his forebears and with the loss he lost his national consciousness or pride when he migrated to the city where he got a job in the �SLOVAKIA 11 factory. Second and third generations of these families generally lost their identity as Slovaks. Slovak land, the solid base of Slovak national life, was being lost to aliens and with each loss national unity and ancestral pride were weakened. Under such adverse conditions the Slovaks could make no progress and the economy of their country was weakened considerably because it was not serving the people but foreign landowners who exploited the native workers. An independent class of small land-owners had always been the backbone of the Slovak nation. It was, therefore, a vital necessity that this class be preserved, and even extended both for the welfare of the people and for the national interest. Above all, capital was needed in this crisis. At home there was none to be had. Accordingly, there was only one hope and that was America. In the years of migration money came back to the old country and this more than any one thing helped to preserve ancient lands intact. American capital in the form of savings of the immigrants saved Slovakia's lands for her people. In almost every Slovak village or town before and after World War I new homes, new ventures and developments were made possible through American dollars, savings of Slovak settlers in America. Slovak farmers were able tc:, purchase new agricultural equipment and increase their production on a modest scale. Their lands and confidence were restored, thanks to their American experience and their savings from honest toil in the land of opportunity. Emigration of Slovak landowners to America actually strengthened the small land-owning class in Slovakia and preserved the right of ownership of the entire Slovak nation to its own native soil. Tenant farmers who had left their native homeland for America, as well as many Slovak workers, frequently returned from America to swell the ranks of the new landowners. These paid ready cash for land and equipment as they proudly took ownership of their new properties in their native country. �12 SLOVAKIA Some Slovaks who returned with savings preferred to invest their modest wealth in various enterprises such as a small business, for example, a store, a tavern, a mill or lumber plant. These, too, greatly enhanced the economic growth of the country through their initiative and enterprise. Stiff competition for the new enterprises greeted their founders but this did not scare the Slovaks who had returned from America, for competition was what stimulated progress and was an added incentive to success. Against their non-Slovak competitors, therefore, the new business men succeeded in breaking up what was considered somewhat of a monopoly by the old owners and directors in various businesses. Their experience in America served them well as they met every challenge with confidence and generally with success. American capital undoubtedly helped to raise the living· standard of the Slovak people. The Slovaks remained what they had always been, a simple people with moderate wants and desires and tastes but it was imperative that this simplicity be not interpreted as a sign of backwardness. Their American experiences helped them to cope with this problem, too. Highly important for the development of Slovak national life was the education of the youth. High school and college training was necessary so that the Slovak nation could have a strong core of educated men and women. For the average Slovak family higher education had a high social value, too. Unfortunately, Slovak schools were directed by nonSlovak elements and the children were subject to a denationalization process whereby the Magyar language and the spirit of a Hungarian nationality were fostered exclusively. It was a foregone conclusion that this would result in a tremendous loss to the Slovak nation when its youth would be alienated in its formative years. Although many were lost to the Slovak cause, not every Slovak youth succumbed to the lure of promises for the future or was terrorized into submission, for in many homes the spirit of loyalty to the Slovak national culture was cherished. �SLOVAKIA 13 Only a few Slovak youths were able to pursue higher studies in high school, college and university because their fathers who had gone to America encouraged their sons by ear-marking special funds for their education. These, as a rule, completed their studies and became loyal sons of their homeland. Their spirit of national pride inspired them to fight back at any attempt to rob them of their rightful Slovak birthright and national heritage. Such was the spirit of the American-Slovak families in Slovakia that their dynamic force and influence were invariably felt throughout the country. The sons, like their father, bore the unmistakable trade-mark of true patriotism. The printed word, either in the daily press, periodicals or in books, is an essential factor in the training of youth everywhere. It is the expression of the spirit and soul of a nation. In this respect, the situation was actually quite bad in Slovakia because there were only a few good Slovak newspapers and these, because of an extremely limited circulation, exerted little influence. Since the masses of common people had limited finances, they did not subscribe to newspapers or buy books. Most of them did not feel the urgency of supporting their own Slovak press. Most widespread of all printed matter was the religious prayerbook but its influence did not extend beyond religion. The Spolok sv. Vojtecha, a religious publication society, sought to supplement this by editing books from time to time. There were several religious periodicals, too, but these did not reach the realm of politics. Moreover, the average Slovak peasant or worker showed little or no concern for politics anyway. He had been conditioned to the idea that politics was an art in which the rich and the nobility had a natural monopoly. To use the current term, "brainwashed", would be appropriate. American Slovaks opened their eyes to the truth and they held a completely opposite view from their fellow countrymen. They soon adopted the idea that they had a right and a duty to mix in politics and they received full support for this practical view in their daily and weekly newspapers which they read regularly. �14 SLOVAKIA American Slovak newspapers were sent to Slovakia. Actually, in many villages for quite a while the only reading matter consisted of Slovak newspapers from America where one could freely write not only in his native Slovak language but give voice to his views, foster the Slovak national spirit, criticize the injustices inflicted upon their countrymen at home and register an open demand for the just rights that belonged to the Slovaks. These periodicals were almost exclusively the sole source of accurate information about what was really going on in their own country and they found out the truth by reading news that were sent to them all the way from America. When they returned to Slovakia, many American Slovak immigrants kept in touch with the organization in which they had membership. For years they proudly wore their membership emblems, subscribed to both local and American periodicals, engaged actively in public life and showed a keen interest in politics as they had become accustomed to do in America. No doubt the most valuable contributions to Slovakia by America were the Slovaks who returned home after living a year or more in a truly democratic country. These American Slovaks had had rich experiences abroad and they had developed a new outlook on life so that their presence had repercussions everywhere. A Slovak who had left his homeland, depressed and beaten down, returned from America a different man. He was full of life and energy, imbued with the spirit of national pride and fully convinced that he had a natural right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" according to the spirit and principles of American democracy. This new, optimistic attitude clarified and refreshed the atmosphere throughout the country. Gone forever was the inferiority complex which had customarily marked the Slovak emigrant. Here was a renovated man not afraid to speak his mind openly, anywhere, anytime. This was the happy result of being exposed, if only briefly, to democracy in the United States. As a respected and integral part of a great and powerful country, the Slovak grew accustomed to the idea of �SLOVAKIA 15 his importance as an individual. As a member of various Slovak societies he learned to stand up for his own rights and to cooperate with others for the common welfare of all. He had fulfilled his obligations to his position in life as a free man and he knew what his rights were. This new sense of human dignity stemmed from his understanding of the genuine spirit of American democracy : every citizen worked freely for his welfare as well as for the common good in a spirit of freedom under law. Far removed from his homeland, the Slovak immigrant learned, too, how great was his innate love for his native heart and he felt a new kinship with his fellow countrymen whether they came from the east or west, the north or south of a common motherland. The horizon of his nationalism extended far beyond his native village and reached the Tatras in the north, the Danube in the south, the low Carpathians in the west and the high Carpathians in the east. A wider concept of his rightful place in the Slovak family was developed in the mind and soul of every immigrant in America. He was a member of the Slovak nation and a human person who belonged to the land that for centuries belonged to all the Slovaks for ages. This was their common national heritage. A golden chain, their common language, had bound all the Slovaks together for many centuries. The Slovak immigrant cherished this precious gift all the more after living in America. Upon returning home he became its greatest defender against detractors. He had seen it flourish in a far off and strange land and Slovak national life had taken on a new glow under its influence. Why couldn't this be realized in his home country? To this end united voices of the American Slovak returnees were heard from one end of the country to the other as they spoke up fearlessly for their natural right to develop and grow as a nation, to live as a free people in a self-governing democratic country. How did his fellow-countrymen look upon this new dynamic "American" who had come back home to Slovakia? Perhaps they envied him just a little because he could afford to live better than they, but they also greatly admired �16 SLOVAKIA him for his openmindeness, his outspoken views and his newly-acquired democratic manners. They were favorably impressed and imitated him. They, too, became self-confident and hopeful of the future as they discussed their problems and sought solutions for them in a democratic exchange of opinions. This new type of Slovak did not avoid public functions nor steer clear of political meetings. He was there in the midst of them and his frequent public appearances inspired others to follow his example so that a new generation of Slovaks sprung up as if by magic, and the new generation was as fearless and frank in the expression of its views and opinions as their leader. In these and other forms the currents of American Slovak life were transformed to Slovakia. The need arose for coordinating this mutual contact for the greatest possible benefit to all. Accordingly, plans were made and attempts at establishing a working basis for better cooperation were put into practical operation. In accord with the desire to establish closer contact with American Slovaks, a number of educated Slovaks went to America where they renewed old friendships, exchanged views and established channels of communication not only with the immigrant Slovaks but what surprised them was the opportunity to converse fluently with second generation American Slovaks who were vitally interested in the mother country of their fathers and willing to lend a helping hand. This was, indeed, a bonanza, a stroke of good fortune that was destined to be of invaluable aid to the Slovak nation. Many Slovak patriots in their homeland established a close relationship between Slovakia and the American Slovaks by contributing articles to Slovak newspapers, periodicals, annuals, almanacs, etc. A considerable number of these timely articles dealt with topics on American Slovak life, and this welcome and flattering move bound the American Slovaks closer together with their kin in the home country. There were magnanimous Slovaks who, because they �SLOVAKIA 17 fully understood and wholeheartedly sympathized with the plight of the Slovak nation beneath the Tatras, willingly sacrificed much of their time and energy to the Slovak cause often to their great personal disadvantage and material loss. Nevertheless, they did not count the cost, for they were firmly convinced every sacrifice was worthwhile in behalf of the Slovak nation's struggle for the recognition of its just rights. They justified their countrymen's faith in them, namely, that they would not forget their native homeland and that in time of need they would come to their aid though living far from their homeland. No true Slovak, no matter how successful he became in a strange land, ever forgot his native homeland. When he heard the call for help, he did not turn a deaf ear to the cry but replied with ready assistance. Slovakia's economic, cultural and national progress in the past several decades is in large measure due to the American Slovaks because of timely assistance to their brethern in Slovakia. American Slovaks never failed to respond generously in a number of crises to help save the Slovak nation. They constantly defended the Slovaks' right to self-government in their own homeland. Gratitude, the Slovaks say, is a virtue and an obligation. The Slovak nation will ever be grateful to the American Slovaks for their great role in its struggle for liberty, a democratic way of life and a self-governing state. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed. � SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XVII 1967 NO. 40 SIXTY YEARS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AND SLOVAK LIFE By Dr. Francis Hrusovsky Living conditions and standards of Slovak emigrants changed radically in the new world. The temperament or character of the Slovak who had lived for centuries under Magyar rule was influenced to a large degree by his environment. His economic status in Slovakia was poor, hi~ social standing low, and as for political freedom and civil rights, these, for him, were non-existent. Everyday life for the average Slovak demanded the complete expenditure of his physical energy to eke out a livelihood. Poverty and misery were the common lot of the Slovak people. Thus, oppressed and overburdened, the Slovak, though perhaps seething within because of the intolerable conditions, was helpless not only because he lacked the courage but even the strength to throw off the shackles of servitude. He was, therefore, resigned to his sad fate and he became adjusted to conditions because there was no way out for him. Under these circumstances in which the Slovak people were forced to live and struggle for mere survival, it was difficult for the idea of Slovak national consciousness to take root and grow. Organized political action was an impossibility because he was caught and held fast in the web of feudal system which still existed in Hungary. The Slovak was quite aware of his nationality but the degree of his national pride was never high. It was merely a personal thing. The idea of national unity even if it �2 SLOVAKIA entered his mind was quickly dispelled by immediate necessities of his economic life. Obviously, under such adverse circumstances one cannot expect a simple peasant either to worry about national interests or grasp the idea of unified political action to achieve the aspiration of a whole people so that as a nation, organized and working in harmony, he and his fellow countrymen might win recog-nition of their just rights. Surprisingly, the Slovak people though suffering want and being subject to political oppression, did not become depressed in their hard surroundings. Somehow, the Slovaks worked out an amazing philosophy of life: they came to the conclusion that their privations and difficulties were inevitable consequences of an earthly existence . . . and hence they must bear up under their burdens patiently. And their enduring patience became a national virtue. Slovak immigrants in the new world found an entirely different atmosphere, particularly in democratic America. The first noticeable difference were seemingly endless opportunities for earning power. A typical immigrant from Slovakia was industrious because he had learned to work hard in the struggle for survival in his native homeland. At home his opportunities for work were, however, limited, and his chances for earning a little more money were poor. As a consequence, he was unable to improve his lot. This realization made him feel that he was doomed to remain poor all his life, as if it were a national inheritance down through the ages. Naturally, of course, in view of his abject poverty at home, the Slovak immigrant to America was primarily motivated by the desire to earn more money to assure him a brighter economic future . If he earned more money, he would be able to raise his standard of living and thus free himself from the curse of poverty. He did not shirk any work provided it meant higher wages and since jobs were plentiful, the newcomer found plenty of work. For that basic reason, the Slovak peasant, now an immigrant worker, willingly worked harder and longer hours so that he might improve the living conditions of his family across the sea. Most of the Slovak immigrants were workers and farm- �SLOVAKIA 3 ers, who had no skill or special training. But a simple person with the courage to go out into the world in search of an occupation and with an innate desire to work could do wonders. Moreover he was endowed with a source of inner strength to grapple with all kinds of hardships and obstacles in the new world. Because he was uneducated he was greatly under-rated in his homeland. Nevertheless, he possessed unusual natural ability and endurance. He often excelled in good judgment and had the determination to succeed. In the multivaried life of America the new immigrants learned much. Many of them would have wasted their energies as farmers had they remained at home. However in America they soon discovered opportunities for their talents. Quite a few, on the strength of their native talents, rose to high levels in American society. This would have been impossible in their native homeland. But the democratic atmosphere in America presented them with the opportunity to develop their natural ability to the utmost. As soon as the Slovak immigrant overcame the first difficulties that he encountered in America, he quickly learned by experience and readily became accustomed to his new way of life. He was more than satisfied with the substantial increase of his earning power. He did not squander his hard-earned money but set aside a portion as savings. Seeing the tangible results of his industrious work, he acquired a new sense of importance and human dignity. From a beaten down and oppressed servile person, he changed gradually into a proud citizen of a democratic country. In comparing his position and achievements with the lot of his fellow countrymen back in Slovakia, he could not but be content for here he was an equal among equals with unlimited opportunities in an enterprising democratic land. True, this process of personal re-orientation and rehabilitation in the new world did not affect all immigrants in quite the same way. It did not bring the same results in every case. Among the Slovak immigrants there were many failures as many were swallowed up in the new world. But, in general, the great majority of the Slovak newcomers reacted favorably and successfully to the new circumstan- �4 SLOVAKIA ces. Too long had they breathed the oppresive air of oppression inside Hungary, now they reveled in breathing the invigorating atmosphere of American freedom and democracy. In life every man constantly encounters obstacles and is forced to overcome handicaps, endure hardships and struggle along the pathway to a definite goal. The Slovak, accustomed to meet challenges along his course through life, was not afraid of difficulties nor did he shrink from obstacles in his path. At home he had become disillusioned, for he had become quite conscious of his failure to rise above his station in life. He realized the hopelessness of his situation and he made the most of it. In America, it was quite different. Here nothing could stop him from im• proving his condition, for here he was a free man, and he had the will to get ahead. Each day that he worked with determination and endurance, the Slovak immigrant's appreciation of personal liberty and equality grew and his work was manifestly a labor of love and gratitude for the opportunity to fulfill his ambitions in a new world. As his appreciation of the new life increased, he began to get used to the idea of being a free man as a normal situation, and his desire to work and prosper, his initiative and his enjoyment of life increased proportionately. In the United States the Slovak immigrant became acquainted with native Americans as well as with immigrants from other lands. This influenced him twofold: 1) As a stranger among strangers and without much knowledge of the English language he shied away from all non-Slovaks. 2) He searched for fellow Slovaks with whom he could communicate. These he could understand, and they could understand him. This immediate need for friends drew the Slovaks together in a foreign country. All Slovak immigrants felt the practical impact of living among strangers in a strange environment. They soon knew they were somehow different and they drew apart seeking their own kind to whom they were drawn because they spoke the same language, and they shared the same �SLOVAKIA 5 customs, traditions, ideals and experiences. Moreover, they all had come to America with the same goal: a better life. Loneliness drew the Slovak immigrants together. They felt insecure and unhappy in the strange world. It was only natural that they sought companionship among their own Slovak countrymen. Thus, drawn together by the magnet of kinship, the need for companionship and mutual understanding, wherever a group of Slovaks came together, there they organized societies, parishes and clubs. This common activity warded off their feelings of homesickness and nostalgia and helped them to overcome the longing for their homeland. Their organizations enabled them to protect their mutual interests and promote worthwhile social activities. The sudden realization that they were an island in a strange sea made the Slovaks aware of their national origin. They were not merely individuals now, but persons who belonged to a great unity: a nation. Their national consciousness was accentuated and their national pride increased as more and more societies sprang up. Their desire to unify their mutual interests was intensified. The ultimate attainment of their aspirations to national freedom was now visualized as they saw how the enjoyment of personal liberty could readily lead to the enjoyment of national freedom in their native homeland, if liberated from foreign domination. No doubt the example of the various nationality groups in America that had become strongly organized inspired the Slovak immigrants to imitate them so that they, too, could achieve greater progress and attain whatever goals they must reach in their lifetime. "What is perhaps a paradox is that in Slovakia, though the Slovaks were what they were and nothing else, they were not Slovaks in the sense that they could not publicly appear as themselves. They were subjects of Magyar overlords and, as such, feudal peasants who were officially listed as "Hungarian inhabitants". Their real national origin was to be denied and ultimately erased according to the designs of chauvinistic Magyar masters. No obstacles or limitations were placed upon American immigrants in the matter of their nationality. Here �6 SLOVAKIA a person could appear privately or publicly as a national, ie., he could freely manifest his national origin, speak his native language, organize freely and come and go freely without being subject to government interference, public insults or repression of any kind. As a matter of fact, he was treated with respect by native Americans and other nationality groups as a rule, and there were no restrictions placed upon an immigrant by a government agency or his employer. Slovaks who became citizens of the United States learned that even as full-fledged loyal citizens of their adopted country they did not loose their identity as native sons of Slovakia. Moreover, they could still actively help their fellow countrymen here and in their homeland. Not long after his coming to American shores of freedom, the Slovak immigrant noted that he could have his own convictions and opinions and express them freely in speach or writing. Slovak organizations that had the common interest of their fellow countrymen at heart provided their members with numerous occasions to appear in public. Slovak newspapers not only informed and instructed t heir readers but acted as bond of unity and communication for all the Slovaks in America. Slovak periodicals rendered a great service in that they were a forum for public opinion among the American Slovaks. The experiences, suggestions, advice, opinions, etc. of thousands of Slovaks found their way into the pages of daily and weekly publications. Thus, even the ordinary Slovak worker could publish his views, opinions and reactions on a multiplicity of topics. For many this opportunity gave them a postgraduate course in public expression. They often voiced their growing pride in their Slovak national ancestry. Every Slovak who was forced to migrate into far off foreign countries in search of a better living never lost his love for his native country ... it was an abiding love, sometimes sentimental perhaps, but nevertheless sincere and profound. This attachment from his youth was never quite lost; even after many years of absence from his native homeland he still could see the picture of his village home and the little white church with its cross on the steeple. �SLOVAKIA 7 To him this memory would always be sacred for it symbolized the faith of his people down through centuries of time, a faith that had sustained them through the hardships, dangers, and sufferings of countless ages. Always, as long as he lived, the Slovak immigrant, no matter how far from the native village where the Church, though oftentimes small, was a symbol of the indestructible faith of his forefathers , would remember that his religion was his greatest asset in a world of struggle. Without a church, without a priest and without prayer, life in a Slovak village would have been infinitely sad. And for him, though far removed from his birthplace, this remained t rue in the country of his adoption. Prayer is for the pious Slovak today what it was for his predecessors for centuries: a solace in time of grief, a bulwark, a mighty fortress in time of peril. Church prayers and hymns in his native Slovak tongue were a balm to his soul, an inspiration to his spirit. So long as he stayed close to his Church he felt safe amidst the confusions and storms of foreign currents that sometimes terrified him, at other times made him feel uneasy and uncertain as he faced each day's struggle in strange surroundings. Slovak life in America followed a definite pattern where enough settlers came from Slovakia. Parish churches and schools were built and much of the immigrant's social life centered around these religious institutions. As a rule, the more vital parish life of a Slovak group became the more solid and permanent became the national and cultural development of Slovak immigrant units that clustered around their own parishes. Loyalty to the faith of their fathers in the midst of the hubub and maelstrom of the big new world became the source of fidelity to the Slovak family, the native mother tongue and the Slovak homeland. At the end of a week ( 6 days ) of hard labor, the Slovak immigrant invariably went to Church on Sunday. He prayed fervently, sang with enthusiasm, listened to the weekly sermon, all in his native tongue. His heart was touched, his love rekindled each week, and he kept alive love of his homeland and native hearth. �8 SLOVAKIA Unique in every respect are the Slovak churches, rectories, schools and convents in many parts of the United States, for they are living testimonials of the profound religious faith of the people from Slovakia. In Slovakia, there were not societies or organizations of their own. A few that were permitted to function were in the service directly or indirectly of anti-Slovak interests. This denationalization policy unfortunately not infrequently crossed the threshold of the church itself. On the other hand, in America Slovak societies, schools, and churches, besides fulfilling their religious, social and cultural role, were at the same time centers of the Slovak spirit and national life. This left a strong impression on the Slovak immigrant in America. He grasped the full significance of this new life of personal liberty and national freedom. The new atmosphere changed him into a true patriot who was proud equally of his new citizenship and his Slovak ancestry. The tempo of life in America was much faster and fuller then the development of the new national spirit in Slovakia where many obstacles still existed. The democratic spirit of America was vital and refreshing, whereas the feudal system of Hungary was depressing and lifeless. Hungary's 20th century feudalism was outmoded but it kept the Slovak nation, the oldest nation in the Carpathian basin of the upper Danube, in a state of political bondage and economic servitude. The result was that the mass of Slovaks was unable to rise from its plight and live a normal national life. Slovak poets and writers who felt the pain of this tragic debasement of their nation feared the future consequences of this situation. In vain, however, were their efforts to wake up the Slovak masses; the years of oppression had been too many. They had taken their toll. Hundreds of thousands remained spiritless and turned a deaf ear to their pleadings. Slovak patriots endeavored to alert the people to the danger of remaining inactive in the crisis that threatened their national extinction. They, too, failed to arouse the inert masses to action. Every attempt to put a program into action was foiled by subversive activity of the enemy. �SLOVAKIA 9 Slovakia's national life, deprived of all vital sources by her oppressors, was all but dead. Her people lacked sufficient power and initiative for a flourishing national life and progress as a highly cultured and dynamic people. Stymied internally, therefore, the Slovak national organism which was physically healthy and vigorous, biologically sound, morally solid and potentially rich, needed an injection. And that is precisely what the Slovaks in America provided for the Slovak nation's life-an injection that thoroughly revitalized Slovakia's life as a nation in its historic homeland. We have no reliable statistics to show to what extent the influence of the American Slovak way of life was exerted in various parts of Slovakia. Perhaps at some future time this will become available. Only then shall we be able to get a precise, or at least a more accurate record of this impact of American democracy on the Slovaks' historic homeland in central Europe. Lacking statistics, we are still able, however, to indicate to some degree how American Slovaks after having acquired the new experience of a life of freedom affected the life of their fellow countrymen in Slovakia. A considerable number of Slovak emigrants who went to America in search of work and higher earning power returned to their native land. They had attained their goal, namely, the acquisition of a moderate fortune which enabled them to get a fresh start in life. Most of them, however, chose to make America their permanent home. Instances of individuals who lost all contact with their homeland and their fellow countrymen here are so few that they are negligible. Even those who elected to remain in America continued their interest in Slovak affairs and maintained a lively interest in their Slovak nation's destiny. In fact, many of them inspired their children and even their grandchildren to take an active part in Slovak life. In Slovakia the effect of the American way of life manifested itself in a number of ways but primarily in an economic sense, for the prime motive of Slovak emigration overseas was economic necessity. The returnees stimulated economic progress with their savings which were invested in the purchase of land, cattle, agricultural implements and �SLOVAKIA new homes. The sum total of this new capital proved a vital factor in renewing Slovakia's national economy. At first glance, perhaps, the role of American capital in the hands of the Slovak emigrants who returned to their homeland may seem unimportant but it proved to be an essential factor in rebuilding their lives. They were able to acquire land with their savings and this, alone, strengthened their power through ownership. Under the feudal system much of the land had fallen into the hands of a foreign aristocracy for whom the Slovak peasant tilled the soil. The products of his labor were not his, the land belonged to aliens and both land and produce, as well as his daily labors, served alien and not his own interests. Vast estates, forests and fields were in the hands of an ancient Slovak nobility that either had alienated itself or was rapidly alienating itself from the people. The loss of their native Slovak national pride meant the loss of their lands to Slovakia. One of the most serious practices among small landowners was the breaking-up of the estates through inheritance. This process was the more alarming because the high birth-rate among the farming families often forced the small landowners to make loans that not only weighed heavily upon the individual land-owner but often plunged him heavily into debt. This, too often, forced him to sell some or all of his lands. Another factor that created a serious problem for the small land-owner was the reccurence of bad crops. This and the need for money to make repairs, buy equipment or make an expansion often resulted in a huge debt so that the poor man frequently could not even pay the interest on a loan. Eventually such heavily mortgaged properties ended up in the hands of strangers who held the mortgage. For the Slovak national cause such failures had a twofold effect: 1) They decreased the number of Slovak landowners and proportionately increased non-Slovak ownership of the land; 2) Loss of land meant that the Slovak peasant lost his attachment to the land of his forebears and with the loss he lost his national consciousness or pride when he migrated to the city where he got a job in the �SLOVAKIA 11 factory. Second and third generations of these families generally lost their identity as Slovaks. Slovak land, the solid base of Slovak national life, was being lost to aliens and with each loss national unity and ancestral pride were weakened. Under such adverse conditions the Slovaks could make no progress and the economy of their country was weakened considerably because it was not serving the people but foreign landowners who exploited the native workers. An independent class of small land-owners had always been the backbone of the Slovak nation. It was, therefore, a vital necessity that this class be preserved, and even extended both for the welfare of the people and for the national interest. Above all, capital was needed in this crisis. At home there was none to be had. Accordingly, there was only one hope and that was America. In the years of migration money came back to the old country and this more than any one thing helped to preserve ancient lands intact. American capital in the form of savings of the immigrants saved Slovakia's lands for her people. In almost every Slovak village or town before and after World War I new homes, new ventures and developments were made possible through American dollars, savings of Slovak settlers in America. Slovak farmers were able tc:, purchase new agricultural equipment and increase their production on a modest scale. Their lands and confidence were restored, thanks to their American experience and their savings from honest toil in the land of opportunity. Emigration of Slovak landowners to America actually strengthened the small land-owning class in Slovakia and preserved the right of ownership of the entire Slovak nation to its own native soil. Tenant farmers who had left their native homeland for America, as well as many Slovak workers, frequently returned from America to swell the ranks of the new landowners. These paid ready cash for land and equipment as they proudly took ownership of their new properties in their native country. �12 SLOVAKIA Some Slovaks who returned with savings preferred to invest their modest wealth in various enterprises such as a small business, for example, a store, a tavern, a mill or lumber plant. These, too, greatly enhanced the economic growth of the country through their initiative and enterprise. Stiff competition for the new enterprises greeted their founders but this did not scare the Slovaks who had returned from America, for competition was what stimulated progress and was an added incentive to success. Against their non-Slovak competitors, therefore, the new business men succeeded in breaking up what was considered somewhat of a monopoly by the old owners and directors in various businesses. Their experience in America served them well as they met every challenge with confidence and generally with success. American capital undoubtedly helped to raise the living· standard of the Slovak people. The Slovaks remained what they had always been, a simple people with moderate wants and desires and tastes but it was imperative that this simplicity be not interpreted as a sign of backwardness. Their American experiences helped them to cope with this problem, too. Highly important for the development of Slovak national life was the education of the youth. High school and college training was necessary so that the Slovak nation could have a strong core of educated men and women. For the average Slovak family higher education had a high social value, too. Unfortunately, Slovak schools were directed by nonSlovak elements and the children were subject to a denationalization process whereby the Magyar language and the spirit of a Hungarian nationality were fostered exclusively. It was a foregone conclusion that this would result in a tremendous loss to the Slovak nation when its youth would be alienated in its formative years. Although many were lost to the Slovak cause, not every Slovak youth succumbed to the lure of promises for the future or was terrorized into submission, for in many homes the spirit of loyalty to the Slovak national culture was cherished. �SLOVAKIA 13 Only a few Slovak youths were able to pursue higher studies in high school, college and university because their fathers who had gone to America encouraged their sons by ear-marking special funds for their education. These, as a rule, completed their studies and became loyal sons of their homeland. Their spirit of national pride inspired them to fight back at any attempt to rob them of their rightful Slovak birthright and national heritage. Such was the spirit of the American-Slovak families in Slovakia that their dynamic force and influence were invariably felt throughout the country. The sons, like their father, bore the unmistakable trade-mark of true patriotism. The printed word, either in the daily press, periodicals or in books, is an essential factor in the training of youth everywhere. It is the expression of the spirit and soul of a nation. In this respect, the situation was actually quite bad in Slovakia because there were only a few good Slovak newspapers and these, because of an extremely limited circulation, exerted little influence. Since the masses of common people had limited finances, they did not subscribe to newspapers or buy books. Most of them did not feel the urgency of supporting their own Slovak press. Most widespread of all printed matter was the religious prayerbook but its influence did not extend beyond religion. The Spolok sv. Vojtecha, a religious publication society, sought to supplement this by editing books from time to time. There were several religious periodicals, too, but these did not reach the realm of politics. Moreover, the average Slovak peasant or worker showed little or no concern for politics anyway. He had been conditioned to the idea that politics was an art in which the rich and the nobility had a natural monopoly. To use the current term, "brainwashed", would be appropriate. American Slovaks opened their eyes to the truth and they held a completely opposite view from their fellow countrymen. They soon adopted the idea that they had a right and a duty to mix in politics and they received full support for this practical view in their daily and weekly newspapers which they read regularly. �14 SLOVAKIA American Slovak newspapers were sent to Slovakia. Actually, in many villages for quite a while the only reading matter consisted of Slovak newspapers from America where one could freely write not only in his native Slovak language but give voice to his views, foster the Slovak national spirit, criticize the injustices inflicted upon their countrymen at home and register an open demand for the just rights that belonged to the Slovaks. These periodicals were almost exclusively the sole source of accurate information about what was really going on in their own country and they found out the truth by reading news that were sent to them all the way from America. When they returned to Slovakia, many American Slovak immigrants kept in touch with the organization in which they had membership. For years they proudly wore their membership emblems, subscribed to both local and American periodicals, engaged actively in public life and showed a keen interest in politics as they had become accustomed to do in America. No doubt the most valuable contributions to Slovakia by America were the Slovaks who returned home after living a year or more in a truly democratic country. These American Slovaks had had rich experiences abroad and they had developed a new outlook on life so that their presence had repercussions everywhere. A Slovak who had left his homeland, depressed and beaten down, returned from America a different man. He was full of life and energy, imbued with the spirit of national pride and fully convinced that he had a natural right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" according to the spirit and principles of American democracy. This new, optimistic attitude clarified and refreshed the atmosphere throughout the country. Gone forever was the inferiority complex which had customarily marked the Slovak emigrant. Here was a renovated man not afraid to speak his mind openly, anywhere, anytime. This was the happy result of being exposed, if only briefly, to democracy in the United States. As a respected and integral part of a great and powerful country, the Slovak grew accustomed to the idea of �SLOVAKIA 15 his importance as an individual. As a member of various Slovak societies he learned to stand up for his own rights and to cooperate with others for the common welfare of all. He had fulfilled his obligations to his position in life as a free man and he knew what his rights were. This new sense of human dignity stemmed from his understanding of the genuine spirit of American democracy : every citizen worked freely for his welfare as well as for the common good in a spirit of freedom under law. Far removed from his homeland, the Slovak immigrant learned, too, how great was his innate love for his native heart and he felt a new kinship with his fellow countrymen whether they came from the east or west, the north or south of a common motherland. The horizon of his nationalism extended far beyond his native village and reached the Tatras in the north, the Danube in the south, the low Carpathians in the west and the high Carpathians in the east. A wider concept of his rightful place in the Slovak family was developed in the mind and soul of every immigrant in America. He was a member of the Slovak nation and a human person who belonged to the land that for centuries belonged to all the Slovaks for ages. This was their common national heritage. A golden chain, their common language, had bound all the Slovaks together for many centuries. The Slovak immigrant cherished this precious gift all the more after living in America. Upon returning home he became its greatest defender against detractors. He had seen it flourish in a far off and strange land and Slovak national life had taken on a new glow under its influence. Why couldn't this be realized in his home country? To this end united voices of the American Slovak returnees were heard from one end of the country to the other as they spoke up fearlessly for their natural right to develop and grow as a nation, to live as a free people in a self-governing democratic country. How did his fellow-countrymen look upon this new dynamic "American" who had come back home to Slovakia? Perhaps they envied him just a little because he could afford to live better than they, but they also greatly admired �16 SLOVAKIA him for his openmindeness, his outspoken views and his newly-acquired democratic manners. They were favorably impressed and imitated him. They, too, became self-confident and hopeful of the future as they discussed their problems and sought solutions for them in a democratic exchange of opinions. This new type of Slovak did not avoid public functions nor steer clear of political meetings. He was there in the midst of them and his frequent public appearances inspired others to follow his example so that a new generation of Slovaks sprung up as if by magic, and the new generation was as fearless and frank in the expression of its views and opinions as their leader. In these and other forms the currents of American Slovak life were transformed to Slovakia. The need arose for coordinating this mutual contact for the greatest possible benefit to all. Accordingly, plans were made and attempts at establishing a working basis for better cooperation were put into practical operation. In accord with the desire to establish closer contact with American Slovaks, a number of educated Slovaks went to America where they renewed old friendships, exchanged views and established channels of communication not only with the immigrant Slovaks but what surprised them was the opportunity to converse fluently with second generation American Slovaks who were vitally interested in the mother country of their fathers and willing to lend a helping hand. This was, indeed, a bonanza, a stroke of good fortune that was destined to be of invaluable aid to the Slovak nation. Many Slovak patriots in their homeland established a close relationship between Slovakia and the American Slovaks by contributing articles to Slovak newspapers, periodicals, annuals, almanacs, etc. A considerable number of these timely articles dealt with topics on American Slovak life, and this welcome and flattering move bound the American Slovaks closer together with their kin in the home country. There were magnanimous Slovaks who, because they �SLOVAKIA 17 fully understood and wholeheartedly sympathized with the plight of the Slovak nation beneath the Tatras, willingly sacrificed much of their time and energy to the Slovak cause often to their great personal disadvantage and material loss. Nevertheless, they did not count the cost, for they were firmly convinced every sacrifice was worthwhile in behalf of the Slovak nation's struggle for the recognition of its just rights. They justified their countrymen's faith in them, namely, that they would not forget their native homeland and that in time of need they would come to their aid though living far from their homeland. No true Slovak, no matter how successful he became in a strange land, ever forgot his native homeland. When he heard the call for help, he did not turn a deaf ear to the cry but replied with ready assistance. Slovakia's economic, cultural and national progress in the past several decades is in large measure due to the American Slovaks because of timely assistance to their brethern in Slovakia. American Slovaks never failed to respond generously in a number of crises to help save the Slovak nation. They constantly defended the Slovaks' right to self-government in their own homeland. Gratitude, the Slovaks say, is a virtue and an obligation. The Slovak nation will ever be grateful to the American Slovaks for their great role in its struggle for liberty, a democratic way of life and a self-governing state. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed. � 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 1967, Vol. 17 Description An account of the resource Special Issue: Sixty Years of the Slovak League of America Vol. 17 (No. 40), 1967. 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 1967 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 Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XVII 1967 NO. 40 SIXTY YEARS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AND SLOVAK LIFE By Dr. Francis Hrusovsky Living conditions and standards of Slovak emigrants changed radically in the new world. The temperament or character of the Slovak who had lived for centuries under Magyar rule was influenced to a large degree by his environment. His economic status in Slovakia was poor, hi~ social standing low, and as for political freedom and civil rights, these, for him, were non-existent. Everyday life for the average Slovak demanded the complete expenditure of his physical energy to eke out a livelihood. Poverty and misery were the common lot of the Slovak people. Thus, oppressed and overburdened, the Slovak, though perhaps seething within because of the intolerable conditions, was helpless not only because he lacked the courage but even the strength to throw off the shackles of servitude. He was, therefore, resigned to his sad fate and he became adjusted to conditions because there was no way out for him. Under these circumstances in which the Slovak people were forced to live and struggle for mere survival, it was difficult for the idea of Slovak national consciousness to take root and grow. Organized political action was an impossibility because he was caught and held fast in the web of feudal system which still existed in Hungary. The Slovak was quite aware of his nationality but the degree of his national pride was never high. It was merely a personal thing. The idea of national unity even if it 2 SLOVAKIA entered his mind was quickly dispelled by immediate necessities of his economic life. Obviously, under such adverse circumstances one cannot expect a simple peasant either to worry about national interests or grasp the idea of unified political action to achieve the aspiration of a whole people so that as a nation, organized and working in harmony, he and his fellow countrymen might win recog-nition of their just rights. Surprisingly, the Slovak people though suffering want and being subject to political oppression, did not become depressed in their hard surroundings. Somehow, the Slovaks worked out an amazing philosophy of life: they came to the conclusion that their privations and difficulties were inevitable consequences of an earthly existence . . . and hence they must bear up under their burdens patiently. And their enduring patience became a national virtue. Slovak immigrants in the new world found an entirely different atmosphere, particularly in democratic America. The first noticeable difference were seemingly endless opportunities for earning power. A typical immigrant from Slovakia was industrious because he had learned to work hard in the struggle for survival in his native homeland. At home his opportunities for work were, however, limited, and his chances for earning a little more money were poor. As a consequence, he was unable to improve his lot. This realization made him feel that he was doomed to remain poor all his life, as if it were a national inheritance down through the ages. Naturally, of course, in view of his abject poverty at home, the Slovak immigrant to America was primarily motivated by the desire to earn more money to assure him a brighter economic future . If he earned more money, he would be able to raise his standard of living and thus free himself from the curse of poverty. He did not shirk any work provided it meant higher wages and since jobs were plentiful, the newcomer found plenty of work. For that basic reason, the Slovak peasant, now an immigrant worker, willingly worked harder and longer hours so that he might improve the living conditions of his family across the sea. Most of the Slovak immigrants were workers and farm- SLOVAKIA 3 ers, who had no skill or special training. But a simple person with the courage to go out into the world in search of an occupation and with an innate desire to work could do wonders. Moreover he was endowed with a source of inner strength to grapple with all kinds of hardships and obstacles in the new world. Because he was uneducated he was greatly under-rated in his homeland. Nevertheless, he possessed unusual natural ability and endurance. He often excelled in good judgment and had the determination to succeed. In the multivaried life of America the new immigrants learned much. Many of them would have wasted their energies as farmers had they remained at home. However in America they soon discovered opportunities for their talents. Quite a few, on the strength of their native talents, rose to high levels in American society. This would have been impossible in their native homeland. But the democratic atmosphere in America presented them with the opportunity to develop their natural ability to the utmost. As soon as the Slovak immigrant overcame the first difficulties that he encountered in America, he quickly learned by experience and readily became accustomed to his new way of life. He was more than satisfied with the substantial increase of his earning power. He did not squander his hard-earned money but set aside a portion as savings. Seeing the tangible results of his industrious work, he acquired a new sense of importance and human dignity. From a beaten down and oppressed servile person, he changed gradually into a proud citizen of a democratic country. In comparing his position and achievements with the lot of his fellow countrymen back in Slovakia, he could not but be content for here he was an equal among equals with unlimited opportunities in an enterprising democratic land. True, this process of personal re-orientation and rehabilitation in the new world did not affect all immigrants in quite the same way. It did not bring the same results in every case. Among the Slovak immigrants there were many failures as many were swallowed up in the new world. But, in general, the great majority of the Slovak newcomers reacted favorably and successfully to the new circumstan- 4 SLOVAKIA ces. Too long had they breathed the oppresive air of oppression inside Hungary, now they reveled in breathing the invigorating atmosphere of American freedom and democracy. In life every man constantly encounters obstacles and is forced to overcome handicaps, endure hardships and struggle along the pathway to a definite goal. The Slovak, accustomed to meet challenges along his course through life, was not afraid of difficulties nor did he shrink from obstacles in his path. At home he had become disillusioned, for he had become quite conscious of his failure to rise above his station in life. He realized the hopelessness of his situation and he made the most of it. In America, it was quite different. Here nothing could stop him from im• proving his condition, for here he was a free man, and he had the will to get ahead. Each day that he worked with determination and endurance, the Slovak immigrant's appreciation of personal liberty and equality grew and his work was manifestly a labor of love and gratitude for the opportunity to fulfill his ambitions in a new world. As his appreciation of the new life increased, he began to get used to the idea of being a free man as a normal situation, and his desire to work and prosper, his initiative and his enjoyment of life increased proportionately. In the United States the Slovak immigrant became acquainted with native Americans as well as with immigrants from other lands. This influenced him twofold: 1) As a stranger among strangers and without much knowledge of the English language he shied away from all non-Slovaks. 2) He searched for fellow Slovaks with whom he could communicate. These he could understand, and they could understand him. This immediate need for friends drew the Slovaks together in a foreign country. All Slovak immigrants felt the practical impact of living among strangers in a strange environment. They soon knew they were somehow different and they drew apart seeking their own kind to whom they were drawn because they spoke the same language, and they shared the same SLOVAKIA 5 customs, traditions, ideals and experiences. Moreover, they all had come to America with the same goal: a better life. Loneliness drew the Slovak immigrants together. They felt insecure and unhappy in the strange world. It was only natural that they sought companionship among their own Slovak countrymen. Thus, drawn together by the magnet of kinship, the need for companionship and mutual understanding, wherever a group of Slovaks came together, there they organized societies, parishes and clubs. This common activity warded off their feelings of homesickness and nostalgia and helped them to overcome the longing for their homeland. Their organizations enabled them to protect their mutual interests and promote worthwhile social activities. The sudden realization that they were an island in a strange sea made the Slovaks aware of their national origin. They were not merely individuals now, but persons who belonged to a great unity: a nation. Their national consciousness was accentuated and their national pride increased as more and more societies sprang up. Their desire to unify their mutual interests was intensified. The ultimate attainment of their aspirations to national freedom was now visualized as they saw how the enjoyment of personal liberty could readily lead to the enjoyment of national freedom in their native homeland, if liberated from foreign domination. No doubt the example of the various nationality groups in America that had become strongly organized inspired the Slovak immigrants to imitate them so that they, too, could achieve greater progress and attain whatever goals they must reach in their lifetime. "What is perhaps a paradox is that in Slovakia, though the Slovaks were what they were and nothing else, they were not Slovaks in the sense that they could not publicly appear as themselves. They were subjects of Magyar overlords and, as such, feudal peasants who were officially listed as "Hungarian inhabitants". Their real national origin was to be denied and ultimately erased according to the designs of chauvinistic Magyar masters. No obstacles or limitations were placed upon American immigrants in the matter of their nationality. Here 6 SLOVAKIA a person could appear privately or publicly as a national, ie., he could freely manifest his national origin, speak his native language, organize freely and come and go freely without being subject to government interference, public insults or repression of any kind. As a matter of fact, he was treated with respect by native Americans and other nationality groups as a rule, and there were no restrictions placed upon an immigrant by a government agency or his employer. Slovaks who became citizens of the United States learned that even as full-fledged loyal citizens of their adopted country they did not loose their identity as native sons of Slovakia. Moreover, they could still actively help their fellow countrymen here and in their homeland. Not long after his coming to American shores of freedom, the Slovak immigrant noted that he could have his own convictions and opinions and express them freely in speach or writing. Slovak organizations that had the common interest of their fellow countrymen at heart provided their members with numerous occasions to appear in public. Slovak newspapers not only informed and instructed t heir readers but acted as bond of unity and communication for all the Slovaks in America. Slovak periodicals rendered a great service in that they were a forum for public opinion among the American Slovaks. The experiences, suggestions, advice, opinions, etc. of thousands of Slovaks found their way into the pages of daily and weekly publications. Thus, even the ordinary Slovak worker could publish his views, opinions and reactions on a multiplicity of topics. For many this opportunity gave them a postgraduate course in public expression. They often voiced their growing pride in their Slovak national ancestry. Every Slovak who was forced to migrate into far off foreign countries in search of a better living never lost his love for his native country ... it was an abiding love, sometimes sentimental perhaps, but nevertheless sincere and profound. This attachment from his youth was never quite lost; even after many years of absence from his native homeland he still could see the picture of his village home and the little white church with its cross on the steeple. SLOVAKIA 7 To him this memory would always be sacred for it symbolized the faith of his people down through centuries of time, a faith that had sustained them through the hardships, dangers, and sufferings of countless ages. Always, as long as he lived, the Slovak immigrant, no matter how far from the native village where the Church, though oftentimes small, was a symbol of the indestructible faith of his forefathers , would remember that his religion was his greatest asset in a world of struggle. Without a church, without a priest and without prayer, life in a Slovak village would have been infinitely sad. And for him, though far removed from his birthplace, this remained t rue in the country of his adoption. Prayer is for the pious Slovak today what it was for his predecessors for centuries: a solace in time of grief, a bulwark, a mighty fortress in time of peril. Church prayers and hymns in his native Slovak tongue were a balm to his soul, an inspiration to his spirit. So long as he stayed close to his Church he felt safe amidst the confusions and storms of foreign currents that sometimes terrified him, at other times made him feel uneasy and uncertain as he faced each day's struggle in strange surroundings. Slovak life in America followed a definite pattern where enough settlers came from Slovakia. Parish churches and schools were built and much of the immigrant's social life centered around these religious institutions. As a rule, the more vital parish life of a Slovak group became the more solid and permanent became the national and cultural development of Slovak immigrant units that clustered around their own parishes. Loyalty to the faith of their fathers in the midst of the hubub and maelstrom of the big new world became the source of fidelity to the Slovak family, the native mother tongue and the Slovak homeland. At the end of a week ( 6 days ) of hard labor, the Slovak immigrant invariably went to Church on Sunday. He prayed fervently, sang with enthusiasm, listened to the weekly sermon, all in his native tongue. His heart was touched, his love rekindled each week, and he kept alive love of his homeland and native hearth. 8 SLOVAKIA Unique in every respect are the Slovak churches, rectories, schools and convents in many parts of the United States, for they are living testimonials of the profound religious faith of the people from Slovakia. In Slovakia, there were not societies or organizations of their own. A few that were permitted to function were in the service directly or indirectly of anti-Slovak interests. This denationalization policy unfortunately not infrequently crossed the threshold of the church itself. On the other hand, in America Slovak societies, schools, and churches, besides fulfilling their religious, social and cultural role, were at the same time centers of the Slovak spirit and national life. This left a strong impression on the Slovak immigrant in America. He grasped the full significance of this new life of personal liberty and national freedom. The new atmosphere changed him into a true patriot who was proud equally of his new citizenship and his Slovak ancestry. The tempo of life in America was much faster and fuller then the development of the new national spirit in Slovakia where many obstacles still existed. The democratic spirit of America was vital and refreshing, whereas the feudal system of Hungary was depressing and lifeless. Hungary's 20th century feudalism was outmoded but it kept the Slovak nation, the oldest nation in the Carpathian basin of the upper Danube, in a state of political bondage and economic servitude. The result was that the mass of Slovaks was unable to rise from its plight and live a normal national life. Slovak poets and writers who felt the pain of this tragic debasement of their nation feared the future consequences of this situation. In vain, however, were their efforts to wake up the Slovak masses; the years of oppression had been too many. They had taken their toll. Hundreds of thousands remained spiritless and turned a deaf ear to their pleadings. Slovak patriots endeavored to alert the people to the danger of remaining inactive in the crisis that threatened their national extinction. They, too, failed to arouse the inert masses to action. Every attempt to put a program into action was foiled by subversive activity of the enemy. SLOVAKIA 9 Slovakia's national life, deprived of all vital sources by her oppressors, was all but dead. Her people lacked sufficient power and initiative for a flourishing national life and progress as a highly cultured and dynamic people. Stymied internally, therefore, the Slovak national organism which was physically healthy and vigorous, biologically sound, morally solid and potentially rich, needed an injection. And that is precisely what the Slovaks in America provided for the Slovak nation's life-an injection that thoroughly revitalized Slovakia's life as a nation in its historic homeland. We have no reliable statistics to show to what extent the influence of the American Slovak way of life was exerted in various parts of Slovakia. Perhaps at some future time this will become available. Only then shall we be able to get a precise, or at least a more accurate record of this impact of American democracy on the Slovaks' historic homeland in central Europe. Lacking statistics, we are still able, however, to indicate to some degree how American Slovaks after having acquired the new experience of a life of freedom affected the life of their fellow countrymen in Slovakia. A considerable number of Slovak emigrants who went to America in search of work and higher earning power returned to their native land. They had attained their goal, namely, the acquisition of a moderate fortune which enabled them to get a fresh start in life. Most of them, however, chose to make America their permanent home. Instances of individuals who lost all contact with their homeland and their fellow countrymen here are so few that they are negligible. Even those who elected to remain in America continued their interest in Slovak affairs and maintained a lively interest in their Slovak nation's destiny. In fact, many of them inspired their children and even their grandchildren to take an active part in Slovak life. In Slovakia the effect of the American way of life manifested itself in a number of ways but primarily in an economic sense, for the prime motive of Slovak emigration overseas was economic necessity. The returnees stimulated economic progress with their savings which were invested in the purchase of land, cattle, agricultural implements and SLOVAKIA new homes. The sum total of this new capital proved a vital factor in renewing Slovakia's national economy. At first glance, perhaps, the role of American capital in the hands of the Slovak emigrants who returned to their homeland may seem unimportant but it proved to be an essential factor in rebuilding their lives. They were able to acquire land with their savings and this, alone, strengthened their power through ownership. Under the feudal system much of the land had fallen into the hands of a foreign aristocracy for whom the Slovak peasant tilled the soil. The products of his labor were not his, the land belonged to aliens and both land and produce, as well as his daily labors, served alien and not his own interests. Vast estates, forests and fields were in the hands of an ancient Slovak nobility that either had alienated itself or was rapidly alienating itself from the people. The loss of their native Slovak national pride meant the loss of their lands to Slovakia. One of the most serious practices among small landowners was the breaking-up of the estates through inheritance. This process was the more alarming because the high birth-rate among the farming families often forced the small landowners to make loans that not only weighed heavily upon the individual land-owner but often plunged him heavily into debt. This, too often, forced him to sell some or all of his lands. Another factor that created a serious problem for the small land-owner was the reccurence of bad crops. This and the need for money to make repairs, buy equipment or make an expansion often resulted in a huge debt so that the poor man frequently could not even pay the interest on a loan. Eventually such heavily mortgaged properties ended up in the hands of strangers who held the mortgage. For the Slovak national cause such failures had a twofold effect: 1) They decreased the number of Slovak landowners and proportionately increased non-Slovak ownership of the land; 2) Loss of land meant that the Slovak peasant lost his attachment to the land of his forebears and with the loss he lost his national consciousness or pride when he migrated to the city where he got a job in the SLOVAKIA 11 factory. Second and third generations of these families generally lost their identity as Slovaks. Slovak land, the solid base of Slovak national life, was being lost to aliens and with each loss national unity and ancestral pride were weakened. Under such adverse conditions the Slovaks could make no progress and the economy of their country was weakened considerably because it was not serving the people but foreign landowners who exploited the native workers. An independent class of small land-owners had always been the backbone of the Slovak nation. It was, therefore, a vital necessity that this class be preserved, and even extended both for the welfare of the people and for the national interest. Above all, capital was needed in this crisis. At home there was none to be had. Accordingly, there was only one hope and that was America. In the years of migration money came back to the old country and this more than any one thing helped to preserve ancient lands intact. American capital in the form of savings of the immigrants saved Slovakia's lands for her people. In almost every Slovak village or town before and after World War I new homes, new ventures and developments were made possible through American dollars, savings of Slovak settlers in America. Slovak farmers were able tc:, purchase new agricultural equipment and increase their production on a modest scale. Their lands and confidence were restored, thanks to their American experience and their savings from honest toil in the land of opportunity. Emigration of Slovak landowners to America actually strengthened the small land-owning class in Slovakia and preserved the right of ownership of the entire Slovak nation to its own native soil. Tenant farmers who had left their native homeland for America, as well as many Slovak workers, frequently returned from America to swell the ranks of the new landowners. These paid ready cash for land and equipment as they proudly took ownership of their new properties in their native country. 12 SLOVAKIA Some Slovaks who returned with savings preferred to invest their modest wealth in various enterprises such as a small business, for example, a store, a tavern, a mill or lumber plant. These, too, greatly enhanced the economic growth of the country through their initiative and enterprise. Stiff competition for the new enterprises greeted their founders but this did not scare the Slovaks who had returned from America, for competition was what stimulated progress and was an added incentive to success. Against their non-Slovak competitors, therefore, the new business men succeeded in breaking up what was considered somewhat of a monopoly by the old owners and directors in various businesses. Their experience in America served them well as they met every challenge with confidence and generally with success. American capital undoubtedly helped to raise the living· standard of the Slovak people. The Slovaks remained what they had always been, a simple people with moderate wants and desires and tastes but it was imperative that this simplicity be not interpreted as a sign of backwardness. Their American experiences helped them to cope with this problem, too. Highly important for the development of Slovak national life was the education of the youth. High school and college training was necessary so that the Slovak nation could have a strong core of educated men and women. For the average Slovak family higher education had a high social value, too. Unfortunately, Slovak schools were directed by nonSlovak elements and the children were subject to a denationalization process whereby the Magyar language and the spirit of a Hungarian nationality were fostered exclusively. It was a foregone conclusion that this would result in a tremendous loss to the Slovak nation when its youth would be alienated in its formative years. Although many were lost to the Slovak cause, not every Slovak youth succumbed to the lure of promises for the future or was terrorized into submission, for in many homes the spirit of loyalty to the Slovak national culture was cherished. SLOVAKIA 13 Only a few Slovak youths were able to pursue higher studies in high school, college and university because their fathers who had gone to America encouraged their sons by ear-marking special funds for their education. These, as a rule, completed their studies and became loyal sons of their homeland. Their spirit of national pride inspired them to fight back at any attempt to rob them of their rightful Slovak birthright and national heritage. Such was the spirit of the American-Slovak families in Slovakia that their dynamic force and influence were invariably felt throughout the country. The sons, like their father, bore the unmistakable trade-mark of true patriotism. The printed word, either in the daily press, periodicals or in books, is an essential factor in the training of youth everywhere. It is the expression of the spirit and soul of a nation. In this respect, the situation was actually quite bad in Slovakia because there were only a few good Slovak newspapers and these, because of an extremely limited circulation, exerted little influence. Since the masses of common people had limited finances, they did not subscribe to newspapers or buy books. Most of them did not feel the urgency of supporting their own Slovak press. Most widespread of all printed matter was the religious prayerbook but its influence did not extend beyond religion. The Spolok sv. Vojtecha, a religious publication society, sought to supplement this by editing books from time to time. There were several religious periodicals, too, but these did not reach the realm of politics. Moreover, the average Slovak peasant or worker showed little or no concern for politics anyway. He had been conditioned to the idea that politics was an art in which the rich and the nobility had a natural monopoly. To use the current term, "brainwashed", would be appropriate. American Slovaks opened their eyes to the truth and they held a completely opposite view from their fellow countrymen. They soon adopted the idea that they had a right and a duty to mix in politics and they received full support for this practical view in their daily and weekly newspapers which they read regularly. 14 SLOVAKIA American Slovak newspapers were sent to Slovakia. Actually, in many villages for quite a while the only reading matter consisted of Slovak newspapers from America where one could freely write not only in his native Slovak language but give voice to his views, foster the Slovak national spirit, criticize the injustices inflicted upon their countrymen at home and register an open demand for the just rights that belonged to the Slovaks. These periodicals were almost exclusively the sole source of accurate information about what was really going on in their own country and they found out the truth by reading news that were sent to them all the way from America. When they returned to Slovakia, many American Slovak immigrants kept in touch with the organization in which they had membership. For years they proudly wore their membership emblems, subscribed to both local and American periodicals, engaged actively in public life and showed a keen interest in politics as they had become accustomed to do in America. No doubt the most valuable contributions to Slovakia by America were the Slovaks who returned home after living a year or more in a truly democratic country. These American Slovaks had had rich experiences abroad and they had developed a new outlook on life so that their presence had repercussions everywhere. A Slovak who had left his homeland, depressed and beaten down, returned from America a different man. He was full of life and energy, imbued with the spirit of national pride and fully convinced that he had a natural right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" according to the spirit and principles of American democracy. This new, optimistic attitude clarified and refreshed the atmosphere throughout the country. Gone forever was the inferiority complex which had customarily marked the Slovak emigrant. Here was a renovated man not afraid to speak his mind openly, anywhere, anytime. This was the happy result of being exposed, if only briefly, to democracy in the United States. As a respected and integral part of a great and powerful country, the Slovak grew accustomed to the idea of SLOVAKIA 15 his importance as an individual. As a member of various Slovak societies he learned to stand up for his own rights and to cooperate with others for the common welfare of all. He had fulfilled his obligations to his position in life as a free man and he knew what his rights were. This new sense of human dignity stemmed from his understanding of the genuine spirit of American democracy : every citizen worked freely for his welfare as well as for the common good in a spirit of freedom under law. Far removed from his homeland, the Slovak immigrant learned, too, how great was his innate love for his native heart and he felt a new kinship with his fellow countrymen whether they came from the east or west, the north or south of a common motherland. The horizon of his nationalism extended far beyond his native village and reached the Tatras in the north, the Danube in the south, the low Carpathians in the west and the high Carpathians in the east. A wider concept of his rightful place in the Slovak family was developed in the mind and soul of every immigrant in America. He was a member of the Slovak nation and a human person who belonged to the land that for centuries belonged to all the Slovaks for ages. This was their common national heritage. A golden chain, their common language, had bound all the Slovaks together for many centuries. The Slovak immigrant cherished this precious gift all the more after living in America. Upon returning home he became its greatest defender against detractors. He had seen it flourish in a far off and strange land and Slovak national life had taken on a new glow under its influence. Why couldn't this be realized in his home country? To this end united voices of the American Slovak returnees were heard from one end of the country to the other as they spoke up fearlessly for their natural right to develop and grow as a nation, to live as a free people in a self-governing democratic country. How did his fellow-countrymen look upon this new dynamic "American" who had come back home to Slovakia? Perhaps they envied him just a little because he could afford to live better than they, but they also greatly admired 16 SLOVAKIA him for his openmindeness, his outspoken views and his newly-acquired democratic manners. They were favorably impressed and imitated him. They, too, became self-confident and hopeful of the future as they discussed their problems and sought solutions for them in a democratic exchange of opinions. This new type of Slovak did not avoid public functions nor steer clear of political meetings. He was there in the midst of them and his frequent public appearances inspired others to follow his example so that a new generation of Slovaks sprung up as if by magic, and the new generation was as fearless and frank in the expression of its views and opinions as their leader. In these and other forms the currents of American Slovak life were transformed to Slovakia. The need arose for coordinating this mutual contact for the greatest possible benefit to all. Accordingly, plans were made and attempts at establishing a working basis for better cooperation were put into practical operation. In accord with the desire to establish closer contact with American Slovaks, a number of educated Slovaks went to America where they renewed old friendships, exchanged views and established channels of communication not only with the immigrant Slovaks but what surprised them was the opportunity to converse fluently with second generation American Slovaks who were vitally interested in the mother country of their fathers and willing to lend a helping hand. This was, indeed, a bonanza, a stroke of good fortune that was destined to be of invaluable aid to the Slovak nation. Many Slovak patriots in their homeland established a close relationship between Slovakia and the American Slovaks by contributing articles to Slovak newspapers, periodicals, annuals, almanacs, etc. A considerable number of these timely articles dealt with topics on American Slovak life, and this welcome and flattering move bound the American Slovaks closer together with their kin in the home country. There were magnanimous Slovaks who, because they SLOVAKIA 17 fully understood and wholeheartedly sympathized with the plight of the Slovak nation beneath the Tatras, willingly sacrificed much of their time and energy to the Slovak cause often to their great personal disadvantage and material loss. Nevertheless, they did not count the cost, for they were firmly convinced every sacrifice was worthwhile in behalf of the Slovak nation's struggle for the recognition of its just rights. They justified their countrymen's faith in them, namely, that they would not forget their native homeland and that in time of need they would come to their aid though living far from their homeland. No true Slovak, no matter how successful he became in a strange land, ever forgot his native homeland. When he heard the call for help, he did not turn a deaf ear to the cry but replied with ready assistance. Slovakia's economic, cultural and national progress in the past several decades is in large measure due to the American Slovaks because of timely assistance to their brethern in Slovakia. American Slovaks never failed to respond generously in a number of crises to help save the Slovak nation. They constantly defended the Slovaks' right to self-government in their own homeland. Gratitude, the Slovaks say, is a virtue and an obligation. The Slovak nation will ever be grateful to the American Slovaks for their great role in its struggle for liberty, a democratic way of life and a self-governing state. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed.  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 American Democracy and Slovak Life Description An account of the resource Dr. Francis Hrušovský Slovakia, Vol. 17 (No. 40), 1967 pp. 1-17 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrušovský, František, 1903-1956 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967 Relation A related resource This article is one of five from this special issue republished as a monograph: Paučo, Jozef, ed. 1967. <em>Sixty Years of the Slovak League of America.</em> Middletown Pennsylvania: Slovak League of America. <a href="https://worldcat.org/en/title/36616" target="_blank" title="Link to WorldCat" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://worldcat.org/en/title/36616</a> 60years LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/67fece92abc1a2e7d4588c6a99c5c2ba.pdf 48f71b3dde4a29e319e2150fb4a1a45d PDF Text Text 74 SLOVAKIA This is Slovakia By Francis Hrusovsk:J}, Ph. D. Slovakia lies along the northern shore of the central Danube, where the eastern slopes of the Alps touch the western slopes of the Carpathian mountains, and its territory covers the northern part of the Danubian basin. Since the dawn of European history, a route has run through the gate of the Danube, connecting the West and the East. This important route was intersected at this very point by several routes which ran from south to north and linked the coasts of the Adriatic with those of the Baltic and North Seas. According to ancient Slovak legend, evil spirits used to gather at crossroads and there would lie in wait for travelers. Crossroads have always harbored danger, and still do. Therefore the Slovaks erect crosses at intersections, to protect travelers who ·pass these dangerous places. From earliest times, nations seeking new homelands have flowed over these routes which intersect along the Danube. Through the portals of the Danube marched aggressive conquerors, and the soil of this land frequently served as the stage for bloody conflicts. The nation which settled in such a bustling spot experienced little peace, continually having to defend itself to keep from being swept away by the raging storms. In defending its life its strength was exhausted, and hence it could not grow and develop as it might have in a peaceful atmosphere where catastrophe is not always imminent. Precisely because of their country's location, however, the Slovaks became accustomed to danger, learned not to yield to threats, and now know how to endure numerous hardships. Over the routes which crossed at the center of the Danube traveled not only nations which had no permanent home as yet, but also conquerors lusting for booty and the expansion of their power. At this noisy crossroads between the Alps and the Carpathians, spiritual movements �SLOVAKIA 75 met and penetrated each other, and these defined the cultural developement and progress of Central Europe. All these trends touched Slovakia, fertilized the soil of its spiritual growth, and enriched the life of a nation which had settled this country and occupied it for centuries. For all the disadvantages resulting from the geographical location of its country, the Slovak nation had this great advantage: it was in constant touch with the trends of European cultural life. Slovakia has behind it a rich and vibrant past, and the Slovak people have acquired sufficient historical experience to realize not only their position and vital strength, but also the right to their own life in their own ancient homeland. IN A COUNTRY OF HIGH MOUNTAINS AND DEEP VALLEYS Life was not easy in a country which for the greater part is covered with high mountains and furrowed with deep valleys . In ancient times, people who had to struggle with Nature for their daily bread with bare hands and primitive implements, sought out the broad plains where the fertile soil required less work and provided them with easier living conditions. The tributaries of the Vistula River, which flows into the Baltic Sea, and the tributaries of the Danube, which empties into the Black Sea, indicated the route to the passes in the Carpathian mountains, and through these passes people traveled from north to south and from south to north. Through Slovak territory, from the early Stone Age until deep into the Middle Ages, passed a great assortment of tribes, leaving behind in his country material relics of their life and cultural level.1 Also in the historical period, which in Slovakia begins around the birth of Christ, Slovakia was inhabited by people of various origins who stayed for a shorter or longer time at this crossroads. After the Celts, who left behind in Slovakia their names of the mountains and rivers, this region was occupied by the German Marcomanni and Quaddi. At the very beginning of the Christian era, the central section of the Danube became the northern boundary of the Roman Empire. The Roman legions which had built a string of �76 SLOVAKIA fortresses along both banks of the Danube, tried to restrict the attacts of the barbarians to the provinces on the far side of the Danube, and at the same time attempted to conquer the land of Slovakia and thus advance the imperial boundaries from the Danube to the Carpathians. Finally, the Roman emperors themselves had to come to the territory of Slovakia in order to subdue the stubborn Germans who were trying to push deeper into the Danubian basin. 2 When, at the end of the 4th century, the Romans had to withdraw from the Danube, and when, subsequently, the German tribes also left Slovakia, the Slavs flooded Central Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Hardly had the ancestors of the Slovaks moved through the Carpathian passes into the southern foothills of these mountains when the Danube basin was invaded from the east by the warlike Avars who then held control of Slovakia from the end of the 6th to the end of the 8th century. At the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries, the armies of emperor Charlemagne broke the power of the Avars, and his successors strove to conquer the neighboring Slovak lands. These battles were waged along the entire Germano-Slovak border and were often repeated especially along the Danube, which was the natural route to the East for the Western population. It is no wonder that this kind of territory would attract many nations who were seeking new homelands in their search for a safe and peaceful life. When the Slovaks settled along the Danube, there was no longer any available space in Europe which would accomodate new inhabitants. The Slovaks occupied this country when it belonged to no one, and so it was that they found themselves on the western rim of the Slavic world as immediate neighbors of the Germans. The ancestors of the Slovak people attached to this country the destiny of all the succeeding Slovak generations, who, in turn established their claim to this land by the fact that during their more than thousand year history they never deserted or renounced it. Life in this country was hard, as hard as the rocks of the Slovak mountains and the rocky terrain of their foothills. As a result, the Slovaks had an opportunity to �SLOVAKIA 77 learn how to work hard, to live meagerly, and to hold firmly to the hereditary land of their ancestors. Only thus were they able to survive all the storms of history and the hardships of life. Above the rocky floor of this country there is always heard the soft murmur of impenetrable forests, and in the quiet valleys echoes the song of lively rivers and swift streams.3 This country with its particular geography pressed the seal of its character into the nature of the Slovak people, who have enough vital courage to wrestle with the hardships of their fate and with their deep emotion manage to find beauty and joy in living even among these hardships. IN THE FAMILY OF THE CIVILIZED NATIONS OF EUROPE The external peril which constantly threatened Slovakia at this historical crossroads led the Slovak tribes living along the central Danube and its tributaries to unite and defend themselves with their combined strength. Out of the tiny Slovak principalities a united Slovak state came into existence already in the first half of the 9th century. It was the first organized state in Central Europe . Simultaneously with this development, Christianity penetrated Slovakia. The first teachers of the pagan Slovaks were missionaries from neighboring Bavaria. By the year 830, during the reign of Prince Pribina, a Christian church was standing in the ancient home of the Slovak princes of Nitra. It was the first Christian church, not only in Slovakia, but in the entire territory of the western Slavs. With the Christian faith , which took root in Slovakia rapidly and firmly, Christian civilization entered the country. In the 9th century, therefore, the Slovak nation was already a member of the civilized, that is, Christian, nations of Europe. The entire region settled by Slovaks and divided into small principalities was successfully united by prince Mojmir, who ruled the country until the year 846. His successor, Prince Rastislav (846-869 ), fully realinzing the outward dangers, wanted to provide his country with an internal strength that would be able to resist any attack. In the year 863 he invited SS. Cyril and Method, who completed the Christianizing of the Slovaks, �78 SLOVAKIA laid the foundations of Christian education, and sought to establish a self-sustaining church organization to support the political independence of Slovaks. The headquarters of the Slovak princes in Nitra was also the residence of the bishop as early as 879. Svatopluk ( 870-894), whom contemporary sources call a king and consider "the most glorious of the Slavonic rulers and almost as mighty as an emperor", extended his domain to include the neigboring Czech and Polish tribes. He waged successful wars against his Western neighbors, maintained diplomatic relations and concluded diplomatic peace treaties with neighboring rulers, safeguarded the independent status of his country, and, in the year 880, placed himself, his country and his people under the protection of the Holy See. His son and successor, Mojmir II ( 894-906) , stalwartly defended the heritage of his great ancestors against threats not only from the West, but also from the East. By the end of the 10th century, the Danube basin was invaded by the Magyars. In these battles, waged on two fronts, the Slovaks were bled. 4 Slovakia, at the threshold of the 10th century, lost the conditions necessary for independent development. A great and glorious chapter of Slovak history was ended, but neither its inspiring memory, nor the right of the Slovak nation to liberty and independence, ever faded. The Slovak nation, at the very beginning of its history, passed the test which proved its ability to govern its own land and keep pace with the development of Europe. Firmly implanted in the great family of civilized nations, it could not be shaken loose later by the pounding waves of historical movements. A THOUSAND YEARS UNDER A FOREIGN ROOF The invasion of the Danube basin by the pagan Magyars disrupted the political and cultural development of this region of Central Europe. Marauding bands of Magyars frequently traversed the devastated land of Slovakia and terrorized neighboring countries. Under these circumstances the organization of the Slovak State collapsed, the ecclesiastical management of Slovak territory disintegrated generally, many churches fell victim to destruction, and �SLOVAKIA 79 the advance of civilization was halted momentarily by the wide-spread ruin. But Slovakia, even after these calamities, was not left a barren wilderness. All the attainments of Western civilization appropriated by the Slovaks in the 9th century and all the spiritual values which they had constructed under their own rules were not to be destroyed by fire and sword. In the 10th century Slovak territory was no longer organized as an independent state, but neither did it belong to any other government, for there was no established government along the central Danube in those days. The Slovaks lived on their ancient homeland but they had no roof of their own above them to insure their peaceful growth. In the years 955 Emperor Otto dealt the Magyars a defeat which put an end to their sorties and former manner of life. Because of this blow they were forced to settle down permanently, establish their standing among their neighbors and adjust themselves to their new circumstances. They occupied the central region of the Danube basin and at the end of the 10th century, under the leadership of the princes of the Arpad dynasty, began to build a new state: Hungary. Sometime around the year 1000 Slovakia became a part of the Hungarian State. The Slovak people did not come into Hungary as a nation defeated and subdued. Exhausted as it was by long battles and devastated by wars, Slovakia had no alternative but to become a member of the new government which had begun to form in the Danube basin. The Slovaks did not enter the Hungarian State empty-handed, dependent upon the favor or disfavor of the new government. In addition to the territory of their own country, the Slovaks brought into the budding Hungarian State their entire material and spiritual heritage which had survived the tragedy of the Slovak State and the storms of the 10th century. This Slovak heritage served as a partial foundation for the government, the church organization, the economic life and the cultural growth of Hungary.5 For a long time Slovakia was the most Christian and most cultured region of medieval Hungary and remained so until the most recent times. �80 SLOVAKIA Gradually the entire Danube basin entered the union of the Hungarian State. Although Slovakia did not constitute a separate political and administrative unit in ancient Hungary, its geographical location, its topographical features, its national character, its historical past and its cultural maturity provided it with a special position and a role of its own, even in the framework of the Hungarian State. From the formation of the Hungarian State until the end of the 11th century Slovakia was a vassal principality. At the junction of the 13th and 14th centuries it was the political and military center of power of the "Master of the Vah and the Tatras", Matus cak Trenciansky. During the first half of the 15th century, in the hands of Jan Jiskra, Slovakia played a role in the internal conflicts of Hungary. From the year 1540, when the Turks occupied a large area of Hungary, and for more than a century and a half thereafter, it continued to become more prominent in the affairs of the Hungarian State. Hungary never was and never became a purely Magyar state. The Danube basin has always been a living mosaic composed of diversified national units: Slovaks, Ruthenians, Rumanians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Germans . Among these nations and national minorities the Magyars never comprised a numerical majority, but by virtue of their origin, language and character they were strangers to all other inhabitants of the Danube basin. Nevertheless, because of this very fact and because they occupied the most advantageous location in the very center of the Danube basin, they were able to attain the leading position in the State of Hungary. The ruling families which mounted the Hungarian throne, after the extinction of the Arpads in 1301, were of non-Magyar origin. The official language until the end of the 18th century was Latin. Furthermore, the culture which developed in Hungary was the common product of all the inhabitants of the Danube basin. Thanks to these circumstances, Slovakia, even though it did not enjoy the conditions necessary for independent growth, was not menaced in medieval Hungary and retained its individual ethnical character. The vitality of the �SLOVAKIA 81 Slovak nation was such that not only isolated immigrants of Eastern origin ( the Sikuli, Pecenci, Polovci, Kumani), but also large groups of German colonists who settled in Slovakia particularly during the 13th century, lost their identity in the Slovak surrounding by natural assimilation. The distinctly Slovak character of Slovakia, though frequently imperiled by foreign influences, remained inviolate until the most recent times. The Slovak language thrived not only among larger groups of people in the villages but was heard also in the castles of mighty lords. Not even the cities with their centuries-old privileged German population could withstand the strong influence of the Slovak environment; gradually they too assumed a Slovak character. A certain Slovak scholar, contemplating the strange fate of Slovakia in Hungary, compared the life of the Slovak nation to the life of the dense forest which covers a great part of the Slovak land surface. Storms can cause much damage in a forest. Windstorms can uproot centuryold trees. Woodchoppers can cut down the forest piecemeal. But in the place of the old uprooted or cut-down forest grows a new and strong stand of trees with roots penetrating deep into the earth, between the rocks, clinging tenaciously to the earth which nourishes it. The Slovak nation is like an indestructible Slovak forest, firmly rooted in its native earth and its age-old traditions. Only such a nation could survive a thousand years without a roof of its own. ON THE BOUNDARY LINE OF TWO CIVILIZATIONS The Carpathians constitute not only the eastern boundary of the Danube basin, but, in the Middle Ages, they formed also the eastern boundary of Western civilization, Roman Christianity and Latin culture. Because this basin is more exposed to the West, it was open to all the cultural trends of the neighboring Western countries. Slovakia's particular position in the Danube basin placed it under the constant influence of Western European culture directly from the west (through Vienna), from the north (via Prague and Cracow), and from the south (via Budin). Byzantine Christianity and Eastern civilization �82 SLOVAKIA did make an entry through the Carpathian passes, but its influence covered only the easternmost part of Slovakia. The military expeditions of the German kings who waged war with the Hungarian kings and the campaigns of the Czech Hussites in the 15th century were a menace to the economic life of Slovakia but not to its cultural development. However, through the Carpathians from the East, even during the Middle Ages, came bands of fierce nomads bringing new dangers to the cultural life of the Danube basin. Aftear the Avars who completely disappeared from the domestic population of the central Danube, and after the Magyars who embraced Christianity and adjusted themselves to their new circumstances, and after the small groups of other Eastern nomads of Mongolian origin, a great calamity was visited upon Slovakia by the Tatars who invaded Central Europe in the year 1241 and devastated some sections of Slovakia. Not only the economic and cultural life of the Danube basin, but also the Christianity of the inhabitants was threatened by the Turks who, following their occupation of the Balkans, extended their power to the foothills of the Slovak mountains after the Battle of Mohac in the year 1526. Although Slovakia felt the effects of all these attacks and upheavals, it managed to maintain throughout the Middle Ages a close and unbroken connection with Western Europe, and this fact had a determining influence on the economic progress, the social development and the cultural life of Slovakia. This lasting and living contact of Slovakia with Western Europe is attested to by the rich relics of creative art which we find from the western to the eastern boundaries of Slovakia. The oldest historical remains, relics of the Roman style which dominated in Slovakia until the 13th century, have succumbed to the ravages of time and the devastation of war, or they have been replaced by newer relics; but many are in a state of partial preservation to this day. In contrast with these, there are unusually valuable Gothic relics from the 13th to 15th centuries which testify that Slovakia, at the peak of the Middle Ages, had attained a high level of culture. The parish churches of certain Slovak cities (Bratislava, Trnava, Levoca, Presov, Bardejov, Kosice ) are magnificent monuments of Gothic architecture, �SLOVAKIA 83 and some of them with their rich interior decoration are true museums of Gothic art. Imposing Slovak cities, especially the rich mining centers in central Slovakia (Kremnica-where gold ducats were minted as early as 1333-Banska Bystrica and Banska ~tiavnica ) and cities in the Spis region (Spisska Nova Ves, Levoca, Kezmarok) , have retained much of their medieval character to this day, proving that a vigorous culture bloomed in these cities in addition to industry, commerce and prosperity. Nowhere in Central Europe have there been as many medieval castles created and preserved as in Slovakia. They were the headquarters of powerful rulers; they played an important role in political history and in the military defense of the country, and stand as monuments of medieval feudalism and mute witnesses of the fate of a loyal nation. Many of these castles have fallen into ruin with the passing of time; only portions of their stout walls still tower above the rocky cliffs and wooded mountains to heighten the romance of Slovakia's natural beauty. Some escaped destruction and are still intact today. Their collections of historical relics tell the past of the entire region. The Slovak people who lived in the cities and in the villages surrounding these castles for centuries survived not only the feudal lords, but the splendor of their dwellings as well . Interesting legends recall their ancient past and their plight in the shadows of these castles. Slovaks have had an opportunity to learn to believe- as the Slovak adage puts it-that "everything is temporary except God."6 Slovakia was touched also by waves of the cultural movement which had its cradle in Italy: Renaissance or Humanism. This new intellectual and artistic trend entered Slovakia in the second half of the 15th century when Gothic culture was in full bloom there. In Bratislava, already in the year 1460, a university was founded that was to become a center of Humanism. Renaissance architecture developed chiefly in the eastern part of Slovakia, leaving its mark on the construction of Slovak homes. This cultural movement, which was so strong in the land of its origin-where ancient traditions have always had a home-,was not able to develop more fully either in Central Europe or in Slovakia because, simul- �84 SLOVAKIA taneously with the Turkish invasion of the Danube basin, the calm life of the country was disrupted by the Reformation. Slovakia also became a participant in this new phase of history. SLOVAKIA AS A BASTION OF EUROPE Implausible as it may sound, it is nonetheless a historical fact that Slovakia served as a bastion in the bulwark that defended Christian Europe against the danger from the East. It played this role when the Turks were in control of the central region of the Danube basin and were attempting to conquer the neighboring European countries. Life was difficult for the Slovaks in their mountainous homeland, but these mountains often proved to be their strongest protection. In the endless wooded mountains of their country they had found shelter from the Tatars. and they found in them the same kind of refuge from the Turks. Life in the hills was hard enough, but the proximity of the Turks brought new hardships to the Slovaks. Upon the shoulders of the Slovak people fell the burden 01 responsibility attending an organized defense against the attacks of the Turks. Plundering bands of Turkish wariors disturbed the population of Slovakia by plunging deep into Slovak territory, against the current of the Slovak rivers, and returning with captives as well as spoil. In order to resist the Turks and provide sanctuars for large numbers of the population, it was necessary to repair and maintain the ancient castles in Slovakia. This work was done by the Slovaks as faithful subjects. The cities strengthened their defenses, and those cities wich previously did not have to be fortified had to erect bulwarks. Even some cloisters in the vicinity of the Turks were transformed into temporary fortresses. To support the military forces which were to fight in the event of a Turkish assault, higher taxes had to be paid. These contributions had to be made by those inhabitants of Hungary who were not in the hands of the Turksprimarely Slovakia. Along the southern border of Slovakia, new forts were erected according to the new military �SLOVAKIA 85 strategy, and these were to obstruct the advance of the Turks toward the mining cities of central Slovakia. For a century and a half (from 1540 until the end of the 17th century), Slovakia lived in continual military preparedness and had to bear the tremendous burdens connected with such an abnormal situation. In addition to this, the land of Slovakia provided the stage on which were enacted, first of all, the wars between the antikings, Ferdinand I of Hapsburg (1526-1564) and Jan Zapol'a (1526-1540 ), and, later, the uprisings against the Hapsburgs . These revolts, apart from other reasons, were caused chiefly by the developments of the religious situation stemming from the Reformation and the Catholic Restoration. The teachings of the Reformation proclaimed by Martin Luther found welcome soil at an early date, particularly among the German urban population, and later spread over all Slovakia. The Protestant Church had a strong organization by the year 1612. In the Protestant centers, schools and publishing houses sprang up and books were printed to spread the new teachings among the inhabitants of Slovakia. However, this movement had hardly gained a foothold in Slovakia when, upon the invitation of the archbishop of Ostrihom, whose headquarters were in Trnava, Jesuits entered the country and began to carry out a zealous program of recatholization.7 This activity was centered in Trnava, where a Catholic university was founded in the year 1635. Near the university a large publishing firm was set up to print, in addition to scholarly Latin books, popular writings in all the languages of Central Europe. 8 Even though these two movements met in open conflict on Slovak soil, and the struggle was attended by various tragic occurences, the results were not as catastrophic as they were in other countries because the conflict was waged mostly on a spiritual plane-on the floor of the diet in city council-and predominantly with cultural weapons. For that reason Slovakia kept on growing culturally despite these religious disturbances. Strong traces of this fervent religious experience in Slovakia are found in the numerous and lovely relics of �86 SLOVAKIA baroque art. The unusually well-developed period of Gothic art was followed by a relatively weak impression of the Renaissance; but baroque culture spread far and wide and reached a high level in Slovakia. This period is represented by several still extant majestic churches of which the university church in Trnava and the Jesuit church in Trencin are outstanding for their size and perfection of form. The new style became popular in secular architecture also. Slovak cities took on a new appearance as the wealthy lords left their highly-situated and uncomfortable castles and built their palaces on the plains. Various elements of baroque art crept into Slovak folk art as well. This is evident proof that the Slovak people, while suffering under oppression, retained their deep emotions, their sense of beauty, their creative abilities, and their facility in adapting foreign artistic values to their own taste. It was not until the end of the 18th century that the religious conflicts came to an end. Protestantism, after its early successes, withdrew into the background, and the Catholic Church regained the upper hand. One important feature of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation was that both parties, in trying to gain the largest number of adherents, concentrated on the use of the vernacular. Alongside official and cultural Latin, the Slovak language begins to emerge and express itself in literary form. And with the revival of the Slovak language, a Slovak national consciousness and a longing for a new form of national life begins to bud, supported by the influx of new intel-lectual trends. ON THE WAY TO A LIFE OF THEIR OWN In the year 1683 the Polish king Jan Sobieski dealt the Turks a defeat, at the walls of Vienna, which marked the beginning of their withdrawal from Central Europe. In 1686 they had to surrender Budin, and by the end of the 17th century they were pushed out of the Danube basin into the Balkans. In these battles against the Turks and their anti-Hapsburg allies, economic misery in Slovakia increased and the social position of the subjugated people became practically unbearable. It is no wonder that the Slovak people saw in Juraj Janosik-who was hanged in 1713 because "he robbed the rich and gave to the poor"-their �SLOVAKIA 87 heroic champion and immortalized him and his deeds in legends, songs and art glass. 9 Hungary was finally liberated from the Turks and unified, but it was devastated, and areas which had been under the Turkish domination for a long time were virtually depopulated. The Slovaks contributed to the reconstruction and elevation of Hungary not only by paying higher taxes but also by leaving their mountainous homeland in large numbers and emigrating to the southern region of Hungary which was more fertile but lacked inhabitants and manpower. Hungary, in the meantime, developed closer ties with the countries ruled by the Hapsburgs. Charles VI ( 171117 40) , lacking a male heir, decreed that female descendants of the Hapsburg lineage could succeed him. This was the first law governing all the countries under the rule of the Haps burgs. The successors of Charles VI, Maria Theresa ( 17401780) and her son Joseph II (1780-1790), sought to perfect and intergrate the rule of their countries by introducing social, administrative and ecclesiastical reforms in the liberal spirit of current intellectual trends, which, together with other new measures, formed the groundwork for centralization and the beginning of Germanization. These reforms evoked a stormy reaction especially from the Magyars, because they ignored the rights of individual nations and imposed on them the German language instead of Latin. The new ideas which later, under the slogan "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity", resulted in the French Revolution, made their way into the Danube basin and affected also the nations of that region. These ideas found fertile soil not only among the Magyars, but also among the other nations which occupied Hungary. While the Magyars opposed the centralization of power in Vienna and the attempts at Germanization by the Hapsburgs, the nonMagyar nations of Hungary were preparing to defend themselves against the Magyars whose dream was to eventually build a single Hungarian State. In the 18th century the Magyars constituted about one-third of the population of Hungary. Next in numerical �88 SLOVAKIA size were the Slovaks, who were becoming as conscious of their nationality as the Magyars. Slovak national consciousness sprang and grew from several sources: besides the contemporary trends of thought entering Slovakia from the outside and the pressure exerted upon the Slovaks by the Magyars, Slovak national consciousness was strongly rooted in Slovak life itself. The Slovaks were becoming convinced anew that the country which they occupied was their own country and that they were its autonomous inhabitants with all rights of ownership to that region of Hungary. Reflecting this conviction, Jan Baltazar Magin emphasized the rights of the Slovak nation in a book published in 1728.10 Slovak writers revived the memory of Slovak antiquity, especially the glorious deeds of the Slovak rulers of the 9th century, in order to awaken among their people a longing for a free national future. In this vein, Juraj Papanek returned to the Slovak past in a book entitled Of Slovak Kings and Kingdoms, published in the year 1780; Juraj Sklenar, in a book on Vel'ka Morava printed in 1783; and Juraj Fandli, in 1793, with a revision of Papanek's book. The great events of ancient Slovak history were portrayed in the epic poems of the highly-gifted Slovak poet Jan Holly, entitled Svdtopluk ( 1833), in his book S ldv (1834) and in Cyrilo-M ethodidda (1835). With the Reformation, the Czech language spread throughout Slovakia and took root chiefly among Slovak Protestants. But Czech proved to be as foreign and as dead a language in Slovakia as Latin; hence the Slovaks began to cultivate their own language. The scholar Matej BelFuntik (1687-1749), in Latin work, wrote of the Slovak language that "in no respect does it fall behind the ponderousness and grandeur of Spanish, the charm and smoothness of French, the loftiness and strength of English, the richness and emphasis of German, the softness and tenderness of Italian, or the imperious sternness of Hungarian." Anton Bernolak, in the year 1787, wrote a grammar of literary Slovak, and later published a six-volume SlovakCzech-Latin-German-Hungarian dictionary. In the year �SLOVAKIA 89 1843 definitive rules of Slovak grammar were established, and these then became the instrument of an independent Slovak literature. As with their language, the Slovaks began to pay attention to the distinctive products of Slovak folk culture, in which they recognized the creative abilities of the Slovak spirit. All this filled the Slovaks with a feeling of national consciousness and instilled them with courage to win for themselves the rights that belong to people who consider themselves a separate nation and yearn to live as such. The Slovaks did not forget, but rather remainded themselves clearly at this time, that their position on the western border of the Slavic world and their immediate proximity to non-Slavic countries exposed to new perils. They felt that they were not strong enough numerically to defend themselves against the pressure of their neighbors. Therefore, in addition to fostering their own national individuality, they began to take into consideration their relationship to the other Slavonic nations, hoping to find support for the growth of their own life in the great family of Slavs. The idea of Slavic brotherhood found expression in Sldvy dcera (Daughter of Shiva), 1824, a poem by Jan Kollar, and in the scholarly work of Pavol Jozef ~afarik Slovanske starozitnosti (Slavic Antiquities). These thoughts influenced Slovak national consciousness very much and were re-echoed especially in Slovak literature. Slovak literature, filled with such a spirit, did not penetrate the large masses of Slovak people who lived in feudal bondage until 1848 and therefore could not take part in public life. Slovak leaders, aware of the situation of the Slovak people, strove to elevate them economically, socially, morally and culturally so that they might be capable of grasping their political rights and assist in achieving a free national life. In the first half of the 19th century the Slovak people, who for many ages occupied the northern section of Hungary, became a nation which was prepared to go its own way and live its own life.11 �90 SLOVAKIA POINT OF NO RETURN Just as the Slovaks had awakened to a new life, had become conscious of their national identity, and were preparing to defend their rights, they found themselves in a strange and difficult situation. They lost that stratum of society whos~ standing, education and economic independence had given it a leading role in politics as well. The upper and lower aristocracy of Slovak origin, having reneged its Slovak identity, left the Slovak nation standing on the threshold of its new life with large masses of leaderless people. Under these circumstances, the educated sons of the Slovak nation assumed the leadership, combining their struggle for the political rights of their people with a fight for their economic welfare, social elevation and cultural progress. The struggle for liberty was at the same time a struggle for democracy. In this struggle an unusually important part was played by the clergy, who, by reason of their calling and their constant contact with the people, best understood their troubles and their needs. It should not surprise anyone therefore to see large numbers of Catholic and Protestant clergymen working zealously in every area of Slovak national life and making outstanding sacrifices for their cause. The writings of the great Slovak poet, the Catholic priest Jan Holly (1785-1849 ) , inspired his entire generation, the actual leader of which was Ludovit stur (1815-1856 ), teacher, writer, editor and political fighter. stur, together with the Lutheran pastors Jozef Miloslav Hurban (18171888 ) and Michal Miloslav Hodza (1811-1870) established the definitive form of literary Slovak, founded a literary and publishing society, Tatrin ( 1844 ) , began to print political journal, Slovenske narodnie noviny-"Slovak National News"-(1845 ) , and the literary monthly, Slovenske pohl'ady-"Slovak Views"-(1846), achieved the unification of all Slovaks (1847), and gave Slovak national life a clear goal and a firm direction in the spirit of stur's slogan: "Backward We Cannot, Forward We Must!" "Forward" means to liberate the Slovak people from the yoke of slavery and lead them down the road of independent national and cultural growth to a free nation- �SLOVAKIA 91 al life. To achieve this goal the Slovak nation needed a political program. The Revolution which erupted in Paris in February, 1848, and reverberated throughout Europe, inspired a strong movement in Hungary also, affecting the development of Slovak life and speeding the ripening of the Slovak political program. Individual regions of Slovakia rebelled against the imposition of Hungarian as the only legal language and strove to get Slovak recognized as their official language. The language of the Slovak people represented the very existence of Slovakia, and the fight for "our Slovak language" was essentially a fight for all the rights of the Slovak nation. The foremost leaders of the Slovaks followed carefully the progress of revolutionary activity in Europe and Hungary and decided definitely that the Slovak nation must not stand in the background, gazing passively at these tempestuous changes. They made the necessary preparations in the various parts of Slovakia, and in May of 1848 gathered at the parsonage of Michal Miloslav Hodza in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas where they drew up a program for Slovakia's political future under the heading "Petitions of the Slovak Nation." The Slovaks, in creating their political program, took into consideration not only their aims and desires, but existing circumstances as well. One such prominent circumstance was the fact that Slovakia was part of the Hungarian State, in which it did not even constitute a separate administrative unit. The Slovaks were not planning to tear away from Hungary; they merely wished to have the boundaries of the Slovak lands clearly defined so that the Slovak people might have guaranteed equality with the Magyars in Hungary, and that this equality might apply in all areas of political, social, and especially in cultural life. They intended to present these petitions to the King, the Parliament and the Government, but first they wanted the opinion of the Slovak people regarding them and their achievement. The Magyars, who fought for their own national rights with such determination and revolutionary boldness, opposed the just and justified petitions of the Slovak nation. They outlawed the assembling of Slovaks and �92 SLOVAKIA treated their political leaders as traitors worthy of imprisonment. When the Slovaks saw what obstacles their political program met and would meet in Hungary, they resorted to armed insurrection against the Magyars, who themselves were engaged in a rebellion against the Emperor and were fighting for the independence of Hungary. The Slovak uprising of 1848-49 ended without result. The Emperor, from whom the Slovaks expected understanding and protection, suppressed the revolt of the Magyars with the help of the Russian army, and introduced absolute rule. He punished the Magyars, and completely forgot the Slovaks.12 The Emperor failed to crush the Magyars, and the Slovaks likewise refused to surrender their rights. In the year 1860 the Emperor terminated absolute rule and sought an agreement with the Magyars that would not only placate the Magyars but would also not jeopardize the interests of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Immediately in the spring of 1861 the Slovaks renewed their political activity. First they detailed the principles of their political program in the newspapers, and then they called a general assembly to Turciansky Sv. Martin where the prominent attorney Stefan Marko Daxner formulated Slovak policy anew in the comprehensive "Memorandum of the Slovak Nation." Pointing to the conditions which had developed in Hungary, they asked that the Slovak nation be recognized by a special edict, that Slovakia constitute a distinctive administrative unit in Hungary, and that the Slovak people in their own territory be given the right to develop their own life without restriction.13 These petitions were submitted in a separate memorial document to Emperor Franz Jozef (1849-1916 ) by the noble Slovak bishop Stefan Moyses. 14 All that resulted was that the Slovaks, in 1863-on the 1000th anniversary of the coming of Cyril and Method to Slovakia-were permitted to establish a cultural institution called the "Matica Slovenska" and with their own funds opened three high schools for the training of Slovak youth. In 1867 the Emperor came to terms with the Magyars, with the result that Hungary gained a wide degree of independence and a decided influence in matters of mutual �SLOVAKIA 93 concern in the Monarchy. The position of the Slovaks in Hungary not only worsened but grew steadily and unbearably more desperate. By the year 1875 Slovak cultural and educational institutions were closed and Magyarization was spreading throughout Hungary. Hungary was not a Magyar state even now, but the aim of Budapest policy was to make it such as quickly as possible. The goal of Magyar political ideology was to mold Hungary into a unified state with a population politically unified under one official language. All nonMagyar nations and national minorities in Hungary were to be just "nationalities" comprising parts of a single Hungarian-that is, Magyar-nation. The Danube basin resembles a large bowl. The center was settled by the Magyars. Feeling strange and alone and numerically weak in their central position, they made every effort to grow and become strong, in order to make their future sure. To do that, their growth had to be artificial and at the expense of the non-Magyar peoples of Hungary. For many centuries a variety of nations and national minorities occupied the rim of this huge bowl, the mountainous regions of the Danube basin. These were pushed toward the center by their growing populations and hard living conditions, thus posing a threat to the Magyars. This interesting conflict to be or not to be was waged in the Danube basin until Hungary ceased to exist as a state. Feeling the pressure of denationalization at every step, the Slovaks saw danger that threatened them and loomed ever larger above them. Even so, they did not stop stating their allegiance to Hungary, and made several new attempts to achieve a state of equality with the Magyars. All these attempts came to naught because the Magyar politicians, blinded by the alluring features of a future Magyar Hungary, were determined to press their objectives persistently and ruthlessly. 15 The Emperor, who was also the King of Hungary, took no interest in the development of internal conditions in Hungary and was likewise deaf and blind to the situation o! the Slovak nation. Because of the election laws and practices which obtained in Hungary, Slovaks either did not get into the Budapest Parliament, or, if they did, �94 SLOVAKIA only in negligible numbers. The Hungarian Parliament passed legislation which suppressed Slovak life. Magyarization increased, especially at the beginning of the 20th century. Count Albert Apponyi, as Minister of Education, saw to it that school laws were enacted to bring about the complete Magyarization of all schools in Slovakia. And, of course, the Magyar schools which the Slovak young people had to attend, did not train them in the Slovak spirit nor for a Slovak existence. If any Slovak in these circumstances dared to defend the honor and rights of his own nation, as did Andrej Hlinka (1864-1938)-called a rebel, a Panslav and a traitor-with such exemplary fearlessness, he found himself in prison, unable to go on with his work. Yet not even these adversities broke the Slovak nation, for the Slovaks believed, with Andrej Hlinka, that "Truth has never yet suffered in vain, nor will our Slovak truth suffer needlessly," as Hlinka himself prophesied in 1907 as he was being led to prison. 16 1) A comprehensive picture of the prehistoric settlement of Slovakia is given in the work of Jan Eisner, Slovensko v praveku (Slovakia in Prehistoric Times), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1933. 2) Several studies on the contacts of Slovakia with the Romans have been written by Vojtech Ondrouch. He presents a review of these questions in his work Slovensko v dobe fimsko-germanske ( Slovakia in the Roman-Germanic Period), Prague, 1936. 3) Approximately 40 % of Slovakia's land area is still covered with forests . In the Middle Ages the forested area was much larger. 4) The ancient history of Slovakia is covered by Frantisek Hrusovsk~· in his book Slovenski vladari (Slovak Rulers), Obrana Press, Inc., Scranton, Pa., 1948. 5) Pavol Bujnak, "Obratenie Mad'arov na vieru krest'ansku" (The Conversion of the Magyars to Christianity), Risa vel'komoravskci (The Greater Moravian Empire), Praha, 1933. The latest wrinting on Slovak influence at the beginning of the Hungarian State comes from Juraj Hodal, "Vclenenie sa starych Mad'arov do staroslovenskeho spolocenskeho zriadenia" (The Integration of the Ancient Magyars into Old-Slovak Society), Historicky sbornik (Historical Review), Turc. Sv. Martin, Slovakia, 1940. 6) A lucid study of the history of creative art in Slovakia is fount! in Vladimir Wagner's book Dejiny vytvarneho umenia na Slovensku (A History of Creative Art in Slovakia), Trnava, Slovakia, 1930. 7) Of the more recent literature on the Reformation in Slovakia, the book by Branislav Varsik, deserves attention, Husiti a reformacia na Slovensku do Zilinskej synody (The Hussites and the Reforma- �SLOVAKIA 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 95 tion in Slovakia up to the Synod of 2ilina), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1932. The beginnings of the Catholic Counter-Reformation are discribed by Vojtech Bucko, Reformne hnutie v arcibiskupstve ostrihomskom do roku 1564 (The Reform Movement in the Ostrihom Archbishopric up to 1564), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. The origin, history and significance of this cultural institution were memorialized in an anniversary anthology in 1935 under the title Trnavskci univerzita (The University of Trnava), Trnava, Slovakia, 1935. The economic and social status of the Slovak people in the time of oppression is described in the scholarly work of Stefan Jansak, Slovensko v dobe uhorskeho feudalizmu (Slovakia in the Period of Hungarian Feudalism) , Bratislava, Slovakia, 1932. Janosik as a champion of social justice was portrayed widely not only in literature, but also in the creative arts, in music and films. The comprehensive monography by A. A. Banik, Jan Baltazar Magin a jeho politickci, ncirodnci i kulturna obrana Slovcikov v roku 1728 (Jan Baltazar Magin and His Political, National and Cultural Defense of the Slovaks in 1728) , Trnava, Slovakia, 1936. The indications of tendencies to turn ancient Hungary into a monolithic Hungarian state are taken up in detail by Daniel Rapant, K pociatkom mad'arizcicie (The Beginnings of Magyarization), Vols. I and II, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1927, 1931. Daniel Rapant, Slovenske povstanie v roku 1848-49 (The Slovak Uprising of 1848-49), Vols. I and II, Turc. Sv. Martin, Slovakia, 1937. Frantisek Hrusovsky, Slovenske ncirodne shromazdenie v roku 1861 (The Slovak National Assembly of 1861) Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Daniel Rapant, Viedenske memorandum slovenske z roku 1861 (The Slovak Memorandum of Vienna, 1861) , Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Frantisek Bokes, Slovenske pokusy o vyrovnanie s Mad'armi (Slovak Attempts at Agreement with the Magyars), Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934, p. 198. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed. � 74 SLOVAKIA This is Slovakia By Francis Hrusovsk:J}, Ph. D. Slovakia lies along the northern shore of the central Danube, where the eastern slopes of the Alps touch the western slopes of the Carpathian mountains, and its territory covers the northern part of the Danubian basin. Since the dawn of European history, a route has run through the gate of the Danube, connecting the West and the East. This important route was intersected at this very point by several routes which ran from south to north and linked the coasts of the Adriatic with those of the Baltic and North Seas. According to ancient Slovak legend, evil spirits used to gather at crossroads and there would lie in wait for travelers. Crossroads have always harbored danger, and still do. Therefore the Slovaks erect crosses at intersections, to protect travelers who ·pass these dangerous places. From earliest times, nations seeking new homelands have flowed over these routes which intersect along the Danube. Through the portals of the Danube marched aggressive conquerors, and the soil of this land frequently served as the stage for bloody conflicts. The nation which settled in such a bustling spot experienced little peace, continually having to defend itself to keep from being swept away by the raging storms. In defending its life its strength was exhausted, and hence it could not grow and develop as it might have in a peaceful atmosphere where catastrophe is not always imminent. Precisely because of their country's location, however, the Slovaks became accustomed to danger, learned not to yield to threats, and now know how to endure numerous hardships. Over the routes which crossed at the center of the Danube traveled not only nations which had no permanent home as yet, but also conquerors lusting for booty and the expansion of their power. At this noisy crossroads between the Alps and the Carpathians, spiritual movements �SLOVAKIA 75 met and penetrated each other, and these defined the cultural developement and progress of Central Europe. All these trends touched Slovakia, fertilized the soil of its spiritual growth, and enriched the life of a nation which had settled this country and occupied it for centuries. For all the disadvantages resulting from the geographical location of its country, the Slovak nation had this great advantage: it was in constant touch with the trends of European cultural life. Slovakia has behind it a rich and vibrant past, and the Slovak people have acquired sufficient historical experience to realize not only their position and vital strength, but also the right to their own life in their own ancient homeland. IN A COUNTRY OF HIGH MOUNTAINS AND DEEP VALLEYS Life was not easy in a country which for the greater part is covered with high mountains and furrowed with deep valleys . In ancient times, people who had to struggle with Nature for their daily bread with bare hands and primitive implements, sought out the broad plains where the fertile soil required less work and provided them with easier living conditions. The tributaries of the Vistula River, which flows into the Baltic Sea, and the tributaries of the Danube, which empties into the Black Sea, indicated the route to the passes in the Carpathian mountains, and through these passes people traveled from north to south and from south to north. Through Slovak territory, from the early Stone Age until deep into the Middle Ages, passed a great assortment of tribes, leaving behind in his country material relics of their life and cultural level.1 Also in the historical period, which in Slovakia begins around the birth of Christ, Slovakia was inhabited by people of various origins who stayed for a shorter or longer time at this crossroads. After the Celts, who left behind in Slovakia their names of the mountains and rivers, this region was occupied by the German Marcomanni and Quaddi. At the very beginning of the Christian era, the central section of the Danube became the northern boundary of the Roman Empire. The Roman legions which had built a string of �76 SLOVAKIA fortresses along both banks of the Danube, tried to restrict the attacts of the barbarians to the provinces on the far side of the Danube, and at the same time attempted to conquer the land of Slovakia and thus advance the imperial boundaries from the Danube to the Carpathians. Finally, the Roman emperors themselves had to come to the territory of Slovakia in order to subdue the stubborn Germans who were trying to push deeper into the Danubian basin. 2 When, at the end of the 4th century, the Romans had to withdraw from the Danube, and when, subsequently, the German tribes also left Slovakia, the Slavs flooded Central Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Hardly had the ancestors of the Slovaks moved through the Carpathian passes into the southern foothills of these mountains when the Danube basin was invaded from the east by the warlike Avars who then held control of Slovakia from the end of the 6th to the end of the 8th century. At the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries, the armies of emperor Charlemagne broke the power of the Avars, and his successors strove to conquer the neighboring Slovak lands. These battles were waged along the entire Germano-Slovak border and were often repeated especially along the Danube, which was the natural route to the East for the Western population. It is no wonder that this kind of territory would attract many nations who were seeking new homelands in their search for a safe and peaceful life. When the Slovaks settled along the Danube, there was no longer any available space in Europe which would accomodate new inhabitants. The Slovaks occupied this country when it belonged to no one, and so it was that they found themselves on the western rim of the Slavic world as immediate neighbors of the Germans. The ancestors of the Slovak people attached to this country the destiny of all the succeeding Slovak generations, who, in turn established their claim to this land by the fact that during their more than thousand year history they never deserted or renounced it. Life in this country was hard, as hard as the rocks of the Slovak mountains and the rocky terrain of their foothills. As a result, the Slovaks had an opportunity to �SLOVAKIA 77 learn how to work hard, to live meagerly, and to hold firmly to the hereditary land of their ancestors. Only thus were they able to survive all the storms of history and the hardships of life. Above the rocky floor of this country there is always heard the soft murmur of impenetrable forests, and in the quiet valleys echoes the song of lively rivers and swift streams.3 This country with its particular geography pressed the seal of its character into the nature of the Slovak people, who have enough vital courage to wrestle with the hardships of their fate and with their deep emotion manage to find beauty and joy in living even among these hardships. IN THE FAMILY OF THE CIVILIZED NATIONS OF EUROPE The external peril which constantly threatened Slovakia at this historical crossroads led the Slovak tribes living along the central Danube and its tributaries to unite and defend themselves with their combined strength. Out of the tiny Slovak principalities a united Slovak state came into existence already in the first half of the 9th century. It was the first organized state in Central Europe . Simultaneously with this development, Christianity penetrated Slovakia. The first teachers of the pagan Slovaks were missionaries from neighboring Bavaria. By the year 830, during the reign of Prince Pribina, a Christian church was standing in the ancient home of the Slovak princes of Nitra. It was the first Christian church, not only in Slovakia, but in the entire territory of the western Slavs. With the Christian faith , which took root in Slovakia rapidly and firmly, Christian civilization entered the country. In the 9th century, therefore, the Slovak nation was already a member of the civilized, that is, Christian, nations of Europe. The entire region settled by Slovaks and divided into small principalities was successfully united by prince Mojmir, who ruled the country until the year 846. His successor, Prince Rastislav (846-869 ), fully realinzing the outward dangers, wanted to provide his country with an internal strength that would be able to resist any attack. In the year 863 he invited SS. Cyril and Method, who completed the Christianizing of the Slovaks, �78 SLOVAKIA laid the foundations of Christian education, and sought to establish a self-sustaining church organization to support the political independence of Slovaks. The headquarters of the Slovak princes in Nitra was also the residence of the bishop as early as 879. Svatopluk ( 870-894), whom contemporary sources call a king and consider "the most glorious of the Slavonic rulers and almost as mighty as an emperor", extended his domain to include the neigboring Czech and Polish tribes. He waged successful wars against his Western neighbors, maintained diplomatic relations and concluded diplomatic peace treaties with neighboring rulers, safeguarded the independent status of his country, and, in the year 880, placed himself, his country and his people under the protection of the Holy See. His son and successor, Mojmir II ( 894-906) , stalwartly defended the heritage of his great ancestors against threats not only from the West, but also from the East. By the end of the 10th century, the Danube basin was invaded by the Magyars. In these battles, waged on two fronts, the Slovaks were bled. 4 Slovakia, at the threshold of the 10th century, lost the conditions necessary for independent development. A great and glorious chapter of Slovak history was ended, but neither its inspiring memory, nor the right of the Slovak nation to liberty and independence, ever faded. The Slovak nation, at the very beginning of its history, passed the test which proved its ability to govern its own land and keep pace with the development of Europe. Firmly implanted in the great family of civilized nations, it could not be shaken loose later by the pounding waves of historical movements. A THOUSAND YEARS UNDER A FOREIGN ROOF The invasion of the Danube basin by the pagan Magyars disrupted the political and cultural development of this region of Central Europe. Marauding bands of Magyars frequently traversed the devastated land of Slovakia and terrorized neighboring countries. Under these circumstances the organization of the Slovak State collapsed, the ecclesiastical management of Slovak territory disintegrated generally, many churches fell victim to destruction, and �SLOVAKIA 79 the advance of civilization was halted momentarily by the wide-spread ruin. But Slovakia, even after these calamities, was not left a barren wilderness. All the attainments of Western civilization appropriated by the Slovaks in the 9th century and all the spiritual values which they had constructed under their own rules were not to be destroyed by fire and sword. In the 10th century Slovak territory was no longer organized as an independent state, but neither did it belong to any other government, for there was no established government along the central Danube in those days. The Slovaks lived on their ancient homeland but they had no roof of their own above them to insure their peaceful growth. In the years 955 Emperor Otto dealt the Magyars a defeat which put an end to their sorties and former manner of life. Because of this blow they were forced to settle down permanently, establish their standing among their neighbors and adjust themselves to their new circumstances. They occupied the central region of the Danube basin and at the end of the 10th century, under the leadership of the princes of the Arpad dynasty, began to build a new state: Hungary. Sometime around the year 1000 Slovakia became a part of the Hungarian State. The Slovak people did not come into Hungary as a nation defeated and subdued. Exhausted as it was by long battles and devastated by wars, Slovakia had no alternative but to become a member of the new government which had begun to form in the Danube basin. The Slovaks did not enter the Hungarian State empty-handed, dependent upon the favor or disfavor of the new government. In addition to the territory of their own country, the Slovaks brought into the budding Hungarian State their entire material and spiritual heritage which had survived the tragedy of the Slovak State and the storms of the 10th century. This Slovak heritage served as a partial foundation for the government, the church organization, the economic life and the cultural growth of Hungary.5 For a long time Slovakia was the most Christian and most cultured region of medieval Hungary and remained so until the most recent times. �80 SLOVAKIA Gradually the entire Danube basin entered the union of the Hungarian State. Although Slovakia did not constitute a separate political and administrative unit in ancient Hungary, its geographical location, its topographical features, its national character, its historical past and its cultural maturity provided it with a special position and a role of its own, even in the framework of the Hungarian State. From the formation of the Hungarian State until the end of the 11th century Slovakia was a vassal principality. At the junction of the 13th and 14th centuries it was the political and military center of power of the "Master of the Vah and the Tatras", Matus cak Trenciansky. During the first half of the 15th century, in the hands of Jan Jiskra, Slovakia played a role in the internal conflicts of Hungary. From the year 1540, when the Turks occupied a large area of Hungary, and for more than a century and a half thereafter, it continued to become more prominent in the affairs of the Hungarian State. Hungary never was and never became a purely Magyar state. The Danube basin has always been a living mosaic composed of diversified national units: Slovaks, Ruthenians, Rumanians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Germans . Among these nations and national minorities the Magyars never comprised a numerical majority, but by virtue of their origin, language and character they were strangers to all other inhabitants of the Danube basin. Nevertheless, because of this very fact and because they occupied the most advantageous location in the very center of the Danube basin, they were able to attain the leading position in the State of Hungary. The ruling families which mounted the Hungarian throne, after the extinction of the Arpads in 1301, were of non-Magyar origin. The official language until the end of the 18th century was Latin. Furthermore, the culture which developed in Hungary was the common product of all the inhabitants of the Danube basin. Thanks to these circumstances, Slovakia, even though it did not enjoy the conditions necessary for independent growth, was not menaced in medieval Hungary and retained its individual ethnical character. The vitality of the �SLOVAKIA 81 Slovak nation was such that not only isolated immigrants of Eastern origin ( the Sikuli, Pecenci, Polovci, Kumani), but also large groups of German colonists who settled in Slovakia particularly during the 13th century, lost their identity in the Slovak surrounding by natural assimilation. The distinctly Slovak character of Slovakia, though frequently imperiled by foreign influences, remained inviolate until the most recent times. The Slovak language thrived not only among larger groups of people in the villages but was heard also in the castles of mighty lords. Not even the cities with their centuries-old privileged German population could withstand the strong influence of the Slovak environment; gradually they too assumed a Slovak character. A certain Slovak scholar, contemplating the strange fate of Slovakia in Hungary, compared the life of the Slovak nation to the life of the dense forest which covers a great part of the Slovak land surface. Storms can cause much damage in a forest. Windstorms can uproot centuryold trees. Woodchoppers can cut down the forest piecemeal. But in the place of the old uprooted or cut-down forest grows a new and strong stand of trees with roots penetrating deep into the earth, between the rocks, clinging tenaciously to the earth which nourishes it. The Slovak nation is like an indestructible Slovak forest, firmly rooted in its native earth and its age-old traditions. Only such a nation could survive a thousand years without a roof of its own. ON THE BOUNDARY LINE OF TWO CIVILIZATIONS The Carpathians constitute not only the eastern boundary of the Danube basin, but, in the Middle Ages, they formed also the eastern boundary of Western civilization, Roman Christianity and Latin culture. Because this basin is more exposed to the West, it was open to all the cultural trends of the neighboring Western countries. Slovakia's particular position in the Danube basin placed it under the constant influence of Western European culture directly from the west (through Vienna), from the north (via Prague and Cracow), and from the south (via Budin). Byzantine Christianity and Eastern civilization �82 SLOVAKIA did make an entry through the Carpathian passes, but its influence covered only the easternmost part of Slovakia. The military expeditions of the German kings who waged war with the Hungarian kings and the campaigns of the Czech Hussites in the 15th century were a menace to the economic life of Slovakia but not to its cultural development. However, through the Carpathians from the East, even during the Middle Ages, came bands of fierce nomads bringing new dangers to the cultural life of the Danube basin. Aftear the Avars who completely disappeared from the domestic population of the central Danube, and after the Magyars who embraced Christianity and adjusted themselves to their new circumstances, and after the small groups of other Eastern nomads of Mongolian origin, a great calamity was visited upon Slovakia by the Tatars who invaded Central Europe in the year 1241 and devastated some sections of Slovakia. Not only the economic and cultural life of the Danube basin, but also the Christianity of the inhabitants was threatened by the Turks who, following their occupation of the Balkans, extended their power to the foothills of the Slovak mountains after the Battle of Mohac in the year 1526. Although Slovakia felt the effects of all these attacks and upheavals, it managed to maintain throughout the Middle Ages a close and unbroken connection with Western Europe, and this fact had a determining influence on the economic progress, the social development and the cultural life of Slovakia. This lasting and living contact of Slovakia with Western Europe is attested to by the rich relics of creative art which we find from the western to the eastern boundaries of Slovakia. The oldest historical remains, relics of the Roman style which dominated in Slovakia until the 13th century, have succumbed to the ravages of time and the devastation of war, or they have been replaced by newer relics; but many are in a state of partial preservation to this day. In contrast with these, there are unusually valuable Gothic relics from the 13th to 15th centuries which testify that Slovakia, at the peak of the Middle Ages, had attained a high level of culture. The parish churches of certain Slovak cities (Bratislava, Trnava, Levoca, Presov, Bardejov, Kosice ) are magnificent monuments of Gothic architecture, �SLOVAKIA 83 and some of them with their rich interior decoration are true museums of Gothic art. Imposing Slovak cities, especially the rich mining centers in central Slovakia (Kremnica-where gold ducats were minted as early as 1333-Banska Bystrica and Banska ~tiavnica ) and cities in the Spis region (Spisska Nova Ves, Levoca, Kezmarok) , have retained much of their medieval character to this day, proving that a vigorous culture bloomed in these cities in addition to industry, commerce and prosperity. Nowhere in Central Europe have there been as many medieval castles created and preserved as in Slovakia. They were the headquarters of powerful rulers; they played an important role in political history and in the military defense of the country, and stand as monuments of medieval feudalism and mute witnesses of the fate of a loyal nation. Many of these castles have fallen into ruin with the passing of time; only portions of their stout walls still tower above the rocky cliffs and wooded mountains to heighten the romance of Slovakia's natural beauty. Some escaped destruction and are still intact today. Their collections of historical relics tell the past of the entire region. The Slovak people who lived in the cities and in the villages surrounding these castles for centuries survived not only the feudal lords, but the splendor of their dwellings as well . Interesting legends recall their ancient past and their plight in the shadows of these castles. Slovaks have had an opportunity to learn to believe- as the Slovak adage puts it-that "everything is temporary except God."6 Slovakia was touched also by waves of the cultural movement which had its cradle in Italy: Renaissance or Humanism. This new intellectual and artistic trend entered Slovakia in the second half of the 15th century when Gothic culture was in full bloom there. In Bratislava, already in the year 1460, a university was founded that was to become a center of Humanism. Renaissance architecture developed chiefly in the eastern part of Slovakia, leaving its mark on the construction of Slovak homes. This cultural movement, which was so strong in the land of its origin-where ancient traditions have always had a home-,was not able to develop more fully either in Central Europe or in Slovakia because, simul- �84 SLOVAKIA taneously with the Turkish invasion of the Danube basin, the calm life of the country was disrupted by the Reformation. Slovakia also became a participant in this new phase of history. SLOVAKIA AS A BASTION OF EUROPE Implausible as it may sound, it is nonetheless a historical fact that Slovakia served as a bastion in the bulwark that defended Christian Europe against the danger from the East. It played this role when the Turks were in control of the central region of the Danube basin and were attempting to conquer the neighboring European countries. Life was difficult for the Slovaks in their mountainous homeland, but these mountains often proved to be their strongest protection. In the endless wooded mountains of their country they had found shelter from the Tatars. and they found in them the same kind of refuge from the Turks. Life in the hills was hard enough, but the proximity of the Turks brought new hardships to the Slovaks. Upon the shoulders of the Slovak people fell the burden 01 responsibility attending an organized defense against the attacks of the Turks. Plundering bands of Turkish wariors disturbed the population of Slovakia by plunging deep into Slovak territory, against the current of the Slovak rivers, and returning with captives as well as spoil. In order to resist the Turks and provide sanctuars for large numbers of the population, it was necessary to repair and maintain the ancient castles in Slovakia. This work was done by the Slovaks as faithful subjects. The cities strengthened their defenses, and those cities wich previously did not have to be fortified had to erect bulwarks. Even some cloisters in the vicinity of the Turks were transformed into temporary fortresses. To support the military forces which were to fight in the event of a Turkish assault, higher taxes had to be paid. These contributions had to be made by those inhabitants of Hungary who were not in the hands of the Turksprimarely Slovakia. Along the southern border of Slovakia, new forts were erected according to the new military �SLOVAKIA 85 strategy, and these were to obstruct the advance of the Turks toward the mining cities of central Slovakia. For a century and a half (from 1540 until the end of the 17th century), Slovakia lived in continual military preparedness and had to bear the tremendous burdens connected with such an abnormal situation. In addition to this, the land of Slovakia provided the stage on which were enacted, first of all, the wars between the antikings, Ferdinand I of Hapsburg (1526-1564) and Jan Zapol'a (1526-1540 ), and, later, the uprisings against the Hapsburgs . These revolts, apart from other reasons, were caused chiefly by the developments of the religious situation stemming from the Reformation and the Catholic Restoration. The teachings of the Reformation proclaimed by Martin Luther found welcome soil at an early date, particularly among the German urban population, and later spread over all Slovakia. The Protestant Church had a strong organization by the year 1612. In the Protestant centers, schools and publishing houses sprang up and books were printed to spread the new teachings among the inhabitants of Slovakia. However, this movement had hardly gained a foothold in Slovakia when, upon the invitation of the archbishop of Ostrihom, whose headquarters were in Trnava, Jesuits entered the country and began to carry out a zealous program of recatholization.7 This activity was centered in Trnava, where a Catholic university was founded in the year 1635. Near the university a large publishing firm was set up to print, in addition to scholarly Latin books, popular writings in all the languages of Central Europe. 8 Even though these two movements met in open conflict on Slovak soil, and the struggle was attended by various tragic occurences, the results were not as catastrophic as they were in other countries because the conflict was waged mostly on a spiritual plane-on the floor of the diet in city council-and predominantly with cultural weapons. For that reason Slovakia kept on growing culturally despite these religious disturbances. Strong traces of this fervent religious experience in Slovakia are found in the numerous and lovely relics of �86 SLOVAKIA baroque art. The unusually well-developed period of Gothic art was followed by a relatively weak impression of the Renaissance; but baroque culture spread far and wide and reached a high level in Slovakia. This period is represented by several still extant majestic churches of which the university church in Trnava and the Jesuit church in Trencin are outstanding for their size and perfection of form. The new style became popular in secular architecture also. Slovak cities took on a new appearance as the wealthy lords left their highly-situated and uncomfortable castles and built their palaces on the plains. Various elements of baroque art crept into Slovak folk art as well. This is evident proof that the Slovak people, while suffering under oppression, retained their deep emotions, their sense of beauty, their creative abilities, and their facility in adapting foreign artistic values to their own taste. It was not until the end of the 18th century that the religious conflicts came to an end. Protestantism, after its early successes, withdrew into the background, and the Catholic Church regained the upper hand. One important feature of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation was that both parties, in trying to gain the largest number of adherents, concentrated on the use of the vernacular. Alongside official and cultural Latin, the Slovak language begins to emerge and express itself in literary form. And with the revival of the Slovak language, a Slovak national consciousness and a longing for a new form of national life begins to bud, supported by the influx of new intel-lectual trends. ON THE WAY TO A LIFE OF THEIR OWN In the year 1683 the Polish king Jan Sobieski dealt the Turks a defeat, at the walls of Vienna, which marked the beginning of their withdrawal from Central Europe. In 1686 they had to surrender Budin, and by the end of the 17th century they were pushed out of the Danube basin into the Balkans. In these battles against the Turks and their anti-Hapsburg allies, economic misery in Slovakia increased and the social position of the subjugated people became practically unbearable. It is no wonder that the Slovak people saw in Juraj Janosik-who was hanged in 1713 because "he robbed the rich and gave to the poor"-their �SLOVAKIA 87 heroic champion and immortalized him and his deeds in legends, songs and art glass. 9 Hungary was finally liberated from the Turks and unified, but it was devastated, and areas which had been under the Turkish domination for a long time were virtually depopulated. The Slovaks contributed to the reconstruction and elevation of Hungary not only by paying higher taxes but also by leaving their mountainous homeland in large numbers and emigrating to the southern region of Hungary which was more fertile but lacked inhabitants and manpower. Hungary, in the meantime, developed closer ties with the countries ruled by the Hapsburgs. Charles VI ( 171117 40) , lacking a male heir, decreed that female descendants of the Hapsburg lineage could succeed him. This was the first law governing all the countries under the rule of the Haps burgs. The successors of Charles VI, Maria Theresa ( 17401780) and her son Joseph II (1780-1790), sought to perfect and intergrate the rule of their countries by introducing social, administrative and ecclesiastical reforms in the liberal spirit of current intellectual trends, which, together with other new measures, formed the groundwork for centralization and the beginning of Germanization. These reforms evoked a stormy reaction especially from the Magyars, because they ignored the rights of individual nations and imposed on them the German language instead of Latin. The new ideas which later, under the slogan "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity", resulted in the French Revolution, made their way into the Danube basin and affected also the nations of that region. These ideas found fertile soil not only among the Magyars, but also among the other nations which occupied Hungary. While the Magyars opposed the centralization of power in Vienna and the attempts at Germanization by the Hapsburgs, the nonMagyar nations of Hungary were preparing to defend themselves against the Magyars whose dream was to eventually build a single Hungarian State. In the 18th century the Magyars constituted about one-third of the population of Hungary. Next in numerical �88 SLOVAKIA size were the Slovaks, who were becoming as conscious of their nationality as the Magyars. Slovak national consciousness sprang and grew from several sources: besides the contemporary trends of thought entering Slovakia from the outside and the pressure exerted upon the Slovaks by the Magyars, Slovak national consciousness was strongly rooted in Slovak life itself. The Slovaks were becoming convinced anew that the country which they occupied was their own country and that they were its autonomous inhabitants with all rights of ownership to that region of Hungary. Reflecting this conviction, Jan Baltazar Magin emphasized the rights of the Slovak nation in a book published in 1728.10 Slovak writers revived the memory of Slovak antiquity, especially the glorious deeds of the Slovak rulers of the 9th century, in order to awaken among their people a longing for a free national future. In this vein, Juraj Papanek returned to the Slovak past in a book entitled Of Slovak Kings and Kingdoms, published in the year 1780; Juraj Sklenar, in a book on Vel'ka Morava printed in 1783; and Juraj Fandli, in 1793, with a revision of Papanek's book. The great events of ancient Slovak history were portrayed in the epic poems of the highly-gifted Slovak poet Jan Holly, entitled Svdtopluk ( 1833), in his book S ldv (1834) and in Cyrilo-M ethodidda (1835). With the Reformation, the Czech language spread throughout Slovakia and took root chiefly among Slovak Protestants. But Czech proved to be as foreign and as dead a language in Slovakia as Latin; hence the Slovaks began to cultivate their own language. The scholar Matej BelFuntik (1687-1749), in Latin work, wrote of the Slovak language that "in no respect does it fall behind the ponderousness and grandeur of Spanish, the charm and smoothness of French, the loftiness and strength of English, the richness and emphasis of German, the softness and tenderness of Italian, or the imperious sternness of Hungarian." Anton Bernolak, in the year 1787, wrote a grammar of literary Slovak, and later published a six-volume SlovakCzech-Latin-German-Hungarian dictionary. In the year �SLOVAKIA 89 1843 definitive rules of Slovak grammar were established, and these then became the instrument of an independent Slovak literature. As with their language, the Slovaks began to pay attention to the distinctive products of Slovak folk culture, in which they recognized the creative abilities of the Slovak spirit. All this filled the Slovaks with a feeling of national consciousness and instilled them with courage to win for themselves the rights that belong to people who consider themselves a separate nation and yearn to live as such. The Slovaks did not forget, but rather remainded themselves clearly at this time, that their position on the western border of the Slavic world and their immediate proximity to non-Slavic countries exposed to new perils. They felt that they were not strong enough numerically to defend themselves against the pressure of their neighbors. Therefore, in addition to fostering their own national individuality, they began to take into consideration their relationship to the other Slavonic nations, hoping to find support for the growth of their own life in the great family of Slavs. The idea of Slavic brotherhood found expression in Sldvy dcera (Daughter of Shiva), 1824, a poem by Jan Kollar, and in the scholarly work of Pavol Jozef ~afarik Slovanske starozitnosti (Slavic Antiquities). These thoughts influenced Slovak national consciousness very much and were re-echoed especially in Slovak literature. Slovak literature, filled with such a spirit, did not penetrate the large masses of Slovak people who lived in feudal bondage until 1848 and therefore could not take part in public life. Slovak leaders, aware of the situation of the Slovak people, strove to elevate them economically, socially, morally and culturally so that they might be capable of grasping their political rights and assist in achieving a free national life. In the first half of the 19th century the Slovak people, who for many ages occupied the northern section of Hungary, became a nation which was prepared to go its own way and live its own life.11 �90 SLOVAKIA POINT OF NO RETURN Just as the Slovaks had awakened to a new life, had become conscious of their national identity, and were preparing to defend their rights, they found themselves in a strange and difficult situation. They lost that stratum of society whos~ standing, education and economic independence had given it a leading role in politics as well. The upper and lower aristocracy of Slovak origin, having reneged its Slovak identity, left the Slovak nation standing on the threshold of its new life with large masses of leaderless people. Under these circumstances, the educated sons of the Slovak nation assumed the leadership, combining their struggle for the political rights of their people with a fight for their economic welfare, social elevation and cultural progress. The struggle for liberty was at the same time a struggle for democracy. In this struggle an unusually important part was played by the clergy, who, by reason of their calling and their constant contact with the people, best understood their troubles and their needs. It should not surprise anyone therefore to see large numbers of Catholic and Protestant clergymen working zealously in every area of Slovak national life and making outstanding sacrifices for their cause. The writings of the great Slovak poet, the Catholic priest Jan Holly (1785-1849 ) , inspired his entire generation, the actual leader of which was Ludovit stur (1815-1856 ), teacher, writer, editor and political fighter. stur, together with the Lutheran pastors Jozef Miloslav Hurban (18171888 ) and Michal Miloslav Hodza (1811-1870) established the definitive form of literary Slovak, founded a literary and publishing society, Tatrin ( 1844 ) , began to print political journal, Slovenske narodnie noviny-"Slovak National News"-(1845 ) , and the literary monthly, Slovenske pohl'ady-"Slovak Views"-(1846), achieved the unification of all Slovaks (1847), and gave Slovak national life a clear goal and a firm direction in the spirit of stur's slogan: "Backward We Cannot, Forward We Must!" "Forward" means to liberate the Slovak people from the yoke of slavery and lead them down the road of independent national and cultural growth to a free nation- �SLOVAKIA 91 al life. To achieve this goal the Slovak nation needed a political program. The Revolution which erupted in Paris in February, 1848, and reverberated throughout Europe, inspired a strong movement in Hungary also, affecting the development of Slovak life and speeding the ripening of the Slovak political program. Individual regions of Slovakia rebelled against the imposition of Hungarian as the only legal language and strove to get Slovak recognized as their official language. The language of the Slovak people represented the very existence of Slovakia, and the fight for "our Slovak language" was essentially a fight for all the rights of the Slovak nation. The foremost leaders of the Slovaks followed carefully the progress of revolutionary activity in Europe and Hungary and decided definitely that the Slovak nation must not stand in the background, gazing passively at these tempestuous changes. They made the necessary preparations in the various parts of Slovakia, and in May of 1848 gathered at the parsonage of Michal Miloslav Hodza in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas where they drew up a program for Slovakia's political future under the heading "Petitions of the Slovak Nation." The Slovaks, in creating their political program, took into consideration not only their aims and desires, but existing circumstances as well. One such prominent circumstance was the fact that Slovakia was part of the Hungarian State, in which it did not even constitute a separate administrative unit. The Slovaks were not planning to tear away from Hungary; they merely wished to have the boundaries of the Slovak lands clearly defined so that the Slovak people might have guaranteed equality with the Magyars in Hungary, and that this equality might apply in all areas of political, social, and especially in cultural life. They intended to present these petitions to the King, the Parliament and the Government, but first they wanted the opinion of the Slovak people regarding them and their achievement. The Magyars, who fought for their own national rights with such determination and revolutionary boldness, opposed the just and justified petitions of the Slovak nation. They outlawed the assembling of Slovaks and �92 SLOVAKIA treated their political leaders as traitors worthy of imprisonment. When the Slovaks saw what obstacles their political program met and would meet in Hungary, they resorted to armed insurrection against the Magyars, who themselves were engaged in a rebellion against the Emperor and were fighting for the independence of Hungary. The Slovak uprising of 1848-49 ended without result. The Emperor, from whom the Slovaks expected understanding and protection, suppressed the revolt of the Magyars with the help of the Russian army, and introduced absolute rule. He punished the Magyars, and completely forgot the Slovaks.12 The Emperor failed to crush the Magyars, and the Slovaks likewise refused to surrender their rights. In the year 1860 the Emperor terminated absolute rule and sought an agreement with the Magyars that would not only placate the Magyars but would also not jeopardize the interests of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Immediately in the spring of 1861 the Slovaks renewed their political activity. First they detailed the principles of their political program in the newspapers, and then they called a general assembly to Turciansky Sv. Martin where the prominent attorney Stefan Marko Daxner formulated Slovak policy anew in the comprehensive "Memorandum of the Slovak Nation." Pointing to the conditions which had developed in Hungary, they asked that the Slovak nation be recognized by a special edict, that Slovakia constitute a distinctive administrative unit in Hungary, and that the Slovak people in their own territory be given the right to develop their own life without restriction.13 These petitions were submitted in a separate memorial document to Emperor Franz Jozef (1849-1916 ) by the noble Slovak bishop Stefan Moyses. 14 All that resulted was that the Slovaks, in 1863-on the 1000th anniversary of the coming of Cyril and Method to Slovakia-were permitted to establish a cultural institution called the "Matica Slovenska" and with their own funds opened three high schools for the training of Slovak youth. In 1867 the Emperor came to terms with the Magyars, with the result that Hungary gained a wide degree of independence and a decided influence in matters of mutual �SLOVAKIA 93 concern in the Monarchy. The position of the Slovaks in Hungary not only worsened but grew steadily and unbearably more desperate. By the year 1875 Slovak cultural and educational institutions were closed and Magyarization was spreading throughout Hungary. Hungary was not a Magyar state even now, but the aim of Budapest policy was to make it such as quickly as possible. The goal of Magyar political ideology was to mold Hungary into a unified state with a population politically unified under one official language. All nonMagyar nations and national minorities in Hungary were to be just "nationalities" comprising parts of a single Hungarian-that is, Magyar-nation. The Danube basin resembles a large bowl. The center was settled by the Magyars. Feeling strange and alone and numerically weak in their central position, they made every effort to grow and become strong, in order to make their future sure. To do that, their growth had to be artificial and at the expense of the non-Magyar peoples of Hungary. For many centuries a variety of nations and national minorities occupied the rim of this huge bowl, the mountainous regions of the Danube basin. These were pushed toward the center by their growing populations and hard living conditions, thus posing a threat to the Magyars. This interesting conflict to be or not to be was waged in the Danube basin until Hungary ceased to exist as a state. Feeling the pressure of denationalization at every step, the Slovaks saw danger that threatened them and loomed ever larger above them. Even so, they did not stop stating their allegiance to Hungary, and made several new attempts to achieve a state of equality with the Magyars. All these attempts came to naught because the Magyar politicians, blinded by the alluring features of a future Magyar Hungary, were determined to press their objectives persistently and ruthlessly. 15 The Emperor, who was also the King of Hungary, took no interest in the development of internal conditions in Hungary and was likewise deaf and blind to the situation o! the Slovak nation. Because of the election laws and practices which obtained in Hungary, Slovaks either did not get into the Budapest Parliament, or, if they did, �94 SLOVAKIA only in negligible numbers. The Hungarian Parliament passed legislation which suppressed Slovak life. Magyarization increased, especially at the beginning of the 20th century. Count Albert Apponyi, as Minister of Education, saw to it that school laws were enacted to bring about the complete Magyarization of all schools in Slovakia. And, of course, the Magyar schools which the Slovak young people had to attend, did not train them in the Slovak spirit nor for a Slovak existence. If any Slovak in these circumstances dared to defend the honor and rights of his own nation, as did Andrej Hlinka (1864-1938)-called a rebel, a Panslav and a traitor-with such exemplary fearlessness, he found himself in prison, unable to go on with his work. Yet not even these adversities broke the Slovak nation, for the Slovaks believed, with Andrej Hlinka, that "Truth has never yet suffered in vain, nor will our Slovak truth suffer needlessly," as Hlinka himself prophesied in 1907 as he was being led to prison. 16 1) A comprehensive picture of the prehistoric settlement of Slovakia is given in the work of Jan Eisner, Slovensko v praveku (Slovakia in Prehistoric Times), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1933. 2) Several studies on the contacts of Slovakia with the Romans have been written by Vojtech Ondrouch. He presents a review of these questions in his work Slovensko v dobe fimsko-germanske ( Slovakia in the Roman-Germanic Period), Prague, 1936. 3) Approximately 40 % of Slovakia's land area is still covered with forests . In the Middle Ages the forested area was much larger. 4) The ancient history of Slovakia is covered by Frantisek Hrusovsk~· in his book Slovenski vladari (Slovak Rulers), Obrana Press, Inc., Scranton, Pa., 1948. 5) Pavol Bujnak, "Obratenie Mad'arov na vieru krest'ansku" (The Conversion of the Magyars to Christianity), Risa vel'komoravskci (The Greater Moravian Empire), Praha, 1933. The latest wrinting on Slovak influence at the beginning of the Hungarian State comes from Juraj Hodal, "Vclenenie sa starych Mad'arov do staroslovenskeho spolocenskeho zriadenia" (The Integration of the Ancient Magyars into Old-Slovak Society), Historicky sbornik (Historical Review), Turc. Sv. Martin, Slovakia, 1940. 6) A lucid study of the history of creative art in Slovakia is fount! in Vladimir Wagner's book Dejiny vytvarneho umenia na Slovensku (A History of Creative Art in Slovakia), Trnava, Slovakia, 1930. 7) Of the more recent literature on the Reformation in Slovakia, the book by Branislav Varsik, deserves attention, Husiti a reformacia na Slovensku do Zilinskej synody (The Hussites and the Reforma- �SLOVAKIA 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 95 tion in Slovakia up to the Synod of 2ilina), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1932. The beginnings of the Catholic Counter-Reformation are discribed by Vojtech Bucko, Reformne hnutie v arcibiskupstve ostrihomskom do roku 1564 (The Reform Movement in the Ostrihom Archbishopric up to 1564), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. The origin, history and significance of this cultural institution were memorialized in an anniversary anthology in 1935 under the title Trnavskci univerzita (The University of Trnava), Trnava, Slovakia, 1935. The economic and social status of the Slovak people in the time of oppression is described in the scholarly work of Stefan Jansak, Slovensko v dobe uhorskeho feudalizmu (Slovakia in the Period of Hungarian Feudalism) , Bratislava, Slovakia, 1932. Janosik as a champion of social justice was portrayed widely not only in literature, but also in the creative arts, in music and films. The comprehensive monography by A. A. Banik, Jan Baltazar Magin a jeho politickci, ncirodnci i kulturna obrana Slovcikov v roku 1728 (Jan Baltazar Magin and His Political, National and Cultural Defense of the Slovaks in 1728) , Trnava, Slovakia, 1936. The indications of tendencies to turn ancient Hungary into a monolithic Hungarian state are taken up in detail by Daniel Rapant, K pociatkom mad'arizcicie (The Beginnings of Magyarization), Vols. I and II, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1927, 1931. Daniel Rapant, Slovenske povstanie v roku 1848-49 (The Slovak Uprising of 1848-49), Vols. I and II, Turc. Sv. Martin, Slovakia, 1937. Frantisek Hrusovsky, Slovenske ncirodne shromazdenie v roku 1861 (The Slovak National Assembly of 1861) Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Daniel Rapant, Viedenske memorandum slovenske z roku 1861 (The Slovak Memorandum of Vienna, 1861) , Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Frantisek Bokes, Slovenske pokusy o vyrovnanie s Mad'armi (Slovak Attempts at Agreement with the Magyars), Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934, p. 198. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed. � 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 74 SLOVAKIA This is Slovakia By Francis Hrusovsk:J}, Ph. D. Slovakia lies along the northern shore of the central Danube, where the eastern slopes of the Alps touch the western slopes of the Carpathian mountains, and its territory covers the northern part of the Danubian basin. Since the dawn of European history, a route has run through the gate of the Danube, connecting the West and the East. This important route was intersected at this very point by several routes which ran from south to north and linked the coasts of the Adriatic with those of the Baltic and North Seas. According to ancient Slovak legend, evil spirits used to gather at crossroads and there would lie in wait for travelers. Crossroads have always harbored danger, and still do. Therefore the Slovaks erect crosses at intersections, to protect travelers who ·pass these dangerous places. From earliest times, nations seeking new homelands have flowed over these routes which intersect along the Danube. Through the portals of the Danube marched aggressive conquerors, and the soil of this land frequently served as the stage for bloody conflicts. The nation which settled in such a bustling spot experienced little peace, continually having to defend itself to keep from being swept away by the raging storms. In defending its life its strength was exhausted, and hence it could not grow and develop as it might have in a peaceful atmosphere where catastrophe is not always imminent. Precisely because of their country's location, however, the Slovaks became accustomed to danger, learned not to yield to threats, and now know how to endure numerous hardships. Over the routes which crossed at the center of the Danube traveled not only nations which had no permanent home as yet, but also conquerors lusting for booty and the expansion of their power. At this noisy crossroads between the Alps and the Carpathians, spiritual movements SLOVAKIA 75 met and penetrated each other, and these defined the cultural developement and progress of Central Europe. All these trends touched Slovakia, fertilized the soil of its spiritual growth, and enriched the life of a nation which had settled this country and occupied it for centuries. For all the disadvantages resulting from the geographical location of its country, the Slovak nation had this great advantage: it was in constant touch with the trends of European cultural life. Slovakia has behind it a rich and vibrant past, and the Slovak people have acquired sufficient historical experience to realize not only their position and vital strength, but also the right to their own life in their own ancient homeland. IN A COUNTRY OF HIGH MOUNTAINS AND DEEP VALLEYS Life was not easy in a country which for the greater part is covered with high mountains and furrowed with deep valleys . In ancient times, people who had to struggle with Nature for their daily bread with bare hands and primitive implements, sought out the broad plains where the fertile soil required less work and provided them with easier living conditions. The tributaries of the Vistula River, which flows into the Baltic Sea, and the tributaries of the Danube, which empties into the Black Sea, indicated the route to the passes in the Carpathian mountains, and through these passes people traveled from north to south and from south to north. Through Slovak territory, from the early Stone Age until deep into the Middle Ages, passed a great assortment of tribes, leaving behind in his country material relics of their life and cultural level.1 Also in the historical period, which in Slovakia begins around the birth of Christ, Slovakia was inhabited by people of various origins who stayed for a shorter or longer time at this crossroads. After the Celts, who left behind in Slovakia their names of the mountains and rivers, this region was occupied by the German Marcomanni and Quaddi. At the very beginning of the Christian era, the central section of the Danube became the northern boundary of the Roman Empire. The Roman legions which had built a string of 76 SLOVAKIA fortresses along both banks of the Danube, tried to restrict the attacts of the barbarians to the provinces on the far side of the Danube, and at the same time attempted to conquer the land of Slovakia and thus advance the imperial boundaries from the Danube to the Carpathians. Finally, the Roman emperors themselves had to come to the territory of Slovakia in order to subdue the stubborn Germans who were trying to push deeper into the Danubian basin. 2 When, at the end of the 4th century, the Romans had to withdraw from the Danube, and when, subsequently, the German tribes also left Slovakia, the Slavs flooded Central Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Hardly had the ancestors of the Slovaks moved through the Carpathian passes into the southern foothills of these mountains when the Danube basin was invaded from the east by the warlike Avars who then held control of Slovakia from the end of the 6th to the end of the 8th century. At the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries, the armies of emperor Charlemagne broke the power of the Avars, and his successors strove to conquer the neighboring Slovak lands. These battles were waged along the entire Germano-Slovak border and were often repeated especially along the Danube, which was the natural route to the East for the Western population. It is no wonder that this kind of territory would attract many nations who were seeking new homelands in their search for a safe and peaceful life. When the Slovaks settled along the Danube, there was no longer any available space in Europe which would accomodate new inhabitants. The Slovaks occupied this country when it belonged to no one, and so it was that they found themselves on the western rim of the Slavic world as immediate neighbors of the Germans. The ancestors of the Slovak people attached to this country the destiny of all the succeeding Slovak generations, who, in turn established their claim to this land by the fact that during their more than thousand year history they never deserted or renounced it. Life in this country was hard, as hard as the rocks of the Slovak mountains and the rocky terrain of their foothills. As a result, the Slovaks had an opportunity to SLOVAKIA 77 learn how to work hard, to live meagerly, and to hold firmly to the hereditary land of their ancestors. Only thus were they able to survive all the storms of history and the hardships of life. Above the rocky floor of this country there is always heard the soft murmur of impenetrable forests, and in the quiet valleys echoes the song of lively rivers and swift streams.3 This country with its particular geography pressed the seal of its character into the nature of the Slovak people, who have enough vital courage to wrestle with the hardships of their fate and with their deep emotion manage to find beauty and joy in living even among these hardships. IN THE FAMILY OF THE CIVILIZED NATIONS OF EUROPE The external peril which constantly threatened Slovakia at this historical crossroads led the Slovak tribes living along the central Danube and its tributaries to unite and defend themselves with their combined strength. Out of the tiny Slovak principalities a united Slovak state came into existence already in the first half of the 9th century. It was the first organized state in Central Europe . Simultaneously with this development, Christianity penetrated Slovakia. The first teachers of the pagan Slovaks were missionaries from neighboring Bavaria. By the year 830, during the reign of Prince Pribina, a Christian church was standing in the ancient home of the Slovak princes of Nitra. It was the first Christian church, not only in Slovakia, but in the entire territory of the western Slavs. With the Christian faith , which took root in Slovakia rapidly and firmly, Christian civilization entered the country. In the 9th century, therefore, the Slovak nation was already a member of the civilized, that is, Christian, nations of Europe. The entire region settled by Slovaks and divided into small principalities was successfully united by prince Mojmir, who ruled the country until the year 846. His successor, Prince Rastislav (846-869 ), fully realinzing the outward dangers, wanted to provide his country with an internal strength that would be able to resist any attack. In the year 863 he invited SS. Cyril and Method, who completed the Christianizing of the Slovaks, 78 SLOVAKIA laid the foundations of Christian education, and sought to establish a self-sustaining church organization to support the political independence of Slovaks. The headquarters of the Slovak princes in Nitra was also the residence of the bishop as early as 879. Svatopluk ( 870-894), whom contemporary sources call a king and consider "the most glorious of the Slavonic rulers and almost as mighty as an emperor", extended his domain to include the neigboring Czech and Polish tribes. He waged successful wars against his Western neighbors, maintained diplomatic relations and concluded diplomatic peace treaties with neighboring rulers, safeguarded the independent status of his country, and, in the year 880, placed himself, his country and his people under the protection of the Holy See. His son and successor, Mojmir II ( 894-906) , stalwartly defended the heritage of his great ancestors against threats not only from the West, but also from the East. By the end of the 10th century, the Danube basin was invaded by the Magyars. In these battles, waged on two fronts, the Slovaks were bled. 4 Slovakia, at the threshold of the 10th century, lost the conditions necessary for independent development. A great and glorious chapter of Slovak history was ended, but neither its inspiring memory, nor the right of the Slovak nation to liberty and independence, ever faded. The Slovak nation, at the very beginning of its history, passed the test which proved its ability to govern its own land and keep pace with the development of Europe. Firmly implanted in the great family of civilized nations, it could not be shaken loose later by the pounding waves of historical movements. A THOUSAND YEARS UNDER A FOREIGN ROOF The invasion of the Danube basin by the pagan Magyars disrupted the political and cultural development of this region of Central Europe. Marauding bands of Magyars frequently traversed the devastated land of Slovakia and terrorized neighboring countries. Under these circumstances the organization of the Slovak State collapsed, the ecclesiastical management of Slovak territory disintegrated generally, many churches fell victim to destruction, and SLOVAKIA 79 the advance of civilization was halted momentarily by the wide-spread ruin. But Slovakia, even after these calamities, was not left a barren wilderness. All the attainments of Western civilization appropriated by the Slovaks in the 9th century and all the spiritual values which they had constructed under their own rules were not to be destroyed by fire and sword. In the 10th century Slovak territory was no longer organized as an independent state, but neither did it belong to any other government, for there was no established government along the central Danube in those days. The Slovaks lived on their ancient homeland but they had no roof of their own above them to insure their peaceful growth. In the years 955 Emperor Otto dealt the Magyars a defeat which put an end to their sorties and former manner of life. Because of this blow they were forced to settle down permanently, establish their standing among their neighbors and adjust themselves to their new circumstances. They occupied the central region of the Danube basin and at the end of the 10th century, under the leadership of the princes of the Arpad dynasty, began to build a new state: Hungary. Sometime around the year 1000 Slovakia became a part of the Hungarian State. The Slovak people did not come into Hungary as a nation defeated and subdued. Exhausted as it was by long battles and devastated by wars, Slovakia had no alternative but to become a member of the new government which had begun to form in the Danube basin. The Slovaks did not enter the Hungarian State empty-handed, dependent upon the favor or disfavor of the new government. In addition to the territory of their own country, the Slovaks brought into the budding Hungarian State their entire material and spiritual heritage which had survived the tragedy of the Slovak State and the storms of the 10th century. This Slovak heritage served as a partial foundation for the government, the church organization, the economic life and the cultural growth of Hungary.5 For a long time Slovakia was the most Christian and most cultured region of medieval Hungary and remained so until the most recent times. 80 SLOVAKIA Gradually the entire Danube basin entered the union of the Hungarian State. Although Slovakia did not constitute a separate political and administrative unit in ancient Hungary, its geographical location, its topographical features, its national character, its historical past and its cultural maturity provided it with a special position and a role of its own, even in the framework of the Hungarian State. From the formation of the Hungarian State until the end of the 11th century Slovakia was a vassal principality. At the junction of the 13th and 14th centuries it was the political and military center of power of the "Master of the Vah and the Tatras", Matus cak Trenciansky. During the first half of the 15th century, in the hands of Jan Jiskra, Slovakia played a role in the internal conflicts of Hungary. From the year 1540, when the Turks occupied a large area of Hungary, and for more than a century and a half thereafter, it continued to become more prominent in the affairs of the Hungarian State. Hungary never was and never became a purely Magyar state. The Danube basin has always been a living mosaic composed of diversified national units: Slovaks, Ruthenians, Rumanians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Germans . Among these nations and national minorities the Magyars never comprised a numerical majority, but by virtue of their origin, language and character they were strangers to all other inhabitants of the Danube basin. Nevertheless, because of this very fact and because they occupied the most advantageous location in the very center of the Danube basin, they were able to attain the leading position in the State of Hungary. The ruling families which mounted the Hungarian throne, after the extinction of the Arpads in 1301, were of non-Magyar origin. The official language until the end of the 18th century was Latin. Furthermore, the culture which developed in Hungary was the common product of all the inhabitants of the Danube basin. Thanks to these circumstances, Slovakia, even though it did not enjoy the conditions necessary for independent growth, was not menaced in medieval Hungary and retained its individual ethnical character. The vitality of the SLOVAKIA 81 Slovak nation was such that not only isolated immigrants of Eastern origin ( the Sikuli, Pecenci, Polovci, Kumani), but also large groups of German colonists who settled in Slovakia particularly during the 13th century, lost their identity in the Slovak surrounding by natural assimilation. The distinctly Slovak character of Slovakia, though frequently imperiled by foreign influences, remained inviolate until the most recent times. The Slovak language thrived not only among larger groups of people in the villages but was heard also in the castles of mighty lords. Not even the cities with their centuries-old privileged German population could withstand the strong influence of the Slovak environment; gradually they too assumed a Slovak character. A certain Slovak scholar, contemplating the strange fate of Slovakia in Hungary, compared the life of the Slovak nation to the life of the dense forest which covers a great part of the Slovak land surface. Storms can cause much damage in a forest. Windstorms can uproot centuryold trees. Woodchoppers can cut down the forest piecemeal. But in the place of the old uprooted or cut-down forest grows a new and strong stand of trees with roots penetrating deep into the earth, between the rocks, clinging tenaciously to the earth which nourishes it. The Slovak nation is like an indestructible Slovak forest, firmly rooted in its native earth and its age-old traditions. Only such a nation could survive a thousand years without a roof of its own. ON THE BOUNDARY LINE OF TWO CIVILIZATIONS The Carpathians constitute not only the eastern boundary of the Danube basin, but, in the Middle Ages, they formed also the eastern boundary of Western civilization, Roman Christianity and Latin culture. Because this basin is more exposed to the West, it was open to all the cultural trends of the neighboring Western countries. Slovakia's particular position in the Danube basin placed it under the constant influence of Western European culture directly from the west (through Vienna), from the north (via Prague and Cracow), and from the south (via Budin). Byzantine Christianity and Eastern civilization 82 SLOVAKIA did make an entry through the Carpathian passes, but its influence covered only the easternmost part of Slovakia. The military expeditions of the German kings who waged war with the Hungarian kings and the campaigns of the Czech Hussites in the 15th century were a menace to the economic life of Slovakia but not to its cultural development. However, through the Carpathians from the East, even during the Middle Ages, came bands of fierce nomads bringing new dangers to the cultural life of the Danube basin. Aftear the Avars who completely disappeared from the domestic population of the central Danube, and after the Magyars who embraced Christianity and adjusted themselves to their new circumstances, and after the small groups of other Eastern nomads of Mongolian origin, a great calamity was visited upon Slovakia by the Tatars who invaded Central Europe in the year 1241 and devastated some sections of Slovakia. Not only the economic and cultural life of the Danube basin, but also the Christianity of the inhabitants was threatened by the Turks who, following their occupation of the Balkans, extended their power to the foothills of the Slovak mountains after the Battle of Mohac in the year 1526. Although Slovakia felt the effects of all these attacks and upheavals, it managed to maintain throughout the Middle Ages a close and unbroken connection with Western Europe, and this fact had a determining influence on the economic progress, the social development and the cultural life of Slovakia. This lasting and living contact of Slovakia with Western Europe is attested to by the rich relics of creative art which we find from the western to the eastern boundaries of Slovakia. The oldest historical remains, relics of the Roman style which dominated in Slovakia until the 13th century, have succumbed to the ravages of time and the devastation of war, or they have been replaced by newer relics; but many are in a state of partial preservation to this day. In contrast with these, there are unusually valuable Gothic relics from the 13th to 15th centuries which testify that Slovakia, at the peak of the Middle Ages, had attained a high level of culture. The parish churches of certain Slovak cities (Bratislava, Trnava, Levoca, Presov, Bardejov, Kosice ) are magnificent monuments of Gothic architecture, SLOVAKIA 83 and some of them with their rich interior decoration are true museums of Gothic art. Imposing Slovak cities, especially the rich mining centers in central Slovakia (Kremnica-where gold ducats were minted as early as 1333-Banska Bystrica and Banska ~tiavnica ) and cities in the Spis region (Spisska Nova Ves, Levoca, Kezmarok) , have retained much of their medieval character to this day, proving that a vigorous culture bloomed in these cities in addition to industry, commerce and prosperity. Nowhere in Central Europe have there been as many medieval castles created and preserved as in Slovakia. They were the headquarters of powerful rulers; they played an important role in political history and in the military defense of the country, and stand as monuments of medieval feudalism and mute witnesses of the fate of a loyal nation. Many of these castles have fallen into ruin with the passing of time; only portions of their stout walls still tower above the rocky cliffs and wooded mountains to heighten the romance of Slovakia's natural beauty. Some escaped destruction and are still intact today. Their collections of historical relics tell the past of the entire region. The Slovak people who lived in the cities and in the villages surrounding these castles for centuries survived not only the feudal lords, but the splendor of their dwellings as well . Interesting legends recall their ancient past and their plight in the shadows of these castles. Slovaks have had an opportunity to learn to believe- as the Slovak adage puts it-that "everything is temporary except God."6 Slovakia was touched also by waves of the cultural movement which had its cradle in Italy: Renaissance or Humanism. This new intellectual and artistic trend entered Slovakia in the second half of the 15th century when Gothic culture was in full bloom there. In Bratislava, already in the year 1460, a university was founded that was to become a center of Humanism. Renaissance architecture developed chiefly in the eastern part of Slovakia, leaving its mark on the construction of Slovak homes. This cultural movement, which was so strong in the land of its origin-where ancient traditions have always had a home-,was not able to develop more fully either in Central Europe or in Slovakia because, simul- 84 SLOVAKIA taneously with the Turkish invasion of the Danube basin, the calm life of the country was disrupted by the Reformation. Slovakia also became a participant in this new phase of history. SLOVAKIA AS A BASTION OF EUROPE Implausible as it may sound, it is nonetheless a historical fact that Slovakia served as a bastion in the bulwark that defended Christian Europe against the danger from the East. It played this role when the Turks were in control of the central region of the Danube basin and were attempting to conquer the neighboring European countries. Life was difficult for the Slovaks in their mountainous homeland, but these mountains often proved to be their strongest protection. In the endless wooded mountains of their country they had found shelter from the Tatars. and they found in them the same kind of refuge from the Turks. Life in the hills was hard enough, but the proximity of the Turks brought new hardships to the Slovaks. Upon the shoulders of the Slovak people fell the burden 01 responsibility attending an organized defense against the attacks of the Turks. Plundering bands of Turkish wariors disturbed the population of Slovakia by plunging deep into Slovak territory, against the current of the Slovak rivers, and returning with captives as well as spoil. In order to resist the Turks and provide sanctuars for large numbers of the population, it was necessary to repair and maintain the ancient castles in Slovakia. This work was done by the Slovaks as faithful subjects. The cities strengthened their defenses, and those cities wich previously did not have to be fortified had to erect bulwarks. Even some cloisters in the vicinity of the Turks were transformed into temporary fortresses. To support the military forces which were to fight in the event of a Turkish assault, higher taxes had to be paid. These contributions had to be made by those inhabitants of Hungary who were not in the hands of the Turksprimarely Slovakia. Along the southern border of Slovakia, new forts were erected according to the new military SLOVAKIA 85 strategy, and these were to obstruct the advance of the Turks toward the mining cities of central Slovakia. For a century and a half (from 1540 until the end of the 17th century), Slovakia lived in continual military preparedness and had to bear the tremendous burdens connected with such an abnormal situation. In addition to this, the land of Slovakia provided the stage on which were enacted, first of all, the wars between the antikings, Ferdinand I of Hapsburg (1526-1564) and Jan Zapol'a (1526-1540 ), and, later, the uprisings against the Hapsburgs . These revolts, apart from other reasons, were caused chiefly by the developments of the religious situation stemming from the Reformation and the Catholic Restoration. The teachings of the Reformation proclaimed by Martin Luther found welcome soil at an early date, particularly among the German urban population, and later spread over all Slovakia. The Protestant Church had a strong organization by the year 1612. In the Protestant centers, schools and publishing houses sprang up and books were printed to spread the new teachings among the inhabitants of Slovakia. However, this movement had hardly gained a foothold in Slovakia when, upon the invitation of the archbishop of Ostrihom, whose headquarters were in Trnava, Jesuits entered the country and began to carry out a zealous program of recatholization.7 This activity was centered in Trnava, where a Catholic university was founded in the year 1635. Near the university a large publishing firm was set up to print, in addition to scholarly Latin books, popular writings in all the languages of Central Europe. 8 Even though these two movements met in open conflict on Slovak soil, and the struggle was attended by various tragic occurences, the results were not as catastrophic as they were in other countries because the conflict was waged mostly on a spiritual plane-on the floor of the diet in city council-and predominantly with cultural weapons. For that reason Slovakia kept on growing culturally despite these religious disturbances. Strong traces of this fervent religious experience in Slovakia are found in the numerous and lovely relics of 86 SLOVAKIA baroque art. The unusually well-developed period of Gothic art was followed by a relatively weak impression of the Renaissance; but baroque culture spread far and wide and reached a high level in Slovakia. This period is represented by several still extant majestic churches of which the university church in Trnava and the Jesuit church in Trencin are outstanding for their size and perfection of form. The new style became popular in secular architecture also. Slovak cities took on a new appearance as the wealthy lords left their highly-situated and uncomfortable castles and built their palaces on the plains. Various elements of baroque art crept into Slovak folk art as well. This is evident proof that the Slovak people, while suffering under oppression, retained their deep emotions, their sense of beauty, their creative abilities, and their facility in adapting foreign artistic values to their own taste. It was not until the end of the 18th century that the religious conflicts came to an end. Protestantism, after its early successes, withdrew into the background, and the Catholic Church regained the upper hand. One important feature of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation was that both parties, in trying to gain the largest number of adherents, concentrated on the use of the vernacular. Alongside official and cultural Latin, the Slovak language begins to emerge and express itself in literary form. And with the revival of the Slovak language, a Slovak national consciousness and a longing for a new form of national life begins to bud, supported by the influx of new intel-lectual trends. ON THE WAY TO A LIFE OF THEIR OWN In the year 1683 the Polish king Jan Sobieski dealt the Turks a defeat, at the walls of Vienna, which marked the beginning of their withdrawal from Central Europe. In 1686 they had to surrender Budin, and by the end of the 17th century they were pushed out of the Danube basin into the Balkans. In these battles against the Turks and their anti-Hapsburg allies, economic misery in Slovakia increased and the social position of the subjugated people became practically unbearable. It is no wonder that the Slovak people saw in Juraj Janosik-who was hanged in 1713 because "he robbed the rich and gave to the poor"-their SLOVAKIA 87 heroic champion and immortalized him and his deeds in legends, songs and art glass. 9 Hungary was finally liberated from the Turks and unified, but it was devastated, and areas which had been under the Turkish domination for a long time were virtually depopulated. The Slovaks contributed to the reconstruction and elevation of Hungary not only by paying higher taxes but also by leaving their mountainous homeland in large numbers and emigrating to the southern region of Hungary which was more fertile but lacked inhabitants and manpower. Hungary, in the meantime, developed closer ties with the countries ruled by the Hapsburgs. Charles VI ( 171117 40) , lacking a male heir, decreed that female descendants of the Hapsburg lineage could succeed him. This was the first law governing all the countries under the rule of the Haps burgs. The successors of Charles VI, Maria Theresa ( 17401780) and her son Joseph II (1780-1790), sought to perfect and intergrate the rule of their countries by introducing social, administrative and ecclesiastical reforms in the liberal spirit of current intellectual trends, which, together with other new measures, formed the groundwork for centralization and the beginning of Germanization. These reforms evoked a stormy reaction especially from the Magyars, because they ignored the rights of individual nations and imposed on them the German language instead of Latin. The new ideas which later, under the slogan "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity", resulted in the French Revolution, made their way into the Danube basin and affected also the nations of that region. These ideas found fertile soil not only among the Magyars, but also among the other nations which occupied Hungary. While the Magyars opposed the centralization of power in Vienna and the attempts at Germanization by the Hapsburgs, the nonMagyar nations of Hungary were preparing to defend themselves against the Magyars whose dream was to eventually build a single Hungarian State. In the 18th century the Magyars constituted about one-third of the population of Hungary. Next in numerical 88 SLOVAKIA size were the Slovaks, who were becoming as conscious of their nationality as the Magyars. Slovak national consciousness sprang and grew from several sources: besides the contemporary trends of thought entering Slovakia from the outside and the pressure exerted upon the Slovaks by the Magyars, Slovak national consciousness was strongly rooted in Slovak life itself. The Slovaks were becoming convinced anew that the country which they occupied was their own country and that they were its autonomous inhabitants with all rights of ownership to that region of Hungary. Reflecting this conviction, Jan Baltazar Magin emphasized the rights of the Slovak nation in a book published in 1728.10 Slovak writers revived the memory of Slovak antiquity, especially the glorious deeds of the Slovak rulers of the 9th century, in order to awaken among their people a longing for a free national future. In this vein, Juraj Papanek returned to the Slovak past in a book entitled Of Slovak Kings and Kingdoms, published in the year 1780; Juraj Sklenar, in a book on Vel'ka Morava printed in 1783; and Juraj Fandli, in 1793, with a revision of Papanek's book. The great events of ancient Slovak history were portrayed in the epic poems of the highly-gifted Slovak poet Jan Holly, entitled Svdtopluk ( 1833), in his book S ldv (1834) and in Cyrilo-M ethodidda (1835). With the Reformation, the Czech language spread throughout Slovakia and took root chiefly among Slovak Protestants. But Czech proved to be as foreign and as dead a language in Slovakia as Latin; hence the Slovaks began to cultivate their own language. The scholar Matej BelFuntik (1687-1749), in Latin work, wrote of the Slovak language that "in no respect does it fall behind the ponderousness and grandeur of Spanish, the charm and smoothness of French, the loftiness and strength of English, the richness and emphasis of German, the softness and tenderness of Italian, or the imperious sternness of Hungarian." Anton Bernolak, in the year 1787, wrote a grammar of literary Slovak, and later published a six-volume SlovakCzech-Latin-German-Hungarian dictionary. In the year SLOVAKIA 89 1843 definitive rules of Slovak grammar were established, and these then became the instrument of an independent Slovak literature. As with their language, the Slovaks began to pay attention to the distinctive products of Slovak folk culture, in which they recognized the creative abilities of the Slovak spirit. All this filled the Slovaks with a feeling of national consciousness and instilled them with courage to win for themselves the rights that belong to people who consider themselves a separate nation and yearn to live as such. The Slovaks did not forget, but rather remainded themselves clearly at this time, that their position on the western border of the Slavic world and their immediate proximity to non-Slavic countries exposed to new perils. They felt that they were not strong enough numerically to defend themselves against the pressure of their neighbors. Therefore, in addition to fostering their own national individuality, they began to take into consideration their relationship to the other Slavonic nations, hoping to find support for the growth of their own life in the great family of Slavs. The idea of Slavic brotherhood found expression in Sldvy dcera (Daughter of Shiva), 1824, a poem by Jan Kollar, and in the scholarly work of Pavol Jozef ~afarik Slovanske starozitnosti (Slavic Antiquities). These thoughts influenced Slovak national consciousness very much and were re-echoed especially in Slovak literature. Slovak literature, filled with such a spirit, did not penetrate the large masses of Slovak people who lived in feudal bondage until 1848 and therefore could not take part in public life. Slovak leaders, aware of the situation of the Slovak people, strove to elevate them economically, socially, morally and culturally so that they might be capable of grasping their political rights and assist in achieving a free national life. In the first half of the 19th century the Slovak people, who for many ages occupied the northern section of Hungary, became a nation which was prepared to go its own way and live its own life.11 90 SLOVAKIA POINT OF NO RETURN Just as the Slovaks had awakened to a new life, had become conscious of their national identity, and were preparing to defend their rights, they found themselves in a strange and difficult situation. They lost that stratum of society whos~ standing, education and economic independence had given it a leading role in politics as well. The upper and lower aristocracy of Slovak origin, having reneged its Slovak identity, left the Slovak nation standing on the threshold of its new life with large masses of leaderless people. Under these circumstances, the educated sons of the Slovak nation assumed the leadership, combining their struggle for the political rights of their people with a fight for their economic welfare, social elevation and cultural progress. The struggle for liberty was at the same time a struggle for democracy. In this struggle an unusually important part was played by the clergy, who, by reason of their calling and their constant contact with the people, best understood their troubles and their needs. It should not surprise anyone therefore to see large numbers of Catholic and Protestant clergymen working zealously in every area of Slovak national life and making outstanding sacrifices for their cause. The writings of the great Slovak poet, the Catholic priest Jan Holly (1785-1849 ) , inspired his entire generation, the actual leader of which was Ludovit stur (1815-1856 ), teacher, writer, editor and political fighter. stur, together with the Lutheran pastors Jozef Miloslav Hurban (18171888 ) and Michal Miloslav Hodza (1811-1870) established the definitive form of literary Slovak, founded a literary and publishing society, Tatrin ( 1844 ) , began to print political journal, Slovenske narodnie noviny-"Slovak National News"-(1845 ) , and the literary monthly, Slovenske pohl'ady-"Slovak Views"-(1846), achieved the unification of all Slovaks (1847), and gave Slovak national life a clear goal and a firm direction in the spirit of stur's slogan: "Backward We Cannot, Forward We Must!" "Forward" means to liberate the Slovak people from the yoke of slavery and lead them down the road of independent national and cultural growth to a free nation- SLOVAKIA 91 al life. To achieve this goal the Slovak nation needed a political program. The Revolution which erupted in Paris in February, 1848, and reverberated throughout Europe, inspired a strong movement in Hungary also, affecting the development of Slovak life and speeding the ripening of the Slovak political program. Individual regions of Slovakia rebelled against the imposition of Hungarian as the only legal language and strove to get Slovak recognized as their official language. The language of the Slovak people represented the very existence of Slovakia, and the fight for "our Slovak language" was essentially a fight for all the rights of the Slovak nation. The foremost leaders of the Slovaks followed carefully the progress of revolutionary activity in Europe and Hungary and decided definitely that the Slovak nation must not stand in the background, gazing passively at these tempestuous changes. They made the necessary preparations in the various parts of Slovakia, and in May of 1848 gathered at the parsonage of Michal Miloslav Hodza in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas where they drew up a program for Slovakia's political future under the heading "Petitions of the Slovak Nation." The Slovaks, in creating their political program, took into consideration not only their aims and desires, but existing circumstances as well. One such prominent circumstance was the fact that Slovakia was part of the Hungarian State, in which it did not even constitute a separate administrative unit. The Slovaks were not planning to tear away from Hungary; they merely wished to have the boundaries of the Slovak lands clearly defined so that the Slovak people might have guaranteed equality with the Magyars in Hungary, and that this equality might apply in all areas of political, social, and especially in cultural life. They intended to present these petitions to the King, the Parliament and the Government, but first they wanted the opinion of the Slovak people regarding them and their achievement. The Magyars, who fought for their own national rights with such determination and revolutionary boldness, opposed the just and justified petitions of the Slovak nation. They outlawed the assembling of Slovaks and 92 SLOVAKIA treated their political leaders as traitors worthy of imprisonment. When the Slovaks saw what obstacles their political program met and would meet in Hungary, they resorted to armed insurrection against the Magyars, who themselves were engaged in a rebellion against the Emperor and were fighting for the independence of Hungary. The Slovak uprising of 1848-49 ended without result. The Emperor, from whom the Slovaks expected understanding and protection, suppressed the revolt of the Magyars with the help of the Russian army, and introduced absolute rule. He punished the Magyars, and completely forgot the Slovaks.12 The Emperor failed to crush the Magyars, and the Slovaks likewise refused to surrender their rights. In the year 1860 the Emperor terminated absolute rule and sought an agreement with the Magyars that would not only placate the Magyars but would also not jeopardize the interests of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Immediately in the spring of 1861 the Slovaks renewed their political activity. First they detailed the principles of their political program in the newspapers, and then they called a general assembly to Turciansky Sv. Martin where the prominent attorney Stefan Marko Daxner formulated Slovak policy anew in the comprehensive "Memorandum of the Slovak Nation." Pointing to the conditions which had developed in Hungary, they asked that the Slovak nation be recognized by a special edict, that Slovakia constitute a distinctive administrative unit in Hungary, and that the Slovak people in their own territory be given the right to develop their own life without restriction.13 These petitions were submitted in a separate memorial document to Emperor Franz Jozef (1849-1916 ) by the noble Slovak bishop Stefan Moyses. 14 All that resulted was that the Slovaks, in 1863-on the 1000th anniversary of the coming of Cyril and Method to Slovakia-were permitted to establish a cultural institution called the "Matica Slovenska" and with their own funds opened three high schools for the training of Slovak youth. In 1867 the Emperor came to terms with the Magyars, with the result that Hungary gained a wide degree of independence and a decided influence in matters of mutual SLOVAKIA 93 concern in the Monarchy. The position of the Slovaks in Hungary not only worsened but grew steadily and unbearably more desperate. By the year 1875 Slovak cultural and educational institutions were closed and Magyarization was spreading throughout Hungary. Hungary was not a Magyar state even now, but the aim of Budapest policy was to make it such as quickly as possible. The goal of Magyar political ideology was to mold Hungary into a unified state with a population politically unified under one official language. All nonMagyar nations and national minorities in Hungary were to be just "nationalities" comprising parts of a single Hungarian-that is, Magyar-nation. The Danube basin resembles a large bowl. The center was settled by the Magyars. Feeling strange and alone and numerically weak in their central position, they made every effort to grow and become strong, in order to make their future sure. To do that, their growth had to be artificial and at the expense of the non-Magyar peoples of Hungary. For many centuries a variety of nations and national minorities occupied the rim of this huge bowl, the mountainous regions of the Danube basin. These were pushed toward the center by their growing populations and hard living conditions, thus posing a threat to the Magyars. This interesting conflict to be or not to be was waged in the Danube basin until Hungary ceased to exist as a state. Feeling the pressure of denationalization at every step, the Slovaks saw danger that threatened them and loomed ever larger above them. Even so, they did not stop stating their allegiance to Hungary, and made several new attempts to achieve a state of equality with the Magyars. All these attempts came to naught because the Magyar politicians, blinded by the alluring features of a future Magyar Hungary, were determined to press their objectives persistently and ruthlessly. 15 The Emperor, who was also the King of Hungary, took no interest in the development of internal conditions in Hungary and was likewise deaf and blind to the situation o! the Slovak nation. Because of the election laws and practices which obtained in Hungary, Slovaks either did not get into the Budapest Parliament, or, if they did, 94 SLOVAKIA only in negligible numbers. The Hungarian Parliament passed legislation which suppressed Slovak life. Magyarization increased, especially at the beginning of the 20th century. Count Albert Apponyi, as Minister of Education, saw to it that school laws were enacted to bring about the complete Magyarization of all schools in Slovakia. And, of course, the Magyar schools which the Slovak young people had to attend, did not train them in the Slovak spirit nor for a Slovak existence. If any Slovak in these circumstances dared to defend the honor and rights of his own nation, as did Andrej Hlinka (1864-1938)-called a rebel, a Panslav and a traitor-with such exemplary fearlessness, he found himself in prison, unable to go on with his work. Yet not even these adversities broke the Slovak nation, for the Slovaks believed, with Andrej Hlinka, that "Truth has never yet suffered in vain, nor will our Slovak truth suffer needlessly," as Hlinka himself prophesied in 1907 as he was being led to prison. 16 1) A comprehensive picture of the prehistoric settlement of Slovakia is given in the work of Jan Eisner, Slovensko v praveku (Slovakia in Prehistoric Times), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1933. 2) Several studies on the contacts of Slovakia with the Romans have been written by Vojtech Ondrouch. He presents a review of these questions in his work Slovensko v dobe fimsko-germanske ( Slovakia in the Roman-Germanic Period), Prague, 1936. 3) Approximately 40 % of Slovakia's land area is still covered with forests . In the Middle Ages the forested area was much larger. 4) The ancient history of Slovakia is covered by Frantisek Hrusovsk~· in his book Slovenski vladari (Slovak Rulers), Obrana Press, Inc., Scranton, Pa., 1948. 5) Pavol Bujnak, "Obratenie Mad'arov na vieru krest'ansku" (The Conversion of the Magyars to Christianity), Risa vel'komoravskci (The Greater Moravian Empire), Praha, 1933. The latest wrinting on Slovak influence at the beginning of the Hungarian State comes from Juraj Hodal, "Vclenenie sa starych Mad'arov do staroslovenskeho spolocenskeho zriadenia" (The Integration of the Ancient Magyars into Old-Slovak Society), Historicky sbornik (Historical Review), Turc. Sv. Martin, Slovakia, 1940. 6) A lucid study of the history of creative art in Slovakia is fount! in Vladimir Wagner's book Dejiny vytvarneho umenia na Slovensku (A History of Creative Art in Slovakia), Trnava, Slovakia, 1930. 7) Of the more recent literature on the Reformation in Slovakia, the book by Branislav Varsik, deserves attention, Husiti a reformacia na Slovensku do Zilinskej synody (The Hussites and the Reforma- SLOVAKIA 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 95 tion in Slovakia up to the Synod of 2ilina), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1932. The beginnings of the Catholic Counter-Reformation are discribed by Vojtech Bucko, Reformne hnutie v arcibiskupstve ostrihomskom do roku 1564 (The Reform Movement in the Ostrihom Archbishopric up to 1564), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. The origin, history and significance of this cultural institution were memorialized in an anniversary anthology in 1935 under the title Trnavskci univerzita (The University of Trnava), Trnava, Slovakia, 1935. The economic and social status of the Slovak people in the time of oppression is described in the scholarly work of Stefan Jansak, Slovensko v dobe uhorskeho feudalizmu (Slovakia in the Period of Hungarian Feudalism) , Bratislava, Slovakia, 1932. Janosik as a champion of social justice was portrayed widely not only in literature, but also in the creative arts, in music and films. The comprehensive monography by A. A. Banik, Jan Baltazar Magin a jeho politickci, ncirodnci i kulturna obrana Slovcikov v roku 1728 (Jan Baltazar Magin and His Political, National and Cultural Defense of the Slovaks in 1728) , Trnava, Slovakia, 1936. The indications of tendencies to turn ancient Hungary into a monolithic Hungarian state are taken up in detail by Daniel Rapant, K pociatkom mad'arizcicie (The Beginnings of Magyarization), Vols. I and II, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1927, 1931. Daniel Rapant, Slovenske povstanie v roku 1848-49 (The Slovak Uprising of 1848-49), Vols. I and II, Turc. Sv. Martin, Slovakia, 1937. Frantisek Hrusovsky, Slovenske ncirodne shromazdenie v roku 1861 (The Slovak National Assembly of 1861) Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Daniel Rapant, Viedenske memorandum slovenske z roku 1861 (The Slovak Memorandum of Vienna, 1861) , Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Frantisek Bokes, Slovenske pokusy o vyrovnanie s Mad'armi (Slovak Attempts at Agreement with the Magyars), Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1944. Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934, p. 198. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed.  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 This is Slovakia Description An account of the resource Francis Hrušovský, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 19 (No. 42), 1969 pp. 74-95 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrušovský, František, 1903-1956 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1969 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c82024079e9200a0c0b1bb4ef5bacd72.pdf b18c0b2cecdd2bf798957cdab955d55d PDF Text Text 42 SLOVAKIA This Is Slovakia By Francis Hrusovsk'J}, Ph.D. SEPARATIO N FROM HUNGARY The Austro-Hung arian Monarchy was built on a shaky foundation. It may have survived in a less extended territory, had it grasped in time its historical mission in this ethnically disunited region of Central Europe. Hungary could have weathered the approaching historical holocaust if it had put into practice the spirit of justice and equality. But neither the Austrian Emperor nor the Hungarian King, neither the Government of Vienna nor of Budapest, reckoned with the given realities: they did not know how to rightly evaluate the strength of the new historical trends, nor did they forsee the direction of future developments . Hence they permitted themselves to be led by policies which could only lead to the disintegration of the entire Monarchy and to the fall of Hungary. Because of the national policy of Hungary, which curtailed the growth of Slovak national life in all of its phases. the Slovaks were not sufficiently prepared for the role which awaited them. When the World War broke out in 1914, under the emergency provisions of the Government any kind of Slovak political movement was unthinkable. The fate of countries and of nations is not always determined by their strength, but as much by circumstances which arise without their doing. This proved to be true not only of Austra-Hunga ry, which was shaken to its foundations by World War I, but also of the various nations which had gradually become aware that the time had come to take an account of the past and be concerned only about their own future fate, regardless of the interests of the Monarchy. At the beginning of the war, the Slovaks had no thought of separating from Hungary, much less could they have expressed such a thought aloud. But when the War was nearing its end and it was more and more evident that Austria-Hung ary could not escape defeat, the leaders of �SLOVAKIA 43 the Slovaks saw that the military defeat of the Hapsburg Monarchy would furnish them the opportunity for attaining the goals they were not able to achieve in Hungary. Slovak patriots met for a secret conference in Turciansky Sv. Martin on May 24, 1918, where Andrej Hlinka plainly stated: "The thousand-year marriage with the Magyars has not panned out. We must be divorced." 1 The Slovaks took a stand for the right of selfdetermination of the Slovak nation and decided that at an opportune time they would sever all ties between Slovakia and Hungary and enter a new State composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Russia. The Czecho-Slovak National Council (Ceskoslovenska narodna rada ), founded in Paris in 1916, worked abroad for the disolution of Austria-Aungary and the formation of a new Czecho-Slovak State. At the head of the CzechoSlovak National Council was professor Thomas G. Masaryk, and its outstanding member was the distinguished Slovak scholar, Milan Rastislav Stefanik, who possessed unusual diplomatic talents and attained the rank of General in the French Army. Slovaks living abroad morally and materially supported the activity of the Czecho-Slovak National Council and in large numbers joined the CzechoSlovak Legion which fought on the side of the Allies against Austria-Hungary The Slovaks were convinced that if Slovakia would tear away from Hungary, it would enjoy all the conditions of a free national existence in a joint Czecho-Slovak State. The Czecho-Slovak National Council was most effectively supported by the Slovaks who were living in America and who always lllad a lively interest in the destiny of the Slovak nation in the Old World. Under the leadership of the Slovak League of America, which was organized already in 1907, they frequently raised their voice in defense of the Slovak nation in Hungary, and as free citizens of a democratic country they protested against the injustices which their native brothers in Slovakia had to suffer. Later, in the years of World War I , they stood in the first ranks of the battle for the liberation of Slovakia. It is to their credit not only that they made large financial sacrifices for the cause of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, but also that they insisted on having beforehand �44 SLOVAKIA a clear presentation and firm guaranties as to the relationship between the Slovak and Czech nations in the proposed joint State. Representatives of the Slovak League in America discussed this serious question with delegates of the Czech National Federation in Cleveland as early as 1915, and came to the conclusion that the future Czecho-Slovakia would be a federal union of states with complete autonomy for Slovakia. Subsequently, on May 30, 1918, representatives of the Slovak League met with representatives of Czech organizations and with the President of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, T. G. Masaryk, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and drew up an agreement which guaranteed political and cultural autonomy to Slovakia in the new State. This agreement was designed by T . G. Masaryk and later signed by him as president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. 2 Only vague reports of this foreign action penetrated Slovakia, and the agreements which testify to the wise foresight of the American Slovaks were not even known there. Nevertheless, everything that could be undertaken in Slovakia during the War for the benefit of Slovakia's future was basically in harmony with what was being done independently overseas. In the meantime, events at the front indicated that the defeat of Austria-Hungary was inescapable. Emperor Charles published a manifesto on October 16, 1918, in which he promised a reconstruction of the Monarchy on a new basis, but it was already too late. The President of the Hungarian Government, Count Stephen Tisza, on the 17th of October, attempted to justify the Budapest policy of Magyarization, reluctant to see that it was just this policy that brought Hungary to inevitable disintegration and certain collapse. In the Hungarian Parliament, on October 19, the Slovak delegate, Dr. Ferdis Juriga, announced in the face of a stormy protest of Magyar members that neither the Hungarian Parliament nor the Hungarian Government had the right any longer to decide the future destiny of the Slovak nation, because the Slovaks would decide their own future on the basis of their right of self-determination. The Slovaks, unaware of what had happened in Prague on October 28, met on October 30, 1918, in Turciansky Sv. �SLOVAKIA 45 Martin, where, chiefly under the influence of Andrej Hlinka, they organized a Slovak National Council and in a separate declaration proclaimed that the Slovaks once and for all Hrere separating themselves from Hungary and were of their own accord joining the Czecho-Slovak State.3 The new Czecho-Slovak State was born on the ruins of the Hapsburg Monarchy, which, having lost the war, was not able to defend its own existence and escape catastrophe. There was nothing left to do but define the boundaries of the new State (especially the Slovak-Hungarian border ), establish its international position, and construct its internal administration on a basis that would insure its ability to live. The most important condition for the healthy internal development of the Czecho-Slovak State was deciding the position Slovakia would occupy in the new State. The separation of the Slovaks from the Magyars and from Hungary was for the Slovak& not only painless, but joyful, as was the separation of the thirteen American colonies from England. " SLAVES UNTIL NOW - NEVER AGAIN!" Martin Razus (1888-1937)-a leading Slovak poet whose writings gave voice to the pains, longings, and hopes of his people, and whom the Slovaks called the "conscience of the Slovak nation"-welcomed the dawn of the new Slovak day with a poem, the refrain of which reads: "Slaves we have been till now, slaves we shall be no longer!" These words, mirrored the sentiment that prevailed throughout Slovakia in the first years of its new status. The Slovaks had reasons enough, at the end of the bloody war, to welcome the Czecho-Slovak Republic with open joy and sincere hopes. They had fought on all fronts, and had used every means, to bring about the formation of this new State. They had a right therefore to see in the Czecho-Slovak Republic a state they could consider their own. Slovakia experienced a period of genuine joy mostly because it had extricated itself from the union with old Hungary where it had striven in vain for equal rights. The Magyar language was removed from offices, schools, and all public life, and with its disappearance went all traces of Magyar domination. Slavonic traditions, which �46 SLOVAKIA had remained alive in Slovakia, prevented the Slovaks from being disappointed in their Slavonic brotherhood, a subject frequently discussed at the inception of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Slovak people entered their new existence as a nation composed of large groups of Slovaks who had never estranged themselves from their origin nor allowed themselves to be misled by foreign ideologies, had preserved their language, their national traditions and all the marks of their national character. The democratic spirit which promted the laws of the new State gave assurance that the Slovak people would no longer serve foreign masters, but would concentrate on the development of their own life in order to regain as quickly as possible what they had lost in the past through no fault of their own. Aristocratic titles, together with their corresponding historical privileges, wer e abolished. A federal Land Commission was set up to expropriate for a fair price land held by big non-Slovak landowners and distribute it to the small Slovak farmers , who had always been the strong core of the Slovak nation. It was anticipated, with good reason, that the industry, that would develop in the western part of the new State would be supplemented by the farm and forest economy of Slovakia, a balance that could be achieved only by means of such a union with the Czech lands. It was also to be expected that under the influence of new social laws the living standard of the working people would be raised. The Constitution, approved on February 29, 1920, guaranteed civil equality and political rights to all citizens, thus giving the Slovaks the privilege of influencing the affairs of government. A great deal of pain was caused in Slovak life by the schools which had been used as an instrument of denationalization. This injustice was corrected by the retention of Magyar schools only in those parts of Slovakia where was a Magyar population. New high schools and technical schools were established where there had been none before. In Bratislava, which had become the capital of Slovakia, a new university was founded in 1919 with three faculties. Besides other cultural organizations, the National Slovak Theatre came into being. In every city and village of Slovakia, public libraries were established and plays �SLOVAKIA 47 were presented, with the result that vigorous cultural activity spread throughout the country. In Turciansky Sv. Martin, the Matica Slovenska was reopened, to provide Slovakia with the new products of Slovak literature. In Slovakia there was a revival of old Slovak political parties whose activity was restricted under the Hungarian regime and completely stopped during the war. In addition, new political parties were organized, so that Slovaks could participate in politics according to their convictions. The desire for a new, free, and full national life was discernible everywhere, and the program for providing this kind of life from day to day. The relationship between the Slovak and Czech people, however, was dimmed from the very beginning of their union, and as it continued it became streadily worse. The Czechs and the Slovaks, throughout their long history, had never lived together in a joint state. Each went their own way and developed under a different set of conditions. When these two Slavic nations now got together under the roof of a common state and began to knew each other better, it appeared that for all their lingual similarity there was a great difference between them. Slovakia is a country Christian from its foundations, 80 % Catholic, its deep, living religious traditions permeating the nature of the Slovak and his entire life. 4 The Czechs, as the result of a different historical development, had a different attitude toward religious questions, and when, after the beginning of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, they came to Slovakia, they approached the religious convictions of the Slovaks tactlessly, thereby creating antagonism in Slovakia. Between the Slovak and Czech nations a crevice of distrust began to form . This fissure deepened when the Czechs in Slovakia acted as though they were in a backward country. Many of them had the idea--even when there was no basis for it:r--that their role was to bring culture and progress to Slovakia. This condescending attitude offended the Slovaks, who in turn began to ridicule Czech "progressiveness." Under the pretext that the Slovaks did not have sufficient trained personnel to occupy various official posi- �48 SLOVAKIA tions, multitudes of Czechs who had previously lived in various parts of Austria and for whom there was no room in Bohemia, moved into Slovakia. The Slovaks were grateful to the Czechs for the assistance Slovakia certainly needed in the first years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. But the thousands upon thousands of Czechs who came into Slovakia were completely superfluous. The Slovaks began to look upon them as intruders who were taking away their jobs and bread. While the flood of Czechs was pouring into Slovakia, Slovaks left their homeland in great numbers and moved to all parts of the world. But the most important reason why the early enthusiasms of the Slovaks ended in rapid and complete disillusionment was that the Czechs were trying to build the Czecho-Slovak Republic on the same kind of foundation the Magyars had laid for the creation of a united great Hungary. The very opening words of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution speak of the "Czechoslovak nation"-which in fact never existed. The Czechs ever more openly proclaimed the idea of Czechoslovak national oneness. Since they themselves had no intention of giving up their Czech nationality; desiring to remain a Czech nation also in the future, this alleged Czechoslovak national oneness was simply a way of leading tha Slovaks into a national unity with the Czechs. Even though admitting its euphony, they spoke of the Slovak language as a dialect of the Czech tongue, a vestige that would gradually disappear from literature. Because there was indeed no Czechoslovak language, references were made to the temporary bilinguism of the Czechoslovak nation, or of two aspects of one language. The Slovaks, who had waged such a long, costly, and exhausting struggle in Hungary "for our Slovak language" and considered their language as one expression of their national individuality, were disturbed by such a development because they saw in it the design of Czechization. Slovak literature, from the Czech point of view, was merely an echo of Czech literature, and all Slovak culture just a part of Czech cultural life. They predicted that the Slovaks would gradually �SLOVAKIA 49 merge with the Czechs in the unified State, that they themselves recognized the advantage of such a development, and that this unity would be the most secure foundation for the Czecho-Slovak Republic which would then stand as a strong bulwark against the pressure of their German neighbor. Czech policy, based on such assumptions, led to complete centralization which ignored the interests of Slovakia. This Czech policy aroused vigorous opposition in Slovakia. If the words of the poet Martin Razus meant that the Slovaks had been slaves in Hungary and that this slavery had ended once and for all, they soon took on the new meaning that the Slovaks did not care to be--nor would they be--slaves in the Czecho-Slovak Republic either. The Magyars had used a political ideology to justify their dealings with the Slovaks, though actually they were concerned only for their own safety. The lifeless fiction of Czechoslovak national oneness had a similar meaning. The Czechs are surrounded on three sides by the Germans, and they are exposed to the influence of this great neighbor. When the Czecho-Slovak Republic came into being, they thought Slovakia would become not only their colony but also a country which when gradually assimilated would strengthen their position over against the Germans. But the Slovaks, who had not been willing to perish in Hungary, were unwilling to sacrifice their national individuality even for the protection of the Czechs. Suicide can be committed only by a nation uninformed, cudutrally undeveloped, and unconcerned about its future, a nation which does not understand why it should care about its honor or its right to exist. Because it had endured so many historical trials, had lost so much of its own blood, and was unable to develop its national life under the trying conditions of its past, the Slovak nation grew weary of having its energies continually drained and finally longed to be a nation really free. For this very reason it recognized the danger it faced in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, and with all the determination of a self-conscious nation took a stand for the defense of its honor and its right to the kind of life every nation deserves. �50 SLOVAKIA UNDER THE LEADERS HIP OF ANDREJ HLINKA In the first years of the Czecho-Slo vak Republic Slovakia had a sort of governmen t, headed by a special minister with full authority for the administra tion of Slovakia as a member of the Prague Governmen t. This administra tion had its headquarte rs in Bratislava, consisted of several cabinet members, and exercised powers of jurisdictio n for a brief period. But in the end it was subject to the Central Governme nt in Prague which handled the admi.Ristra tion of the new State as part of a pattern of complete centralizat ion. Czech policy with all its attempts at centralizat ion was challenged by Andrej Hlinka, who had revived the Slovak People's Party (Slovenska :r.udova Strana) and had evoked a strong opposition movement in Slovakia. Andrej Hlinka saw the danger threatening Slovakia, and therefore tried to get the Paris Peace Conference to define the position of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slo vak Republic. For this he was imprisoned in the year 1919. Only upon his election to the Prague Parliamen t on April 18, 1920 was he released.5 The Slovak People's Party gained twelve seats in the election and, under the leadership of its chairman, Andrej Hlinka, began a relentless struggle for the rights of the Slovak nation in accordance with the Pittsburgh Agreement which had become the pattern of Slovak policy. This campaign had to be directed not only against the Prague Governme nt, but also against all the Czech political parties which, as servants of Prague centralism , had spread their nets also in Slovakia. Andrej Hlinka organized his party, set up its press, traveled throughou t Slovakia, and speaking at mass meetings, awakened in the Slovak people a strong national consciousn ess, an interest in political life, and courage to defend all their rights. These gatherings were often very stormy; neverthele ss the Slovak people followed Andrej Hlinka and saw in him their political leader. The inconsider ate actions of Czechs in Slovakia continued and strengthen ed the spirit of opposition in large groups of Slovak people against everything that came from Bohemia. In the years 1922-1926, when the Prague Governme nt was sending multitudes of Czechs into Slovakia to break Slovak �SLOVAKIA 51 resistance to its policy of centralization, 250,000 Slovaks emigrated from Slovakia, forced to look for work in foreign lands. The Prague Government resorted to every means in order to discredit Andrej Hlinka and to frustrate the activity of the Slovak People's Party, but its attempts merely served to widen the breach between the Slovaks and the Czechs. The Slovak People's Party, in its campaign for the sanctioning of Slovak autonomy, desired the fulfilment of what Slovakia had been guaranteed in the Pittsburgh Agreement. The president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic T . G. Masaryk, who had designed and signed that Agreement himself, brushed aside the petitions of the Slovak People's Party with the excuse that the Pittsburgh Agreement is just an interesting document from the period of rebellion against Austria-Hungary, having no binding value . He claimed that the Slovak gained more in the Czecho-Slovak Republic than they were promised in the Pittsburgh Agreement. The Slovaks would not recognize this devaluation of the Pittsburgh Agreement, and the American Slovaks, who were following carefully the progress of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slovak State, in their Message of the American Slovaks to the Old World encouraged their native brothers to pursue relentlessly the struggle for Slovak autonomy. Andrej Hlinka stood staunchly behind the autonomy platform of the Slovak People's Party, and that was the reason why it grew in numbers and in strength. In the elections of 1925 it won twenty-three seats in the Prague Parliament and became the largest political party in Slovakia, with the right to speak as the only authorized representative of the political will of the Slovak nation. When not even the Czechs could continue to close their eyes to the numerical strength and steadily increasing importance to the Slovak People's Party any longer, they tried to win it to the side of the Government. After lengthy deliberations, the Slovak People's Party sent its representatives to the Prague Government to see if they might achieve autonomy by this method. According to this policy, it sought changes in the affairs of the Government that would assure Slovakia a standing as a separate administration unit. In 1927 the Prague Parliament passed �52 SLOVAKIA a law dividing the territory of Czecho-Slovakia into four administrative regions. Beginning January 1, 1928, Slovakia was to become one of these units. Slovakia was empowered to elect its own provincial representatives, forming a provincial assembly for the management of the economic, transportation, social, health and cultural needs of Slovakia. The Czechs felt that by this concession they were satisfying all the demands of Slovakia. However, the Slovaks saw in this reform only "the first ray of Slovak autonomy." The provincial assembly had no legislative powers, one-third of its members were named by the Prague Government, and its jurisdiction was limited. Still, it was a step forward, and it bolstered the hope in Slovakia that gradually the entire autonomistic program set forth in the Pittsburgh Agreement would be realized. The Slovaks were not oposed to the Czecho-Slovak Republic, of which they wanted their own State to be a member. In fact, they believed that, despite all the hardships which hampered the realization of their political program, they would eventually reach their goal. Nor were they against the Czech nation as such; but they resolutely rejected the myth of Czechoslovak national oneness and ever more boldly resisted the Czech imperialism which persisted even after the reorganization of the Government. Relations between the Slovaks and Czechs did not improve ; rather, the centralism of Prague became pronounced that the conditions for harmonious cohabitation between these two nations grew steadily worse. The elections of 1929 again proved the firm position of the Slovak People's Party and its abiding determination to defend the rights of the Slovak nation. It withdrew from the Government and, as on opposition Party, submitted to the Prague Parliament several proposals for the sanctioning of Slovak autonomy. The Prague Parliament rejected all these motions. It was evident that the fight would have to go to the finish. The first requirement for the attainment of Slovak autonomy was unity of all Slovaks. The Czechs had always been able to find means to thwart the unification of the Slovaks. Now the Slovaks had to discover something that would unite them and lead them toward a common goal. The Slovak People's Party, led by Andrej Hlinka, was �SLOVAKIA 53 predominantly Catholic. The Slovak National Party (Slovenska Narodna Strana), headed by Martin Razus, had a majority of Lutheran members.6 These two political parties, fighting for the autonomy of Slovakia, came to an agreement on a united precedure in 1932, and in a joint resolution expressed their mutual determination not to surrender Slovak rights even thought it might cost the disintegration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. This resolve of the Slovak nation was further stiffened and given a mighty manifestation when, from August 13-15, 1933, the Slovaks gathered in Nitra, the ancient headquars of the Slovak princes, to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of the dedication of the first Christian church in Slovakia. At this occasion the Slovak people not only reminded themselves of their antiquity and the rich traditions of their Christian culture, but at the same time emphasized their right to a free national existence in a great demonstration. More than 100,000 Slovaks assembled at the historic site of glorious Slovak antiquity to express their unquenchable longing for a free Slovak future. As the Prague Government did not understand Slovakia, so did not comprehend what took place in Nitra. It saw in the events in Nitra simply a demonstration against the Government. This prompted the seizure of the Slovak People's Party's press, the trial of its editor-in-chief Karol Sidor, an investigation of Slovak students and other steps which evoked a new storm of apposition in Slovakia. The premier of the Prague Government, Jan Malypetr, himself issued a separate manifesto in which he stressed that the Czechs contributed to the support of Slovakia and that Slovakia was ungrateful for this magnanimity. To give this speech as much publicity as possible in Slovakia, he had it printed on large placards and posted in all Slovak cities and villages. This tactless and-for a premier of a government-undignified act deeply offended every Slovak, because no one in Slovakia believed that Slovakia was dependent on the Czechs for a subsidy. Equally as politically indescreet and mistaken in statesmanship was the procedure of Dr. Eduard Benes who, as foreign minister of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, in December of 1933 spoke in several Slovak cities on the �54 SLOVAKIA "Idea of Czechoslovak National Unity from the Viewpoint of International Policy." The Slovaks were to keep silent about their grievances and their rights because Prague supported Slovakia. They were to disavow their national independence without a struggle and betray themselves in order to strengthen the international position of the State in which they were not able to arouse justice and reform. Instead of being misled and bowing to the Prague Government at this suggestion, the Slovaks advanced tow~rd their goal. They were unwilling to surrender their rights even for the survival of the Czecho-Slovak Republic which at this very hour had got itself into a really dangerous situation. Adolf Hitler and his National-Socialist Party had come to power in neighboring Germany. The Slovaks were correct in assuming that this tense international situation would force the Czechs to fulfill the Slovak demands in order to strengthen the Czecho-Slovak Republic for the possible outbreak of new dangers. The Slovaks did not wish to cause internal difficulties in the CzechoSlovak Republic and, even at this time, they had the good will to come to an agreement with the Czechs and to defend their joint State with their united strength. When T . G. Masaryk resigned from the office of President on December 14, 1935, representatives of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, at the election of the new president on December 18, voted for Dr. Eduard Benes who prior to the election had promised to see that the Slovak demands would be fulfilled. Dr. Benes made the promise, but it turned out that there was no one to fulfill it. For the first time in the history of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, a Slovak, Dr. Milan Hodza, became premier of the Government and also Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was a politician of rich experience and wide vision but involved in his own political conceptions and indecisive especially concerning the Slovak question. At the time, even had he wanted to settle the standing of Slovakia, he could not devote himself to the question because he was obliged to center all his attention on the demands of the Sudeten Germans. The integrity and existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic was seriously threatened and the position of �SLOVAKIA 55 Slovakia was left unsolved after twenty years of the Czecho-Slovak State. In 1938 the situation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic became even worse. On March 12 Hitler occupied and linked Austria to Germany. The Sudeten Germans presented their demands again, but the Prague Government had no answer to give that would satisfy both the Germans and the interests of the Czecho-Slovak State. The international situation grew more and more acute, and the Czecho-Slovak Republic, preparing to celebrate its twentieth anniversary, was experiencing moments of deep unrest and worrisome uncertainty. Even under these circumstances the Slovaks, who for twenty years had striven for autonomy and for twenty years had not been able to achieve their goal, were peacefully preparing to commemorate in a grand way the twentieth anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement. On Pentecost Sunday, the 5th of June, 120,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava to declare most emphatically that they would never give up their rights. At this occasian a delegation of the Slovak League of America was present together with its president, Dr. Peter P. Hletko, who brought along the original of the Pittsburgh Pact. The American Slovaks represented by the Slovak League wished to certify by their presence at this commemoration that they stood on the same platform they had accepted twenty years earlier. The throngs of Slovaks who welcomed the delegation of the Slovak League of America in the capital of Slovakia were not fanatic masses, but the self-conscious Slovak nation, politically trained and exemplarily led by Andrej Hlinka, giving notice for the last time and in a very resolute-yet in every respect honorable-manner, that it would under no pressure give up the struggle for its rights to a free life. In Bratislava, for the last time, Andrej Hlinka himself appeared before the crowd of faithful fellow fighters to receive the homage of his people before his death. The Prague Government, even with the Slovak Dr. Milan Hodza at its helm, failed to understand the true meaning of this historical event and the very next day arranged a demonstration in Bratislava advocating the idea of Czechoslovak national oneness in opposition to �56 SLOVA KIA Slovak autono my. This blund ering step was the climax of all the mistak es made by the Pragu e Gover nment in its absur d policy conce rning Slovak ia. Andre j Hlink a died Augus t 16, 1938. The Slovak nation stood at his grave resolu tely determ ined to finish its great strugg le witho ut regard for the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic. The mome nt had come when the Slovak nation had to be conce rned only aboutl its own destin y. VIA AUTO NOMY TO THE SLOV AK STATE The positi on of the Slovak s in the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic preven ted them from determ ining even their own destin y. Much less were they able to steer the course of intern al affairs in this State. Least of all were they able to influe nce the foreig n policy direct ed by Dr. Eduar d Benes . Hence the Slovak s bore no respon sibilit y either for the develo pment of the intern al life or the intern ationa l standi ng of the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic and could not be blame d for the situati on into which the State got itself. Small nation s are not creato rs of intern ationa l situations. Often they are merely helple ss figurin es on the great chessb oard of intern ationa l politic s, which is the game of large nation s. Furthe rmore , the small nation witho ut to a gover nment of its own it not given an oppor tunity l ationa active ly interv ene in the appea semen t of an intern 1918 situati on. The Slovak s were in sucl\ a positi on from to 1938. If great nation s assum e the right to create intern ationa l situat ions in which they utilize small nation s for the realiza tion of their power plans, a small and enslav ed nation canno t be blame d if for its own protec tion it utilize s an oppor tunity offere d by the wave of histor ical events . It is eviden ce of the Slovak nation 's politic al matur ity that it knew how to grasp such an histor ical oppor tunity , not neglec ting to use it for the attain ment of a goal it coul not achiev e by its own power . The Slovak s grew tired of vainly repeat ing their justifi ed deman ds when there was no one to fulfill them. They were theref ore determ ined and prepa red to take what was rightfu lly theirs. Imme diatel y after the Bratis lava manif estatio n the Slovak People 's Party presen ted to the Pragu e Parlia ment �SLOVA KIA 57 a new nation for a law provid ing Slovak ia with autono my. At the time, Czech o-Slov akia found itself in the midst of a seriou s intern al crisis and was shake n to the found ations by strong outwa rd pressu re. With the threat of war hangin g in the air, the Pragu e Gover nment , heade d since Septem ber 23, 1938 by Gener al Syrovy , procla imed total mobili zation , a necess ity hasten ed still more by the intern al chaos in the Czech o-Slov ak Repub lic. The issue did not lead to war, howev er, becau se the Czech o-Slov ak Gover nment, on the advice of the Allies, acctep ted the condit ions dictate d by Germa ny accord ing to which the Germa n Army was to occup y the territo ries of Czech o-Slov akia that were popul ated by Germa ns. Nor was the Pragu e Gover nment able to reject the ultima tum of Poland deman ding that the Polish -occup ied territo ry of Silesia be joined to Poland . These circum stance s left the Slovak s no choice but to look out for thems elves. After length y and fruitle ss concultati ons with repres entativ es of the Pragu e regime , the Slovak People 's Party, led by Dr. Jozef Tiso after the death of Andre j Hlink a, had to take the fate of Slovak ia into its own hands . On Octob er 5th Dr. Eduar d Benes resign ed as Presid ent of the Repub lic, and on the 6th of Octob er the Execu tive Comm ittee of the Slovak People 's Party met in Zilina and sugge sted that all power in Slovak ia be taken over by the Slovak s by right of self-de termin ation. This resolu tion of the Slovak People 's Party was acctep ted and approv ed in all its parts also by delega tes of all the remain ing non-le ftist Slovak partie s. In the rapid succes sion of storm y events , the Slovak nation had to stakei out its future alone in order to preven t others from makin g the decisi ons contra ry to its intere sts. All these politic al partie s agreed also to join with the Slovak People 's Party to form a single party: The Slovak Nation al Unity Party (Stran a sloven skej narod nej jednot y). The Pragu e Gover nment, alway s deaf to Slovak previous deman ds, recogn ized this unanim ous decisi on of the Slovak politic al partie s. Slovak ia obtain ed its autono mous govern ment with Dr. Jozef Tiso at its head as prime minist er. Later, on Novem ber 19, 1938, the Pragu e Parliament passed a consti tution al law for the govern ment of autono mous Slovak ia. In order that Slovak ia might be �58 SLOVAKIA properly represented also in the Central Government in Prague, Karol Sidor was made the vice-presiden t of that body. In addition, Slovakia had its own delegates in the ministries of foreign affairs, national defense and finance . The Slovak nation had just attained this goal when confronted by a catastrophe similar to that which was it the Bohemian lands. The southern section of visited had by Magyars, was claimed by the Magyars, inhabited Slovakia have liked to occupy all of Slovakia. fact in would who had to work out a new boundary government The Slovak 7 Discussions were based on government. Magyar with the of the population. The nationality the of the statistics 1930 census, whereas the of statistics the Magyars rejected taken during the statistics, 1910 the the Slovaks regarded setting of the The unjust. as period of Magyarizatio n, court impartial an to left new boundary was therefore Germany and Italy of of arbitration. The foreign ministers rendered a decision on November 2, 1938, which the Slovaks considered to be unfair. By it Hungary received and occupied cities and areas in southern Slovakia that were entirely or predominantl y Slovak. This decision resulted in many economic and commercial hardships for Slovakia because the new boundary severed railroads and roads, and a number of Slovak valleys, open toward the south, lost their connection with the territory of Slovakia. Even these injustices and hardships failed to shatter the spirit of the Slovak nation. The Slovak Government, by exerting all its energy endeavored to organize the administratio n of Slovakia in a way that would prove its ability to exist as an entity. It was anxious above all to see all Slovaks lay a strong foundation for the future of Slovakia by means of firm national unity and faithful cooperation. According to the declaration of Slovak autonomy, elections for seats in Parliament were held as early as December 18, 1938. Members of the Slovak Parliament became the representativ es not only of the Slovak People's Party, but also of the remaining political parties which now formed the Slovak National Unity Party as the result of the zilina agreement. In the Slovak Parliament national minorities also had their representativ es. A month later, January 18, 1939, the legislative assembly of autonomous �SLOVAKIA 59 Slovakia was opened in a festive manner and began its activity. It soon appeared that the form and amount of selfgovernmen t which Slovakia possessed could not supply all the needs of Slovak national life. In its twenty-yea r struggle for its rights, the Slovak nation had reached a level of maturity, and had set its heart on a measure of freedom, for which autonomy was too small a frame. Not even the Czechs were satisfied with the autonomou s status of Slovakia. They found it hard to give up the rule of Slovakia even though responsibl e persons in the Prague Governme nt repeatedly complaine d that the Czechs were obliged to subsidize Slovakia. The Slovak nation felt that it was capable of taking over the administra tion of its country entirely, while the central departmen ts in Prague often proceeded as though there were no declaration of Slovak autonomy in existence. Fresh disagreeme nts and dissension s arose between the Slovaks and Czechs, and the situation in autonomou s Slovakia continued to be vague and confused. The situation was made worse by the intrusion of outside influences. This confusion, aggravated by the rapacity of its neighbors, could have had catastrophic consequen ces for the fate of Slovakia. The Slovaks longed for the peaceful growth of their own life, and the orn: condition necessary for such a life was the national independen ce of Slovakia. The Slovak nation, having come so far along the road of its historical evolution, was prepared and determined to take this step also, because it was convinced that it had a right not only to autonomy, but also to its own independen t state. And this step was the only refuge for Slovakia against the storm threatening it in the tense internation al situation. " FAITHFUL TO OURSELV ES FORWARD IN HARMONY ! " As a result of the constantly increasing demands of Germany, the situatjon which developed in Central Europe was very confused and perturbed at the beginning of March, 1939. It was clear, however, that the Czecho-Slo vak Republic had arrived at the edge of an abyss. The Slovaks did not feel duty-bound to hurl themselves into that gorge. �60 SLOVAKIA Rather, the Slovaks looked for an escape that would lead them to safety. In Bratislava representatives of Germany sought out Karol Sidor, whom they considered the most popular political leader in Slovakia, and urged him to declare the independent State of Slovakia over the radio. Dr. Jozef Tiso was invited to Berlin for a discussion with Adolf Hitler and his minister of foreign affairs, von Ribbentrop. They both informed the president of the Slovak government of the danger confronting Slovakia and demanded his decision at once. Neither Karol Sidor nor Dr. Jozef Tiso complied with this urgent demand because they considered any decisions regarding the future legal status of Slovakia to be the right and duty of the Slovak Parliament in Bratislava. The Slovak Parliament, elected according to the decree of Slovak autonomy, was called into session by the president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, Dr. Emil Ha.cha, and on March 14, 1939, it declared Slovakia an independent and self-governing state by unanimous resolution. The presidium of the Parliament appointed the administration of independent Slovakia, with Dr. Jozef Tiso at his head, and the Slovak Government then took over all power in Slovakia into its own hands. Even though the international situation, during which Slovakia's declaration of independence was made, influenced the rapid succession of events in Slovakia, the Slovak Parliament-as the legal and authorized interpreter of the Slovak nation's will-did only what the Slovak nation had a right to do. Conscious of this right, the Slovak nation accepted the decision of the Slovak Parliament as the natural result of historical development not only with enthusiastic agreement and sincere joy, but also with a determination to bear the entire burden of responsibility for its own destiny and to prove that it was mature and ready for national independence. The proclamation of autonomous Slovakia as an independent state marked the end of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Even so, the Czecho-Slovak Republic would not have been able to survive the hurricane of events. Its fall would have been Slovakia's downfall also, and the Slovak nation would have been left to the mercy of its neighbors. The decisive action of the Slovak Parliament placed before �SLOVAKIA 61 Slovakia's neighbors a ready reality, and the government of the neighboring states took this reality into consideration and respected it. The independent State of Slovakia was recognized either de iure or de facto by the following states: Belgium, ( de facto ), Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Equador, Estonia, Finland, France ( de facto ), Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Manchuria, Poland, Siam, Soviet Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Vatican State and Yugoslavia, 27 nations in all. These states included great powers and small countries, neutrals as well as belligerents in the Second World War. Not even the allies of the former Czecho-Slovak Republic hesitated to recognize the national independence of Slovakia. Some of these nations established and maintained diplomatic and commercial relations with Slovakia, whereas others were not able to do so because they were obstructed by the War. The Slovak State did not solicit the protection of its German neighbor, but when the German Government itself came with the proposal of a defense pact, the Slovak Government, for various reasons, could not reject such an offer. True, this treaty restricted the sovereignty of the Slovak State to a certain extent, but on the other hand it assured the safety of Slovakia not only against the nation which frequently advanced its historical claims to Slovak lands, but also against Germany itself. Although the Slovaks had in the past claimed the right to a free life, the nations who were deciding the fate of Slovakia rejected these petitions, and, despite other proofs, kept insisting that Slovakia because of its small size could not maintain itself as a separate and independent political unit since it was not supposed to be economically selfsustaining. Therefore, they concluded, it would be to the advantage of Slovakia to be in a union with another state, and it was intimated that the Slovaks should be thankful if someone would be willing magnanimously to support them. From the very beginning of its life as an independent state, Slovakia strove to disprove this false legend of economic dependence. And it controverted it in such a way at every step that these arguments against Slovak independ- �62 SLOVAKIA ence completely disappeared. As soon as its autonomy was proclaimed, the Slovak Government floated a loan for the economic revival of Slovakia, and the Slovak people themselves in a short time subscribed an amount necessary to cover this need. In a similar manner a gold standard was created for the Slovak Republic, to which the Slovaks sacrificed their valuables. The mint at Kremnica which had coined Hungarian currency for 600 years, for the first time in its history began to mint money with the seal of the Slovak State. It was discovered that Slovakia had enough varied raw materials which it could work, and that Slovak industry could increase its production to the point where it could export its products. Slovakia concluded trade agreements with many European countries, and the foreign trade of the Slovak Republic was highly active. The Slovak "koruna" (crown) won a reputation as the "Tatra Dollar," and its steady value was the best proof of the settled economy of the Slovak State. The Slovak Parliament, as early as July 21, 1939. approved the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, thereby establishing a strong foundation of legal procedure and the future development of Slovak national life. 8 On October 26, 1939, Dr. Jozef Tiso was unanimously elected the first president of the Slovak Republic and was recognized by the Slovak nation as the successor of the 9th-century Slovak princes. His motto: "Faithful to Ourselves-Forward in Harmony!" succinctly expressed not only the principles he practiced in his own high office, but also the program of Slovak statehood. The Slovak nation, particularly during those tempestuous days, took careful note of all the advantages and disadvantages obtaining from its position at the historical crossroads of Central Europe. The generation: which lived to see liberty on the soil of the ancient Slovak fatherland wanted to forget the injustices of the past and sincerely to establish friendly relation with all the nations with which it would come into contact. It wished to stand not only on the free land of its ancestors, but also on the spiritual foundation of its own life, to retrieve in unity with all Slovaks what the Slovak nation had lost through no fault of its own, and to prepare a peaceful and prosperous future for generations to come. �SLOVAKIA 63 It was along this road that Dr. Jozef Tiso led the Slovak nation as president of the Slovak Republic. As the Slovak nation was laying the foundations of its State and was taking its first steps on the road of a free life, the storm of war began to spread over Central Europe. Its flames grew and engulfed more and more countries. But the hurricane of war, moving from the west to the east, passed over Slovakia without damage. During the first years of the War, when the German armies penetrated through Poland and were headed for Moscow, reaching the Volga River and the foothills of the Caucasus, Slovakia remained in a sort of vacuum, free to develop in every respect without interference. Especially the cultural life of Slovakia blossomed at this time. In the Slovak University, the Technical Institute, the School of Commerce and Business, the Slovak National Library, the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in its other older and newer cultural institutions the Slovak nation discovered media of growth such as it had never known in the past. The number of books increased daily, new radio stations were built, and the production of cultural and documentary films was initiated. Unusual cultural activity flourished throughout Slovakia with many Slovak villages erecting cultural buildings as agencies for their own progress. Slovakia grew because the creative abilities of the Slovak nation were not being exhausted in the defense of natural rights, now guaranteed by political independence and its own national administration. The Slovak Republic, emerging during the twilight of the great War, was beclouded by a crucial question: How would the War end, and what kind of fate awaited this small yet so promisingly developing State? The Slovak nation was determined to defend its national independence as the only real basis for its national liberty, and so it exerted itself to have the Slovak Republic remain on the map of postwar Europe. It had a right to believe that it could preserve its liberty and national independence, but it knew from its own experience the bitter truth that if the others decided the fate of a nation, the rights of a nation are seldom considered. The only desire of the Slovak nation at this time was the Slovak Republic be rid of the outward pressure which limited its sovereignty �64 SLOVAKIA and influenced its decisions. When a turn of events came in the War, and military danger began to approach from the East, the Slovak nation began to fear for its future . These fears grew as the Slovak nation realized that it did not have the strength to repel this threatening calamity. Besides this, it was aware of designs being made against the Slovak Republic in foreign countries.9 It was reasonable to presume that, because of the Soviet army's superior force, the hard-pressed German army would not retreat through the mountainous territory of Slovakia. In the north, the Soviet army advanced from the Carpathians through Poland, and in the south, through Hungary; and it could be sudmised that Slovakia would not become a battleground. It could expect to be spared at least the destruction of war. These suppositions, however, were not fulfilled, because the agents of Moscowwi th the help of Communist partisans, landed in the Slovak mountains by Soviet aircraft, organized an uprising in Slovakia in August, 1944, and produced a chaos which confused a portion of the native population. 10 This entire action had no political significance because it had no influence on the fate of Slovakia. From a military viewpoint the uprising was foolish, and it collapsed in a shameful manner. But from an economic point of view, the uprising caused greater damage than had been suffered by the country for centuries. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives for no reason, railroads, tunnels and bridges were arbitrarily destroyed, and many villages were reduced to ashes. With the blood that was needlessly spilled and the smoke which hung over the ruins perished not only the national independence of Slovakia, but also the liberty of the "liberated" Slovak nation. On the heels of the Soviet army's divisions and their unspeakable atrocities, from Moscow to desolated Slovakia came Dr. Eduard Benes with the government of a resurrected Czecho-Slovak Republic. After five years of existence in its own state the Slovak nation arrived, against its own will and contrary to all the principles of natural and self-determining rights, at a position in which it did not care to live at any price, with nothing but slavery staring it in the facp �SLOVAKIA 65 BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN The Slovak Republic was a small state. It emerged in unusually restless times and grew under very complicated conditions. In view of these circumstances, it could not become an ideal or complete state. Large, ancient, and mighty nations have their faults and weaknesses, too . The Slovak Republic cannot be condemned for the imperfection connected with its infancy nor for the errors it made, which in more than one case were simply the result of outside influences. It is an incontrovertible historical fact that the Slovak nation, in all of i~ more than one-thousand year history, never had such liberty, such rights, so much employment, such a measure of material welfare, such conditions for spiritual growth and cultural progress, or so much joy in living, as it had in the years of the Slovak Republic. The Slovak nation was contented with its State, despite its deficiencies, and it did not long for any other kind of state, including the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Slovak Republic conclusively refuted all the arguments against Slovak national independenqe. Every Slovak could see for himself that Slovakia, utilizing the industriousness of its people, is large enough and wealthy enough to provide all the economic conditions needed for indep8ndent national life . . The Slovak nation, during its five-year history of political independence, passed with remarkable success its test in the art of creating a government, and it deserved to be recognized as an independent and equal member in the family of free nations. By its experience as a Slovak republic, it is qualified to decide all questions pertaining to its own life, and is prepared to use its strength for the common welfare of the nations of Central Europe. One Slovak generation tasted the sweet fruit of liberty for which so many generations of the Slovak nation had fervently yearned, and therefore Slovaks will never again be satisfied with the bitter bread of slave labor. All this the Slovak nation learned in its own state. But all this was noted also by Dr. Eruard Benes, who observed the development of Slovak life abroad during �66 SLOVAKIA the war and in the spring of 1945, accompanied by Soviet bayonets, set foot on the blood-stained soil of Slovakia. The restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic was one of the g1·eat inter-national mistakes. The revival of this State not only could not draw the Slovaks and Czechs closer to each other, but, on the contrary, relations between the Slovaks and Czechs became extremely cold as a direct result of this forced cohabitation in a joint state. The so-called Kosice Agreement of April 5, 1945, which recognized in the Slovaks the distinctive marks of a nation and promised. them complete equality with the Czechs, was not a cure for the wound which Slovakia suffered by the loss of its national independence, nor could it serve as a basis for a satisfying cohabitation of these two nations within one state. This sort of solution of Slovak-Czech relations would have had a meaning when the Slovaks were seeking autonomy in the spirit of the Pittsburgh Pact. The declaration at Kosice and the promises of Klement Gottwald had no power of attraction after the violent destruction of the Slovak Republic. The national independence of Slovakia was trampled by the Soviet army, which was followed by the Government and President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The restored Czecho-Slovak Republic was alien to the Slovaks not only because it could in no way replace the Slovak State, but also because it brought Slovakia under the control of Moscow through the administration at Prague. Slovakia, even while silenced by the presence of the Soviet army, in no way concealed either its irreconcilable opposition to the situation in which it found itself or its desire for its own national independence. Dr. Eduard Benes, as president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, was determined to crack this opposition of Slovakia at any cost and by any means, and to strangle in the Slovak nation every longing for independence. If Dr. Eduard Benes, by his personal propaganda, enjoyed the reputation abroad of a great democrat and farsighted statesman, he now himself tore off this mask and showed himself to be a ruthless tyrant far removed from democracy and wise foresight. He saw in the Communist people's democracy a new, higher and more advanced form of democracy, and �SLOVAKIA 67 as president of the restored Czecho-Slovak Republic he approved and confirmed all the violence committed by the Prague Government and its Bratislava agencies in the. name of the people's democracy. The Slovak nation now became a victim of revenge because it had its own state during the War. Criminal status was given not only to those who served in the Slovak Republic and had not redeemed their "crime" by the sin of treason, but also to those who disagreed with the new order. The executor of this people's democratic justice was the so-called "National Court" in Bratislava and the chain so-called "People's Courts" all over Slovakia . Since it was impossible to bring before the Court the entire "liberated" nation to condemn it , it was necessary to condemn hundreds and thousands of decent Slovaks in order that all Slovakia might be terrified silenced and coerced into slavish obedience. The " National Court" of Bratislava also condemned to death the president of the Slovak Republic Dr. Jozef Tiso, and the Czecho-Slovak Government together with its president saw to it that this judgment was carried out on April 18 , 1947. The execution of the President of the Slovak Republic evoked deep horror throughout Slovakia and at the same time extinguished the last spark of hope that Slovak~ and Czechs could live together in a common state. The gallows on which Dr. Jozef Tiso died a martyr's death stands above the chasm which once and for all obliterated any form of Czecho-Slovak state.11 Slovakia did not permit itself to be broken in its opposition to the Czecho-Slovak Republic nor to the Communistic people's democracy either by the murder of Dr. Jozef Tiso or by subsequent forcible measures. The Slovak nation is enduring the same wrongs, injustices and pains that are being suffered by all the other nations behind the Iron Curtain. The spirit and form of the Communist people's democracy are foreign, repulsive and unacceptable to the Slovak nation. With persistent and remarkable consistency, the Slovaks are rejecting everything that the Government of the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a servant of Moscow is �68 SLOVAKIA forcing upon them. And they are defending with heroic courage everything that feeds and strengthens their own life. 12 From the very dawn of its history, Slovakia has belonged to Western Europe, and for twelve centuries of its past it has lived in unity with the Christian civilization of the Western world. During this long historical evolution the Slovak nation has achieved a stature, spiritual character and moral tradition that cannot be reconciled with the godless materialism of Communist doctrine or with the un-Christian methods of the people's democracy. Even though its beautiful land serves as a huge prison behind the Iron Curtain, the Slovak nation has not lost, but continues to confess fearlessly, its faith in God as the source of its strength and hope. Deprived as it is of everything, it still does not surrender its claim to a free life in its own state, but insists on an independent position in the great family of equal nations in Europe. Could youf as a free citizen of a democratic country, say that the Slovak nation does not deserve freedom? Or that it want more than it has a right to expect? FOOTNOTES 1) Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934, p . 308. 2) In addition to many articles, Konstantin culen has written a separate two-volume study on American Slovaks: Dejiny Slov<ikov v Amerike (A History of Slovaks in America), Vols. I and II, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1942. The cultural life of American Slovaks is described in his book Slovaci v Amerike (Slovaks in America), Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1938. Several articles are devoted to the intervention of the Slovak League in America in the political conditions of Slovakia in the book Slovensk<i Liga v Amerike styridsat'rocnri (Fortieth Anniversary of the Slovak League in America), Scranton, Pa., 1947. These questions are dealt in detail also by Karol Sidor in the book Slovrici v zahranicnom odboji ( Slovaks in the Resistance Movement Abroad), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1928. A separate book on the Pittsburgh Agreement was written by Konstantin culen, Pittsburghskd dohoda (The Pittsburgh Agreement), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1937. 3 ) Martin Greco, Martinsk<i deklar<icia (The St. Martin Declaration) , Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. �SLOVAKIA 69 4) According to the 1930 census there were 3,329,793 inhabitants in 5) 6) 7) 8) Slovakia. Of this number, 2,284,355 were Roman Catholics, 213,725 Greek Catholics, 555,900 Protestants, 9,079 of the Orthodox faith . Only 16,890 were counted as not adhering to any religion: they were Czechs. The activity of Andrej Hlinka and the role of the Slovak People's Party are told in detail by Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934. The Slovak National Party was numerically small, gaining only one delegate in the election, but it numbered among its members many of the Lutheran intelligentsia. The cession of Slovakia southern lands to Hungary was decided already between the Prague Government and the administration of Hungary. The government of autonomous Slovakia was confronted by this prepared situation, and Dr. Jozef Tiso, who had led these conferences, was actually a delegate of the Central Government of Prague. The Constitution of the Slovak Republic was prepared by the vicepresident of Parliament and the chairman of the constitutional committee, Dr. Karol Mederly, who published it in an a separate brochure with a comprehensive introduction, Ostava Slovenslcej republilcy a jej zakladne smernice (The Constitution of the Slovak Republic and Its Basic Principles), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. 9) Plots against the independent statehood of Slovakia were led abroad by Dr. Eduard Benes who had resigned from the office of president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, had recognized Dr. Emil Hacha as his successor and then once again claimed the office of president. His faithful co-worker was the Slovak Communist, Dr. Vladimir Clementis. 10) The Soviet aircraft landed in Slovakia Slovak soldiers who had been captured by the Soviets and were obHged to join the so-called Czechoslovak Brigade in Russia. This entire brigade dispersed because the Slovak troops who had seen conditions in Soviet Russia with their own eyes did not wish to fight against the Slovak Republic, but fled to their homes at the first opportunity. 11) The entire address spoken by Dr. Jozef Tiso in Bratislava before his sentence has been published by the Slovak Catholic Sokol in a book entitled Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso, in His own Words), Slovak Catholic Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, edited by Dr. Jozef Pauco. 12) Much valuable information regarding the resistance of the Slovaks against Communism may be found in the booklet by Dr. Jozef :Mikus, The Thee Slovak Bishops, Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Passaic, N. J. 1953. � 42 SLOVAKIA This Is Slovakia By Francis Hrusovsk'J}, Ph.D. SEPARATIO N FROM HUNGARY The Austro-Hung arian Monarchy was built on a shaky foundation. It may have survived in a less extended territory, had it grasped in time its historical mission in this ethnically disunited region of Central Europe. Hungary could have weathered the approaching historical holocaust if it had put into practice the spirit of justice and equality. But neither the Austrian Emperor nor the Hungarian King, neither the Government of Vienna nor of Budapest, reckoned with the given realities: they did not know how to rightly evaluate the strength of the new historical trends, nor did they forsee the direction of future developments . Hence they permitted themselves to be led by policies which could only lead to the disintegration of the entire Monarchy and to the fall of Hungary. Because of the national policy of Hungary, which curtailed the growth of Slovak national life in all of its phases. the Slovaks were not sufficiently prepared for the role which awaited them. When the World War broke out in 1914, under the emergency provisions of the Government any kind of Slovak political movement was unthinkable. The fate of countries and of nations is not always determined by their strength, but as much by circumstances which arise without their doing. This proved to be true not only of Austra-Hunga ry, which was shaken to its foundations by World War I, but also of the various nations which had gradually become aware that the time had come to take an account of the past and be concerned only about their own future fate, regardless of the interests of the Monarchy. At the beginning of the war, the Slovaks had no thought of separating from Hungary, much less could they have expressed such a thought aloud. But when the War was nearing its end and it was more and more evident that Austria-Hung ary could not escape defeat, the leaders of �SLOVAKIA 43 the Slovaks saw that the military defeat of the Hapsburg Monarchy would furnish them the opportunity for attaining the goals they were not able to achieve in Hungary. Slovak patriots met for a secret conference in Turciansky Sv. Martin on May 24, 1918, where Andrej Hlinka plainly stated: "The thousand-year marriage with the Magyars has not panned out. We must be divorced." 1 The Slovaks took a stand for the right of selfdetermination of the Slovak nation and decided that at an opportune time they would sever all ties between Slovakia and Hungary and enter a new State composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Russia. The Czecho-Slovak National Council (Ceskoslovenska narodna rada ), founded in Paris in 1916, worked abroad for the disolution of Austria-Aungary and the formation of a new Czecho-Slovak State. At the head of the CzechoSlovak National Council was professor Thomas G. Masaryk, and its outstanding member was the distinguished Slovak scholar, Milan Rastislav Stefanik, who possessed unusual diplomatic talents and attained the rank of General in the French Army. Slovaks living abroad morally and materially supported the activity of the Czecho-Slovak National Council and in large numbers joined the CzechoSlovak Legion which fought on the side of the Allies against Austria-Hungary The Slovaks were convinced that if Slovakia would tear away from Hungary, it would enjoy all the conditions of a free national existence in a joint Czecho-Slovak State. The Czecho-Slovak National Council was most effectively supported by the Slovaks who were living in America and who always lllad a lively interest in the destiny of the Slovak nation in the Old World. Under the leadership of the Slovak League of America, which was organized already in 1907, they frequently raised their voice in defense of the Slovak nation in Hungary, and as free citizens of a democratic country they protested against the injustices which their native brothers in Slovakia had to suffer. Later, in the years of World War I , they stood in the first ranks of the battle for the liberation of Slovakia. It is to their credit not only that they made large financial sacrifices for the cause of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, but also that they insisted on having beforehand �44 SLOVAKIA a clear presentation and firm guaranties as to the relationship between the Slovak and Czech nations in the proposed joint State. Representatives of the Slovak League in America discussed this serious question with delegates of the Czech National Federation in Cleveland as early as 1915, and came to the conclusion that the future Czecho-Slovakia would be a federal union of states with complete autonomy for Slovakia. Subsequently, on May 30, 1918, representatives of the Slovak League met with representatives of Czech organizations and with the President of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, T. G. Masaryk, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and drew up an agreement which guaranteed political and cultural autonomy to Slovakia in the new State. This agreement was designed by T . G. Masaryk and later signed by him as president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. 2 Only vague reports of this foreign action penetrated Slovakia, and the agreements which testify to the wise foresight of the American Slovaks were not even known there. Nevertheless, everything that could be undertaken in Slovakia during the War for the benefit of Slovakia's future was basically in harmony with what was being done independently overseas. In the meantime, events at the front indicated that the defeat of Austria-Hungary was inescapable. Emperor Charles published a manifesto on October 16, 1918, in which he promised a reconstruction of the Monarchy on a new basis, but it was already too late. The President of the Hungarian Government, Count Stephen Tisza, on the 17th of October, attempted to justify the Budapest policy of Magyarization, reluctant to see that it was just this policy that brought Hungary to inevitable disintegration and certain collapse. In the Hungarian Parliament, on October 19, the Slovak delegate, Dr. Ferdis Juriga, announced in the face of a stormy protest of Magyar members that neither the Hungarian Parliament nor the Hungarian Government had the right any longer to decide the future destiny of the Slovak nation, because the Slovaks would decide their own future on the basis of their right of self-determination. The Slovaks, unaware of what had happened in Prague on October 28, met on October 30, 1918, in Turciansky Sv. �SLOVAKIA 45 Martin, where, chiefly under the influence of Andrej Hlinka, they organized a Slovak National Council and in a separate declaration proclaimed that the Slovaks once and for all Hrere separating themselves from Hungary and were of their own accord joining the Czecho-Slovak State.3 The new Czecho-Slovak State was born on the ruins of the Hapsburg Monarchy, which, having lost the war, was not able to defend its own existence and escape catastrophe. There was nothing left to do but define the boundaries of the new State (especially the Slovak-Hungarian border ), establish its international position, and construct its internal administration on a basis that would insure its ability to live. The most important condition for the healthy internal development of the Czecho-Slovak State was deciding the position Slovakia would occupy in the new State. The separation of the Slovaks from the Magyars and from Hungary was for the Slovak& not only painless, but joyful, as was the separation of the thirteen American colonies from England. " SLAVES UNTIL NOW - NEVER AGAIN!" Martin Razus (1888-1937)-a leading Slovak poet whose writings gave voice to the pains, longings, and hopes of his people, and whom the Slovaks called the "conscience of the Slovak nation"-welcomed the dawn of the new Slovak day with a poem, the refrain of which reads: "Slaves we have been till now, slaves we shall be no longer!" These words, mirrored the sentiment that prevailed throughout Slovakia in the first years of its new status. The Slovaks had reasons enough, at the end of the bloody war, to welcome the Czecho-Slovak Republic with open joy and sincere hopes. They had fought on all fronts, and had used every means, to bring about the formation of this new State. They had a right therefore to see in the Czecho-Slovak Republic a state they could consider their own. Slovakia experienced a period of genuine joy mostly because it had extricated itself from the union with old Hungary where it had striven in vain for equal rights. The Magyar language was removed from offices, schools, and all public life, and with its disappearance went all traces of Magyar domination. Slavonic traditions, which �46 SLOVAKIA had remained alive in Slovakia, prevented the Slovaks from being disappointed in their Slavonic brotherhood, a subject frequently discussed at the inception of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Slovak people entered their new existence as a nation composed of large groups of Slovaks who had never estranged themselves from their origin nor allowed themselves to be misled by foreign ideologies, had preserved their language, their national traditions and all the marks of their national character. The democratic spirit which promted the laws of the new State gave assurance that the Slovak people would no longer serve foreign masters, but would concentrate on the development of their own life in order to regain as quickly as possible what they had lost in the past through no fault of their own. Aristocratic titles, together with their corresponding historical privileges, wer e abolished. A federal Land Commission was set up to expropriate for a fair price land held by big non-Slovak landowners and distribute it to the small Slovak farmers , who had always been the strong core of the Slovak nation. It was anticipated, with good reason, that the industry, that would develop in the western part of the new State would be supplemented by the farm and forest economy of Slovakia, a balance that could be achieved only by means of such a union with the Czech lands. It was also to be expected that under the influence of new social laws the living standard of the working people would be raised. The Constitution, approved on February 29, 1920, guaranteed civil equality and political rights to all citizens, thus giving the Slovaks the privilege of influencing the affairs of government. A great deal of pain was caused in Slovak life by the schools which had been used as an instrument of denationalization. This injustice was corrected by the retention of Magyar schools only in those parts of Slovakia where was a Magyar population. New high schools and technical schools were established where there had been none before. In Bratislava, which had become the capital of Slovakia, a new university was founded in 1919 with three faculties. Besides other cultural organizations, the National Slovak Theatre came into being. In every city and village of Slovakia, public libraries were established and plays �SLOVAKIA 47 were presented, with the result that vigorous cultural activity spread throughout the country. In Turciansky Sv. Martin, the Matica Slovenska was reopened, to provide Slovakia with the new products of Slovak literature. In Slovakia there was a revival of old Slovak political parties whose activity was restricted under the Hungarian regime and completely stopped during the war. In addition, new political parties were organized, so that Slovaks could participate in politics according to their convictions. The desire for a new, free, and full national life was discernible everywhere, and the program for providing this kind of life from day to day. The relationship between the Slovak and Czech people, however, was dimmed from the very beginning of their union, and as it continued it became streadily worse. The Czechs and the Slovaks, throughout their long history, had never lived together in a joint state. Each went their own way and developed under a different set of conditions. When these two Slavic nations now got together under the roof of a common state and began to knew each other better, it appeared that for all their lingual similarity there was a great difference between them. Slovakia is a country Christian from its foundations, 80 % Catholic, its deep, living religious traditions permeating the nature of the Slovak and his entire life. 4 The Czechs, as the result of a different historical development, had a different attitude toward religious questions, and when, after the beginning of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, they came to Slovakia, they approached the religious convictions of the Slovaks tactlessly, thereby creating antagonism in Slovakia. Between the Slovak and Czech nations a crevice of distrust began to form . This fissure deepened when the Czechs in Slovakia acted as though they were in a backward country. Many of them had the idea--even when there was no basis for it:r--that their role was to bring culture and progress to Slovakia. This condescending attitude offended the Slovaks, who in turn began to ridicule Czech "progressiveness." Under the pretext that the Slovaks did not have sufficient trained personnel to occupy various official posi- �48 SLOVAKIA tions, multitudes of Czechs who had previously lived in various parts of Austria and for whom there was no room in Bohemia, moved into Slovakia. The Slovaks were grateful to the Czechs for the assistance Slovakia certainly needed in the first years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. But the thousands upon thousands of Czechs who came into Slovakia were completely superfluous. The Slovaks began to look upon them as intruders who were taking away their jobs and bread. While the flood of Czechs was pouring into Slovakia, Slovaks left their homeland in great numbers and moved to all parts of the world. But the most important reason why the early enthusiasms of the Slovaks ended in rapid and complete disillusionment was that the Czechs were trying to build the Czecho-Slovak Republic on the same kind of foundation the Magyars had laid for the creation of a united great Hungary. The very opening words of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution speak of the "Czechoslovak nation"-which in fact never existed. The Czechs ever more openly proclaimed the idea of Czechoslovak national oneness. Since they themselves had no intention of giving up their Czech nationality; desiring to remain a Czech nation also in the future, this alleged Czechoslovak national oneness was simply a way of leading tha Slovaks into a national unity with the Czechs. Even though admitting its euphony, they spoke of the Slovak language as a dialect of the Czech tongue, a vestige that would gradually disappear from literature. Because there was indeed no Czechoslovak language, references were made to the temporary bilinguism of the Czechoslovak nation, or of two aspects of one language. The Slovaks, who had waged such a long, costly, and exhausting struggle in Hungary "for our Slovak language" and considered their language as one expression of their national individuality, were disturbed by such a development because they saw in it the design of Czechization. Slovak literature, from the Czech point of view, was merely an echo of Czech literature, and all Slovak culture just a part of Czech cultural life. They predicted that the Slovaks would gradually �SLOVAKIA 49 merge with the Czechs in the unified State, that they themselves recognized the advantage of such a development, and that this unity would be the most secure foundation for the Czecho-Slovak Republic which would then stand as a strong bulwark against the pressure of their German neighbor. Czech policy, based on such assumptions, led to complete centralization which ignored the interests of Slovakia. This Czech policy aroused vigorous opposition in Slovakia. If the words of the poet Martin Razus meant that the Slovaks had been slaves in Hungary and that this slavery had ended once and for all, they soon took on the new meaning that the Slovaks did not care to be--nor would they be--slaves in the Czecho-Slovak Republic either. The Magyars had used a political ideology to justify their dealings with the Slovaks, though actually they were concerned only for their own safety. The lifeless fiction of Czechoslovak national oneness had a similar meaning. The Czechs are surrounded on three sides by the Germans, and they are exposed to the influence of this great neighbor. When the Czecho-Slovak Republic came into being, they thought Slovakia would become not only their colony but also a country which when gradually assimilated would strengthen their position over against the Germans. But the Slovaks, who had not been willing to perish in Hungary, were unwilling to sacrifice their national individuality even for the protection of the Czechs. Suicide can be committed only by a nation uninformed, cudutrally undeveloped, and unconcerned about its future, a nation which does not understand why it should care about its honor or its right to exist. Because it had endured so many historical trials, had lost so much of its own blood, and was unable to develop its national life under the trying conditions of its past, the Slovak nation grew weary of having its energies continually drained and finally longed to be a nation really free. For this very reason it recognized the danger it faced in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, and with all the determination of a self-conscious nation took a stand for the defense of its honor and its right to the kind of life every nation deserves. �50 SLOVAKIA UNDER THE LEADERS HIP OF ANDREJ HLINKA In the first years of the Czecho-Slo vak Republic Slovakia had a sort of governmen t, headed by a special minister with full authority for the administra tion of Slovakia as a member of the Prague Governmen t. This administra tion had its headquarte rs in Bratislava, consisted of several cabinet members, and exercised powers of jurisdictio n for a brief period. But in the end it was subject to the Central Governme nt in Prague which handled the admi.Ristra tion of the new State as part of a pattern of complete centralizat ion. Czech policy with all its attempts at centralizat ion was challenged by Andrej Hlinka, who had revived the Slovak People's Party (Slovenska :r.udova Strana) and had evoked a strong opposition movement in Slovakia. Andrej Hlinka saw the danger threatening Slovakia, and therefore tried to get the Paris Peace Conference to define the position of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slo vak Republic. For this he was imprisoned in the year 1919. Only upon his election to the Prague Parliamen t on April 18, 1920 was he released.5 The Slovak People's Party gained twelve seats in the election and, under the leadership of its chairman, Andrej Hlinka, began a relentless struggle for the rights of the Slovak nation in accordance with the Pittsburgh Agreement which had become the pattern of Slovak policy. This campaign had to be directed not only against the Prague Governme nt, but also against all the Czech political parties which, as servants of Prague centralism , had spread their nets also in Slovakia. Andrej Hlinka organized his party, set up its press, traveled throughou t Slovakia, and speaking at mass meetings, awakened in the Slovak people a strong national consciousn ess, an interest in political life, and courage to defend all their rights. These gatherings were often very stormy; neverthele ss the Slovak people followed Andrej Hlinka and saw in him their political leader. The inconsider ate actions of Czechs in Slovakia continued and strengthen ed the spirit of opposition in large groups of Slovak people against everything that came from Bohemia. In the years 1922-1926, when the Prague Governme nt was sending multitudes of Czechs into Slovakia to break Slovak �SLOVAKIA 51 resistance to its policy of centralization, 250,000 Slovaks emigrated from Slovakia, forced to look for work in foreign lands. The Prague Government resorted to every means in order to discredit Andrej Hlinka and to frustrate the activity of the Slovak People's Party, but its attempts merely served to widen the breach between the Slovaks and the Czechs. The Slovak People's Party, in its campaign for the sanctioning of Slovak autonomy, desired the fulfilment of what Slovakia had been guaranteed in the Pittsburgh Agreement. The president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic T . G. Masaryk, who had designed and signed that Agreement himself, brushed aside the petitions of the Slovak People's Party with the excuse that the Pittsburgh Agreement is just an interesting document from the period of rebellion against Austria-Hungary, having no binding value . He claimed that the Slovak gained more in the Czecho-Slovak Republic than they were promised in the Pittsburgh Agreement. The Slovaks would not recognize this devaluation of the Pittsburgh Agreement, and the American Slovaks, who were following carefully the progress of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slovak State, in their Message of the American Slovaks to the Old World encouraged their native brothers to pursue relentlessly the struggle for Slovak autonomy. Andrej Hlinka stood staunchly behind the autonomy platform of the Slovak People's Party, and that was the reason why it grew in numbers and in strength. In the elections of 1925 it won twenty-three seats in the Prague Parliament and became the largest political party in Slovakia, with the right to speak as the only authorized representative of the political will of the Slovak nation. When not even the Czechs could continue to close their eyes to the numerical strength and steadily increasing importance to the Slovak People's Party any longer, they tried to win it to the side of the Government. After lengthy deliberations, the Slovak People's Party sent its representatives to the Prague Government to see if they might achieve autonomy by this method. According to this policy, it sought changes in the affairs of the Government that would assure Slovakia a standing as a separate administration unit. In 1927 the Prague Parliament passed �52 SLOVAKIA a law dividing the territory of Czecho-Slovakia into four administrative regions. Beginning January 1, 1928, Slovakia was to become one of these units. Slovakia was empowered to elect its own provincial representatives, forming a provincial assembly for the management of the economic, transportation, social, health and cultural needs of Slovakia. The Czechs felt that by this concession they were satisfying all the demands of Slovakia. However, the Slovaks saw in this reform only "the first ray of Slovak autonomy." The provincial assembly had no legislative powers, one-third of its members were named by the Prague Government, and its jurisdiction was limited. Still, it was a step forward, and it bolstered the hope in Slovakia that gradually the entire autonomistic program set forth in the Pittsburgh Agreement would be realized. The Slovaks were not oposed to the Czecho-Slovak Republic, of which they wanted their own State to be a member. In fact, they believed that, despite all the hardships which hampered the realization of their political program, they would eventually reach their goal. Nor were they against the Czech nation as such; but they resolutely rejected the myth of Czechoslovak national oneness and ever more boldly resisted the Czech imperialism which persisted even after the reorganization of the Government. Relations between the Slovaks and Czechs did not improve ; rather, the centralism of Prague became pronounced that the conditions for harmonious cohabitation between these two nations grew steadily worse. The elections of 1929 again proved the firm position of the Slovak People's Party and its abiding determination to defend the rights of the Slovak nation. It withdrew from the Government and, as on opposition Party, submitted to the Prague Parliament several proposals for the sanctioning of Slovak autonomy. The Prague Parliament rejected all these motions. It was evident that the fight would have to go to the finish. The first requirement for the attainment of Slovak autonomy was unity of all Slovaks. The Czechs had always been able to find means to thwart the unification of the Slovaks. Now the Slovaks had to discover something that would unite them and lead them toward a common goal. The Slovak People's Party, led by Andrej Hlinka, was �SLOVAKIA 53 predominantly Catholic. The Slovak National Party (Slovenska Narodna Strana), headed by Martin Razus, had a majority of Lutheran members.6 These two political parties, fighting for the autonomy of Slovakia, came to an agreement on a united precedure in 1932, and in a joint resolution expressed their mutual determination not to surrender Slovak rights even thought it might cost the disintegration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. This resolve of the Slovak nation was further stiffened and given a mighty manifestation when, from August 13-15, 1933, the Slovaks gathered in Nitra, the ancient headquars of the Slovak princes, to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of the dedication of the first Christian church in Slovakia. At this occasion the Slovak people not only reminded themselves of their antiquity and the rich traditions of their Christian culture, but at the same time emphasized their right to a free national existence in a great demonstration. More than 100,000 Slovaks assembled at the historic site of glorious Slovak antiquity to express their unquenchable longing for a free Slovak future. As the Prague Government did not understand Slovakia, so did not comprehend what took place in Nitra. It saw in the events in Nitra simply a demonstration against the Government. This prompted the seizure of the Slovak People's Party's press, the trial of its editor-in-chief Karol Sidor, an investigation of Slovak students and other steps which evoked a new storm of apposition in Slovakia. The premier of the Prague Government, Jan Malypetr, himself issued a separate manifesto in which he stressed that the Czechs contributed to the support of Slovakia and that Slovakia was ungrateful for this magnanimity. To give this speech as much publicity as possible in Slovakia, he had it printed on large placards and posted in all Slovak cities and villages. This tactless and-for a premier of a government-undignified act deeply offended every Slovak, because no one in Slovakia believed that Slovakia was dependent on the Czechs for a subsidy. Equally as politically indescreet and mistaken in statesmanship was the procedure of Dr. Eduard Benes who, as foreign minister of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, in December of 1933 spoke in several Slovak cities on the �54 SLOVAKIA "Idea of Czechoslovak National Unity from the Viewpoint of International Policy." The Slovaks were to keep silent about their grievances and their rights because Prague supported Slovakia. They were to disavow their national independence without a struggle and betray themselves in order to strengthen the international position of the State in which they were not able to arouse justice and reform. Instead of being misled and bowing to the Prague Government at this suggestion, the Slovaks advanced tow~rd their goal. They were unwilling to surrender their rights even for the survival of the Czecho-Slovak Republic which at this very hour had got itself into a really dangerous situation. Adolf Hitler and his National-Socialist Party had come to power in neighboring Germany. The Slovaks were correct in assuming that this tense international situation would force the Czechs to fulfill the Slovak demands in order to strengthen the Czecho-Slovak Republic for the possible outbreak of new dangers. The Slovaks did not wish to cause internal difficulties in the CzechoSlovak Republic and, even at this time, they had the good will to come to an agreement with the Czechs and to defend their joint State with their united strength. When T . G. Masaryk resigned from the office of President on December 14, 1935, representatives of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, at the election of the new president on December 18, voted for Dr. Eduard Benes who prior to the election had promised to see that the Slovak demands would be fulfilled. Dr. Benes made the promise, but it turned out that there was no one to fulfill it. For the first time in the history of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, a Slovak, Dr. Milan Hodza, became premier of the Government and also Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was a politician of rich experience and wide vision but involved in his own political conceptions and indecisive especially concerning the Slovak question. At the time, even had he wanted to settle the standing of Slovakia, he could not devote himself to the question because he was obliged to center all his attention on the demands of the Sudeten Germans. The integrity and existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic was seriously threatened and the position of �SLOVAKIA 55 Slovakia was left unsolved after twenty years of the Czecho-Slovak State. In 1938 the situation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic became even worse. On March 12 Hitler occupied and linked Austria to Germany. The Sudeten Germans presented their demands again, but the Prague Government had no answer to give that would satisfy both the Germans and the interests of the Czecho-Slovak State. The international situation grew more and more acute, and the Czecho-Slovak Republic, preparing to celebrate its twentieth anniversary, was experiencing moments of deep unrest and worrisome uncertainty. Even under these circumstances the Slovaks, who for twenty years had striven for autonomy and for twenty years had not been able to achieve their goal, were peacefully preparing to commemorate in a grand way the twentieth anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement. On Pentecost Sunday, the 5th of June, 120,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava to declare most emphatically that they would never give up their rights. At this occasian a delegation of the Slovak League of America was present together with its president, Dr. Peter P. Hletko, who brought along the original of the Pittsburgh Pact. The American Slovaks represented by the Slovak League wished to certify by their presence at this commemoration that they stood on the same platform they had accepted twenty years earlier. The throngs of Slovaks who welcomed the delegation of the Slovak League of America in the capital of Slovakia were not fanatic masses, but the self-conscious Slovak nation, politically trained and exemplarily led by Andrej Hlinka, giving notice for the last time and in a very resolute-yet in every respect honorable-manner, that it would under no pressure give up the struggle for its rights to a free life. In Bratislava, for the last time, Andrej Hlinka himself appeared before the crowd of faithful fellow fighters to receive the homage of his people before his death. The Prague Government, even with the Slovak Dr. Milan Hodza at its helm, failed to understand the true meaning of this historical event and the very next day arranged a demonstration in Bratislava advocating the idea of Czechoslovak national oneness in opposition to �56 SLOVA KIA Slovak autono my. This blund ering step was the climax of all the mistak es made by the Pragu e Gover nment in its absur d policy conce rning Slovak ia. Andre j Hlink a died Augus t 16, 1938. The Slovak nation stood at his grave resolu tely determ ined to finish its great strugg le witho ut regard for the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic. The mome nt had come when the Slovak nation had to be conce rned only aboutl its own destin y. VIA AUTO NOMY TO THE SLOV AK STATE The positi on of the Slovak s in the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic preven ted them from determ ining even their own destin y. Much less were they able to steer the course of intern al affairs in this State. Least of all were they able to influe nce the foreig n policy direct ed by Dr. Eduar d Benes . Hence the Slovak s bore no respon sibilit y either for the develo pment of the intern al life or the intern ationa l standi ng of the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic and could not be blame d for the situati on into which the State got itself. Small nation s are not creato rs of intern ationa l situations. Often they are merely helple ss figurin es on the great chessb oard of intern ationa l politic s, which is the game of large nation s. Furthe rmore , the small nation witho ut to a gover nment of its own it not given an oppor tunity l ationa active ly interv ene in the appea semen t of an intern 1918 situati on. The Slovak s were in sucl\ a positi on from to 1938. If great nation s assum e the right to create intern ationa l situat ions in which they utilize small nation s for the realiza tion of their power plans, a small and enslav ed nation canno t be blame d if for its own protec tion it utilize s an oppor tunity offere d by the wave of histor ical events . It is eviden ce of the Slovak nation 's politic al matur ity that it knew how to grasp such an histor ical oppor tunity , not neglec ting to use it for the attain ment of a goal it coul not achiev e by its own power . The Slovak s grew tired of vainly repeat ing their justifi ed deman ds when there was no one to fulfill them. They were theref ore determ ined and prepa red to take what was rightfu lly theirs. Imme diatel y after the Bratis lava manif estatio n the Slovak People 's Party presen ted to the Pragu e Parlia ment �SLOVA KIA 57 a new nation for a law provid ing Slovak ia with autono my. At the time, Czech o-Slov akia found itself in the midst of a seriou s intern al crisis and was shake n to the found ations by strong outwa rd pressu re. With the threat of war hangin g in the air, the Pragu e Gover nment , heade d since Septem ber 23, 1938 by Gener al Syrovy , procla imed total mobili zation , a necess ity hasten ed still more by the intern al chaos in the Czech o-Slov ak Repub lic. The issue did not lead to war, howev er, becau se the Czech o-Slov ak Gover nment, on the advice of the Allies, acctep ted the condit ions dictate d by Germa ny accord ing to which the Germa n Army was to occup y the territo ries of Czech o-Slov akia that were popul ated by Germa ns. Nor was the Pragu e Gover nment able to reject the ultima tum of Poland deman ding that the Polish -occup ied territo ry of Silesia be joined to Poland . These circum stance s left the Slovak s no choice but to look out for thems elves. After length y and fruitle ss concultati ons with repres entativ es of the Pragu e regime , the Slovak People 's Party, led by Dr. Jozef Tiso after the death of Andre j Hlink a, had to take the fate of Slovak ia into its own hands . On Octob er 5th Dr. Eduar d Benes resign ed as Presid ent of the Repub lic, and on the 6th of Octob er the Execu tive Comm ittee of the Slovak People 's Party met in Zilina and sugge sted that all power in Slovak ia be taken over by the Slovak s by right of self-de termin ation. This resolu tion of the Slovak People 's Party was acctep ted and approv ed in all its parts also by delega tes of all the remain ing non-le ftist Slovak partie s. In the rapid succes sion of storm y events , the Slovak nation had to stakei out its future alone in order to preven t others from makin g the decisi ons contra ry to its intere sts. All these politic al partie s agreed also to join with the Slovak People 's Party to form a single party: The Slovak Nation al Unity Party (Stran a sloven skej narod nej jednot y). The Pragu e Gover nment, alway s deaf to Slovak previous deman ds, recogn ized this unanim ous decisi on of the Slovak politic al partie s. Slovak ia obtain ed its autono mous govern ment with Dr. Jozef Tiso at its head as prime minist er. Later, on Novem ber 19, 1938, the Pragu e Parliament passed a consti tution al law for the govern ment of autono mous Slovak ia. In order that Slovak ia might be �58 SLOVAKIA properly represented also in the Central Government in Prague, Karol Sidor was made the vice-presiden t of that body. In addition, Slovakia had its own delegates in the ministries of foreign affairs, national defense and finance . The Slovak nation had just attained this goal when confronted by a catastrophe similar to that which was it the Bohemian lands. The southern section of visited had by Magyars, was claimed by the Magyars, inhabited Slovakia have liked to occupy all of Slovakia. fact in would who had to work out a new boundary government The Slovak 7 Discussions were based on government. Magyar with the of the population. The nationality the of the statistics 1930 census, whereas the of statistics the Magyars rejected taken during the statistics, 1910 the the Slovaks regarded setting of the The unjust. as period of Magyarizatio n, court impartial an to left new boundary was therefore Germany and Italy of of arbitration. The foreign ministers rendered a decision on November 2, 1938, which the Slovaks considered to be unfair. By it Hungary received and occupied cities and areas in southern Slovakia that were entirely or predominantl y Slovak. This decision resulted in many economic and commercial hardships for Slovakia because the new boundary severed railroads and roads, and a number of Slovak valleys, open toward the south, lost their connection with the territory of Slovakia. Even these injustices and hardships failed to shatter the spirit of the Slovak nation. The Slovak Government, by exerting all its energy endeavored to organize the administratio n of Slovakia in a way that would prove its ability to exist as an entity. It was anxious above all to see all Slovaks lay a strong foundation for the future of Slovakia by means of firm national unity and faithful cooperation. According to the declaration of Slovak autonomy, elections for seats in Parliament were held as early as December 18, 1938. Members of the Slovak Parliament became the representativ es not only of the Slovak People's Party, but also of the remaining political parties which now formed the Slovak National Unity Party as the result of the zilina agreement. In the Slovak Parliament national minorities also had their representativ es. A month later, January 18, 1939, the legislative assembly of autonomous �SLOVAKIA 59 Slovakia was opened in a festive manner and began its activity. It soon appeared that the form and amount of selfgovernmen t which Slovakia possessed could not supply all the needs of Slovak national life. In its twenty-yea r struggle for its rights, the Slovak nation had reached a level of maturity, and had set its heart on a measure of freedom, for which autonomy was too small a frame. Not even the Czechs were satisfied with the autonomou s status of Slovakia. They found it hard to give up the rule of Slovakia even though responsibl e persons in the Prague Governme nt repeatedly complaine d that the Czechs were obliged to subsidize Slovakia. The Slovak nation felt that it was capable of taking over the administra tion of its country entirely, while the central departmen ts in Prague often proceeded as though there were no declaration of Slovak autonomy in existence. Fresh disagreeme nts and dissension s arose between the Slovaks and Czechs, and the situation in autonomou s Slovakia continued to be vague and confused. The situation was made worse by the intrusion of outside influences. This confusion, aggravated by the rapacity of its neighbors, could have had catastrophic consequen ces for the fate of Slovakia. The Slovaks longed for the peaceful growth of their own life, and the orn: condition necessary for such a life was the national independen ce of Slovakia. The Slovak nation, having come so far along the road of its historical evolution, was prepared and determined to take this step also, because it was convinced that it had a right not only to autonomy, but also to its own independen t state. And this step was the only refuge for Slovakia against the storm threatening it in the tense internation al situation. " FAITHFUL TO OURSELV ES FORWARD IN HARMONY ! " As a result of the constantly increasing demands of Germany, the situatjon which developed in Central Europe was very confused and perturbed at the beginning of March, 1939. It was clear, however, that the Czecho-Slo vak Republic had arrived at the edge of an abyss. The Slovaks did not feel duty-bound to hurl themselves into that gorge. �60 SLOVAKIA Rather, the Slovaks looked for an escape that would lead them to safety. In Bratislava representatives of Germany sought out Karol Sidor, whom they considered the most popular political leader in Slovakia, and urged him to declare the independent State of Slovakia over the radio. Dr. Jozef Tiso was invited to Berlin for a discussion with Adolf Hitler and his minister of foreign affairs, von Ribbentrop. They both informed the president of the Slovak government of the danger confronting Slovakia and demanded his decision at once. Neither Karol Sidor nor Dr. Jozef Tiso complied with this urgent demand because they considered any decisions regarding the future legal status of Slovakia to be the right and duty of the Slovak Parliament in Bratislava. The Slovak Parliament, elected according to the decree of Slovak autonomy, was called into session by the president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, Dr. Emil Ha.cha, and on March 14, 1939, it declared Slovakia an independent and self-governing state by unanimous resolution. The presidium of the Parliament appointed the administration of independent Slovakia, with Dr. Jozef Tiso at his head, and the Slovak Government then took over all power in Slovakia into its own hands. Even though the international situation, during which Slovakia's declaration of independence was made, influenced the rapid succession of events in Slovakia, the Slovak Parliament-as the legal and authorized interpreter of the Slovak nation's will-did only what the Slovak nation had a right to do. Conscious of this right, the Slovak nation accepted the decision of the Slovak Parliament as the natural result of historical development not only with enthusiastic agreement and sincere joy, but also with a determination to bear the entire burden of responsibility for its own destiny and to prove that it was mature and ready for national independence. The proclamation of autonomous Slovakia as an independent state marked the end of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Even so, the Czecho-Slovak Republic would not have been able to survive the hurricane of events. Its fall would have been Slovakia's downfall also, and the Slovak nation would have been left to the mercy of its neighbors. The decisive action of the Slovak Parliament placed before �SLOVAKIA 61 Slovakia's neighbors a ready reality, and the government of the neighboring states took this reality into consideration and respected it. The independent State of Slovakia was recognized either de iure or de facto by the following states: Belgium, ( de facto ), Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Equador, Estonia, Finland, France ( de facto ), Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Manchuria, Poland, Siam, Soviet Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Vatican State and Yugoslavia, 27 nations in all. These states included great powers and small countries, neutrals as well as belligerents in the Second World War. Not even the allies of the former Czecho-Slovak Republic hesitated to recognize the national independence of Slovakia. Some of these nations established and maintained diplomatic and commercial relations with Slovakia, whereas others were not able to do so because they were obstructed by the War. The Slovak State did not solicit the protection of its German neighbor, but when the German Government itself came with the proposal of a defense pact, the Slovak Government, for various reasons, could not reject such an offer. True, this treaty restricted the sovereignty of the Slovak State to a certain extent, but on the other hand it assured the safety of Slovakia not only against the nation which frequently advanced its historical claims to Slovak lands, but also against Germany itself. Although the Slovaks had in the past claimed the right to a free life, the nations who were deciding the fate of Slovakia rejected these petitions, and, despite other proofs, kept insisting that Slovakia because of its small size could not maintain itself as a separate and independent political unit since it was not supposed to be economically selfsustaining. Therefore, they concluded, it would be to the advantage of Slovakia to be in a union with another state, and it was intimated that the Slovaks should be thankful if someone would be willing magnanimously to support them. From the very beginning of its life as an independent state, Slovakia strove to disprove this false legend of economic dependence. And it controverted it in such a way at every step that these arguments against Slovak independ- �62 SLOVAKIA ence completely disappeared. As soon as its autonomy was proclaimed, the Slovak Government floated a loan for the economic revival of Slovakia, and the Slovak people themselves in a short time subscribed an amount necessary to cover this need. In a similar manner a gold standard was created for the Slovak Republic, to which the Slovaks sacrificed their valuables. The mint at Kremnica which had coined Hungarian currency for 600 years, for the first time in its history began to mint money with the seal of the Slovak State. It was discovered that Slovakia had enough varied raw materials which it could work, and that Slovak industry could increase its production to the point where it could export its products. Slovakia concluded trade agreements with many European countries, and the foreign trade of the Slovak Republic was highly active. The Slovak "koruna" (crown) won a reputation as the "Tatra Dollar," and its steady value was the best proof of the settled economy of the Slovak State. The Slovak Parliament, as early as July 21, 1939. approved the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, thereby establishing a strong foundation of legal procedure and the future development of Slovak national life. 8 On October 26, 1939, Dr. Jozef Tiso was unanimously elected the first president of the Slovak Republic and was recognized by the Slovak nation as the successor of the 9th-century Slovak princes. His motto: "Faithful to Ourselves-Forward in Harmony!" succinctly expressed not only the principles he practiced in his own high office, but also the program of Slovak statehood. The Slovak nation, particularly during those tempestuous days, took careful note of all the advantages and disadvantages obtaining from its position at the historical crossroads of Central Europe. The generation: which lived to see liberty on the soil of the ancient Slovak fatherland wanted to forget the injustices of the past and sincerely to establish friendly relation with all the nations with which it would come into contact. It wished to stand not only on the free land of its ancestors, but also on the spiritual foundation of its own life, to retrieve in unity with all Slovaks what the Slovak nation had lost through no fault of its own, and to prepare a peaceful and prosperous future for generations to come. �SLOVAKIA 63 It was along this road that Dr. Jozef Tiso led the Slovak nation as president of the Slovak Republic. As the Slovak nation was laying the foundations of its State and was taking its first steps on the road of a free life, the storm of war began to spread over Central Europe. Its flames grew and engulfed more and more countries. But the hurricane of war, moving from the west to the east, passed over Slovakia without damage. During the first years of the War, when the German armies penetrated through Poland and were headed for Moscow, reaching the Volga River and the foothills of the Caucasus, Slovakia remained in a sort of vacuum, free to develop in every respect without interference. Especially the cultural life of Slovakia blossomed at this time. In the Slovak University, the Technical Institute, the School of Commerce and Business, the Slovak National Library, the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in its other older and newer cultural institutions the Slovak nation discovered media of growth such as it had never known in the past. The number of books increased daily, new radio stations were built, and the production of cultural and documentary films was initiated. Unusual cultural activity flourished throughout Slovakia with many Slovak villages erecting cultural buildings as agencies for their own progress. Slovakia grew because the creative abilities of the Slovak nation were not being exhausted in the defense of natural rights, now guaranteed by political independence and its own national administration. The Slovak Republic, emerging during the twilight of the great War, was beclouded by a crucial question: How would the War end, and what kind of fate awaited this small yet so promisingly developing State? The Slovak nation was determined to defend its national independence as the only real basis for its national liberty, and so it exerted itself to have the Slovak Republic remain on the map of postwar Europe. It had a right to believe that it could preserve its liberty and national independence, but it knew from its own experience the bitter truth that if the others decided the fate of a nation, the rights of a nation are seldom considered. The only desire of the Slovak nation at this time was the Slovak Republic be rid of the outward pressure which limited its sovereignty �64 SLOVAKIA and influenced its decisions. When a turn of events came in the War, and military danger began to approach from the East, the Slovak nation began to fear for its future . These fears grew as the Slovak nation realized that it did not have the strength to repel this threatening calamity. Besides this, it was aware of designs being made against the Slovak Republic in foreign countries.9 It was reasonable to presume that, because of the Soviet army's superior force, the hard-pressed German army would not retreat through the mountainous territory of Slovakia. In the north, the Soviet army advanced from the Carpathians through Poland, and in the south, through Hungary; and it could be sudmised that Slovakia would not become a battleground. It could expect to be spared at least the destruction of war. These suppositions, however, were not fulfilled, because the agents of Moscowwi th the help of Communist partisans, landed in the Slovak mountains by Soviet aircraft, organized an uprising in Slovakia in August, 1944, and produced a chaos which confused a portion of the native population. 10 This entire action had no political significance because it had no influence on the fate of Slovakia. From a military viewpoint the uprising was foolish, and it collapsed in a shameful manner. But from an economic point of view, the uprising caused greater damage than had been suffered by the country for centuries. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives for no reason, railroads, tunnels and bridges were arbitrarily destroyed, and many villages were reduced to ashes. With the blood that was needlessly spilled and the smoke which hung over the ruins perished not only the national independence of Slovakia, but also the liberty of the "liberated" Slovak nation. On the heels of the Soviet army's divisions and their unspeakable atrocities, from Moscow to desolated Slovakia came Dr. Eduard Benes with the government of a resurrected Czecho-Slovak Republic. After five years of existence in its own state the Slovak nation arrived, against its own will and contrary to all the principles of natural and self-determining rights, at a position in which it did not care to live at any price, with nothing but slavery staring it in the facp �SLOVAKIA 65 BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN The Slovak Republic was a small state. It emerged in unusually restless times and grew under very complicated conditions. In view of these circumstances, it could not become an ideal or complete state. Large, ancient, and mighty nations have their faults and weaknesses, too . The Slovak Republic cannot be condemned for the imperfection connected with its infancy nor for the errors it made, which in more than one case were simply the result of outside influences. It is an incontrovertible historical fact that the Slovak nation, in all of i~ more than one-thousand year history, never had such liberty, such rights, so much employment, such a measure of material welfare, such conditions for spiritual growth and cultural progress, or so much joy in living, as it had in the years of the Slovak Republic. The Slovak nation was contented with its State, despite its deficiencies, and it did not long for any other kind of state, including the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Slovak Republic conclusively refuted all the arguments against Slovak national independenqe. Every Slovak could see for himself that Slovakia, utilizing the industriousness of its people, is large enough and wealthy enough to provide all the economic conditions needed for indep8ndent national life . . The Slovak nation, during its five-year history of political independence, passed with remarkable success its test in the art of creating a government, and it deserved to be recognized as an independent and equal member in the family of free nations. By its experience as a Slovak republic, it is qualified to decide all questions pertaining to its own life, and is prepared to use its strength for the common welfare of the nations of Central Europe. One Slovak generation tasted the sweet fruit of liberty for which so many generations of the Slovak nation had fervently yearned, and therefore Slovaks will never again be satisfied with the bitter bread of slave labor. All this the Slovak nation learned in its own state. But all this was noted also by Dr. Eruard Benes, who observed the development of Slovak life abroad during �66 SLOVAKIA the war and in the spring of 1945, accompanied by Soviet bayonets, set foot on the blood-stained soil of Slovakia. The restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic was one of the g1·eat inter-national mistakes. The revival of this State not only could not draw the Slovaks and Czechs closer to each other, but, on the contrary, relations between the Slovaks and Czechs became extremely cold as a direct result of this forced cohabitation in a joint state. The so-called Kosice Agreement of April 5, 1945, which recognized in the Slovaks the distinctive marks of a nation and promised. them complete equality with the Czechs, was not a cure for the wound which Slovakia suffered by the loss of its national independence, nor could it serve as a basis for a satisfying cohabitation of these two nations within one state. This sort of solution of Slovak-Czech relations would have had a meaning when the Slovaks were seeking autonomy in the spirit of the Pittsburgh Pact. The declaration at Kosice and the promises of Klement Gottwald had no power of attraction after the violent destruction of the Slovak Republic. The national independence of Slovakia was trampled by the Soviet army, which was followed by the Government and President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The restored Czecho-Slovak Republic was alien to the Slovaks not only because it could in no way replace the Slovak State, but also because it brought Slovakia under the control of Moscow through the administration at Prague. Slovakia, even while silenced by the presence of the Soviet army, in no way concealed either its irreconcilable opposition to the situation in which it found itself or its desire for its own national independence. Dr. Eduard Benes, as president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, was determined to crack this opposition of Slovakia at any cost and by any means, and to strangle in the Slovak nation every longing for independence. If Dr. Eduard Benes, by his personal propaganda, enjoyed the reputation abroad of a great democrat and farsighted statesman, he now himself tore off this mask and showed himself to be a ruthless tyrant far removed from democracy and wise foresight. He saw in the Communist people's democracy a new, higher and more advanced form of democracy, and �SLOVAKIA 67 as president of the restored Czecho-Slovak Republic he approved and confirmed all the violence committed by the Prague Government and its Bratislava agencies in the. name of the people's democracy. The Slovak nation now became a victim of revenge because it had its own state during the War. Criminal status was given not only to those who served in the Slovak Republic and had not redeemed their "crime" by the sin of treason, but also to those who disagreed with the new order. The executor of this people's democratic justice was the so-called "National Court" in Bratislava and the chain so-called "People's Courts" all over Slovakia . Since it was impossible to bring before the Court the entire "liberated" nation to condemn it , it was necessary to condemn hundreds and thousands of decent Slovaks in order that all Slovakia might be terrified silenced and coerced into slavish obedience. The " National Court" of Bratislava also condemned to death the president of the Slovak Republic Dr. Jozef Tiso, and the Czecho-Slovak Government together with its president saw to it that this judgment was carried out on April 18 , 1947. The execution of the President of the Slovak Republic evoked deep horror throughout Slovakia and at the same time extinguished the last spark of hope that Slovak~ and Czechs could live together in a common state. The gallows on which Dr. Jozef Tiso died a martyr's death stands above the chasm which once and for all obliterated any form of Czecho-Slovak state.11 Slovakia did not permit itself to be broken in its opposition to the Czecho-Slovak Republic nor to the Communistic people's democracy either by the murder of Dr. Jozef Tiso or by subsequent forcible measures. The Slovak nation is enduring the same wrongs, injustices and pains that are being suffered by all the other nations behind the Iron Curtain. The spirit and form of the Communist people's democracy are foreign, repulsive and unacceptable to the Slovak nation. With persistent and remarkable consistency, the Slovaks are rejecting everything that the Government of the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a servant of Moscow is �68 SLOVAKIA forcing upon them. And they are defending with heroic courage everything that feeds and strengthens their own life. 12 From the very dawn of its history, Slovakia has belonged to Western Europe, and for twelve centuries of its past it has lived in unity with the Christian civilization of the Western world. During this long historical evolution the Slovak nation has achieved a stature, spiritual character and moral tradition that cannot be reconciled with the godless materialism of Communist doctrine or with the un-Christian methods of the people's democracy. Even though its beautiful land serves as a huge prison behind the Iron Curtain, the Slovak nation has not lost, but continues to confess fearlessly, its faith in God as the source of its strength and hope. Deprived as it is of everything, it still does not surrender its claim to a free life in its own state, but insists on an independent position in the great family of equal nations in Europe. Could youf as a free citizen of a democratic country, say that the Slovak nation does not deserve freedom? Or that it want more than it has a right to expect? FOOTNOTES 1) Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934, p . 308. 2) In addition to many articles, Konstantin culen has written a separate two-volume study on American Slovaks: Dejiny Slov<ikov v Amerike (A History of Slovaks in America), Vols. I and II, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1942. The cultural life of American Slovaks is described in his book Slovaci v Amerike (Slovaks in America), Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1938. Several articles are devoted to the intervention of the Slovak League in America in the political conditions of Slovakia in the book Slovensk<i Liga v Amerike styridsat'rocnri (Fortieth Anniversary of the Slovak League in America), Scranton, Pa., 1947. These questions are dealt in detail also by Karol Sidor in the book Slovrici v zahranicnom odboji ( Slovaks in the Resistance Movement Abroad), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1928. A separate book on the Pittsburgh Agreement was written by Konstantin culen, Pittsburghskd dohoda (The Pittsburgh Agreement), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1937. 3 ) Martin Greco, Martinsk<i deklar<icia (The St. Martin Declaration) , Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. �SLOVAKIA 69 4) According to the 1930 census there were 3,329,793 inhabitants in 5) 6) 7) 8) Slovakia. Of this number, 2,284,355 were Roman Catholics, 213,725 Greek Catholics, 555,900 Protestants, 9,079 of the Orthodox faith . Only 16,890 were counted as not adhering to any religion: they were Czechs. The activity of Andrej Hlinka and the role of the Slovak People's Party are told in detail by Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934. The Slovak National Party was numerically small, gaining only one delegate in the election, but it numbered among its members many of the Lutheran intelligentsia. The cession of Slovakia southern lands to Hungary was decided already between the Prague Government and the administration of Hungary. The government of autonomous Slovakia was confronted by this prepared situation, and Dr. Jozef Tiso, who had led these conferences, was actually a delegate of the Central Government of Prague. The Constitution of the Slovak Republic was prepared by the vicepresident of Parliament and the chairman of the constitutional committee, Dr. Karol Mederly, who published it in an a separate brochure with a comprehensive introduction, Ostava Slovenslcej republilcy a jej zakladne smernice (The Constitution of the Slovak Republic and Its Basic Principles), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. 9) Plots against the independent statehood of Slovakia were led abroad by Dr. Eduard Benes who had resigned from the office of president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, had recognized Dr. Emil Hacha as his successor and then once again claimed the office of president. His faithful co-worker was the Slovak Communist, Dr. Vladimir Clementis. 10) The Soviet aircraft landed in Slovakia Slovak soldiers who had been captured by the Soviets and were obHged to join the so-called Czechoslovak Brigade in Russia. This entire brigade dispersed because the Slovak troops who had seen conditions in Soviet Russia with their own eyes did not wish to fight against the Slovak Republic, but fled to their homes at the first opportunity. 11) The entire address spoken by Dr. Jozef Tiso in Bratislava before his sentence has been published by the Slovak Catholic Sokol in a book entitled Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso, in His own Words), Slovak Catholic Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, edited by Dr. Jozef Pauco. 12) Much valuable information regarding the resistance of the Slovaks against Communism may be found in the booklet by Dr. Jozef :Mikus, The Thee Slovak Bishops, Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Passaic, N. J. 1953. � 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 42 SLOVAKIA This Is Slovakia By Francis Hrusovsk'J}, Ph.D. SEPARATIO N FROM HUNGARY The Austro-Hung arian Monarchy was built on a shaky foundation. It may have survived in a less extended territory, had it grasped in time its historical mission in this ethnically disunited region of Central Europe. Hungary could have weathered the approaching historical holocaust if it had put into practice the spirit of justice and equality. But neither the Austrian Emperor nor the Hungarian King, neither the Government of Vienna nor of Budapest, reckoned with the given realities: they did not know how to rightly evaluate the strength of the new historical trends, nor did they forsee the direction of future developments . Hence they permitted themselves to be led by policies which could only lead to the disintegration of the entire Monarchy and to the fall of Hungary. Because of the national policy of Hungary, which curtailed the growth of Slovak national life in all of its phases. the Slovaks were not sufficiently prepared for the role which awaited them. When the World War broke out in 1914, under the emergency provisions of the Government any kind of Slovak political movement was unthinkable. The fate of countries and of nations is not always determined by their strength, but as much by circumstances which arise without their doing. This proved to be true not only of Austra-Hunga ry, which was shaken to its foundations by World War I, but also of the various nations which had gradually become aware that the time had come to take an account of the past and be concerned only about their own future fate, regardless of the interests of the Monarchy. At the beginning of the war, the Slovaks had no thought of separating from Hungary, much less could they have expressed such a thought aloud. But when the War was nearing its end and it was more and more evident that Austria-Hung ary could not escape defeat, the leaders of SLOVAKIA 43 the Slovaks saw that the military defeat of the Hapsburg Monarchy would furnish them the opportunity for attaining the goals they were not able to achieve in Hungary. Slovak patriots met for a secret conference in Turciansky Sv. Martin on May 24, 1918, where Andrej Hlinka plainly stated: "The thousand-year marriage with the Magyars has not panned out. We must be divorced." 1 The Slovaks took a stand for the right of selfdetermination of the Slovak nation and decided that at an opportune time they would sever all ties between Slovakia and Hungary and enter a new State composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Russia. The Czecho-Slovak National Council (Ceskoslovenska narodna rada ), founded in Paris in 1916, worked abroad for the disolution of Austria-Aungary and the formation of a new Czecho-Slovak State. At the head of the CzechoSlovak National Council was professor Thomas G. Masaryk, and its outstanding member was the distinguished Slovak scholar, Milan Rastislav Stefanik, who possessed unusual diplomatic talents and attained the rank of General in the French Army. Slovaks living abroad morally and materially supported the activity of the Czecho-Slovak National Council and in large numbers joined the CzechoSlovak Legion which fought on the side of the Allies against Austria-Hungary The Slovaks were convinced that if Slovakia would tear away from Hungary, it would enjoy all the conditions of a free national existence in a joint Czecho-Slovak State. The Czecho-Slovak National Council was most effectively supported by the Slovaks who were living in America and who always lllad a lively interest in the destiny of the Slovak nation in the Old World. Under the leadership of the Slovak League of America, which was organized already in 1907, they frequently raised their voice in defense of the Slovak nation in Hungary, and as free citizens of a democratic country they protested against the injustices which their native brothers in Slovakia had to suffer. Later, in the years of World War I , they stood in the first ranks of the battle for the liberation of Slovakia. It is to their credit not only that they made large financial sacrifices for the cause of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, but also that they insisted on having beforehand 44 SLOVAKIA a clear presentation and firm guaranties as to the relationship between the Slovak and Czech nations in the proposed joint State. Representatives of the Slovak League in America discussed this serious question with delegates of the Czech National Federation in Cleveland as early as 1915, and came to the conclusion that the future Czecho-Slovakia would be a federal union of states with complete autonomy for Slovakia. Subsequently, on May 30, 1918, representatives of the Slovak League met with representatives of Czech organizations and with the President of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, T. G. Masaryk, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and drew up an agreement which guaranteed political and cultural autonomy to Slovakia in the new State. This agreement was designed by T . G. Masaryk and later signed by him as president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. 2 Only vague reports of this foreign action penetrated Slovakia, and the agreements which testify to the wise foresight of the American Slovaks were not even known there. Nevertheless, everything that could be undertaken in Slovakia during the War for the benefit of Slovakia's future was basically in harmony with what was being done independently overseas. In the meantime, events at the front indicated that the defeat of Austria-Hungary was inescapable. Emperor Charles published a manifesto on October 16, 1918, in which he promised a reconstruction of the Monarchy on a new basis, but it was already too late. The President of the Hungarian Government, Count Stephen Tisza, on the 17th of October, attempted to justify the Budapest policy of Magyarization, reluctant to see that it was just this policy that brought Hungary to inevitable disintegration and certain collapse. In the Hungarian Parliament, on October 19, the Slovak delegate, Dr. Ferdis Juriga, announced in the face of a stormy protest of Magyar members that neither the Hungarian Parliament nor the Hungarian Government had the right any longer to decide the future destiny of the Slovak nation, because the Slovaks would decide their own future on the basis of their right of self-determination. The Slovaks, unaware of what had happened in Prague on October 28, met on October 30, 1918, in Turciansky Sv. SLOVAKIA 45 Martin, where, chiefly under the influence of Andrej Hlinka, they organized a Slovak National Council and in a separate declaration proclaimed that the Slovaks once and for all Hrere separating themselves from Hungary and were of their own accord joining the Czecho-Slovak State.3 The new Czecho-Slovak State was born on the ruins of the Hapsburg Monarchy, which, having lost the war, was not able to defend its own existence and escape catastrophe. There was nothing left to do but define the boundaries of the new State (especially the Slovak-Hungarian border ), establish its international position, and construct its internal administration on a basis that would insure its ability to live. The most important condition for the healthy internal development of the Czecho-Slovak State was deciding the position Slovakia would occupy in the new State. The separation of the Slovaks from the Magyars and from Hungary was for the Slovak& not only painless, but joyful, as was the separation of the thirteen American colonies from England. " SLAVES UNTIL NOW - NEVER AGAIN!" Martin Razus (1888-1937)-a leading Slovak poet whose writings gave voice to the pains, longings, and hopes of his people, and whom the Slovaks called the "conscience of the Slovak nation"-welcomed the dawn of the new Slovak day with a poem, the refrain of which reads: "Slaves we have been till now, slaves we shall be no longer!" These words, mirrored the sentiment that prevailed throughout Slovakia in the first years of its new status. The Slovaks had reasons enough, at the end of the bloody war, to welcome the Czecho-Slovak Republic with open joy and sincere hopes. They had fought on all fronts, and had used every means, to bring about the formation of this new State. They had a right therefore to see in the Czecho-Slovak Republic a state they could consider their own. Slovakia experienced a period of genuine joy mostly because it had extricated itself from the union with old Hungary where it had striven in vain for equal rights. The Magyar language was removed from offices, schools, and all public life, and with its disappearance went all traces of Magyar domination. Slavonic traditions, which 46 SLOVAKIA had remained alive in Slovakia, prevented the Slovaks from being disappointed in their Slavonic brotherhood, a subject frequently discussed at the inception of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Slovak people entered their new existence as a nation composed of large groups of Slovaks who had never estranged themselves from their origin nor allowed themselves to be misled by foreign ideologies, had preserved their language, their national traditions and all the marks of their national character. The democratic spirit which promted the laws of the new State gave assurance that the Slovak people would no longer serve foreign masters, but would concentrate on the development of their own life in order to regain as quickly as possible what they had lost in the past through no fault of their own. Aristocratic titles, together with their corresponding historical privileges, wer e abolished. A federal Land Commission was set up to expropriate for a fair price land held by big non-Slovak landowners and distribute it to the small Slovak farmers , who had always been the strong core of the Slovak nation. It was anticipated, with good reason, that the industry, that would develop in the western part of the new State would be supplemented by the farm and forest economy of Slovakia, a balance that could be achieved only by means of such a union with the Czech lands. It was also to be expected that under the influence of new social laws the living standard of the working people would be raised. The Constitution, approved on February 29, 1920, guaranteed civil equality and political rights to all citizens, thus giving the Slovaks the privilege of influencing the affairs of government. A great deal of pain was caused in Slovak life by the schools which had been used as an instrument of denationalization. This injustice was corrected by the retention of Magyar schools only in those parts of Slovakia where was a Magyar population. New high schools and technical schools were established where there had been none before. In Bratislava, which had become the capital of Slovakia, a new university was founded in 1919 with three faculties. Besides other cultural organizations, the National Slovak Theatre came into being. In every city and village of Slovakia, public libraries were established and plays SLOVAKIA 47 were presented, with the result that vigorous cultural activity spread throughout the country. In Turciansky Sv. Martin, the Matica Slovenska was reopened, to provide Slovakia with the new products of Slovak literature. In Slovakia there was a revival of old Slovak political parties whose activity was restricted under the Hungarian regime and completely stopped during the war. In addition, new political parties were organized, so that Slovaks could participate in politics according to their convictions. The desire for a new, free, and full national life was discernible everywhere, and the program for providing this kind of life from day to day. The relationship between the Slovak and Czech people, however, was dimmed from the very beginning of their union, and as it continued it became streadily worse. The Czechs and the Slovaks, throughout their long history, had never lived together in a joint state. Each went their own way and developed under a different set of conditions. When these two Slavic nations now got together under the roof of a common state and began to knew each other better, it appeared that for all their lingual similarity there was a great difference between them. Slovakia is a country Christian from its foundations, 80 % Catholic, its deep, living religious traditions permeating the nature of the Slovak and his entire life. 4 The Czechs, as the result of a different historical development, had a different attitude toward religious questions, and when, after the beginning of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, they came to Slovakia, they approached the religious convictions of the Slovaks tactlessly, thereby creating antagonism in Slovakia. Between the Slovak and Czech nations a crevice of distrust began to form . This fissure deepened when the Czechs in Slovakia acted as though they were in a backward country. Many of them had the idea--even when there was no basis for it:r--that their role was to bring culture and progress to Slovakia. This condescending attitude offended the Slovaks, who in turn began to ridicule Czech "progressiveness." Under the pretext that the Slovaks did not have sufficient trained personnel to occupy various official posi- 48 SLOVAKIA tions, multitudes of Czechs who had previously lived in various parts of Austria and for whom there was no room in Bohemia, moved into Slovakia. The Slovaks were grateful to the Czechs for the assistance Slovakia certainly needed in the first years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. But the thousands upon thousands of Czechs who came into Slovakia were completely superfluous. The Slovaks began to look upon them as intruders who were taking away their jobs and bread. While the flood of Czechs was pouring into Slovakia, Slovaks left their homeland in great numbers and moved to all parts of the world. But the most important reason why the early enthusiasms of the Slovaks ended in rapid and complete disillusionment was that the Czechs were trying to build the Czecho-Slovak Republic on the same kind of foundation the Magyars had laid for the creation of a united great Hungary. The very opening words of the Czecho-Slovak Constitution speak of the "Czechoslovak nation"-which in fact never existed. The Czechs ever more openly proclaimed the idea of Czechoslovak national oneness. Since they themselves had no intention of giving up their Czech nationality; desiring to remain a Czech nation also in the future, this alleged Czechoslovak national oneness was simply a way of leading tha Slovaks into a national unity with the Czechs. Even though admitting its euphony, they spoke of the Slovak language as a dialect of the Czech tongue, a vestige that would gradually disappear from literature. Because there was indeed no Czechoslovak language, references were made to the temporary bilinguism of the Czechoslovak nation, or of two aspects of one language. The Slovaks, who had waged such a long, costly, and exhausting struggle in Hungary "for our Slovak language" and considered their language as one expression of their national individuality, were disturbed by such a development because they saw in it the design of Czechization. Slovak literature, from the Czech point of view, was merely an echo of Czech literature, and all Slovak culture just a part of Czech cultural life. They predicted that the Slovaks would gradually SLOVAKIA 49 merge with the Czechs in the unified State, that they themselves recognized the advantage of such a development, and that this unity would be the most secure foundation for the Czecho-Slovak Republic which would then stand as a strong bulwark against the pressure of their German neighbor. Czech policy, based on such assumptions, led to complete centralization which ignored the interests of Slovakia. This Czech policy aroused vigorous opposition in Slovakia. If the words of the poet Martin Razus meant that the Slovaks had been slaves in Hungary and that this slavery had ended once and for all, they soon took on the new meaning that the Slovaks did not care to be--nor would they be--slaves in the Czecho-Slovak Republic either. The Magyars had used a political ideology to justify their dealings with the Slovaks, though actually they were concerned only for their own safety. The lifeless fiction of Czechoslovak national oneness had a similar meaning. The Czechs are surrounded on three sides by the Germans, and they are exposed to the influence of this great neighbor. When the Czecho-Slovak Republic came into being, they thought Slovakia would become not only their colony but also a country which when gradually assimilated would strengthen their position over against the Germans. But the Slovaks, who had not been willing to perish in Hungary, were unwilling to sacrifice their national individuality even for the protection of the Czechs. Suicide can be committed only by a nation uninformed, cudutrally undeveloped, and unconcerned about its future, a nation which does not understand why it should care about its honor or its right to exist. Because it had endured so many historical trials, had lost so much of its own blood, and was unable to develop its national life under the trying conditions of its past, the Slovak nation grew weary of having its energies continually drained and finally longed to be a nation really free. For this very reason it recognized the danger it faced in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, and with all the determination of a self-conscious nation took a stand for the defense of its honor and its right to the kind of life every nation deserves. 50 SLOVAKIA UNDER THE LEADERS HIP OF ANDREJ HLINKA In the first years of the Czecho-Slo vak Republic Slovakia had a sort of governmen t, headed by a special minister with full authority for the administra tion of Slovakia as a member of the Prague Governmen t. This administra tion had its headquarte rs in Bratislava, consisted of several cabinet members, and exercised powers of jurisdictio n for a brief period. But in the end it was subject to the Central Governme nt in Prague which handled the admi.Ristra tion of the new State as part of a pattern of complete centralizat ion. Czech policy with all its attempts at centralizat ion was challenged by Andrej Hlinka, who had revived the Slovak People's Party (Slovenska :r.udova Strana) and had evoked a strong opposition movement in Slovakia. Andrej Hlinka saw the danger threatening Slovakia, and therefore tried to get the Paris Peace Conference to define the position of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slo vak Republic. For this he was imprisoned in the year 1919. Only upon his election to the Prague Parliamen t on April 18, 1920 was he released.5 The Slovak People's Party gained twelve seats in the election and, under the leadership of its chairman, Andrej Hlinka, began a relentless struggle for the rights of the Slovak nation in accordance with the Pittsburgh Agreement which had become the pattern of Slovak policy. This campaign had to be directed not only against the Prague Governme nt, but also against all the Czech political parties which, as servants of Prague centralism , had spread their nets also in Slovakia. Andrej Hlinka organized his party, set up its press, traveled throughou t Slovakia, and speaking at mass meetings, awakened in the Slovak people a strong national consciousn ess, an interest in political life, and courage to defend all their rights. These gatherings were often very stormy; neverthele ss the Slovak people followed Andrej Hlinka and saw in him their political leader. The inconsider ate actions of Czechs in Slovakia continued and strengthen ed the spirit of opposition in large groups of Slovak people against everything that came from Bohemia. In the years 1922-1926, when the Prague Governme nt was sending multitudes of Czechs into Slovakia to break Slovak SLOVAKIA 51 resistance to its policy of centralization, 250,000 Slovaks emigrated from Slovakia, forced to look for work in foreign lands. The Prague Government resorted to every means in order to discredit Andrej Hlinka and to frustrate the activity of the Slovak People's Party, but its attempts merely served to widen the breach between the Slovaks and the Czechs. The Slovak People's Party, in its campaign for the sanctioning of Slovak autonomy, desired the fulfilment of what Slovakia had been guaranteed in the Pittsburgh Agreement. The president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic T . G. Masaryk, who had designed and signed that Agreement himself, brushed aside the petitions of the Slovak People's Party with the excuse that the Pittsburgh Agreement is just an interesting document from the period of rebellion against Austria-Hungary, having no binding value . He claimed that the Slovak gained more in the Czecho-Slovak Republic than they were promised in the Pittsburgh Agreement. The Slovaks would not recognize this devaluation of the Pittsburgh Agreement, and the American Slovaks, who were following carefully the progress of Slovakia in the Czecho-Slovak State, in their Message of the American Slovaks to the Old World encouraged their native brothers to pursue relentlessly the struggle for Slovak autonomy. Andrej Hlinka stood staunchly behind the autonomy platform of the Slovak People's Party, and that was the reason why it grew in numbers and in strength. In the elections of 1925 it won twenty-three seats in the Prague Parliament and became the largest political party in Slovakia, with the right to speak as the only authorized representative of the political will of the Slovak nation. When not even the Czechs could continue to close their eyes to the numerical strength and steadily increasing importance to the Slovak People's Party any longer, they tried to win it to the side of the Government. After lengthy deliberations, the Slovak People's Party sent its representatives to the Prague Government to see if they might achieve autonomy by this method. According to this policy, it sought changes in the affairs of the Government that would assure Slovakia a standing as a separate administration unit. In 1927 the Prague Parliament passed 52 SLOVAKIA a law dividing the territory of Czecho-Slovakia into four administrative regions. Beginning January 1, 1928, Slovakia was to become one of these units. Slovakia was empowered to elect its own provincial representatives, forming a provincial assembly for the management of the economic, transportation, social, health and cultural needs of Slovakia. The Czechs felt that by this concession they were satisfying all the demands of Slovakia. However, the Slovaks saw in this reform only "the first ray of Slovak autonomy." The provincial assembly had no legislative powers, one-third of its members were named by the Prague Government, and its jurisdiction was limited. Still, it was a step forward, and it bolstered the hope in Slovakia that gradually the entire autonomistic program set forth in the Pittsburgh Agreement would be realized. The Slovaks were not oposed to the Czecho-Slovak Republic, of which they wanted their own State to be a member. In fact, they believed that, despite all the hardships which hampered the realization of their political program, they would eventually reach their goal. Nor were they against the Czech nation as such; but they resolutely rejected the myth of Czechoslovak national oneness and ever more boldly resisted the Czech imperialism which persisted even after the reorganization of the Government. Relations between the Slovaks and Czechs did not improve ; rather, the centralism of Prague became pronounced that the conditions for harmonious cohabitation between these two nations grew steadily worse. The elections of 1929 again proved the firm position of the Slovak People's Party and its abiding determination to defend the rights of the Slovak nation. It withdrew from the Government and, as on opposition Party, submitted to the Prague Parliament several proposals for the sanctioning of Slovak autonomy. The Prague Parliament rejected all these motions. It was evident that the fight would have to go to the finish. The first requirement for the attainment of Slovak autonomy was unity of all Slovaks. The Czechs had always been able to find means to thwart the unification of the Slovaks. Now the Slovaks had to discover something that would unite them and lead them toward a common goal. The Slovak People's Party, led by Andrej Hlinka, was SLOVAKIA 53 predominantly Catholic. The Slovak National Party (Slovenska Narodna Strana), headed by Martin Razus, had a majority of Lutheran members.6 These two political parties, fighting for the autonomy of Slovakia, came to an agreement on a united precedure in 1932, and in a joint resolution expressed their mutual determination not to surrender Slovak rights even thought it might cost the disintegration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. This resolve of the Slovak nation was further stiffened and given a mighty manifestation when, from August 13-15, 1933, the Slovaks gathered in Nitra, the ancient headquars of the Slovak princes, to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of the dedication of the first Christian church in Slovakia. At this occasion the Slovak people not only reminded themselves of their antiquity and the rich traditions of their Christian culture, but at the same time emphasized their right to a free national existence in a great demonstration. More than 100,000 Slovaks assembled at the historic site of glorious Slovak antiquity to express their unquenchable longing for a free Slovak future. As the Prague Government did not understand Slovakia, so did not comprehend what took place in Nitra. It saw in the events in Nitra simply a demonstration against the Government. This prompted the seizure of the Slovak People's Party's press, the trial of its editor-in-chief Karol Sidor, an investigation of Slovak students and other steps which evoked a new storm of apposition in Slovakia. The premier of the Prague Government, Jan Malypetr, himself issued a separate manifesto in which he stressed that the Czechs contributed to the support of Slovakia and that Slovakia was ungrateful for this magnanimity. To give this speech as much publicity as possible in Slovakia, he had it printed on large placards and posted in all Slovak cities and villages. This tactless and-for a premier of a government-undignified act deeply offended every Slovak, because no one in Slovakia believed that Slovakia was dependent on the Czechs for a subsidy. Equally as politically indescreet and mistaken in statesmanship was the procedure of Dr. Eduard Benes who, as foreign minister of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, in December of 1933 spoke in several Slovak cities on the 54 SLOVAKIA "Idea of Czechoslovak National Unity from the Viewpoint of International Policy." The Slovaks were to keep silent about their grievances and their rights because Prague supported Slovakia. They were to disavow their national independence without a struggle and betray themselves in order to strengthen the international position of the State in which they were not able to arouse justice and reform. Instead of being misled and bowing to the Prague Government at this suggestion, the Slovaks advanced tow~rd their goal. They were unwilling to surrender their rights even for the survival of the Czecho-Slovak Republic which at this very hour had got itself into a really dangerous situation. Adolf Hitler and his National-Socialist Party had come to power in neighboring Germany. The Slovaks were correct in assuming that this tense international situation would force the Czechs to fulfill the Slovak demands in order to strengthen the Czecho-Slovak Republic for the possible outbreak of new dangers. The Slovaks did not wish to cause internal difficulties in the CzechoSlovak Republic and, even at this time, they had the good will to come to an agreement with the Czechs and to defend their joint State with their united strength. When T . G. Masaryk resigned from the office of President on December 14, 1935, representatives of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, at the election of the new president on December 18, voted for Dr. Eduard Benes who prior to the election had promised to see that the Slovak demands would be fulfilled. Dr. Benes made the promise, but it turned out that there was no one to fulfill it. For the first time in the history of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, a Slovak, Dr. Milan Hodza, became premier of the Government and also Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was a politician of rich experience and wide vision but involved in his own political conceptions and indecisive especially concerning the Slovak question. At the time, even had he wanted to settle the standing of Slovakia, he could not devote himself to the question because he was obliged to center all his attention on the demands of the Sudeten Germans. The integrity and existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic was seriously threatened and the position of SLOVAKIA 55 Slovakia was left unsolved after twenty years of the Czecho-Slovak State. In 1938 the situation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic became even worse. On March 12 Hitler occupied and linked Austria to Germany. The Sudeten Germans presented their demands again, but the Prague Government had no answer to give that would satisfy both the Germans and the interests of the Czecho-Slovak State. The international situation grew more and more acute, and the Czecho-Slovak Republic, preparing to celebrate its twentieth anniversary, was experiencing moments of deep unrest and worrisome uncertainty. Even under these circumstances the Slovaks, who for twenty years had striven for autonomy and for twenty years had not been able to achieve their goal, were peacefully preparing to commemorate in a grand way the twentieth anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement. On Pentecost Sunday, the 5th of June, 120,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava to declare most emphatically that they would never give up their rights. At this occasian a delegation of the Slovak League of America was present together with its president, Dr. Peter P. Hletko, who brought along the original of the Pittsburgh Pact. The American Slovaks represented by the Slovak League wished to certify by their presence at this commemoration that they stood on the same platform they had accepted twenty years earlier. The throngs of Slovaks who welcomed the delegation of the Slovak League of America in the capital of Slovakia were not fanatic masses, but the self-conscious Slovak nation, politically trained and exemplarily led by Andrej Hlinka, giving notice for the last time and in a very resolute-yet in every respect honorable-manner, that it would under no pressure give up the struggle for its rights to a free life. In Bratislava, for the last time, Andrej Hlinka himself appeared before the crowd of faithful fellow fighters to receive the homage of his people before his death. The Prague Government, even with the Slovak Dr. Milan Hodza at its helm, failed to understand the true meaning of this historical event and the very next day arranged a demonstration in Bratislava advocating the idea of Czechoslovak national oneness in opposition to 56 SLOVA KIA Slovak autono my. This blund ering step was the climax of all the mistak es made by the Pragu e Gover nment in its absur d policy conce rning Slovak ia. Andre j Hlink a died Augus t 16, 1938. The Slovak nation stood at his grave resolu tely determ ined to finish its great strugg le witho ut regard for the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic. The mome nt had come when the Slovak nation had to be conce rned only aboutl its own destin y. VIA AUTO NOMY TO THE SLOV AK STATE The positi on of the Slovak s in the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic preven ted them from determ ining even their own destin y. Much less were they able to steer the course of intern al affairs in this State. Least of all were they able to influe nce the foreig n policy direct ed by Dr. Eduar d Benes . Hence the Slovak s bore no respon sibilit y either for the develo pment of the intern al life or the intern ationa l standi ng of the Czecho-Slovak Repub lic and could not be blame d for the situati on into which the State got itself. Small nation s are not creato rs of intern ationa l situations. Often they are merely helple ss figurin es on the great chessb oard of intern ationa l politic s, which is the game of large nation s. Furthe rmore , the small nation witho ut to a gover nment of its own it not given an oppor tunity l ationa active ly interv ene in the appea semen t of an intern 1918 situati on. The Slovak s were in sucl\ a positi on from to 1938. If great nation s assum e the right to create intern ationa l situat ions in which they utilize small nation s for the realiza tion of their power plans, a small and enslav ed nation canno t be blame d if for its own protec tion it utilize s an oppor tunity offere d by the wave of histor ical events . It is eviden ce of the Slovak nation 's politic al matur ity that it knew how to grasp such an histor ical oppor tunity , not neglec ting to use it for the attain ment of a goal it coul not achiev e by its own power . The Slovak s grew tired of vainly repeat ing their justifi ed deman ds when there was no one to fulfill them. They were theref ore determ ined and prepa red to take what was rightfu lly theirs. Imme diatel y after the Bratis lava manif estatio n the Slovak People 's Party presen ted to the Pragu e Parlia ment SLOVA KIA 57 a new nation for a law provid ing Slovak ia with autono my. At the time, Czech o-Slov akia found itself in the midst of a seriou s intern al crisis and was shake n to the found ations by strong outwa rd pressu re. With the threat of war hangin g in the air, the Pragu e Gover nment , heade d since Septem ber 23, 1938 by Gener al Syrovy , procla imed total mobili zation , a necess ity hasten ed still more by the intern al chaos in the Czech o-Slov ak Repub lic. The issue did not lead to war, howev er, becau se the Czech o-Slov ak Gover nment, on the advice of the Allies, acctep ted the condit ions dictate d by Germa ny accord ing to which the Germa n Army was to occup y the territo ries of Czech o-Slov akia that were popul ated by Germa ns. Nor was the Pragu e Gover nment able to reject the ultima tum of Poland deman ding that the Polish -occup ied territo ry of Silesia be joined to Poland . These circum stance s left the Slovak s no choice but to look out for thems elves. After length y and fruitle ss concultati ons with repres entativ es of the Pragu e regime , the Slovak People 's Party, led by Dr. Jozef Tiso after the death of Andre j Hlink a, had to take the fate of Slovak ia into its own hands . On Octob er 5th Dr. Eduar d Benes resign ed as Presid ent of the Repub lic, and on the 6th of Octob er the Execu tive Comm ittee of the Slovak People 's Party met in Zilina and sugge sted that all power in Slovak ia be taken over by the Slovak s by right of self-de termin ation. This resolu tion of the Slovak People 's Party was acctep ted and approv ed in all its parts also by delega tes of all the remain ing non-le ftist Slovak partie s. In the rapid succes sion of storm y events , the Slovak nation had to stakei out its future alone in order to preven t others from makin g the decisi ons contra ry to its intere sts. All these politic al partie s agreed also to join with the Slovak People 's Party to form a single party: The Slovak Nation al Unity Party (Stran a sloven skej narod nej jednot y). The Pragu e Gover nment, alway s deaf to Slovak previous deman ds, recogn ized this unanim ous decisi on of the Slovak politic al partie s. Slovak ia obtain ed its autono mous govern ment with Dr. Jozef Tiso at its head as prime minist er. Later, on Novem ber 19, 1938, the Pragu e Parliament passed a consti tution al law for the govern ment of autono mous Slovak ia. In order that Slovak ia might be 58 SLOVAKIA properly represented also in the Central Government in Prague, Karol Sidor was made the vice-presiden t of that body. In addition, Slovakia had its own delegates in the ministries of foreign affairs, national defense and finance . The Slovak nation had just attained this goal when confronted by a catastrophe similar to that which was it the Bohemian lands. The southern section of visited had by Magyars, was claimed by the Magyars, inhabited Slovakia have liked to occupy all of Slovakia. fact in would who had to work out a new boundary government The Slovak 7 Discussions were based on government. Magyar with the of the population. The nationality the of the statistics 1930 census, whereas the of statistics the Magyars rejected taken during the statistics, 1910 the the Slovaks regarded setting of the The unjust. as period of Magyarizatio n, court impartial an to left new boundary was therefore Germany and Italy of of arbitration. The foreign ministers rendered a decision on November 2, 1938, which the Slovaks considered to be unfair. By it Hungary received and occupied cities and areas in southern Slovakia that were entirely or predominantl y Slovak. This decision resulted in many economic and commercial hardships for Slovakia because the new boundary severed railroads and roads, and a number of Slovak valleys, open toward the south, lost their connection with the territory of Slovakia. Even these injustices and hardships failed to shatter the spirit of the Slovak nation. The Slovak Government, by exerting all its energy endeavored to organize the administratio n of Slovakia in a way that would prove its ability to exist as an entity. It was anxious above all to see all Slovaks lay a strong foundation for the future of Slovakia by means of firm national unity and faithful cooperation. According to the declaration of Slovak autonomy, elections for seats in Parliament were held as early as December 18, 1938. Members of the Slovak Parliament became the representativ es not only of the Slovak People's Party, but also of the remaining political parties which now formed the Slovak National Unity Party as the result of the zilina agreement. In the Slovak Parliament national minorities also had their representativ es. A month later, January 18, 1939, the legislative assembly of autonomous SLOVAKIA 59 Slovakia was opened in a festive manner and began its activity. It soon appeared that the form and amount of selfgovernmen t which Slovakia possessed could not supply all the needs of Slovak national life. In its twenty-yea r struggle for its rights, the Slovak nation had reached a level of maturity, and had set its heart on a measure of freedom, for which autonomy was too small a frame. Not even the Czechs were satisfied with the autonomou s status of Slovakia. They found it hard to give up the rule of Slovakia even though responsibl e persons in the Prague Governme nt repeatedly complaine d that the Czechs were obliged to subsidize Slovakia. The Slovak nation felt that it was capable of taking over the administra tion of its country entirely, while the central departmen ts in Prague often proceeded as though there were no declaration of Slovak autonomy in existence. Fresh disagreeme nts and dissension s arose between the Slovaks and Czechs, and the situation in autonomou s Slovakia continued to be vague and confused. The situation was made worse by the intrusion of outside influences. This confusion, aggravated by the rapacity of its neighbors, could have had catastrophic consequen ces for the fate of Slovakia. The Slovaks longed for the peaceful growth of their own life, and the orn: condition necessary for such a life was the national independen ce of Slovakia. The Slovak nation, having come so far along the road of its historical evolution, was prepared and determined to take this step also, because it was convinced that it had a right not only to autonomy, but also to its own independen t state. And this step was the only refuge for Slovakia against the storm threatening it in the tense internation al situation. " FAITHFUL TO OURSELV ES FORWARD IN HARMONY ! " As a result of the constantly increasing demands of Germany, the situatjon which developed in Central Europe was very confused and perturbed at the beginning of March, 1939. It was clear, however, that the Czecho-Slo vak Republic had arrived at the edge of an abyss. The Slovaks did not feel duty-bound to hurl themselves into that gorge. 60 SLOVAKIA Rather, the Slovaks looked for an escape that would lead them to safety. In Bratislava representatives of Germany sought out Karol Sidor, whom they considered the most popular political leader in Slovakia, and urged him to declare the independent State of Slovakia over the radio. Dr. Jozef Tiso was invited to Berlin for a discussion with Adolf Hitler and his minister of foreign affairs, von Ribbentrop. They both informed the president of the Slovak government of the danger confronting Slovakia and demanded his decision at once. Neither Karol Sidor nor Dr. Jozef Tiso complied with this urgent demand because they considered any decisions regarding the future legal status of Slovakia to be the right and duty of the Slovak Parliament in Bratislava. The Slovak Parliament, elected according to the decree of Slovak autonomy, was called into session by the president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, Dr. Emil Ha.cha, and on March 14, 1939, it declared Slovakia an independent and self-governing state by unanimous resolution. The presidium of the Parliament appointed the administration of independent Slovakia, with Dr. Jozef Tiso at his head, and the Slovak Government then took over all power in Slovakia into its own hands. Even though the international situation, during which Slovakia's declaration of independence was made, influenced the rapid succession of events in Slovakia, the Slovak Parliament-as the legal and authorized interpreter of the Slovak nation's will-did only what the Slovak nation had a right to do. Conscious of this right, the Slovak nation accepted the decision of the Slovak Parliament as the natural result of historical development not only with enthusiastic agreement and sincere joy, but also with a determination to bear the entire burden of responsibility for its own destiny and to prove that it was mature and ready for national independence. The proclamation of autonomous Slovakia as an independent state marked the end of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Even so, the Czecho-Slovak Republic would not have been able to survive the hurricane of events. Its fall would have been Slovakia's downfall also, and the Slovak nation would have been left to the mercy of its neighbors. The decisive action of the Slovak Parliament placed before SLOVAKIA 61 Slovakia's neighbors a ready reality, and the government of the neighboring states took this reality into consideration and respected it. The independent State of Slovakia was recognized either de iure or de facto by the following states: Belgium, ( de facto ), Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Equador, Estonia, Finland, France ( de facto ), Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Manchuria, Poland, Siam, Soviet Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Vatican State and Yugoslavia, 27 nations in all. These states included great powers and small countries, neutrals as well as belligerents in the Second World War. Not even the allies of the former Czecho-Slovak Republic hesitated to recognize the national independence of Slovakia. Some of these nations established and maintained diplomatic and commercial relations with Slovakia, whereas others were not able to do so because they were obstructed by the War. The Slovak State did not solicit the protection of its German neighbor, but when the German Government itself came with the proposal of a defense pact, the Slovak Government, for various reasons, could not reject such an offer. True, this treaty restricted the sovereignty of the Slovak State to a certain extent, but on the other hand it assured the safety of Slovakia not only against the nation which frequently advanced its historical claims to Slovak lands, but also against Germany itself. Although the Slovaks had in the past claimed the right to a free life, the nations who were deciding the fate of Slovakia rejected these petitions, and, despite other proofs, kept insisting that Slovakia because of its small size could not maintain itself as a separate and independent political unit since it was not supposed to be economically selfsustaining. Therefore, they concluded, it would be to the advantage of Slovakia to be in a union with another state, and it was intimated that the Slovaks should be thankful if someone would be willing magnanimously to support them. From the very beginning of its life as an independent state, Slovakia strove to disprove this false legend of economic dependence. And it controverted it in such a way at every step that these arguments against Slovak independ- 62 SLOVAKIA ence completely disappeared. As soon as its autonomy was proclaimed, the Slovak Government floated a loan for the economic revival of Slovakia, and the Slovak people themselves in a short time subscribed an amount necessary to cover this need. In a similar manner a gold standard was created for the Slovak Republic, to which the Slovaks sacrificed their valuables. The mint at Kremnica which had coined Hungarian currency for 600 years, for the first time in its history began to mint money with the seal of the Slovak State. It was discovered that Slovakia had enough varied raw materials which it could work, and that Slovak industry could increase its production to the point where it could export its products. Slovakia concluded trade agreements with many European countries, and the foreign trade of the Slovak Republic was highly active. The Slovak "koruna" (crown) won a reputation as the "Tatra Dollar," and its steady value was the best proof of the settled economy of the Slovak State. The Slovak Parliament, as early as July 21, 1939. approved the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, thereby establishing a strong foundation of legal procedure and the future development of Slovak national life. 8 On October 26, 1939, Dr. Jozef Tiso was unanimously elected the first president of the Slovak Republic and was recognized by the Slovak nation as the successor of the 9th-century Slovak princes. His motto: "Faithful to Ourselves-Forward in Harmony!" succinctly expressed not only the principles he practiced in his own high office, but also the program of Slovak statehood. The Slovak nation, particularly during those tempestuous days, took careful note of all the advantages and disadvantages obtaining from its position at the historical crossroads of Central Europe. The generation: which lived to see liberty on the soil of the ancient Slovak fatherland wanted to forget the injustices of the past and sincerely to establish friendly relation with all the nations with which it would come into contact. It wished to stand not only on the free land of its ancestors, but also on the spiritual foundation of its own life, to retrieve in unity with all Slovaks what the Slovak nation had lost through no fault of its own, and to prepare a peaceful and prosperous future for generations to come. SLOVAKIA 63 It was along this road that Dr. Jozef Tiso led the Slovak nation as president of the Slovak Republic. As the Slovak nation was laying the foundations of its State and was taking its first steps on the road of a free life, the storm of war began to spread over Central Europe. Its flames grew and engulfed more and more countries. But the hurricane of war, moving from the west to the east, passed over Slovakia without damage. During the first years of the War, when the German armies penetrated through Poland and were headed for Moscow, reaching the Volga River and the foothills of the Caucasus, Slovakia remained in a sort of vacuum, free to develop in every respect without interference. Especially the cultural life of Slovakia blossomed at this time. In the Slovak University, the Technical Institute, the School of Commerce and Business, the Slovak National Library, the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in its other older and newer cultural institutions the Slovak nation discovered media of growth such as it had never known in the past. The number of books increased daily, new radio stations were built, and the production of cultural and documentary films was initiated. Unusual cultural activity flourished throughout Slovakia with many Slovak villages erecting cultural buildings as agencies for their own progress. Slovakia grew because the creative abilities of the Slovak nation were not being exhausted in the defense of natural rights, now guaranteed by political independence and its own national administration. The Slovak Republic, emerging during the twilight of the great War, was beclouded by a crucial question: How would the War end, and what kind of fate awaited this small yet so promisingly developing State? The Slovak nation was determined to defend its national independence as the only real basis for its national liberty, and so it exerted itself to have the Slovak Republic remain on the map of postwar Europe. It had a right to believe that it could preserve its liberty and national independence, but it knew from its own experience the bitter truth that if the others decided the fate of a nation, the rights of a nation are seldom considered. The only desire of the Slovak nation at this time was the Slovak Republic be rid of the outward pressure which limited its sovereignty 64 SLOVAKIA and influenced its decisions. When a turn of events came in the War, and military danger began to approach from the East, the Slovak nation began to fear for its future . These fears grew as the Slovak nation realized that it did not have the strength to repel this threatening calamity. Besides this, it was aware of designs being made against the Slovak Republic in foreign countries.9 It was reasonable to presume that, because of the Soviet army's superior force, the hard-pressed German army would not retreat through the mountainous territory of Slovakia. In the north, the Soviet army advanced from the Carpathians through Poland, and in the south, through Hungary; and it could be sudmised that Slovakia would not become a battleground. It could expect to be spared at least the destruction of war. These suppositions, however, were not fulfilled, because the agents of Moscowwi th the help of Communist partisans, landed in the Slovak mountains by Soviet aircraft, organized an uprising in Slovakia in August, 1944, and produced a chaos which confused a portion of the native population. 10 This entire action had no political significance because it had no influence on the fate of Slovakia. From a military viewpoint the uprising was foolish, and it collapsed in a shameful manner. But from an economic point of view, the uprising caused greater damage than had been suffered by the country for centuries. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives for no reason, railroads, tunnels and bridges were arbitrarily destroyed, and many villages were reduced to ashes. With the blood that was needlessly spilled and the smoke which hung over the ruins perished not only the national independence of Slovakia, but also the liberty of the "liberated" Slovak nation. On the heels of the Soviet army's divisions and their unspeakable atrocities, from Moscow to desolated Slovakia came Dr. Eduard Benes with the government of a resurrected Czecho-Slovak Republic. After five years of existence in its own state the Slovak nation arrived, against its own will and contrary to all the principles of natural and self-determining rights, at a position in which it did not care to live at any price, with nothing but slavery staring it in the facp SLOVAKIA 65 BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN The Slovak Republic was a small state. It emerged in unusually restless times and grew under very complicated conditions. In view of these circumstances, it could not become an ideal or complete state. Large, ancient, and mighty nations have their faults and weaknesses, too . The Slovak Republic cannot be condemned for the imperfection connected with its infancy nor for the errors it made, which in more than one case were simply the result of outside influences. It is an incontrovertible historical fact that the Slovak nation, in all of i~ more than one-thousand year history, never had such liberty, such rights, so much employment, such a measure of material welfare, such conditions for spiritual growth and cultural progress, or so much joy in living, as it had in the years of the Slovak Republic. The Slovak nation was contented with its State, despite its deficiencies, and it did not long for any other kind of state, including the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Slovak Republic conclusively refuted all the arguments against Slovak national independenqe. Every Slovak could see for himself that Slovakia, utilizing the industriousness of its people, is large enough and wealthy enough to provide all the economic conditions needed for indep8ndent national life . . The Slovak nation, during its five-year history of political independence, passed with remarkable success its test in the art of creating a government, and it deserved to be recognized as an independent and equal member in the family of free nations. By its experience as a Slovak republic, it is qualified to decide all questions pertaining to its own life, and is prepared to use its strength for the common welfare of the nations of Central Europe. One Slovak generation tasted the sweet fruit of liberty for which so many generations of the Slovak nation had fervently yearned, and therefore Slovaks will never again be satisfied with the bitter bread of slave labor. All this the Slovak nation learned in its own state. But all this was noted also by Dr. Eruard Benes, who observed the development of Slovak life abroad during 66 SLOVAKIA the war and in the spring of 1945, accompanied by Soviet bayonets, set foot on the blood-stained soil of Slovakia. The restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic was one of the g1·eat inter-national mistakes. The revival of this State not only could not draw the Slovaks and Czechs closer to each other, but, on the contrary, relations between the Slovaks and Czechs became extremely cold as a direct result of this forced cohabitation in a joint state. The so-called Kosice Agreement of April 5, 1945, which recognized in the Slovaks the distinctive marks of a nation and promised. them complete equality with the Czechs, was not a cure for the wound which Slovakia suffered by the loss of its national independence, nor could it serve as a basis for a satisfying cohabitation of these two nations within one state. This sort of solution of Slovak-Czech relations would have had a meaning when the Slovaks were seeking autonomy in the spirit of the Pittsburgh Pact. The declaration at Kosice and the promises of Klement Gottwald had no power of attraction after the violent destruction of the Slovak Republic. The national independence of Slovakia was trampled by the Soviet army, which was followed by the Government and President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The restored Czecho-Slovak Republic was alien to the Slovaks not only because it could in no way replace the Slovak State, but also because it brought Slovakia under the control of Moscow through the administration at Prague. Slovakia, even while silenced by the presence of the Soviet army, in no way concealed either its irreconcilable opposition to the situation in which it found itself or its desire for its own national independence. Dr. Eduard Benes, as president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, was determined to crack this opposition of Slovakia at any cost and by any means, and to strangle in the Slovak nation every longing for independence. If Dr. Eduard Benes, by his personal propaganda, enjoyed the reputation abroad of a great democrat and farsighted statesman, he now himself tore off this mask and showed himself to be a ruthless tyrant far removed from democracy and wise foresight. He saw in the Communist people's democracy a new, higher and more advanced form of democracy, and SLOVAKIA 67 as president of the restored Czecho-Slovak Republic he approved and confirmed all the violence committed by the Prague Government and its Bratislava agencies in the. name of the people's democracy. The Slovak nation now became a victim of revenge because it had its own state during the War. Criminal status was given not only to those who served in the Slovak Republic and had not redeemed their "crime" by the sin of treason, but also to those who disagreed with the new order. The executor of this people's democratic justice was the so-called "National Court" in Bratislava and the chain so-called "People's Courts" all over Slovakia . Since it was impossible to bring before the Court the entire "liberated" nation to condemn it , it was necessary to condemn hundreds and thousands of decent Slovaks in order that all Slovakia might be terrified silenced and coerced into slavish obedience. The " National Court" of Bratislava also condemned to death the president of the Slovak Republic Dr. Jozef Tiso, and the Czecho-Slovak Government together with its president saw to it that this judgment was carried out on April 18 , 1947. The execution of the President of the Slovak Republic evoked deep horror throughout Slovakia and at the same time extinguished the last spark of hope that Slovak~ and Czechs could live together in a common state. The gallows on which Dr. Jozef Tiso died a martyr's death stands above the chasm which once and for all obliterated any form of Czecho-Slovak state.11 Slovakia did not permit itself to be broken in its opposition to the Czecho-Slovak Republic nor to the Communistic people's democracy either by the murder of Dr. Jozef Tiso or by subsequent forcible measures. The Slovak nation is enduring the same wrongs, injustices and pains that are being suffered by all the other nations behind the Iron Curtain. The spirit and form of the Communist people's democracy are foreign, repulsive and unacceptable to the Slovak nation. With persistent and remarkable consistency, the Slovaks are rejecting everything that the Government of the Czecho-Slovak Republic as a servant of Moscow is 68 SLOVAKIA forcing upon them. And they are defending with heroic courage everything that feeds and strengthens their own life. 12 From the very dawn of its history, Slovakia has belonged to Western Europe, and for twelve centuries of its past it has lived in unity with the Christian civilization of the Western world. During this long historical evolution the Slovak nation has achieved a stature, spiritual character and moral tradition that cannot be reconciled with the godless materialism of Communist doctrine or with the un-Christian methods of the people's democracy. Even though its beautiful land serves as a huge prison behind the Iron Curtain, the Slovak nation has not lost, but continues to confess fearlessly, its faith in God as the source of its strength and hope. Deprived as it is of everything, it still does not surrender its claim to a free life in its own state, but insists on an independent position in the great family of equal nations in Europe. Could youf as a free citizen of a democratic country, say that the Slovak nation does not deserve freedom? Or that it want more than it has a right to expect? FOOTNOTES 1) Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934, p . 308. 2) In addition to many articles, Konstantin culen has written a separate two-volume study on American Slovaks: Dejiny Slov<ikov v Amerike (A History of Slovaks in America), Vols. I and II, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1942. The cultural life of American Slovaks is described in his book Slovaci v Amerike (Slovaks in America), Turciansky Svaty Martin, Slovakia, 1938. Several articles are devoted to the intervention of the Slovak League in America in the political conditions of Slovakia in the book Slovensk<i Liga v Amerike styridsat'rocnri (Fortieth Anniversary of the Slovak League in America), Scranton, Pa., 1947. These questions are dealt in detail also by Karol Sidor in the book Slovrici v zahranicnom odboji ( Slovaks in the Resistance Movement Abroad), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1928. A separate book on the Pittsburgh Agreement was written by Konstantin culen, Pittsburghskd dohoda (The Pittsburgh Agreement), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1937. 3 ) Martin Greco, Martinsk<i deklar<icia (The St. Martin Declaration) , Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. SLOVAKIA 69 4) According to the 1930 census there were 3,329,793 inhabitants in 5) 6) 7) 8) Slovakia. Of this number, 2,284,355 were Roman Catholics, 213,725 Greek Catholics, 555,900 Protestants, 9,079 of the Orthodox faith . Only 16,890 were counted as not adhering to any religion: they were Czechs. The activity of Andrej Hlinka and the role of the Slovak People's Party are told in detail by Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1934. The Slovak National Party was numerically small, gaining only one delegate in the election, but it numbered among its members many of the Lutheran intelligentsia. The cession of Slovakia southern lands to Hungary was decided already between the Prague Government and the administration of Hungary. The government of autonomous Slovakia was confronted by this prepared situation, and Dr. Jozef Tiso, who had led these conferences, was actually a delegate of the Central Government of Prague. The Constitution of the Slovak Republic was prepared by the vicepresident of Parliament and the chairman of the constitutional committee, Dr. Karol Mederly, who published it in an a separate brochure with a comprehensive introduction, Ostava Slovenslcej republilcy a jej zakladne smernice (The Constitution of the Slovak Republic and Its Basic Principles), Bratislava, Slovakia, 1939. 9) Plots against the independent statehood of Slovakia were led abroad by Dr. Eduard Benes who had resigned from the office of president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, had recognized Dr. Emil Hacha as his successor and then once again claimed the office of president. His faithful co-worker was the Slovak Communist, Dr. Vladimir Clementis. 10) The Soviet aircraft landed in Slovakia Slovak soldiers who had been captured by the Soviets and were obHged to join the so-called Czechoslovak Brigade in Russia. This entire brigade dispersed because the Slovak troops who had seen conditions in Soviet Russia with their own eyes did not wish to fight against the Slovak Republic, but fled to their homes at the first opportunity. 11) The entire address spoken by Dr. Jozef Tiso in Bratislava before his sentence has been published by the Slovak Catholic Sokol in a book entitled Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso, in His own Words), Slovak Catholic Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, edited by Dr. Jozef Pauco. 12) Much valuable information regarding the resistance of the Slovaks against Communism may be found in the booklet by Dr. Jozef :Mikus, The Thee Slovak Bishops, Slovak Catholic Federation of America, Passaic, N. J. 1953.  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 This Is Slovakia Description An account of the resource Francis Hrušovský, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970 pp. 42-69 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrušovský, František, 1903-1956 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/7477e5a1a94b14d12344c3c38915c93f.pdf 4fae2823cf5ff5e42d36e0e20e1e2faf PDF Text Text 92 SLOVAKIA 2021 PICTURING A NATIO SLOVAK DOCUMENTARY FILM FROM ITS BIRTH UNTIL NICHOLAS 1950 1 HUDAC " Bude Slovak, cim bol medzi narodami'- to bola veta, s ktorou nasi otcovia vstavali a lihali, to bola veta, kotra hybala ich mysliami natol'ko, ze sa v6bec nehybali. Bolo, teda bude, bude i vtedy, ked' budeme len vylihovat'." Alexander Matuska 2 One of the fundamental aims of early Slovak mass produced images 3 (cinema, lithography, and photography, among other media) was to document and catalog the ethnic, geographic, and social uniqueness of the Slovak Lands. This essay intends to trace the influence of the importance of these media in the early 20th century for Slovaks, namely, non-fiction filmmaking, and its connection with Slovak populations not just in what would become Slovakia, but also in communities abroad- primarily in America. While foreign artists typically came to Slovakia to draw inspiration from its rugged countryside and colorful fo lk costumes, Slovak photographers, engravers, and ethnographers often saw their artistic missions as a way to build a Slovak nation through the documenttation, codification, and repetition of symbols common in a geographical location where historically no " Slovak" nation had ever existed . Although Slovak photographers and engravers enjoyed modest success in the 19th 1 This artic le was made possibl e with the support of the Univerzita Karl ova and has bee n undertaken with additional support from the their Progres QI 2 Initiati ve for Literature and Performance. Ta studie vznikla v souvislosti s fesenim programu rozvoje vyzkumu UK Progres Q12 Literatura a performativita. 2 MATUSKA, Al exander, "S love nska viera v minul osti ," in : C HM EL, Rudolf, ed., Slovenskti ottizka v 20. storoci (Bratis lava : Kalligram, 1997), 12 1. Unl ess noted otherwi se, a ll tra nslati ons are my own. 3 For more on the mass-produced image, see: HUDAC, icho las, " Picturing th e ati on: Slovak Nati onal Identity in the Age of the Mass Produced Image," PhD. Di ssertati on, Uni verzit a Karlova, 2020. �SLOVAKIA 2021 93 century, 4 their mediums were soon displaced in the cultural consciousness by the rise of another mass-produced medium, cinema, which provided several boons for the documenttarian . It combined the best qualities of its predecessors : fidelity to the referent image, affordability, durability, transportability, with a novel qualitymotion. This was a new, " lifelike" or "shadowy" 5 quality (to borrow Maxim Gorky's infamous tum of phrase). First, cinema recorded motion. This made it possible to expand the ethnographic activities of Slovak activists in order to capture more aspects of "traditional" culture, ranging from regional dances to the mechanical workings of various implements in Slovak handicrafts. Secondly, cinema also provided the illusion of objecttivity, a quality which could be more easily manipulated to form national and ethnic sentiments. Thirdly, cinema was understandable without any form of specialized training, or in the words of Karel Plicka- "understandable to any people of any country." 6 Lastly, cinema, as one of the first "new" mediums of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, functioned as a source of national and ethnic pride and a vehicle for showing a region's progression into " modernity." In this paper I will first explore how these earlier documentary media contributed to the rise of Slovak documentary filmmaking in the 20th century, and then examine the impact of this tradition . However, as tempting as it would be to think of documentary film (and by extension, the aesthetics of documentary and ethnographic film) as separate from other genres of cinematic expression, for Slovak filmmakers , documentary film proved to be one of the most essential foundations for the building of a national aesthetic, whose presence could be found within a variety of genres and subgenres. Slovak documentary films (as well as certain documentary films about 4 As noted by Macek and Hrubis incky, despite Slovakia's attractiveness for photographers, it lagged behind the Czechs, Austrians, and Hunga rians in the development of both avenues for amateur photographers to disp lay thei r work, and formal training. For more on thi s see: MACEK, Vaclav, and HR UB ISINSC KY Aurel, Dejiny slovenskej fotografie (Bratislava : Slovenska narodna galeria, 200 I), 12- 13. 5 GORKY, Maxim, "The Lumiere C inematograph" in : Si mpson, Philip, et al., Film Theory: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. Vo l. III (New York: Routledge, 2004), 7-8 . 6 PLICKA, Karel, "Poznamky o filme - moznosti ac h a ulohach s lovenskych filmov," Slovenske poh/'ady, September 15, 1934, p. 593. �94 SLOVAKIA 2021 Slovakia produced by Czechs) were not merely reportage, but also an evolution of the same aestheticization and stylization of rural life which so captivated the early ethnographers, albeit with new influences and innovations drawn from various domestic and foreign avant-gardes and aesthetic movements. As we shall see, this repetition of personages, of landscapes, of fo lk culture or traditions, continued through Slovak fiction and animated films, working as both a metacommentary on larger issues of national and regional identities, and as a connecting thread , linking these films of different genres and ideological expressions back to a common foundation. ln most parts of the Western World, documentary, fiction , and non-documentary early film developed simultaneously and concordantly . Early filmmakers immediately realized (in the words of Bill Nicho ls), " film 's capacity to document the world around us." 7 However, documentary films about Slovakia and its people preceded any variety of domestic Slovak filmmaking by several decades, owning to several unique internal factors ; Slovakia's relatively impoverished economic situation, its isolated rural communities, and the relative lack of an educated, culturally-Slovak middle class in the Slovak Lands during the period of cinema's birth and global introduction (e.g. from 1895 to roughly 1905 8). This meant that, while cinema was known in Slovakia, this new medium was chiefly an urban and scientific phenomenon, and thus developed quite differrently in the Slovak Lands than in other neighboring regions. Un like the Czechs, who rapidly embraced this new technology and were soon developing their own domestic cinema industry, Slovak film production remained (at best) sporadic until the end of World War II , frequently dependent on Czech and American financing , talent, and interest for the production of films for a Slovak audience. However, while Slovakia's lack of cinematic infrastructure resulted in the delayed development of a Slovak national cinema, this a lso made the area highly desirable as a destination for documentary filmmakers 7 NICHOLS , Bill , " Documentary Film and the Modernist Avant-Garde," in Critical lnquirv 27, no. 4 , Summer, 200 I, p. 580. 8 Again, while actualites and trave l films of Slovakia were produced during thi s period of early film , Slovakia ' s lack of cinematic and cultural infrastructure seems to have resulted in a lack of both cinematic modernism and a cinematic avant-garde as is more commonly found in other Western film culture. See: NICHOLS , " Documentary Film and the Modernist Avant-Garde," p. 580 �SLOVAKIA 2021 95 from outside of the Slovak Lands, if not Slovaks themselves. Although urban Slovaks encountered film roughly at the same time as their Czech brethren to the west, the unique gestation and development of cinema in Slovakia deserves at least a cursory explanation. The first public exhibitions of cinema occurred in 1896, almost a full year after the new technology's unveiling in Paris, when, on December 16th, in Kosice's Hotel Schalkaz, local theatre director ~udovit Szalkay arranged for a demonstration of Edison's cinema technology to the public "at great financial sacrifice."9 On December 25th cinema made its debut in Bratislava (then Pressburg), when it was unveiled to the public in two local hotels- the Hotel Palugyay and the Hotel Kral' Uhorska. These projections were mostly silent, but according to eyewitnesses, they were also accompanied by an Edison phonograph on two occasions. 10 But despite these exhibitions, cinema remained confined to the major urban centers of Kosice and Pressburg/Bratislava, and even in those it was often uneasily tolerated. Early cinema projections were subject to intense governmental regulations, 11 and in 1912, the Press burg city government declared that cinema was "negatively" impacting the public. 12 Cinematic exhibitions and cinemas also faced opposition from the Roman Catholic clergy and laity, 13 who saw the technology as a sign of"moral decline" among the youth, 14 and the Hungarian theatrical community who often saw the newer, cheaper medium in a threatening Iight. 15 Despite this public opposition to the new media, cinema was not entirely absent from public life in the Slovak Lands- instead, it was merely curtailed, limited to a handful of cinemas in Bratislava and Kosice. Because of this, cinema production in the Slovak Lands was limited again to foreign or amateur producers, and little attempt was 9 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA, Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie (Martin : Osveta, 1997), 7. JO ibid. JI ibid. 12 ibid. 13 It is worth comparing the very simi lar opposition to cinema's development and expa nsion that developed in Czech Moravia at roughly the same time . For more on this see: HASAN, Petr, "' Neslusny a nevkusny ti Im nemuze byti krasnym '. Kato licka akce, struktury katolickeho tabora ajejich pusobnost na poli kinematografie v ceske m prostfedi prvni poloviny 20. stoleti," in: /1/uminace, I, 2016 . 14 MAC EK and PASTEKOVA, Dejiny s/ovenskej kinomatogrcifie, 17. 15 MACEK and PASTEKOVA, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografle, 13. �96 SLOVAKIA 2021 made to make the medium accessible in both smaller locales, or in Slovak. I.I SUBJECTS NOT AUTHORS: THE EARLY YEARS OF SLOVAK NON-FICTION FILMMAKING Although film originally received a hostile reception from various social circles in the Slovak Lands, films were made during cinema's early decades, and many of these early films fell under the criteria of what David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson termed "actualities," or films showing an event from real life, and "scenic," 16 crude travelogues designed to showcase exotic places or striking vistas. While cinema started later in the Slovak Lands, by the early 20th century Slovakia had become a destination for Hungarian directors, mainly associated with companies in Budapest 17 who were interested in filming glimpses of Slovakia's mountains. In February of 1908, the Apollo theatre in Bratislava debuted one of the first recorded scenics/actualities set in Slovakia, Wintersport im Tatralomnicz/Zimny sport v Tatranskej Lomnici. 18 A few months later the Apollo's competitor, the Elektro-Biskop cinema projected a series of panoramic scenes as part of their Welt-Panorama special, which included two more films shot in distinctively Slovak locations: Die Hohe Tatra/ Vysoke Tatry and Tur6cz-Szt.-Marton/Turciansky Svaty Martin, as part of its travelogue series. 19 Travelogues, the close cousins of the scenic genre, were a popular genre of early film making, one which attempted to provide a replication or approximation of the traveling experience for audiences hungry for new sensations, as well as a more frugal way of "experiencing" a location for a cash-strapped audience. These films were often accompanied with lectures 20 or packaged as part of a longer cinematic experience, designed to replicate the idea of a larger trave l holiday, albeit condensed into on ly a few minutes. Although these early Slovak travelogues have been 16 BORDWELL, David, and THOMPSON, Kri stin , Film Histo,y : An Introduction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994), 12-13 . 17 MACEK and PASTEKOVA., Dejinyslovenskej kinomatografle. 18-19. 18 "Tagesneuigkeiten!" Pressburger Zeitung. February 5, 1908, p. 2 19 "Elektro-Bioskop nur im Hotel ' zum gri.inen Baum ' in Pozsony, Program vom 14. bis 2 1 Marz," Pressburger Presse, March 16, 1908, p. 5. 20 PETE RSON , Jennifer Lynn, "Travelogues" in : Abel, Rich ard, ed., The Encyclopedia of Early Film (London, New York: Routledge, 2005), 640-3. �SLOVAKIA 2021 97 lost, we can reasonnably infer what the experience wou ld have been like by surviving examples of the genre: travelogues were " highly kinetic ," "educational," and positioned as a morally and intell ectuall y healthy a lternative to the salacious or lascivious aspects of other, lesswholesome early films. While these travelogues, actualiti es, and sceni cs were originall y niche productions for audiences located far away from Slovak communities, they nonetheless sti ll largely adhered to the progression of ea rlier Slovak mass-produced images. In the first place, these travel films were essentially a new means of packaging, commodifying, standardizing, and commerciali zing the experience of being in the Slovak Lands, without having to travel and without the politically and socially divisive barrier of language. Secondly, we can clearly tell from the context in which these films were exhibited (e.g. only in the urban centers of Pressburg and Kosice, advertised through the nonSlovak press, and in cinemas that were attached to areas frequented by travelers, the upper classes, and tourists) that these films were again consumed by an Austro-Hungarian audience, not necessarily a "Slovak" one - much as the earl y engravings and lithographs of the Slovak landscape were enjoyed primarily by non-Slovak audiences first, and Slovak audiences later. Lastly, much as ethnographic lithography and photography were rapidly adopted by Slovaks as a means of preserving, codifying, and distributing visua l examp les of Slovak cu ltural identity, as we shall see in the next sections, the rationale behind these sceni cs and travelogues (name ly, that film shou ld give an impression of life in Slovakia, rather than a purely narrative structure) would later be embraced by both non-fiction and fiction filmmakers alike. 1.2 THE BEGIN NINGS OF SLOVAK DOCUMENTARY CINEMA After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 19 18, Slovaks suddenly fo und themselves, not just as a rural curiosity in a large empire, but the second largest Slavic partner in the newly-fonned Republic of Czechos lovakia. No longer subjects to the stringent censorship laws and the Magyarization policies of the former Kingdom of Hungary, film (as with other forms of mass-produced images) began to expand. Movie theaters grew in number (from three in the �98 SLOVAKIA 2021 early 1900s to 84 by the end of Austria-Hungary,2' and increasing to 153 by the end of the First Republic) and size, appearing all over the Slovak Lands, and not just in Kosice and the newly re-named Bratislava. Furthermore, while theaters had once been limited to showing a handful of Hungarian or Austrian films in Bratislava and Kosice, distributors throughout Slovakia began adding Czech, American, and German films 22 to their theaters, though these often met with resistance from more nationalist groups. 23 Unfortunately, this rapid infusion of new cinematic experiences, techniques, and choices did not necessarily result in Slovaks developing their own cinema industry. Throughout the First Republic, Slovakia remained primarily a destination for filmmaking, but with a few minor exceptions, there would be no Slovak documentaries produced by a Slovak director until well into World War II. However, documentary film was indeed expanding in Slovakia, again often along the same ethnographi c, folkloric , or scenic and, again also widely produced by non-Slovak academics such as the Czech directors, Vladimir Uh lela and Karel Plicka as part of a broader, Czechoslovak agenda. Both Plicka and Uhlela saw their documentary productions as a means of integrating Slovaks into the cultural life of Czechoslovakia, through cultivating an aesthetic appreciation for the fo lkl oric and rural aspects of Slovak culture in non-Slovak audiences, a lbeit in very different ways. Furthermore, directors were officially funded through both government sources, as well as the Matica slovenska, and as a result both sought to bring these traditional aspects of Slovak visual cu lture into a Czecho-Slovak cultural space. In his career as an ethnographer and a photographer, Karel Plicka was concerned with producing works of art which could bridge the growing divide between Czech and Slovak audiences. Plicka 's photographic, ethnographic, and musicological output was prodigious, and from the late 1920s onwards he began a second (or third or fourth career) as a documentary filmmaker in Slovakia and in Slovak MACEK and PASTEKOV A, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie, 597-8. Advertisements for the Kino Palace and Kino Meteor in Banska Bystrica. for example, show both American films and German films on their programs as early as 1928; larger cinemas in Bratis lava and Kosice had, of course, made international progra min g a staple of their repertoires from the very beginning . 23 " Potreba naprvy vo filmovej produckii a predvazdani filmov. Dockame sa v Kosic iach viacerych domacich ti lmov?" Slo vensky v_1ichod, January 24, 1933 , p. 3 . 21 22 �SLOVAKIA 2021 99 communities abroad. Starting with l 928's Za slovenskym /'udom, Plicka approached Slovak culture through the lenses of his earlier work as a musicologist and a photographer, meticulously documenting the exotic aspects of Slovak (and to a lesser extent, Rusyn) culture for Czech, Slovak, and international audiences. Like many early film directors, Plicka had little to no formal training, relying on his amateur knowledge of photography and supplementing this with his learned or natural talent as an ethnographer. For Plicka, this Slovakia, as of yet only barely codified and recognized as a political or social sphere, contained a wealth of information which needed to be documented: On my trips after Slovak folksongs , I came to many lesser known and even forgotten areas, to which almost 'no one' had ever come up until then . No one, or rather, hardly anyone except those with open eyes and trained ears. It ' s no wonder. Ethnographic Slovakia is a vast and extensive world, and there never will be enough of those who could satisfy the need to write down, draw , and photograph this richness.24 Although Plicka was wary of the mechanical " ripping" of folk songs and images from living performances into mechanized fossils, he soon embraced the advantages of these modern technologies. He began to experiment with film starting in the mid- I 920s as a "documentary tool for ethnographic and folkloric events," 25 which could satisfy, if not all of his documentary impulses, at least most of them. Although the Matica slovenska and Plicka had worked together numerous times on his ethnographic photographical and musicological expeditions throughout Slovakia, the organization felt that a movie camera was necessary for the broadening of their efforts in the young Czechoslovakia. 26 Archival records in Matica slovenska show that Plicka obtained a Pathe movie camera in the spring of 1926 in Prague, 27 where he learned to use the new tool; only a few months 24 PLICKA , Karel , " Ako sme filmov ali," S/ovenske poh/'ady. April I , 1930, pp. 215- 16 25 LAC KOVA , Sy lvia, LEXMANN , Juraj , and SLIVKA Martin , eds., Karol Plicka vo fl/m ove) faktografii, (Brati slava: S loven sky film ovy ustav , 1983), 36. 26 KRC M ERY , Ste fan , Tri rol..y Matice slovenskej I 924- 1926 (Turc iansky sv. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1927), 8-9. 27 PLIC KA , Karol. Co rres pondence. Coll ected in: LAC KOVA , Sl yv ia, LEXMANN , Juraj , and SLIVKA Martin , Karol Plicka vo jilmovej f i:1ktogra/ii, 187. �100 SLOVAKIA 2021 later, Plicka wrote to Matica slovenska to arrange the local permissions and cooperation necessary to start his cinematic work, saying: Please send a message immediately to inform the schools in Zliechova, and in Kosecke Rovne, as well as the parish office in Zliechova, that the ethnographic department of Matica Slovenska proposes to, after a number of days/starting from the 14th of this month, to start working there, and to: record songs, photograph, and to film scenes, which the Zleichovans demonstrated in Trencianske Teplice. Matica Slovenska requests moral support for this significant work in these historic villages." 28 In much of 1926, 1927, and 1928, Plicka traveled through Slovakia (primarily in the Liptov and Orava regions popularized by the pioneering ethnographic artists Pavol Sochan and Peter Michal Bohun), recording film footage, as well as continuing his other ethnographic activities. The resulting film Za s/o venskym f'udom was received with great fanfare in the Slovak community on both sides of the Atlantic. Slovaks in America marveled at Plicka's ethnographic ambition, noting that the film was a "powerful piece of cultural propagation," which was "very sympathetically accepted by all of the Slovak and even Czechoslovak public."29 The nationalistic daily Slovak praised the film as "something that is worthwhile for the part of our public, which does not have the possibility to see all the treasures of our national spirit,"30 while the more centrist Slovensky dennik labelled the ft Im "the loveliest surprise of the year" and thri lied at seeing Slovaks on the screen "where one is accustomed to seeing nowadays only the sorrows and joys of other nations ."3 1 The film combined not only Plicka 's photographic talent (indeed many of the scenes depicted on film were also photographed for Plicka's and Matica slovenska's later use) for finding the abstract patterns in the Slovak countryside with the athletic and physical prowess of hi s subjects, who dance traditional dances and display feats of strength while dressed in various traditional regional kroje. 28 Ibid. "Rok kulturnej prace," Ynungstownske slovenske novivny. May 3, 1929, p. 3 30 " Film za slovenskym l'udom ," Slovak (Bratislava), March I, 1929, p. 4. 31 "Za slovenskym l'udom," Slovensk_)1dennik (Bratislava), March 14, 1929, p. 6. 29 �SLOVAKIA 2021 101 Za s/ovenskym /'udom was funded largely by Matica slovenska, which experienced a resurgence of popularity and importance following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary. Matica slovenska's mission of preserving, codifying, and unifying Slovak culture internally as well as internationally, meshed with Plicka 's own natural urges to record and transmit. A second well-received documentary about highland Slovaks titled Po horach, po dolach followed in l 929, which received an even wider domestic release than Plicka's first film, as well as winning pri zes in international film and photographic competitions in 1932. Like Za slovenskym /'udom, Po horach, po dolach was also funded by Matica slovenska, and featured much of the same style and content as Plicka's debut film , and was shown to a wider variety of audiences, including Czechs. 32 By the early 1930s, Plicka had begun producing documentari es for both Matica slovenska and private concerns, such as an informative non-fiction quasiadvertisement for the town of Piest'any 's famous medicinal baths and mud treatments. Furthermore, his films were beginning to be utilized by American Slovak organizations like Jednota, the Slovak League of America, and others as a means to educate American Slovaks about their cultural heritage as well as the benefits of Slovak ethnic identity.33 Plicka 's most famous film might be considered to be his 1933 paean to Slovakia, Zem spieva, which combines scenes of rural Slovak folklore and traditional dress along with intertitles by the Slovak poet and translator Jan Smrek. Curiously, although Plicka was an early proponent of the ethnographic and educational possibilities of sound film, he elected to set the film to an impressionistic score by the Czech composer Frantisek Skvor, despite declaring that sound film as a medium is the " the ideal documentation" 34 in an interview with his collaborator Smrek only a few years earlier. Whil e Plicka 's early work 32 MALINA, Vladimir, "O moznostiach slovenskeho zvukoveho filmu ," Elim. November, 193 1. 33 See: CU LEN , Kon stantin, S/ovaci v Amerike: crty z kulturnych dejin (Tuciansky Sv. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1938) as we ll as ALEXANDER , June Granatir, Ethnic Pride, American Parriorism: Slovaks and Orher New Immigrants in rhe lnren var Era (Ph ilade lphia: Templ e Unive rsity Press, 2004). 34 SMREK, Jan, "O praci pre zac hovanie l'udovej piesne: rozhovor s jej znalcom a vasnyvim sbera tel'om Karlom Plickom," £/an: mesiacnik pre literaruru a umenie, March , 1933, p. 5. �102 SLOVAKIA 2021 was often mere documentation for the sake of preservation , Zem spieva is an expansion of Plicka 's more experimental photographic vision. Plicka takes the viewer on a musical and vis ual trip through Slovakia's wild mountains, not for the sake of scientific observation, but to experience the poetic essence of Czechoslovakia ' s most exotic locales. As Bill Nichols noted in his essay "Documentary Film and the Moderni st Avant-Garde," what separated interwar documentary film from mere reportage like newsreel s, was its artistic pretensions. 35 While the First Republic was full of newsreel s documenting world events and cultural phenomena from exotic locales, Slovakia included, Zem spieva represented two complimentary, yet different intentionsthe first was to continue to raise, on the one hand Czech appreciation and awareness of Slovak cu lture, whi le simultaneously allowing Slovaks an opportunity to have their own culture valued on equal standing with the more "sophisticated" and dominant Czech culture. Zem spieva 's modernist influences are most strongly fe lt in its theoretical conception and execution . While the film is a "sound" film in terms of its technical composition with Skvor' s pre-recorded soundtrack , the film ' s formal structure adheres more closely to the avant-garde experimentation of the late silent film era, featuring no diagetic sound or dialogue, and only intertitles explaining the significance of the scenes. 36 This suited Plicka, as he explained in his 1932 article "Poznamky o filme moznostiach a ulohach slovenskych filmov": Slovak films will be sound films , since today, unfortunately, it is impossible to make any other kind. But they will certainly not be I 00% dialogue film s, perhaps thanks to the producers, but an arti stic and commercial error. In the interest of internationali sm, it will be necessary to curb dialogs and really, the entire weight which bears the influence of the theatre, will have to be limited to the most modest, if not reduced entirely for that matter, in order to make the film as understandable as it was at its happi est, when it was silent. This mostly applies to the Slovak situation ; we will not be able to afford many films on ly for ourselves. It is better to 35 NI C HOLS, Bill, " Doc umentary Film and th e Modernist Avan t-Garde," Critical ln- qui,y . Vol. 27, No. 4, Summer, 20 11 , p. 588. 36 LAC KOVA. , Slyvia, LEXMANN, Juraj, and SLIVKA Martin, eds., Karol Plicka vo.filmovej.faktografii (Bratislava : Slovensky filmo vy ustav, 1983), 89 . �SLOVAKIA 2021 103 produce little, but except that which is thoughtful and valuable. 37 Although such an approach to sound design was dec idedly archaic (even in 1933),38 Plicka was, in some se nse, correct: this decision paradoxically increased Zem spieva 's international appeal. On the one hand, the relegation of the Slovak language within the film to small, easily digested intertitles meant that the film was easily accessible to Slovak populations in the United States, whose command of the language might have been fossilized or had languished through the process of assimilation. 39 On the other hand, the focus on the more purely abstract visual and musicological aspects of Slovak folk culture allowed the film to function as " poetry," without the di straction or potential friction of Slovak dialogue, an abstraction that also allowed the film to represent various different "S lovakias" for different audiences. While the American Slovaks rejoiced in finding a poetiziation of their ancestral homeland, Slovakia's most exotic and access ible qualities, such as its visual splendor, its vital folk culture, and its melodies, were easily absorbed by outsiders who did not require any specialized linguistic skill to appreciate them. Additionally, Plicka' s long-time editor, the Czech avant-garde photographer and filmmaker Alexandr Hackenschmied, was instrumental in reshaping the narrative structure of the film through his assured editing style, and via his suggestion that Plicka shoot additional introductory and ending footage. 40 Hackenschmied was born into a family of academics in Prague, and hi s childhood in the (then) industrial neighborhood of Karlin gave him ample opportunity to visit the numerous cinemas around that part of the city, 41 sowing the seeds of hi s great interest in film and photography. Following his high school graduation, Hackenschmeid bega n hi s architectural studies, but found himself drawn more strongly to cinema and photography, and 37 PLICKA , Karel , " Poznamky o filme - moznostiach a ulohach slovenskyc h filmov," S/ovenske poh/'ady, September 15, 1934, p. 593 . 38 For more on the problems of sou nd films in Slovak ia during the interwar period, see my Ph .D. dissertation . HUDAC, Nicholas, " Picturing the Na ti on: Slovak National Identity in the Age of the Mass Produced Image," Univerzita Karlova , 2020. 39 C.f. CU LEN, Konstantin, Slovaci V Amerike. 40 ANDEL, Jaroslav, Alexandr Hackenschmied(Praha: TORST, 2000), 29. 41 BROZ, A /exander Hackenschied (Praha: Ceskoslovensky filmovy ustav, 1973 ), 202 1. �104 SLOVAKIA 2021 various global avant-gardes active in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the work of Man Ray, the Soviet LEF group, Dziga Yertov, and more.42 While Hackenschmied was active in photographic circles from his student days, starting in 1930 he began to make his own films . More than a film enthusiast and a future film editor- he was a film theorist, a photographer, and a filmmaker himself, deeply concerned with the possibilities of montage and form . Hackenschmeid began editing Zem spie va in Prague in 1932, but completed the final cut after Plicka returned from additional shoots in Slovakia with more footage . In a conversation with Martin Sli vka, one of his former students, Plicka recounted his views on the finished product: What do I want Zem spie va to say via film? I would be happy if it was approached without interpretation . It deals with Slovakia as unknown as well as beautiful: the theme of the film is the lives of people in a village and their holy relationship to nature. As the film ' s subtitles suggest, Zem spieva is a cinematic poem celebrating precious traditions; it should be evidence of an enchantingly pure manifestation of life, which is so simple, yet so important. And the film shows a world in which our fathers ' healthy and precious heritage has, by some miracle, been preserved in some regions until today.',4 3 In this sense, Plicka' s intentions for Zem spie va represent an inversion of the earlier ethnographic assumptions that ethnographic subjects are worthy of documentation because of the interesting-yettlawed nature of their ancient practices. Instead, in both the content of Zem spie va and in his comments to the press, Plicka explicitly rejects the predominant political push by Czech (and some Slovak) political and cultural authorities to modernize and industrialize Slovakia .44 Rather, the film's premise is a twist on the time-honored modernist 42 BROZ, Alexander Hackenschied, pp. 2 1-22. SLIVKA , Martin , Karol Plicka. hasnik obrazu (Martin: Vydavatel'stvo Osveta, 1982), 175. 44 Although a compl ete accounting of th e industriali zation debate regarding Slovaki a is beyond th e scope of thi s arti c le, see, for example, MATULA, Antonin, " Dvacatyosmy fij en," in Ceska osveta: /isl venovan_y zajmum vdejneho knihovnictvi a organisaci lidoveho vzdelani. September, 1938, Vol. 35 , No. I, pp. 5-7; and HA VLiCE K, V., " Narodni problem Slovenska," in Nase doba: revue pro vedu. umeni a i ivo/ socia/ni, November, 1933, Vol. 41 , No. 2, pp. 68-73. 4 .1 �SLOVAKIA 2021 105 tradition of the city symphony, a genre of early avant-garde filmmaking practiced by directors such as Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov, which sought to translate the immense vitality and activity of an urban space to the reproducible and distributable form of cinema as a celebration of modern industrialization and urbanization. While not every audience member could afford a trip to Berlin or Moscow, a city symphony provided an impressionistic vision of such urban locales that could satisfy the longings for new visual stimulation and locations for a reasonable price. Plicka ' s vision for Zem spieva followed a model similar to Ruttman's and Vertov's films , yet inverted. For the price of a mere ticket, audience members could journey away from Bratislava, deep into the wild Slovak mountains, where a visual feast of dancing, ethnic clothing and stunning vistas awaited them, accompanied with rapturous song. Although Zem spie va was produced under the auspices of Matica slovenska, the old vanguard of Slovak national sentiment and as part of a series of governmental programs to promote Slovak culture in the Republic, not all Slovak activists were thrilled by Plicka' s aims or the resources devoted to its production. As an anonymous letter in the Slovak periodical Nastup declared: When we think about our devastated Slovakia's economic ruin, about the misery of our Slovak people, the overwhelming question mark which stands before our Slovak intelligentsia is about the misery and scarcity at every step and yet on the other hand, we are making our sole Slovak film 'The Earth Sings,' and between these two, we clench our teeth and deeply sigh. Yes, we sing! But the stomach doesn't sing, it whines .45 Still other Slovak critics noted that, despite Slovakia's reliance on foreign producers and directors focusing on "a narrow slice of Slovakia in Czech films" 46 represented, as Stefan Hoza wrote in Kinorevue, a promising step forward , (the film ' s lack of Slovak financing notwithstanding) giving hope that Zem spieva would usher in a new era of Czech and Slovak films about Slovakia.47 Other Slovak 45 Nastupi sta od Zvolena [pseudonym] "Zem spieva ... " Nastup, March 15, 1935, p. 10. 46 HOZA, Stefan , "Hovom1e o slovenskom film e a - o moznostiach ," Kinorevue, Vol. I, No. 30, March 20, 1935, p. 5. 47 HOZA , Stefan , "Hovorme o slovenskom filme a - o moznostiach," p.6. �106 SLOVAKIA 2021 intellectuals argued amongst themselves as to whether or not Zem spieva counted as ethnographic reportage,48 nationalist "gyc," or a lyrical and stylized portrayal of Slovakia's essence, as Vlado Clementis argued in 1933 49--{;learly not all of Plicka 's artistic experimentation was received in earnest. Perhaps the best sign of the film 's Czechoslovak intent was how vociferously it was condemned on the grounds that Plicka himself, as a non-Slovak, was not qualified to make such a film. Although Czech critics often saw the film as a wonderful celebration of the venerated narodni dilo tradition, the Czech public, on the other hand-especially the fickle Prague audiences, at least according to the press, were not interested in Zem spieva, because of the lingering effect of the "Slovak question" (the repeated calls for Slovak autonomy) had poisoned the well of Czecho(Slovak) culture in the mind of the ordinary Prazak.50 As the Czech critic Jaroslav Broz wrote: We had anticipated that, because, in thi s day and age, when the Slovak question is such a burning domestic political problem of our state, a film about Slovakia would be especially welcomed and raise the interest of the public. But we were sadly disappointed. The numerical balance sheet of the premiere of Plicka 's film in Prague is a sad document of the cultural ignorance of the Prague public. 5 1 Although the film failed to find an audience in the larger Czech metropoles, Zem spieva 's international release and distribution meant that the film was often seen by American Slovaks, "who follow with great interest anything done in Slovakia," 52 and who turned it into both a means of expressing ethnic pride in multicultural American cities, while also using it as an educational tool for non-Slovaks and Slovaks alike. It is, thus, fitting that the artistic ambition of Plicka's last film was most appreciated in American circles, where the Slovak question was either a whispered query among ethnic boosters in a neighborhood 48 TUMA, J., "Zem spieva, ale o cem?" Tvorba. November 9, 1933 . CLEMENTIS, Vladoj "Je Plickov film folkloristickym gycom?" DAV. Vol. I, No. 10, p. 149. 50 SM REK, Jan , "Vel'kost a bieda jednoho vit'azstva," Elim. ovember, 1933 , p. 8. 51 Ibid. 52 GETTING , Milan , "O Slovensku treba prednasat' i Americanom anglickeho jazyka," S/o vensky dennik. September 4, 1935, p. I. 49 �SLOVAKIA 2021 107 bar or forgotten entirely in the multicultural din of American cities. While economic anxiety and nativist sentiment in some comers of Slovak society muted the film 's reaction among hardline nationalists, Zem spieva was warmly received in other areas not just as an artistic achievement, "something that does not have an analog in global [film] production," 53 as the Czech daily Lidove noviny called it, but as an educational tool. It would show the Czech population that Slovak culture could transcend its reputation for provincialism. Furthermore, Slovak cultural groups in America and the Czech Lands scheduled screenings, sometimes with Plicka 's participation in the case of the latter, as a means of promoting Czechoslovak unity. Although the film was shown fairly regularly in the 1930s, it was nearly lost entirely during World War 11 when the original negatives were destroyed by fire in 1944; afterwords, an imperfect and incomplete copy was salvaged from a positive negative in 1945. Zem Spieva was a mixed success in Czechoslovakia, but, perhaps more importantly, it was a striking critical success among avant-garde circles in America and Europe. There, Zem spieva was shown not only at Czech and Slovak ethnic theaters and events, but also in more mainstream settings, such as at the 1934 Venice Biennale, where Plicka was awarded the City Cup of Venice for Best Director. American Slovak institutions were likewise more enthusiastic audiences for Plicka's films . A feature in the Youngstownske slovenske noviny, written by Matica slovenska's Jozef Cincik, considered Zem spieva living history, which captured "the most important moments in Slovak life." 54 Unlike America, whose foundational historical moments were dead and only experienced in museums, Cincik argued that in Zem spieva "we Slovaks have captured in this picture and its subject, all of the moving, speaking, and sounds of music on film for our descendants, everything that Americans will never be able to capture of their own history for themselves." 55 In other words, Zem spieva was able to codify, and solidify, foundational moments in Slovak history and make them available to the entire nation- similar in many regards to the original aim of ethnographic 53 JEZE K, S., "Zem spieva," Lidove noviny , October 27, 1933, p. 16. CINCi K, Jozef, "O filme Zem spieva," Youngtownske slovenske noviny, February 14, 1936, p. 2. 55 Ibid. , p. 2. 54 �108 SLOVAKIA 2021 photography, albeit with a greater power to preserve, to fix in time, and to replicate. The relative success of the film encouraged Matica slovenska to again provi de Plicka with funding and resources for his next featurelength fi lm, I 936's Za Slovakmi od New Yorku po Mississippi. While Zem spieva focused on Plicka's attempts to bring the rhythms and visuals of life in the Slovak highlands to a diverse, urban audience in Czechoslovakia as part of building a modernist Czechoslovak culture, Za Slovakmi instead focused on Slovak expatriate communities and Matica slovenska's activities in America, as Plicka documented the arrival of three of the organization's top officials (Jozef CigerHronsky, Jozef Cincik and Kon stantin Culen,) to the United States in 1936, and the ways in which the ethnographic mission of Matica slovenska was replicated in America. Often considered "only reportage" 56 by Czech and Slovak film critics, this film was not widely shown in Czechoslovakia; however, it did receive a release in America via fraternal and civic American Slovak organizations such as the Slovak Catholic Sokol, and the First Catholic Ladies Slovak Association, another sign of the strong cultural interchange between Slovaks in Czechoslovakia and those in America, which lasted up until World War II . Although Plicka is more widely known today, in terms of contemporary historiography of Slovak film , Vladimir Uh lela was another colleague of Plicka whose personal history bears many simi larities to Plicka 's own. Uhlela was born in Vienna in 1888, studied physiology and botany in Prague and Strassbourg, and, after receiving his doctorate, he became enamored with the possibilities of film after being exposed to it through his postgraduate research.57 After a stint in military pri son during World War I for being a "dangerous Panslavist," 58 Uhlela was released, served honorably, and then returned to Czechoslovakia where he became both an academic in Brno, and a public intellectual. He acted as the science editor for lidove Noviny, as we ll as contributing to numerous other publiccations. Like Plicka, Uh lela was a passionate devotee of folklore, 56 NAVRATIL, Antonin, Ceslv k pravde ci Ii i: 70 lei ceskoslovenskeho dokumenlcirniho filmu (Praha: Akademie muzic kyc h umeni v Praze, 2002), 5 1. 57 STOLL, Martin, et al., Cesky.film: reiisefi - dokumen/arisle (Praha : Libre. 2009), 587-8. SN Ibid. �SLOVAKIA 2021 109 collecting songs and documenting folk culture, not only in Moravia, but in Slovakia as well. Although a well-known popularizer of science in the popular media (including in cinema as well as in print), in the early 1930s, Uhlela devoted himself to making ethnographic films , focusing especial ly on the borderlands between Moravia and Slovakia, where Slovak communities thrived in the mountains . Although Uh lela made several smaller films on ethnographic themes such as Slovacka pisen and Slovacka svatba, he is best known for his full-length ethnographic drama/documentary Mizejici svet/ Miznuci svet shot and released in 1932. Alth ough the film has many ethnographic moments featuring Moravian Slovak villagers from the locations it was shot in, the film is a romantic drama at its core, as it fo ll ows the troubles of a young Czech ethnographer, Stana Homa, who has come from Prague to a small vi ll age on the border of Moravia and Slovakia to document the inhabitants' customs, songs, and kroje (folk costumes). As young Stana becomes more enthralled with the village and a certain young vi ll ager, she finds herself integrating more and more into vi ll age li fe, until the arrival of her friends from Prague shatter the dream. Despite her attempts to become fully integrated into vi ll age life, the vi ll age and its inhabitants vanish, leaving the young ethnographer standing in the middle of an empty room, alone. At its heart Mizmici svet represented, in many ways, a fundamentally Czechoslovak approach to " traditional" Slovak culture, where the dividing line between Slovak and Czech is one not necessarily of language or ethnicity, but of a rural-urban divide. Despite its ethnic ambiguity, the Slovak press praised the film, especially on its visual merits, and eagerly considered it one of their own. Slovenska krajina enthusiastically complimented the film's "beautiful kroj" as "a treat for the eyes," 59 whereas Slovensky dennik enjoyed the film, but negatively compared it to the works of Plicka, saying that, if it were not for Plicka's film , " [Mizmici svet] will most likely be cons idered our first folkloric film , which has no antecedent." 60 Even the stoutly nationalist and famously anti-Czech Slovak grudgingly approved of parts of the film , even though 59 MAZEL, 8. , "Zo prazskeho tyzdna "S/ovenska Krajina, November 22, 1932, p. 2. "Plickov film' Po Horach, po dolach' a Matica Slov.," S/ovensky dennik, November 13 , 1932, p. I. 60 �110 SLOVAKIA 2021 "[ Miznuci svet] does not manage to overcome Plicka's Slovak film of this kind ," it was a sound film , "which captured the disappearing life of Slovak villages on the Moravian border" and the scenes "where the swift life of the majestic lads is best illustrated through dance." 61 The contrast between Uhela's and Plicka's visions was further intensified following its debut in 1932, as a review of Zem spieva in Slovensky dennik praised Plicka's film via a backhanded swipe at Miznuci svet, saying "Zem spieva isn't one of those films which are constructed with cold calculation, inorganically loaded down with so called natural or ethnographic ' action' shots, as was, for example, in the distracting moments in the otherwise superb Miznuci svet, "62 intensifying the competition between the two most prominent Slovak-themed films of the early 1930s. Although Plicka's films were heavily influenced by the Modernist leanings of the Czech avant-garde and Bauhaus, Uh lela's film was in many ways, a different aesthetic experience. Since Plicka 's background in photography meant that he often preferred immaculately composed static shots, with an emphasis on the geometrical patterns he so often found in the Slovak countryside, the collective footage shot by Otakar Schutz, Jan Calabek, Josef Sti'echa, and Josef Buzek used in Miznuci svet is often frenetically active, soaring and zooming around the landscape like a bird, and calling to mind (as the reviewer in Slovak contemptuously pointed out) the "Soviet" 63 influences of the film. Montage sequences also abound throughout the film , repeating shots of the countryside, the growth of plants, the changing of seasons- the very same subjects which were often found in Plicka 's photographic and cinematic work, only viewed through the lens of a different approach to cinematography. However, despite their differences of setting and their treatment of other external cinematic factors, such as sound, Plicka's films and Uhlela's lone ethnographic feature film do share several simi larities. Both films revolve around the allure of leaving civilized, urban environments and reconnecting with older traditions in the countryside. Furthermore, these films sought to break free of the rigid 61 "Film - Mizniici svet. " Slovak, April 5, 1933, p. 5. BALLO, Iva n, "Zem spieva (o prvom slovenskym film e zvukom)," Slo vensky dennik. January I 0, 1933, p. 3. 63 "Film - Mizniici svet. "Slovak. April 5, 1933, p. 5. 62 �SLOVAKIA 2021 111 trappings of purely ethnographic films in a variety of ways: through the hybridization of genre (e.g. Zem spieva 's mixture of the ethnographic film with elements of the city symphony genre, or Miznuci svet 's combination of non-fiction ethnography and fictional melodrama), by incorporating a variety of techniques from Czech or international avant-gardes such as montage and geometrical compositions, and by creating an impressionistic portrait of the experience of Slovakia without relying on the objective aims of scientific film making. And paradoxically, despite their attempts at creating "Czecho-Slovak" Slovak films, or film s about Slovaks and Slovakia within the context of a unified Czechoslovak nation, both directors were, in many ways failures at creating films that transformed their own personal aestheticizations of the Slovak experience into a more unifying one; Plicka 's films were embraced only among Slovak communities at home and abroad as well as among a select group of the urban Czech cultural elite, whereas Uhlela's film languished in obscurity on all fronts- neither Slovak enough for the Slovak nationalists, nor exotic enough for an urban Czech audience. 1.3 FASCISM AND THE RISE OF DOMESTIC SLOVAK PRODUCTION While nationalistic mass-produced images favored by both foreign ethnographers and Slovaks themselves could quickly be repurposed to promote various political ideologies, documentary film was no exception. With the growing support of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party (HSPP), in the mid-to-late 1930s, the Czecho-Slovak interests in Slovakia (most elegantly embodied in Plicka 's documentary and pedagogical work) found themselves under attack by Slovak nationalists. Indeed, many hardliners took offense at the prominence of Czech and foreign directors producing films about Slovakia and for Slovaks, or alternately ignoring the Slovak market altogether, despite the fact that Czech cinemas and cinema production companies were far more numerous, successful, and better-funded. 64 As a result, on November 4th, 1938, members of the ruling HSPP began to purge not only foreign influences (such as Soviet cinema) from Slovak movie theaters, but also began to initiate a broader range of policies which would eventually forbid Jews, Czechs, and other 64 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA., Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie (Martin : Vydavatel'stvo Osveta, 1997) 74. �112 SLOVAKIA 2021 minont1es from owning, operating, or participating in the Slovak cinema industry,65 with th e notable exception of a handful of stateapproved Czech directors and cameramen like Eugen Mateicka and Bohus Havranek. 66 In order to satisfy the need for cinema, the Slovak government appealed for outside help in order to replace the technical knowledge and talent driven away or excluded by its policies. In addition to receiving aid from film organizations in Vienna, Berlin, and elsewhere, the Slovak Republic set up three organizations for making non-fiction films : Nastup (which produced primarily weekly newsreel s), Skolfilm (which produced educational films) , and Luc (a film monthly company which produced primarily cultural films .)67 These organizations were respon sible for producing nearl y all of Slovak non-fiction films before 1950. While many of the prominent non-Slovak fi gures in early Slovak cinema such as Karel Plicka were driven out of Slovakia during thi s period, a handful of Slovak directors such as Pal'o Bielik were able to continue, openly and sometimes covertly, the cinematic process started by Plicka. Bielik (who rose to fame playing the infamous bandit Juraj Janosik in Martin Fric 's 1935 film of the same name), along with other young S lovak filmmakers in the late First Republic, had mostly learned their craft through either their time in the fi lm industry as actors (in the case of Bielik) or through studyi ng with Plicka and other instructors at (or loosely affiliated with) the Brati slava-based School of Applied Arts. This was a revolutionary institution which featured instruction not just in photography and filmmakin g, but also graphic design , painting, advertising, typogramphy, and textile design .68 However, regardless of their background, th e young Slovak filmmakers quickly found themselves actively constrained by government and industrial censorship, which sought to exorcise the " dangerous" elements harmful to the Slovak nation from Slovak cinematic production . In practice, this meant not only purging 65 HA AKOVA, Petra, " Proticeska agenda s lovenskeho filmu 1939- 1945 ," in : Minoriry a.film (Bratislava: Asociacia slovenskyc h filmovych klubov, 20 12), 46. 66 HANAKOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska fi lmova kulllira ( Bratislava: Slovensky filmov y ustav, 20 I0). 49. 67 MIHA.LIK , Peter, Vznik slovenskej narodnej kinemarogra/ie / 896- 1948 (Bratislava : Kabinet divadlo a filmu Slovenskej akademi e vied, 1994), 94. 68 MOJZISOVA, Iva, "Avant-Garde Repercussions in the Schoo l of Applied Arts in Bratislava 1929- 1939, Journal of Design Histaty, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1992. p. 273. �SLOVAKIA 2021 113 Slovak cinema of the thematic and formal innovations imported from abroad, but also eliminating the influences of a trio of dangerous domestic ingredients namely the "Czech-Jewish-Bolshevik"69 influence. Nearly all of the official cinematic output during the short-lived Slovak Republic seems to have focused solely on two non-fiction fronts- periodic newsreels depicting the activities of the Slovak troops in World War n, and so-called " kultume filmy ," or "cultural films ,"70 which were an evolution of the pre-war ethnographic films (often influenced as well by Weimar and Fascist-era German nationalist film s), 7 1 designed to promote a se nse of Slovak nationalism and patriotism. The roots of these cultural film s can be traced back to the 1930s, with the rise of ethnographic feature films like Zem spieva. However, unlike Plicka 's work, little attention was paid to making an ethnographically accurate recording of Slovak life; rather, these cultural films were to celebrate an idealized "S lovakia," which never wholly existed. On November 5, 1934, the "S polok priatel'ov kulumeho filmu na Slovensku" was formed in Bratislava. It sought, as part of its educational mission, to establish "cinemas only for cultural film" in Bratislava and to coordinate with a wide circle of Slovak cultural organi zations throughout Slovakia to make " cultura l film s an accessory in the upbringing of children and uplifting the public." 72 In addition to being an educational tool , Slovak nationalists also saw film as a means to transcend the stereotypes of Slovakia as "a beautiful, but poor, land where life is very primitive"73 that had been established in prior ethnographic and documentary work . A second, less-frequently articulated goal (at least not publicl y) was to "make Slovak film production at least as well-regarded as those done by other bigger nations." 74 Finally, the drive for documentary cinema in the Slovak Republic was, ironically, based on an idea which would later be coopted by the communist regime a few years later, name ly that " film 69 HANAKOV A, Petra, " Proticeska agenda slovenskeho filmu 1939- 1945," 46. Ibid., 45. 71 "Charakter kultume ho film a: P6vodny rozhovor 'S lovaka ' s reziserom 'Tobisu, "' Slovak. March 27, 1942, p. 7. 72 " Pre kulturny film," Slovensky dennik. November 4, 1935, p 9. 73 CE RESNA, M., "S lovensky svojraz a cudzina," Nastup, Apri l I, 1940, p. 14. 74 "S lovenska filmova produkcia," Slovak. August, 6, 1942, p. 8. 70 �114 SLOVAKIA 2021 will help raise up a new kind of person ," 75 informing the Slovak population not only about various topical concerns, but also teaching them what it preci sely means to be "Slovak." In February of 1942 Pal'o Bielik, who had been a celebrated actor in interwar Czechoslovak cinema, as well as in the Slovak National Theatre, found himselfunemployed for budgetary and "other creative" reasons, 76 and so he turned to the newly-formed Slovak film agency Nastup for work as a librettist, before finding a position in the departments of short films and cultural films . Bielik, in many ways, was an accidental filmmaker, one who "fell into film ," and often felt quite ambivalent in regards to the medium. In a 1967 interview in Tvorba, Bielik recounted his first accidental exposures to cinema both as a director and as a spectator: "I fell, as they say, straight-legged into film . It was even worse, like when you throw a non-swimmer into cold water. Save yourself, if you know how! And I've saved myselfup until now. But I can't manage to get away from film ." 77 Bielik began his career directing short documentary and cultural films without any formal training, relying on his experiences in front of a camera during his career as an actor in the first Czechoslovak Republic. Although he was forced to work with the semi-fascist regime during this period, the early documentaries which Bielik produced were as apolitical as possible. 1942 's O zdravie robotnika, was a short film about a newly established sanatorium 78 and 1943 's Pod holym nebom, 79 was a 14-minute "artistic reportage" 80 focused on the daily activities around a traditional Orava shepherd's hut and "the romantic splendor of the Slovak countryside." 81 Some of Bielik 's other documentaries during this period included works on fish and the sport of fishing 82 ( 1943 's Hlavatky) , the manufacture and demonstration of traditional Slovak valasky in Miznuca romantika 75 -ik- " Film v novem zivote," Pravda, Vol. I, March I 0, 1944, p. 4. HANJ\KOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska.filmova kulflira, 46. 77 JAN EK, Miroslav, " Vzpominky a plan y Pal'a Bielka," Tvorba: list pro kritiku a umeni. January 12, 196 1, No. 2, pp. 28-9. 78 HAN J\ KOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska.filmova kult1ira. 57. 79 Ibid., 53. 80 Ibid. 81 "S loven ska filmova produkcia," Slo vak. August, 6, 1942, p. 8. 82 "Vel'konocny program premierovyc h kin Nastup a Urania," Slovak, April 7, 1944, and "Nove film y Nastupu," Gardista. November 28, 1943 , p. 4. 76 �SLOVAKIA 2021 115 ( I 943), and the production of flour and bread in Chlieb nas kai dodenny ( 1943). Although not all of Bielik's wartime documenttaries focused on the purely folkloric or ethnographic, by and large, they were films about the Slovak countryside and again, consistent with the aims of earlier ethnographic work. While it appeared that Bielik would spend the war attempting to draw little attention to himself with his documentaries on traditional Slovak subjects, the eruption of the Slovak National Uprising in August of 1944 suddenly changed the young director's career. While in the midst of shooting an unrelated film Hanka sa vydava in Brezena, Bielik and his crew caught wind of the Uprising and immediately rushed to join. As Bielik recalled in 1961, the group not only met with the partizans in order to get footage of the historic event, they actually joined the uprising itself: The Uprising caught me in Brezina during the filming of Hanka sa vydava. There were four other filmmakers with me: Krska, Richter, Plavec, a Sekula. We became lieutenants, they gave us uniforms, and we began to film . I led a group and wrote a scenario under the name 'Odboj 1944.' Krska filmed. It's thanks to him that we have authentic material from those days." 83 This raw reportage, which Bielik shot during his time in Brezina was later renamed, re-edited and repurposed into Bielik's 1945 documentary Za slobodu, although some of the film was lost when unknown persons stumbled upon the hiding place of some of the most sensitive footage: We buried part of the film negative underground in the village ofNemce in a graveyard underneath a tombstone. Some strangers, thinking that they found some treasure, collected the film strips, exposed them to light, and once again overexposed them. So they destroyed ten meters of an extraordinarily valuable film." 84 Although Za slobodu did not premiere during the war and was only finished in 1945,85 it nonetheless served as a potent anti-fascist KJ JAN EK, Miroslav, " Vzpomink y a plany Pal'a Bielka," Tvorba: list pro kritiku a o. 2, p.29. umeni, January 12, 196 1, K ➔ Ibid. 5 K MA CE K Vaclav, PA ST EKOVA , Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinumatugra/ie, 91 . �116 SLOVAKIA 2021 symbol, burnishing the bona-tides of Bielik's group of directors and cameramen as well as Bielik's own reputation as an anti-fascist filmmaker. The surviving film centers around the narrative retelling and reconstruction, not just of the uprising, but also of the "often frequently catastrophic consequences" of the doomed resistance, 86 a thematically daring approach which was seldom replicated in later documentaries. Furthermore, Za slobodu served as an aesthetic turning point for Slovak documentary film- while previous documenttary films about Slovakia had focused on the stylization of the Slovak experience, mediating reportage via romantic conceptions of the Slovak countryside a la PlickaBielik 's film focused on documentary realism, providing a cinematic experience that was out of touch with the postwar "antifascist euphoria." 87 It did not receive widespread distribution, being withdrawn by government officials because of it was "inappropriate for the delicate nature of the theme;" 88 it featured actual reportage, shot under dangerous conditions; and it did not glamorize or stylize the Slovak National Uprising. In short, Za slobodu can be seen as evidence of the first glimmers of cinematic neo-realism in Slovak documentary filmmaking . 1.4 POSTWAR RUPTURING: DOCUMENTARY AND NON-FICTION 1945 TO 1950 While the rise of fascism heralded the end of his career as a filmmaker, Karel Plicka 's legacy and influence on the burgeoning Slovak film industry was only beginning. Before World War II, Plicka had briefly held the position of film instructor in the experimental and short-lived Academy of the Applied Arts in Bratislava, before the institution was shut down due to rising anti-Czech and anti-Hungarian sentiment. While this institution was short-lived, the School of Applied Arts served to provide the basic educational preparation for the careers of several prominent early Slovak directors like Jan Kadar. In 1946, several months after the reunification of Czechoslovakia, Plicka was appointed the first Dean of the Filmova a televizni fakulta Akademie muzickych umenie (F AMU), 89 in charge of, not only FILMMAKING FROM 86 HANA KOY A, Petra, Pa/'o Bielik a slovenskafilmova kulflira, 63. MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOY A, Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie, 91. RH Ibid. , 91 . 89 FRANC, Martin, and KRATKA Lenka, eds., Dejiny A MU: ve vypravenich (Praha : Nakladatelstvi AMU, 2017), I 0 . 87 �SLOVAKIA 2021 117 educating future Czech professsionals, but also the first major generation of academically-trained Slovak film professionals. Although the Slovak students began matriculating from FAMU in the late 1940s and early 1950s, director Eduard Greener (one of the first Slovaks to go to the academy) noted that a vast educational gap existed between the Slovak students and their Czech classmates. 90 Although FAMU contributed enormously to the creation of a stable and thriving Slovak film industry from the 1950s onwards, Slovak documentary cinema (and indeed Slovak cinema as a whole) suffered a rupture, from the mid- I 940s to the early 1950s, as directors who had enthusiastically participated in the Slovak Republic 's film program were "discredited ."91 While some directors, such as Pal'o Bielik, had served in the anti-fascist resistance during the war, those who had not found themselves in the position of Plicka and other minority filmmakers in Slovakia in the 1940s- unwelcome and unemployed. As a result, Slovak documentary production sharply declined in postwar years of the 1940s, with an average of seven nonfiction films per year produced from 1945 to 1948,92 as the most visionary and politically safe directors (such as Bielik) and talented beginners such as Jan Kadar rapidly transitioned into feature filmmaking. 93 Despite newly-increased state support and the establishment of institutions such as FAMU, Slovak nonfiction cinema remained fairly moribund for much of the late 1940s through the early I 960s, due to a lack of qualified personnel and, from 1948 onwards, the newly established communist government's ideological demands. 94 These demands, somewhat paradoxically, were very similar to those espoused by the fascist government: to unify Slovaks around visual tropes and folklore, to show the moderni zation of Slovakia and the tangible benefits of the state, 95 and to build a more- 90 "Eduard Greener: film ako vol'ny vers," interview in literarni noviny. August 4, 20 15. http: //literarky.cz/l iterat ura/cteni/20360-eduard-grener-fi lm-ako-vony-ver 91 Navratil , Antonin, Cesty k pravde ci Ii i : 70 let c'eskoslovenskeho dokumentarniho .filmu (Praha: FAMU, 2002), 159. 92 Ibid. , 16 1. 93 Ibid., 160-2. 94 MA CE K Vaclav, PASTEKOVA , Jelena. Dejiny slovenskej kinomatogrcifie. I 1719. 95 JA SSO, Julius, "Slovak Films in the Last Five Years," Czechoslovak Film, Vol. 7, No. 4, unpag inated. �118 SLOVAKIA 2021 ideologically pure Slovak soc iety96 through the use of mass-produced images. Perhaps the single most stereotypical " identifying characteristic" of a Slovak film , documentary or otherwise, during the postwar and early communist years was a reliance on the folkloric motifs and ethnographic themes which had been become so thoroughly codified by the 1950s. This particular fascination with folk culture was hardly a communist invention , as it drew on the ethnographic traditions which were so popular in the late Austro-Hungarian through interwar periods. Given that amateur ethnographers such as Pavel Sochan eagerly embraced photography as a way of documenting indigenous practices in an effort to distinguish region s and establish Slovak cultural identity during periodic moments of cultural trauma, ethnic repression , and attempts at forced assimilation, 97 it remains a littl e surpri sing how quickly the postwar and communist regimes embraced these formerly divisive aesthetic elements. While cinema had been nationalized by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in August of 1945 as an important national resource, fo lk culture was also nationalized in Slovakia by presidential decree on November 7, 1945. 98 This decree also resulted in the creation of the first Slovak fo lk art collective, the Ustredie l'udovej umeleckej vyroby (UCUV), whose aims were to preserve Slovak folk culture. While ethnographic and folkloric activities had been decidedly controversial in the First Czechoslovak Republic and consisted of a definite part of the fascist propaganda machine during the war, following the 1948 Communist Putsch, the government further reaffirmed the need for fo lkl oric collectives by creating the Slovensky l'udovy umelecky kolekiv (SCUK) in 1949. Further still, the regime stated exp Iicitly ten years later that "folk arts and folk handicrafts make up an important part of our socialist culture," 99 further sanctioning not just the practice of these traditional pastimes, but 96 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA , Jelena, Dejinv slovenskej kinomatografie. 126. See PODOLAK. J. , "The Development of Ethnography in Slo va kia," Midwest Fo lklore, Vol. 8, No. 2, Summ er, 1958 , pp. 69-84. 97 98 " Prozatimni statni zfizeni ceskoslovenske," Dekret presidenta republiky o organisaci lidove a umelecke vvroby . November 7, 1945, Zakon c. I I 0/ 1945 Sb. Note that the decree did not come into effect until November 27th . 99 Zakon c. 56/ 1957 Sb. �SLOVAKIA 2021 119 affording them legal protection and financial support, albeit fossilizing these living traditions even more effectively than the ethnographic projects of the late Austro-Hungarian and interwar periods. By the early 1950s, Communists had not only assumed control of the government, but were also looking to infiltrate or redirect certain cultural outlets for the purposes of creating communist educational entertainment. The creation of Slovak folkloric collectives such as the S:CUK in the late 1940s, along with the overwhelming familiarity with mass-produced images of Slovakia, the prevalence of interest in the folkloric trappings of Slovak films in both the Czech and Slovak lands was, at one point, so prevalent that Czech film critic and dramaturge Jaroslav Bocek vociferously complained that " ... the Slovak cinema watched over the adjective 'Slovak' caring much less about the noun ' cinema.' No wonder there was such a rash of folklore , embroidered blouses, and national songs, since Czech directors could hardly be expected to understand Slovakia any different from the exotic, folklore , or tourist angle." 10° Compounding Bocek's irritation at the more stereotypical depictions of national identity was the fact that "these same features [folkloric trappings] began to creep even into the work of the emerging directors," to which the Czech critic added "Slovak cinema saw its raison d'etre in its very existence . .. such traits can be found in the beginnings of any cultural endeavor." 10 1 Bocek's paternal dismissal of Slovak cinema was, sadly, not an isolated incident, and echoes some of the earlier critiques of earlier ethnographic films by Plicka and others. 1.5 CONCLUSION As we have seen, Slovak documentary film followed the footsteps of earlier ethnographers and ethnographic photographers, whose original mission was to document and to codify Slovak ethnicity through the collection, reportage , and standardization of cultural and visual tropes. These early documentaries, like those in static media, were predominantly produced by non-Slovaks, who turned to Slovakia to record ways of living which had already receded out of living memory elsewhere. Although these early documentary 100 BOCE K, Jaroslav, 'Twenty Yea rs of Czechoslovak Film," in Modern Czechoslovak Film / 945/ 1965 (Praha: Arti a, dat e unknown [ 1966?)), no paginati on. 10 1 BOCE K, Jaros lav, " Twen ty Years of Czechoslovak Film." �120 SLOVAKIA 2021 films by Czech directors could be di visive in the Slovak intellectual community in Czechoslovakia, they were eagerly embraced by Slovaks li ving elsewhere as a necessary connection to their cultural roots, a connection that was prized not only for its entertainment va lue, but also for its ability to educate Slovaks abroad and in Czechoslovakia in the fundamental aspects of Slovak culture. Since Slovak documentary films were also the fundamental cinematic output of Slovak directors from the beginnings of the Slovak Republic in 1939 through the beginnings of the Slovak feature film era in the 1950s, they also proved to be the fundamental training ground for young Slovak directors, who incorporated several aesthetic aspects of documentary filmrnaking into their own feature film works. In each of these different eras of documentary film production, however, one constant remainsa continuation of the aestheticization of Slovakia, a process begun in the 19th century with the ethnographic activities performed by Hungarians, Austrians, Czechs, and eventually Slovaks themselves. The replicability of these aesthetics also helped ensure the spread of certain aspects of Slovak visual cu lture in the countryside, despite the occasional attempt to bring cinematic focus and cu ltural attention to Slovak urban communities. These attempts were ultimately foiled by the implied formal and aesthetic needs of the specifically "S lovak" documentary: since Slovak culture had been so rigorously defined through its codification period as a " rural" identity, attempts to focus on other aspects of Slovak identity (either in other urban locales or through a de-romanticization of the Slovak countryside) were met with political , cultural, and social resistance. � 92 SLOVAKIA 2021 PICTURING A NATIO SLOVAK DOCUMENTARY FILM FROM ITS BIRTH UNTIL NICHOLAS 1950 1 HUDAC " Bude Slovak, cim bol medzi narodami'- to bola veta, s ktorou nasi otcovia vstavali a lihali, to bola veta, kotra hybala ich mysliami natol'ko, ze sa v6bec nehybali. Bolo, teda bude, bude i vtedy, ked' budeme len vylihovat'." Alexander Matuska 2 One of the fundamental aims of early Slovak mass produced images 3 (cinema, lithography, and photography, among other media) was to document and catalog the ethnic, geographic, and social uniqueness of the Slovak Lands. This essay intends to trace the influence of the importance of these media in the early 20th century for Slovaks, namely, non-fiction filmmaking, and its connection with Slovak populations not just in what would become Slovakia, but also in communities abroad- primarily in America. While foreign artists typically came to Slovakia to draw inspiration from its rugged countryside and colorful fo lk costumes, Slovak photographers, engravers, and ethnographers often saw their artistic missions as a way to build a Slovak nation through the documenttation, codification, and repetition of symbols common in a geographical location where historically no " Slovak" nation had ever existed . Although Slovak photographers and engravers enjoyed modest success in the 19th 1 This artic le was made possibl e with the support of the Univerzita Karl ova and has bee n undertaken with additional support from the their Progres QI 2 Initiati ve for Literature and Performance. Ta studie vznikla v souvislosti s fesenim programu rozvoje vyzkumu UK Progres Q12 Literatura a performativita. 2 MATUSKA, Al exander, "S love nska viera v minul osti ," in : C HM EL, Rudolf, ed., Slovenskti ottizka v 20. storoci (Bratis lava : Kalligram, 1997), 12 1. Unl ess noted otherwi se, a ll tra nslati ons are my own. 3 For more on the mass-produced image, see: HUDAC, icho las, " Picturing th e ati on: Slovak Nati onal Identity in the Age of the Mass Produced Image," PhD. Di ssertati on, Uni verzit a Karlova, 2020. �SLOVAKIA 2021 93 century, 4 their mediums were soon displaced in the cultural consciousness by the rise of another mass-produced medium, cinema, which provided several boons for the documenttarian . It combined the best qualities of its predecessors : fidelity to the referent image, affordability, durability, transportability, with a novel qualitymotion. This was a new, " lifelike" or "shadowy" 5 quality (to borrow Maxim Gorky's infamous tum of phrase). First, cinema recorded motion. This made it possible to expand the ethnographic activities of Slovak activists in order to capture more aspects of "traditional" culture, ranging from regional dances to the mechanical workings of various implements in Slovak handicrafts. Secondly, cinema also provided the illusion of objecttivity, a quality which could be more easily manipulated to form national and ethnic sentiments. Thirdly, cinema was understandable without any form of specialized training, or in the words of Karel Plicka- "understandable to any people of any country." 6 Lastly, cinema, as one of the first "new" mediums of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, functioned as a source of national and ethnic pride and a vehicle for showing a region's progression into " modernity." In this paper I will first explore how these earlier documentary media contributed to the rise of Slovak documentary filmmaking in the 20th century, and then examine the impact of this tradition . However, as tempting as it would be to think of documentary film (and by extension, the aesthetics of documentary and ethnographic film) as separate from other genres of cinematic expression, for Slovak filmmakers , documentary film proved to be one of the most essential foundations for the building of a national aesthetic, whose presence could be found within a variety of genres and subgenres. Slovak documentary films (as well as certain documentary films about 4 As noted by Macek and Hrubis incky, despite Slovakia's attractiveness for photographers, it lagged behind the Czechs, Austrians, and Hunga rians in the development of both avenues for amateur photographers to disp lay thei r work, and formal training. For more on thi s see: MACEK, Vaclav, and HR UB ISINSC KY Aurel, Dejiny slovenskej fotografie (Bratislava : Slovenska narodna galeria, 200 I), 12- 13. 5 GORKY, Maxim, "The Lumiere C inematograph" in : Si mpson, Philip, et al., Film Theory: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. Vo l. III (New York: Routledge, 2004), 7-8 . 6 PLICKA, Karel, "Poznamky o filme - moznosti ac h a ulohach s lovenskych filmov," Slovenske poh/'ady, September 15, 1934, p. 593. �94 SLOVAKIA 2021 Slovakia produced by Czechs) were not merely reportage, but also an evolution of the same aestheticization and stylization of rural life which so captivated the early ethnographers, albeit with new influences and innovations drawn from various domestic and foreign avant-gardes and aesthetic movements. As we shall see, this repetition of personages, of landscapes, of fo lk culture or traditions, continued through Slovak fiction and animated films, working as both a metacommentary on larger issues of national and regional identities, and as a connecting thread , linking these films of different genres and ideological expressions back to a common foundation. ln most parts of the Western World, documentary, fiction , and non-documentary early film developed simultaneously and concordantly . Early filmmakers immediately realized (in the words of Bill Nicho ls), " film 's capacity to document the world around us." 7 However, documentary films about Slovakia and its people preceded any variety of domestic Slovak filmmaking by several decades, owning to several unique internal factors ; Slovakia's relatively impoverished economic situation, its isolated rural communities, and the relative lack of an educated, culturally-Slovak middle class in the Slovak Lands during the period of cinema's birth and global introduction (e.g. from 1895 to roughly 1905 8). This meant that, while cinema was known in Slovakia, this new medium was chiefly an urban and scientific phenomenon, and thus developed quite differrently in the Slovak Lands than in other neighboring regions. Un like the Czechs, who rapidly embraced this new technology and were soon developing their own domestic cinema industry, Slovak film production remained (at best) sporadic until the end of World War II , frequently dependent on Czech and American financing , talent, and interest for the production of films for a Slovak audience. However, while Slovakia's lack of cinematic infrastructure resulted in the delayed development of a Slovak national cinema, this a lso made the area highly desirable as a destination for documentary filmmakers 7 NICHOLS , Bill , " Documentary Film and the Modernist Avant-Garde," in Critical lnquirv 27, no. 4 , Summer, 200 I, p. 580. 8 Again, while actualites and trave l films of Slovakia were produced during thi s period of early film , Slovakia ' s lack of cinematic and cultural infrastructure seems to have resulted in a lack of both cinematic modernism and a cinematic avant-garde as is more commonly found in other Western film culture. See: NICHOLS , " Documentary Film and the Modernist Avant-Garde," p. 580 �SLOVAKIA 2021 95 from outside of the Slovak Lands, if not Slovaks themselves. Although urban Slovaks encountered film roughly at the same time as their Czech brethren to the west, the unique gestation and development of cinema in Slovakia deserves at least a cursory explanation. The first public exhibitions of cinema occurred in 1896, almost a full year after the new technology's unveiling in Paris, when, on December 16th, in Kosice's Hotel Schalkaz, local theatre director ~udovit Szalkay arranged for a demonstration of Edison's cinema technology to the public "at great financial sacrifice."9 On December 25th cinema made its debut in Bratislava (then Pressburg), when it was unveiled to the public in two local hotels- the Hotel Palugyay and the Hotel Kral' Uhorska. These projections were mostly silent, but according to eyewitnesses, they were also accompanied by an Edison phonograph on two occasions. 10 But despite these exhibitions, cinema remained confined to the major urban centers of Kosice and Pressburg/Bratislava, and even in those it was often uneasily tolerated. Early cinema projections were subject to intense governmental regulations, 11 and in 1912, the Press burg city government declared that cinema was "negatively" impacting the public. 12 Cinematic exhibitions and cinemas also faced opposition from the Roman Catholic clergy and laity, 13 who saw the technology as a sign of"moral decline" among the youth, 14 and the Hungarian theatrical community who often saw the newer, cheaper medium in a threatening Iight. 15 Despite this public opposition to the new media, cinema was not entirely absent from public life in the Slovak Lands- instead, it was merely curtailed, limited to a handful of cinemas in Bratislava and Kosice. Because of this, cinema production in the Slovak Lands was limited again to foreign or amateur producers, and little attempt was 9 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA, Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie (Martin : Osveta, 1997), 7. JO ibid. JI ibid. 12 ibid. 13 It is worth comparing the very simi lar opposition to cinema's development and expa nsion that developed in Czech Moravia at roughly the same time . For more on this see: HASAN, Petr, "' Neslusny a nevkusny ti Im nemuze byti krasnym '. Kato licka akce, struktury katolickeho tabora ajejich pusobnost na poli kinematografie v ceske m prostfedi prvni poloviny 20. stoleti," in: /1/uminace, I, 2016 . 14 MAC EK and PASTEKOVA, Dejiny s/ovenskej kinomatogrcifie, 17. 15 MACEK and PASTEKOVA, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografle, 13. �96 SLOVAKIA 2021 made to make the medium accessible in both smaller locales, or in Slovak. I.I SUBJECTS NOT AUTHORS: THE EARLY YEARS OF SLOVAK NON-FICTION FILMMAKING Although film originally received a hostile reception from various social circles in the Slovak Lands, films were made during cinema's early decades, and many of these early films fell under the criteria of what David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson termed "actualities," or films showing an event from real life, and "scenic," 16 crude travelogues designed to showcase exotic places or striking vistas. While cinema started later in the Slovak Lands, by the early 20th century Slovakia had become a destination for Hungarian directors, mainly associated with companies in Budapest 17 who were interested in filming glimpses of Slovakia's mountains. In February of 1908, the Apollo theatre in Bratislava debuted one of the first recorded scenics/actualities set in Slovakia, Wintersport im Tatralomnicz/Zimny sport v Tatranskej Lomnici. 18 A few months later the Apollo's competitor, the Elektro-Biskop cinema projected a series of panoramic scenes as part of their Welt-Panorama special, which included two more films shot in distinctively Slovak locations: Die Hohe Tatra/ Vysoke Tatry and Tur6cz-Szt.-Marton/Turciansky Svaty Martin, as part of its travelogue series. 19 Travelogues, the close cousins of the scenic genre, were a popular genre of early film making, one which attempted to provide a replication or approximation of the traveling experience for audiences hungry for new sensations, as well as a more frugal way of "experiencing" a location for a cash-strapped audience. These films were often accompanied with lectures 20 or packaged as part of a longer cinematic experience, designed to replicate the idea of a larger trave l holiday, albeit condensed into on ly a few minutes. Although these early Slovak travelogues have been 16 BORDWELL, David, and THOMPSON, Kri stin , Film Histo,y : An Introduction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994), 12-13 . 17 MACEK and PASTEKOVA., Dejinyslovenskej kinomatografle. 18-19. 18 "Tagesneuigkeiten!" Pressburger Zeitung. February 5, 1908, p. 2 19 "Elektro-Bioskop nur im Hotel ' zum gri.inen Baum ' in Pozsony, Program vom 14. bis 2 1 Marz," Pressburger Presse, March 16, 1908, p. 5. 20 PETE RSON , Jennifer Lynn, "Travelogues" in : Abel, Rich ard, ed., The Encyclopedia of Early Film (London, New York: Routledge, 2005), 640-3. �SLOVAKIA 2021 97 lost, we can reasonnably infer what the experience wou ld have been like by surviving examples of the genre: travelogues were " highly kinetic ," "educational," and positioned as a morally and intell ectuall y healthy a lternative to the salacious or lascivious aspects of other, lesswholesome early films. While these travelogues, actualiti es, and sceni cs were originall y niche productions for audiences located far away from Slovak communities, they nonetheless sti ll largely adhered to the progression of ea rlier Slovak mass-produced images. In the first place, these travel films were essentially a new means of packaging, commodifying, standardizing, and commerciali zing the experience of being in the Slovak Lands, without having to travel and without the politically and socially divisive barrier of language. Secondly, we can clearly tell from the context in which these films were exhibited (e.g. only in the urban centers of Pressburg and Kosice, advertised through the nonSlovak press, and in cinemas that were attached to areas frequented by travelers, the upper classes, and tourists) that these films were again consumed by an Austro-Hungarian audience, not necessarily a "Slovak" one - much as the earl y engravings and lithographs of the Slovak landscape were enjoyed primarily by non-Slovak audiences first, and Slovak audiences later. Lastly, much as ethnographic lithography and photography were rapidly adopted by Slovaks as a means of preserving, codifying, and distributing visua l examp les of Slovak cu ltural identity, as we shall see in the next sections, the rationale behind these sceni cs and travelogues (name ly, that film shou ld give an impression of life in Slovakia, rather than a purely narrative structure) would later be embraced by both non-fiction and fiction filmmakers alike. 1.2 THE BEGIN NINGS OF SLOVAK DOCUMENTARY CINEMA After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 19 18, Slovaks suddenly fo und themselves, not just as a rural curiosity in a large empire, but the second largest Slavic partner in the newly-fonned Republic of Czechos lovakia. No longer subjects to the stringent censorship laws and the Magyarization policies of the former Kingdom of Hungary, film (as with other forms of mass-produced images) began to expand. Movie theaters grew in number (from three in the �98 SLOVAKIA 2021 early 1900s to 84 by the end of Austria-Hungary,2' and increasing to 153 by the end of the First Republic) and size, appearing all over the Slovak Lands, and not just in Kosice and the newly re-named Bratislava. Furthermore, while theaters had once been limited to showing a handful of Hungarian or Austrian films in Bratislava and Kosice, distributors throughout Slovakia began adding Czech, American, and German films 22 to their theaters, though these often met with resistance from more nationalist groups. 23 Unfortunately, this rapid infusion of new cinematic experiences, techniques, and choices did not necessarily result in Slovaks developing their own cinema industry. Throughout the First Republic, Slovakia remained primarily a destination for filmmaking, but with a few minor exceptions, there would be no Slovak documentaries produced by a Slovak director until well into World War II. However, documentary film was indeed expanding in Slovakia, again often along the same ethnographi c, folkloric , or scenic and, again also widely produced by non-Slovak academics such as the Czech directors, Vladimir Uh lela and Karel Plicka as part of a broader, Czechoslovak agenda. Both Plicka and Uhlela saw their documentary productions as a means of integrating Slovaks into the cultural life of Czechoslovakia, through cultivating an aesthetic appreciation for the fo lkl oric and rural aspects of Slovak culture in non-Slovak audiences, a lbeit in very different ways. Furthermore, directors were officially funded through both government sources, as well as the Matica slovenska, and as a result both sought to bring these traditional aspects of Slovak visual cu lture into a Czecho-Slovak cultural space. In his career as an ethnographer and a photographer, Karel Plicka was concerned with producing works of art which could bridge the growing divide between Czech and Slovak audiences. Plicka 's photographic, ethnographic, and musicological output was prodigious, and from the late 1920s onwards he began a second (or third or fourth career) as a documentary filmmaker in Slovakia and in Slovak MACEK and PASTEKOV A, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie, 597-8. Advertisements for the Kino Palace and Kino Meteor in Banska Bystrica. for example, show both American films and German films on their programs as early as 1928; larger cinemas in Bratis lava and Kosice had, of course, made international progra min g a staple of their repertoires from the very beginning . 23 " Potreba naprvy vo filmovej produckii a predvazdani filmov. Dockame sa v Kosic iach viacerych domacich ti lmov?" Slo vensky v_1ichod, January 24, 1933 , p. 3 . 21 22 �SLOVAKIA 2021 99 communities abroad. Starting with l 928's Za slovenskym /'udom, Plicka approached Slovak culture through the lenses of his earlier work as a musicologist and a photographer, meticulously documenting the exotic aspects of Slovak (and to a lesser extent, Rusyn) culture for Czech, Slovak, and international audiences. Like many early film directors, Plicka had little to no formal training, relying on his amateur knowledge of photography and supplementing this with his learned or natural talent as an ethnographer. For Plicka, this Slovakia, as of yet only barely codified and recognized as a political or social sphere, contained a wealth of information which needed to be documented: On my trips after Slovak folksongs , I came to many lesser known and even forgotten areas, to which almost 'no one' had ever come up until then . No one, or rather, hardly anyone except those with open eyes and trained ears. It ' s no wonder. Ethnographic Slovakia is a vast and extensive world, and there never will be enough of those who could satisfy the need to write down, draw , and photograph this richness.24 Although Plicka was wary of the mechanical " ripping" of folk songs and images from living performances into mechanized fossils, he soon embraced the advantages of these modern technologies. He began to experiment with film starting in the mid- I 920s as a "documentary tool for ethnographic and folkloric events," 25 which could satisfy, if not all of his documentary impulses, at least most of them. Although the Matica slovenska and Plicka had worked together numerous times on his ethnographic photographical and musicological expeditions throughout Slovakia, the organization felt that a movie camera was necessary for the broadening of their efforts in the young Czechoslovakia. 26 Archival records in Matica slovenska show that Plicka obtained a Pathe movie camera in the spring of 1926 in Prague, 27 where he learned to use the new tool; only a few months 24 PLICKA , Karel , " Ako sme filmov ali," S/ovenske poh/'ady. April I , 1930, pp. 215- 16 25 LAC KOVA , Sy lvia, LEXMANN , Juraj , and SLIVKA Martin , eds., Karol Plicka vo fl/m ove) faktografii, (Brati slava: S loven sky film ovy ustav , 1983), 36. 26 KRC M ERY , Ste fan , Tri rol..y Matice slovenskej I 924- 1926 (Turc iansky sv. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1927), 8-9. 27 PLIC KA , Karol. Co rres pondence. Coll ected in: LAC KOVA , Sl yv ia, LEXMANN , Juraj , and SLIVKA Martin , Karol Plicka vo jilmovej f i:1ktogra/ii, 187. �100 SLOVAKIA 2021 later, Plicka wrote to Matica slovenska to arrange the local permissions and cooperation necessary to start his cinematic work, saying: Please send a message immediately to inform the schools in Zliechova, and in Kosecke Rovne, as well as the parish office in Zliechova, that the ethnographic department of Matica Slovenska proposes to, after a number of days/starting from the 14th of this month, to start working there, and to: record songs, photograph, and to film scenes, which the Zleichovans demonstrated in Trencianske Teplice. Matica Slovenska requests moral support for this significant work in these historic villages." 28 In much of 1926, 1927, and 1928, Plicka traveled through Slovakia (primarily in the Liptov and Orava regions popularized by the pioneering ethnographic artists Pavol Sochan and Peter Michal Bohun), recording film footage, as well as continuing his other ethnographic activities. The resulting film Za s/o venskym f'udom was received with great fanfare in the Slovak community on both sides of the Atlantic. Slovaks in America marveled at Plicka's ethnographic ambition, noting that the film was a "powerful piece of cultural propagation," which was "very sympathetically accepted by all of the Slovak and even Czechoslovak public."29 The nationalistic daily Slovak praised the film as "something that is worthwhile for the part of our public, which does not have the possibility to see all the treasures of our national spirit,"30 while the more centrist Slovensky dennik labelled the ft Im "the loveliest surprise of the year" and thri lied at seeing Slovaks on the screen "where one is accustomed to seeing nowadays only the sorrows and joys of other nations ."3 1 The film combined not only Plicka 's photographic talent (indeed many of the scenes depicted on film were also photographed for Plicka's and Matica slovenska's later use) for finding the abstract patterns in the Slovak countryside with the athletic and physical prowess of hi s subjects, who dance traditional dances and display feats of strength while dressed in various traditional regional kroje. 28 Ibid. "Rok kulturnej prace," Ynungstownske slovenske novivny. May 3, 1929, p. 3 30 " Film za slovenskym l'udom ," Slovak (Bratislava), March I, 1929, p. 4. 31 "Za slovenskym l'udom," Slovensk_)1dennik (Bratislava), March 14, 1929, p. 6. 29 �SLOVAKIA 2021 101 Za s/ovenskym /'udom was funded largely by Matica slovenska, which experienced a resurgence of popularity and importance following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary. Matica slovenska's mission of preserving, codifying, and unifying Slovak culture internally as well as internationally, meshed with Plicka 's own natural urges to record and transmit. A second well-received documentary about highland Slovaks titled Po horach, po dolach followed in l 929, which received an even wider domestic release than Plicka's first film, as well as winning pri zes in international film and photographic competitions in 1932. Like Za slovenskym /'udom, Po horach, po dolach was also funded by Matica slovenska, and featured much of the same style and content as Plicka's debut film , and was shown to a wider variety of audiences, including Czechs. 32 By the early 1930s, Plicka had begun producing documentari es for both Matica slovenska and private concerns, such as an informative non-fiction quasiadvertisement for the town of Piest'any 's famous medicinal baths and mud treatments. Furthermore, his films were beginning to be utilized by American Slovak organizations like Jednota, the Slovak League of America, and others as a means to educate American Slovaks about their cultural heritage as well as the benefits of Slovak ethnic identity.33 Plicka 's most famous film might be considered to be his 1933 paean to Slovakia, Zem spieva, which combines scenes of rural Slovak folklore and traditional dress along with intertitles by the Slovak poet and translator Jan Smrek. Curiously, although Plicka was an early proponent of the ethnographic and educational possibilities of sound film, he elected to set the film to an impressionistic score by the Czech composer Frantisek Skvor, despite declaring that sound film as a medium is the " the ideal documentation" 34 in an interview with his collaborator Smrek only a few years earlier. Whil e Plicka 's early work 32 MALINA, Vladimir, "O moznostiach slovenskeho zvukoveho filmu ," Elim. November, 193 1. 33 See: CU LEN , Kon stantin, S/ovaci v Amerike: crty z kulturnych dejin (Tuciansky Sv. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1938) as we ll as ALEXANDER , June Granatir, Ethnic Pride, American Parriorism: Slovaks and Orher New Immigrants in rhe lnren var Era (Ph ilade lphia: Templ e Unive rsity Press, 2004). 34 SMREK, Jan, "O praci pre zac hovanie l'udovej piesne: rozhovor s jej znalcom a vasnyvim sbera tel'om Karlom Plickom," £/an: mesiacnik pre literaruru a umenie, March , 1933, p. 5. �102 SLOVAKIA 2021 was often mere documentation for the sake of preservation , Zem spieva is an expansion of Plicka 's more experimental photographic vision. Plicka takes the viewer on a musical and vis ual trip through Slovakia's wild mountains, not for the sake of scientific observation, but to experience the poetic essence of Czechoslovakia ' s most exotic locales. As Bill Nichols noted in his essay "Documentary Film and the Moderni st Avant-Garde," what separated interwar documentary film from mere reportage like newsreel s, was its artistic pretensions. 35 While the First Republic was full of newsreel s documenting world events and cultural phenomena from exotic locales, Slovakia included, Zem spieva represented two complimentary, yet different intentionsthe first was to continue to raise, on the one hand Czech appreciation and awareness of Slovak cu lture, whi le simultaneously allowing Slovaks an opportunity to have their own culture valued on equal standing with the more "sophisticated" and dominant Czech culture. Zem spieva 's modernist influences are most strongly fe lt in its theoretical conception and execution . While the film is a "sound" film in terms of its technical composition with Skvor' s pre-recorded soundtrack , the film ' s formal structure adheres more closely to the avant-garde experimentation of the late silent film era, featuring no diagetic sound or dialogue, and only intertitles explaining the significance of the scenes. 36 This suited Plicka, as he explained in his 1932 article "Poznamky o filme moznostiach a ulohach slovenskych filmov": Slovak films will be sound films , since today, unfortunately, it is impossible to make any other kind. But they will certainly not be I 00% dialogue film s, perhaps thanks to the producers, but an arti stic and commercial error. In the interest of internationali sm, it will be necessary to curb dialogs and really, the entire weight which bears the influence of the theatre, will have to be limited to the most modest, if not reduced entirely for that matter, in order to make the film as understandable as it was at its happi est, when it was silent. This mostly applies to the Slovak situation ; we will not be able to afford many films on ly for ourselves. It is better to 35 NI C HOLS, Bill, " Doc umentary Film and th e Modernist Avan t-Garde," Critical ln- qui,y . Vol. 27, No. 4, Summer, 20 11 , p. 588. 36 LAC KOVA. , Slyvia, LEXMANN, Juraj, and SLIVKA Martin, eds., Karol Plicka vo.filmovej.faktografii (Bratislava : Slovensky filmo vy ustav, 1983), 89 . �SLOVAKIA 2021 103 produce little, but except that which is thoughtful and valuable. 37 Although such an approach to sound design was dec idedly archaic (even in 1933),38 Plicka was, in some se nse, correct: this decision paradoxically increased Zem spieva 's international appeal. On the one hand, the relegation of the Slovak language within the film to small, easily digested intertitles meant that the film was easily accessible to Slovak populations in the United States, whose command of the language might have been fossilized or had languished through the process of assimilation. 39 On the other hand, the focus on the more purely abstract visual and musicological aspects of Slovak folk culture allowed the film to function as " poetry," without the di straction or potential friction of Slovak dialogue, an abstraction that also allowed the film to represent various different "S lovakias" for different audiences. While the American Slovaks rejoiced in finding a poetiziation of their ancestral homeland, Slovakia's most exotic and access ible qualities, such as its visual splendor, its vital folk culture, and its melodies, were easily absorbed by outsiders who did not require any specialized linguistic skill to appreciate them. Additionally, Plicka' s long-time editor, the Czech avant-garde photographer and filmmaker Alexandr Hackenschmied, was instrumental in reshaping the narrative structure of the film through his assured editing style, and via his suggestion that Plicka shoot additional introductory and ending footage. 40 Hackenschmied was born into a family of academics in Prague, and hi s childhood in the (then) industrial neighborhood of Karlin gave him ample opportunity to visit the numerous cinemas around that part of the city, 41 sowing the seeds of hi s great interest in film and photography. Following his high school graduation, Hackenschmeid bega n hi s architectural studies, but found himself drawn more strongly to cinema and photography, and 37 PLICKA , Karel , " Poznamky o filme - moznostiach a ulohach slovenskyc h filmov," S/ovenske poh/'ady, September 15, 1934, p. 593 . 38 For more on the problems of sou nd films in Slovak ia during the interwar period, see my Ph .D. dissertation . HUDAC, Nicholas, " Picturing the Na ti on: Slovak National Identity in the Age of the Mass Produced Image," Univerzita Karlova , 2020. 39 C.f. CU LEN, Konstantin, Slovaci V Amerike. 40 ANDEL, Jaroslav, Alexandr Hackenschmied(Praha: TORST, 2000), 29. 41 BROZ, A /exander Hackenschied (Praha: Ceskoslovensky filmovy ustav, 1973 ), 202 1. �104 SLOVAKIA 2021 various global avant-gardes active in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the work of Man Ray, the Soviet LEF group, Dziga Yertov, and more.42 While Hackenschmied was active in photographic circles from his student days, starting in 1930 he began to make his own films . More than a film enthusiast and a future film editor- he was a film theorist, a photographer, and a filmmaker himself, deeply concerned with the possibilities of montage and form . Hackenschmeid began editing Zem spie va in Prague in 1932, but completed the final cut after Plicka returned from additional shoots in Slovakia with more footage . In a conversation with Martin Sli vka, one of his former students, Plicka recounted his views on the finished product: What do I want Zem spie va to say via film? I would be happy if it was approached without interpretation . It deals with Slovakia as unknown as well as beautiful: the theme of the film is the lives of people in a village and their holy relationship to nature. As the film ' s subtitles suggest, Zem spieva is a cinematic poem celebrating precious traditions; it should be evidence of an enchantingly pure manifestation of life, which is so simple, yet so important. And the film shows a world in which our fathers ' healthy and precious heritage has, by some miracle, been preserved in some regions until today.',4 3 In this sense, Plicka' s intentions for Zem spie va represent an inversion of the earlier ethnographic assumptions that ethnographic subjects are worthy of documentation because of the interesting-yettlawed nature of their ancient practices. Instead, in both the content of Zem spie va and in his comments to the press, Plicka explicitly rejects the predominant political push by Czech (and some Slovak) political and cultural authorities to modernize and industrialize Slovakia .44 Rather, the film's premise is a twist on the time-honored modernist 42 BROZ, Alexander Hackenschied, pp. 2 1-22. SLIVKA , Martin , Karol Plicka. hasnik obrazu (Martin: Vydavatel'stvo Osveta, 1982), 175. 44 Although a compl ete accounting of th e industriali zation debate regarding Slovaki a is beyond th e scope of thi s arti c le, see, for example, MATULA, Antonin, " Dvacatyosmy fij en," in Ceska osveta: /isl venovan_y zajmum vdejneho knihovnictvi a organisaci lidoveho vzdelani. September, 1938, Vol. 35 , No. I, pp. 5-7; and HA VLiCE K, V., " Narodni problem Slovenska," in Nase doba: revue pro vedu. umeni a i ivo/ socia/ni, November, 1933, Vol. 41 , No. 2, pp. 68-73. 4 .1 �SLOVAKIA 2021 105 tradition of the city symphony, a genre of early avant-garde filmmaking practiced by directors such as Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov, which sought to translate the immense vitality and activity of an urban space to the reproducible and distributable form of cinema as a celebration of modern industrialization and urbanization. While not every audience member could afford a trip to Berlin or Moscow, a city symphony provided an impressionistic vision of such urban locales that could satisfy the longings for new visual stimulation and locations for a reasonable price. Plicka ' s vision for Zem spieva followed a model similar to Ruttman's and Vertov's films , yet inverted. For the price of a mere ticket, audience members could journey away from Bratislava, deep into the wild Slovak mountains, where a visual feast of dancing, ethnic clothing and stunning vistas awaited them, accompanied with rapturous song. Although Zem spie va was produced under the auspices of Matica slovenska, the old vanguard of Slovak national sentiment and as part of a series of governmental programs to promote Slovak culture in the Republic, not all Slovak activists were thrilled by Plicka' s aims or the resources devoted to its production. As an anonymous letter in the Slovak periodical Nastup declared: When we think about our devastated Slovakia's economic ruin, about the misery of our Slovak people, the overwhelming question mark which stands before our Slovak intelligentsia is about the misery and scarcity at every step and yet on the other hand, we are making our sole Slovak film 'The Earth Sings,' and between these two, we clench our teeth and deeply sigh. Yes, we sing! But the stomach doesn't sing, it whines .45 Still other Slovak critics noted that, despite Slovakia's reliance on foreign producers and directors focusing on "a narrow slice of Slovakia in Czech films" 46 represented, as Stefan Hoza wrote in Kinorevue, a promising step forward , (the film ' s lack of Slovak financing notwithstanding) giving hope that Zem spieva would usher in a new era of Czech and Slovak films about Slovakia.47 Other Slovak 45 Nastupi sta od Zvolena [pseudonym] "Zem spieva ... " Nastup, March 15, 1935, p. 10. 46 HOZA, Stefan , "Hovom1e o slovenskom film e a - o moznostiach ," Kinorevue, Vol. I, No. 30, March 20, 1935, p. 5. 47 HOZA , Stefan , "Hovorme o slovenskom filme a - o moznostiach," p.6. �106 SLOVAKIA 2021 intellectuals argued amongst themselves as to whether or not Zem spieva counted as ethnographic reportage,48 nationalist "gyc," or a lyrical and stylized portrayal of Slovakia's essence, as Vlado Clementis argued in 1933 49--{;learly not all of Plicka 's artistic experimentation was received in earnest. Perhaps the best sign of the film 's Czechoslovak intent was how vociferously it was condemned on the grounds that Plicka himself, as a non-Slovak, was not qualified to make such a film. Although Czech critics often saw the film as a wonderful celebration of the venerated narodni dilo tradition, the Czech public, on the other hand-especially the fickle Prague audiences, at least according to the press, were not interested in Zem spieva, because of the lingering effect of the "Slovak question" (the repeated calls for Slovak autonomy) had poisoned the well of Czecho(Slovak) culture in the mind of the ordinary Prazak.50 As the Czech critic Jaroslav Broz wrote: We had anticipated that, because, in thi s day and age, when the Slovak question is such a burning domestic political problem of our state, a film about Slovakia would be especially welcomed and raise the interest of the public. But we were sadly disappointed. The numerical balance sheet of the premiere of Plicka 's film in Prague is a sad document of the cultural ignorance of the Prague public. 5 1 Although the film failed to find an audience in the larger Czech metropoles, Zem spieva 's international release and distribution meant that the film was often seen by American Slovaks, "who follow with great interest anything done in Slovakia," 52 and who turned it into both a means of expressing ethnic pride in multicultural American cities, while also using it as an educational tool for non-Slovaks and Slovaks alike. It is, thus, fitting that the artistic ambition of Plicka's last film was most appreciated in American circles, where the Slovak question was either a whispered query among ethnic boosters in a neighborhood 48 TUMA, J., "Zem spieva, ale o cem?" Tvorba. November 9, 1933 . CLEMENTIS, Vladoj "Je Plickov film folkloristickym gycom?" DAV. Vol. I, No. 10, p. 149. 50 SM REK, Jan , "Vel'kost a bieda jednoho vit'azstva," Elim. ovember, 1933 , p. 8. 51 Ibid. 52 GETTING , Milan , "O Slovensku treba prednasat' i Americanom anglickeho jazyka," S/o vensky dennik. September 4, 1935, p. I. 49 �SLOVAKIA 2021 107 bar or forgotten entirely in the multicultural din of American cities. While economic anxiety and nativist sentiment in some comers of Slovak society muted the film 's reaction among hardline nationalists, Zem spieva was warmly received in other areas not just as an artistic achievement, "something that does not have an analog in global [film] production," 53 as the Czech daily Lidove noviny called it, but as an educational tool. It would show the Czech population that Slovak culture could transcend its reputation for provincialism. Furthermore, Slovak cultural groups in America and the Czech Lands scheduled screenings, sometimes with Plicka 's participation in the case of the latter, as a means of promoting Czechoslovak unity. Although the film was shown fairly regularly in the 1930s, it was nearly lost entirely during World War 11 when the original negatives were destroyed by fire in 1944; afterwords, an imperfect and incomplete copy was salvaged from a positive negative in 1945. Zem Spieva was a mixed success in Czechoslovakia, but, perhaps more importantly, it was a striking critical success among avant-garde circles in America and Europe. There, Zem spieva was shown not only at Czech and Slovak ethnic theaters and events, but also in more mainstream settings, such as at the 1934 Venice Biennale, where Plicka was awarded the City Cup of Venice for Best Director. American Slovak institutions were likewise more enthusiastic audiences for Plicka's films . A feature in the Youngstownske slovenske noviny, written by Matica slovenska's Jozef Cincik, considered Zem spieva living history, which captured "the most important moments in Slovak life." 54 Unlike America, whose foundational historical moments were dead and only experienced in museums, Cincik argued that in Zem spieva "we Slovaks have captured in this picture and its subject, all of the moving, speaking, and sounds of music on film for our descendants, everything that Americans will never be able to capture of their own history for themselves." 55 In other words, Zem spieva was able to codify, and solidify, foundational moments in Slovak history and make them available to the entire nation- similar in many regards to the original aim of ethnographic 53 JEZE K, S., "Zem spieva," Lidove noviny , October 27, 1933, p. 16. CINCi K, Jozef, "O filme Zem spieva," Youngtownske slovenske noviny, February 14, 1936, p. 2. 55 Ibid. , p. 2. 54 �108 SLOVAKIA 2021 photography, albeit with a greater power to preserve, to fix in time, and to replicate. The relative success of the film encouraged Matica slovenska to again provi de Plicka with funding and resources for his next featurelength fi lm, I 936's Za Slovakmi od New Yorku po Mississippi. While Zem spieva focused on Plicka's attempts to bring the rhythms and visuals of life in the Slovak highlands to a diverse, urban audience in Czechoslovakia as part of building a modernist Czechoslovak culture, Za Slovakmi instead focused on Slovak expatriate communities and Matica slovenska's activities in America, as Plicka documented the arrival of three of the organization's top officials (Jozef CigerHronsky, Jozef Cincik and Kon stantin Culen,) to the United States in 1936, and the ways in which the ethnographic mission of Matica slovenska was replicated in America. Often considered "only reportage" 56 by Czech and Slovak film critics, this film was not widely shown in Czechoslovakia; however, it did receive a release in America via fraternal and civic American Slovak organizations such as the Slovak Catholic Sokol, and the First Catholic Ladies Slovak Association, another sign of the strong cultural interchange between Slovaks in Czechoslovakia and those in America, which lasted up until World War II . Although Plicka is more widely known today, in terms of contemporary historiography of Slovak film , Vladimir Uh lela was another colleague of Plicka whose personal history bears many simi larities to Plicka 's own. Uhlela was born in Vienna in 1888, studied physiology and botany in Prague and Strassbourg, and, after receiving his doctorate, he became enamored with the possibilities of film after being exposed to it through his postgraduate research.57 After a stint in military pri son during World War I for being a "dangerous Panslavist," 58 Uhlela was released, served honorably, and then returned to Czechoslovakia where he became both an academic in Brno, and a public intellectual. He acted as the science editor for lidove Noviny, as we ll as contributing to numerous other publiccations. Like Plicka, Uh lela was a passionate devotee of folklore, 56 NAVRATIL, Antonin, Ceslv k pravde ci Ii i: 70 lei ceskoslovenskeho dokumenlcirniho filmu (Praha: Akademie muzic kyc h umeni v Praze, 2002), 5 1. 57 STOLL, Martin, et al., Cesky.film: reiisefi - dokumen/arisle (Praha : Libre. 2009), 587-8. SN Ibid. �SLOVAKIA 2021 109 collecting songs and documenting folk culture, not only in Moravia, but in Slovakia as well. Although a well-known popularizer of science in the popular media (including in cinema as well as in print), in the early 1930s, Uhlela devoted himself to making ethnographic films , focusing especial ly on the borderlands between Moravia and Slovakia, where Slovak communities thrived in the mountains . Although Uh lela made several smaller films on ethnographic themes such as Slovacka pisen and Slovacka svatba, he is best known for his full-length ethnographic drama/documentary Mizejici svet/ Miznuci svet shot and released in 1932. Alth ough the film has many ethnographic moments featuring Moravian Slovak villagers from the locations it was shot in, the film is a romantic drama at its core, as it fo ll ows the troubles of a young Czech ethnographer, Stana Homa, who has come from Prague to a small vi ll age on the border of Moravia and Slovakia to document the inhabitants' customs, songs, and kroje (folk costumes). As young Stana becomes more enthralled with the village and a certain young vi ll ager, she finds herself integrating more and more into vi ll age li fe, until the arrival of her friends from Prague shatter the dream. Despite her attempts to become fully integrated into vi ll age life, the vi ll age and its inhabitants vanish, leaving the young ethnographer standing in the middle of an empty room, alone. At its heart Mizmici svet represented, in many ways, a fundamentally Czechoslovak approach to " traditional" Slovak culture, where the dividing line between Slovak and Czech is one not necessarily of language or ethnicity, but of a rural-urban divide. Despite its ethnic ambiguity, the Slovak press praised the film, especially on its visual merits, and eagerly considered it one of their own. Slovenska krajina enthusiastically complimented the film's "beautiful kroj" as "a treat for the eyes," 59 whereas Slovensky dennik enjoyed the film, but negatively compared it to the works of Plicka, saying that, if it were not for Plicka's film , " [Mizmici svet] will most likely be cons idered our first folkloric film , which has no antecedent." 60 Even the stoutly nationalist and famously anti-Czech Slovak grudgingly approved of parts of the film , even though 59 MAZEL, 8. , "Zo prazskeho tyzdna "S/ovenska Krajina, November 22, 1932, p. 2. "Plickov film' Po Horach, po dolach' a Matica Slov.," S/ovensky dennik, November 13 , 1932, p. I. 60 �110 SLOVAKIA 2021 "[ Miznuci svet] does not manage to overcome Plicka's Slovak film of this kind ," it was a sound film , "which captured the disappearing life of Slovak villages on the Moravian border" and the scenes "where the swift life of the majestic lads is best illustrated through dance." 61 The contrast between Uhela's and Plicka's visions was further intensified following its debut in 1932, as a review of Zem spieva in Slovensky dennik praised Plicka's film via a backhanded swipe at Miznuci svet, saying "Zem spieva isn't one of those films which are constructed with cold calculation, inorganically loaded down with so called natural or ethnographic ' action' shots, as was, for example, in the distracting moments in the otherwise superb Miznuci svet, "62 intensifying the competition between the two most prominent Slovak-themed films of the early 1930s. Although Plicka's films were heavily influenced by the Modernist leanings of the Czech avant-garde and Bauhaus, Uh lela's film was in many ways, a different aesthetic experience. Since Plicka 's background in photography meant that he often preferred immaculately composed static shots, with an emphasis on the geometrical patterns he so often found in the Slovak countryside, the collective footage shot by Otakar Schutz, Jan Calabek, Josef Sti'echa, and Josef Buzek used in Miznuci svet is often frenetically active, soaring and zooming around the landscape like a bird, and calling to mind (as the reviewer in Slovak contemptuously pointed out) the "Soviet" 63 influences of the film. Montage sequences also abound throughout the film , repeating shots of the countryside, the growth of plants, the changing of seasons- the very same subjects which were often found in Plicka 's photographic and cinematic work, only viewed through the lens of a different approach to cinematography. However, despite their differences of setting and their treatment of other external cinematic factors, such as sound, Plicka's films and Uhlela's lone ethnographic feature film do share several simi larities. Both films revolve around the allure of leaving civilized, urban environments and reconnecting with older traditions in the countryside. Furthermore, these films sought to break free of the rigid 61 "Film - Mizniici svet. " Slovak, April 5, 1933, p. 5. BALLO, Iva n, "Zem spieva (o prvom slovenskym film e zvukom)," Slo vensky dennik. January I 0, 1933, p. 3. 63 "Film - Mizniici svet. "Slovak. April 5, 1933, p. 5. 62 �SLOVAKIA 2021 111 trappings of purely ethnographic films in a variety of ways: through the hybridization of genre (e.g. Zem spieva 's mixture of the ethnographic film with elements of the city symphony genre, or Miznuci svet 's combination of non-fiction ethnography and fictional melodrama), by incorporating a variety of techniques from Czech or international avant-gardes such as montage and geometrical compositions, and by creating an impressionistic portrait of the experience of Slovakia without relying on the objective aims of scientific film making. And paradoxically, despite their attempts at creating "Czecho-Slovak" Slovak films, or film s about Slovaks and Slovakia within the context of a unified Czechoslovak nation, both directors were, in many ways failures at creating films that transformed their own personal aestheticizations of the Slovak experience into a more unifying one; Plicka 's films were embraced only among Slovak communities at home and abroad as well as among a select group of the urban Czech cultural elite, whereas Uhlela's film languished in obscurity on all fronts- neither Slovak enough for the Slovak nationalists, nor exotic enough for an urban Czech audience. 1.3 FASCISM AND THE RISE OF DOMESTIC SLOVAK PRODUCTION While nationalistic mass-produced images favored by both foreign ethnographers and Slovaks themselves could quickly be repurposed to promote various political ideologies, documentary film was no exception. With the growing support of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party (HSPP), in the mid-to-late 1930s, the Czecho-Slovak interests in Slovakia (most elegantly embodied in Plicka 's documentary and pedagogical work) found themselves under attack by Slovak nationalists. Indeed, many hardliners took offense at the prominence of Czech and foreign directors producing films about Slovakia and for Slovaks, or alternately ignoring the Slovak market altogether, despite the fact that Czech cinemas and cinema production companies were far more numerous, successful, and better-funded. 64 As a result, on November 4th, 1938, members of the ruling HSPP began to purge not only foreign influences (such as Soviet cinema) from Slovak movie theaters, but also began to initiate a broader range of policies which would eventually forbid Jews, Czechs, and other 64 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA., Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie (Martin : Vydavatel'stvo Osveta, 1997) 74. �112 SLOVAKIA 2021 minont1es from owning, operating, or participating in the Slovak cinema industry,65 with th e notable exception of a handful of stateapproved Czech directors and cameramen like Eugen Mateicka and Bohus Havranek. 66 In order to satisfy the need for cinema, the Slovak government appealed for outside help in order to replace the technical knowledge and talent driven away or excluded by its policies. In addition to receiving aid from film organizations in Vienna, Berlin, and elsewhere, the Slovak Republic set up three organizations for making non-fiction films : Nastup (which produced primarily weekly newsreel s), Skolfilm (which produced educational films) , and Luc (a film monthly company which produced primarily cultural films .)67 These organizations were respon sible for producing nearl y all of Slovak non-fiction films before 1950. While many of the prominent non-Slovak fi gures in early Slovak cinema such as Karel Plicka were driven out of Slovakia during thi s period, a handful of Slovak directors such as Pal'o Bielik were able to continue, openly and sometimes covertly, the cinematic process started by Plicka. Bielik (who rose to fame playing the infamous bandit Juraj Janosik in Martin Fric 's 1935 film of the same name), along with other young S lovak filmmakers in the late First Republic, had mostly learned their craft through either their time in the fi lm industry as actors (in the case of Bielik) or through studyi ng with Plicka and other instructors at (or loosely affiliated with) the Brati slava-based School of Applied Arts. This was a revolutionary institution which featured instruction not just in photography and filmmakin g, but also graphic design , painting, advertising, typogramphy, and textile design .68 However, regardless of their background, th e young Slovak filmmakers quickly found themselves actively constrained by government and industrial censorship, which sought to exorcise the " dangerous" elements harmful to the Slovak nation from Slovak cinematic production . In practice, this meant not only purging 65 HA AKOVA, Petra, " Proticeska agenda s lovenskeho filmu 1939- 1945 ," in : Minoriry a.film (Bratislava: Asociacia slovenskyc h filmovych klubov, 20 12), 46. 66 HANAKOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska fi lmova kulllira ( Bratislava: Slovensky filmov y ustav, 20 I0). 49. 67 MIHA.LIK , Peter, Vznik slovenskej narodnej kinemarogra/ie / 896- 1948 (Bratislava : Kabinet divadlo a filmu Slovenskej akademi e vied, 1994), 94. 68 MOJZISOVA, Iva, "Avant-Garde Repercussions in the Schoo l of Applied Arts in Bratislava 1929- 1939, Journal of Design Histaty, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1992. p. 273. �SLOVAKIA 2021 113 Slovak cinema of the thematic and formal innovations imported from abroad, but also eliminating the influences of a trio of dangerous domestic ingredients namely the "Czech-Jewish-Bolshevik"69 influence. Nearly all of the official cinematic output during the short-lived Slovak Republic seems to have focused solely on two non-fiction fronts- periodic newsreels depicting the activities of the Slovak troops in World War n, and so-called " kultume filmy ," or "cultural films ,"70 which were an evolution of the pre-war ethnographic films (often influenced as well by Weimar and Fascist-era German nationalist film s), 7 1 designed to promote a se nse of Slovak nationalism and patriotism. The roots of these cultural film s can be traced back to the 1930s, with the rise of ethnographic feature films like Zem spieva. However, unlike Plicka 's work, little attention was paid to making an ethnographically accurate recording of Slovak life; rather, these cultural films were to celebrate an idealized "S lovakia," which never wholly existed. On November 5, 1934, the "S polok priatel'ov kulumeho filmu na Slovensku" was formed in Bratislava. It sought, as part of its educational mission, to establish "cinemas only for cultural film" in Bratislava and to coordinate with a wide circle of Slovak cultural organi zations throughout Slovakia to make " cultura l film s an accessory in the upbringing of children and uplifting the public." 72 In addition to being an educational tool , Slovak nationalists also saw film as a means to transcend the stereotypes of Slovakia as "a beautiful, but poor, land where life is very primitive"73 that had been established in prior ethnographic and documentary work . A second, less-frequently articulated goal (at least not publicl y) was to "make Slovak film production at least as well-regarded as those done by other bigger nations." 74 Finally, the drive for documentary cinema in the Slovak Republic was, ironically, based on an idea which would later be coopted by the communist regime a few years later, name ly that " film 69 HANAKOV A, Petra, " Proticeska agenda slovenskeho filmu 1939- 1945," 46. Ibid., 45. 71 "Charakter kultume ho film a: P6vodny rozhovor 'S lovaka ' s reziserom 'Tobisu, "' Slovak. March 27, 1942, p. 7. 72 " Pre kulturny film," Slovensky dennik. November 4, 1935, p 9. 73 CE RESNA, M., "S lovensky svojraz a cudzina," Nastup, Apri l I, 1940, p. 14. 74 "S lovenska filmova produkcia," Slovak. August, 6, 1942, p. 8. 70 �114 SLOVAKIA 2021 will help raise up a new kind of person ," 75 informing the Slovak population not only about various topical concerns, but also teaching them what it preci sely means to be "Slovak." In February of 1942 Pal'o Bielik, who had been a celebrated actor in interwar Czechoslovak cinema, as well as in the Slovak National Theatre, found himselfunemployed for budgetary and "other creative" reasons, 76 and so he turned to the newly-formed Slovak film agency Nastup for work as a librettist, before finding a position in the departments of short films and cultural films . Bielik, in many ways, was an accidental filmmaker, one who "fell into film ," and often felt quite ambivalent in regards to the medium. In a 1967 interview in Tvorba, Bielik recounted his first accidental exposures to cinema both as a director and as a spectator: "I fell, as they say, straight-legged into film . It was even worse, like when you throw a non-swimmer into cold water. Save yourself, if you know how! And I've saved myselfup until now. But I can't manage to get away from film ." 77 Bielik began his career directing short documentary and cultural films without any formal training, relying on his experiences in front of a camera during his career as an actor in the first Czechoslovak Republic. Although he was forced to work with the semi-fascist regime during this period, the early documentaries which Bielik produced were as apolitical as possible. 1942 's O zdravie robotnika, was a short film about a newly established sanatorium 78 and 1943 's Pod holym nebom, 79 was a 14-minute "artistic reportage" 80 focused on the daily activities around a traditional Orava shepherd's hut and "the romantic splendor of the Slovak countryside." 81 Some of Bielik 's other documentaries during this period included works on fish and the sport of fishing 82 ( 1943 's Hlavatky) , the manufacture and demonstration of traditional Slovak valasky in Miznuca romantika 75 -ik- " Film v novem zivote," Pravda, Vol. I, March I 0, 1944, p. 4. HANJ\KOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska.filmova kulflira, 46. 77 JAN EK, Miroslav, " Vzpominky a plan y Pal'a Bielka," Tvorba: list pro kritiku a umeni. January 12, 196 1, No. 2, pp. 28-9. 78 HAN J\ KOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska.filmova kult1ira. 57. 79 Ibid., 53. 80 Ibid. 81 "S loven ska filmova produkcia," Slo vak. August, 6, 1942, p. 8. 82 "Vel'konocny program premierovyc h kin Nastup a Urania," Slovak, April 7, 1944, and "Nove film y Nastupu," Gardista. November 28, 1943 , p. 4. 76 �SLOVAKIA 2021 115 ( I 943), and the production of flour and bread in Chlieb nas kai dodenny ( 1943). Although not all of Bielik's wartime documenttaries focused on the purely folkloric or ethnographic, by and large, they were films about the Slovak countryside and again, consistent with the aims of earlier ethnographic work. While it appeared that Bielik would spend the war attempting to draw little attention to himself with his documentaries on traditional Slovak subjects, the eruption of the Slovak National Uprising in August of 1944 suddenly changed the young director's career. While in the midst of shooting an unrelated film Hanka sa vydava in Brezena, Bielik and his crew caught wind of the Uprising and immediately rushed to join. As Bielik recalled in 1961, the group not only met with the partizans in order to get footage of the historic event, they actually joined the uprising itself: The Uprising caught me in Brezina during the filming of Hanka sa vydava. There were four other filmmakers with me: Krska, Richter, Plavec, a Sekula. We became lieutenants, they gave us uniforms, and we began to film . I led a group and wrote a scenario under the name 'Odboj 1944.' Krska filmed. It's thanks to him that we have authentic material from those days." 83 This raw reportage, which Bielik shot during his time in Brezina was later renamed, re-edited and repurposed into Bielik's 1945 documentary Za slobodu, although some of the film was lost when unknown persons stumbled upon the hiding place of some of the most sensitive footage: We buried part of the film negative underground in the village ofNemce in a graveyard underneath a tombstone. Some strangers, thinking that they found some treasure, collected the film strips, exposed them to light, and once again overexposed them. So they destroyed ten meters of an extraordinarily valuable film." 84 Although Za slobodu did not premiere during the war and was only finished in 1945,85 it nonetheless served as a potent anti-fascist KJ JAN EK, Miroslav, " Vzpomink y a plany Pal'a Bielka," Tvorba: list pro kritiku a o. 2, p.29. umeni, January 12, 196 1, K ➔ Ibid. 5 K MA CE K Vaclav, PA ST EKOVA , Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinumatugra/ie, 91 . �116 SLOVAKIA 2021 symbol, burnishing the bona-tides of Bielik's group of directors and cameramen as well as Bielik's own reputation as an anti-fascist filmmaker. The surviving film centers around the narrative retelling and reconstruction, not just of the uprising, but also of the "often frequently catastrophic consequences" of the doomed resistance, 86 a thematically daring approach which was seldom replicated in later documentaries. Furthermore, Za slobodu served as an aesthetic turning point for Slovak documentary film- while previous documenttary films about Slovakia had focused on the stylization of the Slovak experience, mediating reportage via romantic conceptions of the Slovak countryside a la PlickaBielik 's film focused on documentary realism, providing a cinematic experience that was out of touch with the postwar "antifascist euphoria." 87 It did not receive widespread distribution, being withdrawn by government officials because of it was "inappropriate for the delicate nature of the theme;" 88 it featured actual reportage, shot under dangerous conditions; and it did not glamorize or stylize the Slovak National Uprising. In short, Za slobodu can be seen as evidence of the first glimmers of cinematic neo-realism in Slovak documentary filmmaking . 1.4 POSTWAR RUPTURING: DOCUMENTARY AND NON-FICTION 1945 TO 1950 While the rise of fascism heralded the end of his career as a filmmaker, Karel Plicka 's legacy and influence on the burgeoning Slovak film industry was only beginning. Before World War II, Plicka had briefly held the position of film instructor in the experimental and short-lived Academy of the Applied Arts in Bratislava, before the institution was shut down due to rising anti-Czech and anti-Hungarian sentiment. While this institution was short-lived, the School of Applied Arts served to provide the basic educational preparation for the careers of several prominent early Slovak directors like Jan Kadar. In 1946, several months after the reunification of Czechoslovakia, Plicka was appointed the first Dean of the Filmova a televizni fakulta Akademie muzickych umenie (F AMU), 89 in charge of, not only FILMMAKING FROM 86 HANA KOY A, Petra, Pa/'o Bielik a slovenskafilmova kulflira, 63. MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOY A, Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie, 91. RH Ibid. , 91 . 89 FRANC, Martin, and KRATKA Lenka, eds., Dejiny A MU: ve vypravenich (Praha : Nakladatelstvi AMU, 2017), I 0 . 87 �SLOVAKIA 2021 117 educating future Czech professsionals, but also the first major generation of academically-trained Slovak film professionals. Although the Slovak students began matriculating from FAMU in the late 1940s and early 1950s, director Eduard Greener (one of the first Slovaks to go to the academy) noted that a vast educational gap existed between the Slovak students and their Czech classmates. 90 Although FAMU contributed enormously to the creation of a stable and thriving Slovak film industry from the 1950s onwards, Slovak documentary cinema (and indeed Slovak cinema as a whole) suffered a rupture, from the mid- I 940s to the early 1950s, as directors who had enthusiastically participated in the Slovak Republic 's film program were "discredited ."91 While some directors, such as Pal'o Bielik, had served in the anti-fascist resistance during the war, those who had not found themselves in the position of Plicka and other minority filmmakers in Slovakia in the 1940s- unwelcome and unemployed. As a result, Slovak documentary production sharply declined in postwar years of the 1940s, with an average of seven nonfiction films per year produced from 1945 to 1948,92 as the most visionary and politically safe directors (such as Bielik) and talented beginners such as Jan Kadar rapidly transitioned into feature filmmaking. 93 Despite newly-increased state support and the establishment of institutions such as FAMU, Slovak nonfiction cinema remained fairly moribund for much of the late 1940s through the early I 960s, due to a lack of qualified personnel and, from 1948 onwards, the newly established communist government's ideological demands. 94 These demands, somewhat paradoxically, were very similar to those espoused by the fascist government: to unify Slovaks around visual tropes and folklore, to show the moderni zation of Slovakia and the tangible benefits of the state, 95 and to build a more- 90 "Eduard Greener: film ako vol'ny vers," interview in literarni noviny. August 4, 20 15. http: //literarky.cz/l iterat ura/cteni/20360-eduard-grener-fi lm-ako-vony-ver 91 Navratil , Antonin, Cesty k pravde ci Ii i : 70 let c'eskoslovenskeho dokumentarniho .filmu (Praha: FAMU, 2002), 159. 92 Ibid. , 16 1. 93 Ibid., 160-2. 94 MA CE K Vaclav, PASTEKOVA , Jelena. Dejiny slovenskej kinomatogrcifie. I 1719. 95 JA SSO, Julius, "Slovak Films in the Last Five Years," Czechoslovak Film, Vol. 7, No. 4, unpag inated. �118 SLOVAKIA 2021 ideologically pure Slovak soc iety96 through the use of mass-produced images. Perhaps the single most stereotypical " identifying characteristic" of a Slovak film , documentary or otherwise, during the postwar and early communist years was a reliance on the folkloric motifs and ethnographic themes which had been become so thoroughly codified by the 1950s. This particular fascination with folk culture was hardly a communist invention , as it drew on the ethnographic traditions which were so popular in the late Austro-Hungarian through interwar periods. Given that amateur ethnographers such as Pavel Sochan eagerly embraced photography as a way of documenting indigenous practices in an effort to distinguish region s and establish Slovak cultural identity during periodic moments of cultural trauma, ethnic repression , and attempts at forced assimilation, 97 it remains a littl e surpri sing how quickly the postwar and communist regimes embraced these formerly divisive aesthetic elements. While cinema had been nationalized by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in August of 1945 as an important national resource, fo lk culture was also nationalized in Slovakia by presidential decree on November 7, 1945. 98 This decree also resulted in the creation of the first Slovak fo lk art collective, the Ustredie l'udovej umeleckej vyroby (UCUV), whose aims were to preserve Slovak folk culture. While ethnographic and folkloric activities had been decidedly controversial in the First Czechoslovak Republic and consisted of a definite part of the fascist propaganda machine during the war, following the 1948 Communist Putsch, the government further reaffirmed the need for fo lkl oric collectives by creating the Slovensky l'udovy umelecky kolekiv (SCUK) in 1949. Further still, the regime stated exp Iicitly ten years later that "folk arts and folk handicrafts make up an important part of our socialist culture," 99 further sanctioning not just the practice of these traditional pastimes, but 96 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA , Jelena, Dejinv slovenskej kinomatografie. 126. See PODOLAK. J. , "The Development of Ethnography in Slo va kia," Midwest Fo lklore, Vol. 8, No. 2, Summ er, 1958 , pp. 69-84. 97 98 " Prozatimni statni zfizeni ceskoslovenske," Dekret presidenta republiky o organisaci lidove a umelecke vvroby . November 7, 1945, Zakon c. I I 0/ 1945 Sb. Note that the decree did not come into effect until November 27th . 99 Zakon c. 56/ 1957 Sb. �SLOVAKIA 2021 119 affording them legal protection and financial support, albeit fossilizing these living traditions even more effectively than the ethnographic projects of the late Austro-Hungarian and interwar periods. By the early 1950s, Communists had not only assumed control of the government, but were also looking to infiltrate or redirect certain cultural outlets for the purposes of creating communist educational entertainment. The creation of Slovak folkloric collectives such as the S:CUK in the late 1940s, along with the overwhelming familiarity with mass-produced images of Slovakia, the prevalence of interest in the folkloric trappings of Slovak films in both the Czech and Slovak lands was, at one point, so prevalent that Czech film critic and dramaturge Jaroslav Bocek vociferously complained that " ... the Slovak cinema watched over the adjective 'Slovak' caring much less about the noun ' cinema.' No wonder there was such a rash of folklore , embroidered blouses, and national songs, since Czech directors could hardly be expected to understand Slovakia any different from the exotic, folklore , or tourist angle." 10° Compounding Bocek's irritation at the more stereotypical depictions of national identity was the fact that "these same features [folkloric trappings] began to creep even into the work of the emerging directors," to which the Czech critic added "Slovak cinema saw its raison d'etre in its very existence . .. such traits can be found in the beginnings of any cultural endeavor." 10 1 Bocek's paternal dismissal of Slovak cinema was, sadly, not an isolated incident, and echoes some of the earlier critiques of earlier ethnographic films by Plicka and others. 1.5 CONCLUSION As we have seen, Slovak documentary film followed the footsteps of earlier ethnographers and ethnographic photographers, whose original mission was to document and to codify Slovak ethnicity through the collection, reportage , and standardization of cultural and visual tropes. These early documentaries, like those in static media, were predominantly produced by non-Slovaks, who turned to Slovakia to record ways of living which had already receded out of living memory elsewhere. Although these early documentary 100 BOCE K, Jaroslav, 'Twenty Yea rs of Czechoslovak Film," in Modern Czechoslovak Film / 945/ 1965 (Praha: Arti a, dat e unknown [ 1966?)), no paginati on. 10 1 BOCE K, Jaros lav, " Twen ty Years of Czechoslovak Film." �120 SLOVAKIA 2021 films by Czech directors could be di visive in the Slovak intellectual community in Czechoslovakia, they were eagerly embraced by Slovaks li ving elsewhere as a necessary connection to their cultural roots, a connection that was prized not only for its entertainment va lue, but also for its ability to educate Slovaks abroad and in Czechoslovakia in the fundamental aspects of Slovak culture. Since Slovak documentary films were also the fundamental cinematic output of Slovak directors from the beginnings of the Slovak Republic in 1939 through the beginnings of the Slovak feature film era in the 1950s, they also proved to be the fundamental training ground for young Slovak directors, who incorporated several aesthetic aspects of documentary filmrnaking into their own feature film works. In each of these different eras of documentary film production, however, one constant remainsa continuation of the aestheticization of Slovakia, a process begun in the 19th century with the ethnographic activities performed by Hungarians, Austrians, Czechs, and eventually Slovaks themselves. The replicability of these aesthetics also helped ensure the spread of certain aspects of Slovak visual cu lture in the countryside, despite the occasional attempt to bring cinematic focus and cu ltural attention to Slovak urban communities. These attempts were ultimately foiled by the implied formal and aesthetic needs of the specifically "S lovak" documentary: since Slovak culture had been so rigorously defined through its codification period as a " rural" identity, attempts to focus on other aspects of Slovak identity (either in other urban locales or through a de-romanticization of the Slovak countryside) were met with political , cultural, and social resistance. � 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 2021, Vol. 45 Description An account of the resource Vol. 45 (No. 84-85), 2021. 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 2021 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 92 SLOVAKIA 2021 PICTURING A NATIO SLOVAK DOCUMENTARY FILM FROM ITS BIRTH UNTIL NICHOLAS 1950 1 HUDAC " Bude Slovak, cim bol medzi narodami'- to bola veta, s ktorou nasi otcovia vstavali a lihali, to bola veta, kotra hybala ich mysliami natol'ko, ze sa v6bec nehybali. Bolo, teda bude, bude i vtedy, ked' budeme len vylihovat'." Alexander Matuska 2 One of the fundamental aims of early Slovak mass produced images 3 (cinema, lithography, and photography, among other media) was to document and catalog the ethnic, geographic, and social uniqueness of the Slovak Lands. This essay intends to trace the influence of the importance of these media in the early 20th century for Slovaks, namely, non-fiction filmmaking, and its connection with Slovak populations not just in what would become Slovakia, but also in communities abroad- primarily in America. While foreign artists typically came to Slovakia to draw inspiration from its rugged countryside and colorful fo lk costumes, Slovak photographers, engravers, and ethnographers often saw their artistic missions as a way to build a Slovak nation through the documenttation, codification, and repetition of symbols common in a geographical location where historically no " Slovak" nation had ever existed . Although Slovak photographers and engravers enjoyed modest success in the 19th 1 This artic le was made possibl e with the support of the Univerzita Karl ova and has bee n undertaken with additional support from the their Progres QI 2 Initiati ve for Literature and Performance. Ta studie vznikla v souvislosti s fesenim programu rozvoje vyzkumu UK Progres Q12 Literatura a performativita. 2 MATUSKA, Al exander, "S love nska viera v minul osti ," in : C HM EL, Rudolf, ed., Slovenskti ottizka v 20. storoci (Bratis lava : Kalligram, 1997), 12 1. Unl ess noted otherwi se, a ll tra nslati ons are my own. 3 For more on the mass-produced image, see: HUDAC, icho las, " Picturing th e ati on: Slovak Nati onal Identity in the Age of the Mass Produced Image," PhD. Di ssertati on, Uni verzit a Karlova, 2020. SLOVAKIA 2021 93 century, 4 their mediums were soon displaced in the cultural consciousness by the rise of another mass-produced medium, cinema, which provided several boons for the documenttarian . It combined the best qualities of its predecessors : fidelity to the referent image, affordability, durability, transportability, with a novel qualitymotion. This was a new, " lifelike" or "shadowy" 5 quality (to borrow Maxim Gorky's infamous tum of phrase). First, cinema recorded motion. This made it possible to expand the ethnographic activities of Slovak activists in order to capture more aspects of "traditional" culture, ranging from regional dances to the mechanical workings of various implements in Slovak handicrafts. Secondly, cinema also provided the illusion of objecttivity, a quality which could be more easily manipulated to form national and ethnic sentiments. Thirdly, cinema was understandable without any form of specialized training, or in the words of Karel Plicka- "understandable to any people of any country." 6 Lastly, cinema, as one of the first "new" mediums of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, functioned as a source of national and ethnic pride and a vehicle for showing a region's progression into " modernity." In this paper I will first explore how these earlier documentary media contributed to the rise of Slovak documentary filmmaking in the 20th century, and then examine the impact of this tradition . However, as tempting as it would be to think of documentary film (and by extension, the aesthetics of documentary and ethnographic film) as separate from other genres of cinematic expression, for Slovak filmmakers , documentary film proved to be one of the most essential foundations for the building of a national aesthetic, whose presence could be found within a variety of genres and subgenres. Slovak documentary films (as well as certain documentary films about 4 As noted by Macek and Hrubis incky, despite Slovakia's attractiveness for photographers, it lagged behind the Czechs, Austrians, and Hunga rians in the development of both avenues for amateur photographers to disp lay thei r work, and formal training. For more on thi s see: MACEK, Vaclav, and HR UB ISINSC KY Aurel, Dejiny slovenskej fotografie (Bratislava : Slovenska narodna galeria, 200 I), 12- 13. 5 GORKY, Maxim, "The Lumiere C inematograph" in : Si mpson, Philip, et al., Film Theory: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. Vo l. III (New York: Routledge, 2004), 7-8 . 6 PLICKA, Karel, "Poznamky o filme - moznosti ac h a ulohach s lovenskych filmov," Slovenske poh/'ady, September 15, 1934, p. 593. 94 SLOVAKIA 2021 Slovakia produced by Czechs) were not merely reportage, but also an evolution of the same aestheticization and stylization of rural life which so captivated the early ethnographers, albeit with new influences and innovations drawn from various domestic and foreign avant-gardes and aesthetic movements. As we shall see, this repetition of personages, of landscapes, of fo lk culture or traditions, continued through Slovak fiction and animated films, working as both a metacommentary on larger issues of national and regional identities, and as a connecting thread , linking these films of different genres and ideological expressions back to a common foundation. ln most parts of the Western World, documentary, fiction , and non-documentary early film developed simultaneously and concordantly . Early filmmakers immediately realized (in the words of Bill Nicho ls), " film 's capacity to document the world around us." 7 However, documentary films about Slovakia and its people preceded any variety of domestic Slovak filmmaking by several decades, owning to several unique internal factors ; Slovakia's relatively impoverished economic situation, its isolated rural communities, and the relative lack of an educated, culturally-Slovak middle class in the Slovak Lands during the period of cinema's birth and global introduction (e.g. from 1895 to roughly 1905 8). This meant that, while cinema was known in Slovakia, this new medium was chiefly an urban and scientific phenomenon, and thus developed quite differrently in the Slovak Lands than in other neighboring regions. Un like the Czechs, who rapidly embraced this new technology and were soon developing their own domestic cinema industry, Slovak film production remained (at best) sporadic until the end of World War II , frequently dependent on Czech and American financing , talent, and interest for the production of films for a Slovak audience. However, while Slovakia's lack of cinematic infrastructure resulted in the delayed development of a Slovak national cinema, this a lso made the area highly desirable as a destination for documentary filmmakers 7 NICHOLS , Bill , " Documentary Film and the Modernist Avant-Garde," in Critical lnquirv 27, no. 4 , Summer, 200 I, p. 580. 8 Again, while actualites and trave l films of Slovakia were produced during thi s period of early film , Slovakia ' s lack of cinematic and cultural infrastructure seems to have resulted in a lack of both cinematic modernism and a cinematic avant-garde as is more commonly found in other Western film culture. See: NICHOLS , " Documentary Film and the Modernist Avant-Garde," p. 580 SLOVAKIA 2021 95 from outside of the Slovak Lands, if not Slovaks themselves. Although urban Slovaks encountered film roughly at the same time as their Czech brethren to the west, the unique gestation and development of cinema in Slovakia deserves at least a cursory explanation. The first public exhibitions of cinema occurred in 1896, almost a full year after the new technology's unveiling in Paris, when, on December 16th, in Kosice's Hotel Schalkaz, local theatre director ~udovit Szalkay arranged for a demonstration of Edison's cinema technology to the public "at great financial sacrifice."9 On December 25th cinema made its debut in Bratislava (then Pressburg), when it was unveiled to the public in two local hotels- the Hotel Palugyay and the Hotel Kral' Uhorska. These projections were mostly silent, but according to eyewitnesses, they were also accompanied by an Edison phonograph on two occasions. 10 But despite these exhibitions, cinema remained confined to the major urban centers of Kosice and Pressburg/Bratislava, and even in those it was often uneasily tolerated. Early cinema projections were subject to intense governmental regulations, 11 and in 1912, the Press burg city government declared that cinema was "negatively" impacting the public. 12 Cinematic exhibitions and cinemas also faced opposition from the Roman Catholic clergy and laity, 13 who saw the technology as a sign of"moral decline" among the youth, 14 and the Hungarian theatrical community who often saw the newer, cheaper medium in a threatening Iight. 15 Despite this public opposition to the new media, cinema was not entirely absent from public life in the Slovak Lands- instead, it was merely curtailed, limited to a handful of cinemas in Bratislava and Kosice. Because of this, cinema production in the Slovak Lands was limited again to foreign or amateur producers, and little attempt was 9 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA, Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie (Martin : Osveta, 1997), 7. JO ibid. JI ibid. 12 ibid. 13 It is worth comparing the very simi lar opposition to cinema's development and expa nsion that developed in Czech Moravia at roughly the same time . For more on this see: HASAN, Petr, "' Neslusny a nevkusny ti Im nemuze byti krasnym '. Kato licka akce, struktury katolickeho tabora ajejich pusobnost na poli kinematografie v ceske m prostfedi prvni poloviny 20. stoleti," in: /1/uminace, I, 2016 . 14 MAC EK and PASTEKOVA, Dejiny s/ovenskej kinomatogrcifie, 17. 15 MACEK and PASTEKOVA, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografle, 13. 96 SLOVAKIA 2021 made to make the medium accessible in both smaller locales, or in Slovak. I.I SUBJECTS NOT AUTHORS: THE EARLY YEARS OF SLOVAK NON-FICTION FILMMAKING Although film originally received a hostile reception from various social circles in the Slovak Lands, films were made during cinema's early decades, and many of these early films fell under the criteria of what David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson termed "actualities," or films showing an event from real life, and "scenic," 16 crude travelogues designed to showcase exotic places or striking vistas. While cinema started later in the Slovak Lands, by the early 20th century Slovakia had become a destination for Hungarian directors, mainly associated with companies in Budapest 17 who were interested in filming glimpses of Slovakia's mountains. In February of 1908, the Apollo theatre in Bratislava debuted one of the first recorded scenics/actualities set in Slovakia, Wintersport im Tatralomnicz/Zimny sport v Tatranskej Lomnici. 18 A few months later the Apollo's competitor, the Elektro-Biskop cinema projected a series of panoramic scenes as part of their Welt-Panorama special, which included two more films shot in distinctively Slovak locations: Die Hohe Tatra/ Vysoke Tatry and Tur6cz-Szt.-Marton/Turciansky Svaty Martin, as part of its travelogue series. 19 Travelogues, the close cousins of the scenic genre, were a popular genre of early film making, one which attempted to provide a replication or approximation of the traveling experience for audiences hungry for new sensations, as well as a more frugal way of "experiencing" a location for a cash-strapped audience. These films were often accompanied with lectures 20 or packaged as part of a longer cinematic experience, designed to replicate the idea of a larger trave l holiday, albeit condensed into on ly a few minutes. Although these early Slovak travelogues have been 16 BORDWELL, David, and THOMPSON, Kri stin , Film Histo,y : An Introduction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994), 12-13 . 17 MACEK and PASTEKOVA., Dejinyslovenskej kinomatografle. 18-19. 18 "Tagesneuigkeiten!" Pressburger Zeitung. February 5, 1908, p. 2 19 "Elektro-Bioskop nur im Hotel ' zum gri.inen Baum ' in Pozsony, Program vom 14. bis 2 1 Marz," Pressburger Presse, March 16, 1908, p. 5. 20 PETE RSON , Jennifer Lynn, "Travelogues" in : Abel, Rich ard, ed., The Encyclopedia of Early Film (London, New York: Routledge, 2005), 640-3. SLOVAKIA 2021 97 lost, we can reasonnably infer what the experience wou ld have been like by surviving examples of the genre: travelogues were " highly kinetic ," "educational," and positioned as a morally and intell ectuall y healthy a lternative to the salacious or lascivious aspects of other, lesswholesome early films. While these travelogues, actualiti es, and sceni cs were originall y niche productions for audiences located far away from Slovak communities, they nonetheless sti ll largely adhered to the progression of ea rlier Slovak mass-produced images. In the first place, these travel films were essentially a new means of packaging, commodifying, standardizing, and commerciali zing the experience of being in the Slovak Lands, without having to travel and without the politically and socially divisive barrier of language. Secondly, we can clearly tell from the context in which these films were exhibited (e.g. only in the urban centers of Pressburg and Kosice, advertised through the nonSlovak press, and in cinemas that were attached to areas frequented by travelers, the upper classes, and tourists) that these films were again consumed by an Austro-Hungarian audience, not necessarily a "Slovak" one - much as the earl y engravings and lithographs of the Slovak landscape were enjoyed primarily by non-Slovak audiences first, and Slovak audiences later. Lastly, much as ethnographic lithography and photography were rapidly adopted by Slovaks as a means of preserving, codifying, and distributing visua l examp les of Slovak cu ltural identity, as we shall see in the next sections, the rationale behind these sceni cs and travelogues (name ly, that film shou ld give an impression of life in Slovakia, rather than a purely narrative structure) would later be embraced by both non-fiction and fiction filmmakers alike. 1.2 THE BEGIN NINGS OF SLOVAK DOCUMENTARY CINEMA After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 19 18, Slovaks suddenly fo und themselves, not just as a rural curiosity in a large empire, but the second largest Slavic partner in the newly-fonned Republic of Czechos lovakia. No longer subjects to the stringent censorship laws and the Magyarization policies of the former Kingdom of Hungary, film (as with other forms of mass-produced images) began to expand. Movie theaters grew in number (from three in the 98 SLOVAKIA 2021 early 1900s to 84 by the end of Austria-Hungary,2' and increasing to 153 by the end of the First Republic) and size, appearing all over the Slovak Lands, and not just in Kosice and the newly re-named Bratislava. Furthermore, while theaters had once been limited to showing a handful of Hungarian or Austrian films in Bratislava and Kosice, distributors throughout Slovakia began adding Czech, American, and German films 22 to their theaters, though these often met with resistance from more nationalist groups. 23 Unfortunately, this rapid infusion of new cinematic experiences, techniques, and choices did not necessarily result in Slovaks developing their own cinema industry. Throughout the First Republic, Slovakia remained primarily a destination for filmmaking, but with a few minor exceptions, there would be no Slovak documentaries produced by a Slovak director until well into World War II. However, documentary film was indeed expanding in Slovakia, again often along the same ethnographi c, folkloric , or scenic and, again also widely produced by non-Slovak academics such as the Czech directors, Vladimir Uh lela and Karel Plicka as part of a broader, Czechoslovak agenda. Both Plicka and Uhlela saw their documentary productions as a means of integrating Slovaks into the cultural life of Czechoslovakia, through cultivating an aesthetic appreciation for the fo lkl oric and rural aspects of Slovak culture in non-Slovak audiences, a lbeit in very different ways. Furthermore, directors were officially funded through both government sources, as well as the Matica slovenska, and as a result both sought to bring these traditional aspects of Slovak visual cu lture into a Czecho-Slovak cultural space. In his career as an ethnographer and a photographer, Karel Plicka was concerned with producing works of art which could bridge the growing divide between Czech and Slovak audiences. Plicka 's photographic, ethnographic, and musicological output was prodigious, and from the late 1920s onwards he began a second (or third or fourth career) as a documentary filmmaker in Slovakia and in Slovak MACEK and PASTEKOV A, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie, 597-8. Advertisements for the Kino Palace and Kino Meteor in Banska Bystrica. for example, show both American films and German films on their programs as early as 1928; larger cinemas in Bratis lava and Kosice had, of course, made international progra min g a staple of their repertoires from the very beginning . 23 " Potreba naprvy vo filmovej produckii a predvazdani filmov. Dockame sa v Kosic iach viacerych domacich ti lmov?" Slo vensky v_1ichod, January 24, 1933 , p. 3 . 21 22 SLOVAKIA 2021 99 communities abroad. Starting with l 928's Za slovenskym /'udom, Plicka approached Slovak culture through the lenses of his earlier work as a musicologist and a photographer, meticulously documenting the exotic aspects of Slovak (and to a lesser extent, Rusyn) culture for Czech, Slovak, and international audiences. Like many early film directors, Plicka had little to no formal training, relying on his amateur knowledge of photography and supplementing this with his learned or natural talent as an ethnographer. For Plicka, this Slovakia, as of yet only barely codified and recognized as a political or social sphere, contained a wealth of information which needed to be documented: On my trips after Slovak folksongs , I came to many lesser known and even forgotten areas, to which almost 'no one' had ever come up until then . No one, or rather, hardly anyone except those with open eyes and trained ears. It ' s no wonder. Ethnographic Slovakia is a vast and extensive world, and there never will be enough of those who could satisfy the need to write down, draw , and photograph this richness.24 Although Plicka was wary of the mechanical " ripping" of folk songs and images from living performances into mechanized fossils, he soon embraced the advantages of these modern technologies. He began to experiment with film starting in the mid- I 920s as a "documentary tool for ethnographic and folkloric events," 25 which could satisfy, if not all of his documentary impulses, at least most of them. Although the Matica slovenska and Plicka had worked together numerous times on his ethnographic photographical and musicological expeditions throughout Slovakia, the organization felt that a movie camera was necessary for the broadening of their efforts in the young Czechoslovakia. 26 Archival records in Matica slovenska show that Plicka obtained a Pathe movie camera in the spring of 1926 in Prague, 27 where he learned to use the new tool; only a few months 24 PLICKA , Karel , " Ako sme filmov ali," S/ovenske poh/'ady. April I , 1930, pp. 215- 16 25 LAC KOVA , Sy lvia, LEXMANN , Juraj , and SLIVKA Martin , eds., Karol Plicka vo fl/m ove) faktografii, (Brati slava: S loven sky film ovy ustav , 1983), 36. 26 KRC M ERY , Ste fan , Tri rol..y Matice slovenskej I 924- 1926 (Turc iansky sv. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1927), 8-9. 27 PLIC KA , Karol. Co rres pondence. Coll ected in: LAC KOVA , Sl yv ia, LEXMANN , Juraj , and SLIVKA Martin , Karol Plicka vo jilmovej f i:1ktogra/ii, 187. 100 SLOVAKIA 2021 later, Plicka wrote to Matica slovenska to arrange the local permissions and cooperation necessary to start his cinematic work, saying: Please send a message immediately to inform the schools in Zliechova, and in Kosecke Rovne, as well as the parish office in Zliechova, that the ethnographic department of Matica Slovenska proposes to, after a number of days/starting from the 14th of this month, to start working there, and to: record songs, photograph, and to film scenes, which the Zleichovans demonstrated in Trencianske Teplice. Matica Slovenska requests moral support for this significant work in these historic villages." 28 In much of 1926, 1927, and 1928, Plicka traveled through Slovakia (primarily in the Liptov and Orava regions popularized by the pioneering ethnographic artists Pavol Sochan and Peter Michal Bohun), recording film footage, as well as continuing his other ethnographic activities. The resulting film Za s/o venskym f'udom was received with great fanfare in the Slovak community on both sides of the Atlantic. Slovaks in America marveled at Plicka's ethnographic ambition, noting that the film was a "powerful piece of cultural propagation," which was "very sympathetically accepted by all of the Slovak and even Czechoslovak public."29 The nationalistic daily Slovak praised the film as "something that is worthwhile for the part of our public, which does not have the possibility to see all the treasures of our national spirit,"30 while the more centrist Slovensky dennik labelled the ft Im "the loveliest surprise of the year" and thri lied at seeing Slovaks on the screen "where one is accustomed to seeing nowadays only the sorrows and joys of other nations ."3 1 The film combined not only Plicka 's photographic talent (indeed many of the scenes depicted on film were also photographed for Plicka's and Matica slovenska's later use) for finding the abstract patterns in the Slovak countryside with the athletic and physical prowess of hi s subjects, who dance traditional dances and display feats of strength while dressed in various traditional regional kroje. 28 Ibid. "Rok kulturnej prace," Ynungstownske slovenske novivny. May 3, 1929, p. 3 30 " Film za slovenskym l'udom ," Slovak (Bratislava), March I, 1929, p. 4. 31 "Za slovenskym l'udom," Slovensk_)1dennik (Bratislava), March 14, 1929, p. 6. 29 SLOVAKIA 2021 101 Za s/ovenskym /'udom was funded largely by Matica slovenska, which experienced a resurgence of popularity and importance following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary. Matica slovenska's mission of preserving, codifying, and unifying Slovak culture internally as well as internationally, meshed with Plicka 's own natural urges to record and transmit. A second well-received documentary about highland Slovaks titled Po horach, po dolach followed in l 929, which received an even wider domestic release than Plicka's first film, as well as winning pri zes in international film and photographic competitions in 1932. Like Za slovenskym /'udom, Po horach, po dolach was also funded by Matica slovenska, and featured much of the same style and content as Plicka's debut film , and was shown to a wider variety of audiences, including Czechs. 32 By the early 1930s, Plicka had begun producing documentari es for both Matica slovenska and private concerns, such as an informative non-fiction quasiadvertisement for the town of Piest'any 's famous medicinal baths and mud treatments. Furthermore, his films were beginning to be utilized by American Slovak organizations like Jednota, the Slovak League of America, and others as a means to educate American Slovaks about their cultural heritage as well as the benefits of Slovak ethnic identity.33 Plicka 's most famous film might be considered to be his 1933 paean to Slovakia, Zem spieva, which combines scenes of rural Slovak folklore and traditional dress along with intertitles by the Slovak poet and translator Jan Smrek. Curiously, although Plicka was an early proponent of the ethnographic and educational possibilities of sound film, he elected to set the film to an impressionistic score by the Czech composer Frantisek Skvor, despite declaring that sound film as a medium is the " the ideal documentation" 34 in an interview with his collaborator Smrek only a few years earlier. Whil e Plicka 's early work 32 MALINA, Vladimir, "O moznostiach slovenskeho zvukoveho filmu ," Elim. November, 193 1. 33 See: CU LEN , Kon stantin, S/ovaci v Amerike: crty z kulturnych dejin (Tuciansky Sv. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1938) as we ll as ALEXANDER , June Granatir, Ethnic Pride, American Parriorism: Slovaks and Orher New Immigrants in rhe lnren var Era (Ph ilade lphia: Templ e Unive rsity Press, 2004). 34 SMREK, Jan, "O praci pre zac hovanie l'udovej piesne: rozhovor s jej znalcom a vasnyvim sbera tel'om Karlom Plickom," £/an: mesiacnik pre literaruru a umenie, March , 1933, p. 5. 102 SLOVAKIA 2021 was often mere documentation for the sake of preservation , Zem spieva is an expansion of Plicka 's more experimental photographic vision. Plicka takes the viewer on a musical and vis ual trip through Slovakia's wild mountains, not for the sake of scientific observation, but to experience the poetic essence of Czechoslovakia ' s most exotic locales. As Bill Nichols noted in his essay "Documentary Film and the Moderni st Avant-Garde," what separated interwar documentary film from mere reportage like newsreel s, was its artistic pretensions. 35 While the First Republic was full of newsreel s documenting world events and cultural phenomena from exotic locales, Slovakia included, Zem spieva represented two complimentary, yet different intentionsthe first was to continue to raise, on the one hand Czech appreciation and awareness of Slovak cu lture, whi le simultaneously allowing Slovaks an opportunity to have their own culture valued on equal standing with the more "sophisticated" and dominant Czech culture. Zem spieva 's modernist influences are most strongly fe lt in its theoretical conception and execution . While the film is a "sound" film in terms of its technical composition with Skvor' s pre-recorded soundtrack , the film ' s formal structure adheres more closely to the avant-garde experimentation of the late silent film era, featuring no diagetic sound or dialogue, and only intertitles explaining the significance of the scenes. 36 This suited Plicka, as he explained in his 1932 article "Poznamky o filme moznostiach a ulohach slovenskych filmov": Slovak films will be sound films , since today, unfortunately, it is impossible to make any other kind. But they will certainly not be I 00% dialogue film s, perhaps thanks to the producers, but an arti stic and commercial error. In the interest of internationali sm, it will be necessary to curb dialogs and really, the entire weight which bears the influence of the theatre, will have to be limited to the most modest, if not reduced entirely for that matter, in order to make the film as understandable as it was at its happi est, when it was silent. This mostly applies to the Slovak situation ; we will not be able to afford many films on ly for ourselves. It is better to 35 NI C HOLS, Bill, " Doc umentary Film and th e Modernist Avan t-Garde," Critical ln- qui,y . Vol. 27, No. 4, Summer, 20 11 , p. 588. 36 LAC KOVA. , Slyvia, LEXMANN, Juraj, and SLIVKA Martin, eds., Karol Plicka vo.filmovej.faktografii (Bratislava : Slovensky filmo vy ustav, 1983), 89 . SLOVAKIA 2021 103 produce little, but except that which is thoughtful and valuable. 37 Although such an approach to sound design was dec idedly archaic (even in 1933),38 Plicka was, in some se nse, correct: this decision paradoxically increased Zem spieva 's international appeal. On the one hand, the relegation of the Slovak language within the film to small, easily digested intertitles meant that the film was easily accessible to Slovak populations in the United States, whose command of the language might have been fossilized or had languished through the process of assimilation. 39 On the other hand, the focus on the more purely abstract visual and musicological aspects of Slovak folk culture allowed the film to function as " poetry," without the di straction or potential friction of Slovak dialogue, an abstraction that also allowed the film to represent various different "S lovakias" for different audiences. While the American Slovaks rejoiced in finding a poetiziation of their ancestral homeland, Slovakia's most exotic and access ible qualities, such as its visual splendor, its vital folk culture, and its melodies, were easily absorbed by outsiders who did not require any specialized linguistic skill to appreciate them. Additionally, Plicka' s long-time editor, the Czech avant-garde photographer and filmmaker Alexandr Hackenschmied, was instrumental in reshaping the narrative structure of the film through his assured editing style, and via his suggestion that Plicka shoot additional introductory and ending footage. 40 Hackenschmied was born into a family of academics in Prague, and hi s childhood in the (then) industrial neighborhood of Karlin gave him ample opportunity to visit the numerous cinemas around that part of the city, 41 sowing the seeds of hi s great interest in film and photography. Following his high school graduation, Hackenschmeid bega n hi s architectural studies, but found himself drawn more strongly to cinema and photography, and 37 PLICKA , Karel , " Poznamky o filme - moznostiach a ulohach slovenskyc h filmov," S/ovenske poh/'ady, September 15, 1934, p. 593 . 38 For more on the problems of sou nd films in Slovak ia during the interwar period, see my Ph .D. dissertation . HUDAC, Nicholas, " Picturing the Na ti on: Slovak National Identity in the Age of the Mass Produced Image," Univerzita Karlova , 2020. 39 C.f. CU LEN, Konstantin, Slovaci V Amerike. 40 ANDEL, Jaroslav, Alexandr Hackenschmied(Praha: TORST, 2000), 29. 41 BROZ, A /exander Hackenschied (Praha: Ceskoslovensky filmovy ustav, 1973 ), 202 1. 104 SLOVAKIA 2021 various global avant-gardes active in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the work of Man Ray, the Soviet LEF group, Dziga Yertov, and more.42 While Hackenschmied was active in photographic circles from his student days, starting in 1930 he began to make his own films . More than a film enthusiast and a future film editor- he was a film theorist, a photographer, and a filmmaker himself, deeply concerned with the possibilities of montage and form . Hackenschmeid began editing Zem spie va in Prague in 1932, but completed the final cut after Plicka returned from additional shoots in Slovakia with more footage . In a conversation with Martin Sli vka, one of his former students, Plicka recounted his views on the finished product: What do I want Zem spie va to say via film? I would be happy if it was approached without interpretation . It deals with Slovakia as unknown as well as beautiful: the theme of the film is the lives of people in a village and their holy relationship to nature. As the film ' s subtitles suggest, Zem spieva is a cinematic poem celebrating precious traditions; it should be evidence of an enchantingly pure manifestation of life, which is so simple, yet so important. And the film shows a world in which our fathers ' healthy and precious heritage has, by some miracle, been preserved in some regions until today.',4 3 In this sense, Plicka' s intentions for Zem spie va represent an inversion of the earlier ethnographic assumptions that ethnographic subjects are worthy of documentation because of the interesting-yettlawed nature of their ancient practices. Instead, in both the content of Zem spie va and in his comments to the press, Plicka explicitly rejects the predominant political push by Czech (and some Slovak) political and cultural authorities to modernize and industrialize Slovakia .44 Rather, the film's premise is a twist on the time-honored modernist 42 BROZ, Alexander Hackenschied, pp. 2 1-22. SLIVKA , Martin , Karol Plicka. hasnik obrazu (Martin: Vydavatel'stvo Osveta, 1982), 175. 44 Although a compl ete accounting of th e industriali zation debate regarding Slovaki a is beyond th e scope of thi s arti c le, see, for example, MATULA, Antonin, " Dvacatyosmy fij en," in Ceska osveta: /isl venovan_y zajmum vdejneho knihovnictvi a organisaci lidoveho vzdelani. September, 1938, Vol. 35 , No. I, pp. 5-7; and HA VLiCE K, V., " Narodni problem Slovenska," in Nase doba: revue pro vedu. umeni a i ivo/ socia/ni, November, 1933, Vol. 41 , No. 2, pp. 68-73. 4 .1 SLOVAKIA 2021 105 tradition of the city symphony, a genre of early avant-garde filmmaking practiced by directors such as Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov, which sought to translate the immense vitality and activity of an urban space to the reproducible and distributable form of cinema as a celebration of modern industrialization and urbanization. While not every audience member could afford a trip to Berlin or Moscow, a city symphony provided an impressionistic vision of such urban locales that could satisfy the longings for new visual stimulation and locations for a reasonable price. Plicka ' s vision for Zem spieva followed a model similar to Ruttman's and Vertov's films , yet inverted. For the price of a mere ticket, audience members could journey away from Bratislava, deep into the wild Slovak mountains, where a visual feast of dancing, ethnic clothing and stunning vistas awaited them, accompanied with rapturous song. Although Zem spie va was produced under the auspices of Matica slovenska, the old vanguard of Slovak national sentiment and as part of a series of governmental programs to promote Slovak culture in the Republic, not all Slovak activists were thrilled by Plicka' s aims or the resources devoted to its production. As an anonymous letter in the Slovak periodical Nastup declared: When we think about our devastated Slovakia's economic ruin, about the misery of our Slovak people, the overwhelming question mark which stands before our Slovak intelligentsia is about the misery and scarcity at every step and yet on the other hand, we are making our sole Slovak film 'The Earth Sings,' and between these two, we clench our teeth and deeply sigh. Yes, we sing! But the stomach doesn't sing, it whines .45 Still other Slovak critics noted that, despite Slovakia's reliance on foreign producers and directors focusing on "a narrow slice of Slovakia in Czech films" 46 represented, as Stefan Hoza wrote in Kinorevue, a promising step forward , (the film ' s lack of Slovak financing notwithstanding) giving hope that Zem spieva would usher in a new era of Czech and Slovak films about Slovakia.47 Other Slovak 45 Nastupi sta od Zvolena [pseudonym] "Zem spieva ... " Nastup, March 15, 1935, p. 10. 46 HOZA, Stefan , "Hovom1e o slovenskom film e a - o moznostiach ," Kinorevue, Vol. I, No. 30, March 20, 1935, p. 5. 47 HOZA , Stefan , "Hovorme o slovenskom filme a - o moznostiach," p.6. 106 SLOVAKIA 2021 intellectuals argued amongst themselves as to whether or not Zem spieva counted as ethnographic reportage,48 nationalist "gyc," or a lyrical and stylized portrayal of Slovakia's essence, as Vlado Clementis argued in 1933 49--{;learly not all of Plicka 's artistic experimentation was received in earnest. Perhaps the best sign of the film 's Czechoslovak intent was how vociferously it was condemned on the grounds that Plicka himself, as a non-Slovak, was not qualified to make such a film. Although Czech critics often saw the film as a wonderful celebration of the venerated narodni dilo tradition, the Czech public, on the other hand-especially the fickle Prague audiences, at least according to the press, were not interested in Zem spieva, because of the lingering effect of the "Slovak question" (the repeated calls for Slovak autonomy) had poisoned the well of Czecho(Slovak) culture in the mind of the ordinary Prazak.50 As the Czech critic Jaroslav Broz wrote: We had anticipated that, because, in thi s day and age, when the Slovak question is such a burning domestic political problem of our state, a film about Slovakia would be especially welcomed and raise the interest of the public. But we were sadly disappointed. The numerical balance sheet of the premiere of Plicka 's film in Prague is a sad document of the cultural ignorance of the Prague public. 5 1 Although the film failed to find an audience in the larger Czech metropoles, Zem spieva 's international release and distribution meant that the film was often seen by American Slovaks, "who follow with great interest anything done in Slovakia," 52 and who turned it into both a means of expressing ethnic pride in multicultural American cities, while also using it as an educational tool for non-Slovaks and Slovaks alike. It is, thus, fitting that the artistic ambition of Plicka's last film was most appreciated in American circles, where the Slovak question was either a whispered query among ethnic boosters in a neighborhood 48 TUMA, J., "Zem spieva, ale o cem?" Tvorba. November 9, 1933 . CLEMENTIS, Vladoj "Je Plickov film folkloristickym gycom?" DAV. Vol. I, No. 10, p. 149. 50 SM REK, Jan , "Vel'kost a bieda jednoho vit'azstva," Elim. ovember, 1933 , p. 8. 51 Ibid. 52 GETTING , Milan , "O Slovensku treba prednasat' i Americanom anglickeho jazyka," S/o vensky dennik. September 4, 1935, p. I. 49 SLOVAKIA 2021 107 bar or forgotten entirely in the multicultural din of American cities. While economic anxiety and nativist sentiment in some comers of Slovak society muted the film 's reaction among hardline nationalists, Zem spieva was warmly received in other areas not just as an artistic achievement, "something that does not have an analog in global [film] production," 53 as the Czech daily Lidove noviny called it, but as an educational tool. It would show the Czech population that Slovak culture could transcend its reputation for provincialism. Furthermore, Slovak cultural groups in America and the Czech Lands scheduled screenings, sometimes with Plicka 's participation in the case of the latter, as a means of promoting Czechoslovak unity. Although the film was shown fairly regularly in the 1930s, it was nearly lost entirely during World War 11 when the original negatives were destroyed by fire in 1944; afterwords, an imperfect and incomplete copy was salvaged from a positive negative in 1945. Zem Spieva was a mixed success in Czechoslovakia, but, perhaps more importantly, it was a striking critical success among avant-garde circles in America and Europe. There, Zem spieva was shown not only at Czech and Slovak ethnic theaters and events, but also in more mainstream settings, such as at the 1934 Venice Biennale, where Plicka was awarded the City Cup of Venice for Best Director. American Slovak institutions were likewise more enthusiastic audiences for Plicka's films . A feature in the Youngstownske slovenske noviny, written by Matica slovenska's Jozef Cincik, considered Zem spieva living history, which captured "the most important moments in Slovak life." 54 Unlike America, whose foundational historical moments were dead and only experienced in museums, Cincik argued that in Zem spieva "we Slovaks have captured in this picture and its subject, all of the moving, speaking, and sounds of music on film for our descendants, everything that Americans will never be able to capture of their own history for themselves." 55 In other words, Zem spieva was able to codify, and solidify, foundational moments in Slovak history and make them available to the entire nation- similar in many regards to the original aim of ethnographic 53 JEZE K, S., "Zem spieva," Lidove noviny , October 27, 1933, p. 16. CINCi K, Jozef, "O filme Zem spieva," Youngtownske slovenske noviny, February 14, 1936, p. 2. 55 Ibid. , p. 2. 54 108 SLOVAKIA 2021 photography, albeit with a greater power to preserve, to fix in time, and to replicate. The relative success of the film encouraged Matica slovenska to again provi de Plicka with funding and resources for his next featurelength fi lm, I 936's Za Slovakmi od New Yorku po Mississippi. While Zem spieva focused on Plicka's attempts to bring the rhythms and visuals of life in the Slovak highlands to a diverse, urban audience in Czechoslovakia as part of building a modernist Czechoslovak culture, Za Slovakmi instead focused on Slovak expatriate communities and Matica slovenska's activities in America, as Plicka documented the arrival of three of the organization's top officials (Jozef CigerHronsky, Jozef Cincik and Kon stantin Culen,) to the United States in 1936, and the ways in which the ethnographic mission of Matica slovenska was replicated in America. Often considered "only reportage" 56 by Czech and Slovak film critics, this film was not widely shown in Czechoslovakia; however, it did receive a release in America via fraternal and civic American Slovak organizations such as the Slovak Catholic Sokol, and the First Catholic Ladies Slovak Association, another sign of the strong cultural interchange between Slovaks in Czechoslovakia and those in America, which lasted up until World War II . Although Plicka is more widely known today, in terms of contemporary historiography of Slovak film , Vladimir Uh lela was another colleague of Plicka whose personal history bears many simi larities to Plicka 's own. Uhlela was born in Vienna in 1888, studied physiology and botany in Prague and Strassbourg, and, after receiving his doctorate, he became enamored with the possibilities of film after being exposed to it through his postgraduate research.57 After a stint in military pri son during World War I for being a "dangerous Panslavist," 58 Uhlela was released, served honorably, and then returned to Czechoslovakia where he became both an academic in Brno, and a public intellectual. He acted as the science editor for lidove Noviny, as we ll as contributing to numerous other publiccations. Like Plicka, Uh lela was a passionate devotee of folklore, 56 NAVRATIL, Antonin, Ceslv k pravde ci Ii i: 70 lei ceskoslovenskeho dokumenlcirniho filmu (Praha: Akademie muzic kyc h umeni v Praze, 2002), 5 1. 57 STOLL, Martin, et al., Cesky.film: reiisefi - dokumen/arisle (Praha : Libre. 2009), 587-8. SN Ibid. SLOVAKIA 2021 109 collecting songs and documenting folk culture, not only in Moravia, but in Slovakia as well. Although a well-known popularizer of science in the popular media (including in cinema as well as in print), in the early 1930s, Uhlela devoted himself to making ethnographic films , focusing especial ly on the borderlands between Moravia and Slovakia, where Slovak communities thrived in the mountains . Although Uh lela made several smaller films on ethnographic themes such as Slovacka pisen and Slovacka svatba, he is best known for his full-length ethnographic drama/documentary Mizejici svet/ Miznuci svet shot and released in 1932. Alth ough the film has many ethnographic moments featuring Moravian Slovak villagers from the locations it was shot in, the film is a romantic drama at its core, as it fo ll ows the troubles of a young Czech ethnographer, Stana Homa, who has come from Prague to a small vi ll age on the border of Moravia and Slovakia to document the inhabitants' customs, songs, and kroje (folk costumes). As young Stana becomes more enthralled with the village and a certain young vi ll ager, she finds herself integrating more and more into vi ll age li fe, until the arrival of her friends from Prague shatter the dream. Despite her attempts to become fully integrated into vi ll age life, the vi ll age and its inhabitants vanish, leaving the young ethnographer standing in the middle of an empty room, alone. At its heart Mizmici svet represented, in many ways, a fundamentally Czechoslovak approach to " traditional" Slovak culture, where the dividing line between Slovak and Czech is one not necessarily of language or ethnicity, but of a rural-urban divide. Despite its ethnic ambiguity, the Slovak press praised the film, especially on its visual merits, and eagerly considered it one of their own. Slovenska krajina enthusiastically complimented the film's "beautiful kroj" as "a treat for the eyes," 59 whereas Slovensky dennik enjoyed the film, but negatively compared it to the works of Plicka, saying that, if it were not for Plicka's film , " [Mizmici svet] will most likely be cons idered our first folkloric film , which has no antecedent." 60 Even the stoutly nationalist and famously anti-Czech Slovak grudgingly approved of parts of the film , even though 59 MAZEL, 8. , "Zo prazskeho tyzdna "S/ovenska Krajina, November 22, 1932, p. 2. "Plickov film' Po Horach, po dolach' a Matica Slov.," S/ovensky dennik, November 13 , 1932, p. I. 60 110 SLOVAKIA 2021 "[ Miznuci svet] does not manage to overcome Plicka's Slovak film of this kind ," it was a sound film , "which captured the disappearing life of Slovak villages on the Moravian border" and the scenes "where the swift life of the majestic lads is best illustrated through dance." 61 The contrast between Uhela's and Plicka's visions was further intensified following its debut in 1932, as a review of Zem spieva in Slovensky dennik praised Plicka's film via a backhanded swipe at Miznuci svet, saying "Zem spieva isn't one of those films which are constructed with cold calculation, inorganically loaded down with so called natural or ethnographic ' action' shots, as was, for example, in the distracting moments in the otherwise superb Miznuci svet, "62 intensifying the competition between the two most prominent Slovak-themed films of the early 1930s. Although Plicka's films were heavily influenced by the Modernist leanings of the Czech avant-garde and Bauhaus, Uh lela's film was in many ways, a different aesthetic experience. Since Plicka 's background in photography meant that he often preferred immaculately composed static shots, with an emphasis on the geometrical patterns he so often found in the Slovak countryside, the collective footage shot by Otakar Schutz, Jan Calabek, Josef Sti'echa, and Josef Buzek used in Miznuci svet is often frenetically active, soaring and zooming around the landscape like a bird, and calling to mind (as the reviewer in Slovak contemptuously pointed out) the "Soviet" 63 influences of the film. Montage sequences also abound throughout the film , repeating shots of the countryside, the growth of plants, the changing of seasons- the very same subjects which were often found in Plicka 's photographic and cinematic work, only viewed through the lens of a different approach to cinematography. However, despite their differences of setting and their treatment of other external cinematic factors, such as sound, Plicka's films and Uhlela's lone ethnographic feature film do share several simi larities. Both films revolve around the allure of leaving civilized, urban environments and reconnecting with older traditions in the countryside. Furthermore, these films sought to break free of the rigid 61 "Film - Mizniici svet. " Slovak, April 5, 1933, p. 5. BALLO, Iva n, "Zem spieva (o prvom slovenskym film e zvukom)," Slo vensky dennik. January I 0, 1933, p. 3. 63 "Film - Mizniici svet. "Slovak. April 5, 1933, p. 5. 62 SLOVAKIA 2021 111 trappings of purely ethnographic films in a variety of ways: through the hybridization of genre (e.g. Zem spieva 's mixture of the ethnographic film with elements of the city symphony genre, or Miznuci svet 's combination of non-fiction ethnography and fictional melodrama), by incorporating a variety of techniques from Czech or international avant-gardes such as montage and geometrical compositions, and by creating an impressionistic portrait of the experience of Slovakia without relying on the objective aims of scientific film making. And paradoxically, despite their attempts at creating "Czecho-Slovak" Slovak films, or film s about Slovaks and Slovakia within the context of a unified Czechoslovak nation, both directors were, in many ways failures at creating films that transformed their own personal aestheticizations of the Slovak experience into a more unifying one; Plicka 's films were embraced only among Slovak communities at home and abroad as well as among a select group of the urban Czech cultural elite, whereas Uhlela's film languished in obscurity on all fronts- neither Slovak enough for the Slovak nationalists, nor exotic enough for an urban Czech audience. 1.3 FASCISM AND THE RISE OF DOMESTIC SLOVAK PRODUCTION While nationalistic mass-produced images favored by both foreign ethnographers and Slovaks themselves could quickly be repurposed to promote various political ideologies, documentary film was no exception. With the growing support of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party (HSPP), in the mid-to-late 1930s, the Czecho-Slovak interests in Slovakia (most elegantly embodied in Plicka 's documentary and pedagogical work) found themselves under attack by Slovak nationalists. Indeed, many hardliners took offense at the prominence of Czech and foreign directors producing films about Slovakia and for Slovaks, or alternately ignoring the Slovak market altogether, despite the fact that Czech cinemas and cinema production companies were far more numerous, successful, and better-funded. 64 As a result, on November 4th, 1938, members of the ruling HSPP began to purge not only foreign influences (such as Soviet cinema) from Slovak movie theaters, but also began to initiate a broader range of policies which would eventually forbid Jews, Czechs, and other 64 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA., Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie (Martin : Vydavatel'stvo Osveta, 1997) 74. 112 SLOVAKIA 2021 minont1es from owning, operating, or participating in the Slovak cinema industry,65 with th e notable exception of a handful of stateapproved Czech directors and cameramen like Eugen Mateicka and Bohus Havranek. 66 In order to satisfy the need for cinema, the Slovak government appealed for outside help in order to replace the technical knowledge and talent driven away or excluded by its policies. In addition to receiving aid from film organizations in Vienna, Berlin, and elsewhere, the Slovak Republic set up three organizations for making non-fiction films : Nastup (which produced primarily weekly newsreel s), Skolfilm (which produced educational films) , and Luc (a film monthly company which produced primarily cultural films .)67 These organizations were respon sible for producing nearl y all of Slovak non-fiction films before 1950. While many of the prominent non-Slovak fi gures in early Slovak cinema such as Karel Plicka were driven out of Slovakia during thi s period, a handful of Slovak directors such as Pal'o Bielik were able to continue, openly and sometimes covertly, the cinematic process started by Plicka. Bielik (who rose to fame playing the infamous bandit Juraj Janosik in Martin Fric 's 1935 film of the same name), along with other young S lovak filmmakers in the late First Republic, had mostly learned their craft through either their time in the fi lm industry as actors (in the case of Bielik) or through studyi ng with Plicka and other instructors at (or loosely affiliated with) the Brati slava-based School of Applied Arts. This was a revolutionary institution which featured instruction not just in photography and filmmakin g, but also graphic design , painting, advertising, typogramphy, and textile design .68 However, regardless of their background, th e young Slovak filmmakers quickly found themselves actively constrained by government and industrial censorship, which sought to exorcise the " dangerous" elements harmful to the Slovak nation from Slovak cinematic production . In practice, this meant not only purging 65 HA AKOVA, Petra, " Proticeska agenda s lovenskeho filmu 1939- 1945 ," in : Minoriry a.film (Bratislava: Asociacia slovenskyc h filmovych klubov, 20 12), 46. 66 HANAKOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska fi lmova kulllira ( Bratislava: Slovensky filmov y ustav, 20 I0). 49. 67 MIHA.LIK , Peter, Vznik slovenskej narodnej kinemarogra/ie / 896- 1948 (Bratislava : Kabinet divadlo a filmu Slovenskej akademi e vied, 1994), 94. 68 MOJZISOVA, Iva, "Avant-Garde Repercussions in the Schoo l of Applied Arts in Bratislava 1929- 1939, Journal of Design Histaty, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1992. p. 273. SLOVAKIA 2021 113 Slovak cinema of the thematic and formal innovations imported from abroad, but also eliminating the influences of a trio of dangerous domestic ingredients namely the "Czech-Jewish-Bolshevik"69 influence. Nearly all of the official cinematic output during the short-lived Slovak Republic seems to have focused solely on two non-fiction fronts- periodic newsreels depicting the activities of the Slovak troops in World War n, and so-called " kultume filmy ," or "cultural films ,"70 which were an evolution of the pre-war ethnographic films (often influenced as well by Weimar and Fascist-era German nationalist film s), 7 1 designed to promote a se nse of Slovak nationalism and patriotism. The roots of these cultural film s can be traced back to the 1930s, with the rise of ethnographic feature films like Zem spieva. However, unlike Plicka 's work, little attention was paid to making an ethnographically accurate recording of Slovak life; rather, these cultural films were to celebrate an idealized "S lovakia," which never wholly existed. On November 5, 1934, the "S polok priatel'ov kulumeho filmu na Slovensku" was formed in Bratislava. It sought, as part of its educational mission, to establish "cinemas only for cultural film" in Bratislava and to coordinate with a wide circle of Slovak cultural organi zations throughout Slovakia to make " cultura l film s an accessory in the upbringing of children and uplifting the public." 72 In addition to being an educational tool , Slovak nationalists also saw film as a means to transcend the stereotypes of Slovakia as "a beautiful, but poor, land where life is very primitive"73 that had been established in prior ethnographic and documentary work . A second, less-frequently articulated goal (at least not publicl y) was to "make Slovak film production at least as well-regarded as those done by other bigger nations." 74 Finally, the drive for documentary cinema in the Slovak Republic was, ironically, based on an idea which would later be coopted by the communist regime a few years later, name ly that " film 69 HANAKOV A, Petra, " Proticeska agenda slovenskeho filmu 1939- 1945," 46. Ibid., 45. 71 "Charakter kultume ho film a: P6vodny rozhovor 'S lovaka ' s reziserom 'Tobisu, "' Slovak. March 27, 1942, p. 7. 72 " Pre kulturny film," Slovensky dennik. November 4, 1935, p 9. 73 CE RESNA, M., "S lovensky svojraz a cudzina," Nastup, Apri l I, 1940, p. 14. 74 "S lovenska filmova produkcia," Slovak. August, 6, 1942, p. 8. 70 114 SLOVAKIA 2021 will help raise up a new kind of person ," 75 informing the Slovak population not only about various topical concerns, but also teaching them what it preci sely means to be "Slovak." In February of 1942 Pal'o Bielik, who had been a celebrated actor in interwar Czechoslovak cinema, as well as in the Slovak National Theatre, found himselfunemployed for budgetary and "other creative" reasons, 76 and so he turned to the newly-formed Slovak film agency Nastup for work as a librettist, before finding a position in the departments of short films and cultural films . Bielik, in many ways, was an accidental filmmaker, one who "fell into film ," and often felt quite ambivalent in regards to the medium. In a 1967 interview in Tvorba, Bielik recounted his first accidental exposures to cinema both as a director and as a spectator: "I fell, as they say, straight-legged into film . It was even worse, like when you throw a non-swimmer into cold water. Save yourself, if you know how! And I've saved myselfup until now. But I can't manage to get away from film ." 77 Bielik began his career directing short documentary and cultural films without any formal training, relying on his experiences in front of a camera during his career as an actor in the first Czechoslovak Republic. Although he was forced to work with the semi-fascist regime during this period, the early documentaries which Bielik produced were as apolitical as possible. 1942 's O zdravie robotnika, was a short film about a newly established sanatorium 78 and 1943 's Pod holym nebom, 79 was a 14-minute "artistic reportage" 80 focused on the daily activities around a traditional Orava shepherd's hut and "the romantic splendor of the Slovak countryside." 81 Some of Bielik 's other documentaries during this period included works on fish and the sport of fishing 82 ( 1943 's Hlavatky) , the manufacture and demonstration of traditional Slovak valasky in Miznuca romantika 75 -ik- " Film v novem zivote," Pravda, Vol. I, March I 0, 1944, p. 4. HANJ\KOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska.filmova kulflira, 46. 77 JAN EK, Miroslav, " Vzpominky a plan y Pal'a Bielka," Tvorba: list pro kritiku a umeni. January 12, 196 1, No. 2, pp. 28-9. 78 HAN J\ KOV A, Petra, Palo Bielik a slovenska.filmova kult1ira. 57. 79 Ibid., 53. 80 Ibid. 81 "S loven ska filmova produkcia," Slo vak. August, 6, 1942, p. 8. 82 "Vel'konocny program premierovyc h kin Nastup a Urania," Slovak, April 7, 1944, and "Nove film y Nastupu," Gardista. November 28, 1943 , p. 4. 76 SLOVAKIA 2021 115 ( I 943), and the production of flour and bread in Chlieb nas kai dodenny ( 1943). Although not all of Bielik's wartime documenttaries focused on the purely folkloric or ethnographic, by and large, they were films about the Slovak countryside and again, consistent with the aims of earlier ethnographic work. While it appeared that Bielik would spend the war attempting to draw little attention to himself with his documentaries on traditional Slovak subjects, the eruption of the Slovak National Uprising in August of 1944 suddenly changed the young director's career. While in the midst of shooting an unrelated film Hanka sa vydava in Brezena, Bielik and his crew caught wind of the Uprising and immediately rushed to join. As Bielik recalled in 1961, the group not only met with the partizans in order to get footage of the historic event, they actually joined the uprising itself: The Uprising caught me in Brezina during the filming of Hanka sa vydava. There were four other filmmakers with me: Krska, Richter, Plavec, a Sekula. We became lieutenants, they gave us uniforms, and we began to film . I led a group and wrote a scenario under the name 'Odboj 1944.' Krska filmed. It's thanks to him that we have authentic material from those days." 83 This raw reportage, which Bielik shot during his time in Brezina was later renamed, re-edited and repurposed into Bielik's 1945 documentary Za slobodu, although some of the film was lost when unknown persons stumbled upon the hiding place of some of the most sensitive footage: We buried part of the film negative underground in the village ofNemce in a graveyard underneath a tombstone. Some strangers, thinking that they found some treasure, collected the film strips, exposed them to light, and once again overexposed them. So they destroyed ten meters of an extraordinarily valuable film." 84 Although Za slobodu did not premiere during the war and was only finished in 1945,85 it nonetheless served as a potent anti-fascist KJ JAN EK, Miroslav, " Vzpomink y a plany Pal'a Bielka," Tvorba: list pro kritiku a o. 2, p.29. umeni, January 12, 196 1, K ➔ Ibid. 5 K MA CE K Vaclav, PA ST EKOVA , Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinumatugra/ie, 91 . 116 SLOVAKIA 2021 symbol, burnishing the bona-tides of Bielik's group of directors and cameramen as well as Bielik's own reputation as an anti-fascist filmmaker. The surviving film centers around the narrative retelling and reconstruction, not just of the uprising, but also of the "often frequently catastrophic consequences" of the doomed resistance, 86 a thematically daring approach which was seldom replicated in later documentaries. Furthermore, Za slobodu served as an aesthetic turning point for Slovak documentary film- while previous documenttary films about Slovakia had focused on the stylization of the Slovak experience, mediating reportage via romantic conceptions of the Slovak countryside a la PlickaBielik 's film focused on documentary realism, providing a cinematic experience that was out of touch with the postwar "antifascist euphoria." 87 It did not receive widespread distribution, being withdrawn by government officials because of it was "inappropriate for the delicate nature of the theme;" 88 it featured actual reportage, shot under dangerous conditions; and it did not glamorize or stylize the Slovak National Uprising. In short, Za slobodu can be seen as evidence of the first glimmers of cinematic neo-realism in Slovak documentary filmmaking . 1.4 POSTWAR RUPTURING: DOCUMENTARY AND NON-FICTION 1945 TO 1950 While the rise of fascism heralded the end of his career as a filmmaker, Karel Plicka 's legacy and influence on the burgeoning Slovak film industry was only beginning. Before World War II, Plicka had briefly held the position of film instructor in the experimental and short-lived Academy of the Applied Arts in Bratislava, before the institution was shut down due to rising anti-Czech and anti-Hungarian sentiment. While this institution was short-lived, the School of Applied Arts served to provide the basic educational preparation for the careers of several prominent early Slovak directors like Jan Kadar. In 1946, several months after the reunification of Czechoslovakia, Plicka was appointed the first Dean of the Filmova a televizni fakulta Akademie muzickych umenie (F AMU), 89 in charge of, not only FILMMAKING FROM 86 HANA KOY A, Petra, Pa/'o Bielik a slovenskafilmova kulflira, 63. MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOY A, Jelena, Dejiny slovenskej kinomatografie, 91. RH Ibid. , 91 . 89 FRANC, Martin, and KRATKA Lenka, eds., Dejiny A MU: ve vypravenich (Praha : Nakladatelstvi AMU, 2017), I 0 . 87 SLOVAKIA 2021 117 educating future Czech professsionals, but also the first major generation of academically-trained Slovak film professionals. Although the Slovak students began matriculating from FAMU in the late 1940s and early 1950s, director Eduard Greener (one of the first Slovaks to go to the academy) noted that a vast educational gap existed between the Slovak students and their Czech classmates. 90 Although FAMU contributed enormously to the creation of a stable and thriving Slovak film industry from the 1950s onwards, Slovak documentary cinema (and indeed Slovak cinema as a whole) suffered a rupture, from the mid- I 940s to the early 1950s, as directors who had enthusiastically participated in the Slovak Republic 's film program were "discredited ."91 While some directors, such as Pal'o Bielik, had served in the anti-fascist resistance during the war, those who had not found themselves in the position of Plicka and other minority filmmakers in Slovakia in the 1940s- unwelcome and unemployed. As a result, Slovak documentary production sharply declined in postwar years of the 1940s, with an average of seven nonfiction films per year produced from 1945 to 1948,92 as the most visionary and politically safe directors (such as Bielik) and talented beginners such as Jan Kadar rapidly transitioned into feature filmmaking. 93 Despite newly-increased state support and the establishment of institutions such as FAMU, Slovak nonfiction cinema remained fairly moribund for much of the late 1940s through the early I 960s, due to a lack of qualified personnel and, from 1948 onwards, the newly established communist government's ideological demands. 94 These demands, somewhat paradoxically, were very similar to those espoused by the fascist government: to unify Slovaks around visual tropes and folklore, to show the moderni zation of Slovakia and the tangible benefits of the state, 95 and to build a more- 90 "Eduard Greener: film ako vol'ny vers," interview in literarni noviny. August 4, 20 15. http: //literarky.cz/l iterat ura/cteni/20360-eduard-grener-fi lm-ako-vony-ver 91 Navratil , Antonin, Cesty k pravde ci Ii i : 70 let c'eskoslovenskeho dokumentarniho .filmu (Praha: FAMU, 2002), 159. 92 Ibid. , 16 1. 93 Ibid., 160-2. 94 MA CE K Vaclav, PASTEKOVA , Jelena. Dejiny slovenskej kinomatogrcifie. I 1719. 95 JA SSO, Julius, "Slovak Films in the Last Five Years," Czechoslovak Film, Vol. 7, No. 4, unpag inated. 118 SLOVAKIA 2021 ideologically pure Slovak soc iety96 through the use of mass-produced images. Perhaps the single most stereotypical " identifying characteristic" of a Slovak film , documentary or otherwise, during the postwar and early communist years was a reliance on the folkloric motifs and ethnographic themes which had been become so thoroughly codified by the 1950s. This particular fascination with folk culture was hardly a communist invention , as it drew on the ethnographic traditions which were so popular in the late Austro-Hungarian through interwar periods. Given that amateur ethnographers such as Pavel Sochan eagerly embraced photography as a way of documenting indigenous practices in an effort to distinguish region s and establish Slovak cultural identity during periodic moments of cultural trauma, ethnic repression , and attempts at forced assimilation, 97 it remains a littl e surpri sing how quickly the postwar and communist regimes embraced these formerly divisive aesthetic elements. While cinema had been nationalized by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in August of 1945 as an important national resource, fo lk culture was also nationalized in Slovakia by presidential decree on November 7, 1945. 98 This decree also resulted in the creation of the first Slovak fo lk art collective, the Ustredie l'udovej umeleckej vyroby (UCUV), whose aims were to preserve Slovak folk culture. While ethnographic and folkloric activities had been decidedly controversial in the First Czechoslovak Republic and consisted of a definite part of the fascist propaganda machine during the war, following the 1948 Communist Putsch, the government further reaffirmed the need for fo lkl oric collectives by creating the Slovensky l'udovy umelecky kolekiv (SCUK) in 1949. Further still, the regime stated exp Iicitly ten years later that "folk arts and folk handicrafts make up an important part of our socialist culture," 99 further sanctioning not just the practice of these traditional pastimes, but 96 MACEK Vaclav, PASTEKOVA , Jelena, Dejinv slovenskej kinomatografie. 126. See PODOLAK. J. , "The Development of Ethnography in Slo va kia," Midwest Fo lklore, Vol. 8, No. 2, Summ er, 1958 , pp. 69-84. 97 98 " Prozatimni statni zfizeni ceskoslovenske," Dekret presidenta republiky o organisaci lidove a umelecke vvroby . November 7, 1945, Zakon c. I I 0/ 1945 Sb. Note that the decree did not come into effect until November 27th . 99 Zakon c. 56/ 1957 Sb. SLOVAKIA 2021 119 affording them legal protection and financial support, albeit fossilizing these living traditions even more effectively than the ethnographic projects of the late Austro-Hungarian and interwar periods. By the early 1950s, Communists had not only assumed control of the government, but were also looking to infiltrate or redirect certain cultural outlets for the purposes of creating communist educational entertainment. The creation of Slovak folkloric collectives such as the S:CUK in the late 1940s, along with the overwhelming familiarity with mass-produced images of Slovakia, the prevalence of interest in the folkloric trappings of Slovak films in both the Czech and Slovak lands was, at one point, so prevalent that Czech film critic and dramaturge Jaroslav Bocek vociferously complained that " ... the Slovak cinema watched over the adjective 'Slovak' caring much less about the noun ' cinema.' No wonder there was such a rash of folklore , embroidered blouses, and national songs, since Czech directors could hardly be expected to understand Slovakia any different from the exotic, folklore , or tourist angle." 10° Compounding Bocek's irritation at the more stereotypical depictions of national identity was the fact that "these same features [folkloric trappings] began to creep even into the work of the emerging directors," to which the Czech critic added "Slovak cinema saw its raison d'etre in its very existence . .. such traits can be found in the beginnings of any cultural endeavor." 10 1 Bocek's paternal dismissal of Slovak cinema was, sadly, not an isolated incident, and echoes some of the earlier critiques of earlier ethnographic films by Plicka and others. 1.5 CONCLUSION As we have seen, Slovak documentary film followed the footsteps of earlier ethnographers and ethnographic photographers, whose original mission was to document and to codify Slovak ethnicity through the collection, reportage , and standardization of cultural and visual tropes. These early documentaries, like those in static media, were predominantly produced by non-Slovaks, who turned to Slovakia to record ways of living which had already receded out of living memory elsewhere. Although these early documentary 100 BOCE K, Jaroslav, 'Twenty Yea rs of Czechoslovak Film," in Modern Czechoslovak Film / 945/ 1965 (Praha: Arti a, dat e unknown [ 1966?)), no paginati on. 10 1 BOCE K, Jaros lav, " Twen ty Years of Czechoslovak Film." 120 SLOVAKIA 2021 films by Czech directors could be di visive in the Slovak intellectual community in Czechoslovakia, they were eagerly embraced by Slovaks li ving elsewhere as a necessary connection to their cultural roots, a connection that was prized not only for its entertainment va lue, but also for its ability to educate Slovaks abroad and in Czechoslovakia in the fundamental aspects of Slovak culture. Since Slovak documentary films were also the fundamental cinematic output of Slovak directors from the beginnings of the Slovak Republic in 1939 through the beginnings of the Slovak feature film era in the 1950s, they also proved to be the fundamental training ground for young Slovak directors, who incorporated several aesthetic aspects of documentary filmrnaking into their own feature film works. In each of these different eras of documentary film production, however, one constant remainsa continuation of the aestheticization of Slovakia, a process begun in the 19th century with the ethnographic activities performed by Hungarians, Austrians, Czechs, and eventually Slovaks themselves. The replicability of these aesthetics also helped ensure the spread of certain aspects of Slovak visual cu lture in the countryside, despite the occasional attempt to bring cinematic focus and cu ltural attention to Slovak urban communities. These attempts were ultimately foiled by the implied formal and aesthetic needs of the specifically "S lovak" documentary: since Slovak culture had been so rigorously defined through its codification period as a " rural" identity, attempts to focus on other aspects of Slovak identity (either in other urban locales or through a de-romanticization of the Slovak countryside) were met with political , cultural, and social resistance.  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 Picturing a Nation: Slovak Documentary Film from its Birth Until 1950 Description An account of the resource Nicholas Hudáč Slovakia, Vol. 45 (No. 84-85), 2021 pp. 92-120 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hudáč, Nicholas Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8cca52a70435dc9cd05b6fa2457ec9b1.pdf bf5b53d80710ba34ebda4c8ecae805d9 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 57 A New Phase In The Socialist Economic Reform V. J. Hurley I Ever since the famous Liberman debate in 1962 on the reform of the Socialist planned economic system, several Socialist writers have voiced their opinions on the subject. Ideas proposed by Liberman for the Soviet Union were followed by similar ideas for the planned economic system in other European Communist countries. It was primarily 0. Sik1 and others in Czecho-Slovakia, W. Brus2 and others in Poland, as well as others in each Communist country who were economic proponents of the new way of looking at economic planning proposed by Liberman.3 After a heated debate in the Soviet press, especially Pravda, for a general discussion and Voprosy ekonomiki for a more rigorous discussion, there were certain fluctuations in proposing the Liberman ideas in practice or rejecting them. A period of total stagnation set in when N. Khruschev was replaced by Brezhnev and Kosygin. However, soon afterwards a further development of Liberman's ideas was evident in the Soviet press and elsewhere in the Communist countries. The purpose of this paper is to present and briefly analyze the state of the debate of the economic reform in Czecho-Slovakia. It will be noted that after a brief period of "liberalization" in 1968, there followed a complete stop in the discussion of the subject. Latter have there appeared occassional suggestions that the topic is still alive and of paramount importance to the Socialist economic planners. Andrej Lantay, the present director of the Economic Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, has published what may be considered the important �58 SLOVAKIA restatement of the issues involved in the economic reform in the Socialist countries, especially Czecho-Slovakia.4 In his statement, Lantay proposes a new approach to the economic reform in Czecho-Slovakia. Before analyzing the major issues involved, he specifies certain basic criteria which must be observed when discussing the problem of Socialist economic planning. First, he maintains that it is the planned economic system and not price mechanism that is characteristic of any Socialist economy. Second, it is impossible to confuse $ik's model of Socialist economy with the actual purpose of the economic reform. Third, any debate on the economic reform must proceed from the premise that the Communist Party is the leading and actual moving force behind any economic measures proposed. Thus, the supremacy of the Communist Party has been reasserted. II At present, the new phase in the development of Socialist economic reform entails a slow reevaluation of the various instruments of their economic system. After the setback of the reform in 1968, it is clear to the Socialist as well as western analysts that the reform must follow on wholly Socialist lines with a more or less centralized model as suggested by various writers in the past. The Lantay model differs from other models only by its distribution of areas of competent decision making between the central planning authority and the firm. The pre-Liberman models tended to stress the dominance of the central authorities in planning decisions. The post-Liberman models showed the necessity to decentralize the rigid economic system and give the firm enough responsibility to decide on what level the relevant actions were to be taken to achieve higher profitability or productivity of the firm. Most post-Liberman models considered giving a firm a dominant role in decision making. The Socialist and western literature is abundant on that score. The Lantay model, on the other hand, is a slight departure from the two previous approaches to the problem of economic planning in the Socialist countries, especially in Czecho-Slovakia. Lantay proposes that decision making �SLOVAKIA 59 in terms of planning should occur on the first level with an explicit collaboration with the central planning authority. Thus, there should exist a kind of sharing the authority of planning decisions between the individual firms and the center and possibly between some intermediate planning organizations. This model may be an improvement over the pre-Liberman centralized models, but it is doubtful that it will efficiently replace such decentralized models as the one of sik. In general, the Lantay model may be considered as an intermediate model between the two extremes. The Lantay model will have to face the same major problems of rigidity in economic planning in various areas. First, in terms of organization, the firm will have to have enough competence to decide as to the microeconomic variables utilized in its production. If this competence is going to be acknowledged the firm may be free to choose some measuring stick of some kind of optimization. It does not have to be profitability maximization. However, in this respect the Lantay model will have to decide the old problem of what criteria it is going to use to measure :profitability. So far the Lantay model does not suggest any solution to this problem. If the firm will obtain such competence as to decide on its own how to maximize some objective function, some positive results may follow from the Lantay model. Such decentralization of microeconomic decisions of the firm will leave the overall microeconomic decisions to the central planning authority. Then the central planning authority could be given an opportunity to follow the development of individual microeconomic plans as to the level of achievement. Only in this way, i.e. through the division of labor between the center and the firm, may it eliminate the unnecessary overlapping and contradictory decision processes. The details of this have not been specified by Lantay. Second, on measuring the level of performance, the Lantay model will have to solve a problem of measuring the capital productivity and also the above mentioned profitability. In both cases the Socialist literature is negligent in coming to an adequate solution. Although the profitability indicator, one of several, has been recently �60 SLOVAKIA stressed, the actual performance of the firm showed that it was used only as one of many. As long as profitability is not used as the most important indicator, there are likely to be difficulties in the measurement of the efficiency of the firms. Such indicators as quality, assortment, etc., are a necessary part of statistical assessment of the firm's performance, but they should not be given dominance over profitability. A profitable firm is one which earns certain levels of profits, given the product of certain quality, size, shape, etc. Physical assessment of the performance of the firm is crude in some cases and impossible in others. Profits under Socialism are a public property. This was maintained by Liberman and others. Therefore, the Lantay model cannot shy away from it as from the capitalist variable. In terms of investment spending, the same argument follows. To assess it, one should calculate it in terms of monetary values rather than in physical terms. Even if one has to select a less profitable investment project over a more profitable one, one should assess the difference between them. Thus, one should calculate how much value is being lost by choosing a less profitable investment project in order to be able to compare it with the social gain from making such a choice. Capital productivity in monetary values may prove a much more realistic way of measuring it and also much easier. Third, one of the major problems in any previous models was the problem of factor mobility. The planning mechanism did not allow for factor mobility into their optimal uses by differential compensation. Rather, the planning authorities totally disregarded this process o! allocation and have distributed the factors by the stress of certain emphasized industries such as heavy industries under pre-Liberman models. This brought about a tremendous amount of misallocation of resources with an accompanying suboptimal performances on micro- and macro-economic levels. It should be noted at this point that labor mobility exists and is also officially recognized by the central economic planning authorities in Czechoslovakia as well as in other Socialist countries. However, the actual movement of labor has been made very difficult by various restrictions, such as a workbook which has to be presented at the new location before one can obtain �SLOVAKIA 61 a job there. Slackening the institutional restrictions on factor mobility usually brings about a movement of the factors of production into such industries in which their productivity is the highest. Thus, the most profitable firms will attract and be able to pay higher wages to interested labor and become even more profitable through higher productivity, eliminating some of the low productivity labor which would have to transfer into a less profitable firm. With total labor mobility, there would remain only most profitable firms in the industry, the marginal firms being eliminated. Although this is the basic mechanism in a free enterprise economic system, it is also inevitable in a Socialist system if some method of optimization is to be sought after. The planning authority role in the mobility of factors o:! production would be to stay away and not to interfere. Given the free factor mobility, the planning authorities should observe the trends of labor mobility. If the trends observed are with the wishes of the planners, nothing should be done. However, if the labor moves into the most profitable uses and the planners wish to change the trend into the industries which are not so profitable but emphasized some criteria other than the profitability, the planning authority should be able to steer such movement with ease as it has all the necessary instruments of enforcement. What is proposed here is a working mechanism of the allocation of resources to their optimal uses within the planned economic framework. Of course, it is obvious that a free enterprise system which is supposed to be without too many imperfections is likely to solve this problem much faster and more efficiently than the planned economic system. However, this may not be so if the planners will devise such methods of allocation of resources which will outweigh the imperfections of the free enterprise systems. So far this has not been done, and if there is hope of it ever being done, it must be only a case in which the planning authority is a steering agency rather than a commanding one. III Observing the present state of economic reform in any of the Communist countries, one may delineate what may �62 SLOVAKIA be called a new phase of development. This new phase could be briefly described within the planned economic framework as the moderate search for solutions to economic problems as outlined above. Thus, it may be clear by now to the Socialist as well as western analysts that the planned economic system is there to stay. The dominance of the Communist Party in economic decision making has been reasserted. The content of the new phase of economic development in Socialist countries would be the search for such instruments and mechanisms of economic activity which will affect the optimal allocation of resources within the planned economic framework. Such a search has been started by A. Lantay, and his model shows signs of awareness of the above mentioned areas of difficulty. In his study, he mentions the first major problem of economic planning. This is the problem of what role the planning authority should play in the Socialist economic process. It has been pointed out above that Lantay proposes a redistribution of competence between the center and the firms. This is expected to occur in such a way that the firms' interests will be supported by the interests of the central planning authority. Lantay further suggests that sufficient amounts of authority should be delegated to the firms to create an atmosphere in which the firms may be able to operate profitably. This may be actually the strongest point in the Lantay model. In the past, the Socialist reformers had difficulty defending such views, but it seems that Lantay, who is proposing a kind of intermediate model, may have other supporters, as he does ultimately stress the point of reemphasizing the centralized economic planning. This may seem a contradiction in itself. But it does not have to be; it all depends on the content of responsibility of the agents like the firms and the planning authorities at various levels. If, as Lantay suggests, the responsibily of the central planning authority will be to plan an overall economic activity and let the firms operate on their own initiative within the plan, then there should not be much conflict. This could resemble very loosely the concept of "economie dirige" of France. Although the central planning authority �SLOVAKIA 63 is not supposed to interfere with the performance of the firms, it always has an opportunity to check their activities should the need arise. Further, Lantay proposes that the firms should be interested in the collaboration with the central planning authority by striving for higher productivity through innovations and eventually for higher profitability. This may be a new shape of economic reform as other indicators are lacking from Lantay's discussion. It may be remembered that there were other indicators that the planning authority has imposed on the firms as obligatory target figures. The Lantay presentation may be a departure from the older models as it stresses the achievement of productivity and profitability. Since this has also been a major area difficulty in the past, Lantay's version may be a move in the right direction. He does mention that one has to eliminate the mistakes of the past and supply goods of acceptable or prescribed quality. This is, however, assumed as given rather than to present it as a target. If carried trough properly, this may prove one of the most important improvements on all previous economic models without sacrificing any principles of economic planning. One simply maximizes Socialist profits within the planned economic system. It is a question of how the new planning organization will be carried out that will determine whether planning is going to be a supporting variable rather than a constraint. The planning as it was produced in the pre-Liberman models turned out to be a constraint to economic growth rather than a supporting variable. In the Lantay model, there are signs which may prove workable. In a further discussion, Lantay proposes a new structure for wages and tax payments. However, it is only a suggestion without any specific elaboration of the problem. It has been mentioned above what problems are connected in this respect. If one were allowed a guess, Lantay may try to solve the problem of wages by allowing labor mobility and thus base the wage r ates on productivity rather than planned figures. Furthermore, the supply and demand, which are not explicitly stated by Lantay, may take care of itself by the free m obility of labor. Lantay does �64 SLOVAKIA criticize the way in which the firms in the past used bribes to attract more qualified labor. This may show that by eliminating institutional and other restrictions there would be a great mobility of labor in Socialist economics if allowed. In terms of the firm's production, Lantay suggests that one should modernize the present firms by the latest technology in order to increase productivity rather than to expand production by building new plants. Thus, it is a switch from an extensive to an intensive process of production. This kind of approach would be in line with the profit maximization proposal which also takes into consideration the technological aspect of the production function or "the state of arts". This also would be a departure from other Socialist models, as the Socialist producers usually shy away from modernization of their firms. Paradoxical as it may appear at first sight, and subject to a misconception on this issue in the western literature, the Socialist manager has so far tried to avoid the modernization of his firm, although it has been done in many instances. The problem is this; it is true that modern machinery is more productive, and therefore it is expected to produce a larger physical output. This is a simple proposition and to mention it here amounts to a teutology. Because of the higher productivity, the Socialist planners are also interested in introducing the new technology into their firms. The question is, then, why is it that the Socialist manager would not be interested in its introduction to his firm? The answer is this; although it is true that machinery of higher productivity may produce the larger output, the target figures for the manager will also be higher than before when the old machinery was used. This by itself would not create a great problem. If the productivity of a new machine is three times greater than that of the old, then the targets would become three times higher. But the problem starts when the Socialist manager starts to make physical adjustments to meet the increased production. First, it will need larger amounts of raw materials, more workers to handle the increased output; apart from �SLOVAKIA 65 this, the output may increase to such a level that the manager will have to expand any activity that will be affected by such an increase. With larger volumes of production the supply of factors of production by other firms will also increase. Here is the crux of the matter: with higher targets for the production of the firm and with inefficient supplies coming from other firms, the manager may have a more difficult time fulfilling the plan with the consequence of costly penalties imposed for underfulfillment. The Socialist manager, therefore, is better off in terms of fulfilling the plan when he is working with the old and less efficient machinery. If the process of planning and carrying through the set targets for all firms concerned were improved upon, the Socialist manager could be interested in modernization of the firm. Until then, however, he will be satisfied with lower output that is achieved more safely. It is especially in this context that the proposition of Lantay should be considered. The situation in Slovakia and Bohemia may be better in this respect than in the Soviet Union and other Socialist countries, but it is still a matter of future planning rather than the present situation that will allow the "starved for capital" managers to be seriously interested in modernization of their firms. However, if the Lantay model will be carried out as proposed and a situation created in which the managers will be able to maximize profits rather than a host of other indicators and all firms perform efficiently, there may be an interest for modernization on the part of the Socialist managers. It could prove to have a cumulative effect on the various variables which support a higher economic growth. But this is to be seen in the future. FOOTNOTES 1) Sile, Ota, K problematice socialistickych zbozn£ch vztahu, Prague 1965. 2) Brus, W., Modely socialistickeho hospodarstvi, Prague 1964. 3) Liberman, E. G., Planirovanie proizvodstva i normativy dlitelnogo deystviya, in Voprosy ekonomiki, 1962, No. 8; Liberman also wrote a book in 1950 called Plan, pribyl i premiya but it is very seldom quoted in connection with the famous debate. 4) Lantay, A., Uvazene a triezvo rozvijat' ekonomicku reformu, in Pravda (Bratislava), October 19, 21, 22, and 23, 1970. � SLOVAKIA 57 A New Phase In The Socialist Economic Reform V. J. Hurley I Ever since the famous Liberman debate in 1962 on the reform of the Socialist planned economic system, several Socialist writers have voiced their opinions on the subject. Ideas proposed by Liberman for the Soviet Union were followed by similar ideas for the planned economic system in other European Communist countries. It was primarily 0. Sik1 and others in Czecho-Slovakia, W. Brus2 and others in Poland, as well as others in each Communist country who were economic proponents of the new way of looking at economic planning proposed by Liberman.3 After a heated debate in the Soviet press, especially Pravda, for a general discussion and Voprosy ekonomiki for a more rigorous discussion, there were certain fluctuations in proposing the Liberman ideas in practice or rejecting them. A period of total stagnation set in when N. Khruschev was replaced by Brezhnev and Kosygin. However, soon afterwards a further development of Liberman's ideas was evident in the Soviet press and elsewhere in the Communist countries. The purpose of this paper is to present and briefly analyze the state of the debate of the economic reform in Czecho-Slovakia. It will be noted that after a brief period of "liberalization" in 1968, there followed a complete stop in the discussion of the subject. Latter have there appeared occassional suggestions that the topic is still alive and of paramount importance to the Socialist economic planners. Andrej Lantay, the present director of the Economic Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, has published what may be considered the important �58 SLOVAKIA restatement of the issues involved in the economic reform in the Socialist countries, especially Czecho-Slovakia.4 In his statement, Lantay proposes a new approach to the economic reform in Czecho-Slovakia. Before analyzing the major issues involved, he specifies certain basic criteria which must be observed when discussing the problem of Socialist economic planning. First, he maintains that it is the planned economic system and not price mechanism that is characteristic of any Socialist economy. Second, it is impossible to confuse $ik's model of Socialist economy with the actual purpose of the economic reform. Third, any debate on the economic reform must proceed from the premise that the Communist Party is the leading and actual moving force behind any economic measures proposed. Thus, the supremacy of the Communist Party has been reasserted. II At present, the new phase in the development of Socialist economic reform entails a slow reevaluation of the various instruments of their economic system. After the setback of the reform in 1968, it is clear to the Socialist as well as western analysts that the reform must follow on wholly Socialist lines with a more or less centralized model as suggested by various writers in the past. The Lantay model differs from other models only by its distribution of areas of competent decision making between the central planning authority and the firm. The pre-Liberman models tended to stress the dominance of the central authorities in planning decisions. The post-Liberman models showed the necessity to decentralize the rigid economic system and give the firm enough responsibility to decide on what level the relevant actions were to be taken to achieve higher profitability or productivity of the firm. Most post-Liberman models considered giving a firm a dominant role in decision making. The Socialist and western literature is abundant on that score. The Lantay model, on the other hand, is a slight departure from the two previous approaches to the problem of economic planning in the Socialist countries, especially in Czecho-Slovakia. Lantay proposes that decision making �SLOVAKIA 59 in terms of planning should occur on the first level with an explicit collaboration with the central planning authority. Thus, there should exist a kind of sharing the authority of planning decisions between the individual firms and the center and possibly between some intermediate planning organizations. This model may be an improvement over the pre-Liberman centralized models, but it is doubtful that it will efficiently replace such decentralized models as the one of sik. In general, the Lantay model may be considered as an intermediate model between the two extremes. The Lantay model will have to face the same major problems of rigidity in economic planning in various areas. First, in terms of organization, the firm will have to have enough competence to decide as to the microeconomic variables utilized in its production. If this competence is going to be acknowledged the firm may be free to choose some measuring stick of some kind of optimization. It does not have to be profitability maximization. However, in this respect the Lantay model will have to decide the old problem of what criteria it is going to use to measure :profitability. So far the Lantay model does not suggest any solution to this problem. If the firm will obtain such competence as to decide on its own how to maximize some objective function, some positive results may follow from the Lantay model. Such decentralization of microeconomic decisions of the firm will leave the overall microeconomic decisions to the central planning authority. Then the central planning authority could be given an opportunity to follow the development of individual microeconomic plans as to the level of achievement. Only in this way, i.e. through the division of labor between the center and the firm, may it eliminate the unnecessary overlapping and contradictory decision processes. The details of this have not been specified by Lantay. Second, on measuring the level of performance, the Lantay model will have to solve a problem of measuring the capital productivity and also the above mentioned profitability. In both cases the Socialist literature is negligent in coming to an adequate solution. Although the profitability indicator, one of several, has been recently �60 SLOVAKIA stressed, the actual performance of the firm showed that it was used only as one of many. As long as profitability is not used as the most important indicator, there are likely to be difficulties in the measurement of the efficiency of the firms. Such indicators as quality, assortment, etc., are a necessary part of statistical assessment of the firm's performance, but they should not be given dominance over profitability. A profitable firm is one which earns certain levels of profits, given the product of certain quality, size, shape, etc. Physical assessment of the performance of the firm is crude in some cases and impossible in others. Profits under Socialism are a public property. This was maintained by Liberman and others. Therefore, the Lantay model cannot shy away from it as from the capitalist variable. In terms of investment spending, the same argument follows. To assess it, one should calculate it in terms of monetary values rather than in physical terms. Even if one has to select a less profitable investment project over a more profitable one, one should assess the difference between them. Thus, one should calculate how much value is being lost by choosing a less profitable investment project in order to be able to compare it with the social gain from making such a choice. Capital productivity in monetary values may prove a much more realistic way of measuring it and also much easier. Third, one of the major problems in any previous models was the problem of factor mobility. The planning mechanism did not allow for factor mobility into their optimal uses by differential compensation. Rather, the planning authorities totally disregarded this process o! allocation and have distributed the factors by the stress of certain emphasized industries such as heavy industries under pre-Liberman models. This brought about a tremendous amount of misallocation of resources with an accompanying suboptimal performances on micro- and macro-economic levels. It should be noted at this point that labor mobility exists and is also officially recognized by the central economic planning authorities in Czechoslovakia as well as in other Socialist countries. However, the actual movement of labor has been made very difficult by various restrictions, such as a workbook which has to be presented at the new location before one can obtain �SLOVAKIA 61 a job there. Slackening the institutional restrictions on factor mobility usually brings about a movement of the factors of production into such industries in which their productivity is the highest. Thus, the most profitable firms will attract and be able to pay higher wages to interested labor and become even more profitable through higher productivity, eliminating some of the low productivity labor which would have to transfer into a less profitable firm. With total labor mobility, there would remain only most profitable firms in the industry, the marginal firms being eliminated. Although this is the basic mechanism in a free enterprise economic system, it is also inevitable in a Socialist system if some method of optimization is to be sought after. The planning authority role in the mobility of factors o:! production would be to stay away and not to interfere. Given the free factor mobility, the planning authorities should observe the trends of labor mobility. If the trends observed are with the wishes of the planners, nothing should be done. However, if the labor moves into the most profitable uses and the planners wish to change the trend into the industries which are not so profitable but emphasized some criteria other than the profitability, the planning authority should be able to steer such movement with ease as it has all the necessary instruments of enforcement. What is proposed here is a working mechanism of the allocation of resources to their optimal uses within the planned economic framework. Of course, it is obvious that a free enterprise system which is supposed to be without too many imperfections is likely to solve this problem much faster and more efficiently than the planned economic system. However, this may not be so if the planners will devise such methods of allocation of resources which will outweigh the imperfections of the free enterprise systems. So far this has not been done, and if there is hope of it ever being done, it must be only a case in which the planning authority is a steering agency rather than a commanding one. III Observing the present state of economic reform in any of the Communist countries, one may delineate what may �62 SLOVAKIA be called a new phase of development. This new phase could be briefly described within the planned economic framework as the moderate search for solutions to economic problems as outlined above. Thus, it may be clear by now to the Socialist as well as western analysts that the planned economic system is there to stay. The dominance of the Communist Party in economic decision making has been reasserted. The content of the new phase of economic development in Socialist countries would be the search for such instruments and mechanisms of economic activity which will affect the optimal allocation of resources within the planned economic framework. Such a search has been started by A. Lantay, and his model shows signs of awareness of the above mentioned areas of difficulty. In his study, he mentions the first major problem of economic planning. This is the problem of what role the planning authority should play in the Socialist economic process. It has been pointed out above that Lantay proposes a redistribution of competence between the center and the firms. This is expected to occur in such a way that the firms' interests will be supported by the interests of the central planning authority. Lantay further suggests that sufficient amounts of authority should be delegated to the firms to create an atmosphere in which the firms may be able to operate profitably. This may be actually the strongest point in the Lantay model. In the past, the Socialist reformers had difficulty defending such views, but it seems that Lantay, who is proposing a kind of intermediate model, may have other supporters, as he does ultimately stress the point of reemphasizing the centralized economic planning. This may seem a contradiction in itself. But it does not have to be; it all depends on the content of responsibility of the agents like the firms and the planning authorities at various levels. If, as Lantay suggests, the responsibily of the central planning authority will be to plan an overall economic activity and let the firms operate on their own initiative within the plan, then there should not be much conflict. This could resemble very loosely the concept of "economie dirige" of France. Although the central planning authority �SLOVAKIA 63 is not supposed to interfere with the performance of the firms, it always has an opportunity to check their activities should the need arise. Further, Lantay proposes that the firms should be interested in the collaboration with the central planning authority by striving for higher productivity through innovations and eventually for higher profitability. This may be a new shape of economic reform as other indicators are lacking from Lantay's discussion. It may be remembered that there were other indicators that the planning authority has imposed on the firms as obligatory target figures. The Lantay presentation may be a departure from the older models as it stresses the achievement of productivity and profitability. Since this has also been a major area difficulty in the past, Lantay's version may be a move in the right direction. He does mention that one has to eliminate the mistakes of the past and supply goods of acceptable or prescribed quality. This is, however, assumed as given rather than to present it as a target. If carried trough properly, this may prove one of the most important improvements on all previous economic models without sacrificing any principles of economic planning. One simply maximizes Socialist profits within the planned economic system. It is a question of how the new planning organization will be carried out that will determine whether planning is going to be a supporting variable rather than a constraint. The planning as it was produced in the pre-Liberman models turned out to be a constraint to economic growth rather than a supporting variable. In the Lantay model, there are signs which may prove workable. In a further discussion, Lantay proposes a new structure for wages and tax payments. However, it is only a suggestion without any specific elaboration of the problem. It has been mentioned above what problems are connected in this respect. If one were allowed a guess, Lantay may try to solve the problem of wages by allowing labor mobility and thus base the wage r ates on productivity rather than planned figures. Furthermore, the supply and demand, which are not explicitly stated by Lantay, may take care of itself by the free m obility of labor. Lantay does �64 SLOVAKIA criticize the way in which the firms in the past used bribes to attract more qualified labor. This may show that by eliminating institutional and other restrictions there would be a great mobility of labor in Socialist economics if allowed. In terms of the firm's production, Lantay suggests that one should modernize the present firms by the latest technology in order to increase productivity rather than to expand production by building new plants. Thus, it is a switch from an extensive to an intensive process of production. This kind of approach would be in line with the profit maximization proposal which also takes into consideration the technological aspect of the production function or "the state of arts". This also would be a departure from other Socialist models, as the Socialist producers usually shy away from modernization of their firms. Paradoxical as it may appear at first sight, and subject to a misconception on this issue in the western literature, the Socialist manager has so far tried to avoid the modernization of his firm, although it has been done in many instances. The problem is this; it is true that modern machinery is more productive, and therefore it is expected to produce a larger physical output. This is a simple proposition and to mention it here amounts to a teutology. Because of the higher productivity, the Socialist planners are also interested in introducing the new technology into their firms. The question is, then, why is it that the Socialist manager would not be interested in its introduction to his firm? The answer is this; although it is true that machinery of higher productivity may produce the larger output, the target figures for the manager will also be higher than before when the old machinery was used. This by itself would not create a great problem. If the productivity of a new machine is three times greater than that of the old, then the targets would become three times higher. But the problem starts when the Socialist manager starts to make physical adjustments to meet the increased production. First, it will need larger amounts of raw materials, more workers to handle the increased output; apart from �SLOVAKIA 65 this, the output may increase to such a level that the manager will have to expand any activity that will be affected by such an increase. With larger volumes of production the supply of factors of production by other firms will also increase. Here is the crux of the matter: with higher targets for the production of the firm and with inefficient supplies coming from other firms, the manager may have a more difficult time fulfilling the plan with the consequence of costly penalties imposed for underfulfillment. The Socialist manager, therefore, is better off in terms of fulfilling the plan when he is working with the old and less efficient machinery. If the process of planning and carrying through the set targets for all firms concerned were improved upon, the Socialist manager could be interested in modernization of the firm. Until then, however, he will be satisfied with lower output that is achieved more safely. It is especially in this context that the proposition of Lantay should be considered. The situation in Slovakia and Bohemia may be better in this respect than in the Soviet Union and other Socialist countries, but it is still a matter of future planning rather than the present situation that will allow the "starved for capital" managers to be seriously interested in modernization of their firms. However, if the Lantay model will be carried out as proposed and a situation created in which the managers will be able to maximize profits rather than a host of other indicators and all firms perform efficiently, there may be an interest for modernization on the part of the Socialist managers. It could prove to have a cumulative effect on the various variables which support a higher economic growth. But this is to be seen in the future. FOOTNOTES 1) Sile, Ota, K problematice socialistickych zbozn£ch vztahu, Prague 1965. 2) Brus, W., Modely socialistickeho hospodarstvi, Prague 1964. 3) Liberman, E. G., Planirovanie proizvodstva i normativy dlitelnogo deystviya, in Voprosy ekonomiki, 1962, No. 8; Liberman also wrote a book in 1950 called Plan, pribyl i premiya but it is very seldom quoted in connection with the famous debate. 4) Lantay, A., Uvazene a triezvo rozvijat' ekonomicku reformu, in Pravda (Bratislava), October 19, 21, 22, and 23, 1970. � 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 57 A New Phase In The Socialist Economic Reform V. J. Hurley I Ever since the famous Liberman debate in 1962 on the reform of the Socialist planned economic system, several Socialist writers have voiced their opinions on the subject. Ideas proposed by Liberman for the Soviet Union were followed by similar ideas for the planned economic system in other European Communist countries. It was primarily 0. Sik1 and others in Czecho-Slovakia, W. Brus2 and others in Poland, as well as others in each Communist country who were economic proponents of the new way of looking at economic planning proposed by Liberman.3 After a heated debate in the Soviet press, especially Pravda, for a general discussion and Voprosy ekonomiki for a more rigorous discussion, there were certain fluctuations in proposing the Liberman ideas in practice or rejecting them. A period of total stagnation set in when N. Khruschev was replaced by Brezhnev and Kosygin. However, soon afterwards a further development of Liberman's ideas was evident in the Soviet press and elsewhere in the Communist countries. The purpose of this paper is to present and briefly analyze the state of the debate of the economic reform in Czecho-Slovakia. It will be noted that after a brief period of "liberalization" in 1968, there followed a complete stop in the discussion of the subject. Latter have there appeared occassional suggestions that the topic is still alive and of paramount importance to the Socialist economic planners. Andrej Lantay, the present director of the Economic Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, has published what may be considered the important 58 SLOVAKIA restatement of the issues involved in the economic reform in the Socialist countries, especially Czecho-Slovakia.4 In his statement, Lantay proposes a new approach to the economic reform in Czecho-Slovakia. Before analyzing the major issues involved, he specifies certain basic criteria which must be observed when discussing the problem of Socialist economic planning. First, he maintains that it is the planned economic system and not price mechanism that is characteristic of any Socialist economy. Second, it is impossible to confuse $ik's model of Socialist economy with the actual purpose of the economic reform. Third, any debate on the economic reform must proceed from the premise that the Communist Party is the leading and actual moving force behind any economic measures proposed. Thus, the supremacy of the Communist Party has been reasserted. II At present, the new phase in the development of Socialist economic reform entails a slow reevaluation of the various instruments of their economic system. After the setback of the reform in 1968, it is clear to the Socialist as well as western analysts that the reform must follow on wholly Socialist lines with a more or less centralized model as suggested by various writers in the past. The Lantay model differs from other models only by its distribution of areas of competent decision making between the central planning authority and the firm. The pre-Liberman models tended to stress the dominance of the central authorities in planning decisions. The post-Liberman models showed the necessity to decentralize the rigid economic system and give the firm enough responsibility to decide on what level the relevant actions were to be taken to achieve higher profitability or productivity of the firm. Most post-Liberman models considered giving a firm a dominant role in decision making. The Socialist and western literature is abundant on that score. The Lantay model, on the other hand, is a slight departure from the two previous approaches to the problem of economic planning in the Socialist countries, especially in Czecho-Slovakia. Lantay proposes that decision making SLOVAKIA 59 in terms of planning should occur on the first level with an explicit collaboration with the central planning authority. Thus, there should exist a kind of sharing the authority of planning decisions between the individual firms and the center and possibly between some intermediate planning organizations. This model may be an improvement over the pre-Liberman centralized models, but it is doubtful that it will efficiently replace such decentralized models as the one of sik. In general, the Lantay model may be considered as an intermediate model between the two extremes. The Lantay model will have to face the same major problems of rigidity in economic planning in various areas. First, in terms of organization, the firm will have to have enough competence to decide as to the microeconomic variables utilized in its production. If this competence is going to be acknowledged the firm may be free to choose some measuring stick of some kind of optimization. It does not have to be profitability maximization. However, in this respect the Lantay model will have to decide the old problem of what criteria it is going to use to measure :profitability. So far the Lantay model does not suggest any solution to this problem. If the firm will obtain such competence as to decide on its own how to maximize some objective function, some positive results may follow from the Lantay model. Such decentralization of microeconomic decisions of the firm will leave the overall microeconomic decisions to the central planning authority. Then the central planning authority could be given an opportunity to follow the development of individual microeconomic plans as to the level of achievement. Only in this way, i.e. through the division of labor between the center and the firm, may it eliminate the unnecessary overlapping and contradictory decision processes. The details of this have not been specified by Lantay. Second, on measuring the level of performance, the Lantay model will have to solve a problem of measuring the capital productivity and also the above mentioned profitability. In both cases the Socialist literature is negligent in coming to an adequate solution. Although the profitability indicator, one of several, has been recently 60 SLOVAKIA stressed, the actual performance of the firm showed that it was used only as one of many. As long as profitability is not used as the most important indicator, there are likely to be difficulties in the measurement of the efficiency of the firms. Such indicators as quality, assortment, etc., are a necessary part of statistical assessment of the firm's performance, but they should not be given dominance over profitability. A profitable firm is one which earns certain levels of profits, given the product of certain quality, size, shape, etc. Physical assessment of the performance of the firm is crude in some cases and impossible in others. Profits under Socialism are a public property. This was maintained by Liberman and others. Therefore, the Lantay model cannot shy away from it as from the capitalist variable. In terms of investment spending, the same argument follows. To assess it, one should calculate it in terms of monetary values rather than in physical terms. Even if one has to select a less profitable investment project over a more profitable one, one should assess the difference between them. Thus, one should calculate how much value is being lost by choosing a less profitable investment project in order to be able to compare it with the social gain from making such a choice. Capital productivity in monetary values may prove a much more realistic way of measuring it and also much easier. Third, one of the major problems in any previous models was the problem of factor mobility. The planning mechanism did not allow for factor mobility into their optimal uses by differential compensation. Rather, the planning authorities totally disregarded this process o! allocation and have distributed the factors by the stress of certain emphasized industries such as heavy industries under pre-Liberman models. This brought about a tremendous amount of misallocation of resources with an accompanying suboptimal performances on micro- and macro-economic levels. It should be noted at this point that labor mobility exists and is also officially recognized by the central economic planning authorities in Czechoslovakia as well as in other Socialist countries. However, the actual movement of labor has been made very difficult by various restrictions, such as a workbook which has to be presented at the new location before one can obtain SLOVAKIA 61 a job there. Slackening the institutional restrictions on factor mobility usually brings about a movement of the factors of production into such industries in which their productivity is the highest. Thus, the most profitable firms will attract and be able to pay higher wages to interested labor and become even more profitable through higher productivity, eliminating some of the low productivity labor which would have to transfer into a less profitable firm. With total labor mobility, there would remain only most profitable firms in the industry, the marginal firms being eliminated. Although this is the basic mechanism in a free enterprise economic system, it is also inevitable in a Socialist system if some method of optimization is to be sought after. The planning authority role in the mobility of factors o:! production would be to stay away and not to interfere. Given the free factor mobility, the planning authorities should observe the trends of labor mobility. If the trends observed are with the wishes of the planners, nothing should be done. However, if the labor moves into the most profitable uses and the planners wish to change the trend into the industries which are not so profitable but emphasized some criteria other than the profitability, the planning authority should be able to steer such movement with ease as it has all the necessary instruments of enforcement. What is proposed here is a working mechanism of the allocation of resources to their optimal uses within the planned economic framework. Of course, it is obvious that a free enterprise system which is supposed to be without too many imperfections is likely to solve this problem much faster and more efficiently than the planned economic system. However, this may not be so if the planners will devise such methods of allocation of resources which will outweigh the imperfections of the free enterprise systems. So far this has not been done, and if there is hope of it ever being done, it must be only a case in which the planning authority is a steering agency rather than a commanding one. III Observing the present state of economic reform in any of the Communist countries, one may delineate what may 62 SLOVAKIA be called a new phase of development. This new phase could be briefly described within the planned economic framework as the moderate search for solutions to economic problems as outlined above. Thus, it may be clear by now to the Socialist as well as western analysts that the planned economic system is there to stay. The dominance of the Communist Party in economic decision making has been reasserted. The content of the new phase of economic development in Socialist countries would be the search for such instruments and mechanisms of economic activity which will affect the optimal allocation of resources within the planned economic framework. Such a search has been started by A. Lantay, and his model shows signs of awareness of the above mentioned areas of difficulty. In his study, he mentions the first major problem of economic planning. This is the problem of what role the planning authority should play in the Socialist economic process. It has been pointed out above that Lantay proposes a redistribution of competence between the center and the firms. This is expected to occur in such a way that the firms' interests will be supported by the interests of the central planning authority. Lantay further suggests that sufficient amounts of authority should be delegated to the firms to create an atmosphere in which the firms may be able to operate profitably. This may be actually the strongest point in the Lantay model. In the past, the Socialist reformers had difficulty defending such views, but it seems that Lantay, who is proposing a kind of intermediate model, may have other supporters, as he does ultimately stress the point of reemphasizing the centralized economic planning. This may seem a contradiction in itself. But it does not have to be; it all depends on the content of responsibility of the agents like the firms and the planning authorities at various levels. If, as Lantay suggests, the responsibily of the central planning authority will be to plan an overall economic activity and let the firms operate on their own initiative within the plan, then there should not be much conflict. This could resemble very loosely the concept of "economie dirige" of France. Although the central planning authority SLOVAKIA 63 is not supposed to interfere with the performance of the firms, it always has an opportunity to check their activities should the need arise. Further, Lantay proposes that the firms should be interested in the collaboration with the central planning authority by striving for higher productivity through innovations and eventually for higher profitability. This may be a new shape of economic reform as other indicators are lacking from Lantay's discussion. It may be remembered that there were other indicators that the planning authority has imposed on the firms as obligatory target figures. The Lantay presentation may be a departure from the older models as it stresses the achievement of productivity and profitability. Since this has also been a major area difficulty in the past, Lantay's version may be a move in the right direction. He does mention that one has to eliminate the mistakes of the past and supply goods of acceptable or prescribed quality. This is, however, assumed as given rather than to present it as a target. If carried trough properly, this may prove one of the most important improvements on all previous economic models without sacrificing any principles of economic planning. One simply maximizes Socialist profits within the planned economic system. It is a question of how the new planning organization will be carried out that will determine whether planning is going to be a supporting variable rather than a constraint. The planning as it was produced in the pre-Liberman models turned out to be a constraint to economic growth rather than a supporting variable. In the Lantay model, there are signs which may prove workable. In a further discussion, Lantay proposes a new structure for wages and tax payments. However, it is only a suggestion without any specific elaboration of the problem. It has been mentioned above what problems are connected in this respect. If one were allowed a guess, Lantay may try to solve the problem of wages by allowing labor mobility and thus base the wage r ates on productivity rather than planned figures. Furthermore, the supply and demand, which are not explicitly stated by Lantay, may take care of itself by the free m obility of labor. Lantay does 64 SLOVAKIA criticize the way in which the firms in the past used bribes to attract more qualified labor. This may show that by eliminating institutional and other restrictions there would be a great mobility of labor in Socialist economics if allowed. In terms of the firm's production, Lantay suggests that one should modernize the present firms by the latest technology in order to increase productivity rather than to expand production by building new plants. Thus, it is a switch from an extensive to an intensive process of production. This kind of approach would be in line with the profit maximization proposal which also takes into consideration the technological aspect of the production function or "the state of arts". This also would be a departure from other Socialist models, as the Socialist producers usually shy away from modernization of their firms. Paradoxical as it may appear at first sight, and subject to a misconception on this issue in the western literature, the Socialist manager has so far tried to avoid the modernization of his firm, although it has been done in many instances. The problem is this; it is true that modern machinery is more productive, and therefore it is expected to produce a larger physical output. This is a simple proposition and to mention it here amounts to a teutology. Because of the higher productivity, the Socialist planners are also interested in introducing the new technology into their firms. The question is, then, why is it that the Socialist manager would not be interested in its introduction to his firm? The answer is this; although it is true that machinery of higher productivity may produce the larger output, the target figures for the manager will also be higher than before when the old machinery was used. This by itself would not create a great problem. If the productivity of a new machine is three times greater than that of the old, then the targets would become three times higher. But the problem starts when the Socialist manager starts to make physical adjustments to meet the increased production. First, it will need larger amounts of raw materials, more workers to handle the increased output; apart from SLOVAKIA 65 this, the output may increase to such a level that the manager will have to expand any activity that will be affected by such an increase. With larger volumes of production the supply of factors of production by other firms will also increase. Here is the crux of the matter: with higher targets for the production of the firm and with inefficient supplies coming from other firms, the manager may have a more difficult time fulfilling the plan with the consequence of costly penalties imposed for underfulfillment. The Socialist manager, therefore, is better off in terms of fulfilling the plan when he is working with the old and less efficient machinery. If the process of planning and carrying through the set targets for all firms concerned were improved upon, the Socialist manager could be interested in modernization of the firm. Until then, however, he will be satisfied with lower output that is achieved more safely. It is especially in this context that the proposition of Lantay should be considered. The situation in Slovakia and Bohemia may be better in this respect than in the Soviet Union and other Socialist countries, but it is still a matter of future planning rather than the present situation that will allow the "starved for capital" managers to be seriously interested in modernization of their firms. However, if the Lantay model will be carried out as proposed and a situation created in which the managers will be able to maximize profits rather than a host of other indicators and all firms perform efficiently, there may be an interest for modernization on the part of the Socialist managers. It could prove to have a cumulative effect on the various variables which support a higher economic growth. But this is to be seen in the future. FOOTNOTES 1) Sile, Ota, K problematice socialistickych zbozn£ch vztahu, Prague 1965. 2) Brus, W., Modely socialistickeho hospodarstvi, Prague 1964. 3) Liberman, E. G., Planirovanie proizvodstva i normativy dlitelnogo deystviya, in Voprosy ekonomiki, 1962, No. 8; Liberman also wrote a book in 1950 called Plan, pribyl i premiya but it is very seldom quoted in connection with the famous debate. 4) Lantay, A., Uvazene a triezvo rozvijat' ekonomicku reformu, in Pravda (Bratislava), October 19, 21, 22, and 23, 1970.  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 A New Phase in the Socialist Economic Reform Description An account of the resource V. J. Hurley Slovakia, Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973 pp. 57-65 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hurley, V. J. 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/d5f7f6fa2d884fea026daa44c7d1ae64.pdf 3387c724a4bcb04334ba11fb8b611e73 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 33 MILAN RASTISLAV STEFA.NIK Stephanie 0. Husek This year mar,ks the thirty-sixth anniversary of two events which considerwbly changed the national developmeint of the Slo:vaJks both here and abroad. On May 30, 1918, the Pittsibwgh Pact was drawn up and on Noveimlber 14 was signed by Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, then President ad: the 0zecho-iSlo1V1ak Republic. This Slovruk Magna Carta suimmarirzed Sloivak rights in the newly fomied state amd formed the platform of the Slova;,k People's Party, the largest Slovalk political party in pre..war Cz~ho-Slova1da. On 0ctolber 28, 1918, the independence ad: 0zeeho--iSlovakia was pro:claimed and a new era oJf national development began for fue Slovak and Czech nations. Both these events were the result of the Czecho..,Slovak Relbellion, both at home and beyond the ,bo'UJildaries oif the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom. SlOIVaks and Czechs, no matter where they lived, joined in the struggle for independence and each groUJp contributed towaTds gaining the final victory. The cond'Ulot of the reibellion lay in the hands of the National 0zecho-1Slov.aik Committee in Paris of whicih Thomas G. Masaryk was president, Edward Benes secretairy, and Milan Rastislav Ste!anik represented the Sloivaks. No single factor carried so much weight with the Allies in favor of an independent Czecho-Slo,va.'kia as the organization and later suiocesses of the independent Czecllo.-B1ovalk Army. It was the a'I'!my which proved that the Sloivaks and Czechs were will.mg to, make the swpreme sacrifice in order that they and their children might liive independenrtl:y. It is to the glory of the Sl01Va,ks that the formation and organization of this army was the tfuought and wonk of Milan Rastislav Stefan.ilk who later ,b ecame the first Minister of War ill1 the Czecho-,Slova,k State. The movement for Czecho-Sloivalk independence was not begun at the ourt:Jbreruk -of the Wax. Years before, both individuals and organized giroups sought to alleviate conditions �34 SLOVAKIA existing in the Austro-HUI11garian Kingdom. Stefaniik already dreamed of an in.d.€4)00.dent Slovakia in 1914 when he arrived in F1rance as a young astronomer, soon to gain prominence there and become a memiber of the French A~adem.y. No ocicasion arose which Sted:anik d.i:d not use to acquaint those in influenice with Hu1nga,r.ian tyranny and to gain sympathy for the oppressed Slo;vruk nation. As soon as Austria dec1ared war on .Serbia, Stefaniik left Morocco, where he was engaged in astronomical observation, and returned to France. He joined the French Air Cor,ps in. January 191'5 and in March requested to be sent to Serbia. Having no contact as yet with Miresruryk, not even familiair with the latter's plans, he already thought of organh:ing a ~arate corps c_o nsisting of t.he ~ruvs fighting aigainst thefr convictions on the enemy,..s side and being gradually ooncoort~a;ted in prison camps. Due .t o, the Serbian retreat whii!ch began one day before Stefanik's arri;val in SeI'lbia, the thought of organizing this corps had to be abandoned. But Stefanik renewed his worlk upon his return to Paris where he became assOICiarted with Thomas G. Masacyk and Dr. ffidlward Benes: Soon the nucleus of the Ozeoho-,Slovak Legion was orgamzed in France and Stefruni,k extended his work to inlclude Rm.ssia, the United States, and Italy; in fact, aJ1l countries where Czechs and Sfovruk,s were to be found, either in prison camps OT as settlers. Thus, from Jrtill,,y 1916 until Mairch 1917 he was in Russia. While the.re he made a trip to Roucrnania. After returning from Russia he crume to. the United States, returned to France and then went to litaly. He met wirth many diftfioulties in organizing the Legion. Nevertheless, he succeeded i:n winning the. permission of government authorities and 'i n persuading moo to join. 1n the work orf Q!I'ganiizing the army Stefan:iik also did mooh to gain the sympartihy orf Allied statesmen and men ranking high in goiveirnment and military cincles and to convm:ce those with whom he came into contact of the necessity of breaking up the Austro-Hungaria:n Kingdom. Milan Rastislav Stefanik did much more- foir gaining �35 SLOVAKIA the independeince of Czetjio-Slovaikia than he is credited with doing. Benes and Ma:saryk boith wrote an account of the mOfVement for independence and tihe part which each played in it. Stefan.ilk, run.fortunately, was not given this O!plpOrtunity. But even from the sketchy references to his wo'l1k and the Sl1mprisingly meagre sources avaHaJble to the hisrtorian of today, it is dearly evident that in cowa:ge, in scl!f-saicrifice, in tact and wbility in diplomacy, in integrity, and in zeal for the ca:use of freedom of his people, he was not SUI'lpassed by anyone of the leaders in the OzeichoSlovaJk movement for independence . • • • • Stefanilk had exaggeirated hopes of his success in America. As stated in his report to the French Ministcy o!f Foreign Affairs, he 1b el ieved that they would gain around 20,000 volunteers for the Ozecho-,Slovruk Legion. It is not definitely known where he got his information, but there were many Czechs and Slovaks in America who cherished the same ho,pe and Stefaruk was certainly inforrmed b~ some of them. In the official newspaper of tihe First Catholic Slovak Union the "Jednota," it was estimated that if only ten per cent of the male memlbers of the Slo1va,k organizations joined the Czeicho-Slo:vak army, there would be 15,140 Slovak vnlunteers. One Slo,va'k reported to Steifani!k that among the Slovaks alone 25,000 ,volunteers could be, expected 0). Joseph 'Dvirziieky, Seciretary of the Ozech National Society in America, was also one of those, who, during the entire caimpaiign, added to Stef8iruk's optimism(2). The work of tile Poles at the same time and in the same direction facilitated Steifaniik's mission. O:n the other hand, America's entraJnce info the World War changed conditions existing here which were not favoraJble. Many American Czechs and Slorvarks joined the Canadian army e,ven beforre the United Staites entered the War and forty thousand Ozechs and SkwaJks joined the Amer.iJcaJD. 8!Imy in 1917 (3). The American government itself placed certain 1 (1) Karol Pergler: "Z ame1ic.ke fron.ty a naseho osvobozenskeho boje_ - Nase revoluce." Vol II, p. 318. (2) "Nase revoluce.." Vol. 1,1, P. 325. (3) Ibid. p. 325. �36 SLOVAKIA obstacles which made the fu1fillment of Stefani:k's mission more difficult. On the grounds that if special concessioo.s were granted the Czechs and Slovaiks othe,r nationality grOUJps would make. similar requests, the government was relUICtant to girve permission for recruiting soldiers for the Czecho~Slov~ Airmy in F1rance. America's entrance into the War was looked wpon by many groiups as an opportunity to be exploited toward the realimtion of their aim Olf corrnpletel,y Americanirzing the foreign national~ty groups living here. It presented an oppoI1tunity to unite all immigrants undeir one motto and for one ideal. America was to enter the Wax as one consolidated nation fighting a;gainst a single enemy. To add to the difrfic,u1ties, a mo;vement was started by Senator Hitchcoc,k of Nebraska to form a spe'cial Shw conps similar to the Foreign Legion of France. This was oontrary to the wishes and plans of General Stefanik and the Ozecho,-SlovaJk National Committee. Had it succeeded, the influence and the opportunity of the Czechs and Slovaks to aJCt independently would hruve been greatly minimized. IF'inally, it is impossible not to mention the large German and Austro-Hiung arian grolliPS who distributed pamphlets and used various other meains to carry on a continuous propaganda against the leaders Olf the Allied nations and against their appeals. Much time and effort was expended by Slovak national leaders to disclose these intrigues and to offset their effects. In March 1915 the German government aippealed to the America.n people not to manufacture powder shraipnels, and other arms, stating that this was ag:ainst the honoir of the American people and against the integrity of the nation; that it was neicessary to show once and for all that such things could not be bought with money dipped in human blood Even before this, Germany had sent an appeal to America, addressed to prominent men, in which she defended her position in the war, related the wrongs committed on her and denied all responsibility for the acts to which Ger,many had .b een forced (4). It is small wonder that this German propaganda gained ground (4) Karol Sidor: " Slovaci v zahranicnom odboji," pp, 44-4ii. �SLOVAKIA 37 in Ameri~. There were many Gernnan imrmgranits and EWen more citizens of Ger.rnan descent, financiaNy well estaJblished, who were sentimentally sympathetic to their native land. Edward Benes, as Secretary of the National Committee, requested the French goivernment to entrust Stefanik with the mission to deal with the American authorities for permission to. organize volunteers among the Ozechs and Slovaks for the army in France. The consent of Rebprt, ::Mlinister of Foreign Alffairs, was gained uh.rough Philip Berthelot and permission from the Ministry ad: Wiar was received, through the inter1cession of Franklirn--Bouillon, directly f.rom Minister PainlEWe with whOim both Benes and Stefanik were on good terms. Thi'S perunission was granted while Stefanik was still in Russia but he IPostjponed the trip in order to. complete his work in Roumania where he gained 1000 prisoners for the Czecho-SloiV'a'k army. The order for the j()IUJI'ney commissioning Stefanik wifu a special mission in the United States was issued May 20, 1917 and he arrived in America the following month. Before Stefamk's departure,. however, the French Government had aliready sent a spe:cial political commission headed 'by FrankJin-1Bouillon to gain the permission of the United States for recruiting volunteers. among the immigrants for Slav national arunies in France. This mission of F:raniklin-Bo:uillin, as well as his personal aid in the Czec<ho.-1Slova:k wrmy question, greatly helped Stefa.Mk. Stefanik qumkly adjusted himself to the conditions brougihrt rubout by America's entrance into the war and through the French Arrnlbassado•r , Jussocand, immediately contacted the go;vernment offfuia1s in Washington. He had a short 'but successif:ul conference with Lansing during which he also presented: him with a;n expression of loyalty of the Ozechs and 'Sloivruks to the United Srtates of Ameri~. Wirth the aid of the Frenlch Commissioner A. Tardieu, the French Mi•n ister Jussevam.d, and Franldin.J3ou:illon Stefan:iik gained his object and the Arrnerican government granted pemnission to al[ Czechs and SlovaJks not subject to military duty in the Am.errean M1IDY to join the Ozecho-,S1ovak Legion in France. On August 4, he already report.ea to his friends in �38 SLOVAKIA New Yorlc th~t he had received this perrmss1on and that 4,000 men oOIU!ld be sent to the French military school. After permission for recruiting was granted, negotiatiOllls were begun for the transipwtatio n of the Czec:ho-Sl'OVa;k soldiers to France and for obtaining the financial means necessary to keep them concentrated in camps in New Yonk and Boston where they awaited their depar-ture. Oonsideration was also given to the question of SU!pporting families deprived of wa;ge erurner,s and, later, to ca;ses of widowed wives Mld or,phaned children. In October, Stefanik uncovered some Austro-Hunga rian intdgues in Washing.ton. A telegram had been sent to Tardieu fram Paris suggesting that, due to difficulties in transportation, the Poles should be sent to France finst and the transpovtatio n of the Ozecho ..Slovak soldiers shO!Uld be postponed for a few months. Stefanik suicceede.d in defeating this attempt by uncovering its moUves and, on the basis of this 1nfoI1Ination, Tardieu telegraphed to his swperiors that the posbponemen t of the transport of the Ozecho-SlOIVak soldiers would mean the breaking of a promise and that he would have no part i.in such a disho:noraJble act (15). Other difficulties arose in the matterr of transporting trooips; fifty Czech and Slovak soldiers were detained in New Yonk in Decem~ because no exceptions were made foir Czechs and Slovaiks in the instructions sent by the American governmeil!t cOillCerniing kuistro-Hung arian su!bjects. At the intervention O(f the French Ambassador and of General Vignal this maJtter was also straightened out. Steifan:ik contacted American joUTrralists and wrote several articles on the cause for· the newsprupers. He aroused the interest orf F. H. Allen ("World"), Go,rdo:n Srruth am'd, at a dinner given in his honor on J,u ly 23 in New York, he gained the swpport of "The New Repu!blic." Stefanik used these oontaots for propaganda purposes. Early in September the "World" carried a long article on the Czecho~Slovak movement written by Stefanik and Pisecky and an account of the Battle of Halie by Stefani~ appeared later in Chicago news,paipers. (5) Karol Pergler : "Nase revolnce." Vol. II, p. 319 . �SLOVAKIA 39 Although Stefanik did not entirely trurst Wilson and did not rugree with his views, he ,g ained the good will of the ever popular Theodore Rooseivelit and of representative Frank L. Polle, who devoted much consideration to the Ozecho-4Slovak question when he later headed the American delegation at the Peace Oonrference after Lansing's departure from Paris. It is generally conceded that Stefanik achieved his greatest success in America by seicuring the cooperation of the Czechs and Slovaks in the Czecho-Slovak movement. Pisec'ky writes: "Stefanik did most in the United States in that he succeeded in convincing the Sloiva.ks of the necessity and the horrorableness of the Czecho-SlOIVak rebeU.ion, that he succeeded in paralyiZing autonomistic and opportunistic UJpshoots of persons of the character of Daxner, Bielelk, Panilmch and others and gained them for the common advance with the Czechs (6) . From this statement one could infer that the American Slo:va.ks resisted the movement for freedom. On the contrary, it was the Slovaiks who, with a few exceptions, first brought UJP the question of freedom from the Hungarian yoke, and who, long before the war, had organized to gaiin recognition of Slo:vak national rights. The Slovak League was founded in 1907 for the punpose of supporting and helping national leaders in the old country. In the year 1910 it requested the U. S. Census officials to list Slovaks, not as immigrants from Ausitria-iH kmgary, but according to their native, tongue. B efore the outbreak of the war, at the beginning o:f the year 1914, a memorandum, signed by representatives of 21 organizations, 23 newspaipers, by many Catholic priests and Protestant ministe,ns, was printed. in five languages in addition to English This memorandum, sent to i:nflmmtial diP'lomats and statesmen, descrilbed the sufferings of the Slova.l{s under Hungarian tyranny and demanded in the name o:f justice and humanity that Slovaks be given the rights which were ri!ghtfully tlheirs. Slovalk journalists and national leaders forll!ght unremittingly through newsprupers and brosuires against Austro,-,H ungarian and German propa(6) Ferdinand Pisecky: "M. R. i§tefanik," p . 81. �40 SLOVAKIA ganda. Moreover, they aided financially. Already in 1914 the Slov:aJk League started a Million Dollar Drive, the proceeds of which were to go to the sw£fering and war-,impoverished Slovaks a,broa<l. When their fellow SlaJVs, the Seribians, were fortced to retreat bef-ore the enemy in the winter of 1915 and felt hearvi1y t:he weight of defeat, the American Slova,ks rallied to their swpport. In a movement Which they themselrves financed they obtained more than a hundred Slovak priJsoners from prison crumps in Canada. Even from this very ibrieif sketch it is evident that the Slovaks in America were, from the very beginning, fully aware and prepared to ma,ke the most of the opportunities which the World Wax presented. They were well on their way in their wo11k for the Slovaks when the Ozecho-{Slovruk National Committee, headed by Masarytk, asked them for their cooperation. In rerviewing the rclations of the Ozechs and Slovaks in the early yea11s of t:he war, one lll/U!st bear in mind foat the creation of the Ozecho-,Slorva;k State was not a sine qua non for the realization of natitonal and cultural independ~e for the Slovruks. Neither were the Allied states determined at the beginning, upon the, dismem1be11ment oif the AustroHUil'garian Kingdom. The brea;k up of Austr.ia-HW11gary evo1ved from later dervefopments , and the Slo'V'ak1s seriously weighed all possilbilities beiforn deciding to cast their lot with the Ozechs. Dm-ing this period of indecision only one thing was cemain, that is, no matter under what form of government, no maitter with whom ailied, Slovak national autonomy had to be g,uiairanteed. In an open letter, pwbli'shed in the "Jednota," December 9, 19'14, Allbert Mamafoy, president of the Slovak Lea•g ue, wrote: "The American Czechs turned to me, as president of the Siov,aJk Lerugue, regarddng the Sltland that the Slovaks wish to taJke in this critical situation. . . . I answered that (ruocording to my convictions) we Slovaks would demand sclf-i:m1e, regardless of the tyipe of government to which we would belong as a result of this war, whether we would lwe UJI1der a Russian, or whether we would be left in old Hungary, (should it remain intact), or �SLOVAKIA 41 whether we would be pla,ced in the Ozecho-!Slo!Wlk State, which the Ozechs hoped would :be formed. In my opinion, we S1ovaks must demand ruutonomy from whomsoever we must, whether fiiom Hwrugary or Russia, or from the hoped.for Czech state. And whosoever should get us, irf peaice be desired in the counitry, care must be truken that our demands be satisfied." Reporting on the proceedings of the Congress of the Slovak LeaJgue, held in Pittsburgh, Fe!brua:riy 22, 1915, Joseph Huse'k, editor of the "Jednota," wrote in the March 3rd issue of that year: "One Czech acoused us of hating the Czechs. Thi1s is not true. We love our closest brother. Lf only they loved us as much as we love them. But to date, they have not given us any proof orf this. If matt~s sholl!ld lead to a change in the ,p olitical and governmental form of Austria-iHlwrngary, irf a federation will be formed composed of Bohemia, Moraivia, Silesia, and Slovll!kia, we will be satisfied. I:f they give us complete independence,, we ,vill. 1be sa,tis,. fied, rund, irf this later should not justify itself there will be time enough to joiin ourselves politically and gOivern.meintally more closely with the Bohemians and the Momv,i ans. However, if such a radical change does no,t ta:ke place after the war and we should 0/Illy be guaranteed independence within the limits of the Martin De:clairation, we will hiwe to be satisfied. Erven that woruld be a great concession. When we sha:H have our sc!hools, when we shall be master in our districrts, when we shall also hme representati1Ves, comparable to our nll!mbers, in parliament and a guarantee of free, ind~endent industrial development, we will not lose ourselrves. The rest we will then win by our own strength." And, agai~, in an article entitled "With the Czechs or Without the Ozechs," printed on March 24: "We are sincere and we e:m-phaisize again and again that we are supporteiI's. of the movement which aims to cu1tirv,a te Czecho-Slovak re:c1procity. But the reciprocity for whk,h we are so zealously working mrust be founded upon complete equality of rig1hts and equal value as pem;ains to our national, economic, and cuiltural interests." The first attempt to bring the Czechs and ,Slovaks to- �42 SLOVAKIA gether in America occurred in 1916. At the suggestion of Joseph Tvrzidky, Secretary of the Czech National Society, who was sUJm.rmoned to twke this step by Masaryk, a meeting of the Czech Society and of the Slo.vaik League was called at Cleveland, Ohio. On October 25, 191·5, a pact, proposed and written by Tvrzic:ky, was w0cepted. The conditions under which the SlovaJks were to accept cooperation with the Czechs were summari·z ed in this pact. Nati0J1.al autonomy of S1av8Jkia with an independent parliament, an independent state administration, and free oulrtusrial deveiloipment were guaranrteed. These demands were not the princi,p les Olf indi,vidiual autonormistic groups. This was the platiform of all American Slovaks, with very few exceptions, and the considerations under which they entered the struggle,; the aims they wanted to reali-ze. The extent to which the Slovaks and Czechs in America did not surcceed in reaching a colill'plete unde11standi.ng was deter.mined by the degree in which the American Czechs and the National Ozecho-;Slovak Committee deflected from these prmciples. Thus the Pact Olf Kiev, although signed by the representative of 1:Jhe Slova/k League, Gustav Kosik, incited consteirn:ation armong the American Slovaiks because it referred to "Ozecho,slova,ks," as an ethnic entity - a term not ac~ted by them. In li:ke manner, the newspaper "Czeichosloviak" was not warunly received. There were those among the Slovak leadeirs who, from the ve:r'Y beginning, opposed the use of the woro "Ozechoslo~ak" even in diplomatic agreements, holding to the opinion that the Sl~a!ks Sihould stand as an independent nation. The Parisian Czecho-,Slovak National Committee was looked lllpon wirth Sll!Slpicion by the Catho1ics who were uncertain of the status of religion in the, new state. These suspidoi!liSi, however, were not so strong that they could not be eliminated, and Masaryk himself, when he late:r came to Ameri1ca, quieted the Catholic Slovaks by his promise that there would be complete religious freedom in Ozecho-,Slova'kia. On July 1, 1917, Stefanik ar.ranged a meeting with the Slovaks and the Ozechs at the Congress Hall Hotel in �SLOVAKIA 43 Washington at which the following were present: Dr. Fisher, President of the Czech Nrutional Society; Albert Ma:matey, President of the Slova:k -Leag,ue; Emil Voska, ChaJrles Pergler, Dr. HrcHicika, Ivan Daxner, Iivan Bielek, and Ferdinad Pisecky. Stefani:k reported on conditions in Russia, 'but the main object of the meeting was to arrange for a mihtary o,r ga:nization and the cooipeTation of the Czechs and Slwaws. At this meeting Daxner raised the Czeicho-iS1ov,aJk question . .Aigainst his SO-!Called "aurtonomistic attibude" Stefani.ik emphaSlized the necessity of forming a politically inseparaJble state and not an ethnographically insepamble one (7). Con:cerning Stefani•k 's opinion relatirve to the Czechoslovak question and, especially, his oipimon as expressed in his dealings with the American .Slovaks, Poogler asse:rlts: "NaturaUy, the represerntatives of the Slova:k organiJZations of the foturre Czecho-tSlovak state often came to Stefanik. Stefanik al.ways insisted that it was the ooncern of the nation at hoime, that it alone must decide concerning its future origani1zrution, in short, that it is impossible to dictate firom beyond the bo~ders of the country and that every such ruttempt wou1d be futile Whenever the question of Sloivak autonomy aI'ose, he decidedly pointed out, that no guarantees could be demanded £ro:m those living outside of the new state" (8). But even if we should aioceipt this untoo•a ble position, it is impossilble to deny the fact that Stefanik, although he gave no written priomise, did reach an agreement with the America,n Slovaks and succeeded in gaining t'heir cooperation with the .American Cze~hs witlhouit the Slovaks relinquishing their demands. This was pr01Ved at the mooting held in New YoI'k, SeptembeT 20; 1914, where American Slovak priests were present with Stefanik and at which a resolution was a:doipted, stating that they stand on the platform orf the SlovaJk League. The pvograim of the Slovak League was the Cleveland Pact, tlhe · principles of whioh were incorporated into the Pittsburgh Pact which Masariyik (7) Ferdinand Pisecky: "M. R. S.teJanik," p, 72. (8) K. Pergler: "Z americke fronit.y naseho osvo'bozenskeho boje. Nase revoluce.'' Vol. II, pp. 313- 325. · · �44 SLOVAKIA himself drafted and signed with the American SlOIVruks a year later. Stefanik approved the program olf the Slovak Leaigue. With this rupproval he gained the confidence of the groups considered the most consoovative in the work for 0zecho-1Slovalk independence. Of this Benes writes : "The meeting with the Slovak priests was very important because at this meeting Stefanilk dispelled all sm,iprcion and unwillingness of the priests as regards the, movement for independence with which the drive for funds olf the Slovak League was strengthened (9). Because of his deli1cate health Stefanik did not ma:ke many public appearances but when he did speak, he succeeded in maJking a deep impression upon his listeners. He spoke in Slovak and in 0zech a:nd sometimes passed from one language, into another in the same speech. He gained the confidence of the 'Peorple by his enthusia,s m and his fascinating manner as well as with his firm and uncompromising atti1mde towards all righteous demands. In addition to the aJbove mentioned meetings, Stefanik met with the presidents of t!he Slovruk and 0zech organizations on July 1, 1917, in New Yo.rik where tihe misunderstaniling with Ho.nky pertaining to the Durich affaiT in Russia came to the forefront. Horiky especially critidzed Benes whom Stefarui,k defended, stating that he himself directed everything in Russia and Horky, therefore, should turn to him. On July 24 Stef2.ni1k received a deputation of Slovaks headed by Milan Getting w,ho later became the OzeichoSlo,v ak consul in Pittsburgh. On August 13 he was present at a meeting of 0zecho-.Slovak artists and in Seipte.miber he addressed the Cooch and SlovaJk women orf New Yo'I'ik. Between the 16th and 18th of October a large meeting was held in Chicago• at which the ques,t!ion cxf rooruiting was considered. Proceedings at this meeting were somewhat agitated since voices of t!hose who feared the final success of the military m01Vement were raised against Stefanik. A Owcho-Slo,valk mHitary committee was formed in order that the recruiting could proceed in an o:r,g,anized manner. Both (9) Edward Benes: "Sveto'Vii. vii.lka a nase revoluce." �45 SLOVAKIA Protestant and Catholic Ozechs and Sloivaks were r1~pre:sented in the Committee (10). After this meeting recruiting was begun by a proclamation for mdbilization by Stefaruk, coached in classical terms. Stefani1k also issued instnuiotions for the CzechoSlova!k soldiers in America. He divided the country into four districts, each with a separate reporter to which position the following were appointed: Milan Geitting, Gustav Kosik and su!b-;reporter Ivan Gess:a,y; J. Cermak and subreporter J. Tvr.z ioky; J. Stra;ka and swb-reporteir Vojta Benes. This plan, written under the impression of the Chicago comereTIJce, though not essentila:lly changed, had to be adjusted to existing conditions when the time came for actual work. For reasons already ex,plained the recruiting was not as successifiul as Stefanik haid hoped it would be. Despite all efforts the number of volunteers was not quite 2,500 men (11). Of great importance was the demonstration meeting held in Carnegie Hall in New York whl ch SterfanjJk arranged for September 1'6. Because of his friendship for Stefaruk, Fran:kHn...Bouillon accepted the in,Vitation to be the principal spea;ker just before his return to France as Minister of Bropaganda in the caJbinet of Painleve. John P. Mitchell, the may;or of New Yol'lk presided. This meeting, at which the repre,sen!batives of the Ailied armies were present, had a consideraible pro1p aganda significance since it broke the ice of indifference of American journalists. Franklin-Bouillon, who spdke in E':nglish, addressed the men of the "CzechoSlovak" nation and appealed to t:hem to join the Legion. He was the first influential sitatesman who pulblicly voiced the dismemberment of Austria~Hungary. This statement of Franklin-Bouillon created a sensation in Amer1can political circles; (12). 1 In order to facilitate contaict between our groups and government officials, Stefanik changed the Slav Press Bu(10) Vojta Benes: "Nase revoluce." Vol. II, PP. 46-49. (11) K. Pergler: "Nase revoluce." Vol. II ,p. 321. (12) Ar. Bares: "Stefanikuv memorial," p_ · 36. �46 SLOVAKIA reau, originally formed as a bureau of propaganda, into a branch of the Czecho-.Slo,v ak National Committee. He gave the authority to deal in political matters to Charles Pergler. Stefanik thus sucoeeded in realizing his pre-,war dream. of gaining his American countrymen in an armed r~bellion against Austria-Hungary although, in truth, not to the extent he had hoped for. Having completed his. worlk in Ame'l'ica he again turned his efforts and energies toward Europe where much still remained to be done. At the request presented on Octolber 14, 1917, to the War Ministry by General Vignal oif Washington in which he reported that Stefanik had aJbout completed his mission, Stefanik was granted permission to return to France. In November, Vignal telegraphed that Stefani!k would return with the first transport of Czecho""Slorvak troo'Ps and that he would be. free to organize the Czechs in France. In his reports to the Minister of Wa~, Vignal highly praised Stefaniik's work in America. I quote from the tefogirams sent on November 5 and December 5: "He proved to posse,s s the highest degree of tact, disciipline and sense :for orga.n ization. His pel'.'.sonal influence in all matters was such that no mis'OOderstanding arose during his stay and all the Cz~~h groll!ps followed his directions. . . . I aim not aJble to praise suffi~iently this great patriot, coolheaded and insipi:red 'by the most honest and highest feelings. F'ull of taot and wisdom, he gained the sympathies of the highest officials of the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he o:rganized with the greatest success the re:cnciting oif the Czecho-SlovaJks (13). Acc,o rding to Benes, Steifaniik :returned to Paris on Novemiber 16 whe:re he con;tinued in his wor,k of organizing the Czecho ...Slovak army. • Editor's Note: Today it is customar;y even for the Ozechs and so--called "Ozechoslovaks" to cl'aim and acclaim Stefanik But Stefanik was not a Czech, nor a "Orechoslovia:k" (a SlO'VaJk in the pay of the Czoohs), but a true Slovak paitriot. Had he lived, Stefanik undou!btedly would (13) From the "Fren,oh Military Archives." �SLOVAKIA 47 have fought for the liberation. of his people from all alien tyranny, including the Czech brand as represented by T. G. Masaryk an.d Benes. S,lo,vaJks eveTywhere commemorate May 4th as Stefani'k Day, because it was on May 4, 1919, that their beloved wair hero crashed to his death in a plaine which was "a~cidentally" shot down by a Czech garrison at Vajnory, Slovakia. Many Slovaiks even todiay will tell you 1:!hat Stefanik haid to die, because he never consented to his Slovakiia being a colony o,£ the imperialistic Czechs led by T. G. Masarylk and Benes. On May 4, 1954, Slova,ks everywhere will recall: "it was 35 yeaI'S ago thait Stefarnk was killed by the men who resented his warnings rugainst Bolshevism. " • • • SLOVAK FOLKLORE GOLDILOCKS Once UlpOn a time there was a very poor blacksmith. At one time 'he fared weH, but then hard times struck, he had little work to do., and his wiife and small children were always hungry. Finally he lost everything; at hOlme he had not!hing left but seven ,pennies. His undernourished children cried constantly for something to eat until the blacksmith could stand it no longer. In his despair he boU!ght a rope witlh his last seven ,p ennies and started out for the hills to end it all. When he came into the hills, he sought out a stout branch on a mighty tree to which he fixed the roipe. As the bla;cksmith was a;bout to tie the rope albout his neck, a ,pretty black maiden suddenly appeared .b efore him and pleaded wHJh him not to hang himself, 1b ecause that was not a nice thing to do and, then, it was also a sin. The b,lacksmith was stunned when the black maiden disappeared into the nowhere whence she had come. As he waliked along, his mind wandered baok home where misery and want ruled and again he became despondent. U!P went his rope onto another stout ,h ranch. .&gain the blaJCk maiden s,uddemy appeaired out of the blue and begged him not to commit such an ugly deed. In a quadary, the blactksmith shoo'k his head, bwt said nothing. He did not throw away his rope, but stood � SLOVAKIA 33 MILAN RASTISLAV STEFA.NIK Stephanie 0. Husek This year mar,ks the thirty-sixth anniversary of two events which considerwbly changed the national developmeint of the Slo:vaJks both here and abroad. On May 30, 1918, the Pittsibwgh Pact was drawn up and on Noveimlber 14 was signed by Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, then President ad: the 0zecho-iSlo1V1ak Republic. This Slovruk Magna Carta suimmarirzed Sloivak rights in the newly fomied state amd formed the platform of the Slova;,k People's Party, the largest Slovalk political party in pre..war Cz~ho-Slova1da. On 0ctolber 28, 1918, the independence ad: 0zeeho--iSlovakia was pro:claimed and a new era oJf national development began for fue Slovak and Czech nations. Both these events were the result of the Czecho..,Slovak Relbellion, both at home and beyond the ,bo'UJildaries oif the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom. SlOIVaks and Czechs, no matter where they lived, joined in the struggle for independence and each groUJp contributed towaTds gaining the final victory. The cond'Ulot of the reibellion lay in the hands of the National 0zecho-1Slov.aik Committee in Paris of whicih Thomas G. Masaryk was president, Edward Benes secretairy, and Milan Rastislav Ste!anik represented the Sloivaks. No single factor carried so much weight with the Allies in favor of an independent Czecho-Slo,va.'kia as the organization and later suiocesses of the independent Czecllo.-B1ovalk Army. It was the a'I'!my which proved that the Sloivaks and Czechs were will.mg to, make the swpreme sacrifice in order that they and their children might liive independenrtl:y. It is to the glory of the Sl01Va,ks that the formation and organization of this army was the tfuought and wonk of Milan Rastislav Stefan.ilk who later ,b ecame the first Minister of War ill1 the Czecho-,Slova,k State. The movement for Czecho-Sloivalk independence was not begun at the ourt:Jbreruk -of the Wax. Years before, both individuals and organized giroups sought to alleviate conditions �34 SLOVAKIA existing in the Austro-HUI11garian Kingdom. Stefaniik already dreamed of an in.d.€4)00.dent Slovakia in 1914 when he arrived in F1rance as a young astronomer, soon to gain prominence there and become a memiber of the French A~adem.y. No ocicasion arose which Sted:anik d.i:d not use to acquaint those in influenice with Hu1nga,r.ian tyranny and to gain sympathy for the oppressed Slo;vruk nation. As soon as Austria dec1ared war on .Serbia, Stefaniik left Morocco, where he was engaged in astronomical observation, and returned to France. He joined the French Air Cor,ps in. January 191'5 and in March requested to be sent to Serbia. Having no contact as yet with Miresruryk, not even familiair with the latter's plans, he already thought of organh:ing a ~arate corps c_o nsisting of t.he ~ruvs fighting aigainst thefr convictions on the enemy,..s side and being gradually ooncoort~a;ted in prison camps. Due .t o, the Serbian retreat whii!ch began one day before Stefanik's arri;val in SeI'lbia, the thought of organizing this corps had to be abandoned. But Stefanik renewed his worlk upon his return to Paris where he became assOICiarted with Thomas G. Masacyk and Dr. ffidlward Benes: Soon the nucleus of the Ozeoho-,Slovak Legion was orgamzed in France and Stefruni,k extended his work to inlclude Rm.ssia, the United States, and Italy; in fact, aJ1l countries where Czechs and Sfovruk,s were to be found, either in prison camps OT as settlers. Thus, from Jrtill,,y 1916 until Mairch 1917 he was in Russia. While the.re he made a trip to Roucrnania. After returning from Russia he crume to. the United States, returned to France and then went to litaly. He met wirth many diftfioulties in organizing the Legion. Nevertheless, he succeeded i:n winning the. permission of government authorities and 'i n persuading moo to join. 1n the work orf Q!I'ganiizing the army Stefan:iik also did mooh to gain the sympartihy orf Allied statesmen and men ranking high in goiveirnment and military cincles and to convm:ce those with whom he came into contact of the necessity of breaking up the Austro-Hungaria:n Kingdom. Milan Rastislav Stefanik did much more- foir gaining �35 SLOVAKIA the independeince of Czetjio-Slovaikia than he is credited with doing. Benes and Ma:saryk boith wrote an account of the mOfVement for independence and tihe part which each played in it. Stefan.ilk, run.fortunately, was not given this O!plpOrtunity. But even from the sketchy references to his wo'l1k and the Sl1mprisingly meagre sources avaHaJble to the hisrtorian of today, it is dearly evident that in cowa:ge, in scl!f-saicrifice, in tact and wbility in diplomacy, in integrity, and in zeal for the ca:use of freedom of his people, he was not SUI'lpassed by anyone of the leaders in the OzeichoSlovaJk movement for independence . • • • • Stefanilk had exaggeirated hopes of his success in America. As stated in his report to the French Ministcy o!f Foreign Affairs, he 1b el ieved that they would gain around 20,000 volunteers for the Ozecho-,Slovruk Legion. It is not definitely known where he got his information, but there were many Czechs and Slovaks in America who cherished the same ho,pe and Stefaruk was certainly inforrmed b~ some of them. In the official newspaper of tihe First Catholic Slovak Union the "Jednota," it was estimated that if only ten per cent of the male memlbers of the Slo1va,k organizations joined the Czeicho-Slo:vak army, there would be 15,140 Slovak vnlunteers. One Slo,va'k reported to Steifani!k that among the Slovaks alone 25,000 ,volunteers could be, expected 0). Joseph 'Dvirziieky, Seciretary of the Ozech National Society in America, was also one of those, who, during the entire caimpaiign, added to Stef8iruk's optimism(2). The work of tile Poles at the same time and in the same direction facilitated Steifaniik's mission. O:n the other hand, America's entraJnce info the World War changed conditions existing here which were not favoraJble. Many American Czechs and Slorvarks joined the Canadian army e,ven beforre the United Staites entered the War and forty thousand Ozechs and SkwaJks joined the Amer.iJcaJD. 8!Imy in 1917 (3). The American government itself placed certain 1 (1) Karol Pergler: "Z ame1ic.ke fron.ty a naseho osvobozenskeho boje_ - Nase revoluce." Vol II, p. 318. (2) "Nase revoluce.." Vol. 1,1, P. 325. (3) Ibid. p. 325. �36 SLOVAKIA obstacles which made the fu1fillment of Stefani:k's mission more difficult. On the grounds that if special concessioo.s were granted the Czechs and Slovaiks othe,r nationality grOUJps would make. similar requests, the government was relUICtant to girve permission for recruiting soldiers for the Czecho~Slov~ Airmy in F1rance. America's entrance into the War was looked wpon by many groiups as an opportunity to be exploited toward the realimtion of their aim Olf corrnpletel,y Americanirzing the foreign national~ty groups living here. It presented an oppoI1tunity to unite all immigrants undeir one motto and for one ideal. America was to enter the Wax as one consolidated nation fighting a;gainst a single enemy. To add to the difrfic,u1ties, a mo;vement was started by Senator Hitchcoc,k of Nebraska to form a spe'cial Shw conps similar to the Foreign Legion of France. This was oontrary to the wishes and plans of General Stefanik and the Ozecho,-SlovaJk National Committee. Had it succeeded, the influence and the opportunity of the Czechs and Slovaks to aJCt independently would hruve been greatly minimized. IF'inally, it is impossible not to mention the large German and Austro-Hiung arian grolliPS who distributed pamphlets and used various other meains to carry on a continuous propaganda against the leaders Olf the Allied nations and against their appeals. Much time and effort was expended by Slovak national leaders to disclose these intrigues and to offset their effects. In March 1915 the German government aippealed to the America.n people not to manufacture powder shraipnels, and other arms, stating that this was ag:ainst the honoir of the American people and against the integrity of the nation; that it was neicessary to show once and for all that such things could not be bought with money dipped in human blood Even before this, Germany had sent an appeal to America, addressed to prominent men, in which she defended her position in the war, related the wrongs committed on her and denied all responsibility for the acts to which Ger,many had .b een forced (4). It is small wonder that this German propaganda gained ground (4) Karol Sidor: " Slovaci v zahranicnom odboji," pp, 44-4ii. �SLOVAKIA 37 in Ameri~. There were many Gernnan imrmgranits and EWen more citizens of Ger.rnan descent, financiaNy well estaJblished, who were sentimentally sympathetic to their native land. Edward Benes, as Secretary of the National Committee, requested the French goivernment to entrust Stefanik with the mission to deal with the American authorities for permission to. organize volunteers among the Ozechs and Slovaks for the army in France. The consent of Rebprt, ::Mlinister of Foreign Alffairs, was gained uh.rough Philip Berthelot and permission from the Ministry ad: Wiar was received, through the inter1cession of Franklirn--Bouillon, directly f.rom Minister PainlEWe with whOim both Benes and Stefanik were on good terms. Thi'S perunission was granted while Stefanik was still in Russia but he IPostjponed the trip in order to. complete his work in Roumania where he gained 1000 prisoners for the Czecho-SloiV'a'k army. The order for the j()IUJI'ney commissioning Stefanik wifu a special mission in the United States was issued May 20, 1917 and he arrived in America the following month. Before Stefamk's departure,. however, the French Government had aliready sent a spe:cial political commission headed 'by FrankJin-1Bouillon to gain the permission of the United States for recruiting volunteers. among the immigrants for Slav national arunies in France. This mission of F:raniklin-Bo:uillin, as well as his personal aid in the Czec<ho.-1Slova:k wrmy question, greatly helped Stefa.Mk. Stefanik qumkly adjusted himself to the conditions brougihrt rubout by America's entrance into the war and through the French Arrnlbassado•r , Jussocand, immediately contacted the go;vernment offfuia1s in Washington. He had a short 'but successif:ul conference with Lansing during which he also presented: him with a;n expression of loyalty of the Ozechs and 'Sloivruks to the United Srtates of Ameri~. Wirth the aid of the Frenlch Commissioner A. Tardieu, the French Mi•n ister Jussevam.d, and Franldin.J3ou:illon Stefan:iik gained his object and the Arrnerican government granted pemnission to al[ Czechs and SlovaJks not subject to military duty in the Am.errean M1IDY to join the Ozecho-,S1ovak Legion in France. On August 4, he already report.ea to his friends in �38 SLOVAKIA New Yorlc th~t he had received this perrmss1on and that 4,000 men oOIU!ld be sent to the French military school. After permission for recruiting was granted, negotiatiOllls were begun for the transipwtatio n of the Czec:ho-Sl'OVa;k soldiers to France and for obtaining the financial means necessary to keep them concentrated in camps in New Yonk and Boston where they awaited their depar-ture. Oonsideration was also given to the question of SU!pporting families deprived of wa;ge erurner,s and, later, to ca;ses of widowed wives Mld or,phaned children. In October, Stefanik uncovered some Austro-Hunga rian intdgues in Washing.ton. A telegram had been sent to Tardieu fram Paris suggesting that, due to difficulties in transportation, the Poles should be sent to France finst and the transpovtatio n of the Ozecho ..Slovak soldiers shO!Uld be postponed for a few months. Stefanik suicceede.d in defeating this attempt by uncovering its moUves and, on the basis of this 1nfoI1Ination, Tardieu telegraphed to his swperiors that the posbponemen t of the transport of the Ozecho-SlOIVak soldiers would mean the breaking of a promise and that he would have no part i.in such a disho:noraJble act (15). Other difficulties arose in the matterr of transporting trooips; fifty Czech and Slovak soldiers were detained in New Yonk in Decem~ because no exceptions were made foir Czechs and Slovaiks in the instructions sent by the American governmeil!t cOillCerniing kuistro-Hung arian su!bjects. At the intervention O(f the French Ambassador and of General Vignal this maJtter was also straightened out. Steifan:ik contacted American joUTrralists and wrote several articles on the cause for· the newsprupers. He aroused the interest orf F. H. Allen ("World"), Go,rdo:n Srruth am'd, at a dinner given in his honor on J,u ly 23 in New York, he gained the swpport of "The New Repu!blic." Stefanik used these oontaots for propaganda purposes. Early in September the "World" carried a long article on the Czecho~Slovak movement written by Stefanik and Pisecky and an account of the Battle of Halie by Stefani~ appeared later in Chicago news,paipers. (5) Karol Pergler : "Nase revolnce." Vol. II, p. 319 . �SLOVAKIA 39 Although Stefanik did not entirely trurst Wilson and did not rugree with his views, he ,g ained the good will of the ever popular Theodore Rooseivelit and of representative Frank L. Polle, who devoted much consideration to the Ozecho-4Slovak question when he later headed the American delegation at the Peace Oonrference after Lansing's departure from Paris. It is generally conceded that Stefanik achieved his greatest success in America by seicuring the cooperation of the Czechs and Slovaks in the Czecho-Slovak movement. Pisec'ky writes: "Stefanik did most in the United States in that he succeeded in convincing the Sloiva.ks of the necessity and the horrorableness of the Czecho-SlOIVak rebeU.ion, that he succeeded in paralyiZing autonomistic and opportunistic UJpshoots of persons of the character of Daxner, Bielelk, Panilmch and others and gained them for the common advance with the Czechs (6) . From this statement one could infer that the American Slo:va.ks resisted the movement for freedom. On the contrary, it was the Slovaiks who, with a few exceptions, first brought UJP the question of freedom from the Hungarian yoke, and who, long before the war, had organized to gaiin recognition of Slo:vak national rights. The Slovak League was founded in 1907 for the punpose of supporting and helping national leaders in the old country. In the year 1910 it requested the U. S. Census officials to list Slovaks, not as immigrants from Ausitria-iH kmgary, but according to their native, tongue. B efore the outbreak of the war, at the beginning o:f the year 1914, a memorandum, signed by representatives of 21 organizations, 23 newspaipers, by many Catholic priests and Protestant ministe,ns, was printed. in five languages in addition to English This memorandum, sent to i:nflmmtial diP'lomats and statesmen, descrilbed the sufferings of the Slova.l{s under Hungarian tyranny and demanded in the name o:f justice and humanity that Slovaks be given the rights which were ri!ghtfully tlheirs. Slovalk journalists and national leaders forll!ght unremittingly through newsprupers and brosuires against Austro,-,H ungarian and German propa(6) Ferdinand Pisecky: "M. R. i§tefanik," p . 81. �40 SLOVAKIA ganda. Moreover, they aided financially. Already in 1914 the Slov:aJk League started a Million Dollar Drive, the proceeds of which were to go to the sw£fering and war-,impoverished Slovaks a,broa<l. When their fellow SlaJVs, the Seribians, were fortced to retreat bef-ore the enemy in the winter of 1915 and felt hearvi1y t:he weight of defeat, the American Slova,ks rallied to their swpport. In a movement Which they themselrves financed they obtained more than a hundred Slovak priJsoners from prison crumps in Canada. Even from this very ibrieif sketch it is evident that the Slovaks in America were, from the very beginning, fully aware and prepared to ma,ke the most of the opportunities which the World Wax presented. They were well on their way in their wo11k for the Slovaks when the Ozecho-{Slovruk National Committee, headed by Masarytk, asked them for their cooperation. In rerviewing the rclations of the Ozechs and Slovaks in the early yea11s of t:he war, one lll/U!st bear in mind foat the creation of the Ozecho-,Slorva;k State was not a sine qua non for the realization of natitonal and cultural independ~e for the Slovruks. Neither were the Allied states determined at the beginning, upon the, dismem1be11ment oif the AustroHUil'garian Kingdom. The brea;k up of Austr.ia-HW11gary evo1ved from later dervefopments , and the Slo'V'ak1s seriously weighed all possilbilities beiforn deciding to cast their lot with the Ozechs. Dm-ing this period of indecision only one thing was cemain, that is, no matter under what form of government, no maitter with whom ailied, Slovak national autonomy had to be g,uiairanteed. In an open letter, pwbli'shed in the "Jednota," December 9, 19'14, Allbert Mamafoy, president of the Slovak Lea•g ue, wrote: "The American Czechs turned to me, as president of the Siov,aJk Lerugue, regarddng the Sltland that the Slovaks wish to taJke in this critical situation. . . . I answered that (ruocording to my convictions) we Slovaks would demand sclf-i:m1e, regardless of the tyipe of government to which we would belong as a result of this war, whether we would lwe UJI1der a Russian, or whether we would be left in old Hungary, (should it remain intact), or �SLOVAKIA 41 whether we would be pla,ced in the Ozecho-!Slo!Wlk State, which the Ozechs hoped would :be formed. In my opinion, we S1ovaks must demand ruutonomy from whomsoever we must, whether fiiom Hwrugary or Russia, or from the hoped.for Czech state. And whosoever should get us, irf peaice be desired in the counitry, care must be truken that our demands be satisfied." Reporting on the proceedings of the Congress of the Slovak LeaJgue, held in Pittsburgh, Fe!brua:riy 22, 1915, Joseph Huse'k, editor of the "Jednota," wrote in the March 3rd issue of that year: "One Czech acoused us of hating the Czechs. Thi1s is not true. We love our closest brother. Lf only they loved us as much as we love them. But to date, they have not given us any proof orf this. If matt~s sholl!ld lead to a change in the ,p olitical and governmental form of Austria-iHlwrngary, irf a federation will be formed composed of Bohemia, Moraivia, Silesia, and Slovll!kia, we will be satisfied. I:f they give us complete independence,, we ,vill. 1be sa,tis,. fied, rund, irf this later should not justify itself there will be time enough to joiin ourselves politically and gOivern.meintally more closely with the Bohemians and the Momv,i ans. However, if such a radical change does no,t ta:ke place after the war and we should 0/Illy be guaranteed independence within the limits of the Martin De:clairation, we will hiwe to be satisfied. Erven that woruld be a great concession. When we sha:H have our sc!hools, when we shall be master in our districrts, when we shall also hme representati1Ves, comparable to our nll!mbers, in parliament and a guarantee of free, ind~endent industrial development, we will not lose ourselrves. The rest we will then win by our own strength." And, agai~, in an article entitled "With the Czechs or Without the Ozechs," printed on March 24: "We are sincere and we e:m-phaisize again and again that we are supporteiI's. of the movement which aims to cu1tirv,a te Czecho-Slovak re:c1procity. But the reciprocity for whk,h we are so zealously working mrust be founded upon complete equality of rig1hts and equal value as pem;ains to our national, economic, and cuiltural interests." The first attempt to bring the Czechs and ,Slovaks to- �42 SLOVAKIA gether in America occurred in 1916. At the suggestion of Joseph Tvrzidky, Secretary of the Czech National Society, who was sUJm.rmoned to twke this step by Masaryk, a meeting of the Czech Society and of the Slo.vaik League was called at Cleveland, Ohio. On October 25, 191·5, a pact, proposed and written by Tvrzic:ky, was w0cepted. The conditions under which the SlovaJks were to accept cooperation with the Czechs were summari·z ed in this pact. Nati0J1.al autonomy of S1av8Jkia with an independent parliament, an independent state administration, and free oulrtusrial deveiloipment were guaranrteed. These demands were not the princi,p les Olf indi,vidiual autonormistic groups. This was the platiform of all American Slovaks, with very few exceptions, and the considerations under which they entered the struggle,; the aims they wanted to reali-ze. The extent to which the Slovaks and Czechs in America did not surcceed in reaching a colill'plete unde11standi.ng was deter.mined by the degree in which the American Czechs and the National Ozecho-;Slovak Committee deflected from these prmciples. Thus the Pact Olf Kiev, although signed by the representative of 1:Jhe Slova/k League, Gustav Kosik, incited consteirn:ation armong the American Slovaiks because it referred to "Ozecho,slova,ks," as an ethnic entity - a term not ac~ted by them. In li:ke manner, the newspaper "Czeichosloviak" was not warunly received. There were those among the Slovak leadeirs who, from the ve:r'Y beginning, opposed the use of the woro "Ozechoslo~ak" even in diplomatic agreements, holding to the opinion that the Sl~a!ks Sihould stand as an independent nation. The Parisian Czecho-,Slovak National Committee was looked lllpon wirth Sll!Slpicion by the Catho1ics who were uncertain of the status of religion in the, new state. These suspidoi!liSi, however, were not so strong that they could not be eliminated, and Masaryk himself, when he late:r came to Ameri1ca, quieted the Catholic Slovaks by his promise that there would be complete religious freedom in Ozecho-,Slova'kia. On July 1, 1917, Stefanik ar.ranged a meeting with the Slovaks and the Ozechs at the Congress Hall Hotel in �SLOVAKIA 43 Washington at which the following were present: Dr. Fisher, President of the Czech Nrutional Society; Albert Ma:matey, President of the Slova:k -Leag,ue; Emil Voska, ChaJrles Pergler, Dr. HrcHicika, Ivan Daxner, Iivan Bielek, and Ferdinad Pisecky. Stefani:k reported on conditions in Russia, 'but the main object of the meeting was to arrange for a mihtary o,r ga:nization and the cooipeTation of the Czechs and Slwaws. At this meeting Daxner raised the Czeicho-iS1ov,aJk question . .Aigainst his SO-!Called "aurtonomistic attibude" Stefani.ik emphaSlized the necessity of forming a politically inseparaJble state and not an ethnographically insepamble one (7). Con:cerning Stefani•k 's opinion relatirve to the Czechoslovak question and, especially, his oipimon as expressed in his dealings with the American .Slovaks, Poogler asse:rlts: "NaturaUy, the represerntatives of the Slova:k organiJZations of the foturre Czecho-tSlovak state often came to Stefanik. Stefanik al.ways insisted that it was the ooncern of the nation at hoime, that it alone must decide concerning its future origani1zrution, in short, that it is impossible to dictate firom beyond the bo~ders of the country and that every such ruttempt wou1d be futile Whenever the question of Sloivak autonomy aI'ose, he decidedly pointed out, that no guarantees could be demanded £ro:m those living outside of the new state" (8). But even if we should aioceipt this untoo•a ble position, it is impossilble to deny the fact that Stefanik, although he gave no written priomise, did reach an agreement with the America,n Slovaks and succeeded in gaining t'heir cooperation with the .American Cze~hs witlhouit the Slovaks relinquishing their demands. This was pr01Ved at the mooting held in New YoI'k, SeptembeT 20; 1914, where American Slovak priests were present with Stefanik and at which a resolution was a:doipted, stating that they stand on the platform orf the SlovaJk League. The pvograim of the Slovak League was the Cleveland Pact, tlhe · principles of whioh were incorporated into the Pittsburgh Pact which Masariyik (7) Ferdinand Pisecky: "M. R. S.teJanik," p, 72. (8) K. Pergler: "Z americke fronit.y naseho osvo'bozenskeho boje. Nase revoluce.'' Vol. II, pp. 313- 325. · · �44 SLOVAKIA himself drafted and signed with the American SlOIVruks a year later. Stefanik approved the program olf the Slovak Leaigue. With this rupproval he gained the confidence of the groups considered the most consoovative in the work for 0zecho-1Slovalk independence. Of this Benes writes : "The meeting with the Slovak priests was very important because at this meeting Stefanilk dispelled all sm,iprcion and unwillingness of the priests as regards the, movement for independence with which the drive for funds olf the Slovak League was strengthened (9). Because of his deli1cate health Stefanik did not ma:ke many public appearances but when he did speak, he succeeded in maJking a deep impression upon his listeners. He spoke in Slovak and in 0zech a:nd sometimes passed from one language, into another in the same speech. He gained the confidence of the 'Peorple by his enthusia,s m and his fascinating manner as well as with his firm and uncompromising atti1mde towards all righteous demands. In addition to the aJbove mentioned meetings, Stefanik met with the presidents of t!he Slovruk and 0zech organizations on July 1, 1917, in New Yo.rik where tihe misunderstaniling with Ho.nky pertaining to the Durich affaiT in Russia came to the forefront. Horiky especially critidzed Benes whom Stefarui,k defended, stating that he himself directed everything in Russia and Horky, therefore, should turn to him. On July 24 Stef2.ni1k received a deputation of Slovaks headed by Milan Getting w,ho later became the OzeichoSlo,v ak consul in Pittsburgh. On August 13 he was present at a meeting of 0zecho-.Slovak artists and in Seipte.miber he addressed the Cooch and SlovaJk women orf New Yo'I'ik. Between the 16th and 18th of October a large meeting was held in Chicago• at which the ques,t!ion cxf rooruiting was considered. Proceedings at this meeting were somewhat agitated since voices of t!hose who feared the final success of the military m01Vement were raised against Stefanik. A Owcho-Slo,valk mHitary committee was formed in order that the recruiting could proceed in an o:r,g,anized manner. Both (9) Edward Benes: "Sveto'Vii. vii.lka a nase revoluce." �45 SLOVAKIA Protestant and Catholic Ozechs and Sloivaks were r1~pre:sented in the Committee (10). After this meeting recruiting was begun by a proclamation for mdbilization by Stefaruk, coached in classical terms. Stefani1k also issued instnuiotions for the CzechoSlova!k soldiers in America. He divided the country into four districts, each with a separate reporter to which position the following were appointed: Milan Geitting, Gustav Kosik and su!b-;reporter Ivan Gess:a,y; J. Cermak and subreporter J. Tvr.z ioky; J. Stra;ka and swb-reporteir Vojta Benes. This plan, written under the impression of the Chicago comereTIJce, though not essentila:lly changed, had to be adjusted to existing conditions when the time came for actual work. For reasons already ex,plained the recruiting was not as successifiul as Stefanik haid hoped it would be. Despite all efforts the number of volunteers was not quite 2,500 men (11). Of great importance was the demonstration meeting held in Carnegie Hall in New York whl ch SterfanjJk arranged for September 1'6. Because of his friendship for Stefaruk, Fran:kHn...Bouillon accepted the in,Vitation to be the principal spea;ker just before his return to France as Minister of Bropaganda in the caJbinet of Painleve. John P. Mitchell, the may;or of New Yol'lk presided. This meeting, at which the repre,sen!batives of the Ailied armies were present, had a consideraible pro1p aganda significance since it broke the ice of indifference of American journalists. Franklin-Bouillon, who spdke in E':nglish, addressed the men of the "CzechoSlovak" nation and appealed to t:hem to join the Legion. He was the first influential sitatesman who pulblicly voiced the dismemberment of Austria~Hungary. This statement of Franklin-Bouillon created a sensation in Amer1can political circles; (12). 1 In order to facilitate contaict between our groups and government officials, Stefanik changed the Slav Press Bu(10) Vojta Benes: "Nase revoluce." Vol. II, PP. 46-49. (11) K. Pergler: "Nase revoluce." Vol. II ,p. 321. (12) Ar. Bares: "Stefanikuv memorial," p_ · 36. �46 SLOVAKIA reau, originally formed as a bureau of propaganda, into a branch of the Czecho-.Slo,v ak National Committee. He gave the authority to deal in political matters to Charles Pergler. Stefanik thus sucoeeded in realizing his pre-,war dream. of gaining his American countrymen in an armed r~bellion against Austria-Hungary although, in truth, not to the extent he had hoped for. Having completed his. worlk in Ame'l'ica he again turned his efforts and energies toward Europe where much still remained to be done. At the request presented on Octolber 14, 1917, to the War Ministry by General Vignal oif Washington in which he reported that Stefanik had aJbout completed his mission, Stefanik was granted permission to return to France. In November, Vignal telegraphed that Stefani!k would return with the first transport of Czecho""Slorvak troo'Ps and that he would be. free to organize the Czechs in France. In his reports to the Minister of Wa~, Vignal highly praised Stefaniik's work in America. I quote from the tefogirams sent on November 5 and December 5: "He proved to posse,s s the highest degree of tact, disciipline and sense :for orga.n ization. His pel'.'.sonal influence in all matters was such that no mis'OOderstanding arose during his stay and all the Cz~~h groll!ps followed his directions. . . . I aim not aJble to praise suffi~iently this great patriot, coolheaded and insipi:red 'by the most honest and highest feelings. F'ull of taot and wisdom, he gained the sympathies of the highest officials of the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he o:rganized with the greatest success the re:cnciting oif the Czecho-SlovaJks (13). Acc,o rding to Benes, Steifaniik :returned to Paris on Novemiber 16 whe:re he con;tinued in his wor,k of organizing the Czecho ...Slovak army. • Editor's Note: Today it is customar;y even for the Ozechs and so--called "Ozechoslovaks" to cl'aim and acclaim Stefanik But Stefanik was not a Czech, nor a "Orechoslovia:k" (a SlO'VaJk in the pay of the Czoohs), but a true Slovak paitriot. Had he lived, Stefanik undou!btedly would (13) From the "Fren,oh Military Archives." �SLOVAKIA 47 have fought for the liberation. of his people from all alien tyranny, including the Czech brand as represented by T. G. Masaryk an.d Benes. S,lo,vaJks eveTywhere commemorate May 4th as Stefani'k Day, because it was on May 4, 1919, that their beloved wair hero crashed to his death in a plaine which was "a~cidentally" shot down by a Czech garrison at Vajnory, Slovakia. Many Slovaiks even todiay will tell you 1:!hat Stefanik haid to die, because he never consented to his Slovakiia being a colony o,£ the imperialistic Czechs led by T. G. Masarylk and Benes. On May 4, 1954, Slova,ks everywhere will recall: "it was 35 yeaI'S ago thait Stefarnk was killed by the men who resented his warnings rugainst Bolshevism. " • • • SLOVAK FOLKLORE GOLDILOCKS Once UlpOn a time there was a very poor blacksmith. At one time 'he fared weH, but then hard times struck, he had little work to do., and his wiife and small children were always hungry. Finally he lost everything; at hOlme he had not!hing left but seven ,pennies. His undernourished children cried constantly for something to eat until the blacksmith could stand it no longer. In his despair he boU!ght a rope witlh his last seven ,p ennies and started out for the hills to end it all. When he came into the hills, he sought out a stout branch on a mighty tree to which he fixed the roipe. As the bla;cksmith was a;bout to tie the rope albout his neck, a ,pretty black maiden suddenly appeared .b efore him and pleaded wHJh him not to hang himself, 1b ecause that was not a nice thing to do and, then, it was also a sin. The b,lacksmith was stunned when the black maiden disappeared into the nowhere whence she had come. As he waliked along, his mind wandered baok home where misery and want ruled and again he became despondent. U!P went his rope onto another stout ,h ranch. .&gain the blaJCk maiden s,uddemy appeaired out of the blue and begged him not to commit such an ugly deed. In a quadary, the blactksmith shoo'k his head, bwt said nothing. He did not throw away his rope, but stood � 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 33 MILAN RASTISLAV STEFA.NIK Stephanie 0. Husek This year mar,ks the thirty-sixth anniversary of two events which considerwbly changed the national developmeint of the Slo:vaJks both here and abroad. On May 30, 1918, the Pittsibwgh Pact was drawn up and on Noveimlber 14 was signed by Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, then President ad: the 0zecho-iSlo1V1ak Republic. This Slovruk Magna Carta suimmarirzed Sloivak rights in the newly fomied state amd formed the platform of the Slova;,k People's Party, the largest Slovalk political party in pre..war Cz~ho-Slova1da. On 0ctolber 28, 1918, the independence ad: 0zeeho--iSlovakia was pro:claimed and a new era oJf national development began for fue Slovak and Czech nations. Both these events were the result of the Czecho..,Slovak Relbellion, both at home and beyond the ,bo'UJildaries oif the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom. SlOIVaks and Czechs, no matter where they lived, joined in the struggle for independence and each groUJp contributed towaTds gaining the final victory. The cond'Ulot of the reibellion lay in the hands of the National 0zecho-1Slov.aik Committee in Paris of whicih Thomas G. Masaryk was president, Edward Benes secretairy, and Milan Rastislav Ste!anik represented the Sloivaks. No single factor carried so much weight with the Allies in favor of an independent Czecho-Slo,va.'kia as the organization and later suiocesses of the independent Czecllo.-B1ovalk Army. It was the a'I'!my which proved that the Sloivaks and Czechs were will.mg to, make the swpreme sacrifice in order that they and their children might liive independenrtl:y. It is to the glory of the Sl01Va,ks that the formation and organization of this army was the tfuought and wonk of Milan Rastislav Stefan.ilk who later ,b ecame the first Minister of War ill1 the Czecho-,Slova,k State. The movement for Czecho-Sloivalk independence was not begun at the ourt:Jbreruk -of the Wax. Years before, both individuals and organized giroups sought to alleviate conditions 34 SLOVAKIA existing in the Austro-HUI11garian Kingdom. Stefaniik already dreamed of an in.d.€4)00.dent Slovakia in 1914 when he arrived in F1rance as a young astronomer, soon to gain prominence there and become a memiber of the French A~adem.y. No ocicasion arose which Sted:anik d.i:d not use to acquaint those in influenice with Hu1nga,r.ian tyranny and to gain sympathy for the oppressed Slo;vruk nation. As soon as Austria dec1ared war on .Serbia, Stefaniik left Morocco, where he was engaged in astronomical observation, and returned to France. He joined the French Air Cor,ps in. January 191'5 and in March requested to be sent to Serbia. Having no contact as yet with Miresruryk, not even familiair with the latter's plans, he already thought of organh:ing a ~arate corps c_o nsisting of t.he ~ruvs fighting aigainst thefr convictions on the enemy,..s side and being gradually ooncoort~a;ted in prison camps. Due .t o, the Serbian retreat whii!ch began one day before Stefanik's arri;val in SeI'lbia, the thought of organizing this corps had to be abandoned. But Stefanik renewed his worlk upon his return to Paris where he became assOICiarted with Thomas G. Masacyk and Dr. ffidlward Benes: Soon the nucleus of the Ozeoho-,Slovak Legion was orgamzed in France and Stefruni,k extended his work to inlclude Rm.ssia, the United States, and Italy; in fact, aJ1l countries where Czechs and Sfovruk,s were to be found, either in prison camps OT as settlers. Thus, from Jrtill,,y 1916 until Mairch 1917 he was in Russia. While the.re he made a trip to Roucrnania. After returning from Russia he crume to. the United States, returned to France and then went to litaly. He met wirth many diftfioulties in organizing the Legion. Nevertheless, he succeeded i:n winning the. permission of government authorities and 'i n persuading moo to join. 1n the work orf Q!I'ganiizing the army Stefan:iik also did mooh to gain the sympartihy orf Allied statesmen and men ranking high in goiveirnment and military cincles and to convm:ce those with whom he came into contact of the necessity of breaking up the Austro-Hungaria:n Kingdom. Milan Rastislav Stefanik did much more- foir gaining 35 SLOVAKIA the independeince of Czetjio-Slovaikia than he is credited with doing. Benes and Ma:saryk boith wrote an account of the mOfVement for independence and tihe part which each played in it. Stefan.ilk, run.fortunately, was not given this O!plpOrtunity. But even from the sketchy references to his wo'l1k and the Sl1mprisingly meagre sources avaHaJble to the hisrtorian of today, it is dearly evident that in cowa:ge, in scl!f-saicrifice, in tact and wbility in diplomacy, in integrity, and in zeal for the ca:use of freedom of his people, he was not SUI'lpassed by anyone of the leaders in the OzeichoSlovaJk movement for independence . • • • • Stefanilk had exaggeirated hopes of his success in America. As stated in his report to the French Ministcy o!f Foreign Affairs, he 1b el ieved that they would gain around 20,000 volunteers for the Ozecho-,Slovruk Legion. It is not definitely known where he got his information, but there were many Czechs and Slovaks in America who cherished the same ho,pe and Stefaruk was certainly inforrmed b~ some of them. In the official newspaper of tihe First Catholic Slovak Union the "Jednota," it was estimated that if only ten per cent of the male memlbers of the Slo1va,k organizations joined the Czeicho-Slo:vak army, there would be 15,140 Slovak vnlunteers. One Slo,va'k reported to Steifani!k that among the Slovaks alone 25,000 ,volunteers could be, expected 0). Joseph 'Dvirziieky, Seciretary of the Ozech National Society in America, was also one of those, who, during the entire caimpaiign, added to Stef8iruk's optimism(2). The work of tile Poles at the same time and in the same direction facilitated Steifaniik's mission. O:n the other hand, America's entraJnce info the World War changed conditions existing here which were not favoraJble. Many American Czechs and Slorvarks joined the Canadian army e,ven beforre the United Staites entered the War and forty thousand Ozechs and SkwaJks joined the Amer.iJcaJD. 8!Imy in 1917 (3). The American government itself placed certain 1 (1) Karol Pergler: "Z ame1ic.ke fron.ty a naseho osvobozenskeho boje_ - Nase revoluce." Vol II, p. 318. (2) "Nase revoluce.." Vol. 1,1, P. 325. (3) Ibid. p. 325. 36 SLOVAKIA obstacles which made the fu1fillment of Stefani:k's mission more difficult. On the grounds that if special concessioo.s were granted the Czechs and Slovaiks othe,r nationality grOUJps would make. similar requests, the government was relUICtant to girve permission for recruiting soldiers for the Czecho~Slov~ Airmy in F1rance. America's entrance into the War was looked wpon by many groiups as an opportunity to be exploited toward the realimtion of their aim Olf corrnpletel,y Americanirzing the foreign national~ty groups living here. It presented an oppoI1tunity to unite all immigrants undeir one motto and for one ideal. America was to enter the Wax as one consolidated nation fighting a;gainst a single enemy. To add to the difrfic,u1ties, a mo;vement was started by Senator Hitchcoc,k of Nebraska to form a spe'cial Shw conps similar to the Foreign Legion of France. This was oontrary to the wishes and plans of General Stefanik and the Ozecho,-SlovaJk National Committee. Had it succeeded, the influence and the opportunity of the Czechs and Slovaks to aJCt independently would hruve been greatly minimized. IF'inally, it is impossible not to mention the large German and Austro-Hiung arian grolliPS who distributed pamphlets and used various other meains to carry on a continuous propaganda against the leaders Olf the Allied nations and against their appeals. Much time and effort was expended by Slovak national leaders to disclose these intrigues and to offset their effects. In March 1915 the German government aippealed to the America.n people not to manufacture powder shraipnels, and other arms, stating that this was ag:ainst the honoir of the American people and against the integrity of the nation; that it was neicessary to show once and for all that such things could not be bought with money dipped in human blood Even before this, Germany had sent an appeal to America, addressed to prominent men, in which she defended her position in the war, related the wrongs committed on her and denied all responsibility for the acts to which Ger,many had .b een forced (4). It is small wonder that this German propaganda gained ground (4) Karol Sidor: " Slovaci v zahranicnom odboji," pp, 44-4ii. SLOVAKIA 37 in Ameri~. There were many Gernnan imrmgranits and EWen more citizens of Ger.rnan descent, financiaNy well estaJblished, who were sentimentally sympathetic to their native land. Edward Benes, as Secretary of the National Committee, requested the French goivernment to entrust Stefanik with the mission to deal with the American authorities for permission to. organize volunteers among the Ozechs and Slovaks for the army in France. The consent of Rebprt, ::Mlinister of Foreign Alffairs, was gained uh.rough Philip Berthelot and permission from the Ministry ad: Wiar was received, through the inter1cession of Franklirn--Bouillon, directly f.rom Minister PainlEWe with whOim both Benes and Stefanik were on good terms. Thi'S perunission was granted while Stefanik was still in Russia but he IPostjponed the trip in order to. complete his work in Roumania where he gained 1000 prisoners for the Czecho-SloiV'a'k army. The order for the j()IUJI'ney commissioning Stefanik wifu a special mission in the United States was issued May 20, 1917 and he arrived in America the following month. Before Stefamk's departure,. however, the French Government had aliready sent a spe:cial political commission headed 'by FrankJin-1Bouillon to gain the permission of the United States for recruiting volunteers. among the immigrants for Slav national arunies in France. This mission of F:raniklin-Bo:uillin, as well as his personal aid in the Czec<ho.-1Slova:k wrmy question, greatly helped Stefa.Mk. Stefanik qumkly adjusted himself to the conditions brougihrt rubout by America's entrance into the war and through the French Arrnlbassado•r , Jussocand, immediately contacted the go;vernment offfuia1s in Washington. He had a short 'but successif:ul conference with Lansing during which he also presented: him with a;n expression of loyalty of the Ozechs and 'Sloivruks to the United Srtates of Ameri~. Wirth the aid of the Frenlch Commissioner A. Tardieu, the French Mi•n ister Jussevam.d, and Franldin.J3ou:illon Stefan:iik gained his object and the Arrnerican government granted pemnission to al[ Czechs and SlovaJks not subject to military duty in the Am.errean M1IDY to join the Ozecho-,S1ovak Legion in France. On August 4, he already report.ea to his friends in 38 SLOVAKIA New Yorlc th~t he had received this perrmss1on and that 4,000 men oOIU!ld be sent to the French military school. After permission for recruiting was granted, negotiatiOllls were begun for the transipwtatio n of the Czec:ho-Sl'OVa;k soldiers to France and for obtaining the financial means necessary to keep them concentrated in camps in New Yonk and Boston where they awaited their depar-ture. Oonsideration was also given to the question of SU!pporting families deprived of wa;ge erurner,s and, later, to ca;ses of widowed wives Mld or,phaned children. In October, Stefanik uncovered some Austro-Hunga rian intdgues in Washing.ton. A telegram had been sent to Tardieu fram Paris suggesting that, due to difficulties in transportation, the Poles should be sent to France finst and the transpovtatio n of the Ozecho ..Slovak soldiers shO!Uld be postponed for a few months. Stefanik suicceede.d in defeating this attempt by uncovering its moUves and, on the basis of this 1nfoI1Ination, Tardieu telegraphed to his swperiors that the posbponemen t of the transport of the Ozecho-SlOIVak soldiers would mean the breaking of a promise and that he would have no part i.in such a disho:noraJble act (15). Other difficulties arose in the matterr of transporting trooips; fifty Czech and Slovak soldiers were detained in New Yonk in Decem~ because no exceptions were made foir Czechs and Slovaiks in the instructions sent by the American governmeil!t cOillCerniing kuistro-Hung arian su!bjects. At the intervention O(f the French Ambassador and of General Vignal this maJtter was also straightened out. Steifan:ik contacted American joUTrralists and wrote several articles on the cause for· the newsprupers. He aroused the interest orf F. H. Allen ("World"), Go,rdo:n Srruth am'd, at a dinner given in his honor on J,u ly 23 in New York, he gained the swpport of "The New Repu!blic." Stefanik used these oontaots for propaganda purposes. Early in September the "World" carried a long article on the Czecho~Slovak movement written by Stefanik and Pisecky and an account of the Battle of Halie by Stefani~ appeared later in Chicago news,paipers. (5) Karol Pergler : "Nase revolnce." Vol. II, p. 319 . SLOVAKIA 39 Although Stefanik did not entirely trurst Wilson and did not rugree with his views, he ,g ained the good will of the ever popular Theodore Rooseivelit and of representative Frank L. Polle, who devoted much consideration to the Ozecho-4Slovak question when he later headed the American delegation at the Peace Oonrference after Lansing's departure from Paris. It is generally conceded that Stefanik achieved his greatest success in America by seicuring the cooperation of the Czechs and Slovaks in the Czecho-Slovak movement. Pisec'ky writes: "Stefanik did most in the United States in that he succeeded in convincing the Sloiva.ks of the necessity and the horrorableness of the Czecho-SlOIVak rebeU.ion, that he succeeded in paralyiZing autonomistic and opportunistic UJpshoots of persons of the character of Daxner, Bielelk, Panilmch and others and gained them for the common advance with the Czechs (6) . From this statement one could infer that the American Slo:va.ks resisted the movement for freedom. On the contrary, it was the Slovaiks who, with a few exceptions, first brought UJP the question of freedom from the Hungarian yoke, and who, long before the war, had organized to gaiin recognition of Slo:vak national rights. The Slovak League was founded in 1907 for the punpose of supporting and helping national leaders in the old country. In the year 1910 it requested the U. S. Census officials to list Slovaks, not as immigrants from Ausitria-iH kmgary, but according to their native, tongue. B efore the outbreak of the war, at the beginning o:f the year 1914, a memorandum, signed by representatives of 21 organizations, 23 newspaipers, by many Catholic priests and Protestant ministe,ns, was printed. in five languages in addition to English This memorandum, sent to i:nflmmtial diP'lomats and statesmen, descrilbed the sufferings of the Slova.l{s under Hungarian tyranny and demanded in the name o:f justice and humanity that Slovaks be given the rights which were ri!ghtfully tlheirs. Slovalk journalists and national leaders forll!ght unremittingly through newsprupers and brosuires against Austro,-,H ungarian and German propa(6) Ferdinand Pisecky: "M. R. i§tefanik," p . 81. 40 SLOVAKIA ganda. Moreover, they aided financially. Already in 1914 the Slov:aJk League started a Million Dollar Drive, the proceeds of which were to go to the sw£fering and war-,impoverished Slovaks a,broa<l. When their fellow SlaJVs, the Seribians, were fortced to retreat bef-ore the enemy in the winter of 1915 and felt hearvi1y t:he weight of defeat, the American Slova,ks rallied to their swpport. In a movement Which they themselrves financed they obtained more than a hundred Slovak priJsoners from prison crumps in Canada. Even from this very ibrieif sketch it is evident that the Slovaks in America were, from the very beginning, fully aware and prepared to ma,ke the most of the opportunities which the World Wax presented. They were well on their way in their wo11k for the Slovaks when the Ozecho-{Slovruk National Committee, headed by Masarytk, asked them for their cooperation. In rerviewing the rclations of the Ozechs and Slovaks in the early yea11s of t:he war, one lll/U!st bear in mind foat the creation of the Ozecho-,Slorva;k State was not a sine qua non for the realization of natitonal and cultural independ~e for the Slovruks. Neither were the Allied states determined at the beginning, upon the, dismem1be11ment oif the AustroHUil'garian Kingdom. The brea;k up of Austr.ia-HW11gary evo1ved from later dervefopments , and the Slo'V'ak1s seriously weighed all possilbilities beiforn deciding to cast their lot with the Ozechs. Dm-ing this period of indecision only one thing was cemain, that is, no matter under what form of government, no maitter with whom ailied, Slovak national autonomy had to be g,uiairanteed. In an open letter, pwbli'shed in the "Jednota," December 9, 19'14, Allbert Mamafoy, president of the Slovak Lea•g ue, wrote: "The American Czechs turned to me, as president of the Siov,aJk Lerugue, regarddng the Sltland that the Slovaks wish to taJke in this critical situation. . . . I answered that (ruocording to my convictions) we Slovaks would demand sclf-i:m1e, regardless of the tyipe of government to which we would belong as a result of this war, whether we would lwe UJI1der a Russian, or whether we would be left in old Hungary, (should it remain intact), or SLOVAKIA 41 whether we would be pla,ced in the Ozecho-!Slo!Wlk State, which the Ozechs hoped would :be formed. In my opinion, we S1ovaks must demand ruutonomy from whomsoever we must, whether fiiom Hwrugary or Russia, or from the hoped.for Czech state. And whosoever should get us, irf peaice be desired in the counitry, care must be truken that our demands be satisfied." Reporting on the proceedings of the Congress of the Slovak LeaJgue, held in Pittsburgh, Fe!brua:riy 22, 1915, Joseph Huse'k, editor of the "Jednota," wrote in the March 3rd issue of that year: "One Czech acoused us of hating the Czechs. Thi1s is not true. We love our closest brother. Lf only they loved us as much as we love them. But to date, they have not given us any proof orf this. If matt~s sholl!ld lead to a change in the ,p olitical and governmental form of Austria-iHlwrngary, irf a federation will be formed composed of Bohemia, Moraivia, Silesia, and Slovll!kia, we will be satisfied. I:f they give us complete independence,, we ,vill. 1be sa,tis,. fied, rund, irf this later should not justify itself there will be time enough to joiin ourselves politically and gOivern.meintally more closely with the Bohemians and the Momv,i ans. However, if such a radical change does no,t ta:ke place after the war and we should 0/Illy be guaranteed independence within the limits of the Martin De:clairation, we will hiwe to be satisfied. Erven that woruld be a great concession. When we sha:H have our sc!hools, when we shall be master in our districrts, when we shall also hme representati1Ves, comparable to our nll!mbers, in parliament and a guarantee of free, ind~endent industrial development, we will not lose ourselrves. The rest we will then win by our own strength." And, agai~, in an article entitled "With the Czechs or Without the Ozechs," printed on March 24: "We are sincere and we e:m-phaisize again and again that we are supporteiI's. of the movement which aims to cu1tirv,a te Czecho-Slovak re:c1procity. But the reciprocity for whk,h we are so zealously working mrust be founded upon complete equality of rig1hts and equal value as pem;ains to our national, economic, and cuiltural interests." The first attempt to bring the Czechs and ,Slovaks to- 42 SLOVAKIA gether in America occurred in 1916. At the suggestion of Joseph Tvrzidky, Secretary of the Czech National Society, who was sUJm.rmoned to twke this step by Masaryk, a meeting of the Czech Society and of the Slo.vaik League was called at Cleveland, Ohio. On October 25, 191·5, a pact, proposed and written by Tvrzic:ky, was w0cepted. The conditions under which the SlovaJks were to accept cooperation with the Czechs were summari·z ed in this pact. Nati0J1.al autonomy of S1av8Jkia with an independent parliament, an independent state administration, and free oulrtusrial deveiloipment were guaranrteed. These demands were not the princi,p les Olf indi,vidiual autonormistic groups. This was the platiform of all American Slovaks, with very few exceptions, and the considerations under which they entered the struggle,; the aims they wanted to reali-ze. The extent to which the Slovaks and Czechs in America did not surcceed in reaching a colill'plete unde11standi.ng was deter.mined by the degree in which the American Czechs and the National Ozecho-;Slovak Committee deflected from these prmciples. Thus the Pact Olf Kiev, although signed by the representative of 1:Jhe Slova/k League, Gustav Kosik, incited consteirn:ation armong the American Slovaiks because it referred to "Ozecho,slova,ks," as an ethnic entity - a term not ac~ted by them. In li:ke manner, the newspaper "Czeichosloviak" was not warunly received. There were those among the Slovak leadeirs who, from the ve:r'Y beginning, opposed the use of the woro "Ozechoslo~ak" even in diplomatic agreements, holding to the opinion that the Sl~a!ks Sihould stand as an independent nation. The Parisian Czecho-,Slovak National Committee was looked lllpon wirth Sll!Slpicion by the Catho1ics who were uncertain of the status of religion in the, new state. These suspidoi!liSi, however, were not so strong that they could not be eliminated, and Masaryk himself, when he late:r came to Ameri1ca, quieted the Catholic Slovaks by his promise that there would be complete religious freedom in Ozecho-,Slova'kia. On July 1, 1917, Stefanik ar.ranged a meeting with the Slovaks and the Ozechs at the Congress Hall Hotel in SLOVAKIA 43 Washington at which the following were present: Dr. Fisher, President of the Czech Nrutional Society; Albert Ma:matey, President of the Slova:k -Leag,ue; Emil Voska, ChaJrles Pergler, Dr. HrcHicika, Ivan Daxner, Iivan Bielek, and Ferdinad Pisecky. Stefani:k reported on conditions in Russia, 'but the main object of the meeting was to arrange for a mihtary o,r ga:nization and the cooipeTation of the Czechs and Slwaws. At this meeting Daxner raised the Czeicho-iS1ov,aJk question . .Aigainst his SO-!Called "aurtonomistic attibude" Stefani.ik emphaSlized the necessity of forming a politically inseparaJble state and not an ethnographically insepamble one (7). Con:cerning Stefani•k 's opinion relatirve to the Czechoslovak question and, especially, his oipimon as expressed in his dealings with the American .Slovaks, Poogler asse:rlts: "NaturaUy, the represerntatives of the Slova:k organiJZations of the foturre Czecho-tSlovak state often came to Stefanik. Stefanik al.ways insisted that it was the ooncern of the nation at hoime, that it alone must decide concerning its future origani1zrution, in short, that it is impossible to dictate firom beyond the bo~ders of the country and that every such ruttempt wou1d be futile Whenever the question of Sloivak autonomy aI'ose, he decidedly pointed out, that no guarantees could be demanded £ro:m those living outside of the new state" (8). But even if we should aioceipt this untoo•a ble position, it is impossilble to deny the fact that Stefanik, although he gave no written priomise, did reach an agreement with the America,n Slovaks and succeeded in gaining t'heir cooperation with the .American Cze~hs witlhouit the Slovaks relinquishing their demands. This was pr01Ved at the mooting held in New YoI'k, SeptembeT 20; 1914, where American Slovak priests were present with Stefanik and at which a resolution was a:doipted, stating that they stand on the platform orf the SlovaJk League. The pvograim of the Slovak League was the Cleveland Pact, tlhe · principles of whioh were incorporated into the Pittsburgh Pact which Masariyik (7) Ferdinand Pisecky: "M. R. S.teJanik," p, 72. (8) K. Pergler: "Z americke fronit.y naseho osvo'bozenskeho boje. Nase revoluce.'' Vol. II, pp. 313- 325. · · 44 SLOVAKIA himself drafted and signed with the American SlOIVruks a year later. Stefanik approved the program olf the Slovak Leaigue. With this rupproval he gained the confidence of the groups considered the most consoovative in the work for 0zecho-1Slovalk independence. Of this Benes writes : "The meeting with the Slovak priests was very important because at this meeting Stefanilk dispelled all sm,iprcion and unwillingness of the priests as regards the, movement for independence with which the drive for funds olf the Slovak League was strengthened (9). Because of his deli1cate health Stefanik did not ma:ke many public appearances but when he did speak, he succeeded in maJking a deep impression upon his listeners. He spoke in Slovak and in 0zech a:nd sometimes passed from one language, into another in the same speech. He gained the confidence of the 'Peorple by his enthusia,s m and his fascinating manner as well as with his firm and uncompromising atti1mde towards all righteous demands. In addition to the aJbove mentioned meetings, Stefanik met with the presidents of t!he Slovruk and 0zech organizations on July 1, 1917, in New Yo.rik where tihe misunderstaniling with Ho.nky pertaining to the Durich affaiT in Russia came to the forefront. Horiky especially critidzed Benes whom Stefarui,k defended, stating that he himself directed everything in Russia and Horky, therefore, should turn to him. On July 24 Stef2.ni1k received a deputation of Slovaks headed by Milan Getting w,ho later became the OzeichoSlo,v ak consul in Pittsburgh. On August 13 he was present at a meeting of 0zecho-.Slovak artists and in Seipte.miber he addressed the Cooch and SlovaJk women orf New Yo'I'ik. Between the 16th and 18th of October a large meeting was held in Chicago• at which the ques,t!ion cxf rooruiting was considered. Proceedings at this meeting were somewhat agitated since voices of t!hose who feared the final success of the military m01Vement were raised against Stefanik. A Owcho-Slo,valk mHitary committee was formed in order that the recruiting could proceed in an o:r,g,anized manner. Both (9) Edward Benes: "Sveto'Vii. vii.lka a nase revoluce." 45 SLOVAKIA Protestant and Catholic Ozechs and Sloivaks were r1~pre:sented in the Committee (10). After this meeting recruiting was begun by a proclamation for mdbilization by Stefaruk, coached in classical terms. Stefani1k also issued instnuiotions for the CzechoSlova!k soldiers in America. He divided the country into four districts, each with a separate reporter to which position the following were appointed: Milan Geitting, Gustav Kosik and su!b-;reporter Ivan Gess:a,y; J. Cermak and subreporter J. Tvr.z ioky; J. Stra;ka and swb-reporteir Vojta Benes. This plan, written under the impression of the Chicago comereTIJce, though not essentila:lly changed, had to be adjusted to existing conditions when the time came for actual work. For reasons already ex,plained the recruiting was not as successifiul as Stefanik haid hoped it would be. Despite all efforts the number of volunteers was not quite 2,500 men (11). Of great importance was the demonstration meeting held in Carnegie Hall in New York whl ch SterfanjJk arranged for September 1'6. Because of his friendship for Stefaruk, Fran:kHn...Bouillon accepted the in,Vitation to be the principal spea;ker just before his return to France as Minister of Bropaganda in the caJbinet of Painleve. John P. Mitchell, the may;or of New Yol'lk presided. This meeting, at which the repre,sen!batives of the Ailied armies were present, had a consideraible pro1p aganda significance since it broke the ice of indifference of American journalists. Franklin-Bouillon, who spdke in E':nglish, addressed the men of the "CzechoSlovak" nation and appealed to t:hem to join the Legion. He was the first influential sitatesman who pulblicly voiced the dismemberment of Austria~Hungary. This statement of Franklin-Bouillon created a sensation in Amer1can political circles; (12). 1 In order to facilitate contaict between our groups and government officials, Stefanik changed the Slav Press Bu(10) Vojta Benes: "Nase revoluce." Vol. II, PP. 46-49. (11) K. Pergler: "Nase revoluce." Vol. II ,p. 321. (12) Ar. Bares: "Stefanikuv memorial," p_ · 36. 46 SLOVAKIA reau, originally formed as a bureau of propaganda, into a branch of the Czecho-.Slo,v ak National Committee. He gave the authority to deal in political matters to Charles Pergler. Stefanik thus sucoeeded in realizing his pre-,war dream. of gaining his American countrymen in an armed r~bellion against Austria-Hungary although, in truth, not to the extent he had hoped for. Having completed his. worlk in Ame'l'ica he again turned his efforts and energies toward Europe where much still remained to be done. At the request presented on Octolber 14, 1917, to the War Ministry by General Vignal oif Washington in which he reported that Stefanik had aJbout completed his mission, Stefanik was granted permission to return to France. In November, Vignal telegraphed that Stefani!k would return with the first transport of Czecho""Slorvak troo'Ps and that he would be. free to organize the Czechs in France. In his reports to the Minister of Wa~, Vignal highly praised Stefaniik's work in America. I quote from the tefogirams sent on November 5 and December 5: "He proved to posse,s s the highest degree of tact, disciipline and sense :for orga.n ization. His pel'.'.sonal influence in all matters was such that no mis'OOderstanding arose during his stay and all the Cz~~h groll!ps followed his directions. . . . I aim not aJble to praise suffi~iently this great patriot, coolheaded and insipi:red 'by the most honest and highest feelings. F'ull of taot and wisdom, he gained the sympathies of the highest officials of the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he o:rganized with the greatest success the re:cnciting oif the Czecho-SlovaJks (13). Acc,o rding to Benes, Steifaniik :returned to Paris on Novemiber 16 whe:re he con;tinued in his wor,k of organizing the Czecho ...Slovak army. • Editor's Note: Today it is customar;y even for the Ozechs and so--called "Ozechoslovaks" to cl'aim and acclaim Stefanik But Stefanik was not a Czech, nor a "Orechoslovia:k" (a SlO'VaJk in the pay of the Czoohs), but a true Slovak paitriot. Had he lived, Stefanik undou!btedly would (13) From the "Fren,oh Military Archives." SLOVAKIA 47 have fought for the liberation. of his people from all alien tyranny, including the Czech brand as represented by T. G. Masaryk an.d Benes. S,lo,vaJks eveTywhere commemorate May 4th as Stefani'k Day, because it was on May 4, 1919, that their beloved wair hero crashed to his death in a plaine which was "a~cidentally" shot down by a Czech garrison at Vajnory, Slovakia. Many Slovaiks even todiay will tell you 1:!hat Stefanik haid to die, because he never consented to his Slovakiia being a colony o,£ the imperialistic Czechs led by T. G. Masarylk and Benes. On May 4, 1954, Slova,ks everywhere will recall: "it was 35 yeaI'S ago thait Stefarnk was killed by the men who resented his warnings rugainst Bolshevism. " • • • SLOVAK FOLKLORE GOLDILOCKS Once UlpOn a time there was a very poor blacksmith. At one time 'he fared weH, but then hard times struck, he had little work to do., and his wiife and small children were always hungry. Finally he lost everything; at hOlme he had not!hing left but seven ,pennies. His undernourished children cried constantly for something to eat until the blacksmith could stand it no longer. In his despair he boU!ght a rope witlh his last seven ,p ennies and started out for the hills to end it all. When he came into the hills, he sought out a stout branch on a mighty tree to which he fixed the roipe. As the bla;cksmith was a;bout to tie the rope albout his neck, a ,pretty black maiden suddenly appeared .b efore him and pleaded wHJh him not to hang himself, 1b ecause that was not a nice thing to do and, then, it was also a sin. The b,lacksmith was stunned when the black maiden disappeared into the nowhere whence she had come. As he waliked along, his mind wandered baok home where misery and want ruled and again he became despondent. U!P went his rope onto another stout ,h ranch. .&gain the blaJCk maiden s,uddemy appeaired out of the blue and begged him not to commit such an ugly deed. In a quadary, the blactksmith shoo'k his head, bwt said nothing. He did not throw away his rope, but stood  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 Milan Rastislav Štefánik Description An account of the resource Stephanie O. Hušek Slovakia, Vol. 4, No. 1 (10), March 1954 pp. 33-47 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hušek, Stephanie O. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1954 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/a6872378d4dbf0882e70e8a082c7bb8f.pdf d57149a0c89cf67c84e175d92a34692f PDF Text Text 140 SLOVAKIA Youth, Our Hope Pavol 0. Hviezdoslav O youth, our hope, the keeper o! dawn's promises, you rule the maytime, you bank all springtime treasure~ and blessed is your stewardship. To you I turn from pensive brooding, from distant gloomy vistas lightly silver-frosted now, and call: "Seize the keys; unclose that Eden shut to us!" Your cheek is lovely, tinged as with the morning flame; your eye casts rays like early beams shot from the dawn; your soul is halcyon-skied-unspoiled by wayward cloud; you pollen-powdered lips are sweet with instant song; swift as lightning flashes is your mind.-Turn the keys! Reveal lost paradise to us! Speed on with swarming bees, delight in fields fruited with gold-crested blooms and fair feasts of standing oak. Swiftly then return with viands rich and wholesome. When foul marauders come-ominous teeming cloud.sand winter cold invades the land-too soon alas!may our hive bear nor want nor ill. And yet have time for sportive play-lark-free exult in flight, indulge your age. You grow in healthful play. Ho! for a merry tune! Delight in song and dance, celebrate your youthfulness; trip a lively step: skip, leap and whirl! Let trembling earth return your beat. that joy may be at home with us. Then back to work! (Here truly is the fuller share of life's purpose.) Strive manfully with giantlike strength; don chivalric gear; unfold your eagle wingspread. For what bold quest? -The free reign of truth, a sure fount of good, beauty's crown: autonomy of spirit. O! restore our long-lost paradise! Translated by Sr. M. Martina Tybor, SS. C. M . Jankola Library Danville, Pa. 17821 � 140 SLOVAKIA Youth, Our Hope Pavol 0. Hviezdoslav O youth, our hope, the keeper o! dawn's promises, you rule the maytime, you bank all springtime treasure~ and blessed is your stewardship. To you I turn from pensive brooding, from distant gloomy vistas lightly silver-frosted now, and call: "Seize the keys; unclose that Eden shut to us!" Your cheek is lovely, tinged as with the morning flame; your eye casts rays like early beams shot from the dawn; your soul is halcyon-skied-unspoiled by wayward cloud; you pollen-powdered lips are sweet with instant song; swift as lightning flashes is your mind.-Turn the keys! Reveal lost paradise to us! Speed on with swarming bees, delight in fields fruited with gold-crested blooms and fair feasts of standing oak. Swiftly then return with viands rich and wholesome. When foul marauders come-ominous teeming cloud.sand winter cold invades the land-too soon alas!may our hive bear nor want nor ill. And yet have time for sportive play-lark-free exult in flight, indulge your age. You grow in healthful play. Ho! for a merry tune! Delight in song and dance, celebrate your youthfulness; trip a lively step: skip, leap and whirl! Let trembling earth return your beat. that joy may be at home with us. Then back to work! (Here truly is the fuller share of life's purpose.) Strive manfully with giantlike strength; don chivalric gear; unfold your eagle wingspread. For what bold quest? -The free reign of truth, a sure fount of good, beauty's crown: autonomy of spirit. O! restore our long-lost paradise! Translated by Sr. M. Martina Tybor, SS. C. M . Jankola Library Danville, Pa. 17821 � 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 140 SLOVAKIA Youth, Our Hope Pavol 0. Hviezdoslav O youth, our hope, the keeper o! dawn's promises, you rule the maytime, you bank all springtime treasure~ and blessed is your stewardship. To you I turn from pensive brooding, from distant gloomy vistas lightly silver-frosted now, and call: "Seize the keys; unclose that Eden shut to us!" Your cheek is lovely, tinged as with the morning flame; your eye casts rays like early beams shot from the dawn; your soul is halcyon-skied-unspoiled by wayward cloud; you pollen-powdered lips are sweet with instant song; swift as lightning flashes is your mind.-Turn the keys! Reveal lost paradise to us! Speed on with swarming bees, delight in fields fruited with gold-crested blooms and fair feasts of standing oak. Swiftly then return with viands rich and wholesome. When foul marauders come-ominous teeming cloud.sand winter cold invades the land-too soon alas!may our hive bear nor want nor ill. And yet have time for sportive play-lark-free exult in flight, indulge your age. You grow in healthful play. Ho! for a merry tune! Delight in song and dance, celebrate your youthfulness; trip a lively step: skip, leap and whirl! Let trembling earth return your beat. that joy may be at home with us. Then back to work! (Here truly is the fuller share of life's purpose.) Strive manfully with giantlike strength; don chivalric gear; unfold your eagle wingspread. For what bold quest? -The free reign of truth, a sure fount of good, beauty's crown: autonomy of spirit. O! restore our long-lost paradise! Translated by Sr. M. Martina Tybor, SS. C. M . Jankola Library Danville, Pa. 17821  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 Youth, Our Hope Description An account of the resource Pavol O. Hviezdoslav trans. Sr. M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. Slovakia, Vol. 23 (No. 46), 1973 p. 140 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hviezdoslav, Pavol Országh, 1849-1921 Tybor, Sister M. Martina, SS.C.M. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 name SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2f686333d61a0f6f7c6836ec8b30d0b2.pdf 6871f9d1450242f7d5e2d428d3686255 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 7 Slovak Emigrants in Canada as Reflected in Diplomatic Documents (1920 - 1938) ELENA JAKESOVA Slovak emigration to Canada - not taking into account the European continental migration - can be considered one of the strongest and most significant of all of the Slovak migrations during the inter-war period. Great numbers of Slovaks moved to Canada across the Antlantic to earn some money, especially in the second half of the 1920s. 1 The inter-war years, however, represented only its second stage, because Slovaks had started to leave for the United States as early as the 1870s. The 1920s witnessed only a change in destination. The United States of America, which in 1920 contained about 620,000 Slovaks, halted that mass emigration. When the continuity of the traditional emigration had been broken partly in the year 1921, and definitely in the year 1924, the search for an alternative solution of the problem did not take long. The immigrants saw in Canada's common frontier with the United States the possibility of emigration south in the future. Therefore, Canada became in the second half of the twenties "the second chance", a kind of alternative destination of the Slovak emigrants in spite of the fact that in comparison with the USA there 1 Shipping companies transported from Slovakia to Canada in 1922 110 persons, in 1923 2029 , in 1924 2832, in 1925 2134 , in 1926 6066 , in 1927 6301 , in 1928 8184 , in 1929 4116 , in 1930 3586, in 1931 730, in 1932 522, in 1933 673 , in 1934 851, in 1935 742 , in 1936 716. Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 4, Prague, 1932) and in Statistical Yearbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Prague 1934 , 1935, 1936, 1937) . �8 SLOVAKIA were not many reasons to look for opportunities for employment on its territory. In the period up to World War I, Canada attracted only about 5,000 Slovaks. 2 As early as the beginning of the 1920s it appeared that Canada could become the alternative overseas country of destination of Slovak emigrants. That alternative began to attract not only applicants for emigration passports in Slovakia but also Czecho-Slovak diplomats, and their representatives in Canada. In elucidating the development of the stated tendency, and its impact, we chose a series of diplomatic documents, representing the activities of the Czechoslovak consulate in Montreal in the years 1920-1938 as the basis of the following essay . The most significant are those documents which give special attention to the process of emigration. The subjects of the correspondence of the Czechoslovak Consulate in Montreal were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague, and the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa.3 The Goals of this essay are limited. I will focus only on those aspects of the topic falling into the competence, tasks and activities of the Czechoslovak representatives in Canada. In consequence of the pro-emigration attitudes of the Czechoslovak government, two basic trends will coincide: Canadian immigration policy, and the development of the Slovak community in Canada. Slovak nationals represented the vast majority of all the people involved in the process of Czechoslovak emigration, especialy in the second half of the 2 Message of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate General in Montreal, IO December, I 902 to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna . Haus-Hof-und Staatsarchiv Wien, F 15, File 62, deliv . 27 December, 1902. 3 sources: Archives of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Prague (hereinafter only AFMZV), Political reports - Montreal (1920- I 938) (hereinafter PZ-M) , and Section II. National Archives, Prague (hereinafter SUA) , Fund of Ministry of Social Welfare (hereinafter MSP), Ministry of International Affairs - Old registers of 19191944 (hereinafter MV) . Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa (hereinafter PAC) , Immigration Branch (RG 76) , Vol. 198 Consul General of Czechoslovakia, Montreal , Quebec (1922-1940) (File 80671) , Vol. 251 Czechoslovakia, Passports (1924-1939) (File 183211), Vol. 616 Czechoslovaks (File 916207) . �SLOVAKIA 9 1920s .4 This fact accounted for the basis for the final ethnic identification of the newly-formed community in the Canadian environment, and, at the same time, determined the attitudes, and activities of the Czechoslovak Representatives in Canada. The first diplomatic contacts between Czechoslovakia and Canada were established on the consular level in Montreal in November of 1920. Bohuslav K. Ryznar was appointed the first Czechoslovak Consul. The Consulate was subordinated to the Czechoslovak Embassy in London, which corresponded with the arrangements of the relations between London and Ottawa. Despite the urgent request of B . K . Ryznar to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague, the functional designation of the Consulate in Montreal was not changed in the years 1920-1922 . He stressed the fact that "Canada is absolutely a self-governing country, and does not pay any taxes , duties or other allowances to the British Empire to be used by the army or navy. There is no British soldier, and no British warship in the whole territory of the Dominion .. ."5 B. K. Ryznar submitted several arguments to support his request for changing the Montreal office's rank to Consulate General. He suggested that the Governor General of Canada, the federal government, and the ministries in Ottawa entered into contacts only with accredited diplomats on the level of Consuls General. 6 Therefore, lower consular rankings resulted in the absence of contacts and information which, to a great extent, limited the possibility of diplomatic activity. Despite the Consul's assurances that eventual installation of a Consul General would not increase the budget, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague strictly refused the request.7 4 comparing the number of emigrants from Czechoslovakia to Canada during the years 1922-1932 with the number of emigrants from Slovakia for the same period, we have found that 83% were Slovaks, and only 17% were Czechs . If we compared it with the number of inhabitants , the difference would be even more extreme . Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 4, Prague , 1932). 5AFMZV, PZ-M, year I 921, No. 19, 27 . 6. 1921. 6With the addition that of all European countries, only Czechoslovakia and Portugal had their Consulates in Canada. AFMZV , PZ-M, year 1921 , No . 9, 17 . 2. 1921 . 7AFMZV , PZ-M, year 1921, No. 10 (B . ve .). �SLOVAKIA In reply to the refusal , the Consul Ryznar again reminded the Ministry of the difficulties connected with the execution of his mission : "The situation looks as if the Prague centre has to seek information on the territory from Brittany to the foot of the Urals, and from Cadiz to Hamerfest, without any auxiliary offices and means" .8 These basic arguments - i. e. the inferior position of the representation , and the large size of Canada - were, for a certain period, the most effective tool in the hands of the Czechoslovak Consul in Canada to be used whenever he was obliged to take a stand , or to characterize some generally valid phenomenon. The taking of such an attitude was under those circumstances understandable. The presence and activity of the first Czechoslovak Consul in Canada represented but the first stage of the Czechoslovak diplomatic activity in Canada, aimed at the gradual acquisition and transmission to the Czechoslovak Government of essential information on anything he considered important, including the care for his own nationals, with special attention paid to immigrants coming to the country. Taking into account the goal of the present essay , it is important to stress first of all the Consul's investigation of the state of the regional community of his fellow-countrymen. This all formed a part of the information sent at the beginning of 1920 to the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague. He characterized it as follows : 11 ••• a colony of Czechoslovak nationals representing over five thousand persons living in the whole Dominion , i. e. an area equal to the extent of the United States of North America ... , it is , however, insufficiently organized, and could not be used as a decisive element to support any political faction .. . Also the interest of the Czechoslovak farmers settled in the province of Saskatchewan are quite different from those of the miners in Nova Scotia, living apart a distance of about four thousand kilometers. It will be very difficult to unify them and to make them act together" _9 It is obvious that recognizing the small numbers in the community provoked both interested parties to consider the further possibi8AFMZV , PZ-M,year 1921 , No . 19, 27. 6. 1921. 9AFMZV , PZ-M , year 1921, No . 2, File No . 10/21. �SLOVAK.IA 11 lities of its growth. These appeared already in 1921 in connection with the increasing interest in emigration from Czechoslovakia, and also with the growing threat of the limitation of immigration by the US Government. Therefore, the future Canadian immigration policy , and especially its relation to Central Europe, became the primary area of interest of the Czechoslovak Consulate in Montreal. The formulation dealing with the diffusion and disorganization of the colony had the hidden agenda of the further activity of the Czechoslovak Consulate - i.e. co-operation with the community in order to unify it as far as its organization is concerned, and, in this way, to shape its future direction. A matter of question, however, was - by which means and in what manner should it be done? The organizational and political attitudes chosen by the consular authorities in relationship to the Slovak community is the principal topic of this essay. The diplomatic communiques themselves contained certain signals in answer to the question because there the community was referred to as a colony of Czechoslovak nationals, without more detailed ethnic identification. Despite the fact that the first impression acquired by the Czechoslovak side from the trends in Canadian immigration policy was not in any way favourable - "the Canadian authorities obstructed the immigrants" 10 - the Consul reported to Prague at the beginning of 1921 that the consular office succeeded in finding some indications of change. Public debates began to mould opinions that, with respect to the growing need for cheap labour, it was necessary to retain the principle of a priority in the selection of immigrants, i. e. not to prefer Britons as the representatives of the "mother country" of Canada, but to permit a bit of benevolence in the selection of the immigrants. 11 It was decided by the Consulate to seize the opportunity immediately. The federal Department of Immigration and Colonization in IOAFMZV, Sec . II ., Reg . 531, File No . 514, 4.2.1921. 11 AFMZV, PZ-M, year 1921, No . 19, an article published in The Montreal Daily Star, 4. 6. 1921 , "Repudiation , Annexation or Population". �12 SLOVAKIA Ottawal 2 was asked in November of 1922 to provide statistical data on the number of Czechoslovak immigrants in Canada, and, at the same time, to inform the Consulate about the willingness of the Canadian government to accept the immigration and settlement of Czechoslovak nationals in Canada,13 This initiative of the Czechoslovak Consul was premature. The department took a very reserved attitude. Its Secretary, F. C. Blair, provided only the requested statistical data, and completely omitted the problem connected with the possibility of immigration from Czechoslovakia. 14 It is, therefore, clear that it was only the Czechoslovak side which initiated and tried to recommend its own citizens as suitable potential immigrants to Canada. Despite the fact that this effort had been ignored, the Consul Ryznar was not discouraged. He went on searching for some sign of permissivness in the Canadian immigration policy towards the Continent and concretely to Central Europe. He tried to convince the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also the Ministry of Social Welfare, that he was doing his best to search for possibilities for Slovak applicants for emigration to countries other than to the USA. The Consul constantly tried to find some solution and began to consider the most attractive the idea of the Canadian immigration officials - i. e. to attract peasants, who, unlike the British colonists coming mainly from towns, and again settled in towns in Canada, would be able and willing to farm in Canada, to cutlivate the virgin land, and to revive the economy of the country.15 He saw such a solution in Central Europe. Ryznar had been so encouraged with the possibility of Slovak immigration that he decided at the beginning of 1923 to send another letter to F. C. Blair. He did so in order to get some information about the new policy of settlement being enforced by certain political 12The Department of Immigration and Colonization, an independent Department of the Federal Government, came into existence in 1917 through its separation from the Ministry of the Interior. 13 PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 198, File 80671 , 11. I 1. 1922. 14 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 28 . 11.1922. 15 AFMZV, PZ-M, year 1922, No. 7, 4.12 . 1922. �SLOVAKIA 13 circles . His primary goal was, however, again to remind the Canadian government of Czechoslovakia, and its peasantry applying for immigration visas. He stressed in his letter that he had been urged by his own government, and primarily by the Ministry of Social Welfare, which was greatly interested in the possibility of immigration of its citizens to Canada. In another letter he told of the intention of the above-mentioned Ministry to subscribe to the most significant Canadian newspaper in order to receive information on the programme of the settlement of the country, and at the same time to find missing information for numerous applicants for emigration, i.e. the citizens of Czechoslovakia.16 His efforts to attract the attention of the highest authorities of the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization brought some results in the end. The Czechoslovak Ministry of Social Welfare was finally put on the list of the addresses of the immigration press being issued by the Department of Immigration and Colonization. 17 Above all, those institutions realised that Czechoslovakia was offering a certain part of its peasantry with the assurance that they certainly would be very suitable future colonists . The explanation of the following could be found in the activity of the Czechoslovak Consulate: when in the autumn of 1923 a great need for a cheap labor force emerged in Canada in connection with the logging of old wood in forests, and its preparation for further processing in sawmills, representing in itself very heavy manual work, the citizens of British or French origin did not want to do it. Therefore, the Department of Immigration and Colonization met the demands of some entrepreneurial circles and agreed with the submitted proposal to obtain suitable lumberjacks in Central Europe . The Minister of Immigration and Colonization personally suggested that sort of labour force be sought in Czechoslovakia. He explained it in the following manner: "based on the information received, applicants for emigration from Czechoslovakia are said to have some experience with agricultural work, and also the prerequisites for 16pAc, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671 , 27 . 2. 1923. 17PAC , RG 76 , Vol. 198 , File 80671 , 7. 3. 1923. �14 SLOVAKIA managing methods used in Canadian agriculture in order to become true Canadian farmers in the end" .1 8 The Consulate was very proud of the results of its diplomatic mission. It interpreted its work in the following, quite inadequate, manner: "The Canadian immigration authorities prefer Czechoslovak nationals because of their good physical condition, honesty and industriousness. They find them excellent colonists , and they would be very glad to receive them" _19 In fact the Canadian authorities permitted workers at the end of 1923 in Czechoslovakia for the Canadian lumbering industry only, with only some five hundred, 20 later increased to a thousand workers. 21 Most of those people were obtained in Slovakia as can be seen in the statistical data of the shipping companies concerning the transporting of over two thousand persons from Slovakia to Canada during that same year.22 Immediately after the arrival of the first post-war contingent of Slovak immigrants, they faced numerous problems . The consulate in February 1924 issued the following message: "Most of those (i. e. immigrants) devoted themselves in the winter season to cutting wood. The living standards in those camps, hundreds of miles from civilization, situated in vast forests , are hardly enviable .. . They work from early morning till late at night. They eat food prepared in a common kitchen and pay for it through the reduction of their salaries. The employer provides workers with clothes and other requisites paid for in the above-mentioned manner. It is obvious that our fellows , knowing neither the language nor the customs , are in an endless wilderness thrown at the mercy of dishonest officials, and some problems had to be solved through the consular authorities with the director or owner of the company in order to ensure their protection" .23 18 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 3. 11. 1923. 19.-;;:,UA, , MSP, Reg. 3894, No. 2028 , 2. 6. 1923. 20PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt. 1, 18. 10. 1923. 21SUA, MSP, Reg. 3899, File 847, 20. 2. 1924. 22 Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 3, Prague, 1928). 23SUA, MSP, Reg. 3899, File 847 , 20.2. 1924. �SLOVAKIA 15 In addition to the difficult position of a part of the Slovak immigrants in lumber camps, there were also other problems . The Canadian authorities offered, in fact only seasonal work. That meant that in the spring of the year 1924, when the season had ended, the immigrants were on their own. A part of them started to drift to Montreal, and other cities, especially those near the American border. It was clear in the end that the first group of post-war immigrants had come to Canada with a clear goal: to get around the restrictive immigration measures imposed by the American authorities, and to get to the United States via Canada,24 where their relatives and friends were already settled. Numerous requests of the immigrants to solve this problem were a heavy burden for the Czechoslovak consular officials .25 All their efforts, however, were useless. At least a one-year stay of the immigrant in Canada was a necessary precondition to receiving a visa to the USA. The situation of the Slovak lumberjacks was very difficult to resolve. The Czechoslovak Consulate tried to avoid growing difficulties caused partly by its own activity. The Czechoslovak authorities were immediately asked to inform passport offices about issuing emigration visas to Canada only to those applicants willing to settle permanently in Canada. 26 In order to stop the growth of further complications, the Consulate again addressed the Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa to provide it with the form, or the text of the agreement usually concluded between the employer and employee.27 The letter also expressed the Government's interest in receiving more detailed information about living conditions of the 1mmigrants in Canada. The highest Canadian authorities answered the letter immediately. They informed the Consulate that neither an agreement form, nor any legislative criteria, existed in Canada for concluding contracts. As far as the securing of certain living standards for immigrants was concerned, living conditions were different in various 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 26 Ibid. 27PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 198 , File 80671 , 16. 4.1924 . �16 SLOVAKIA parts of the country and what was offered was generally considered sufficient. 28 It was too late and quite useless to ask those questions. We know that the Canadian government authorities cared for the problems of their own poorest workers even less than for the Czechoslovak ones, and there was no motivation to help the immigrants, coming without any financial means, and at their own risk. It follows from the above that, at the beginning of 1924, the activity of the Consulate had to orient itself to immigration from Czechoslovakia. It had to decide what to do with people coming from Slovakia with the intention of going to the United States. The chance to get there was only minimal. While the Czechoslovak Consulate was asking the questions, the Slovak League of America, as the cover organization of Slovak immigrants in the USA, took the initiative. Many Slovak immigrants in Canada turned to it with requests for help, because the CanadianSlovak community itself was small in number, lost over the huge territory, and therefore could not support them. In the summer of 1924, the Slovak League sent its delegate to Canada to investigate the situation. Upon his arrival the delegate confirmed the fact that the immigrants had come to Canada with the goal of getting into the USA. At the same time he informed the American-Slovak public that "the prisons on the frontier are full of our people caught when they tried to get to the USA illegally" .29 After receiving that information, the executive of the Slovak League decided to publish information about the hopeless situation of most of the Slovak immigrants in Canada in magazines in Slovakia. 30 Thus a short article published later in numerous Slovak magazines came into being. The text of it was more than meaningful: "The representative of the Slovak League of America who had been sent to Canada reported about a sad group there. Over 12,000 of them are living there and suffer awfully. They cannot find work, and when they get 28PAC , RG 76, Vol. 198 , File 80212 , 25 . 4. 1924. 29 Minutes of the session of the delegates of the Slovak organizations in America organized by the executive of the Slovak League , held in Pittsburgh, Pa ., 18 . December of 1924. In: Slovak v Amerike, 51, No. 37, 2. 3. 1925, p. 3. 3oIbid. �SLOVAKIA 17 it, they have to work in the Canadian virgin forests and are paid only a pittance. Their feet and hands are frost-bitten and some of them even went mad" _31 The disclosure of the irresponsibility of the Czechoslovak and Canadian authorities who had prepared and organized the immigration , upset not only American Slovaks and people in Slovakia, it also affected diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and Canada. The Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa was probably informed directly through the British Ambassador in Prague . A letter was immediately sent to the Czechoslovak Consul in Montreal containing - a slightly paraphrased - "anxiety about the fact that the published information on the situation in Canada does not correspond with reality" _32 At the same time Ottawa asked the Consul to inform it about the Slovak League of America. They were mostly interested in whether the organization had a branch in Canada consisting of the proper members, and finally asked the Consul about the alleged problem, i. e. whether he was really informed about a greater number of Slovak immigrants in Canada who had not found work.33 In his answer B. K. Ryznar suggested to the Minister W. J. Egan that the Slovak League of America was a strong organization with half a million members. He assured him, however, that the organization had not had any branch in Canada. 34 As he had not ment to destroy his previous efforts in the field of creating premises for acceptance of immigrants from Czechoslovakia, he to a certain extent negated the arguments of the above-mentioned article, and assured Ottawa that there were not many unemployed Slovaks in Canada. In order not to minimize his duties and problems connected with the execution of his mission, Ryznar mentioned in his letter having heard only about the complaints of the immigrants concerning irregular practices applied by the employers and the labour 3 IE. g. Sloven ska domovina, 7, No. 6, 5. 2. I 925, p. 2. 32 As in Note 29 . 33PAC , RG 76, Vol. 616 , File 916207, pt . I, 10. 2. 1925 . 34Toe Slovak League of America had but one subsidiary in Canada, at Fort William , Ontario, founded in 1916, havi ng one hundred and fifty members. �18 SLOVAKIA agencies, and their attempts to misuse them. His attitude to the whole problem was contrary to the facts .35 The above-mentioned problem had been disturbing to both interested parties, and therefore the Department in Ottawa decided to inform the Czechoslovak authorities in order to elucidate somehow the problems of unemployment and basic social care provided to the Slovak immigrants. The information was , however, only general , covering but the job opportunities offered by Canada to the immigrants . Job opportunities were represented principally by seasonal work for agricultural workers. The number of needed seasonal workers was very difficult to determine ahead of time. The Department cleared up only the problem of the salaries offered. They assured the Czechoslovak authorities that the minimum monthly salary had to be 25 dollars , at the same time admitting even higher wages in case of additional seasonal work.36 But the Czechoslovak authorities wanted to make the problem clear. Therefore, they sent a delegate on a mission to Eastern Canada. He could only confirm the well-known facts about the difficulties of a part of the new Slovak immigrants. The most serious of them represented unemployment on the one hand, and unpaid salaries for work done on the other. The employers, for various reasons, often refused to pay the immigrants. They were sure that it was quite impossible to claim their salaries through the courts, as no service contracts had been concluded with the immigrants. 37 Together with the arrival of a greater number of immigrants, and especially when the lumbering season had ended, a tendency appeared during 1924 among groups of immigrants settling in Montreal to be near the residence of the Czechoslovak Consulate. Growing unemployment was the motive for their concentration. The officials saw the reasons for immigrants remaining in the big cities in their apparent aversion to working on farms, and in their false illusions of 35PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt . I, 14.2.1925. 36 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt. I, 26.3.1925. 37SUA, MSP, Reg . 3803, No . 10219, 2.5. 1925. �SLOVAKIA 19 better salaries in cities. The immigrants hoped to find in Montreal an advanced industry, as was the case in cities of the United States .38 Social dislocation, therefore, became the decisive experience of the people. This motivated them during the summer 1924 to support each other through a co-operative association. 39 The forming of the ethnically homogenous Slovak group in Montreal, welded together by common problems, could not be ignored by the Czechoslovak Consul. He reported to Prague in detail about the two Slovaks in Montreal, who strove to establish a "Slovak Benefit Society". He added, however, that their task was very difficult, because of the small and ever-changing number of the Slovaks in Montreal, as most of them were looking for work, and their stay in the city was temporary .40 He also reported on the activity of the Slovak League of America, aimed at the organization of Slovak immigrants in Canada. The League sent its delegate to Montreal to investigate the situation. According to the Consul there was no response to the efforts of that Slovak-American organization in Canada. His opinion was, that the representative of the Slovak League "had not been accepted positively by his fellow-countrymen" _41 It is clear that the associative efforts of the Slovak immigrants were from the very beginning followed very carefully by the Consulate. The fact that the Slovak immigrants had decided to go their own way inspired the Consulate General to act in accordance with its original intention to organize the whole community in Canada, representing several thousand. At the beginning the Consulate tried to control the activity of the newly-formed association of Slovaks in Montreal. The Consul Ryznar, as soon as he arrived in 1920, decided to enter in a most decisive manner into the life of the community. But there was little hope of realizing that because of the originally small 38 Jbid. 39The association was founded by Gabriel Kurdel and F. Capkovic , at the end of 1924, in the first Slovak restaurant in Montreal , named "Tatra" . It was opened by F. Capkovic in the spring of I 924 . From the letter of G . Kurdel to the author dated 8. 12. 1974. (Personal archives of the author) . 40 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1924, No. 8, 8. 9. 1924. 41 Ibid. �20 SLOVAKIA number of the Slovak immigrants scattered across the vast Canadian lanscape. That all prevented him from managing the situation. Therefore, in his diplomatic agenda, he prudently suggested that the Slovak inhabitants in Canada were not organized as they could not be organized. But, as it is known from the diplomatic agenda of the former Austro-Hungarian Consuls General in Canada, the truth was just opposite. The Slovaks in Canada did organize already at the tum of the 19th and 20th centuries but not in their own associations. They were establishing in Canada numerous branches of American-Slovak associations. This resulted in subordinating them to centres in the USA, thus connecting more tightly the Canadian Slovaks with American ones, rather than the Slovaks living across Canada. With respect to the above-mentioned facts, the Czechoslovak Consul did not consider uniting the Canadian-Slovak community possible. This made him believe in the end that the Slovaks in Canada were not organized at all. The alternative of establishing new associations after World War I was impossible. In 1922 the Consul expressed his attitude in the following manner: "there are not suitable conditions here for establishing Czechoslovak associations" .42 It follows that he really intended to establish not only new associations, but also to make those already existing acquire the status of Czechoslovak ones, i. e. to conform to the Czechoslovak stateforming conception, and to manifest it in concrete organizational forms of their foreign enclave. When it was necessary to explain the reasons preventing him from realizing his plans, the Consul stressed the fact that there was a conflict between his intentions and the Slovak attitude represented by the strong pro-Hungarian orientation of the greatest concentration of the pre-war Slovak immigrants in Fort William, Ontario.43 About six hundred to one thousand and two hundred Slovaks were living there. The pro-Hungarian tendencies of that nationally and organizationally unified group of the Slovak immigrants coming mostly from 4 2SuA . MSP, Reg . 3894, No . 2313, 26. 6. 1922. 43 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1922, File 36 d, 25.4. 1922. �SLOVAKIA 21 the Orava region - which was in the period before the World War I known as an area nearly untouched by the process of magyarization - "were explained" very simply: those Slovaks had attended Hungarian schools and immigrated to Canada from Hungarian lands. We must add, however, that he, himself, doubted his statements about the pro-Hungarian manifestations of the Fort William Slovaks with the confession about getting his information "second hand" . Later on, he made use of his statements about magyarized Slovaks as a serious obstacle to the enforcement of the Czechoslovak philosophy. He said that the pro-Hungarian tendencies were permanently supported both by former Austro-Hungarian and new Hungarian Consuls in Canada during his journeys across Canada where the Hungarians had lived together with the Slovaks.44 The Czechoslovak Consul made use of that fact. He remarked that he himself as a Consul had not been able to travel along the consular "region" by permission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs even after his three years' stay in Canada.45 In such a way he brought forward both the "principal", and other, i.e. "technical" cause of his temporary failure in relation to the Slovak community in Canada. We must say, however, that arguments such as the long distances between Montreal and individual Slovak settlements, the absence of contact with them, or surviving pro-Hungarian emotions among regional inhabitants, as well as the existence of no chance to change it, also survived. They could never be used to characterize the newly-forming associations of Slovak immigrants. The consul chose quite a different explanation. As he himself noted in the consular report, he had evaluated the activity of "the Czechoslovak citizens coming from Slovakia". In relationship to the existing foreign-political conception of the unitary Czechoslovak state, and the officialy-accepted theory of the Czechoslovak nation as well, he started to characterize the new associative tendencies of Montreal's Slovaks as the activation of anti-Czech 44 AFMZ, PZ-M , year 1924, No . 6. 11. 11. 1924. 4SAFMZ, PZ-M , year 1923, No. 13. 13 . 12. 1923 . �22 SLOVAKIA ideas, and the spreading of treasonous ideas brought apparently by Slovak immigrants and spread among fellow-countrymen. 46 Characterization of the associative tendencies of the Slovak immigrants in Montreal as anti-Czech, or even treasonous, was naive , and in the end turned against the Consulate itself. The Consulate had immediately to respond, and to eliminate the manifestations of the Slovak separatists represented, and replace them with the associative efforts of helpless immigrants. The Consul was supposed to initiate an unifying processes and make the Slovak immigrants accept their organization with those Czech immigrants who had settled in Montreal long before. It was, however, very difficult to find a proper way to solve the problem. There were only a few Czech immigrants living in Montreal. 47 They were mostly older inhabitants, and besides, they were on a higher social level, with other interests and needs. The Slovaks, meanwhile, were not in the least interested in any sort of social activity, or even "making policy". Therefore even the old traditional and experienced way of ideologically influencing the community, as it was suggested by the Czechoslovak authorities - i. e. to issue a newspaper - was considered inappropriate, and even useless. Migrating Slovaks searching all the time for jobs would not accept any newspaper _48 The following "solution" proved the most suitable one: the Canadian public was informed through an article published in The Montreal Daily Star in December of 1924 about the organization of "the Czechoslovak citizens in order to establish an independent association of Czechoslovak immigrants" .49 When, at the beginning of 1925, B. K. Ryznar finished his diplomatic mission to Canada (from January 1923 he was Consul General) the Montreal Slovak community was already officialy represented by the Czechoslovak 46 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1924, No. 8. 8.9.1924. 47 Before World War I, thirteen Czech families and one Slovak family lived in Montreal. In: Rybnfcek, A.: "Vzpomfnky starousadlfka." I:udove zvesti, 26, No. 40 , I 9. 10. 1961, p. 14. 48 AFMZ, PZ-M , year 1924, No . 12. 11. 11 . 1924. 4 9"Society formed to aid Czechs . New body will assist immigrants to prosper here". The Montreal Daily Star, 16. 12. 1924 . PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616 , File 916207, pt. I . �SLOVAKIA 23 Benefit Society. An internal conflict existed, however, concerning its name, emerging from time to time with greater or less intensity ,50 as the roots of a sort of natural alliance were missing.51 The beginning of 1925, connected with the end of B. K. Ryznar's diplomatic mission, and the coming of the new Consul General F. V. Kveton, represented a break in the immigration policy of Canada. Thanks to favourable economic-political decisions of the Canadian Government to end the policy of favouring immigrants from Great Britain, psychologically and physically not sufficiently prepared to do hard agricultural work in the Canadian wilderness, resulted in the recruitment of immigrants - mainly peasants - from the Central European region. It was the poor state of the Canadian economy at the beginning of 1925 as mentioned by the federal Parliament of Canada,52 which resulted in the above-mentioned changes in immigration policy. That new alternative was, despite the poor economic situation of Canada, evaluated by the Czechoslovak authorities with great satisfaction. It seemed that the arrival of immigrants would be greatly simplified for the immigrants comming from some "selected European countries, including the Czechoslovak Republic" .53 New workers were expected to revive the Canadian economy. They, however, misunderstood each other. The Canadian politicians saw the solution in further cultivation of land and farms left by the British colonists , thus solving the urgent need for agricultural workers. In fact, most of the applicants for emigration from the 50From a letter of G. Kurdel to the author dated 8. 12. 1974. 51 Canadian immigration policy allowed from Czechoslovakia only agricultural workers. Therefore, the intelligentsia had no place among immigrants (with some few exceptions). It meant that the Slovak community had no natural leaders. Some did develop. Gabriel Kurdel was the most significant one. In connection with the newlyfounded association in Montreal, G. Kurdel in his memoires said that he had informed the new Consul General Kv~ton about existing conflicts in the association. The Consul agreed with the change of the name of the association to a Slovak one. But, according to his memoirs, when he submitted his proposal to the leaders of the association, represented by Czech fellow-countrymen, they commented on it as follows: "It is nonsense". In: Memoirs of G. Kurdel. Phone record from 26. 10. 1977. No. SLK 3023. Archives of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, Toronto. 52AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1925, No. 5. 7.2.1925. • 53~.:.UA, , MSP, Reg. 3894, File 847, 20. 2. 1924. �24 SLOVAKIA Central European region, including Slovakia, were poor people unable to participate in the Canadian programme of immigration of farming families with some capital. They could only saturate the secondary needs of the workforces , i.e. the agricultural workers on farms. The second alternative attracted primarily those applicants for emigration from Slovakia who were rejected by the United States. The number of those interested was very large. According to officials of the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague, it was nearly impossible to control the situation. The quota permitted annualy by the Canadian side could not be exceeded. The Canadians succeeded in keeping it low .54 In this way the number of Slovaks in Canada was by the end of the year 1930 increased to some 30 ,000 - 40,000 persons. 55 Czechoslobvak representatives in Montreal protested by means of a Memorandum to Minister Egan aginst the recruitment of workers without appropriate legislative requisites. The Consul stressed in the Memorandum that, according to Czechoslovak emigration law, each of the emigrants should, before their departure , be furnished with a -valid contract with the name of the employer, the location , sort of work, the duration of the employment, as well as the offered wage. 56 In response to the Memorandum, the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization considered it its duty to inform the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague only of the fact that an immigrant - agricultural worker - was to be paid 25 dollars per month with board and lodging.57 Further disputes and legally-unsolved problems were on both sides consulted usually in the following manner: in further similar inter-governmental agreements concerning the emigration and immi- 54Approximately 6,000 to 7,000 persons. 55 Archives of the President's Office, D. 12331/38. Secret message of CS . Consul General dr. F. Pavl~sek to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague about the situation among Slovaks in Canada, dated 17. 3. 1937. In: Bielik, F.: Sloven ske vys(ahovaleccvo. Dokumency III. Martin, MS 1976, doc. No. 375 . 56PAC, RG. 76, Vol. 616, File 916207 , pt. 1, 23 . 5. 1925 . 57 PAC, RG. 76, Vol. 616, File 916207 , pt. 1, 23 . 5. 1925 . �SLOVAKIA 25 gration , proper attention should be paid to the solution of the problem of concrete labour contracts.58 From the above-mentioned it follows that the period of activity of Consul General F. V. Kveton (during the years 1925-1929) reflected a considerable increase in the community, not only in Montreal or Toronto, but also in other Canadian regions. This was connected with new organizations of the immigration process. The immigrants were placed primarily on the Praires of Canada, with the organizational centre located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Consul General F. V. Kveton visited that region in 1926. On his journey across Canada he discovered an increase in Slovak colonists despite the fact that he had intended to investigate mainly the Czech settlements. He came to the conclusion that "the Czechoslovak colony" in Canada was in fact the Slovak community. He stressed that fact in his report . Fort William was, according to him , the most significant and stable Slovak city. He estimated that some 1,100 to 1,200 Slovak souls were concentrated there with their own Catholic parish, and a nice church. He said that the Slovaks were working mainly in the port, loading and unloading the ships transporting goods across Lake Ontario, i. e. the inland Canadian "sea". In order to verify known opinions of his diplomatic predecessor concerning the pro-Hungarian orientation of Fort William Slovaks, he asked not only the old inhabitants , but post-war ones too. He came to the following conclusion: the community as a whole takes an autonomous attitude towards the solution of the problem of the constitutional position of Slovakia within the Czechoslovak Republic. The city of Winnipeg in Manitoba, as the destination place of his journey, was characterized as the biggest Czech settlement in Canada, with some four hundred souls, represented primarily by tailors and shoemakers. The Consul General stressed , however, the other function of Winnipeg. It was used as the "winter station" to retire in after the agricultural season on farms was over. His own opinions shifted into a different position because of having obtained new facts about the community. The Consul started 58s(JA, MV, Reg. 1015, No. 6980/1925. �26 SLOVAKIA to respond to the demands of older emigrants concerning education and national culture. He explained his attempt to the Czechoslovak authorities by the need to preserve national consciousness. He asked for the delivery of Slovak books for Montreal and Fort William, and above all, for a Slovak teacher for approximately two hundred school-aged children in Fort William.59 Thanks to the new consular representative, the Czechoslovak authorities were in 1926 forced to return to the problem of the social position of the Slovak immigrants. At first they started to investigate the chances of immigrants to obtain farms. Ottawa was asked questions about the place to obtain certain capital loans if an immigrant intended to do private farming.6() The federal Ministry did not intend to answer the question. The Consul was asked to address the responsible institutions, and first of all the Secretary of the Association of Canadian Bankers 61 who had offered him information on the existence of credit permitted by the Government in 1926 to be used exclusively for the purchase of agricultural land, the construction of houses, and affiliated buildings, for the purchase of cattle, irrigation systems, construction, etc.62 Despite a positive answer, no references were found in the archives referring to the use of that aid by Slovak immigrants. Because of those circumstances, the arrival of the two delegates from Czechoslovakia was a matter of question. They were invited by the Canadian Pacific Railway to investigate local conditions for settlement of independent families with some capital. Research has shown that there were only a few solvent families leaving Slovakia for Canada. Therefore, the information offered by the host company was quite useless for ordinary Slovak immigrants.63 Another delegate of the Ministry of Social Welfare offered to the interested Ministries information about his journey to Canada in the spring 1927 . He considered the position of Slovak agricultural workers as gene59S(JA, MSP, Reg. 3894, No. 6588. 6()PAC, RG . 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 10. 6. 1926. 61PAC, RG . 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, I 7. 6. 1926. 62SCJA, MSP, Reg . 3965, 2782/26. 63SCJA, MV, Reg . 1015, 498/1927. �SLOVAKIA 27 rally bad. He presented the following facts: they were working without any contract between them and their employers, and thrown on the mercy of the farmers. Above all, they were working without any health or accident insurance. No such insurance existed in Canada. Only Railways and larger industries had their own insurance systems. The afflicted immigrant could be protected only through a benefit society of fellow-countrymen, or by Canadian charity institutions. 64 When the Consulate had intervened in the Canadian Department it was offered a long list of the agencies and associations entitled to protecting the interests of immigrants in Canada.65 During the following year quite different opinions appeared among fellow-countrymen, evaluating the situation of Slovak immigrants. Some of them had strongly criticized their position because they had to be regularly aided through the Slovak League of America. Others were satisfied, pointing to those individuals living in Canada for a long time who became rich. The most objective evaluation, however, resulted from the latest information gathered during the years 1924-1927. It was as follows: "Fellow-countrymen are not for the time being doing well" _66 Evidence about it was provided by the Czechoslovak Consulate in Canada in a document published in Slovak newspapers. The title of the mentioned article was "Information for Those Emigrating to Canada" .67 It analysed the social conditions of Slovak immigrants in Canada, considered them to be insufficient, thus preventing others from making the decision to leave for Canada to work. The intention to get through Canada to the USA was considered nonsense. There were many profiteers promising to get people secretly over the borders to the USA, extorting their last money. The Consulate warned people because the promises had been false. Those profiteers were interested only in their hard-earned money. 64 SUA, MV, Reg . 1015, No . 27464/1927, 11.4. 1927. 65 S0A, MSP, Reg . 3965 , File 6849/1927, 28. 12. 1927. 66 Kopac, A.: "Ako sa zije na~fm v Kanade?", I:udova politika, 3, 1927, p. 3. 67 Narodnie noviny, 58., No . 50, 29. 4. 1927 , p. 3. No . 207, 15. 9. �28 SLOVAKIA Despite those facts, the Consul Kveton sent in the summer of 1928 an optimistic report to Prague about enough job opportunities, and that there was no unemployment among the immigrants. 68 He was, however, undoubtly conscious of the fact that critical situations were emerging after seasonal work was over, i.e. during the longlasting winter. It was almost the same by the end of the year 1928 . The unemployed started, as usual, to concentrate in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and other cities. That concentration resulted in great associative activity. Consular reports paid special attention primarily to the activity of the Slovak League of America, which had succeeded in establishing its subsidiaries in Canada in the years 1927 and 1928 (in Toronto and Montreal, and a year before also in Winnipeg). For most Slovak immigrants in Canada membership in those organizations was quite necessary, because they had been aiding them in case of illnesses, or accidents. However, the activity of the Slovak League did not correspond with the above-mentioned intentions of the Czechoslovak Consulate. The Committee for Emigration was immediately addressed with urgent demands for the Government to provide some financial aid to the co-operative association in Montreal to cover its activities. 69 Such procedures did not surprise anybody. Once again the original arguments were used about the Slovaks looking for locations with older settlements of their fellow-countrymen, and gradually losing their interest in the idea of the so-called Czechoslovak nationality _?O That private opinion of the informer was in strong contradiction with the tendencies of the Slovak League being known with its identification with the Slovak autonomy programme during the inter-war years. The League was popular among the immigrants, especially for its co-operative function. The situation, however, got worse as the years went on. Unemployment was increasing, and as a result, a new phenomenon ap68S(JA , MSP, Reg. 3965, 30.11.1928 . 69S(JA, MSP, Reg . 3966, No . 21443, 28 .6.1928 . 7oIbid. �SLOVAKIA 29 peared in the diplomatic agenda as early as the winter of 1929-1930 . It concerned the deportation of Czechoslovak nationals from Canada. According to existing Canadian law a man who, during the first five years of his arrival in Canada applied for, or was provided with some public finacial aid, was considered an undesirable person, not able to conform to Canadian conditions. Such a person was to be deported to his mother country .7 1 The situation between the two countries worsened. There were frequent controversies between them. Many of the persons to be deported by the Canadians were ill or even incapacitated, either physically or psychically, and there were also criminals among them. Finally, the Czechoslovak authorities refused to accept those individuals who had not had, after a ten years' stay in Canada, re-established their Czechoslovak citizenship, or had not requested an extension of the validity of the right of domicle abroad. It is very difficult to find an accurate count of such persons,72 but they were often mentioned in diplomatic reports. It is obvious that this situation resulted from the economic crisis which broke out in 1929. The Depression affected the immigrants as never before. Besides increasing unemployment, the crisis meant also a significant reduction of the immigration quota for Czechoslovakia to two thousand people a year. This uncompromising procedure of the immigration authorities irritated the Czechoslovak Consulate so much that the Consul addressed Ottawa with an open protest. It follows from his report, sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague, that he was discussing the problem with Deputy Minister Egan in Ottawa. The Consul considered the quota unfair, and even offensive, for Czechoslovakia. The reaction of the Canadian Minister to that invective was related the Czechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs as follows: the Deputy Minister said that "if only the immigrants from Bohemia and Moravia were concerned, 71SuA , MSP, Reg. 4029, No. 4310-36. 72 PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 251 , File 183211. �30 SLOVAKIA the whole situation would have been quite different, but there was only a minimum percentage of immigrants coming those regions" .73 At the beginning of 1930 K. Kveton was ending his diplomatic mission in Montreal , and was replaced by the new Consul-General, K. Moser. The attitude of the Canadian public and the immigration authorities as well, towards the immigration policy became even more hostile . Finally, in August of 1930 immigration from Czechoslovakia was halted. Public opinion accused the Government of having caused both the crisis, and the unemployment, too, due to its rather "benevolent" immigration policy, mainly in the second half of the 1920s. According to this opinion, the labour market was saturated, resulting in unexpected problems. No improvement in the field of employment occured even after spring work had started. The situation was the same even during the harvest. Farmers were so cutting back on wages that it became quite unprofitable to travel for work to the prairie provincies. Therefore the new Consul Moser reported to Prague in June of 1930 that: "don't let the emigrants come here under these circumstances, as they would only have travel expenses and _a temporary stay here" .74 Thus the hot issue of a part of the diplomatic agenda, represented by the immigration policy, disappeared from it at the beginning of the 1930s. A natural consequence of that was only sporadic contacts between the Czechoslovak Consulate and the Federal Department for Immigration and Colonization. Due to the restriction of immigration, the Federal Department had given up its original position, and importance as well, and beginning with the year 1936 started to function as the Immigration Branch of the Federal Department of Mines and Resources. Unemployment and deportations represented the most serious problem of the period of the economic crisis. Therefo- 73 SUA, MSP, Reg. 3990, 6. 2. 1929. It is necessary to add that the Canadian Government limited or stopped immigration from the entire continent of Europe, of course except for families with some capital, or wives and children of those already settled in Canada, In: an article "Immigration from Europe is Stopped" . The Gazette, Montreal, 16. 8. 1930. 74<'1, .:>UA, MSP, Reg . 3990, No. 6921, 3. 6. 1930. �SLOVAKIA 31 re, the Czechoslovak Consulate paid special attention to the internal i.e. social, associative, and political life of the Slovak community. When in 1930 the Director of the Czechoslovak Institute of Foreign Affairs in Prague V. Tlapak went on a study-tour to Canada, he could only confirm the well-known facts about numerous unemployed immigrants who would like to return to their native land, if only they could. Many of them did not earn enough money to pay the travel expences for the journey back home . He found many examples of those who worked only to cover their daily food costs.7 5 The first to sense the impact of the Depression were farm workers . Having come to Canada in the second half of the 1920s, these people were not accepted in Canada with special favour. The crisis made their position quite unbearable. The Federal Government, trying to solve the situation as best as it would, created a programme of emergency works. Nearly every province "drew" the unemployed from the cities and organized in the country so-called labour camps. Especially the young unemployed did such beneficial work as reconstruction of roads, cultivation of natural parks, etc. No Slovaks took part in it, according to diplomatic reports. In January of 1932 Consul Moser reported to Prague that unemployment was not decreasing at all, but on the contrary, it was gradually increasing. 76 Not only the immigamts who were agricultural workers had problems. Even some better-situated individuals had problems. In spite of the fact that some of the immigrants had succeded in getting land, they had to leave the farms as they were not able to pay off the mortgage.77 Deportations became the accompanying phenomenon of unemployment. Canada resorted to that unpleasant measure in order to shake off the burden of the persons who were not able to care for themselves.7 8 There were many Slovak immigrants among them. Consul General Moser, in his effort to somehow protect the interests 75 SDA, MSP , Reg . 4019, No . 3751/30, 29.11.1930. 76AFMzv, PZ-M, year 1932, No. 3, 27 .. 1. 1932. 77 SUA, MSP , Reg . 3990, No. 4105 - 32. 78 vystehovalecky zpravodaj Ministerstva socialnf pece , Vol. 2, 20. 5. 1932 , p. 19 . �32 SLOVAKIA of the immigrants, sent a complaint to Ottawa in August of 1932, stressing the fact that Canada was deporting immigrants too late, because most of them were in such a bad situation that they could not wait the two-to-three months for the departure. Therefore, he asked the Department to deport them as early as possible.79 The Department in Ottawa answered that they had a huge list of those waiting for deportation, and in any case could not make the deportation process quicker, especially due to the limited capacity of the ships departing from Montreal. 80 Even in January 1934 the consular materials contained information about unemployed immigrants who, for three years, had hopelessly waited for deportation. Therefore, some of them illegaly left for the USA, only to be caught, and in such way to be more quickly deported (after a two-to-three months stay in prison) to Czechoslovakia.81 By the end of 1935 the Consul suggested that things were going better and visits to the Consulate were rare. At the same time he reported that numerous immigrants had succeded in finding some work in construction, mines and forests, while others had returned to Czechosloyakia. 82 It does not mean, however, that he automatically considered an improvement in the field of employment a symptom of the restoration of the immigration process, or the release of the restrictions imposed on immigration policy. The only exception was that concerning the possibility of immigration of some peasant families with a capital of $1,000 - $2,000. Even under those circumstances the Consul considered the immigration of well-off individuals more than disputable. He reasoned in the following way: If the applicant for immigration to Canada sells in Czechoslovakia his whole property to get the necessary financial means, it will be enough only to invest in uncultivated land. Very hard work will follow the purchase, with the results coming in most cases too late. 79PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, I. 8. 1932. 80PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 20. 8.1932. 8lx, .:>UA, MSP, Reg. 4029, 12. I. 1934. 82X' .:>UA, MSP, Reg. 4029, 27.1.1936. �SLOVAKIA 33 This will make the immigrant fail , which often will result in his deportation. 83 It has been stated already that no other event influenced the Slovak community so much as the Depression. The immigration process of the second half of the 1920s was practically halted and the number of immigrants in the community was relatively stabilized (representing some 30,000 Slovaks, and about 1,000 Czechs). During the period preceding the crisis , the community was insufficiently organized. It was lacking in leaders, preachers, teachers, and schools. During the crisis the community was more active, and even more radical. Some new associations were founded. Ethnic consciousness was also activated. This resulted in a rapid decrease in their interest and willingness to co-operate in so-called Czechoslovak: associations. The activity of the benefit society in Montreal was nearly halted. 84 The Consulate notified Prague of the revival of autonomist tendencies, illustrating it with the fact that the First Slovak Benefit Society came into existence in Western Canada. More seriously, he considered the fact that there were being established numerous subsidiaries of the American-Slovak: associations with centers situated in the USA. He noticed, however, the great disappointment among the Canadian members because their funds had been delivered to the USA, thus not sufficiently meeting their needs. Finally, some of the members met in Winnipeg, Manitoba to reach a decision about leaving the American-Slovak: Association in order to found their own Canadian-Slovak: one. 85 The newly established Canadian Slovak League, together with the newspaper Slovak v Kanade, were by Consul Moser characterized as the principal representatives of the autonomist flow in the Slovak community, with the addition, that the same opinion was shared by the First Catholic Slovak Union in Canada. When F. Pavlasek took up his consular mission in Canada, he came to the conclusion that Slovaks were against the Czechs because 83SDA , MSP, Reg. 4029, 19. 8.1936. 84AFMZV, Section II., Reg . 492, No . 6787, I. 10. 1932. 85 SDA, MSP , Reg . 4029 . Periodical Report of the Immigration Branch , IV . quart. 1932. �34 SLOVAKIA of their motto "Slovakia for the Slovaks" .86 According to the new Consul General, the immigrants transfered from Slovakia to Canada many of Andrej Hlinka's ideas. Their attitudes were enforced both due to the American Slovak influences, and the agitation about the Pittsburgh Agreement. The fact that the Slovaks represented the poorest layers of the inhabitants of Canada, and belonged often to the unemployed, resulted in some being attracted to Marxism. The Consul discovered that in Montreal some four hundred persons were concentrating around the Slovak newspaper Robotnfcke slovo. The Consul Pavlasek characterized the group as quite compatible and devoted to their common ideal. At the same time he stressed the fact that the magazine was doing well and had a lot of symphatizers, in spite of the fact that many of them were not organized in the Association at all .87 Finally, in 1934 he characterized the community as politically split between the autonomists, autonomist communists, and those loyal to democratic Czechoslovakia. He considered it the result of the differentiation process which occured during the Depression. The autonomist communists were originally Czechoslovaks but had split in 1936 into Czechs and Slovaks. He tried to contact the different groups . "At first I tried to attract the conservative Catholic associations (the parish of Saints Cyril and Methodius) but without any success ... When I saw that the door for my activity among autonomists was shut for a certain period, I turned to less radical workers in order to build up co-operation between them and a middle democratic group. The result, however, was much the same ... 11 88 The Consul came to the conclusion that comunists triumphed during the crisis because they had exploited unemployment for establishing new associations. Among them were Czechoslovak Worker Education Clubs, the Slovak Workmen's Association, The International Workmen's Association, etc. They had numerous sym86AFMZV, Section II ., Reg. 531, 18.7.1934. 87 Ibid. 88 As in Note 55. �SLOVAKIA 35 pathizers among the common people. They improved the financial state of their associations, and a quality newspaper as well. In other words, they were very succesfuI. 89 The Consul Pavlasek stressed the intensity of communist propaganda among their fellow-countrymen in 1936. At the same time he noticed the fact that the propaganda could not be discounted, and in spite of the fact that it had been the result of a long-term Depression, it was spreading very rapidly, and fellow-countrymen were accepting it.90 Already in 1937 the Consul Pavlasek.was very pessimistic: "The position of this office is extremely difficult, because we have nobody to lean on. There are only a few Czechs here, and they are mostly assimilated, and a majority of them have withdrawn from public life due to permanent attacks". The fact that the Slovak community rejected Czechoslovakism nearly 'en bloc', he characterized as follows: "loyal Czechoslovak thinking, ever respecting the democracy and the Czechoslovak national unity, represents in some colonies but a minority", at the same time he added that the Czechs had arrived in Canada already before World War I, and they had been living there for two or three generations. They had been greatly assimililated, because the second generation had been educated in the Canadian manner. Finally, he expressed his "sad" conclusion that he himself, as well as the Consulate, were permanently attacked by the autonomists, and communists as well. It meant that the Consulate was to a great extent isolated from the Slovak community as a whole, in spite of the latter's internal ideological differentiation. In other words, the Consulate's mission was unsuccesful - it failed completely to unify the Czecho-Slovak nationals in Canada. Therefore, its arguments, formulated in 1937, suggesting that "everything must be done to keep the consciousness of Czechoslovak national unity in spite of the protests and demonstrations of the autonomist circles", were in vain.9 1 89SuA , MSP , Reg. 4029 , 25 . 10. 1935 . 90SuA, MSP, Reg . 4029 , 13.5 . 1937 . 91 As in note 88. � SLOVAKIA 7 Slovak Emigrants in Canada as Reflected in Diplomatic Documents (1920 - 1938) ELENA JAKESOVA Slovak emigration to Canada - not taking into account the European continental migration - can be considered one of the strongest and most significant of all of the Slovak migrations during the inter-war period. Great numbers of Slovaks moved to Canada across the Antlantic to earn some money, especially in the second half of the 1920s. 1 The inter-war years, however, represented only its second stage, because Slovaks had started to leave for the United States as early as the 1870s. The 1920s witnessed only a change in destination. The United States of America, which in 1920 contained about 620,000 Slovaks, halted that mass emigration. When the continuity of the traditional emigration had been broken partly in the year 1921, and definitely in the year 1924, the search for an alternative solution of the problem did not take long. The immigrants saw in Canada's common frontier with the United States the possibility of emigration south in the future. Therefore, Canada became in the second half of the twenties "the second chance", a kind of alternative destination of the Slovak emigrants in spite of the fact that in comparison with the USA there 1 Shipping companies transported from Slovakia to Canada in 1922 110 persons, in 1923 2029 , in 1924 2832, in 1925 2134 , in 1926 6066 , in 1927 6301 , in 1928 8184 , in 1929 4116 , in 1930 3586, in 1931 730, in 1932 522, in 1933 673 , in 1934 851, in 1935 742 , in 1936 716. Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 4, Prague, 1932) and in Statistical Yearbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Prague 1934 , 1935, 1936, 1937) . �8 SLOVAKIA were not many reasons to look for opportunities for employment on its territory. In the period up to World War I, Canada attracted only about 5,000 Slovaks. 2 As early as the beginning of the 1920s it appeared that Canada could become the alternative overseas country of destination of Slovak emigrants. That alternative began to attract not only applicants for emigration passports in Slovakia but also Czecho-Slovak diplomats, and their representatives in Canada. In elucidating the development of the stated tendency, and its impact, we chose a series of diplomatic documents, representing the activities of the Czechoslovak consulate in Montreal in the years 1920-1938 as the basis of the following essay . The most significant are those documents which give special attention to the process of emigration. The subjects of the correspondence of the Czechoslovak Consulate in Montreal were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague, and the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa.3 The Goals of this essay are limited. I will focus only on those aspects of the topic falling into the competence, tasks and activities of the Czechoslovak representatives in Canada. In consequence of the pro-emigration attitudes of the Czechoslovak government, two basic trends will coincide: Canadian immigration policy, and the development of the Slovak community in Canada. Slovak nationals represented the vast majority of all the people involved in the process of Czechoslovak emigration, especialy in the second half of the 2 Message of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate General in Montreal, IO December, I 902 to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna . Haus-Hof-und Staatsarchiv Wien, F 15, File 62, deliv . 27 December, 1902. 3 sources: Archives of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Prague (hereinafter only AFMZV), Political reports - Montreal (1920- I 938) (hereinafter PZ-M) , and Section II. National Archives, Prague (hereinafter SUA) , Fund of Ministry of Social Welfare (hereinafter MSP), Ministry of International Affairs - Old registers of 19191944 (hereinafter MV) . Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa (hereinafter PAC) , Immigration Branch (RG 76) , Vol. 198 Consul General of Czechoslovakia, Montreal , Quebec (1922-1940) (File 80671) , Vol. 251 Czechoslovakia, Passports (1924-1939) (File 183211), Vol. 616 Czechoslovaks (File 916207) . �SLOVAKIA 9 1920s .4 This fact accounted for the basis for the final ethnic identification of the newly-formed community in the Canadian environment, and, at the same time, determined the attitudes, and activities of the Czechoslovak Representatives in Canada. The first diplomatic contacts between Czechoslovakia and Canada were established on the consular level in Montreal in November of 1920. Bohuslav K. Ryznar was appointed the first Czechoslovak Consul. The Consulate was subordinated to the Czechoslovak Embassy in London, which corresponded with the arrangements of the relations between London and Ottawa. Despite the urgent request of B . K . Ryznar to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague, the functional designation of the Consulate in Montreal was not changed in the years 1920-1922 . He stressed the fact that "Canada is absolutely a self-governing country, and does not pay any taxes , duties or other allowances to the British Empire to be used by the army or navy. There is no British soldier, and no British warship in the whole territory of the Dominion .. ."5 B. K. Ryznar submitted several arguments to support his request for changing the Montreal office's rank to Consulate General. He suggested that the Governor General of Canada, the federal government, and the ministries in Ottawa entered into contacts only with accredited diplomats on the level of Consuls General. 6 Therefore, lower consular rankings resulted in the absence of contacts and information which, to a great extent, limited the possibility of diplomatic activity. Despite the Consul's assurances that eventual installation of a Consul General would not increase the budget, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague strictly refused the request.7 4 comparing the number of emigrants from Czechoslovakia to Canada during the years 1922-1932 with the number of emigrants from Slovakia for the same period, we have found that 83% were Slovaks, and only 17% were Czechs . If we compared it with the number of inhabitants , the difference would be even more extreme . Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 4, Prague , 1932). 5AFMZV, PZ-M, year I 921, No. 19, 27 . 6. 1921. 6With the addition that of all European countries, only Czechoslovakia and Portugal had their Consulates in Canada. AFMZV , PZ-M, year 1921 , No . 9, 17 . 2. 1921 . 7AFMZV , PZ-M, year 1921, No. 10 (B . ve .). �SLOVAKIA In reply to the refusal , the Consul Ryznar again reminded the Ministry of the difficulties connected with the execution of his mission : "The situation looks as if the Prague centre has to seek information on the territory from Brittany to the foot of the Urals, and from Cadiz to Hamerfest, without any auxiliary offices and means" .8 These basic arguments - i. e. the inferior position of the representation , and the large size of Canada - were, for a certain period, the most effective tool in the hands of the Czechoslovak Consul in Canada to be used whenever he was obliged to take a stand , or to characterize some generally valid phenomenon. The taking of such an attitude was under those circumstances understandable. The presence and activity of the first Czechoslovak Consul in Canada represented but the first stage of the Czechoslovak diplomatic activity in Canada, aimed at the gradual acquisition and transmission to the Czechoslovak Government of essential information on anything he considered important, including the care for his own nationals, with special attention paid to immigrants coming to the country. Taking into account the goal of the present essay , it is important to stress first of all the Consul's investigation of the state of the regional community of his fellow-countrymen. This all formed a part of the information sent at the beginning of 1920 to the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague. He characterized it as follows : 11 ••• a colony of Czechoslovak nationals representing over five thousand persons living in the whole Dominion , i. e. an area equal to the extent of the United States of North America ... , it is , however, insufficiently organized, and could not be used as a decisive element to support any political faction .. . Also the interest of the Czechoslovak farmers settled in the province of Saskatchewan are quite different from those of the miners in Nova Scotia, living apart a distance of about four thousand kilometers. It will be very difficult to unify them and to make them act together" _9 It is obvious that recognizing the small numbers in the community provoked both interested parties to consider the further possibi8AFMZV , PZ-M,year 1921 , No . 19, 27. 6. 1921. 9AFMZV , PZ-M , year 1921, No . 2, File No . 10/21. �SLOVAK.IA 11 lities of its growth. These appeared already in 1921 in connection with the increasing interest in emigration from Czechoslovakia, and also with the growing threat of the limitation of immigration by the US Government. Therefore, the future Canadian immigration policy , and especially its relation to Central Europe, became the primary area of interest of the Czechoslovak Consulate in Montreal. The formulation dealing with the diffusion and disorganization of the colony had the hidden agenda of the further activity of the Czechoslovak Consulate - i.e. co-operation with the community in order to unify it as far as its organization is concerned, and, in this way, to shape its future direction. A matter of question, however, was - by which means and in what manner should it be done? The organizational and political attitudes chosen by the consular authorities in relationship to the Slovak community is the principal topic of this essay. The diplomatic communiques themselves contained certain signals in answer to the question because there the community was referred to as a colony of Czechoslovak nationals, without more detailed ethnic identification. Despite the fact that the first impression acquired by the Czechoslovak side from the trends in Canadian immigration policy was not in any way favourable - "the Canadian authorities obstructed the immigrants" 10 - the Consul reported to Prague at the beginning of 1921 that the consular office succeeded in finding some indications of change. Public debates began to mould opinions that, with respect to the growing need for cheap labour, it was necessary to retain the principle of a priority in the selection of immigrants, i. e. not to prefer Britons as the representatives of the "mother country" of Canada, but to permit a bit of benevolence in the selection of the immigrants. 11 It was decided by the Consulate to seize the opportunity immediately. The federal Department of Immigration and Colonization in IOAFMZV, Sec . II ., Reg . 531, File No . 514, 4.2.1921. 11 AFMZV, PZ-M, year 1921, No . 19, an article published in The Montreal Daily Star, 4. 6. 1921 , "Repudiation , Annexation or Population". �12 SLOVAKIA Ottawal 2 was asked in November of 1922 to provide statistical data on the number of Czechoslovak immigrants in Canada, and, at the same time, to inform the Consulate about the willingness of the Canadian government to accept the immigration and settlement of Czechoslovak nationals in Canada,13 This initiative of the Czechoslovak Consul was premature. The department took a very reserved attitude. Its Secretary, F. C. Blair, provided only the requested statistical data, and completely omitted the problem connected with the possibility of immigration from Czechoslovakia. 14 It is, therefore, clear that it was only the Czechoslovak side which initiated and tried to recommend its own citizens as suitable potential immigrants to Canada. Despite the fact that this effort had been ignored, the Consul Ryznar was not discouraged. He went on searching for some sign of permissivness in the Canadian immigration policy towards the Continent and concretely to Central Europe. He tried to convince the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also the Ministry of Social Welfare, that he was doing his best to search for possibilities for Slovak applicants for emigration to countries other than to the USA. The Consul constantly tried to find some solution and began to consider the most attractive the idea of the Canadian immigration officials - i. e. to attract peasants, who, unlike the British colonists coming mainly from towns, and again settled in towns in Canada, would be able and willing to farm in Canada, to cutlivate the virgin land, and to revive the economy of the country.15 He saw such a solution in Central Europe. Ryznar had been so encouraged with the possibility of Slovak immigration that he decided at the beginning of 1923 to send another letter to F. C. Blair. He did so in order to get some information about the new policy of settlement being enforced by certain political 12The Department of Immigration and Colonization, an independent Department of the Federal Government, came into existence in 1917 through its separation from the Ministry of the Interior. 13 PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 198, File 80671 , 11. I 1. 1922. 14 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 28 . 11.1922. 15 AFMZV, PZ-M, year 1922, No. 7, 4.12 . 1922. �SLOVAKIA 13 circles . His primary goal was, however, again to remind the Canadian government of Czechoslovakia, and its peasantry applying for immigration visas. He stressed in his letter that he had been urged by his own government, and primarily by the Ministry of Social Welfare, which was greatly interested in the possibility of immigration of its citizens to Canada. In another letter he told of the intention of the above-mentioned Ministry to subscribe to the most significant Canadian newspaper in order to receive information on the programme of the settlement of the country, and at the same time to find missing information for numerous applicants for emigration, i.e. the citizens of Czechoslovakia.16 His efforts to attract the attention of the highest authorities of the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization brought some results in the end. The Czechoslovak Ministry of Social Welfare was finally put on the list of the addresses of the immigration press being issued by the Department of Immigration and Colonization. 17 Above all, those institutions realised that Czechoslovakia was offering a certain part of its peasantry with the assurance that they certainly would be very suitable future colonists . The explanation of the following could be found in the activity of the Czechoslovak Consulate: when in the autumn of 1923 a great need for a cheap labor force emerged in Canada in connection with the logging of old wood in forests, and its preparation for further processing in sawmills, representing in itself very heavy manual work, the citizens of British or French origin did not want to do it. Therefore, the Department of Immigration and Colonization met the demands of some entrepreneurial circles and agreed with the submitted proposal to obtain suitable lumberjacks in Central Europe . The Minister of Immigration and Colonization personally suggested that sort of labour force be sought in Czechoslovakia. He explained it in the following manner: "based on the information received, applicants for emigration from Czechoslovakia are said to have some experience with agricultural work, and also the prerequisites for 16pAc, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671 , 27 . 2. 1923. 17PAC , RG 76 , Vol. 198 , File 80671 , 7. 3. 1923. �14 SLOVAKIA managing methods used in Canadian agriculture in order to become true Canadian farmers in the end" .1 8 The Consulate was very proud of the results of its diplomatic mission. It interpreted its work in the following, quite inadequate, manner: "The Canadian immigration authorities prefer Czechoslovak nationals because of their good physical condition, honesty and industriousness. They find them excellent colonists , and they would be very glad to receive them" _19 In fact the Canadian authorities permitted workers at the end of 1923 in Czechoslovakia for the Canadian lumbering industry only, with only some five hundred, 20 later increased to a thousand workers. 21 Most of those people were obtained in Slovakia as can be seen in the statistical data of the shipping companies concerning the transporting of over two thousand persons from Slovakia to Canada during that same year.22 Immediately after the arrival of the first post-war contingent of Slovak immigrants, they faced numerous problems . The consulate in February 1924 issued the following message: "Most of those (i. e. immigrants) devoted themselves in the winter season to cutting wood. The living standards in those camps, hundreds of miles from civilization, situated in vast forests , are hardly enviable .. . They work from early morning till late at night. They eat food prepared in a common kitchen and pay for it through the reduction of their salaries. The employer provides workers with clothes and other requisites paid for in the above-mentioned manner. It is obvious that our fellows , knowing neither the language nor the customs , are in an endless wilderness thrown at the mercy of dishonest officials, and some problems had to be solved through the consular authorities with the director or owner of the company in order to ensure their protection" .23 18 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 3. 11. 1923. 19.-;;:,UA, , MSP, Reg. 3894, No. 2028 , 2. 6. 1923. 20PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt. 1, 18. 10. 1923. 21SUA, MSP, Reg. 3899, File 847, 20. 2. 1924. 22 Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 3, Prague, 1928). 23SUA, MSP, Reg. 3899, File 847 , 20.2. 1924. �SLOVAKIA 15 In addition to the difficult position of a part of the Slovak immigrants in lumber camps, there were also other problems . The Canadian authorities offered, in fact only seasonal work. That meant that in the spring of the year 1924, when the season had ended, the immigrants were on their own. A part of them started to drift to Montreal, and other cities, especially those near the American border. It was clear in the end that the first group of post-war immigrants had come to Canada with a clear goal: to get around the restrictive immigration measures imposed by the American authorities, and to get to the United States via Canada,24 where their relatives and friends were already settled. Numerous requests of the immigrants to solve this problem were a heavy burden for the Czechoslovak consular officials .25 All their efforts, however, were useless. At least a one-year stay of the immigrant in Canada was a necessary precondition to receiving a visa to the USA. The situation of the Slovak lumberjacks was very difficult to resolve. The Czechoslovak Consulate tried to avoid growing difficulties caused partly by its own activity. The Czechoslovak authorities were immediately asked to inform passport offices about issuing emigration visas to Canada only to those applicants willing to settle permanently in Canada. 26 In order to stop the growth of further complications, the Consulate again addressed the Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa to provide it with the form, or the text of the agreement usually concluded between the employer and employee.27 The letter also expressed the Government's interest in receiving more detailed information about living conditions of the 1mmigrants in Canada. The highest Canadian authorities answered the letter immediately. They informed the Consulate that neither an agreement form, nor any legislative criteria, existed in Canada for concluding contracts. As far as the securing of certain living standards for immigrants was concerned, living conditions were different in various 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 26 Ibid. 27PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 198 , File 80671 , 16. 4.1924 . �16 SLOVAKIA parts of the country and what was offered was generally considered sufficient. 28 It was too late and quite useless to ask those questions. We know that the Canadian government authorities cared for the problems of their own poorest workers even less than for the Czechoslovak ones, and there was no motivation to help the immigrants, coming without any financial means, and at their own risk. It follows from the above that, at the beginning of 1924, the activity of the Consulate had to orient itself to immigration from Czechoslovakia. It had to decide what to do with people coming from Slovakia with the intention of going to the United States. The chance to get there was only minimal. While the Czechoslovak Consulate was asking the questions, the Slovak League of America, as the cover organization of Slovak immigrants in the USA, took the initiative. Many Slovak immigrants in Canada turned to it with requests for help, because the CanadianSlovak community itself was small in number, lost over the huge territory, and therefore could not support them. In the summer of 1924, the Slovak League sent its delegate to Canada to investigate the situation. Upon his arrival the delegate confirmed the fact that the immigrants had come to Canada with the goal of getting into the USA. At the same time he informed the American-Slovak public that "the prisons on the frontier are full of our people caught when they tried to get to the USA illegally" .29 After receiving that information, the executive of the Slovak League decided to publish information about the hopeless situation of most of the Slovak immigrants in Canada in magazines in Slovakia. 30 Thus a short article published later in numerous Slovak magazines came into being. The text of it was more than meaningful: "The representative of the Slovak League of America who had been sent to Canada reported about a sad group there. Over 12,000 of them are living there and suffer awfully. They cannot find work, and when they get 28PAC , RG 76, Vol. 198 , File 80212 , 25 . 4. 1924. 29 Minutes of the session of the delegates of the Slovak organizations in America organized by the executive of the Slovak League , held in Pittsburgh, Pa ., 18 . December of 1924. In: Slovak v Amerike, 51, No. 37, 2. 3. 1925, p. 3. 3oIbid. �SLOVAKIA 17 it, they have to work in the Canadian virgin forests and are paid only a pittance. Their feet and hands are frost-bitten and some of them even went mad" _31 The disclosure of the irresponsibility of the Czechoslovak and Canadian authorities who had prepared and organized the immigration , upset not only American Slovaks and people in Slovakia, it also affected diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and Canada. The Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa was probably informed directly through the British Ambassador in Prague . A letter was immediately sent to the Czechoslovak Consul in Montreal containing - a slightly paraphrased - "anxiety about the fact that the published information on the situation in Canada does not correspond with reality" _32 At the same time Ottawa asked the Consul to inform it about the Slovak League of America. They were mostly interested in whether the organization had a branch in Canada consisting of the proper members, and finally asked the Consul about the alleged problem, i. e. whether he was really informed about a greater number of Slovak immigrants in Canada who had not found work.33 In his answer B. K. Ryznar suggested to the Minister W. J. Egan that the Slovak League of America was a strong organization with half a million members. He assured him, however, that the organization had not had any branch in Canada. 34 As he had not ment to destroy his previous efforts in the field of creating premises for acceptance of immigrants from Czechoslovakia, he to a certain extent negated the arguments of the above-mentioned article, and assured Ottawa that there were not many unemployed Slovaks in Canada. In order not to minimize his duties and problems connected with the execution of his mission, Ryznar mentioned in his letter having heard only about the complaints of the immigrants concerning irregular practices applied by the employers and the labour 3 IE. g. Sloven ska domovina, 7, No. 6, 5. 2. I 925, p. 2. 32 As in Note 29 . 33PAC , RG 76, Vol. 616 , File 916207, pt . I, 10. 2. 1925 . 34Toe Slovak League of America had but one subsidiary in Canada, at Fort William , Ontario, founded in 1916, havi ng one hundred and fifty members. �18 SLOVAKIA agencies, and their attempts to misuse them. His attitude to the whole problem was contrary to the facts .35 The above-mentioned problem had been disturbing to both interested parties, and therefore the Department in Ottawa decided to inform the Czechoslovak authorities in order to elucidate somehow the problems of unemployment and basic social care provided to the Slovak immigrants. The information was , however, only general , covering but the job opportunities offered by Canada to the immigrants . Job opportunities were represented principally by seasonal work for agricultural workers. The number of needed seasonal workers was very difficult to determine ahead of time. The Department cleared up only the problem of the salaries offered. They assured the Czechoslovak authorities that the minimum monthly salary had to be 25 dollars , at the same time admitting even higher wages in case of additional seasonal work.36 But the Czechoslovak authorities wanted to make the problem clear. Therefore, they sent a delegate on a mission to Eastern Canada. He could only confirm the well-known facts about the difficulties of a part of the new Slovak immigrants. The most serious of them represented unemployment on the one hand, and unpaid salaries for work done on the other. The employers, for various reasons, often refused to pay the immigrants. They were sure that it was quite impossible to claim their salaries through the courts, as no service contracts had been concluded with the immigrants. 37 Together with the arrival of a greater number of immigrants, and especially when the lumbering season had ended, a tendency appeared during 1924 among groups of immigrants settling in Montreal to be near the residence of the Czechoslovak Consulate. Growing unemployment was the motive for their concentration. The officials saw the reasons for immigrants remaining in the big cities in their apparent aversion to working on farms, and in their false illusions of 35PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt . I, 14.2.1925. 36 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt. I, 26.3.1925. 37SUA, MSP, Reg . 3803, No . 10219, 2.5. 1925. �SLOVAKIA 19 better salaries in cities. The immigrants hoped to find in Montreal an advanced industry, as was the case in cities of the United States .38 Social dislocation, therefore, became the decisive experience of the people. This motivated them during the summer 1924 to support each other through a co-operative association. 39 The forming of the ethnically homogenous Slovak group in Montreal, welded together by common problems, could not be ignored by the Czechoslovak Consul. He reported to Prague in detail about the two Slovaks in Montreal, who strove to establish a "Slovak Benefit Society". He added, however, that their task was very difficult, because of the small and ever-changing number of the Slovaks in Montreal, as most of them were looking for work, and their stay in the city was temporary .40 He also reported on the activity of the Slovak League of America, aimed at the organization of Slovak immigrants in Canada. The League sent its delegate to Montreal to investigate the situation. According to the Consul there was no response to the efforts of that Slovak-American organization in Canada. His opinion was, that the representative of the Slovak League "had not been accepted positively by his fellow-countrymen" _41 It is clear that the associative efforts of the Slovak immigrants were from the very beginning followed very carefully by the Consulate. The fact that the Slovak immigrants had decided to go their own way inspired the Consulate General to act in accordance with its original intention to organize the whole community in Canada, representing several thousand. At the beginning the Consulate tried to control the activity of the newly-formed association of Slovaks in Montreal. The Consul Ryznar, as soon as he arrived in 1920, decided to enter in a most decisive manner into the life of the community. But there was little hope of realizing that because of the originally small 38 Jbid. 39The association was founded by Gabriel Kurdel and F. Capkovic , at the end of 1924, in the first Slovak restaurant in Montreal , named "Tatra" . It was opened by F. Capkovic in the spring of I 924 . From the letter of G . Kurdel to the author dated 8. 12. 1974. (Personal archives of the author) . 40 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1924, No. 8, 8. 9. 1924. 41 Ibid. �20 SLOVAKIA number of the Slovak immigrants scattered across the vast Canadian lanscape. That all prevented him from managing the situation. Therefore, in his diplomatic agenda, he prudently suggested that the Slovak inhabitants in Canada were not organized as they could not be organized. But, as it is known from the diplomatic agenda of the former Austro-Hungarian Consuls General in Canada, the truth was just opposite. The Slovaks in Canada did organize already at the tum of the 19th and 20th centuries but not in their own associations. They were establishing in Canada numerous branches of American-Slovak associations. This resulted in subordinating them to centres in the USA, thus connecting more tightly the Canadian Slovaks with American ones, rather than the Slovaks living across Canada. With respect to the above-mentioned facts, the Czechoslovak Consul did not consider uniting the Canadian-Slovak community possible. This made him believe in the end that the Slovaks in Canada were not organized at all. The alternative of establishing new associations after World War I was impossible. In 1922 the Consul expressed his attitude in the following manner: "there are not suitable conditions here for establishing Czechoslovak associations" .42 It follows that he really intended to establish not only new associations, but also to make those already existing acquire the status of Czechoslovak ones, i. e. to conform to the Czechoslovak stateforming conception, and to manifest it in concrete organizational forms of their foreign enclave. When it was necessary to explain the reasons preventing him from realizing his plans, the Consul stressed the fact that there was a conflict between his intentions and the Slovak attitude represented by the strong pro-Hungarian orientation of the greatest concentration of the pre-war Slovak immigrants in Fort William, Ontario.43 About six hundred to one thousand and two hundred Slovaks were living there. The pro-Hungarian tendencies of that nationally and organizationally unified group of the Slovak immigrants coming mostly from 4 2SuA . MSP, Reg . 3894, No . 2313, 26. 6. 1922. 43 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1922, File 36 d, 25.4. 1922. �SLOVAKIA 21 the Orava region - which was in the period before the World War I known as an area nearly untouched by the process of magyarization - "were explained" very simply: those Slovaks had attended Hungarian schools and immigrated to Canada from Hungarian lands. We must add, however, that he, himself, doubted his statements about the pro-Hungarian manifestations of the Fort William Slovaks with the confession about getting his information "second hand" . Later on, he made use of his statements about magyarized Slovaks as a serious obstacle to the enforcement of the Czechoslovak philosophy. He said that the pro-Hungarian tendencies were permanently supported both by former Austro-Hungarian and new Hungarian Consuls in Canada during his journeys across Canada where the Hungarians had lived together with the Slovaks.44 The Czechoslovak Consul made use of that fact. He remarked that he himself as a Consul had not been able to travel along the consular "region" by permission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs even after his three years' stay in Canada.45 In such a way he brought forward both the "principal", and other, i.e. "technical" cause of his temporary failure in relation to the Slovak community in Canada. We must say, however, that arguments such as the long distances between Montreal and individual Slovak settlements, the absence of contact with them, or surviving pro-Hungarian emotions among regional inhabitants, as well as the existence of no chance to change it, also survived. They could never be used to characterize the newly-forming associations of Slovak immigrants. The consul chose quite a different explanation. As he himself noted in the consular report, he had evaluated the activity of "the Czechoslovak citizens coming from Slovakia". In relationship to the existing foreign-political conception of the unitary Czechoslovak state, and the officialy-accepted theory of the Czechoslovak nation as well, he started to characterize the new associative tendencies of Montreal's Slovaks as the activation of anti-Czech 44 AFMZ, PZ-M , year 1924, No . 6. 11. 11. 1924. 4SAFMZ, PZ-M , year 1923, No. 13. 13 . 12. 1923 . �22 SLOVAKIA ideas, and the spreading of treasonous ideas brought apparently by Slovak immigrants and spread among fellow-countrymen. 46 Characterization of the associative tendencies of the Slovak immigrants in Montreal as anti-Czech, or even treasonous, was naive , and in the end turned against the Consulate itself. The Consulate had immediately to respond, and to eliminate the manifestations of the Slovak separatists represented, and replace them with the associative efforts of helpless immigrants. The Consul was supposed to initiate an unifying processes and make the Slovak immigrants accept their organization with those Czech immigrants who had settled in Montreal long before. It was, however, very difficult to find a proper way to solve the problem. There were only a few Czech immigrants living in Montreal. 47 They were mostly older inhabitants, and besides, they were on a higher social level, with other interests and needs. The Slovaks, meanwhile, were not in the least interested in any sort of social activity, or even "making policy". Therefore even the old traditional and experienced way of ideologically influencing the community, as it was suggested by the Czechoslovak authorities - i. e. to issue a newspaper - was considered inappropriate, and even useless. Migrating Slovaks searching all the time for jobs would not accept any newspaper _48 The following "solution" proved the most suitable one: the Canadian public was informed through an article published in The Montreal Daily Star in December of 1924 about the organization of "the Czechoslovak citizens in order to establish an independent association of Czechoslovak immigrants" .49 When, at the beginning of 1925, B. K. Ryznar finished his diplomatic mission to Canada (from January 1923 he was Consul General) the Montreal Slovak community was already officialy represented by the Czechoslovak 46 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1924, No. 8. 8.9.1924. 47 Before World War I, thirteen Czech families and one Slovak family lived in Montreal. In: Rybnfcek, A.: "Vzpomfnky starousadlfka." I:udove zvesti, 26, No. 40 , I 9. 10. 1961, p. 14. 48 AFMZ, PZ-M , year 1924, No . 12. 11. 11 . 1924. 4 9"Society formed to aid Czechs . New body will assist immigrants to prosper here". The Montreal Daily Star, 16. 12. 1924 . PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616 , File 916207, pt. I . �SLOVAKIA 23 Benefit Society. An internal conflict existed, however, concerning its name, emerging from time to time with greater or less intensity ,50 as the roots of a sort of natural alliance were missing.51 The beginning of 1925, connected with the end of B. K. Ryznar's diplomatic mission, and the coming of the new Consul General F. V. Kveton, represented a break in the immigration policy of Canada. Thanks to favourable economic-political decisions of the Canadian Government to end the policy of favouring immigrants from Great Britain, psychologically and physically not sufficiently prepared to do hard agricultural work in the Canadian wilderness, resulted in the recruitment of immigrants - mainly peasants - from the Central European region. It was the poor state of the Canadian economy at the beginning of 1925 as mentioned by the federal Parliament of Canada,52 which resulted in the above-mentioned changes in immigration policy. That new alternative was, despite the poor economic situation of Canada, evaluated by the Czechoslovak authorities with great satisfaction. It seemed that the arrival of immigrants would be greatly simplified for the immigrants comming from some "selected European countries, including the Czechoslovak Republic" .53 New workers were expected to revive the Canadian economy. They, however, misunderstood each other. The Canadian politicians saw the solution in further cultivation of land and farms left by the British colonists , thus solving the urgent need for agricultural workers. In fact, most of the applicants for emigration from the 50From a letter of G. Kurdel to the author dated 8. 12. 1974. 51 Canadian immigration policy allowed from Czechoslovakia only agricultural workers. Therefore, the intelligentsia had no place among immigrants (with some few exceptions). It meant that the Slovak community had no natural leaders. Some did develop. Gabriel Kurdel was the most significant one. In connection with the newlyfounded association in Montreal, G. Kurdel in his memoires said that he had informed the new Consul General Kv~ton about existing conflicts in the association. The Consul agreed with the change of the name of the association to a Slovak one. But, according to his memoirs, when he submitted his proposal to the leaders of the association, represented by Czech fellow-countrymen, they commented on it as follows: "It is nonsense". In: Memoirs of G. Kurdel. Phone record from 26. 10. 1977. No. SLK 3023. Archives of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, Toronto. 52AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1925, No. 5. 7.2.1925. • 53~.:.UA, , MSP, Reg. 3894, File 847, 20. 2. 1924. �24 SLOVAKIA Central European region, including Slovakia, were poor people unable to participate in the Canadian programme of immigration of farming families with some capital. They could only saturate the secondary needs of the workforces , i.e. the agricultural workers on farms. The second alternative attracted primarily those applicants for emigration from Slovakia who were rejected by the United States. The number of those interested was very large. According to officials of the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague, it was nearly impossible to control the situation. The quota permitted annualy by the Canadian side could not be exceeded. The Canadians succeeded in keeping it low .54 In this way the number of Slovaks in Canada was by the end of the year 1930 increased to some 30 ,000 - 40,000 persons. 55 Czechoslobvak representatives in Montreal protested by means of a Memorandum to Minister Egan aginst the recruitment of workers without appropriate legislative requisites. The Consul stressed in the Memorandum that, according to Czechoslovak emigration law, each of the emigrants should, before their departure , be furnished with a -valid contract with the name of the employer, the location , sort of work, the duration of the employment, as well as the offered wage. 56 In response to the Memorandum, the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization considered it its duty to inform the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague only of the fact that an immigrant - agricultural worker - was to be paid 25 dollars per month with board and lodging.57 Further disputes and legally-unsolved problems were on both sides consulted usually in the following manner: in further similar inter-governmental agreements concerning the emigration and immi- 54Approximately 6,000 to 7,000 persons. 55 Archives of the President's Office, D. 12331/38. Secret message of CS . Consul General dr. F. Pavl~sek to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague about the situation among Slovaks in Canada, dated 17. 3. 1937. In: Bielik, F.: Sloven ske vys(ahovaleccvo. Dokumency III. Martin, MS 1976, doc. No. 375 . 56PAC, RG. 76, Vol. 616, File 916207 , pt. 1, 23 . 5. 1925 . 57 PAC, RG. 76, Vol. 616, File 916207 , pt. 1, 23 . 5. 1925 . �SLOVAKIA 25 gration , proper attention should be paid to the solution of the problem of concrete labour contracts.58 From the above-mentioned it follows that the period of activity of Consul General F. V. Kveton (during the years 1925-1929) reflected a considerable increase in the community, not only in Montreal or Toronto, but also in other Canadian regions. This was connected with new organizations of the immigration process. The immigrants were placed primarily on the Praires of Canada, with the organizational centre located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Consul General F. V. Kveton visited that region in 1926. On his journey across Canada he discovered an increase in Slovak colonists despite the fact that he had intended to investigate mainly the Czech settlements. He came to the conclusion that "the Czechoslovak colony" in Canada was in fact the Slovak community. He stressed that fact in his report . Fort William was, according to him , the most significant and stable Slovak city. He estimated that some 1,100 to 1,200 Slovak souls were concentrated there with their own Catholic parish, and a nice church. He said that the Slovaks were working mainly in the port, loading and unloading the ships transporting goods across Lake Ontario, i. e. the inland Canadian "sea". In order to verify known opinions of his diplomatic predecessor concerning the pro-Hungarian orientation of Fort William Slovaks, he asked not only the old inhabitants , but post-war ones too. He came to the following conclusion: the community as a whole takes an autonomous attitude towards the solution of the problem of the constitutional position of Slovakia within the Czechoslovak Republic. The city of Winnipeg in Manitoba, as the destination place of his journey, was characterized as the biggest Czech settlement in Canada, with some four hundred souls, represented primarily by tailors and shoemakers. The Consul General stressed , however, the other function of Winnipeg. It was used as the "winter station" to retire in after the agricultural season on farms was over. His own opinions shifted into a different position because of having obtained new facts about the community. The Consul started 58s(JA, MV, Reg. 1015, No. 6980/1925. �26 SLOVAKIA to respond to the demands of older emigrants concerning education and national culture. He explained his attempt to the Czechoslovak authorities by the need to preserve national consciousness. He asked for the delivery of Slovak books for Montreal and Fort William, and above all, for a Slovak teacher for approximately two hundred school-aged children in Fort William.59 Thanks to the new consular representative, the Czechoslovak authorities were in 1926 forced to return to the problem of the social position of the Slovak immigrants. At first they started to investigate the chances of immigrants to obtain farms. Ottawa was asked questions about the place to obtain certain capital loans if an immigrant intended to do private farming.6() The federal Ministry did not intend to answer the question. The Consul was asked to address the responsible institutions, and first of all the Secretary of the Association of Canadian Bankers 61 who had offered him information on the existence of credit permitted by the Government in 1926 to be used exclusively for the purchase of agricultural land, the construction of houses, and affiliated buildings, for the purchase of cattle, irrigation systems, construction, etc.62 Despite a positive answer, no references were found in the archives referring to the use of that aid by Slovak immigrants. Because of those circumstances, the arrival of the two delegates from Czechoslovakia was a matter of question. They were invited by the Canadian Pacific Railway to investigate local conditions for settlement of independent families with some capital. Research has shown that there were only a few solvent families leaving Slovakia for Canada. Therefore, the information offered by the host company was quite useless for ordinary Slovak immigrants.63 Another delegate of the Ministry of Social Welfare offered to the interested Ministries information about his journey to Canada in the spring 1927 . He considered the position of Slovak agricultural workers as gene59S(JA, MSP, Reg. 3894, No. 6588. 6()PAC, RG . 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 10. 6. 1926. 61PAC, RG . 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, I 7. 6. 1926. 62SCJA, MSP, Reg . 3965, 2782/26. 63SCJA, MV, Reg . 1015, 498/1927. �SLOVAKIA 27 rally bad. He presented the following facts: they were working without any contract between them and their employers, and thrown on the mercy of the farmers. Above all, they were working without any health or accident insurance. No such insurance existed in Canada. Only Railways and larger industries had their own insurance systems. The afflicted immigrant could be protected only through a benefit society of fellow-countrymen, or by Canadian charity institutions. 64 When the Consulate had intervened in the Canadian Department it was offered a long list of the agencies and associations entitled to protecting the interests of immigrants in Canada.65 During the following year quite different opinions appeared among fellow-countrymen, evaluating the situation of Slovak immigrants. Some of them had strongly criticized their position because they had to be regularly aided through the Slovak League of America. Others were satisfied, pointing to those individuals living in Canada for a long time who became rich. The most objective evaluation, however, resulted from the latest information gathered during the years 1924-1927. It was as follows: "Fellow-countrymen are not for the time being doing well" _66 Evidence about it was provided by the Czechoslovak Consulate in Canada in a document published in Slovak newspapers. The title of the mentioned article was "Information for Those Emigrating to Canada" .67 It analysed the social conditions of Slovak immigrants in Canada, considered them to be insufficient, thus preventing others from making the decision to leave for Canada to work. The intention to get through Canada to the USA was considered nonsense. There were many profiteers promising to get people secretly over the borders to the USA, extorting their last money. The Consulate warned people because the promises had been false. Those profiteers were interested only in their hard-earned money. 64 SUA, MV, Reg . 1015, No . 27464/1927, 11.4. 1927. 65 S0A, MSP, Reg . 3965 , File 6849/1927, 28. 12. 1927. 66 Kopac, A.: "Ako sa zije na~fm v Kanade?", I:udova politika, 3, 1927, p. 3. 67 Narodnie noviny, 58., No . 50, 29. 4. 1927 , p. 3. No . 207, 15. 9. �28 SLOVAKIA Despite those facts, the Consul Kveton sent in the summer of 1928 an optimistic report to Prague about enough job opportunities, and that there was no unemployment among the immigrants. 68 He was, however, undoubtly conscious of the fact that critical situations were emerging after seasonal work was over, i.e. during the longlasting winter. It was almost the same by the end of the year 1928 . The unemployed started, as usual, to concentrate in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and other cities. That concentration resulted in great associative activity. Consular reports paid special attention primarily to the activity of the Slovak League of America, which had succeeded in establishing its subsidiaries in Canada in the years 1927 and 1928 (in Toronto and Montreal, and a year before also in Winnipeg). For most Slovak immigrants in Canada membership in those organizations was quite necessary, because they had been aiding them in case of illnesses, or accidents. However, the activity of the Slovak League did not correspond with the above-mentioned intentions of the Czechoslovak Consulate. The Committee for Emigration was immediately addressed with urgent demands for the Government to provide some financial aid to the co-operative association in Montreal to cover its activities. 69 Such procedures did not surprise anybody. Once again the original arguments were used about the Slovaks looking for locations with older settlements of their fellow-countrymen, and gradually losing their interest in the idea of the so-called Czechoslovak nationality _?O That private opinion of the informer was in strong contradiction with the tendencies of the Slovak League being known with its identification with the Slovak autonomy programme during the inter-war years. The League was popular among the immigrants, especially for its co-operative function. The situation, however, got worse as the years went on. Unemployment was increasing, and as a result, a new phenomenon ap68S(JA , MSP, Reg. 3965, 30.11.1928 . 69S(JA, MSP, Reg . 3966, No . 21443, 28 .6.1928 . 7oIbid. �SLOVAKIA 29 peared in the diplomatic agenda as early as the winter of 1929-1930 . It concerned the deportation of Czechoslovak nationals from Canada. According to existing Canadian law a man who, during the first five years of his arrival in Canada applied for, or was provided with some public finacial aid, was considered an undesirable person, not able to conform to Canadian conditions. Such a person was to be deported to his mother country .7 1 The situation between the two countries worsened. There were frequent controversies between them. Many of the persons to be deported by the Canadians were ill or even incapacitated, either physically or psychically, and there were also criminals among them. Finally, the Czechoslovak authorities refused to accept those individuals who had not had, after a ten years' stay in Canada, re-established their Czechoslovak citizenship, or had not requested an extension of the validity of the right of domicle abroad. It is very difficult to find an accurate count of such persons,72 but they were often mentioned in diplomatic reports. It is obvious that this situation resulted from the economic crisis which broke out in 1929. The Depression affected the immigrants as never before. Besides increasing unemployment, the crisis meant also a significant reduction of the immigration quota for Czechoslovakia to two thousand people a year. This uncompromising procedure of the immigration authorities irritated the Czechoslovak Consulate so much that the Consul addressed Ottawa with an open protest. It follows from his report, sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague, that he was discussing the problem with Deputy Minister Egan in Ottawa. The Consul considered the quota unfair, and even offensive, for Czechoslovakia. The reaction of the Canadian Minister to that invective was related the Czechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs as follows: the Deputy Minister said that "if only the immigrants from Bohemia and Moravia were concerned, 71SuA , MSP, Reg. 4029, No. 4310-36. 72 PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 251 , File 183211. �30 SLOVAKIA the whole situation would have been quite different, but there was only a minimum percentage of immigrants coming those regions" .73 At the beginning of 1930 K. Kveton was ending his diplomatic mission in Montreal , and was replaced by the new Consul-General, K. Moser. The attitude of the Canadian public and the immigration authorities as well, towards the immigration policy became even more hostile . Finally, in August of 1930 immigration from Czechoslovakia was halted. Public opinion accused the Government of having caused both the crisis, and the unemployment, too, due to its rather "benevolent" immigration policy, mainly in the second half of the 1920s. According to this opinion, the labour market was saturated, resulting in unexpected problems. No improvement in the field of employment occured even after spring work had started. The situation was the same even during the harvest. Farmers were so cutting back on wages that it became quite unprofitable to travel for work to the prairie provincies. Therefore the new Consul Moser reported to Prague in June of 1930 that: "don't let the emigrants come here under these circumstances, as they would only have travel expenses and _a temporary stay here" .74 Thus the hot issue of a part of the diplomatic agenda, represented by the immigration policy, disappeared from it at the beginning of the 1930s. A natural consequence of that was only sporadic contacts between the Czechoslovak Consulate and the Federal Department for Immigration and Colonization. Due to the restriction of immigration, the Federal Department had given up its original position, and importance as well, and beginning with the year 1936 started to function as the Immigration Branch of the Federal Department of Mines and Resources. Unemployment and deportations represented the most serious problem of the period of the economic crisis. Therefo- 73 SUA, MSP, Reg. 3990, 6. 2. 1929. It is necessary to add that the Canadian Government limited or stopped immigration from the entire continent of Europe, of course except for families with some capital, or wives and children of those already settled in Canada, In: an article "Immigration from Europe is Stopped" . The Gazette, Montreal, 16. 8. 1930. 74<'1, .:>UA, MSP, Reg . 3990, No. 6921, 3. 6. 1930. �SLOVAKIA 31 re, the Czechoslovak Consulate paid special attention to the internal i.e. social, associative, and political life of the Slovak community. When in 1930 the Director of the Czechoslovak Institute of Foreign Affairs in Prague V. Tlapak went on a study-tour to Canada, he could only confirm the well-known facts about numerous unemployed immigrants who would like to return to their native land, if only they could. Many of them did not earn enough money to pay the travel expences for the journey back home . He found many examples of those who worked only to cover their daily food costs.7 5 The first to sense the impact of the Depression were farm workers . Having come to Canada in the second half of the 1920s, these people were not accepted in Canada with special favour. The crisis made their position quite unbearable. The Federal Government, trying to solve the situation as best as it would, created a programme of emergency works. Nearly every province "drew" the unemployed from the cities and organized in the country so-called labour camps. Especially the young unemployed did such beneficial work as reconstruction of roads, cultivation of natural parks, etc. No Slovaks took part in it, according to diplomatic reports. In January of 1932 Consul Moser reported to Prague that unemployment was not decreasing at all, but on the contrary, it was gradually increasing. 76 Not only the immigamts who were agricultural workers had problems. Even some better-situated individuals had problems. In spite of the fact that some of the immigrants had succeded in getting land, they had to leave the farms as they were not able to pay off the mortgage.77 Deportations became the accompanying phenomenon of unemployment. Canada resorted to that unpleasant measure in order to shake off the burden of the persons who were not able to care for themselves.7 8 There were many Slovak immigrants among them. Consul General Moser, in his effort to somehow protect the interests 75 SDA, MSP , Reg . 4019, No . 3751/30, 29.11.1930. 76AFMzv, PZ-M, year 1932, No. 3, 27 .. 1. 1932. 77 SUA, MSP , Reg . 3990, No. 4105 - 32. 78 vystehovalecky zpravodaj Ministerstva socialnf pece , Vol. 2, 20. 5. 1932 , p. 19 . �32 SLOVAKIA of the immigrants, sent a complaint to Ottawa in August of 1932, stressing the fact that Canada was deporting immigrants too late, because most of them were in such a bad situation that they could not wait the two-to-three months for the departure. Therefore, he asked the Department to deport them as early as possible.79 The Department in Ottawa answered that they had a huge list of those waiting for deportation, and in any case could not make the deportation process quicker, especially due to the limited capacity of the ships departing from Montreal. 80 Even in January 1934 the consular materials contained information about unemployed immigrants who, for three years, had hopelessly waited for deportation. Therefore, some of them illegaly left for the USA, only to be caught, and in such way to be more quickly deported (after a two-to-three months stay in prison) to Czechoslovakia.81 By the end of 1935 the Consul suggested that things were going better and visits to the Consulate were rare. At the same time he reported that numerous immigrants had succeded in finding some work in construction, mines and forests, while others had returned to Czechosloyakia. 82 It does not mean, however, that he automatically considered an improvement in the field of employment a symptom of the restoration of the immigration process, or the release of the restrictions imposed on immigration policy. The only exception was that concerning the possibility of immigration of some peasant families with a capital of $1,000 - $2,000. Even under those circumstances the Consul considered the immigration of well-off individuals more than disputable. He reasoned in the following way: If the applicant for immigration to Canada sells in Czechoslovakia his whole property to get the necessary financial means, it will be enough only to invest in uncultivated land. Very hard work will follow the purchase, with the results coming in most cases too late. 79PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, I. 8. 1932. 80PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 20. 8.1932. 8lx, .:>UA, MSP, Reg. 4029, 12. I. 1934. 82X' .:>UA, MSP, Reg. 4029, 27.1.1936. �SLOVAKIA 33 This will make the immigrant fail , which often will result in his deportation. 83 It has been stated already that no other event influenced the Slovak community so much as the Depression. The immigration process of the second half of the 1920s was practically halted and the number of immigrants in the community was relatively stabilized (representing some 30,000 Slovaks, and about 1,000 Czechs). During the period preceding the crisis , the community was insufficiently organized. It was lacking in leaders, preachers, teachers, and schools. During the crisis the community was more active, and even more radical. Some new associations were founded. Ethnic consciousness was also activated. This resulted in a rapid decrease in their interest and willingness to co-operate in so-called Czechoslovak: associations. The activity of the benefit society in Montreal was nearly halted. 84 The Consulate notified Prague of the revival of autonomist tendencies, illustrating it with the fact that the First Slovak Benefit Society came into existence in Western Canada. More seriously, he considered the fact that there were being established numerous subsidiaries of the American-Slovak: associations with centers situated in the USA. He noticed, however, the great disappointment among the Canadian members because their funds had been delivered to the USA, thus not sufficiently meeting their needs. Finally, some of the members met in Winnipeg, Manitoba to reach a decision about leaving the American-Slovak: Association in order to found their own Canadian-Slovak: one. 85 The newly established Canadian Slovak League, together with the newspaper Slovak v Kanade, were by Consul Moser characterized as the principal representatives of the autonomist flow in the Slovak community, with the addition, that the same opinion was shared by the First Catholic Slovak Union in Canada. When F. Pavlasek took up his consular mission in Canada, he came to the conclusion that Slovaks were against the Czechs because 83SDA , MSP, Reg. 4029, 19. 8.1936. 84AFMZV, Section II., Reg . 492, No . 6787, I. 10. 1932. 85 SDA, MSP , Reg . 4029 . Periodical Report of the Immigration Branch , IV . quart. 1932. �34 SLOVAKIA of their motto "Slovakia for the Slovaks" .86 According to the new Consul General, the immigrants transfered from Slovakia to Canada many of Andrej Hlinka's ideas. Their attitudes were enforced both due to the American Slovak influences, and the agitation about the Pittsburgh Agreement. The fact that the Slovaks represented the poorest layers of the inhabitants of Canada, and belonged often to the unemployed, resulted in some being attracted to Marxism. The Consul discovered that in Montreal some four hundred persons were concentrating around the Slovak newspaper Robotnfcke slovo. The Consul Pavlasek characterized the group as quite compatible and devoted to their common ideal. At the same time he stressed the fact that the magazine was doing well and had a lot of symphatizers, in spite of the fact that many of them were not organized in the Association at all .87 Finally, in 1934 he characterized the community as politically split between the autonomists, autonomist communists, and those loyal to democratic Czechoslovakia. He considered it the result of the differentiation process which occured during the Depression. The autonomist communists were originally Czechoslovaks but had split in 1936 into Czechs and Slovaks. He tried to contact the different groups . "At first I tried to attract the conservative Catholic associations (the parish of Saints Cyril and Methodius) but without any success ... When I saw that the door for my activity among autonomists was shut for a certain period, I turned to less radical workers in order to build up co-operation between them and a middle democratic group. The result, however, was much the same ... 11 88 The Consul came to the conclusion that comunists triumphed during the crisis because they had exploited unemployment for establishing new associations. Among them were Czechoslovak Worker Education Clubs, the Slovak Workmen's Association, The International Workmen's Association, etc. They had numerous sym86AFMZV, Section II ., Reg. 531, 18.7.1934. 87 Ibid. 88 As in Note 55. �SLOVAKIA 35 pathizers among the common people. They improved the financial state of their associations, and a quality newspaper as well. In other words, they were very succesfuI. 89 The Consul Pavlasek stressed the intensity of communist propaganda among their fellow-countrymen in 1936. At the same time he noticed the fact that the propaganda could not be discounted, and in spite of the fact that it had been the result of a long-term Depression, it was spreading very rapidly, and fellow-countrymen were accepting it.90 Already in 1937 the Consul Pavlasek.was very pessimistic: "The position of this office is extremely difficult, because we have nobody to lean on. There are only a few Czechs here, and they are mostly assimilated, and a majority of them have withdrawn from public life due to permanent attacks". The fact that the Slovak community rejected Czechoslovakism nearly 'en bloc', he characterized as follows: "loyal Czechoslovak thinking, ever respecting the democracy and the Czechoslovak national unity, represents in some colonies but a minority", at the same time he added that the Czechs had arrived in Canada already before World War I, and they had been living there for two or three generations. They had been greatly assimililated, because the second generation had been educated in the Canadian manner. Finally, he expressed his "sad" conclusion that he himself, as well as the Consulate, were permanently attacked by the autonomists, and communists as well. It meant that the Consulate was to a great extent isolated from the Slovak community as a whole, in spite of the latter's internal ideological differentiation. In other words, the Consulate's mission was unsuccesful - it failed completely to unify the Czecho-Slovak nationals in Canada. Therefore, its arguments, formulated in 1937, suggesting that "everything must be done to keep the consciousness of Czechoslovak national unity in spite of the protests and demonstrations of the autonomist circles", were in vain.9 1 89SuA , MSP , Reg. 4029 , 25 . 10. 1935 . 90SuA, MSP, Reg . 4029 , 13.5 . 1937 . 91 As in note 88. � 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 1991-92, Vol. 35 Description An account of the resource Vol. 35 (No. 64-65), 1991-92. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Slovak League of America Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available 1991-92 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 Slovak Emigrants in Canada as Reflected in Diplomatic Documents (1920 - 1938) ELENA JAKESOVA Slovak emigration to Canada - not taking into account the European continental migration - can be considered one of the strongest and most significant of all of the Slovak migrations during the inter-war period. Great numbers of Slovaks moved to Canada across the Antlantic to earn some money, especially in the second half of the 1920s. 1 The inter-war years, however, represented only its second stage, because Slovaks had started to leave for the United States as early as the 1870s. The 1920s witnessed only a change in destination. The United States of America, which in 1920 contained about 620,000 Slovaks, halted that mass emigration. When the continuity of the traditional emigration had been broken partly in the year 1921, and definitely in the year 1924, the search for an alternative solution of the problem did not take long. The immigrants saw in Canada's common frontier with the United States the possibility of emigration south in the future. Therefore, Canada became in the second half of the twenties "the second chance", a kind of alternative destination of the Slovak emigrants in spite of the fact that in comparison with the USA there 1 Shipping companies transported from Slovakia to Canada in 1922 110 persons, in 1923 2029 , in 1924 2832, in 1925 2134 , in 1926 6066 , in 1927 6301 , in 1928 8184 , in 1929 4116 , in 1930 3586, in 1931 730, in 1932 522, in 1933 673 , in 1934 851, in 1935 742 , in 1936 716. Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 4, Prague, 1932) and in Statistical Yearbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Prague 1934 , 1935, 1936, 1937) . 8 SLOVAKIA were not many reasons to look for opportunities for employment on its territory. In the period up to World War I, Canada attracted only about 5,000 Slovaks. 2 As early as the beginning of the 1920s it appeared that Canada could become the alternative overseas country of destination of Slovak emigrants. That alternative began to attract not only applicants for emigration passports in Slovakia but also Czecho-Slovak diplomats, and their representatives in Canada. In elucidating the development of the stated tendency, and its impact, we chose a series of diplomatic documents, representing the activities of the Czechoslovak consulate in Montreal in the years 1920-1938 as the basis of the following essay . The most significant are those documents which give special attention to the process of emigration. The subjects of the correspondence of the Czechoslovak Consulate in Montreal were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague, and the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa.3 The Goals of this essay are limited. I will focus only on those aspects of the topic falling into the competence, tasks and activities of the Czechoslovak representatives in Canada. In consequence of the pro-emigration attitudes of the Czechoslovak government, two basic trends will coincide: Canadian immigration policy, and the development of the Slovak community in Canada. Slovak nationals represented the vast majority of all the people involved in the process of Czechoslovak emigration, especialy in the second half of the 2 Message of the Austro-Hungarian Consulate General in Montreal, IO December, I 902 to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna . Haus-Hof-und Staatsarchiv Wien, F 15, File 62, deliv . 27 December, 1902. 3 sources: Archives of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Prague (hereinafter only AFMZV), Political reports - Montreal (1920- I 938) (hereinafter PZ-M) , and Section II. National Archives, Prague (hereinafter SUA) , Fund of Ministry of Social Welfare (hereinafter MSP), Ministry of International Affairs - Old registers of 19191944 (hereinafter MV) . Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa (hereinafter PAC) , Immigration Branch (RG 76) , Vol. 198 Consul General of Czechoslovakia, Montreal , Quebec (1922-1940) (File 80671) , Vol. 251 Czechoslovakia, Passports (1924-1939) (File 183211), Vol. 616 Czechoslovaks (File 916207) . SLOVAKIA 9 1920s .4 This fact accounted for the basis for the final ethnic identification of the newly-formed community in the Canadian environment, and, at the same time, determined the attitudes, and activities of the Czechoslovak Representatives in Canada. The first diplomatic contacts between Czechoslovakia and Canada were established on the consular level in Montreal in November of 1920. Bohuslav K. Ryznar was appointed the first Czechoslovak Consul. The Consulate was subordinated to the Czechoslovak Embassy in London, which corresponded with the arrangements of the relations between London and Ottawa. Despite the urgent request of B . K . Ryznar to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague, the functional designation of the Consulate in Montreal was not changed in the years 1920-1922 . He stressed the fact that "Canada is absolutely a self-governing country, and does not pay any taxes , duties or other allowances to the British Empire to be used by the army or navy. There is no British soldier, and no British warship in the whole territory of the Dominion .. ."5 B. K. Ryznar submitted several arguments to support his request for changing the Montreal office's rank to Consulate General. He suggested that the Governor General of Canada, the federal government, and the ministries in Ottawa entered into contacts only with accredited diplomats on the level of Consuls General. 6 Therefore, lower consular rankings resulted in the absence of contacts and information which, to a great extent, limited the possibility of diplomatic activity. Despite the Consul's assurances that eventual installation of a Consul General would not increase the budget, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague strictly refused the request.7 4 comparing the number of emigrants from Czechoslovakia to Canada during the years 1922-1932 with the number of emigrants from Slovakia for the same period, we have found that 83% were Slovaks, and only 17% were Czechs . If we compared it with the number of inhabitants , the difference would be even more extreme . Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 4, Prague , 1932). 5AFMZV, PZ-M, year I 921, No. 19, 27 . 6. 1921. 6With the addition that of all European countries, only Czechoslovakia and Portugal had their Consulates in Canada. AFMZV , PZ-M, year 1921 , No . 9, 17 . 2. 1921 . 7AFMZV , PZ-M, year 1921, No. 10 (B . ve .). SLOVAKIA In reply to the refusal , the Consul Ryznar again reminded the Ministry of the difficulties connected with the execution of his mission : "The situation looks as if the Prague centre has to seek information on the territory from Brittany to the foot of the Urals, and from Cadiz to Hamerfest, without any auxiliary offices and means" .8 These basic arguments - i. e. the inferior position of the representation , and the large size of Canada - were, for a certain period, the most effective tool in the hands of the Czechoslovak Consul in Canada to be used whenever he was obliged to take a stand , or to characterize some generally valid phenomenon. The taking of such an attitude was under those circumstances understandable. The presence and activity of the first Czechoslovak Consul in Canada represented but the first stage of the Czechoslovak diplomatic activity in Canada, aimed at the gradual acquisition and transmission to the Czechoslovak Government of essential information on anything he considered important, including the care for his own nationals, with special attention paid to immigrants coming to the country. Taking into account the goal of the present essay , it is important to stress first of all the Consul's investigation of the state of the regional community of his fellow-countrymen. This all formed a part of the information sent at the beginning of 1920 to the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague. He characterized it as follows : 11 ••• a colony of Czechoslovak nationals representing over five thousand persons living in the whole Dominion , i. e. an area equal to the extent of the United States of North America ... , it is , however, insufficiently organized, and could not be used as a decisive element to support any political faction .. . Also the interest of the Czechoslovak farmers settled in the province of Saskatchewan are quite different from those of the miners in Nova Scotia, living apart a distance of about four thousand kilometers. It will be very difficult to unify them and to make them act together" _9 It is obvious that recognizing the small numbers in the community provoked both interested parties to consider the further possibi8AFMZV , PZ-M,year 1921 , No . 19, 27. 6. 1921. 9AFMZV , PZ-M , year 1921, No . 2, File No . 10/21. SLOVAK.IA 11 lities of its growth. These appeared already in 1921 in connection with the increasing interest in emigration from Czechoslovakia, and also with the growing threat of the limitation of immigration by the US Government. Therefore, the future Canadian immigration policy , and especially its relation to Central Europe, became the primary area of interest of the Czechoslovak Consulate in Montreal. The formulation dealing with the diffusion and disorganization of the colony had the hidden agenda of the further activity of the Czechoslovak Consulate - i.e. co-operation with the community in order to unify it as far as its organization is concerned, and, in this way, to shape its future direction. A matter of question, however, was - by which means and in what manner should it be done? The organizational and political attitudes chosen by the consular authorities in relationship to the Slovak community is the principal topic of this essay. The diplomatic communiques themselves contained certain signals in answer to the question because there the community was referred to as a colony of Czechoslovak nationals, without more detailed ethnic identification. Despite the fact that the first impression acquired by the Czechoslovak side from the trends in Canadian immigration policy was not in any way favourable - "the Canadian authorities obstructed the immigrants" 10 - the Consul reported to Prague at the beginning of 1921 that the consular office succeeded in finding some indications of change. Public debates began to mould opinions that, with respect to the growing need for cheap labour, it was necessary to retain the principle of a priority in the selection of immigrants, i. e. not to prefer Britons as the representatives of the "mother country" of Canada, but to permit a bit of benevolence in the selection of the immigrants. 11 It was decided by the Consulate to seize the opportunity immediately. The federal Department of Immigration and Colonization in IOAFMZV, Sec . II ., Reg . 531, File No . 514, 4.2.1921. 11 AFMZV, PZ-M, year 1921, No . 19, an article published in The Montreal Daily Star, 4. 6. 1921 , "Repudiation , Annexation or Population". 12 SLOVAKIA Ottawal 2 was asked in November of 1922 to provide statistical data on the number of Czechoslovak immigrants in Canada, and, at the same time, to inform the Consulate about the willingness of the Canadian government to accept the immigration and settlement of Czechoslovak nationals in Canada,13 This initiative of the Czechoslovak Consul was premature. The department took a very reserved attitude. Its Secretary, F. C. Blair, provided only the requested statistical data, and completely omitted the problem connected with the possibility of immigration from Czechoslovakia. 14 It is, therefore, clear that it was only the Czechoslovak side which initiated and tried to recommend its own citizens as suitable potential immigrants to Canada. Despite the fact that this effort had been ignored, the Consul Ryznar was not discouraged. He went on searching for some sign of permissivness in the Canadian immigration policy towards the Continent and concretely to Central Europe. He tried to convince the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also the Ministry of Social Welfare, that he was doing his best to search for possibilities for Slovak applicants for emigration to countries other than to the USA. The Consul constantly tried to find some solution and began to consider the most attractive the idea of the Canadian immigration officials - i. e. to attract peasants, who, unlike the British colonists coming mainly from towns, and again settled in towns in Canada, would be able and willing to farm in Canada, to cutlivate the virgin land, and to revive the economy of the country.15 He saw such a solution in Central Europe. Ryznar had been so encouraged with the possibility of Slovak immigration that he decided at the beginning of 1923 to send another letter to F. C. Blair. He did so in order to get some information about the new policy of settlement being enforced by certain political 12The Department of Immigration and Colonization, an independent Department of the Federal Government, came into existence in 1917 through its separation from the Ministry of the Interior. 13 PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 198, File 80671 , 11. I 1. 1922. 14 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 28 . 11.1922. 15 AFMZV, PZ-M, year 1922, No. 7, 4.12 . 1922. SLOVAKIA 13 circles . His primary goal was, however, again to remind the Canadian government of Czechoslovakia, and its peasantry applying for immigration visas. He stressed in his letter that he had been urged by his own government, and primarily by the Ministry of Social Welfare, which was greatly interested in the possibility of immigration of its citizens to Canada. In another letter he told of the intention of the above-mentioned Ministry to subscribe to the most significant Canadian newspaper in order to receive information on the programme of the settlement of the country, and at the same time to find missing information for numerous applicants for emigration, i.e. the citizens of Czechoslovakia.16 His efforts to attract the attention of the highest authorities of the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization brought some results in the end. The Czechoslovak Ministry of Social Welfare was finally put on the list of the addresses of the immigration press being issued by the Department of Immigration and Colonization. 17 Above all, those institutions realised that Czechoslovakia was offering a certain part of its peasantry with the assurance that they certainly would be very suitable future colonists . The explanation of the following could be found in the activity of the Czechoslovak Consulate: when in the autumn of 1923 a great need for a cheap labor force emerged in Canada in connection with the logging of old wood in forests, and its preparation for further processing in sawmills, representing in itself very heavy manual work, the citizens of British or French origin did not want to do it. Therefore, the Department of Immigration and Colonization met the demands of some entrepreneurial circles and agreed with the submitted proposal to obtain suitable lumberjacks in Central Europe . The Minister of Immigration and Colonization personally suggested that sort of labour force be sought in Czechoslovakia. He explained it in the following manner: "based on the information received, applicants for emigration from Czechoslovakia are said to have some experience with agricultural work, and also the prerequisites for 16pAc, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671 , 27 . 2. 1923. 17PAC , RG 76 , Vol. 198 , File 80671 , 7. 3. 1923. 14 SLOVAKIA managing methods used in Canadian agriculture in order to become true Canadian farmers in the end" .1 8 The Consulate was very proud of the results of its diplomatic mission. It interpreted its work in the following, quite inadequate, manner: "The Canadian immigration authorities prefer Czechoslovak nationals because of their good physical condition, honesty and industriousness. They find them excellent colonists , and they would be very glad to receive them" _19 In fact the Canadian authorities permitted workers at the end of 1923 in Czechoslovakia for the Canadian lumbering industry only, with only some five hundred, 20 later increased to a thousand workers. 21 Most of those people were obtained in Slovakia as can be seen in the statistical data of the shipping companies concerning the transporting of over two thousand persons from Slovakia to Canada during that same year.22 Immediately after the arrival of the first post-war contingent of Slovak immigrants, they faced numerous problems . The consulate in February 1924 issued the following message: "Most of those (i. e. immigrants) devoted themselves in the winter season to cutting wood. The living standards in those camps, hundreds of miles from civilization, situated in vast forests , are hardly enviable .. . They work from early morning till late at night. They eat food prepared in a common kitchen and pay for it through the reduction of their salaries. The employer provides workers with clothes and other requisites paid for in the above-mentioned manner. It is obvious that our fellows , knowing neither the language nor the customs , are in an endless wilderness thrown at the mercy of dishonest officials, and some problems had to be solved through the consular authorities with the director or owner of the company in order to ensure their protection" .23 18 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 3. 11. 1923. 19.-;;:,UA, , MSP, Reg. 3894, No. 2028 , 2. 6. 1923. 20PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt. 1, 18. 10. 1923. 21SUA, MSP, Reg. 3899, File 847, 20. 2. 1924. 22 Statistical Handbook of the Czechoslovak Republic (Vol. 3, Prague, 1928). 23SUA, MSP, Reg. 3899, File 847 , 20.2. 1924. SLOVAKIA 15 In addition to the difficult position of a part of the Slovak immigrants in lumber camps, there were also other problems . The Canadian authorities offered, in fact only seasonal work. That meant that in the spring of the year 1924, when the season had ended, the immigrants were on their own. A part of them started to drift to Montreal, and other cities, especially those near the American border. It was clear in the end that the first group of post-war immigrants had come to Canada with a clear goal: to get around the restrictive immigration measures imposed by the American authorities, and to get to the United States via Canada,24 where their relatives and friends were already settled. Numerous requests of the immigrants to solve this problem were a heavy burden for the Czechoslovak consular officials .25 All their efforts, however, were useless. At least a one-year stay of the immigrant in Canada was a necessary precondition to receiving a visa to the USA. The situation of the Slovak lumberjacks was very difficult to resolve. The Czechoslovak Consulate tried to avoid growing difficulties caused partly by its own activity. The Czechoslovak authorities were immediately asked to inform passport offices about issuing emigration visas to Canada only to those applicants willing to settle permanently in Canada. 26 In order to stop the growth of further complications, the Consulate again addressed the Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa to provide it with the form, or the text of the agreement usually concluded between the employer and employee.27 The letter also expressed the Government's interest in receiving more detailed information about living conditions of the 1mmigrants in Canada. The highest Canadian authorities answered the letter immediately. They informed the Consulate that neither an agreement form, nor any legislative criteria, existed in Canada for concluding contracts. As far as the securing of certain living standards for immigrants was concerned, living conditions were different in various 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 26 Ibid. 27PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 198 , File 80671 , 16. 4.1924 . 16 SLOVAKIA parts of the country and what was offered was generally considered sufficient. 28 It was too late and quite useless to ask those questions. We know that the Canadian government authorities cared for the problems of their own poorest workers even less than for the Czechoslovak ones, and there was no motivation to help the immigrants, coming without any financial means, and at their own risk. It follows from the above that, at the beginning of 1924, the activity of the Consulate had to orient itself to immigration from Czechoslovakia. It had to decide what to do with people coming from Slovakia with the intention of going to the United States. The chance to get there was only minimal. While the Czechoslovak Consulate was asking the questions, the Slovak League of America, as the cover organization of Slovak immigrants in the USA, took the initiative. Many Slovak immigrants in Canada turned to it with requests for help, because the CanadianSlovak community itself was small in number, lost over the huge territory, and therefore could not support them. In the summer of 1924, the Slovak League sent its delegate to Canada to investigate the situation. Upon his arrival the delegate confirmed the fact that the immigrants had come to Canada with the goal of getting into the USA. At the same time he informed the American-Slovak public that "the prisons on the frontier are full of our people caught when they tried to get to the USA illegally" .29 After receiving that information, the executive of the Slovak League decided to publish information about the hopeless situation of most of the Slovak immigrants in Canada in magazines in Slovakia. 30 Thus a short article published later in numerous Slovak magazines came into being. The text of it was more than meaningful: "The representative of the Slovak League of America who had been sent to Canada reported about a sad group there. Over 12,000 of them are living there and suffer awfully. They cannot find work, and when they get 28PAC , RG 76, Vol. 198 , File 80212 , 25 . 4. 1924. 29 Minutes of the session of the delegates of the Slovak organizations in America organized by the executive of the Slovak League , held in Pittsburgh, Pa ., 18 . December of 1924. In: Slovak v Amerike, 51, No. 37, 2. 3. 1925, p. 3. 3oIbid. SLOVAKIA 17 it, they have to work in the Canadian virgin forests and are paid only a pittance. Their feet and hands are frost-bitten and some of them even went mad" _31 The disclosure of the irresponsibility of the Czechoslovak and Canadian authorities who had prepared and organized the immigration , upset not only American Slovaks and people in Slovakia, it also affected diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and Canada. The Department of Immigration and Colonization in Ottawa was probably informed directly through the British Ambassador in Prague . A letter was immediately sent to the Czechoslovak Consul in Montreal containing - a slightly paraphrased - "anxiety about the fact that the published information on the situation in Canada does not correspond with reality" _32 At the same time Ottawa asked the Consul to inform it about the Slovak League of America. They were mostly interested in whether the organization had a branch in Canada consisting of the proper members, and finally asked the Consul about the alleged problem, i. e. whether he was really informed about a greater number of Slovak immigrants in Canada who had not found work.33 In his answer B. K. Ryznar suggested to the Minister W. J. Egan that the Slovak League of America was a strong organization with half a million members. He assured him, however, that the organization had not had any branch in Canada. 34 As he had not ment to destroy his previous efforts in the field of creating premises for acceptance of immigrants from Czechoslovakia, he to a certain extent negated the arguments of the above-mentioned article, and assured Ottawa that there were not many unemployed Slovaks in Canada. In order not to minimize his duties and problems connected with the execution of his mission, Ryznar mentioned in his letter having heard only about the complaints of the immigrants concerning irregular practices applied by the employers and the labour 3 IE. g. Sloven ska domovina, 7, No. 6, 5. 2. I 925, p. 2. 32 As in Note 29 . 33PAC , RG 76, Vol. 616 , File 916207, pt . I, 10. 2. 1925 . 34Toe Slovak League of America had but one subsidiary in Canada, at Fort William , Ontario, founded in 1916, havi ng one hundred and fifty members. 18 SLOVAKIA agencies, and their attempts to misuse them. His attitude to the whole problem was contrary to the facts .35 The above-mentioned problem had been disturbing to both interested parties, and therefore the Department in Ottawa decided to inform the Czechoslovak authorities in order to elucidate somehow the problems of unemployment and basic social care provided to the Slovak immigrants. The information was , however, only general , covering but the job opportunities offered by Canada to the immigrants . Job opportunities were represented principally by seasonal work for agricultural workers. The number of needed seasonal workers was very difficult to determine ahead of time. The Department cleared up only the problem of the salaries offered. They assured the Czechoslovak authorities that the minimum monthly salary had to be 25 dollars , at the same time admitting even higher wages in case of additional seasonal work.36 But the Czechoslovak authorities wanted to make the problem clear. Therefore, they sent a delegate on a mission to Eastern Canada. He could only confirm the well-known facts about the difficulties of a part of the new Slovak immigrants. The most serious of them represented unemployment on the one hand, and unpaid salaries for work done on the other. The employers, for various reasons, often refused to pay the immigrants. They were sure that it was quite impossible to claim their salaries through the courts, as no service contracts had been concluded with the immigrants. 37 Together with the arrival of a greater number of immigrants, and especially when the lumbering season had ended, a tendency appeared during 1924 among groups of immigrants settling in Montreal to be near the residence of the Czechoslovak Consulate. Growing unemployment was the motive for their concentration. The officials saw the reasons for immigrants remaining in the big cities in their apparent aversion to working on farms, and in their false illusions of 35PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt . I, 14.2.1925. 36 PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616, File 916207, pt. I, 26.3.1925. 37SUA, MSP, Reg . 3803, No . 10219, 2.5. 1925. SLOVAKIA 19 better salaries in cities. The immigrants hoped to find in Montreal an advanced industry, as was the case in cities of the United States .38 Social dislocation, therefore, became the decisive experience of the people. This motivated them during the summer 1924 to support each other through a co-operative association. 39 The forming of the ethnically homogenous Slovak group in Montreal, welded together by common problems, could not be ignored by the Czechoslovak Consul. He reported to Prague in detail about the two Slovaks in Montreal, who strove to establish a "Slovak Benefit Society". He added, however, that their task was very difficult, because of the small and ever-changing number of the Slovaks in Montreal, as most of them were looking for work, and their stay in the city was temporary .40 He also reported on the activity of the Slovak League of America, aimed at the organization of Slovak immigrants in Canada. The League sent its delegate to Montreal to investigate the situation. According to the Consul there was no response to the efforts of that Slovak-American organization in Canada. His opinion was, that the representative of the Slovak League "had not been accepted positively by his fellow-countrymen" _41 It is clear that the associative efforts of the Slovak immigrants were from the very beginning followed very carefully by the Consulate. The fact that the Slovak immigrants had decided to go their own way inspired the Consulate General to act in accordance with its original intention to organize the whole community in Canada, representing several thousand. At the beginning the Consulate tried to control the activity of the newly-formed association of Slovaks in Montreal. The Consul Ryznar, as soon as he arrived in 1920, decided to enter in a most decisive manner into the life of the community. But there was little hope of realizing that because of the originally small 38 Jbid. 39The association was founded by Gabriel Kurdel and F. Capkovic , at the end of 1924, in the first Slovak restaurant in Montreal , named "Tatra" . It was opened by F. Capkovic in the spring of I 924 . From the letter of G . Kurdel to the author dated 8. 12. 1974. (Personal archives of the author) . 40 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1924, No. 8, 8. 9. 1924. 41 Ibid. 20 SLOVAKIA number of the Slovak immigrants scattered across the vast Canadian lanscape. That all prevented him from managing the situation. Therefore, in his diplomatic agenda, he prudently suggested that the Slovak inhabitants in Canada were not organized as they could not be organized. But, as it is known from the diplomatic agenda of the former Austro-Hungarian Consuls General in Canada, the truth was just opposite. The Slovaks in Canada did organize already at the tum of the 19th and 20th centuries but not in their own associations. They were establishing in Canada numerous branches of American-Slovak associations. This resulted in subordinating them to centres in the USA, thus connecting more tightly the Canadian Slovaks with American ones, rather than the Slovaks living across Canada. With respect to the above-mentioned facts, the Czechoslovak Consul did not consider uniting the Canadian-Slovak community possible. This made him believe in the end that the Slovaks in Canada were not organized at all. The alternative of establishing new associations after World War I was impossible. In 1922 the Consul expressed his attitude in the following manner: "there are not suitable conditions here for establishing Czechoslovak associations" .42 It follows that he really intended to establish not only new associations, but also to make those already existing acquire the status of Czechoslovak ones, i. e. to conform to the Czechoslovak stateforming conception, and to manifest it in concrete organizational forms of their foreign enclave. When it was necessary to explain the reasons preventing him from realizing his plans, the Consul stressed the fact that there was a conflict between his intentions and the Slovak attitude represented by the strong pro-Hungarian orientation of the greatest concentration of the pre-war Slovak immigrants in Fort William, Ontario.43 About six hundred to one thousand and two hundred Slovaks were living there. The pro-Hungarian tendencies of that nationally and organizationally unified group of the Slovak immigrants coming mostly from 4 2SuA . MSP, Reg . 3894, No . 2313, 26. 6. 1922. 43 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1922, File 36 d, 25.4. 1922. SLOVAKIA 21 the Orava region - which was in the period before the World War I known as an area nearly untouched by the process of magyarization - "were explained" very simply: those Slovaks had attended Hungarian schools and immigrated to Canada from Hungarian lands. We must add, however, that he, himself, doubted his statements about the pro-Hungarian manifestations of the Fort William Slovaks with the confession about getting his information "second hand" . Later on, he made use of his statements about magyarized Slovaks as a serious obstacle to the enforcement of the Czechoslovak philosophy. He said that the pro-Hungarian tendencies were permanently supported both by former Austro-Hungarian and new Hungarian Consuls in Canada during his journeys across Canada where the Hungarians had lived together with the Slovaks.44 The Czechoslovak Consul made use of that fact. He remarked that he himself as a Consul had not been able to travel along the consular "region" by permission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs even after his three years' stay in Canada.45 In such a way he brought forward both the "principal", and other, i.e. "technical" cause of his temporary failure in relation to the Slovak community in Canada. We must say, however, that arguments such as the long distances between Montreal and individual Slovak settlements, the absence of contact with them, or surviving pro-Hungarian emotions among regional inhabitants, as well as the existence of no chance to change it, also survived. They could never be used to characterize the newly-forming associations of Slovak immigrants. The consul chose quite a different explanation. As he himself noted in the consular report, he had evaluated the activity of "the Czechoslovak citizens coming from Slovakia". In relationship to the existing foreign-political conception of the unitary Czechoslovak state, and the officialy-accepted theory of the Czechoslovak nation as well, he started to characterize the new associative tendencies of Montreal's Slovaks as the activation of anti-Czech 44 AFMZ, PZ-M , year 1924, No . 6. 11. 11. 1924. 4SAFMZ, PZ-M , year 1923, No. 13. 13 . 12. 1923 . 22 SLOVAKIA ideas, and the spreading of treasonous ideas brought apparently by Slovak immigrants and spread among fellow-countrymen. 46 Characterization of the associative tendencies of the Slovak immigrants in Montreal as anti-Czech, or even treasonous, was naive , and in the end turned against the Consulate itself. The Consulate had immediately to respond, and to eliminate the manifestations of the Slovak separatists represented, and replace them with the associative efforts of helpless immigrants. The Consul was supposed to initiate an unifying processes and make the Slovak immigrants accept their organization with those Czech immigrants who had settled in Montreal long before. It was, however, very difficult to find a proper way to solve the problem. There were only a few Czech immigrants living in Montreal. 47 They were mostly older inhabitants, and besides, they were on a higher social level, with other interests and needs. The Slovaks, meanwhile, were not in the least interested in any sort of social activity, or even "making policy". Therefore even the old traditional and experienced way of ideologically influencing the community, as it was suggested by the Czechoslovak authorities - i. e. to issue a newspaper - was considered inappropriate, and even useless. Migrating Slovaks searching all the time for jobs would not accept any newspaper _48 The following "solution" proved the most suitable one: the Canadian public was informed through an article published in The Montreal Daily Star in December of 1924 about the organization of "the Czechoslovak citizens in order to establish an independent association of Czechoslovak immigrants" .49 When, at the beginning of 1925, B. K. Ryznar finished his diplomatic mission to Canada (from January 1923 he was Consul General) the Montreal Slovak community was already officialy represented by the Czechoslovak 46 AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1924, No. 8. 8.9.1924. 47 Before World War I, thirteen Czech families and one Slovak family lived in Montreal. In: Rybnfcek, A.: "Vzpomfnky starousadlfka." I:udove zvesti, 26, No. 40 , I 9. 10. 1961, p. 14. 48 AFMZ, PZ-M , year 1924, No . 12. 11. 11 . 1924. 4 9"Society formed to aid Czechs . New body will assist immigrants to prosper here". The Montreal Daily Star, 16. 12. 1924 . PAC, RG 76, Vol. 616 , File 916207, pt. I . SLOVAKIA 23 Benefit Society. An internal conflict existed, however, concerning its name, emerging from time to time with greater or less intensity ,50 as the roots of a sort of natural alliance were missing.51 The beginning of 1925, connected with the end of B. K. Ryznar's diplomatic mission, and the coming of the new Consul General F. V. Kveton, represented a break in the immigration policy of Canada. Thanks to favourable economic-political decisions of the Canadian Government to end the policy of favouring immigrants from Great Britain, psychologically and physically not sufficiently prepared to do hard agricultural work in the Canadian wilderness, resulted in the recruitment of immigrants - mainly peasants - from the Central European region. It was the poor state of the Canadian economy at the beginning of 1925 as mentioned by the federal Parliament of Canada,52 which resulted in the above-mentioned changes in immigration policy. That new alternative was, despite the poor economic situation of Canada, evaluated by the Czechoslovak authorities with great satisfaction. It seemed that the arrival of immigrants would be greatly simplified for the immigrants comming from some "selected European countries, including the Czechoslovak Republic" .53 New workers were expected to revive the Canadian economy. They, however, misunderstood each other. The Canadian politicians saw the solution in further cultivation of land and farms left by the British colonists , thus solving the urgent need for agricultural workers. In fact, most of the applicants for emigration from the 50From a letter of G. Kurdel to the author dated 8. 12. 1974. 51 Canadian immigration policy allowed from Czechoslovakia only agricultural workers. Therefore, the intelligentsia had no place among immigrants (with some few exceptions). It meant that the Slovak community had no natural leaders. Some did develop. Gabriel Kurdel was the most significant one. In connection with the newlyfounded association in Montreal, G. Kurdel in his memoires said that he had informed the new Consul General Kv~ton about existing conflicts in the association. The Consul agreed with the change of the name of the association to a Slovak one. But, according to his memoirs, when he submitted his proposal to the leaders of the association, represented by Czech fellow-countrymen, they commented on it as follows: "It is nonsense". In: Memoirs of G. Kurdel. Phone record from 26. 10. 1977. No. SLK 3023. Archives of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, Toronto. 52AFMZ, PZ-M, year 1925, No. 5. 7.2.1925. • 53~.:.UA, , MSP, Reg. 3894, File 847, 20. 2. 1924. 24 SLOVAKIA Central European region, including Slovakia, were poor people unable to participate in the Canadian programme of immigration of farming families with some capital. They could only saturate the secondary needs of the workforces , i.e. the agricultural workers on farms. The second alternative attracted primarily those applicants for emigration from Slovakia who were rejected by the United States. The number of those interested was very large. According to officials of the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague, it was nearly impossible to control the situation. The quota permitted annualy by the Canadian side could not be exceeded. The Canadians succeeded in keeping it low .54 In this way the number of Slovaks in Canada was by the end of the year 1930 increased to some 30 ,000 - 40,000 persons. 55 Czechoslobvak representatives in Montreal protested by means of a Memorandum to Minister Egan aginst the recruitment of workers without appropriate legislative requisites. The Consul stressed in the Memorandum that, according to Czechoslovak emigration law, each of the emigrants should, before their departure , be furnished with a -valid contract with the name of the employer, the location , sort of work, the duration of the employment, as well as the offered wage. 56 In response to the Memorandum, the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization considered it its duty to inform the Ministry of Social Welfare in Prague only of the fact that an immigrant - agricultural worker - was to be paid 25 dollars per month with board and lodging.57 Further disputes and legally-unsolved problems were on both sides consulted usually in the following manner: in further similar inter-governmental agreements concerning the emigration and immi- 54Approximately 6,000 to 7,000 persons. 55 Archives of the President's Office, D. 12331/38. Secret message of CS . Consul General dr. F. Pavl~sek to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague about the situation among Slovaks in Canada, dated 17. 3. 1937. In: Bielik, F.: Sloven ske vys(ahovaleccvo. Dokumency III. Martin, MS 1976, doc. No. 375 . 56PAC, RG. 76, Vol. 616, File 916207 , pt. 1, 23 . 5. 1925 . 57 PAC, RG. 76, Vol. 616, File 916207 , pt. 1, 23 . 5. 1925 . SLOVAKIA 25 gration , proper attention should be paid to the solution of the problem of concrete labour contracts.58 From the above-mentioned it follows that the period of activity of Consul General F. V. Kveton (during the years 1925-1929) reflected a considerable increase in the community, not only in Montreal or Toronto, but also in other Canadian regions. This was connected with new organizations of the immigration process. The immigrants were placed primarily on the Praires of Canada, with the organizational centre located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Consul General F. V. Kveton visited that region in 1926. On his journey across Canada he discovered an increase in Slovak colonists despite the fact that he had intended to investigate mainly the Czech settlements. He came to the conclusion that "the Czechoslovak colony" in Canada was in fact the Slovak community. He stressed that fact in his report . Fort William was, according to him , the most significant and stable Slovak city. He estimated that some 1,100 to 1,200 Slovak souls were concentrated there with their own Catholic parish, and a nice church. He said that the Slovaks were working mainly in the port, loading and unloading the ships transporting goods across Lake Ontario, i. e. the inland Canadian "sea". In order to verify known opinions of his diplomatic predecessor concerning the pro-Hungarian orientation of Fort William Slovaks, he asked not only the old inhabitants , but post-war ones too. He came to the following conclusion: the community as a whole takes an autonomous attitude towards the solution of the problem of the constitutional position of Slovakia within the Czechoslovak Republic. The city of Winnipeg in Manitoba, as the destination place of his journey, was characterized as the biggest Czech settlement in Canada, with some four hundred souls, represented primarily by tailors and shoemakers. The Consul General stressed , however, the other function of Winnipeg. It was used as the "winter station" to retire in after the agricultural season on farms was over. His own opinions shifted into a different position because of having obtained new facts about the community. The Consul started 58s(JA, MV, Reg. 1015, No. 6980/1925. 26 SLOVAKIA to respond to the demands of older emigrants concerning education and national culture. He explained his attempt to the Czechoslovak authorities by the need to preserve national consciousness. He asked for the delivery of Slovak books for Montreal and Fort William, and above all, for a Slovak teacher for approximately two hundred school-aged children in Fort William.59 Thanks to the new consular representative, the Czechoslovak authorities were in 1926 forced to return to the problem of the social position of the Slovak immigrants. At first they started to investigate the chances of immigrants to obtain farms. Ottawa was asked questions about the place to obtain certain capital loans if an immigrant intended to do private farming.6() The federal Ministry did not intend to answer the question. The Consul was asked to address the responsible institutions, and first of all the Secretary of the Association of Canadian Bankers 61 who had offered him information on the existence of credit permitted by the Government in 1926 to be used exclusively for the purchase of agricultural land, the construction of houses, and affiliated buildings, for the purchase of cattle, irrigation systems, construction, etc.62 Despite a positive answer, no references were found in the archives referring to the use of that aid by Slovak immigrants. Because of those circumstances, the arrival of the two delegates from Czechoslovakia was a matter of question. They were invited by the Canadian Pacific Railway to investigate local conditions for settlement of independent families with some capital. Research has shown that there were only a few solvent families leaving Slovakia for Canada. Therefore, the information offered by the host company was quite useless for ordinary Slovak immigrants.63 Another delegate of the Ministry of Social Welfare offered to the interested Ministries information about his journey to Canada in the spring 1927 . He considered the position of Slovak agricultural workers as gene59S(JA, MSP, Reg. 3894, No. 6588. 6()PAC, RG . 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 10. 6. 1926. 61PAC, RG . 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, I 7. 6. 1926. 62SCJA, MSP, Reg . 3965, 2782/26. 63SCJA, MV, Reg . 1015, 498/1927. SLOVAKIA 27 rally bad. He presented the following facts: they were working without any contract between them and their employers, and thrown on the mercy of the farmers. Above all, they were working without any health or accident insurance. No such insurance existed in Canada. Only Railways and larger industries had their own insurance systems. The afflicted immigrant could be protected only through a benefit society of fellow-countrymen, or by Canadian charity institutions. 64 When the Consulate had intervened in the Canadian Department it was offered a long list of the agencies and associations entitled to protecting the interests of immigrants in Canada.65 During the following year quite different opinions appeared among fellow-countrymen, evaluating the situation of Slovak immigrants. Some of them had strongly criticized their position because they had to be regularly aided through the Slovak League of America. Others were satisfied, pointing to those individuals living in Canada for a long time who became rich. The most objective evaluation, however, resulted from the latest information gathered during the years 1924-1927. It was as follows: "Fellow-countrymen are not for the time being doing well" _66 Evidence about it was provided by the Czechoslovak Consulate in Canada in a document published in Slovak newspapers. The title of the mentioned article was "Information for Those Emigrating to Canada" .67 It analysed the social conditions of Slovak immigrants in Canada, considered them to be insufficient, thus preventing others from making the decision to leave for Canada to work. The intention to get through Canada to the USA was considered nonsense. There were many profiteers promising to get people secretly over the borders to the USA, extorting their last money. The Consulate warned people because the promises had been false. Those profiteers were interested only in their hard-earned money. 64 SUA, MV, Reg . 1015, No . 27464/1927, 11.4. 1927. 65 S0A, MSP, Reg . 3965 , File 6849/1927, 28. 12. 1927. 66 Kopac, A.: "Ako sa zije na~fm v Kanade?", I:udova politika, 3, 1927, p. 3. 67 Narodnie noviny, 58., No . 50, 29. 4. 1927 , p. 3. No . 207, 15. 9. 28 SLOVAKIA Despite those facts, the Consul Kveton sent in the summer of 1928 an optimistic report to Prague about enough job opportunities, and that there was no unemployment among the immigrants. 68 He was, however, undoubtly conscious of the fact that critical situations were emerging after seasonal work was over, i.e. during the longlasting winter. It was almost the same by the end of the year 1928 . The unemployed started, as usual, to concentrate in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and other cities. That concentration resulted in great associative activity. Consular reports paid special attention primarily to the activity of the Slovak League of America, which had succeeded in establishing its subsidiaries in Canada in the years 1927 and 1928 (in Toronto and Montreal, and a year before also in Winnipeg). For most Slovak immigrants in Canada membership in those organizations was quite necessary, because they had been aiding them in case of illnesses, or accidents. However, the activity of the Slovak League did not correspond with the above-mentioned intentions of the Czechoslovak Consulate. The Committee for Emigration was immediately addressed with urgent demands for the Government to provide some financial aid to the co-operative association in Montreal to cover its activities. 69 Such procedures did not surprise anybody. Once again the original arguments were used about the Slovaks looking for locations with older settlements of their fellow-countrymen, and gradually losing their interest in the idea of the so-called Czechoslovak nationality _?O That private opinion of the informer was in strong contradiction with the tendencies of the Slovak League being known with its identification with the Slovak autonomy programme during the inter-war years. The League was popular among the immigrants, especially for its co-operative function. The situation, however, got worse as the years went on. Unemployment was increasing, and as a result, a new phenomenon ap68S(JA , MSP, Reg. 3965, 30.11.1928 . 69S(JA, MSP, Reg . 3966, No . 21443, 28 .6.1928 . 7oIbid. SLOVAKIA 29 peared in the diplomatic agenda as early as the winter of 1929-1930 . It concerned the deportation of Czechoslovak nationals from Canada. According to existing Canadian law a man who, during the first five years of his arrival in Canada applied for, or was provided with some public finacial aid, was considered an undesirable person, not able to conform to Canadian conditions. Such a person was to be deported to his mother country .7 1 The situation between the two countries worsened. There were frequent controversies between them. Many of the persons to be deported by the Canadians were ill or even incapacitated, either physically or psychically, and there were also criminals among them. Finally, the Czechoslovak authorities refused to accept those individuals who had not had, after a ten years' stay in Canada, re-established their Czechoslovak citizenship, or had not requested an extension of the validity of the right of domicle abroad. It is very difficult to find an accurate count of such persons,72 but they were often mentioned in diplomatic reports. It is obvious that this situation resulted from the economic crisis which broke out in 1929. The Depression affected the immigrants as never before. Besides increasing unemployment, the crisis meant also a significant reduction of the immigration quota for Czechoslovakia to two thousand people a year. This uncompromising procedure of the immigration authorities irritated the Czechoslovak Consulate so much that the Consul addressed Ottawa with an open protest. It follows from his report, sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague, that he was discussing the problem with Deputy Minister Egan in Ottawa. The Consul considered the quota unfair, and even offensive, for Czechoslovakia. The reaction of the Canadian Minister to that invective was related the Czechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs as follows: the Deputy Minister said that "if only the immigrants from Bohemia and Moravia were concerned, 71SuA , MSP, Reg. 4029, No. 4310-36. 72 PAC, RG 76 , Vol. 251 , File 183211. 30 SLOVAKIA the whole situation would have been quite different, but there was only a minimum percentage of immigrants coming those regions" .73 At the beginning of 1930 K. Kveton was ending his diplomatic mission in Montreal , and was replaced by the new Consul-General, K. Moser. The attitude of the Canadian public and the immigration authorities as well, towards the immigration policy became even more hostile . Finally, in August of 1930 immigration from Czechoslovakia was halted. Public opinion accused the Government of having caused both the crisis, and the unemployment, too, due to its rather "benevolent" immigration policy, mainly in the second half of the 1920s. According to this opinion, the labour market was saturated, resulting in unexpected problems. No improvement in the field of employment occured even after spring work had started. The situation was the same even during the harvest. Farmers were so cutting back on wages that it became quite unprofitable to travel for work to the prairie provincies. Therefore the new Consul Moser reported to Prague in June of 1930 that: "don't let the emigrants come here under these circumstances, as they would only have travel expenses and _a temporary stay here" .74 Thus the hot issue of a part of the diplomatic agenda, represented by the immigration policy, disappeared from it at the beginning of the 1930s. A natural consequence of that was only sporadic contacts between the Czechoslovak Consulate and the Federal Department for Immigration and Colonization. Due to the restriction of immigration, the Federal Department had given up its original position, and importance as well, and beginning with the year 1936 started to function as the Immigration Branch of the Federal Department of Mines and Resources. Unemployment and deportations represented the most serious problem of the period of the economic crisis. Therefo- 73 SUA, MSP, Reg. 3990, 6. 2. 1929. It is necessary to add that the Canadian Government limited or stopped immigration from the entire continent of Europe, of course except for families with some capital, or wives and children of those already settled in Canada, In: an article "Immigration from Europe is Stopped" . The Gazette, Montreal, 16. 8. 1930. 74<'1, .:>UA, MSP, Reg . 3990, No. 6921, 3. 6. 1930. SLOVAKIA 31 re, the Czechoslovak Consulate paid special attention to the internal i.e. social, associative, and political life of the Slovak community. When in 1930 the Director of the Czechoslovak Institute of Foreign Affairs in Prague V. Tlapak went on a study-tour to Canada, he could only confirm the well-known facts about numerous unemployed immigrants who would like to return to their native land, if only they could. Many of them did not earn enough money to pay the travel expences for the journey back home . He found many examples of those who worked only to cover their daily food costs.7 5 The first to sense the impact of the Depression were farm workers . Having come to Canada in the second half of the 1920s, these people were not accepted in Canada with special favour. The crisis made their position quite unbearable. The Federal Government, trying to solve the situation as best as it would, created a programme of emergency works. Nearly every province "drew" the unemployed from the cities and organized in the country so-called labour camps. Especially the young unemployed did such beneficial work as reconstruction of roads, cultivation of natural parks, etc. No Slovaks took part in it, according to diplomatic reports. In January of 1932 Consul Moser reported to Prague that unemployment was not decreasing at all, but on the contrary, it was gradually increasing. 76 Not only the immigamts who were agricultural workers had problems. Even some better-situated individuals had problems. In spite of the fact that some of the immigrants had succeded in getting land, they had to leave the farms as they were not able to pay off the mortgage.77 Deportations became the accompanying phenomenon of unemployment. Canada resorted to that unpleasant measure in order to shake off the burden of the persons who were not able to care for themselves.7 8 There were many Slovak immigrants among them. Consul General Moser, in his effort to somehow protect the interests 75 SDA, MSP , Reg . 4019, No . 3751/30, 29.11.1930. 76AFMzv, PZ-M, year 1932, No. 3, 27 .. 1. 1932. 77 SUA, MSP , Reg . 3990, No. 4105 - 32. 78 vystehovalecky zpravodaj Ministerstva socialnf pece , Vol. 2, 20. 5. 1932 , p. 19 . 32 SLOVAKIA of the immigrants, sent a complaint to Ottawa in August of 1932, stressing the fact that Canada was deporting immigrants too late, because most of them were in such a bad situation that they could not wait the two-to-three months for the departure. Therefore, he asked the Department to deport them as early as possible.79 The Department in Ottawa answered that they had a huge list of those waiting for deportation, and in any case could not make the deportation process quicker, especially due to the limited capacity of the ships departing from Montreal. 80 Even in January 1934 the consular materials contained information about unemployed immigrants who, for three years, had hopelessly waited for deportation. Therefore, some of them illegaly left for the USA, only to be caught, and in such way to be more quickly deported (after a two-to-three months stay in prison) to Czechoslovakia.81 By the end of 1935 the Consul suggested that things were going better and visits to the Consulate were rare. At the same time he reported that numerous immigrants had succeded in finding some work in construction, mines and forests, while others had returned to Czechosloyakia. 82 It does not mean, however, that he automatically considered an improvement in the field of employment a symptom of the restoration of the immigration process, or the release of the restrictions imposed on immigration policy. The only exception was that concerning the possibility of immigration of some peasant families with a capital of $1,000 - $2,000. Even under those circumstances the Consul considered the immigration of well-off individuals more than disputable. He reasoned in the following way: If the applicant for immigration to Canada sells in Czechoslovakia his whole property to get the necessary financial means, it will be enough only to invest in uncultivated land. Very hard work will follow the purchase, with the results coming in most cases too late. 79PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, I. 8. 1932. 80PAC, RG 76, Vol. 198, File 80671, 20. 8.1932. 8lx, .:>UA, MSP, Reg. 4029, 12. I. 1934. 82X' .:>UA, MSP, Reg. 4029, 27.1.1936. SLOVAKIA 33 This will make the immigrant fail , which often will result in his deportation. 83 It has been stated already that no other event influenced the Slovak community so much as the Depression. The immigration process of the second half of the 1920s was practically halted and the number of immigrants in the community was relatively stabilized (representing some 30,000 Slovaks, and about 1,000 Czechs). During the period preceding the crisis , the community was insufficiently organized. It was lacking in leaders, preachers, teachers, and schools. During the crisis the community was more active, and even more radical. Some new associations were founded. Ethnic consciousness was also activated. This resulted in a rapid decrease in their interest and willingness to co-operate in so-called Czechoslovak: associations. The activity of the benefit society in Montreal was nearly halted. 84 The Consulate notified Prague of the revival of autonomist tendencies, illustrating it with the fact that the First Slovak Benefit Society came into existence in Western Canada. More seriously, he considered the fact that there were being established numerous subsidiaries of the American-Slovak: associations with centers situated in the USA. He noticed, however, the great disappointment among the Canadian members because their funds had been delivered to the USA, thus not sufficiently meeting their needs. Finally, some of the members met in Winnipeg, Manitoba to reach a decision about leaving the American-Slovak: Association in order to found their own Canadian-Slovak: one. 85 The newly established Canadian Slovak League, together with the newspaper Slovak v Kanade, were by Consul Moser characterized as the principal representatives of the autonomist flow in the Slovak community, with the addition, that the same opinion was shared by the First Catholic Slovak Union in Canada. When F. Pavlasek took up his consular mission in Canada, he came to the conclusion that Slovaks were against the Czechs because 83SDA , MSP, Reg. 4029, 19. 8.1936. 84AFMZV, Section II., Reg . 492, No . 6787, I. 10. 1932. 85 SDA, MSP , Reg . 4029 . Periodical Report of the Immigration Branch , IV . quart. 1932. 34 SLOVAKIA of their motto "Slovakia for the Slovaks" .86 According to the new Consul General, the immigrants transfered from Slovakia to Canada many of Andrej Hlinka's ideas. Their attitudes were enforced both due to the American Slovak influences, and the agitation about the Pittsburgh Agreement. The fact that the Slovaks represented the poorest layers of the inhabitants of Canada, and belonged often to the unemployed, resulted in some being attracted to Marxism. The Consul discovered that in Montreal some four hundred persons were concentrating around the Slovak newspaper Robotnfcke slovo. The Consul Pavlasek characterized the group as quite compatible and devoted to their common ideal. At the same time he stressed the fact that the magazine was doing well and had a lot of symphatizers, in spite of the fact that many of them were not organized in the Association at all .87 Finally, in 1934 he characterized the community as politically split between the autonomists, autonomist communists, and those loyal to democratic Czechoslovakia. He considered it the result of the differentiation process which occured during the Depression. The autonomist communists were originally Czechoslovaks but had split in 1936 into Czechs and Slovaks. He tried to contact the different groups . "At first I tried to attract the conservative Catholic associations (the parish of Saints Cyril and Methodius) but without any success ... When I saw that the door for my activity among autonomists was shut for a certain period, I turned to less radical workers in order to build up co-operation between them and a middle democratic group. The result, however, was much the same ... 11 88 The Consul came to the conclusion that comunists triumphed during the crisis because they had exploited unemployment for establishing new associations. Among them were Czechoslovak Worker Education Clubs, the Slovak Workmen's Association, The International Workmen's Association, etc. They had numerous sym86AFMZV, Section II ., Reg. 531, 18.7.1934. 87 Ibid. 88 As in Note 55. SLOVAKIA 35 pathizers among the common people. They improved the financial state of their associations, and a quality newspaper as well. In other words, they were very succesfuI. 89 The Consul Pavlasek stressed the intensity of communist propaganda among their fellow-countrymen in 1936. At the same time he noticed the fact that the propaganda could not be discounted, and in spite of the fact that it had been the result of a long-term Depression, it was spreading very rapidly, and fellow-countrymen were accepting it.90 Already in 1937 the Consul Pavlasek.was very pessimistic: "The position of this office is extremely difficult, because we have nobody to lean on. There are only a few Czechs here, and they are mostly assimilated, and a majority of them have withdrawn from public life due to permanent attacks". The fact that the Slovak community rejected Czechoslovakism nearly 'en bloc', he characterized as follows: "loyal Czechoslovak thinking, ever respecting the democracy and the Czechoslovak national unity, represents in some colonies but a minority", at the same time he added that the Czechs had arrived in Canada already before World War I, and they had been living there for two or three generations. They had been greatly assimililated, because the second generation had been educated in the Canadian manner. Finally, he expressed his "sad" conclusion that he himself, as well as the Consulate, were permanently attacked by the autonomists, and communists as well. It meant that the Consulate was to a great extent isolated from the Slovak community as a whole, in spite of the latter's internal ideological differentiation. In other words, the Consulate's mission was unsuccesful - it failed completely to unify the Czecho-Slovak nationals in Canada. Therefore, its arguments, formulated in 1937, suggesting that "everything must be done to keep the consciousness of Czechoslovak national unity in spite of the protests and demonstrations of the autonomist circles", were in vain.9 1 89SuA , MSP , Reg. 4029 , 25 . 10. 1935 . 90SuA, MSP, Reg . 4029 , 13.5 . 1937 . 91 As in note 88.  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 Slovak Emigrants in Canada as Reflected in Diplomatic Documents (1920-1938) Description An account of the resource Elena Jakešová Slovakia, Vol. 35 (No. 64-65), 1991-92 pp. 7-35 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jakešová, Elena, 1937- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-92 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d3aa6fe4c51573bc23c71490b485e7e8.pdf b5bb0c6a3fd49ab79860c5e6af26aeff PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA-2017 7 MORE SLOVAKS IN THE U.S. THAN CZECHS? WHO SAYS? WHEN AND WHERE? 1 Kenneth Janda Born in Chicago, Illinois, I am a third-generation Czech-American married to a second-generation Slovak-American, born Anna Mozolak in New York City. Ann's grandfather, Samuel Mozolak, is the peasant in my forthcoming book, The Emperor and the Peasant: The Start of the Great War and End of a Great Empire. 2 The emperor is, of course, Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. The peasant, Samuel Mozolak, lived in Krajne, a Slovak village in Hungary, the eastern half of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Although they never met, Franz Joseph's life profoundly affected Samuel's. It is inconceivable that the peasant ever did anything to harm the emperor, but the emperor, did much to harm him. By declaring war against Serbia, Franz Joseph personally made the decision that led to Samuel's death. So began World War I, innocently known then as the Great War-the war to end all wars. Franz Joseph resided in his Austrian palaces and visited Hungary as little as possible. Living in different places and with no common acquaintances, the two men traveled together on non-intersecting paths toward World War I. The story about Franz Joseph is based entirely on historical records. Samuel Mozolak's story is based on family documents, histories of Slovaks in Hungary, reports of Slovaks emigrating to the United States, immigrants' personal accounts, and novels of the era. His story threads together the description of Slovaks' lives as subjects in Hungary and as immigrants in America. Chapter 1 begins the emperor's story, which continues over the odd-numbered chapters. Chapter 2 and subsequent even-numbered 1 Revision of a paper prepared for delivery at the 28th World Congress of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences (SVU),Vysoka skola zdravotnictva a socialnej prace, sv. Alzbety, Bratislava, Slovakia, September 1-4, 2016 ,_M. Mark Stolarik improved this paper with several useful suggestions . 2 Forthcoming in 2017 by McFarland Books, Box 611 , Jefferson, NC 28640, http: //www.mcfarlandbooks.com �8 SLOVAKIA-2017 chapters tell about the Slovak peasant who crossed the ocean at twenty years of age to work in New York City and who returned to Slovakia in time to serve the emperor. Those chapters also tell why hundreds of thousands of Slovaks fled the empire, how they traveled to the United States, and where they settled. In writing my manuscript, I learned far more about Ann's Slovak heritage than I did about my own Czech family background. My mother and father were first-generation bilingual Bohemians who impressed on me-who foolishly resisted learning Czech- that I was Bohemian too. I attended many events in Chicago's numerous Sokol halls, but I do not recall my parents ever saying that they had Slovak friends or even talking about Slovaks. When I met Ann Mozo lak in graduate school at Indiana University, she was the first genuine Slovak-American that I ever recall meeting. So imagine my surprise when I learned that the 1990 Census found 1.9 million United States residents professing Slovak ancestry compared with about 1.3 claiming Czech roots, whi le approximately 315,000 considering themselves "Czechoslovaks." How could that be? Did more Slovaks than Czechs really immigrate to the United States? What's the evidence? When did the immigration waves occur? Where did the Czechs and Slovaks settle in America? How could it be that I do not remember m~eting any Slovaks in Chicago? These are questions that I grappled with while writing The Emperor and the Peasant, and ones addressed more comprehensively in this paper. Anyone researching Czech and Slovak emigration from Austria-Hungary to the United States during the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20 th century encounters several facts: 1. Statistics on emigration from Austria-Hungary and immigra3 tion to the United States are seriously incomplete. Emigration statistics from Austria-Hungary had to be compiled from fragmentary government data on exit permits and from 4 more complete data on ships sailing from European ports. Immigration data in the United States came almost completely from 3 See Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volume I: Statistics (Washington: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929), 55. 4 Wilcox, 89-90. �SLOVAKIA-2017 9 5 passenger lists of ship companies. 2. Over the years, the United States defined "immigrant" diff erently . From 1820 to 1867, data were reported for alien passengers ; from 1868 to 1900 for alien immigrants-those who intended to reside in the U.S. (including only third class passengers, not first or second class, until 1903); after 1906 for immigrant aliens admitted, excluding "all aliens admitted who avowed an intention not to settle in the United States, and all returning to resume domiciles formerly acquired in this country. 11 6 3. The U.S. Census Bureau did not separately classify residents fro m Austria-Hungary as Czechs or Slovaks until 1910, when it began asking p eople of ''foreign stock" about their "mother tongue." That year, Slovak leaders persuaded President Taft and Congress to add "mother tongue" to the 1910 Census a month before 7 it took the field on April 15. The Bureau hastily trained censustakers in asking people of foreign stock for their mother tongue-"that is, the language of customary speech in the home prior to immigration." "Foreign stock" included "the foreign-born white, the native white of foreign parentage (both parents foreign born), and the native white of mixed parentage (one parent native and the other foreign born).118 4. In 1924, the U. S. Congress imposed quotas on immigrants fro m central and southern Europe, which drastically reduced the number from the former Austria-Hungary. Whereas from 1904 to 1911 , Austria-Hungary accounted for 28 percent of millions of immigrants who poured into the United Sta9 tes, Congress set the 1925 immigration quota at only 785 for Austria 5 Wilcox, 374. Ibid. 7 Konstant in Cul en, Dejiny Slowikov v Amerike (Bratislava: Slovak League Publishing House, 1942) was translated by Daniel C. Necas and published as History of Slovaks in America (St. Paul : Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, 2007), 329-33. 8 Fifteenth Census of the United States - 1930 - Population, Vo lume JI: General Report, Statistics by Subject (Washington: U.S . Bureau of the Census, 1933), Chapter 6, p. 263 . 9 Willcox, Walter F. (ed.), International Migrations, Vo lum e JI: Interpretations (Washington: Nati onal Bureau of Economic Research, I 93 1), 400. 6 �10 SLOVAKIA-2017 10 and 473 for Hungary. 5. In 1930, the U.S. Census Bureau switched from asking residents of ''foreign stock" about their mother tongue to asking it only of residents who were ''foreign born." The 1930 Census reported 38,727,693 of foreign stock but only 13 ,366,407 foreign born-about one-third as many. These facts complicated estimating the numbers of Czech and Slovak immigrants to the United States. Historical Trend oflmmigration from Austria-Hungary, 1869-1924 What do we know generally about immigration from AustriaHungary? Imre Ferenczi in 1925 supervised an international effort in Europe at collecting migration data that was published in 1929 in the 11 United States under the general editorship of Walter F. Willcox. Thanks to that source, we have detailed estimates for Austro-Hungarian immigration to the United States by year from 1869 to 1924and often by country within the empire. These data are presented in Figure 1, which reports the place of origin for years when available. Certain years are marked by pronounced surges in immigration. The researchers contended that these surges coincided more with views of good economic ref otts in America than with poor conditions in Austria-Hungary. 1 Felix Klez! wrote, "There was a striking parallelism between Austrian emigration and the economic conditions in the United States," while Gustav Thirring said, "In Hungary, American business conditions also were of decisive influence." The data extend beyond the end of the empire to 1924, after which U.S. national quotas throttled the flow of immigrants. According to the data in Figure 1, immigration from Austria and Bohemia long preceded any substantial immigration from Hungary. 10 Ibid. , 410 and 433 . See Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volum e I: Statistics and International Migrations (Washington: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929). 12 Felix Klez!, "Austria," in Willcox, Volum e !I, p. 403 ; and Gustave Thirring, "Hungarian Migration of Modern Times," in Willcox, Volum e 11, p. 411 . 11 �11 SLOVAKIA-2017 Figure 1: Austro-Hungarian Immigration by Place of Origin, 1869-1924 350,000 300,000 Czechoslovakia 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 1874 1879 1884 1889 1894 1899 1904 1909 1914 191 9 1924 SOURCE: Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volum e I: Statistics (Washington : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929), Tables II and III, pp. 384-393. Anecdotal evidence tells of Czechs immigrating earlier. Czech historian Stephanie Saxon-Ford said, "Bohemian intellectuals who had participated in the nationalist revival of the 1840s and 1850s . .. left their homeland by the score to escape the repression of Hapsburg �12 SLOVAKIA-2017 13 rule." By 1850 about 500 members of the Czech intelligentsiadoctors, professors, composers, and journalists-immigrated to the United States, and Czechs formed the Cesko-Slovanska Podporujici Spolecnost, or C.S.P.S., (the Czech-Slavic Protective Society) in St. 14 Louis in 1854. Furthermore, in volume II of International Migration, Felix Klez! referred to substantial immigration of Bohemians to California sparked by news of the 1849 gold strike. He wrote, "The movement was confined almost entirely to Bohemia. Of the 58,000 emigrants who registered in the years 1850-68, not less than 15 44,000, or 76 per cent, were from Bohemia. The evidence is less clear about emigration from Hungary after its 1848-49 revolution. Gustav Thirring said that any Hungarian arrivals in the United States before 1861 were "not treated in American statistics as immigration," saying "the first two immigrants from 16 Hungary being reported in 1861." Although Gregory Ference noted that a Slovak named Andrej Jelik arrived in the mid-1 s1h century and that Slovaks immigrated more frequently by the 1850s, "these immigrants usually were isolated cases ... . The beginnings of the mass 17 migration started around 1880." John Kosa agreed that Hungarian emigration was small prior to 1880, but then: "In the period from 1886 to 1890 an average of 22,000 persons left the country annually 18 for overseas, and the trend was increasing." Kosa continued: The total number of emigrants who left Hungary in the period from 1850 to 1920 is variously estimated as being between 2,500,000 and 3,000,000; the overseas emigration alone can be put between 2,200,000 13 Stephanie Saxon-Ford, The Czech Americans (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989), p. 47. 14 Gregory C. Ference, Sixteen months of indecision: Slovak American Viewpoints toward Compatriots and the Homeland from I 9 I 4 to I 915 as Viewed by the Slovak Language Press in Pennsylvania. (Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press, 1995), 36. 15 Felix Klez! , "Austria," in Willcox, Volume 11, 399. 16 Gustave Thirring, "Hungarian Migration of Modern Times," in Willcox, Volum e II, 411. 17 Gregory C. Ference, "Slovak Immigration to the United States in Light of American, Czech, and Slovak History," Nebraska. History, 74 (Fall/Winter 1993): 13035 at p. 131. 18 John Kosa, "A Century of Hungarian Emigration, I 850-1950," The American Slavic and East European Review, 16 (December, I 957) : 501-514 at 504. �13 SLOVAKIA-2017 and 2,600,000 persons. For several reasons it seems to be almost impossible to reach an exact figure or to tie in the Hungarian data with the statistical figures supplied by the different countries of immigration. Thirring found that 98.5 percent of the overseas Hungarian emigrants went to the United States. 19 He estimated total Hungarian emigration from 1898 to 1913 at 1,391,000, of which 31 percent (432,000) were Slovaks. Thirring also stated, "[E]migration from Hungary was almost entirely Slovak during the early years, 1120 and from 1905 to 1913, Slovaks still had the highest emigration rate of all Hungarians- 98 .2 per 1,000. That was more than three times the Magyar rate and amounted to almost 10 percent of the Slovak popu. m . Hungary. 21 1atlon U.S. Census Data on Czechs and Slovaks in America What do U.S. Census data tell about Czech and Slovak presence in America? The evidence above in Figure 1 implies three conclusions: (1) Substantial Czech immigration from Austria-Hungary began in the 1850s; (2) Substantial Slovak immigration from AustriaHungary began later, in the 1880s; therefore (3) many thousands of Czech immigrants settled in the United States at least a full generation before comparable numbers of Slovaks. Moreover, those Czechs immigrants gave birth to many more thousands of Czech-Americans. It is not surprising that the 1910 Census reported far more residents of Czech "foreign stock" than Slovak. Those data are reported in Figure 2. Figure 2: 1910 U.S. Census of Foreign Stock: Czechs and Slovaks 1910 ~ - ~ 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 531 ,193 I I I 600,000 700,000 However, the very next census of foreign stock in 1920 revealed 19 Thirring, 419. Thirring, 424. 21 Thirring, 426. 20 �14 SLOVAKIA-2017 the surprising-even astounding- fact that the number of Slovaks in America was virtually tied with the number of Czechs! In just ten short years between the two Census counts, the number of Slovak residents in the United States jumped more than 338,000- an increase greater than all Slovaks counted in the 1910 Census. Moreover, this enormous increase occurred despite the nearly complete shutdown of immigration during the four-and-a-half years of World War I, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 3: 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses of Foreign Stock: Czechs and Slovaks What accounted for the huge increase in Slovaks between the 1910 and 1920 Censuses? Recall that Slovak leaders succeeded in adding the "mother tongue" question to the 1910 Census just one month before the count began. A U.S. Census website states: "Because the questionnaires had already been printed, enumerators were instructed to add this information to column 12 (birthplace) of the 22 form." The census-takers- many of whom were unfamiliar with Slavic groups in central Europe- had trouble recording responses to the question. That was admitted in the explanatory text of the I 920 Census, which stated that "contrary to the instructions given the enumerators" some persons who said they were 'Slavs,' 'Slavic,' 'Slavish," or 'Slavonian,' ... should doubtless have been reported as Slovak or Slovenian." 23 Apparently, the census-takers had less trouble accurately recording responses from Czechs or Bohemians, who had started settling in the United States sixty years earlier, had quickly affected American life, and were widely recognized. The Czech-Slavic Protective Society was founded in 1854; Budweiser Beer was imported in 1871 (Bohemian Crystal even earlier); and Antonin Dvorak wrote his New 22 U. S. Census, "History," at https: //www.census.gov/history/www/through the decades/overview/ 19 I O.htm I. 23 U.S. Census Bureau, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, Volum e II: General Report and Analytical Tables (Washington, DC : 1921), Chapter 12, p. 968. �15 SLOVAKIA-2017 World Symphony in 1893 . The Slovak newcomers were not known to Americarls for their beer, their crystal, or their symphonies. Slovaks were not generally familiar to Europeans either. In 1916, according to MacMillan, Britain's Prime Minister Lloyd George (not known to be up on his geography) asked, "Who are the Slovaks? I can't seem 24 to place them. " So the leap in Slovak speakers in 1920 appears to have come from better field procedures returning a more accurate count. Additional evidence that the 1910 Census erred in counting Slovaks comes from the 1930 Census, which switched to ask the "mother tongue" question of those only who were "foreign born." Retaining the original data from the two earlier Censuses, the Bureau of the Census in 1930 recalculated its 1910 and 1920 data to report as well on "foreign born." Later Censuses to 1970 continued asking those foreign born for their mother tongue. The full set of relevant data are portrayed in Figure 4. Figure 4: Slovak and Czech as "Mother Tongue" in Censuses, 1910-1970 700 ,000 Mother Tongues of Foreign Stock 619,866 600,000 S lovak S tock 500,000 Czech S tock S lovak Born 400 ,000 - Czech Born 274,948 300 ,000 200 ,000 166,474 100 ,000 Mother Tongue• of Foreign Born 70,564 O + - - - - ~ - - ~ - - - ~ - - - , - - - - - - - , - - - - - r -- - - - , 1910 1920 1930 1 940 1950 1960 1970 U.S . Census Bureau, "Mother Tongue of the Foreign-Born Population: 1910 to 1940, 1960, and 1970," (March 9, 1999), at https://www.census.go~opulation/www/documentation/twps0029/tab06.html. Figure 4 shows a much smaller difference between foreign born 24 Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (New York: Random House, 2002), 42 . �16 SLOVAKIA-2017 Czech or Slovak speakers and those of foreign stock. Czech immigration, which occurred earlier, certainly accounted for the preponderance of Czech foreign stock. Given the flawed nature of the 1910 count of Slovak speakers, one wonders whether the Bureau of the Census in 1930 corrected the counts of Slovak speakers when recalculating the 1910 data. In any event, Figure 4 clearly shows that in every Census from I 920 through 1970 there were more Slovak than Czech speakers among the foreign born. Because the 1920s immigration quotas virtually ended mass immigration of both Czechs and Slovaks, the downward slope of the mother tongue lines for both languages reflects the mortality rates of the foreign born. Other Data on Czech and Slovak Immigration to America As noted, the U.S. Census has severe shortcomings concerning Czech and Slovak ethnicity prior to World War I. Fortunately, there were other sources of information on immigration to the United States prior to the 1930s, and these were consulted in preparing the two-volumes of International Migrations. Imre Ferenczi, chief of the Migration Section of the International Labour Office in Geneva, wrote, The statistics for the United States have been compiled in European libraries supplemented by all the important American publications, including Bromwell, Young, the Monthly Summary of Comm erce and Finance for the United States and the Annual Reports of the Commissioner General of Immigration. With the assistance of the numerous documents which have been collected, the present series of American migration statistics is probably more nearly complete than any heretofore published in the United States . 25 Thanks to these additional sources, Volume I of International Migrations printed a twelve-page table on the "Distribution of Immi26 grant Aliens Admitted, by Sex and Race or People, 1899-1924." This remarkable table counted immigrants in forty different categories, including separate lines for "Bohemian and Moravian" and 25 Imre Ferenczi , "International Migration Statistics" in Willcox, International Mi- f[ ations, Volume I, 59. 6 - International Migrations, Volume !: Statistics, Table X, 432-43. �SLOVAKIA-2017 17 "Slovak." These data, rarely reported in accounts of Czech and Slovak immigration, were extracted for presentation in Figure 5. Figure 5: Czech and Slovak Immigrants to the U.S., 1899-1924 60 ,000 Slovak lmmlgranta: 524,348 total 52,368 50,000 40 ,000 36,934 38,221 32,41 6 Source: International Migrations, Vo lume I: Statistics, Table X, 432-43. Summing the annual data in Figure 5 over 26 years results in 524,348 Slovak versus 150,294 Czech immigrants arriving from 1899 through 1924. These annual counts are reassuringly consistent with Figure 1's data on annual immigration from Austria-Hungary, as Figure S's spikes in immigration for 1905-07, 1910, and 1913-14 match the spikes in Figure 1. While Czech immigrants to the United States certainly outnumbered Slovak immigrants throughout most of the 19 th century, the annual immigration data in Figure 5 establish that over three times as many Slovaks as Czechs immigrated to the U.S. in the first quarter of the 20 th . However, the data in Figure 5 are not comparable to U.S. Census data in Figure 4, even for the same years, 1910 and 1920. Figure 5 counted only annual immigrant arrivals. Both Censuses counted all residents of foreign stock and of foreign birth, classifying them as Czech or Slovak according to their mother tongues. By simple logic, �18 SLOVAKIA-2017 the number of Czech/Slovak of foreign stock counted in any Census year should exceed the number of Czech/Slovak who were foreign born. So too, the number of foreign born in 1910 should exceed the sum total of immigrants for the available years 1899 to 1910, and the number of foreign born in 1920 should exceed the total of immigrants from 1899 to 1920. Figure 6, which reprises the relevant foreign stock and foreign born data along with summed immigration data for 1899 to 1910 and for 1899 to 1920, shows those relationships hold for the Czech data, but not for the Slovak data. Figure 6: Comparing 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses with 18991924 Immigration Data 700,000 619,866 600,000 Czech stock 531, 193 500,000 Slovak Immigrants 1899-1920 400,000 1899-1910 300,000 Slovak stock C,ech bom 281 70 274,948 22 ,', 73 , r -34,564 200,000 Slovak born 166,474 100,000 Czech Immigrants 1899-1910 .-123,836 91 , 164 _______...-.---- Czech Immigrants 1899-1920 0---+-----------------~ 1910 1920 When comparing 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses with 1899-1924 immigration data, one should understand two facts and their implycations: �SLOVAKIA-2017 19 I . The data come from very different sources collected by very different methods. Do not expect exact matches; look instead for consistencies and impossibilities. 2. Caveat: summing annual immigrants overstates their counts in the Censuses. After arriving, many immigrants returned home. Concerning fact #1: All data for Czech foreign stock, foreign born, and immigrants are indeed logically consistent for 1910 and 1920. In both years, there were more residents of Czech foreign stock than those foreign born and those who immigrated since 1899. The Slovak figures for foreign stock and foreign born are also logically consistent. However, the data for Slovak foreign born are inconsistent with the number who immigrated in years preceding both Censuses. It is not possible for 358,056 Slovaks to arrive between 1899 and 1910 and yet have only 166,474 foreign born Slovaks in the 1910 Census. It is not possible for 460,530 Slovaks to immigrate between 1899 and 1920 and yet have only 274,948 Slovaks of foreign birth in 1920. Concerning fact #2: That immigrants often returned home requires some adjustment to the data summed from 1899 to 1910 and from 1899 to 1920. One source for 1908 to 1913 estimated that, respectively, 40 percent and 38 percent of Austrian and Hungarian 27 immigrants to the United States returned home. Other sources give 28 much lower repatriation percentages, almost half. Let us assume the highest figure, that 40 percent of the Slovak immigrants who came in the 12 years prior to 1910, returned home. That would still leave almost 215,000 immigrants, far more than the 166,000 Slovaks the 1910 Census counted as foreign born. Of course, many thousands who came before 1899 were also foreign born and still alive. Applying the same repatriation assumption to Slovak immigrants from 1899 to 1920 lowers the number to around 276,000-which is 27 Willcox, Volume I, 90 and 92. Culen estimated that about 25 percent of all Slovaks who left eventually returned (p. 42); Seton-Watson reported that Slovaks who returned in 1905 were 10 percent of those who left, and that returnees were 20 percent of emigrants in 1906, in R. W. Seton-Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary (New York: Howard Fertig, 1972 edition, original ly published 1908) Appendix XIII, 470. 28 �20 SLOVAKIA-2017 close to the 1920 Census count of about 275,000 born abroad. Although the 1899-1920 count still does not include those who immigrated earlier, the much closer fit to the I 920 Census count supports the contention that the 1910 Census woefully undercounted Slovaks. More Slovaks than Czechs in America, Then and Now? To recap, the 1920 Census of foreign stock counted almost identical numbers of Czechs and Slovaks in the United States: 622,796 and 619,866 respectively. Without doubt, the Bureau of the Census had improved its counting of Slovaks substantially since the 1910 Census, but annual counts of Czech and Slovak immigration from 1899 to 1920 suggest that even the 1920 Census underestimated the number of Slovaks, given that large scale Slovak immigration oc29 curred two decades earlier. " By the 1930 Census, which asked mother tongue only for the foreign born, there were more Slovak than Czech speakers, 240,196 to 201,138. As census-takers recorded more familiar with Slovaks as an ethnic group, perhaps they found more Slovaks to count. In any event, it is reasonable to assume that by 1930 there were actually more United States residents of Slovak than Czech ancestry. Despite the fact that Slovak speakers equaled or exceeded Czech speakers by 1920, Slovaks remained largely invisible to the American public. In Francis Clark's 1913 book, Old Homes of New Americans, he reported on a conversation with "an intelligent American lady, who had traveled widely and was not unacquainted with the history and nationality of Austria-Hungary." He asked her to guess how many Slovaks were in the United States; she guessed twenty thousand. He wrote, "She was only five hundred and eighty thousand out of the way, but I have no doubt her guess was quite as near the truth as would be that of most of her countrywomen, or countrymen 30 either, for that matter. " Although the U.S. Census Bureau apparently stopped asking for the mother tongue of foreign born in 1970, the 1980 and 1990 Cen- 29 Ference, p. 131. ° Francis E. C lark, Old Homes of New Americans: The Country and the People of 3 the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Their Contribution to the New World (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913), 212-13 . �SLOVAKIA-2017 21 31 suses did attempt to measure ancestry. In 1990, the census-taker filled in a box for Question 13: "What is this person's ancestry or 32 ethnic origin?" Appendix B explained: The question was based on self-identification; the data on ancestry represent self-classification by people according to the ancestry group(s) with which they most closely identify. Ancestry refers to a person's ethnic origin or descent, "roots," or heritage or the place of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States .. .. The ancestry question allowed respondents to report one or more ancestry groups. While a large number of respondents listed a single ancestry, the majority of answers included more than one ethnic entry. Generally, only the first two responses reported were coded in 1990. Based on both responses to the ancestry question, the 1990 Cen33 sus produced these estimates: Slovak 1,882,897 Czech 1,296,411 Czechoslovakian 315,285 Of course, feelings of ancestry fade across generations as marriages occur across ethnic groups. Given that Czechs immigrated a generation earlier than Slovaks, their self-identification in 1990 as Czech-American or Bohemian-American should have faded somewhat more than Slovak-American. The exact numbers for ancestry in 1990 are less significant than their relative magnitudes. These data, even with their imperfections, support the case that Slovak immigrants outnumbered Czechs in the first quarter of the 20 th century, 31 Bureau of the Census, Census '90.- The Foreign-Born Population in the United States (Washington, DC: I 990 CP-3- I), 8-4. 32 Ibid. , E- 14. 33 Based on only people's first response for ancestry, the counts were lower: 1,2 10,652 Slovaks, 772,087 Czechs, and 240,489 Czechoslovakians. Only 3,781 people cited Moravian ancestry. See Bureau of the Census, Census '90: Ancestry of the Population in the United States (Washington, DC: 1990 CP-3-2), Table I: "General Characteristics of Selected Ancestry Groups by Nativity, Citizenship, and Year of Entry." �22 SLOVAKIA-2017 even including Moravians. That seems to be true as well today. In 2013, the Department of Homeland Security reported the persons obtaining lawful permanent resident status by region and country of birth from fiscal years 2004 to 2013. The trend continued: 7,165 people from Slovakia soufht resident status in the U.S. versus 3,783 from the Czech Republic.3 Where Did Czechs and Slovak Settle in the United States? We do not inquire why immigrants chose where they settled in the United States. We look only at where they settled in the first decades of the 20 th century. To determine that, we rely on the 1920 Census, which asked for mother tongue of foreign white stockaccepting its likely undercount of Slovaks. Recall that the 1920 Census counted 622,796 Czechs and 619,866 Slovaks for a combined total of 1,242,662. Given that the amounts are essentially the same, readers can compare the counts directly, without converting them to percentages. Figure 7 displays where they chose to settle in nine Census regions of the United States, ranked by total number of Czechs and Slovaks. Figure 7: Distribution of Czech and Slovak Speakers in Census Regions, 1920• Total Czech• & Slovaka In each region Middle Atlantic 1 ~ 7 3,574 East North Central 425,623 These three regions had 1 , 140,043 of all Czechs & Slovaks (87% ) 180,483 West North Central 13,006 Texas a lone had 84% of all Czechs & Slovaks in this region West South Central 8,306 New England Only 8% of Czechs & Slovaks settled in the rest of the country; except for Texas , very few settled in southern states, 13 ,6 11 South Atlantic 14,996 Pacific Czechs= 622,786 • Slovaks'"' 619,866 Total Czechs & Slovaks = 1 ,242 ,662 934 East South Central 1 ,252 0 34 • 2,186 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 Department of Homeland Security," Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013 Lawful Permanent Residents," https://www.dhs.gov/yearbook-immigration-statistics-2013-lawful-permanent-residents. �SLOVAKIA-2017 23 Fourteenth Census of the United State, 1920: Volume II, General Report and Analytical Tables, Table 7. The comments to the right of Figure 7 draw attention to three major conclusions: (1) almost 90% of all Czechs and Slovaks lived in relatively few states running westward from the Atlantic seaboard into the North Central region; (2) nearly all those in the West South Central region lived in Texas; and (3) relatively few Czechs and Slovaks ventured north to New England, west toward the Mountain and Pacific regions, or south-except for Texas, entering at Galveston. (One source estimated that some 200,000 immigrants entered there 5 between 1865 and 1924.)3 One last comment on Texas: according to the 1920 Census, Czechs outnumbered Slovaks 49,929 to 83 3 ! Figure 8 provides information on the states within three regions in which they settled. Figure 8: Distribution of Czech and Slovak Speakers by States within Regions (See next page) Figure 8 lists all fifteen states in 1920 having the most Czechs and Slovaks within the three regions . Only four of the fifteenPennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Indiana-had more Slovaks than Czechs. Pennsylvania stands out as the most extraordinary: Slovaks outnumbered Czechs 296,219 to 19,839, and Pennsylvania-by itself- had 48 percent of all Slovaks counted in the 1920 Census! Pennsylvania drew so many Slovaks that some explanation is needed. In his History of Slovaks in America, Culen wrote: Most of the early Slovak immigrants settled in the industrial and mining areas of Pennsylvania. Here, two main centers developed. One was in the hard coal (anthracite) mining region (or in the Slovak slang "v tvardouholtnej okolici"- '"the hard coal circle"), the other in the soft coal mining region . The first settlements formed around the mines. Later, they formed around large industrial complexes, particularly around iron and steel mills. 36 35 See htt ://wv1w.chron.com/li fe/artic le/Waves-of-mi rants-made-Galveston-intoT~2(i!§_-L73)_~}?Jl'1p_. 36 Konstantin Culen, History of Slovaks in America [Translated from the 1942 Slovak edition by Daniel C. Necas] (St. Paul , MN: Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, 2007), p. 67. �24 SLOVAKIA-2017 M. Mark Stolarik's more recent research found that Slovaks 316,058 Pennsylvania New York MIDDLE An.ANTIC New Jersey 184,021 Illinois 138,188 Ohio EAST NORTH CENTRAL 58,217 Wisconsin Michigan Indiana Nebraska 41 ,872 Minnesota 34,739 Iowa WEST NORTH CENTRAL 16,277 Missouri 13 ,263 Kansas 11 ,203 South Dakota ■ Czechs ■ Slovaks North Dakota 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000 accounted for 13.1 percent of all steel workers in America and 12.8 37 percent of bituminous coal miners. New Jersey also had a preponderance of Slovaks over Czechs, as did Ohio, but neither rivaled Pennsylvania. Indiana also had more Slovaks than Czechs, but few of each. 37 Marian Mark Stolarik, Immigration and Urbanization: The Slovak Experience, 1870-1918 (New York: AMS Press, 1989), pp. 111-112, �SLOVAKIA-2017 25 The other eleven states had Czech majorities- often overwhelming majorities. Nebraska was home to 54,024 Czechs but only 281 Slovaks! That ratio even exceeded Texas' Czech majority. My home state of Illinois had-after Pennsylvania-the second largest number of Czech and Slovak immigrants. Where in Illinois did those Czechs and Slovaks live? Did they live in urban or rural areas? The 1920 Census did not classify the foreign stock by urban rural residence, but the 1930 Census did report urban-rural location for the foreign born, which means the more recent immigrants. At that time, "urban" meant incorporated areas of 2,500 or more inhabitants-places that we would not call urban today. Nevertheless, only 56 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas in 1930. 38 Although they had emigrated from rural lands, both Czechs (66 percent) and Slovaks (72 percent) gravitated to urban areas. 39 Only in certain states did Czechs and Slovaks congregate in large cities. The United States had only 73 cities with 100,000 or more population in 1920. Ten were in the three states with the largest number of Czechs and Slovaks combined-Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio. Because most mines and mills were located outside of Pennsylvania's large cities- Philadelphia, Scranton, and Pittsburgh. -merely 8 percent of its Czechs and Slovaks lived in its big cities. Ohio, with six cities over 100,000, presented a different case. Only Cleveland- a major steel and manufacturing center-attracted Czechs and Slovaks in droves, accounting for 52 percent of them, more Czechs than Slovaks. My home state of Illinois had only one city over 100,000 population-Chicago-and 72 percent of all Czechs and Slovaks in Illinois in 1920 lived in Chicago. The breakdown was 106,428 Czechs and 25 ,720 Slovaks. Given that Czechs outnumbered Slovaks by nearly 4 to 1 in Chicago, perhaps that explains why I never met any. Conclusion: Slovaks as the Silent Majority Certainly the preponderance of Czechs in Chicago partly explains why I was unaware of them. Probably more important was 38 Fifteenth Census of the United State, 1920: Volume II, General Report, Statistics b{ Subject, Chapter 1, Table 1. 3 Ibid. , Chapter 7, Table I. �26 SLOVAKIA-2017 that Slovaks were more silent than Czechs, so got little press compared to Czechs who- like the Irish in Boston and Italians in New York- soon became a force in city politics. Anton Cermak (originally Cermak) became a Chicago alderman, then president of the county board (1922), head of the county Democratic Party (1928), and mayor of the city (1931 ). His prominence allowed him to stand next to president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami, where Cermak was killed by a bullet presumably aimed at the president. Slovaks also made less news than Czechs nationwide. Figure 9 shows how often articles in the Tim es, the leading newspaper in the nation's biggest city, mentioned either "Czechs" or "Slovaks.1140 From 1901 to 1910, the New York Times paid little attention to either group . Of only 88 articles during that decade that mentioned either, 75 percent were about Czechs. In the next decade, encompassing World War I and the creation of Czechoslovakia, the number of stories in the Times increased tenfold to 890, and the percentage mentioning Czechs increased to 81. By 1920, when Slovak equaled Czech as a mother tongue in census statistics, the Czech advantage in 689 Tim es' stories climbed to 84 percent. The Czech penumbra extended far over the Slovaks especially in the metropolitan media. Figure 9: "Czechs" and "Slovaks" in the News, 1900-1930 300 Number of articles in New York Tiines 250 Number mentioning Czechs 200 150 100 50 1905 40 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 "CHRONICLE. Visualizing language usage in New York Times news coverage throughout its history," at http ://chronicle.nvtlabs.com/. �SLOVAKIA-2017 27 Cermak's visible political career in Chicago, Tomas Masaryk's tireless campaigning across the country for the existence of Czechoslovakia as an independent nation, the nation's creation after World War I, and Edvard Benes' presidency, all, no doubt contributed to the many articles mentioning Czechs in the New York Times during this period. Slovaks lacked comparable political celebrities or events to gamer publicity. Finally, the fact that almost one-half of all Slovak immigrants to the United States settled in one state, Pennsylvania and outside its large cities no doubt contributed to Slovaks' neglect by the national press and to their invisibility to people living in other states. Despite the fact that Slovaks were often unrecognized and undercounted by census-takers, the 1990 Census confirmed that more Americans claimed Slovak than Czech ancestry. Even today, that fact surprises many people. � SLOVAKIA-2017 7 MORE SLOVAKS IN THE U.S. THAN CZECHS? WHO SAYS? WHEN AND WHERE? 1 Kenneth Janda Born in Chicago, Illinois, I am a third-generation Czech-American married to a second-generation Slovak-American, born Anna Mozolak in New York City. Ann's grandfather, Samuel Mozolak, is the peasant in my forthcoming book, The Emperor and the Peasant: The Start of the Great War and End of a Great Empire. 2 The emperor is, of course, Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. The peasant, Samuel Mozolak, lived in Krajne, a Slovak village in Hungary, the eastern half of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Although they never met, Franz Joseph's life profoundly affected Samuel's. It is inconceivable that the peasant ever did anything to harm the emperor, but the emperor, did much to harm him. By declaring war against Serbia, Franz Joseph personally made the decision that led to Samuel's death. So began World War I, innocently known then as the Great War-the war to end all wars. Franz Joseph resided in his Austrian palaces and visited Hungary as little as possible. Living in different places and with no common acquaintances, the two men traveled together on non-intersecting paths toward World War I. The story about Franz Joseph is based entirely on historical records. Samuel Mozolak's story is based on family documents, histories of Slovaks in Hungary, reports of Slovaks emigrating to the United States, immigrants' personal accounts, and novels of the era. His story threads together the description of Slovaks' lives as subjects in Hungary and as immigrants in America. Chapter 1 begins the emperor's story, which continues over the odd-numbered chapters. Chapter 2 and subsequent even-numbered 1 Revision of a paper prepared for delivery at the 28th World Congress of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences (SVU),Vysoka skola zdravotnictva a socialnej prace, sv. Alzbety, Bratislava, Slovakia, September 1-4, 2016 ,_M. Mark Stolarik improved this paper with several useful suggestions . 2 Forthcoming in 2017 by McFarland Books, Box 611 , Jefferson, NC 28640, http: //www.mcfarlandbooks.com �8 SLOVAKIA-2017 chapters tell about the Slovak peasant who crossed the ocean at twenty years of age to work in New York City and who returned to Slovakia in time to serve the emperor. Those chapters also tell why hundreds of thousands of Slovaks fled the empire, how they traveled to the United States, and where they settled. In writing my manuscript, I learned far more about Ann's Slovak heritage than I did about my own Czech family background. My mother and father were first-generation bilingual Bohemians who impressed on me-who foolishly resisted learning Czech- that I was Bohemian too. I attended many events in Chicago's numerous Sokol halls, but I do not recall my parents ever saying that they had Slovak friends or even talking about Slovaks. When I met Ann Mozo lak in graduate school at Indiana University, she was the first genuine Slovak-American that I ever recall meeting. So imagine my surprise when I learned that the 1990 Census found 1.9 million United States residents professing Slovak ancestry compared with about 1.3 claiming Czech roots, whi le approximately 315,000 considering themselves "Czechoslovaks." How could that be? Did more Slovaks than Czechs really immigrate to the United States? What's the evidence? When did the immigration waves occur? Where did the Czechs and Slovaks settle in America? How could it be that I do not remember m~eting any Slovaks in Chicago? These are questions that I grappled with while writing The Emperor and the Peasant, and ones addressed more comprehensively in this paper. Anyone researching Czech and Slovak emigration from Austria-Hungary to the United States during the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20 th century encounters several facts: 1. Statistics on emigration from Austria-Hungary and immigra3 tion to the United States are seriously incomplete. Emigration statistics from Austria-Hungary had to be compiled from fragmentary government data on exit permits and from 4 more complete data on ships sailing from European ports. Immigration data in the United States came almost completely from 3 See Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volume I: Statistics (Washington: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929), 55. 4 Wilcox, 89-90. �SLOVAKIA-2017 9 5 passenger lists of ship companies. 2. Over the years, the United States defined "immigrant" diff erently . From 1820 to 1867, data were reported for alien passengers ; from 1868 to 1900 for alien immigrants-those who intended to reside in the U.S. (including only third class passengers, not first or second class, until 1903); after 1906 for immigrant aliens admitted, excluding "all aliens admitted who avowed an intention not to settle in the United States, and all returning to resume domiciles formerly acquired in this country. 11 6 3. The U.S. Census Bureau did not separately classify residents fro m Austria-Hungary as Czechs or Slovaks until 1910, when it began asking p eople of ''foreign stock" about their "mother tongue." That year, Slovak leaders persuaded President Taft and Congress to add "mother tongue" to the 1910 Census a month before 7 it took the field on April 15. The Bureau hastily trained censustakers in asking people of foreign stock for their mother tongue-"that is, the language of customary speech in the home prior to immigration." "Foreign stock" included "the foreign-born white, the native white of foreign parentage (both parents foreign born), and the native white of mixed parentage (one parent native and the other foreign born).118 4. In 1924, the U. S. Congress imposed quotas on immigrants fro m central and southern Europe, which drastically reduced the number from the former Austria-Hungary. Whereas from 1904 to 1911 , Austria-Hungary accounted for 28 percent of millions of immigrants who poured into the United Sta9 tes, Congress set the 1925 immigration quota at only 785 for Austria 5 Wilcox, 374. Ibid. 7 Konstant in Cul en, Dejiny Slowikov v Amerike (Bratislava: Slovak League Publishing House, 1942) was translated by Daniel C. Necas and published as History of Slovaks in America (St. Paul : Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, 2007), 329-33. 8 Fifteenth Census of the United States - 1930 - Population, Vo lume JI: General Report, Statistics by Subject (Washington: U.S . Bureau of the Census, 1933), Chapter 6, p. 263 . 9 Willcox, Walter F. (ed.), International Migrations, Vo lum e JI: Interpretations (Washington: Nati onal Bureau of Economic Research, I 93 1), 400. 6 �10 SLOVAKIA-2017 10 and 473 for Hungary. 5. In 1930, the U.S. Census Bureau switched from asking residents of ''foreign stock" about their mother tongue to asking it only of residents who were ''foreign born." The 1930 Census reported 38,727,693 of foreign stock but only 13 ,366,407 foreign born-about one-third as many. These facts complicated estimating the numbers of Czech and Slovak immigrants to the United States. Historical Trend oflmmigration from Austria-Hungary, 1869-1924 What do we know generally about immigration from AustriaHungary? Imre Ferenczi in 1925 supervised an international effort in Europe at collecting migration data that was published in 1929 in the 11 United States under the general editorship of Walter F. Willcox. Thanks to that source, we have detailed estimates for Austro-Hungarian immigration to the United States by year from 1869 to 1924and often by country within the empire. These data are presented in Figure 1, which reports the place of origin for years when available. Certain years are marked by pronounced surges in immigration. The researchers contended that these surges coincided more with views of good economic ref otts in America than with poor conditions in Austria-Hungary. 1 Felix Klez! wrote, "There was a striking parallelism between Austrian emigration and the economic conditions in the United States," while Gustav Thirring said, "In Hungary, American business conditions also were of decisive influence." The data extend beyond the end of the empire to 1924, after which U.S. national quotas throttled the flow of immigrants. According to the data in Figure 1, immigration from Austria and Bohemia long preceded any substantial immigration from Hungary. 10 Ibid. , 410 and 433 . See Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volum e I: Statistics and International Migrations (Washington: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929). 12 Felix Klez!, "Austria," in Willcox, Volum e !I, p. 403 ; and Gustave Thirring, "Hungarian Migration of Modern Times," in Willcox, Volum e 11, p. 411 . 11 �11 SLOVAKIA-2017 Figure 1: Austro-Hungarian Immigration by Place of Origin, 1869-1924 350,000 300,000 Czechoslovakia 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 1874 1879 1884 1889 1894 1899 1904 1909 1914 191 9 1924 SOURCE: Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volum e I: Statistics (Washington : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929), Tables II and III, pp. 384-393. Anecdotal evidence tells of Czechs immigrating earlier. Czech historian Stephanie Saxon-Ford said, "Bohemian intellectuals who had participated in the nationalist revival of the 1840s and 1850s . .. left their homeland by the score to escape the repression of Hapsburg �12 SLOVAKIA-2017 13 rule." By 1850 about 500 members of the Czech intelligentsiadoctors, professors, composers, and journalists-immigrated to the United States, and Czechs formed the Cesko-Slovanska Podporujici Spolecnost, or C.S.P.S., (the Czech-Slavic Protective Society) in St. 14 Louis in 1854. Furthermore, in volume II of International Migration, Felix Klez! referred to substantial immigration of Bohemians to California sparked by news of the 1849 gold strike. He wrote, "The movement was confined almost entirely to Bohemia. Of the 58,000 emigrants who registered in the years 1850-68, not less than 15 44,000, or 76 per cent, were from Bohemia. The evidence is less clear about emigration from Hungary after its 1848-49 revolution. Gustav Thirring said that any Hungarian arrivals in the United States before 1861 were "not treated in American statistics as immigration," saying "the first two immigrants from 16 Hungary being reported in 1861." Although Gregory Ference noted that a Slovak named Andrej Jelik arrived in the mid-1 s1h century and that Slovaks immigrated more frequently by the 1850s, "these immigrants usually were isolated cases ... . The beginnings of the mass 17 migration started around 1880." John Kosa agreed that Hungarian emigration was small prior to 1880, but then: "In the period from 1886 to 1890 an average of 22,000 persons left the country annually 18 for overseas, and the trend was increasing." Kosa continued: The total number of emigrants who left Hungary in the period from 1850 to 1920 is variously estimated as being between 2,500,000 and 3,000,000; the overseas emigration alone can be put between 2,200,000 13 Stephanie Saxon-Ford, The Czech Americans (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989), p. 47. 14 Gregory C. Ference, Sixteen months of indecision: Slovak American Viewpoints toward Compatriots and the Homeland from I 9 I 4 to I 915 as Viewed by the Slovak Language Press in Pennsylvania. (Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press, 1995), 36. 15 Felix Klez! , "Austria," in Willcox, Volume 11, 399. 16 Gustave Thirring, "Hungarian Migration of Modern Times," in Willcox, Volum e II, 411. 17 Gregory C. Ference, "Slovak Immigration to the United States in Light of American, Czech, and Slovak History," Nebraska. History, 74 (Fall/Winter 1993): 13035 at p. 131. 18 John Kosa, "A Century of Hungarian Emigration, I 850-1950," The American Slavic and East European Review, 16 (December, I 957) : 501-514 at 504. �13 SLOVAKIA-2017 and 2,600,000 persons. For several reasons it seems to be almost impossible to reach an exact figure or to tie in the Hungarian data with the statistical figures supplied by the different countries of immigration. Thirring found that 98.5 percent of the overseas Hungarian emigrants went to the United States. 19 He estimated total Hungarian emigration from 1898 to 1913 at 1,391,000, of which 31 percent (432,000) were Slovaks. Thirring also stated, "[E]migration from Hungary was almost entirely Slovak during the early years, 1120 and from 1905 to 1913, Slovaks still had the highest emigration rate of all Hungarians- 98 .2 per 1,000. That was more than three times the Magyar rate and amounted to almost 10 percent of the Slovak popu. m . Hungary. 21 1atlon U.S. Census Data on Czechs and Slovaks in America What do U.S. Census data tell about Czech and Slovak presence in America? The evidence above in Figure 1 implies three conclusions: (1) Substantial Czech immigration from Austria-Hungary began in the 1850s; (2) Substantial Slovak immigration from AustriaHungary began later, in the 1880s; therefore (3) many thousands of Czech immigrants settled in the United States at least a full generation before comparable numbers of Slovaks. Moreover, those Czechs immigrants gave birth to many more thousands of Czech-Americans. It is not surprising that the 1910 Census reported far more residents of Czech "foreign stock" than Slovak. Those data are reported in Figure 2. Figure 2: 1910 U.S. Census of Foreign Stock: Czechs and Slovaks 1910 ~ - ~ 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 531 ,193 I I I 600,000 700,000 However, the very next census of foreign stock in 1920 revealed 19 Thirring, 419. Thirring, 424. 21 Thirring, 426. 20 �14 SLOVAKIA-2017 the surprising-even astounding- fact that the number of Slovaks in America was virtually tied with the number of Czechs! In just ten short years between the two Census counts, the number of Slovak residents in the United States jumped more than 338,000- an increase greater than all Slovaks counted in the 1910 Census. Moreover, this enormous increase occurred despite the nearly complete shutdown of immigration during the four-and-a-half years of World War I, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 3: 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses of Foreign Stock: Czechs and Slovaks What accounted for the huge increase in Slovaks between the 1910 and 1920 Censuses? Recall that Slovak leaders succeeded in adding the "mother tongue" question to the 1910 Census just one month before the count began. A U.S. Census website states: "Because the questionnaires had already been printed, enumerators were instructed to add this information to column 12 (birthplace) of the 22 form." The census-takers- many of whom were unfamiliar with Slavic groups in central Europe- had trouble recording responses to the question. That was admitted in the explanatory text of the I 920 Census, which stated that "contrary to the instructions given the enumerators" some persons who said they were 'Slavs,' 'Slavic,' 'Slavish," or 'Slavonian,' ... should doubtless have been reported as Slovak or Slovenian." 23 Apparently, the census-takers had less trouble accurately recording responses from Czechs or Bohemians, who had started settling in the United States sixty years earlier, had quickly affected American life, and were widely recognized. The Czech-Slavic Protective Society was founded in 1854; Budweiser Beer was imported in 1871 (Bohemian Crystal even earlier); and Antonin Dvorak wrote his New 22 U. S. Census, "History," at https: //www.census.gov/history/www/through the decades/overview/ 19 I O.htm I. 23 U.S. Census Bureau, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, Volum e II: General Report and Analytical Tables (Washington, DC : 1921), Chapter 12, p. 968. �15 SLOVAKIA-2017 World Symphony in 1893 . The Slovak newcomers were not known to Americarls for their beer, their crystal, or their symphonies. Slovaks were not generally familiar to Europeans either. In 1916, according to MacMillan, Britain's Prime Minister Lloyd George (not known to be up on his geography) asked, "Who are the Slovaks? I can't seem 24 to place them. " So the leap in Slovak speakers in 1920 appears to have come from better field procedures returning a more accurate count. Additional evidence that the 1910 Census erred in counting Slovaks comes from the 1930 Census, which switched to ask the "mother tongue" question of those only who were "foreign born." Retaining the original data from the two earlier Censuses, the Bureau of the Census in 1930 recalculated its 1910 and 1920 data to report as well on "foreign born." Later Censuses to 1970 continued asking those foreign born for their mother tongue. The full set of relevant data are portrayed in Figure 4. Figure 4: Slovak and Czech as "Mother Tongue" in Censuses, 1910-1970 700 ,000 Mother Tongues of Foreign Stock 619,866 600,000 S lovak S tock 500,000 Czech S tock S lovak Born 400 ,000 - Czech Born 274,948 300 ,000 200 ,000 166,474 100 ,000 Mother Tongue• of Foreign Born 70,564 O + - - - - ~ - - ~ - - - ~ - - - , - - - - - - - , - - - - - r -- - - - , 1910 1920 1930 1 940 1950 1960 1970 U.S . Census Bureau, "Mother Tongue of the Foreign-Born Population: 1910 to 1940, 1960, and 1970," (March 9, 1999), at https://www.census.go~opulation/www/documentation/twps0029/tab06.html. Figure 4 shows a much smaller difference between foreign born 24 Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (New York: Random House, 2002), 42 . �16 SLOVAKIA-2017 Czech or Slovak speakers and those of foreign stock. Czech immigration, which occurred earlier, certainly accounted for the preponderance of Czech foreign stock. Given the flawed nature of the 1910 count of Slovak speakers, one wonders whether the Bureau of the Census in 1930 corrected the counts of Slovak speakers when recalculating the 1910 data. In any event, Figure 4 clearly shows that in every Census from I 920 through 1970 there were more Slovak than Czech speakers among the foreign born. Because the 1920s immigration quotas virtually ended mass immigration of both Czechs and Slovaks, the downward slope of the mother tongue lines for both languages reflects the mortality rates of the foreign born. Other Data on Czech and Slovak Immigration to America As noted, the U.S. Census has severe shortcomings concerning Czech and Slovak ethnicity prior to World War I. Fortunately, there were other sources of information on immigration to the United States prior to the 1930s, and these were consulted in preparing the two-volumes of International Migrations. Imre Ferenczi, chief of the Migration Section of the International Labour Office in Geneva, wrote, The statistics for the United States have been compiled in European libraries supplemented by all the important American publications, including Bromwell, Young, the Monthly Summary of Comm erce and Finance for the United States and the Annual Reports of the Commissioner General of Immigration. With the assistance of the numerous documents which have been collected, the present series of American migration statistics is probably more nearly complete than any heretofore published in the United States . 25 Thanks to these additional sources, Volume I of International Migrations printed a twelve-page table on the "Distribution of Immi26 grant Aliens Admitted, by Sex and Race or People, 1899-1924." This remarkable table counted immigrants in forty different categories, including separate lines for "Bohemian and Moravian" and 25 Imre Ferenczi , "International Migration Statistics" in Willcox, International Mi- f[ ations, Volume I, 59. 6 - International Migrations, Volume !: Statistics, Table X, 432-43. �SLOVAKIA-2017 17 "Slovak." These data, rarely reported in accounts of Czech and Slovak immigration, were extracted for presentation in Figure 5. Figure 5: Czech and Slovak Immigrants to the U.S., 1899-1924 60 ,000 Slovak lmmlgranta: 524,348 total 52,368 50,000 40 ,000 36,934 38,221 32,41 6 Source: International Migrations, Vo lume I: Statistics, Table X, 432-43. Summing the annual data in Figure 5 over 26 years results in 524,348 Slovak versus 150,294 Czech immigrants arriving from 1899 through 1924. These annual counts are reassuringly consistent with Figure 1's data on annual immigration from Austria-Hungary, as Figure S's spikes in immigration for 1905-07, 1910, and 1913-14 match the spikes in Figure 1. While Czech immigrants to the United States certainly outnumbered Slovak immigrants throughout most of the 19 th century, the annual immigration data in Figure 5 establish that over three times as many Slovaks as Czechs immigrated to the U.S. in the first quarter of the 20 th . However, the data in Figure 5 are not comparable to U.S. Census data in Figure 4, even for the same years, 1910 and 1920. Figure 5 counted only annual immigrant arrivals. Both Censuses counted all residents of foreign stock and of foreign birth, classifying them as Czech or Slovak according to their mother tongues. By simple logic, �18 SLOVAKIA-2017 the number of Czech/Slovak of foreign stock counted in any Census year should exceed the number of Czech/Slovak who were foreign born. So too, the number of foreign born in 1910 should exceed the sum total of immigrants for the available years 1899 to 1910, and the number of foreign born in 1920 should exceed the total of immigrants from 1899 to 1920. Figure 6, which reprises the relevant foreign stock and foreign born data along with summed immigration data for 1899 to 1910 and for 1899 to 1920, shows those relationships hold for the Czech data, but not for the Slovak data. Figure 6: Comparing 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses with 18991924 Immigration Data 700,000 619,866 600,000 Czech stock 531, 193 500,000 Slovak Immigrants 1899-1920 400,000 1899-1910 300,000 Slovak stock C,ech bom 281 70 274,948 22 ,', 73 , r -34,564 200,000 Slovak born 166,474 100,000 Czech Immigrants 1899-1910 .-123,836 91 , 164 _______...-.---- Czech Immigrants 1899-1920 0---+-----------------~ 1910 1920 When comparing 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses with 1899-1924 immigration data, one should understand two facts and their implycations: �SLOVAKIA-2017 19 I . The data come from very different sources collected by very different methods. Do not expect exact matches; look instead for consistencies and impossibilities. 2. Caveat: summing annual immigrants overstates their counts in the Censuses. After arriving, many immigrants returned home. Concerning fact #1: All data for Czech foreign stock, foreign born, and immigrants are indeed logically consistent for 1910 and 1920. In both years, there were more residents of Czech foreign stock than those foreign born and those who immigrated since 1899. The Slovak figures for foreign stock and foreign born are also logically consistent. However, the data for Slovak foreign born are inconsistent with the number who immigrated in years preceding both Censuses. It is not possible for 358,056 Slovaks to arrive between 1899 and 1910 and yet have only 166,474 foreign born Slovaks in the 1910 Census. It is not possible for 460,530 Slovaks to immigrate between 1899 and 1920 and yet have only 274,948 Slovaks of foreign birth in 1920. Concerning fact #2: That immigrants often returned home requires some adjustment to the data summed from 1899 to 1910 and from 1899 to 1920. One source for 1908 to 1913 estimated that, respectively, 40 percent and 38 percent of Austrian and Hungarian 27 immigrants to the United States returned home. Other sources give 28 much lower repatriation percentages, almost half. Let us assume the highest figure, that 40 percent of the Slovak immigrants who came in the 12 years prior to 1910, returned home. That would still leave almost 215,000 immigrants, far more than the 166,000 Slovaks the 1910 Census counted as foreign born. Of course, many thousands who came before 1899 were also foreign born and still alive. Applying the same repatriation assumption to Slovak immigrants from 1899 to 1920 lowers the number to around 276,000-which is 27 Willcox, Volume I, 90 and 92. Culen estimated that about 25 percent of all Slovaks who left eventually returned (p. 42); Seton-Watson reported that Slovaks who returned in 1905 were 10 percent of those who left, and that returnees were 20 percent of emigrants in 1906, in R. W. Seton-Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary (New York: Howard Fertig, 1972 edition, original ly published 1908) Appendix XIII, 470. 28 �20 SLOVAKIA-2017 close to the 1920 Census count of about 275,000 born abroad. Although the 1899-1920 count still does not include those who immigrated earlier, the much closer fit to the I 920 Census count supports the contention that the 1910 Census woefully undercounted Slovaks. More Slovaks than Czechs in America, Then and Now? To recap, the 1920 Census of foreign stock counted almost identical numbers of Czechs and Slovaks in the United States: 622,796 and 619,866 respectively. Without doubt, the Bureau of the Census had improved its counting of Slovaks substantially since the 1910 Census, but annual counts of Czech and Slovak immigration from 1899 to 1920 suggest that even the 1920 Census underestimated the number of Slovaks, given that large scale Slovak immigration oc29 curred two decades earlier. " By the 1930 Census, which asked mother tongue only for the foreign born, there were more Slovak than Czech speakers, 240,196 to 201,138. As census-takers recorded more familiar with Slovaks as an ethnic group, perhaps they found more Slovaks to count. In any event, it is reasonable to assume that by 1930 there were actually more United States residents of Slovak than Czech ancestry. Despite the fact that Slovak speakers equaled or exceeded Czech speakers by 1920, Slovaks remained largely invisible to the American public. In Francis Clark's 1913 book, Old Homes of New Americans, he reported on a conversation with "an intelligent American lady, who had traveled widely and was not unacquainted with the history and nationality of Austria-Hungary." He asked her to guess how many Slovaks were in the United States; she guessed twenty thousand. He wrote, "She was only five hundred and eighty thousand out of the way, but I have no doubt her guess was quite as near the truth as would be that of most of her countrywomen, or countrymen 30 either, for that matter. " Although the U.S. Census Bureau apparently stopped asking for the mother tongue of foreign born in 1970, the 1980 and 1990 Cen- 29 Ference, p. 131. ° Francis E. C lark, Old Homes of New Americans: The Country and the People of 3 the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Their Contribution to the New World (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913), 212-13 . �SLOVAKIA-2017 21 31 suses did attempt to measure ancestry. In 1990, the census-taker filled in a box for Question 13: "What is this person's ancestry or 32 ethnic origin?" Appendix B explained: The question was based on self-identification; the data on ancestry represent self-classification by people according to the ancestry group(s) with which they most closely identify. Ancestry refers to a person's ethnic origin or descent, "roots," or heritage or the place of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States .. .. The ancestry question allowed respondents to report one or more ancestry groups. While a large number of respondents listed a single ancestry, the majority of answers included more than one ethnic entry. Generally, only the first two responses reported were coded in 1990. Based on both responses to the ancestry question, the 1990 Cen33 sus produced these estimates: Slovak 1,882,897 Czech 1,296,411 Czechoslovakian 315,285 Of course, feelings of ancestry fade across generations as marriages occur across ethnic groups. Given that Czechs immigrated a generation earlier than Slovaks, their self-identification in 1990 as Czech-American or Bohemian-American should have faded somewhat more than Slovak-American. The exact numbers for ancestry in 1990 are less significant than their relative magnitudes. These data, even with their imperfections, support the case that Slovak immigrants outnumbered Czechs in the first quarter of the 20 th century, 31 Bureau of the Census, Census '90.- The Foreign-Born Population in the United States (Washington, DC: I 990 CP-3- I), 8-4. 32 Ibid. , E- 14. 33 Based on only people's first response for ancestry, the counts were lower: 1,2 10,652 Slovaks, 772,087 Czechs, and 240,489 Czechoslovakians. Only 3,781 people cited Moravian ancestry. See Bureau of the Census, Census '90: Ancestry of the Population in the United States (Washington, DC: 1990 CP-3-2), Table I: "General Characteristics of Selected Ancestry Groups by Nativity, Citizenship, and Year of Entry." �22 SLOVAKIA-2017 even including Moravians. That seems to be true as well today. In 2013, the Department of Homeland Security reported the persons obtaining lawful permanent resident status by region and country of birth from fiscal years 2004 to 2013. The trend continued: 7,165 people from Slovakia soufht resident status in the U.S. versus 3,783 from the Czech Republic.3 Where Did Czechs and Slovak Settle in the United States? We do not inquire why immigrants chose where they settled in the United States. We look only at where they settled in the first decades of the 20 th century. To determine that, we rely on the 1920 Census, which asked for mother tongue of foreign white stockaccepting its likely undercount of Slovaks. Recall that the 1920 Census counted 622,796 Czechs and 619,866 Slovaks for a combined total of 1,242,662. Given that the amounts are essentially the same, readers can compare the counts directly, without converting them to percentages. Figure 7 displays where they chose to settle in nine Census regions of the United States, ranked by total number of Czechs and Slovaks. Figure 7: Distribution of Czech and Slovak Speakers in Census Regions, 1920• Total Czech• & Slovaka In each region Middle Atlantic 1 ~ 7 3,574 East North Central 425,623 These three regions had 1 , 140,043 of all Czechs & Slovaks (87% ) 180,483 West North Central 13,006 Texas a lone had 84% of all Czechs & Slovaks in this region West South Central 8,306 New England Only 8% of Czechs & Slovaks settled in the rest of the country; except for Texas , very few settled in southern states, 13 ,6 11 South Atlantic 14,996 Pacific Czechs= 622,786 • Slovaks'"' 619,866 Total Czechs & Slovaks = 1 ,242 ,662 934 East South Central 1 ,252 0 34 • 2,186 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 Department of Homeland Security," Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013 Lawful Permanent Residents," https://www.dhs.gov/yearbook-immigration-statistics-2013-lawful-permanent-residents. �SLOVAKIA-2017 23 Fourteenth Census of the United State, 1920: Volume II, General Report and Analytical Tables, Table 7. The comments to the right of Figure 7 draw attention to three major conclusions: (1) almost 90% of all Czechs and Slovaks lived in relatively few states running westward from the Atlantic seaboard into the North Central region; (2) nearly all those in the West South Central region lived in Texas; and (3) relatively few Czechs and Slovaks ventured north to New England, west toward the Mountain and Pacific regions, or south-except for Texas, entering at Galveston. (One source estimated that some 200,000 immigrants entered there 5 between 1865 and 1924.)3 One last comment on Texas: according to the 1920 Census, Czechs outnumbered Slovaks 49,929 to 83 3 ! Figure 8 provides information on the states within three regions in which they settled. Figure 8: Distribution of Czech and Slovak Speakers by States within Regions (See next page) Figure 8 lists all fifteen states in 1920 having the most Czechs and Slovaks within the three regions . Only four of the fifteenPennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Indiana-had more Slovaks than Czechs. Pennsylvania stands out as the most extraordinary: Slovaks outnumbered Czechs 296,219 to 19,839, and Pennsylvania-by itself- had 48 percent of all Slovaks counted in the 1920 Census! Pennsylvania drew so many Slovaks that some explanation is needed. In his History of Slovaks in America, Culen wrote: Most of the early Slovak immigrants settled in the industrial and mining areas of Pennsylvania. Here, two main centers developed. One was in the hard coal (anthracite) mining region (or in the Slovak slang "v tvardouholtnej okolici"- '"the hard coal circle"), the other in the soft coal mining region . The first settlements formed around the mines. Later, they formed around large industrial complexes, particularly around iron and steel mills. 36 35 See htt ://wv1w.chron.com/li fe/artic le/Waves-of-mi rants-made-Galveston-intoT~2(i!§_-L73)_~}?Jl'1p_. 36 Konstantin Culen, History of Slovaks in America [Translated from the 1942 Slovak edition by Daniel C. Necas] (St. Paul , MN: Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, 2007), p. 67. �24 SLOVAKIA-2017 M. Mark Stolarik's more recent research found that Slovaks 316,058 Pennsylvania New York MIDDLE An.ANTIC New Jersey 184,021 Illinois 138,188 Ohio EAST NORTH CENTRAL 58,217 Wisconsin Michigan Indiana Nebraska 41 ,872 Minnesota 34,739 Iowa WEST NORTH CENTRAL 16,277 Missouri 13 ,263 Kansas 11 ,203 South Dakota ■ Czechs ■ Slovaks North Dakota 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000 accounted for 13.1 percent of all steel workers in America and 12.8 37 percent of bituminous coal miners. New Jersey also had a preponderance of Slovaks over Czechs, as did Ohio, but neither rivaled Pennsylvania. Indiana also had more Slovaks than Czechs, but few of each. 37 Marian Mark Stolarik, Immigration and Urbanization: The Slovak Experience, 1870-1918 (New York: AMS Press, 1989), pp. 111-112, �SLOVAKIA-2017 25 The other eleven states had Czech majorities- often overwhelming majorities. Nebraska was home to 54,024 Czechs but only 281 Slovaks! That ratio even exceeded Texas' Czech majority. My home state of Illinois had-after Pennsylvania-the second largest number of Czech and Slovak immigrants. Where in Illinois did those Czechs and Slovaks live? Did they live in urban or rural areas? The 1920 Census did not classify the foreign stock by urban rural residence, but the 1930 Census did report urban-rural location for the foreign born, which means the more recent immigrants. At that time, "urban" meant incorporated areas of 2,500 or more inhabitants-places that we would not call urban today. Nevertheless, only 56 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas in 1930. 38 Although they had emigrated from rural lands, both Czechs (66 percent) and Slovaks (72 percent) gravitated to urban areas. 39 Only in certain states did Czechs and Slovaks congregate in large cities. The United States had only 73 cities with 100,000 or more population in 1920. Ten were in the three states with the largest number of Czechs and Slovaks combined-Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio. Because most mines and mills were located outside of Pennsylvania's large cities- Philadelphia, Scranton, and Pittsburgh. -merely 8 percent of its Czechs and Slovaks lived in its big cities. Ohio, with six cities over 100,000, presented a different case. Only Cleveland- a major steel and manufacturing center-attracted Czechs and Slovaks in droves, accounting for 52 percent of them, more Czechs than Slovaks. My home state of Illinois had only one city over 100,000 population-Chicago-and 72 percent of all Czechs and Slovaks in Illinois in 1920 lived in Chicago. The breakdown was 106,428 Czechs and 25 ,720 Slovaks. Given that Czechs outnumbered Slovaks by nearly 4 to 1 in Chicago, perhaps that explains why I never met any. Conclusion: Slovaks as the Silent Majority Certainly the preponderance of Czechs in Chicago partly explains why I was unaware of them. Probably more important was 38 Fifteenth Census of the United State, 1920: Volume II, General Report, Statistics b{ Subject, Chapter 1, Table 1. 3 Ibid. , Chapter 7, Table I. �26 SLOVAKIA-2017 that Slovaks were more silent than Czechs, so got little press compared to Czechs who- like the Irish in Boston and Italians in New York- soon became a force in city politics. Anton Cermak (originally Cermak) became a Chicago alderman, then president of the county board (1922), head of the county Democratic Party (1928), and mayor of the city (1931 ). His prominence allowed him to stand next to president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami, where Cermak was killed by a bullet presumably aimed at the president. Slovaks also made less news than Czechs nationwide. Figure 9 shows how often articles in the Tim es, the leading newspaper in the nation's biggest city, mentioned either "Czechs" or "Slovaks.1140 From 1901 to 1910, the New York Times paid little attention to either group . Of only 88 articles during that decade that mentioned either, 75 percent were about Czechs. In the next decade, encompassing World War I and the creation of Czechoslovakia, the number of stories in the Times increased tenfold to 890, and the percentage mentioning Czechs increased to 81. By 1920, when Slovak equaled Czech as a mother tongue in census statistics, the Czech advantage in 689 Tim es' stories climbed to 84 percent. The Czech penumbra extended far over the Slovaks especially in the metropolitan media. Figure 9: "Czechs" and "Slovaks" in the News, 1900-1930 300 Number of articles in New York Tiines 250 Number mentioning Czechs 200 150 100 50 1905 40 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 "CHRONICLE. Visualizing language usage in New York Times news coverage throughout its history," at http ://chronicle.nvtlabs.com/. �SLOVAKIA-2017 27 Cermak's visible political career in Chicago, Tomas Masaryk's tireless campaigning across the country for the existence of Czechoslovakia as an independent nation, the nation's creation after World War I, and Edvard Benes' presidency, all, no doubt contributed to the many articles mentioning Czechs in the New York Times during this period. Slovaks lacked comparable political celebrities or events to gamer publicity. Finally, the fact that almost one-half of all Slovak immigrants to the United States settled in one state, Pennsylvania and outside its large cities no doubt contributed to Slovaks' neglect by the national press and to their invisibility to people living in other states. Despite the fact that Slovaks were often unrecognized and undercounted by census-takers, the 1990 Census confirmed that more Americans claimed Slovak than Czech ancestry. Even today, that fact surprises many people. � 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 2017, Vol. 43 Description An account of the resource Vol. 43 (No. 80-81), 2017. 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 2017 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-2017 7 MORE SLOVAKS IN THE U.S. THAN CZECHS? WHO SAYS? WHEN AND WHERE? 1 Kenneth Janda Born in Chicago, Illinois, I am a third-generation Czech-American married to a second-generation Slovak-American, born Anna Mozolak in New York City. Ann's grandfather, Samuel Mozolak, is the peasant in my forthcoming book, The Emperor and the Peasant: The Start of the Great War and End of a Great Empire. 2 The emperor is, of course, Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. The peasant, Samuel Mozolak, lived in Krajne, a Slovak village in Hungary, the eastern half of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Although they never met, Franz Joseph's life profoundly affected Samuel's. It is inconceivable that the peasant ever did anything to harm the emperor, but the emperor, did much to harm him. By declaring war against Serbia, Franz Joseph personally made the decision that led to Samuel's death. So began World War I, innocently known then as the Great War-the war to end all wars. Franz Joseph resided in his Austrian palaces and visited Hungary as little as possible. Living in different places and with no common acquaintances, the two men traveled together on non-intersecting paths toward World War I. The story about Franz Joseph is based entirely on historical records. Samuel Mozolak's story is based on family documents, histories of Slovaks in Hungary, reports of Slovaks emigrating to the United States, immigrants' personal accounts, and novels of the era. His story threads together the description of Slovaks' lives as subjects in Hungary and as immigrants in America. Chapter 1 begins the emperor's story, which continues over the odd-numbered chapters. Chapter 2 and subsequent even-numbered 1 Revision of a paper prepared for delivery at the 28th World Congress of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences (SVU),Vysoka skola zdravotnictva a socialnej prace, sv. Alzbety, Bratislava, Slovakia, September 1-4, 2016 ,_M. Mark Stolarik improved this paper with several useful suggestions . 2 Forthcoming in 2017 by McFarland Books, Box 611 , Jefferson, NC 28640, http: //www.mcfarlandbooks.com 8 SLOVAKIA-2017 chapters tell about the Slovak peasant who crossed the ocean at twenty years of age to work in New York City and who returned to Slovakia in time to serve the emperor. Those chapters also tell why hundreds of thousands of Slovaks fled the empire, how they traveled to the United States, and where they settled. In writing my manuscript, I learned far more about Ann's Slovak heritage than I did about my own Czech family background. My mother and father were first-generation bilingual Bohemians who impressed on me-who foolishly resisted learning Czech- that I was Bohemian too. I attended many events in Chicago's numerous Sokol halls, but I do not recall my parents ever saying that they had Slovak friends or even talking about Slovaks. When I met Ann Mozo lak in graduate school at Indiana University, she was the first genuine Slovak-American that I ever recall meeting. So imagine my surprise when I learned that the 1990 Census found 1.9 million United States residents professing Slovak ancestry compared with about 1.3 claiming Czech roots, whi le approximately 315,000 considering themselves "Czechoslovaks." How could that be? Did more Slovaks than Czechs really immigrate to the United States? What's the evidence? When did the immigration waves occur? Where did the Czechs and Slovaks settle in America? How could it be that I do not remember m~eting any Slovaks in Chicago? These are questions that I grappled with while writing The Emperor and the Peasant, and ones addressed more comprehensively in this paper. Anyone researching Czech and Slovak emigration from Austria-Hungary to the United States during the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20 th century encounters several facts: 1. Statistics on emigration from Austria-Hungary and immigra3 tion to the United States are seriously incomplete. Emigration statistics from Austria-Hungary had to be compiled from fragmentary government data on exit permits and from 4 more complete data on ships sailing from European ports. Immigration data in the United States came almost completely from 3 See Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volume I: Statistics (Washington: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929), 55. 4 Wilcox, 89-90. SLOVAKIA-2017 9 5 passenger lists of ship companies. 2. Over the years, the United States defined "immigrant" diff erently . From 1820 to 1867, data were reported for alien passengers ; from 1868 to 1900 for alien immigrants-those who intended to reside in the U.S. (including only third class passengers, not first or second class, until 1903); after 1906 for immigrant aliens admitted, excluding "all aliens admitted who avowed an intention not to settle in the United States, and all returning to resume domiciles formerly acquired in this country. 11 6 3. The U.S. Census Bureau did not separately classify residents fro m Austria-Hungary as Czechs or Slovaks until 1910, when it began asking p eople of ''foreign stock" about their "mother tongue." That year, Slovak leaders persuaded President Taft and Congress to add "mother tongue" to the 1910 Census a month before 7 it took the field on April 15. The Bureau hastily trained censustakers in asking people of foreign stock for their mother tongue-"that is, the language of customary speech in the home prior to immigration." "Foreign stock" included "the foreign-born white, the native white of foreign parentage (both parents foreign born), and the native white of mixed parentage (one parent native and the other foreign born).118 4. In 1924, the U. S. Congress imposed quotas on immigrants fro m central and southern Europe, which drastically reduced the number from the former Austria-Hungary. Whereas from 1904 to 1911 , Austria-Hungary accounted for 28 percent of millions of immigrants who poured into the United Sta9 tes, Congress set the 1925 immigration quota at only 785 for Austria 5 Wilcox, 374. Ibid. 7 Konstant in Cul en, Dejiny Slowikov v Amerike (Bratislava: Slovak League Publishing House, 1942) was translated by Daniel C. Necas and published as History of Slovaks in America (St. Paul : Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, 2007), 329-33. 8 Fifteenth Census of the United States - 1930 - Population, Vo lume JI: General Report, Statistics by Subject (Washington: U.S . Bureau of the Census, 1933), Chapter 6, p. 263 . 9 Willcox, Walter F. (ed.), International Migrations, Vo lum e JI: Interpretations (Washington: Nati onal Bureau of Economic Research, I 93 1), 400. 6 10 SLOVAKIA-2017 10 and 473 for Hungary. 5. In 1930, the U.S. Census Bureau switched from asking residents of ''foreign stock" about their mother tongue to asking it only of residents who were ''foreign born." The 1930 Census reported 38,727,693 of foreign stock but only 13 ,366,407 foreign born-about one-third as many. These facts complicated estimating the numbers of Czech and Slovak immigrants to the United States. Historical Trend oflmmigration from Austria-Hungary, 1869-1924 What do we know generally about immigration from AustriaHungary? Imre Ferenczi in 1925 supervised an international effort in Europe at collecting migration data that was published in 1929 in the 11 United States under the general editorship of Walter F. Willcox. Thanks to that source, we have detailed estimates for Austro-Hungarian immigration to the United States by year from 1869 to 1924and often by country within the empire. These data are presented in Figure 1, which reports the place of origin for years when available. Certain years are marked by pronounced surges in immigration. The researchers contended that these surges coincided more with views of good economic ref otts in America than with poor conditions in Austria-Hungary. 1 Felix Klez! wrote, "There was a striking parallelism between Austrian emigration and the economic conditions in the United States," while Gustav Thirring said, "In Hungary, American business conditions also were of decisive influence." The data extend beyond the end of the empire to 1924, after which U.S. national quotas throttled the flow of immigrants. According to the data in Figure 1, immigration from Austria and Bohemia long preceded any substantial immigration from Hungary. 10 Ibid. , 410 and 433 . See Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volum e I: Statistics and International Migrations (Washington: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929). 12 Felix Klez!, "Austria," in Willcox, Volum e !I, p. 403 ; and Gustave Thirring, "Hungarian Migration of Modern Times," in Willcox, Volum e 11, p. 411 . 11 11 SLOVAKIA-2017 Figure 1: Austro-Hungarian Immigration by Place of Origin, 1869-1924 350,000 300,000 Czechoslovakia 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 1874 1879 1884 1889 1894 1899 1904 1909 1914 191 9 1924 SOURCE: Walter F. Willcox, (ed.), International Migrations, Volum e I: Statistics (Washington : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929), Tables II and III, pp. 384-393. Anecdotal evidence tells of Czechs immigrating earlier. Czech historian Stephanie Saxon-Ford said, "Bohemian intellectuals who had participated in the nationalist revival of the 1840s and 1850s . .. left their homeland by the score to escape the repression of Hapsburg 12 SLOVAKIA-2017 13 rule." By 1850 about 500 members of the Czech intelligentsiadoctors, professors, composers, and journalists-immigrated to the United States, and Czechs formed the Cesko-Slovanska Podporujici Spolecnost, or C.S.P.S., (the Czech-Slavic Protective Society) in St. 14 Louis in 1854. Furthermore, in volume II of International Migration, Felix Klez! referred to substantial immigration of Bohemians to California sparked by news of the 1849 gold strike. He wrote, "The movement was confined almost entirely to Bohemia. Of the 58,000 emigrants who registered in the years 1850-68, not less than 15 44,000, or 76 per cent, were from Bohemia. The evidence is less clear about emigration from Hungary after its 1848-49 revolution. Gustav Thirring said that any Hungarian arrivals in the United States before 1861 were "not treated in American statistics as immigration," saying "the first two immigrants from 16 Hungary being reported in 1861." Although Gregory Ference noted that a Slovak named Andrej Jelik arrived in the mid-1 s1h century and that Slovaks immigrated more frequently by the 1850s, "these immigrants usually were isolated cases ... . The beginnings of the mass 17 migration started around 1880." John Kosa agreed that Hungarian emigration was small prior to 1880, but then: "In the period from 1886 to 1890 an average of 22,000 persons left the country annually 18 for overseas, and the trend was increasing." Kosa continued: The total number of emigrants who left Hungary in the period from 1850 to 1920 is variously estimated as being between 2,500,000 and 3,000,000; the overseas emigration alone can be put between 2,200,000 13 Stephanie Saxon-Ford, The Czech Americans (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989), p. 47. 14 Gregory C. Ference, Sixteen months of indecision: Slovak American Viewpoints toward Compatriots and the Homeland from I 9 I 4 to I 915 as Viewed by the Slovak Language Press in Pennsylvania. (Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press, 1995), 36. 15 Felix Klez! , "Austria," in Willcox, Volume 11, 399. 16 Gustave Thirring, "Hungarian Migration of Modern Times," in Willcox, Volum e II, 411. 17 Gregory C. Ference, "Slovak Immigration to the United States in Light of American, Czech, and Slovak History," Nebraska. History, 74 (Fall/Winter 1993): 13035 at p. 131. 18 John Kosa, "A Century of Hungarian Emigration, I 850-1950," The American Slavic and East European Review, 16 (December, I 957) : 501-514 at 504. 13 SLOVAKIA-2017 and 2,600,000 persons. For several reasons it seems to be almost impossible to reach an exact figure or to tie in the Hungarian data with the statistical figures supplied by the different countries of immigration. Thirring found that 98.5 percent of the overseas Hungarian emigrants went to the United States. 19 He estimated total Hungarian emigration from 1898 to 1913 at 1,391,000, of which 31 percent (432,000) were Slovaks. Thirring also stated, "[E]migration from Hungary was almost entirely Slovak during the early years, 1120 and from 1905 to 1913, Slovaks still had the highest emigration rate of all Hungarians- 98 .2 per 1,000. That was more than three times the Magyar rate and amounted to almost 10 percent of the Slovak popu. m . Hungary. 21 1atlon U.S. Census Data on Czechs and Slovaks in America What do U.S. Census data tell about Czech and Slovak presence in America? The evidence above in Figure 1 implies three conclusions: (1) Substantial Czech immigration from Austria-Hungary began in the 1850s; (2) Substantial Slovak immigration from AustriaHungary began later, in the 1880s; therefore (3) many thousands of Czech immigrants settled in the United States at least a full generation before comparable numbers of Slovaks. Moreover, those Czechs immigrants gave birth to many more thousands of Czech-Americans. It is not surprising that the 1910 Census reported far more residents of Czech "foreign stock" than Slovak. Those data are reported in Figure 2. Figure 2: 1910 U.S. Census of Foreign Stock: Czechs and Slovaks 1910 ~ - ~ 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 531 ,193 I I I 600,000 700,000 However, the very next census of foreign stock in 1920 revealed 19 Thirring, 419. Thirring, 424. 21 Thirring, 426. 20 14 SLOVAKIA-2017 the surprising-even astounding- fact that the number of Slovaks in America was virtually tied with the number of Czechs! In just ten short years between the two Census counts, the number of Slovak residents in the United States jumped more than 338,000- an increase greater than all Slovaks counted in the 1910 Census. Moreover, this enormous increase occurred despite the nearly complete shutdown of immigration during the four-and-a-half years of World War I, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 3: 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses of Foreign Stock: Czechs and Slovaks What accounted for the huge increase in Slovaks between the 1910 and 1920 Censuses? Recall that Slovak leaders succeeded in adding the "mother tongue" question to the 1910 Census just one month before the count began. A U.S. Census website states: "Because the questionnaires had already been printed, enumerators were instructed to add this information to column 12 (birthplace) of the 22 form." The census-takers- many of whom were unfamiliar with Slavic groups in central Europe- had trouble recording responses to the question. That was admitted in the explanatory text of the I 920 Census, which stated that "contrary to the instructions given the enumerators" some persons who said they were 'Slavs,' 'Slavic,' 'Slavish," or 'Slavonian,' ... should doubtless have been reported as Slovak or Slovenian." 23 Apparently, the census-takers had less trouble accurately recording responses from Czechs or Bohemians, who had started settling in the United States sixty years earlier, had quickly affected American life, and were widely recognized. The Czech-Slavic Protective Society was founded in 1854; Budweiser Beer was imported in 1871 (Bohemian Crystal even earlier); and Antonin Dvorak wrote his New 22 U. S. Census, "History," at https: //www.census.gov/history/www/through the decades/overview/ 19 I O.htm I. 23 U.S. Census Bureau, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, Volum e II: General Report and Analytical Tables (Washington, DC : 1921), Chapter 12, p. 968. 15 SLOVAKIA-2017 World Symphony in 1893 . The Slovak newcomers were not known to Americarls for their beer, their crystal, or their symphonies. Slovaks were not generally familiar to Europeans either. In 1916, according to MacMillan, Britain's Prime Minister Lloyd George (not known to be up on his geography) asked, "Who are the Slovaks? I can't seem 24 to place them. " So the leap in Slovak speakers in 1920 appears to have come from better field procedures returning a more accurate count. Additional evidence that the 1910 Census erred in counting Slovaks comes from the 1930 Census, which switched to ask the "mother tongue" question of those only who were "foreign born." Retaining the original data from the two earlier Censuses, the Bureau of the Census in 1930 recalculated its 1910 and 1920 data to report as well on "foreign born." Later Censuses to 1970 continued asking those foreign born for their mother tongue. The full set of relevant data are portrayed in Figure 4. Figure 4: Slovak and Czech as "Mother Tongue" in Censuses, 1910-1970 700 ,000 Mother Tongues of Foreign Stock 619,866 600,000 S lovak S tock 500,000 Czech S tock S lovak Born 400 ,000 - Czech Born 274,948 300 ,000 200 ,000 166,474 100 ,000 Mother Tongue• of Foreign Born 70,564 O + - - - - ~ - - ~ - - - ~ - - - , - - - - - - - , - - - - - r -- - - - , 1910 1920 1930 1 940 1950 1960 1970 U.S . Census Bureau, "Mother Tongue of the Foreign-Born Population: 1910 to 1940, 1960, and 1970," (March 9, 1999), at https://www.census.go~opulation/www/documentation/twps0029/tab06.html. Figure 4 shows a much smaller difference between foreign born 24 Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (New York: Random House, 2002), 42 . 16 SLOVAKIA-2017 Czech or Slovak speakers and those of foreign stock. Czech immigration, which occurred earlier, certainly accounted for the preponderance of Czech foreign stock. Given the flawed nature of the 1910 count of Slovak speakers, one wonders whether the Bureau of the Census in 1930 corrected the counts of Slovak speakers when recalculating the 1910 data. In any event, Figure 4 clearly shows that in every Census from I 920 through 1970 there were more Slovak than Czech speakers among the foreign born. Because the 1920s immigration quotas virtually ended mass immigration of both Czechs and Slovaks, the downward slope of the mother tongue lines for both languages reflects the mortality rates of the foreign born. Other Data on Czech and Slovak Immigration to America As noted, the U.S. Census has severe shortcomings concerning Czech and Slovak ethnicity prior to World War I. Fortunately, there were other sources of information on immigration to the United States prior to the 1930s, and these were consulted in preparing the two-volumes of International Migrations. Imre Ferenczi, chief of the Migration Section of the International Labour Office in Geneva, wrote, The statistics for the United States have been compiled in European libraries supplemented by all the important American publications, including Bromwell, Young, the Monthly Summary of Comm erce and Finance for the United States and the Annual Reports of the Commissioner General of Immigration. With the assistance of the numerous documents which have been collected, the present series of American migration statistics is probably more nearly complete than any heretofore published in the United States . 25 Thanks to these additional sources, Volume I of International Migrations printed a twelve-page table on the "Distribution of Immi26 grant Aliens Admitted, by Sex and Race or People, 1899-1924." This remarkable table counted immigrants in forty different categories, including separate lines for "Bohemian and Moravian" and 25 Imre Ferenczi , "International Migration Statistics" in Willcox, International Mi- f[ ations, Volume I, 59. 6 - International Migrations, Volume !: Statistics, Table X, 432-43. SLOVAKIA-2017 17 "Slovak." These data, rarely reported in accounts of Czech and Slovak immigration, were extracted for presentation in Figure 5. Figure 5: Czech and Slovak Immigrants to the U.S., 1899-1924 60 ,000 Slovak lmmlgranta: 524,348 total 52,368 50,000 40 ,000 36,934 38,221 32,41 6 Source: International Migrations, Vo lume I: Statistics, Table X, 432-43. Summing the annual data in Figure 5 over 26 years results in 524,348 Slovak versus 150,294 Czech immigrants arriving from 1899 through 1924. These annual counts are reassuringly consistent with Figure 1's data on annual immigration from Austria-Hungary, as Figure S's spikes in immigration for 1905-07, 1910, and 1913-14 match the spikes in Figure 1. While Czech immigrants to the United States certainly outnumbered Slovak immigrants throughout most of the 19 th century, the annual immigration data in Figure 5 establish that over three times as many Slovaks as Czechs immigrated to the U.S. in the first quarter of the 20 th . However, the data in Figure 5 are not comparable to U.S. Census data in Figure 4, even for the same years, 1910 and 1920. Figure 5 counted only annual immigrant arrivals. Both Censuses counted all residents of foreign stock and of foreign birth, classifying them as Czech or Slovak according to their mother tongues. By simple logic, 18 SLOVAKIA-2017 the number of Czech/Slovak of foreign stock counted in any Census year should exceed the number of Czech/Slovak who were foreign born. So too, the number of foreign born in 1910 should exceed the sum total of immigrants for the available years 1899 to 1910, and the number of foreign born in 1920 should exceed the total of immigrants from 1899 to 1920. Figure 6, which reprises the relevant foreign stock and foreign born data along with summed immigration data for 1899 to 1910 and for 1899 to 1920, shows those relationships hold for the Czech data, but not for the Slovak data. Figure 6: Comparing 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses with 18991924 Immigration Data 700,000 619,866 600,000 Czech stock 531, 193 500,000 Slovak Immigrants 1899-1920 400,000 1899-1910 300,000 Slovak stock C,ech bom 281 70 274,948 22 ,', 73 , r -34,564 200,000 Slovak born 166,474 100,000 Czech Immigrants 1899-1910 .-123,836 91 , 164 _______...-.---- Czech Immigrants 1899-1920 0---+-----------------~ 1910 1920 When comparing 1910 and 1920 U.S. Censuses with 1899-1924 immigration data, one should understand two facts and their implycations: SLOVAKIA-2017 19 I . The data come from very different sources collected by very different methods. Do not expect exact matches; look instead for consistencies and impossibilities. 2. Caveat: summing annual immigrants overstates their counts in the Censuses. After arriving, many immigrants returned home. Concerning fact #1: All data for Czech foreign stock, foreign born, and immigrants are indeed logically consistent for 1910 and 1920. In both years, there were more residents of Czech foreign stock than those foreign born and those who immigrated since 1899. The Slovak figures for foreign stock and foreign born are also logically consistent. However, the data for Slovak foreign born are inconsistent with the number who immigrated in years preceding both Censuses. It is not possible for 358,056 Slovaks to arrive between 1899 and 1910 and yet have only 166,474 foreign born Slovaks in the 1910 Census. It is not possible for 460,530 Slovaks to immigrate between 1899 and 1920 and yet have only 274,948 Slovaks of foreign birth in 1920. Concerning fact #2: That immigrants often returned home requires some adjustment to the data summed from 1899 to 1910 and from 1899 to 1920. One source for 1908 to 1913 estimated that, respectively, 40 percent and 38 percent of Austrian and Hungarian 27 immigrants to the United States returned home. Other sources give 28 much lower repatriation percentages, almost half. Let us assume the highest figure, that 40 percent of the Slovak immigrants who came in the 12 years prior to 1910, returned home. That would still leave almost 215,000 immigrants, far more than the 166,000 Slovaks the 1910 Census counted as foreign born. Of course, many thousands who came before 1899 were also foreign born and still alive. Applying the same repatriation assumption to Slovak immigrants from 1899 to 1920 lowers the number to around 276,000-which is 27 Willcox, Volume I, 90 and 92. Culen estimated that about 25 percent of all Slovaks who left eventually returned (p. 42); Seton-Watson reported that Slovaks who returned in 1905 were 10 percent of those who left, and that returnees were 20 percent of emigrants in 1906, in R. W. Seton-Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary (New York: Howard Fertig, 1972 edition, original ly published 1908) Appendix XIII, 470. 28 20 SLOVAKIA-2017 close to the 1920 Census count of about 275,000 born abroad. Although the 1899-1920 count still does not include those who immigrated earlier, the much closer fit to the I 920 Census count supports the contention that the 1910 Census woefully undercounted Slovaks. More Slovaks than Czechs in America, Then and Now? To recap, the 1920 Census of foreign stock counted almost identical numbers of Czechs and Slovaks in the United States: 622,796 and 619,866 respectively. Without doubt, the Bureau of the Census had improved its counting of Slovaks substantially since the 1910 Census, but annual counts of Czech and Slovak immigration from 1899 to 1920 suggest that even the 1920 Census underestimated the number of Slovaks, given that large scale Slovak immigration oc29 curred two decades earlier. " By the 1930 Census, which asked mother tongue only for the foreign born, there were more Slovak than Czech speakers, 240,196 to 201,138. As census-takers recorded more familiar with Slovaks as an ethnic group, perhaps they found more Slovaks to count. In any event, it is reasonable to assume that by 1930 there were actually more United States residents of Slovak than Czech ancestry. Despite the fact that Slovak speakers equaled or exceeded Czech speakers by 1920, Slovaks remained largely invisible to the American public. In Francis Clark's 1913 book, Old Homes of New Americans, he reported on a conversation with "an intelligent American lady, who had traveled widely and was not unacquainted with the history and nationality of Austria-Hungary." He asked her to guess how many Slovaks were in the United States; she guessed twenty thousand. He wrote, "She was only five hundred and eighty thousand out of the way, but I have no doubt her guess was quite as near the truth as would be that of most of her countrywomen, or countrymen 30 either, for that matter. " Although the U.S. Census Bureau apparently stopped asking for the mother tongue of foreign born in 1970, the 1980 and 1990 Cen- 29 Ference, p. 131. ° Francis E. C lark, Old Homes of New Americans: The Country and the People of 3 the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Their Contribution to the New World (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913), 212-13 . SLOVAKIA-2017 21 31 suses did attempt to measure ancestry. In 1990, the census-taker filled in a box for Question 13: "What is this person's ancestry or 32 ethnic origin?" Appendix B explained: The question was based on self-identification; the data on ancestry represent self-classification by people according to the ancestry group(s) with which they most closely identify. Ancestry refers to a person's ethnic origin or descent, "roots," or heritage or the place of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States .. .. The ancestry question allowed respondents to report one or more ancestry groups. While a large number of respondents listed a single ancestry, the majority of answers included more than one ethnic entry. Generally, only the first two responses reported were coded in 1990. Based on both responses to the ancestry question, the 1990 Cen33 sus produced these estimates: Slovak 1,882,897 Czech 1,296,411 Czechoslovakian 315,285 Of course, feelings of ancestry fade across generations as marriages occur across ethnic groups. Given that Czechs immigrated a generation earlier than Slovaks, their self-identification in 1990 as Czech-American or Bohemian-American should have faded somewhat more than Slovak-American. The exact numbers for ancestry in 1990 are less significant than their relative magnitudes. These data, even with their imperfections, support the case that Slovak immigrants outnumbered Czechs in the first quarter of the 20 th century, 31 Bureau of the Census, Census '90.- The Foreign-Born Population in the United States (Washington, DC: I 990 CP-3- I), 8-4. 32 Ibid. , E- 14. 33 Based on only people's first response for ancestry, the counts were lower: 1,2 10,652 Slovaks, 772,087 Czechs, and 240,489 Czechoslovakians. Only 3,781 people cited Moravian ancestry. See Bureau of the Census, Census '90: Ancestry of the Population in the United States (Washington, DC: 1990 CP-3-2), Table I: "General Characteristics of Selected Ancestry Groups by Nativity, Citizenship, and Year of Entry." 22 SLOVAKIA-2017 even including Moravians. That seems to be true as well today. In 2013, the Department of Homeland Security reported the persons obtaining lawful permanent resident status by region and country of birth from fiscal years 2004 to 2013. The trend continued: 7,165 people from Slovakia soufht resident status in the U.S. versus 3,783 from the Czech Republic.3 Where Did Czechs and Slovak Settle in the United States? We do not inquire why immigrants chose where they settled in the United States. We look only at where they settled in the first decades of the 20 th century. To determine that, we rely on the 1920 Census, which asked for mother tongue of foreign white stockaccepting its likely undercount of Slovaks. Recall that the 1920 Census counted 622,796 Czechs and 619,866 Slovaks for a combined total of 1,242,662. Given that the amounts are essentially the same, readers can compare the counts directly, without converting them to percentages. Figure 7 displays where they chose to settle in nine Census regions of the United States, ranked by total number of Czechs and Slovaks. Figure 7: Distribution of Czech and Slovak Speakers in Census Regions, 1920• Total Czech• & Slovaka In each region Middle Atlantic 1 ~ 7 3,574 East North Central 425,623 These three regions had 1 , 140,043 of all Czechs & Slovaks (87% ) 180,483 West North Central 13,006 Texas a lone had 84% of all Czechs & Slovaks in this region West South Central 8,306 New England Only 8% of Czechs & Slovaks settled in the rest of the country; except for Texas , very few settled in southern states, 13 ,6 11 South Atlantic 14,996 Pacific Czechs= 622,786 • Slovaks'"' 619,866 Total Czechs & Slovaks = 1 ,242 ,662 934 East South Central 1 ,252 0 34 • 2,186 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 Department of Homeland Security," Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013 Lawful Permanent Residents," https://www.dhs.gov/yearbook-immigration-statistics-2013-lawful-permanent-residents. SLOVAKIA-2017 23 Fourteenth Census of the United State, 1920: Volume II, General Report and Analytical Tables, Table 7. The comments to the right of Figure 7 draw attention to three major conclusions: (1) almost 90% of all Czechs and Slovaks lived in relatively few states running westward from the Atlantic seaboard into the North Central region; (2) nearly all those in the West South Central region lived in Texas; and (3) relatively few Czechs and Slovaks ventured north to New England, west toward the Mountain and Pacific regions, or south-except for Texas, entering at Galveston. (One source estimated that some 200,000 immigrants entered there 5 between 1865 and 1924.)3 One last comment on Texas: according to the 1920 Census, Czechs outnumbered Slovaks 49,929 to 83 3 ! Figure 8 provides information on the states within three regions in which they settled. Figure 8: Distribution of Czech and Slovak Speakers by States within Regions (See next page) Figure 8 lists all fifteen states in 1920 having the most Czechs and Slovaks within the three regions . Only four of the fifteenPennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Indiana-had more Slovaks than Czechs. Pennsylvania stands out as the most extraordinary: Slovaks outnumbered Czechs 296,219 to 19,839, and Pennsylvania-by itself- had 48 percent of all Slovaks counted in the 1920 Census! Pennsylvania drew so many Slovaks that some explanation is needed. In his History of Slovaks in America, Culen wrote: Most of the early Slovak immigrants settled in the industrial and mining areas of Pennsylvania. Here, two main centers developed. One was in the hard coal (anthracite) mining region (or in the Slovak slang "v tvardouholtnej okolici"- '"the hard coal circle"), the other in the soft coal mining region . The first settlements formed around the mines. Later, they formed around large industrial complexes, particularly around iron and steel mills. 36 35 See htt ://wv1w.chron.com/li fe/artic le/Waves-of-mi rants-made-Galveston-intoT~2(i!§_-L73)_~}?Jl'1p_. 36 Konstantin Culen, History of Slovaks in America [Translated from the 1942 Slovak edition by Daniel C. Necas] (St. Paul , MN: Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, 2007), p. 67. 24 SLOVAKIA-2017 M. Mark Stolarik's more recent research found that Slovaks 316,058 Pennsylvania New York MIDDLE An.ANTIC New Jersey 184,021 Illinois 138,188 Ohio EAST NORTH CENTRAL 58,217 Wisconsin Michigan Indiana Nebraska 41 ,872 Minnesota 34,739 Iowa WEST NORTH CENTRAL 16,277 Missouri 13 ,263 Kansas 11 ,203 South Dakota ■ Czechs ■ Slovaks North Dakota 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000 accounted for 13.1 percent of all steel workers in America and 12.8 37 percent of bituminous coal miners. New Jersey also had a preponderance of Slovaks over Czechs, as did Ohio, but neither rivaled Pennsylvania. Indiana also had more Slovaks than Czechs, but few of each. 37 Marian Mark Stolarik, Immigration and Urbanization: The Slovak Experience, 1870-1918 (New York: AMS Press, 1989), pp. 111-112, SLOVAKIA-2017 25 The other eleven states had Czech majorities- often overwhelming majorities. Nebraska was home to 54,024 Czechs but only 281 Slovaks! That ratio even exceeded Texas' Czech majority. My home state of Illinois had-after Pennsylvania-the second largest number of Czech and Slovak immigrants. Where in Illinois did those Czechs and Slovaks live? Did they live in urban or rural areas? The 1920 Census did not classify the foreign stock by urban rural residence, but the 1930 Census did report urban-rural location for the foreign born, which means the more recent immigrants. At that time, "urban" meant incorporated areas of 2,500 or more inhabitants-places that we would not call urban today. Nevertheless, only 56 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas in 1930. 38 Although they had emigrated from rural lands, both Czechs (66 percent) and Slovaks (72 percent) gravitated to urban areas. 39 Only in certain states did Czechs and Slovaks congregate in large cities. The United States had only 73 cities with 100,000 or more population in 1920. Ten were in the three states with the largest number of Czechs and Slovaks combined-Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio. Because most mines and mills were located outside of Pennsylvania's large cities- Philadelphia, Scranton, and Pittsburgh. -merely 8 percent of its Czechs and Slovaks lived in its big cities. Ohio, with six cities over 100,000, presented a different case. Only Cleveland- a major steel and manufacturing center-attracted Czechs and Slovaks in droves, accounting for 52 percent of them, more Czechs than Slovaks. My home state of Illinois had only one city over 100,000 population-Chicago-and 72 percent of all Czechs and Slovaks in Illinois in 1920 lived in Chicago. The breakdown was 106,428 Czechs and 25 ,720 Slovaks. Given that Czechs outnumbered Slovaks by nearly 4 to 1 in Chicago, perhaps that explains why I never met any. Conclusion: Slovaks as the Silent Majority Certainly the preponderance of Czechs in Chicago partly explains why I was unaware of them. Probably more important was 38 Fifteenth Census of the United State, 1920: Volume II, General Report, Statistics b{ Subject, Chapter 1, Table 1. 3 Ibid. , Chapter 7, Table I. 26 SLOVAKIA-2017 that Slovaks were more silent than Czechs, so got little press compared to Czechs who- like the Irish in Boston and Italians in New York- soon became a force in city politics. Anton Cermak (originally Cermak) became a Chicago alderman, then president of the county board (1922), head of the county Democratic Party (1928), and mayor of the city (1931 ). His prominence allowed him to stand next to president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami, where Cermak was killed by a bullet presumably aimed at the president. Slovaks also made less news than Czechs nationwide. Figure 9 shows how often articles in the Tim es, the leading newspaper in the nation's biggest city, mentioned either "Czechs" or "Slovaks.1140 From 1901 to 1910, the New York Times paid little attention to either group . Of only 88 articles during that decade that mentioned either, 75 percent were about Czechs. In the next decade, encompassing World War I and the creation of Czechoslovakia, the number of stories in the Times increased tenfold to 890, and the percentage mentioning Czechs increased to 81. By 1920, when Slovak equaled Czech as a mother tongue in census statistics, the Czech advantage in 689 Tim es' stories climbed to 84 percent. The Czech penumbra extended far over the Slovaks especially in the metropolitan media. Figure 9: "Czechs" and "Slovaks" in the News, 1900-1930 300 Number of articles in New York Tiines 250 Number mentioning Czechs 200 150 100 50 1905 40 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 "CHRONICLE. Visualizing language usage in New York Times news coverage throughout its history," at http ://chronicle.nvtlabs.com/. SLOVAKIA-2017 27 Cermak's visible political career in Chicago, Tomas Masaryk's tireless campaigning across the country for the existence of Czechoslovakia as an independent nation, the nation's creation after World War I, and Edvard Benes' presidency, all, no doubt contributed to the many articles mentioning Czechs in the New York Times during this period. Slovaks lacked comparable political celebrities or events to gamer publicity. Finally, the fact that almost one-half of all Slovak immigrants to the United States settled in one state, Pennsylvania and outside its large cities no doubt contributed to Slovaks' neglect by the national press and to their invisibility to people living in other states. Despite the fact that Slovaks were often unrecognized and undercounted by census-takers, the 1990 Census confirmed that more Americans claimed Slovak than Czech ancestry. Even today, that fact surprises many people.  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 More Slovaks in the U.S. than Czechs? Who Says? When and Where? Description An account of the resource Kenneth Janda Slovakia, Vol. 43 (No. 80-81), 2017 pp. 7-27 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Janda, Kenneth Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017 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/0226d0dbb8be61341c5316e246bbf441.pdf 2c82293e937a7c62570f891dc067525c PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA IOI DOCUMENTATION: Sketches from a Slovak Catholic Parish in Pittston, PA [1900] by Matus Jankola (Translated by M. Mark Stolarik) 1 A nice, transparent picture is what you wish, I know. 2 However, that will be impossible. It is very difficult to write something short and interesting about our life here. I would, indeed, like to present you with something short, but our American conditions 'The Rev. Matus Jankola (1872, Budapest - 1916. Bridgeport, CT) was one of the most important leaders of Slovak Catholics in America. He emigrated to the USA with his family in 1893 and was consecrated a priest in 1895. He then served his people in Slovak parishes in Pittston. Wilkes-Barre and. from 1907 to his death in Bridgeport. Connecticut. A strong Slonk nationalist. Jankola served for a while as president of the First Catholic Slovak Union. he founded the Society of Slovak Priests in the USA. and. most important of all. the teaching order of the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, PA. When World War I broke out Jankola supported the destruction of Austria-Hungary and the creation of a federal Czccho-Slovak Republic. I have translated into English and reprinted his article on ··crty z katolfckcj slovcnskcj farnosti v Pit tston , PA", Tovary.{stvo. III (Rufombcrok. Slovakia. 1900). 301-05 for the benefit of our readers because it contains very valuable observations and insights into the early life of Slovak-Americans. For more on Jankola's life sec Jozef Pauco, Matiis Janka/a. kifoz a n.iroclovec (Danville. PA. 1959). ' Jankola wrote this article in response to a request from the Rev. Frantisek Richard Osvald. publisher and editor of Tovary.sstvo. �SLOVAKIA 102 could fill the entire issue of Tovary(stvo; nevertheless I will leave space for people more important than me. I would also like to reassure our nervous Lords I in Hungary I that they will find nothing "American" in my article which should cause them to worry. The Immense Size of the United States. With your permission I will begin with Adam and Eve, because I cannot do otherwise. The United States are truly strange with its people, customs, with its climate and untold wealth, and immense size. It is as far from New York to San Francisco as it is across the Atlantic Ocean-three days by train . If we were to compare this huge republic with Hungary , the former would be like a large, fat cat, and the latter like a mouse. For instance, Johnson 's Universal Encyclopedia gives the following statistics: the United States (including Alaska) covers 3,595 ,000 square miles whereas Hungary covers only 125,000 square miles. The state of Texas is composed of 265,780 square miles , while Austria-Hungary comprises only 264,204 square miles . Thus, the United States is 28 1/2 times larger than Hungary. Approximately a quarter of a million Slovaks live all over this huge country, and my parish is but a tiny dot. Slovak oases. One can find Slovaks all over the United States, especially in commercial and industrial cities. Our colonies resemble oases in the Sahara. They arc especially noticeable in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. The vast majority of our people work in the soft and hard coal mines. So, for instance, one will find Slovaks in the 150-milc stretch from Carbondale all the way to Shamokin , in the finest hard-coal region of the world. Some of the scams of coal arc up to twenty-five feet thick! This area is full of breakers sitting on mine shafts . It is the "Eldorado" of coal , and it employs upwards of 80,000 workers. Fifteen years ago you could count the number of Slovaks here on your fingers, today �SLOVAKIA 103 there are thousands. They are well-organized into 200 branches of fraternal-benefit societies, twelve Roman Catholic parishes, an equal number of Greek Catholic ones, and four Lutheran parishes. The Diocese of Scranton. It is the most "Slovak" of all dioceses in America, with JO Slovak parishes served by eight Roman Catholic priests, and an equal number of Greek Catholics . We Roman Catholics also have our own schools, but not everywhere. The Greek Catholic priests , on the other hand , do not care about having their own schools. We have Roman Catholic parishes in the following towns and cities: in Oliphant (founded in 1889) under the patronage of the Holy Ghost, with a filial parish in Jessup (founded in I 896) under the patronage of St. Michael; in Scranton (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Holy Family; in Plymouth (founded in 1886) under the patronage of St. Stephen the King; in Wilkes-Barre (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; in Freeland (founded in 1893) under the patronage of St. John Ncpomuccnc; in Nanticoke (founded in I 888) under the patronage of St. Joseph; in Hazleton (founded in I 883) under the patronage of St. Joseph; in Pittston (founded in 1894) under the patronage of St. John the Baptist, with a filial parish in Maltby (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Holy Trinity. At the moment we arc building a church dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Mcthodius as a filial of Plymouth. The author of this article organized the parishes in WilkesBarre and Maltby . Pittston and Other Matters. In the northern portion of Luzerne County (each county has a court house which can impose the death penalty) is a beautiful valley drained by the Susquehanna River, which resembles the Yah river at Koma.mo . The valley is approximately 20 miles long and two miles wide. It �SLOVAKIA 104 contains the best coal, and boasts 40 breakers ; The breakers and the mines below them are owned by small and large corporations . Various nationalities work here: Slovaks, Poles , Lithuanians, Italians; the Irish , Scots and Welsh are regarded as Americans, since they speak English, and our people do not. This "Wyoming Valley" has 130,000 inhabitants. Its most important cities arc Wilkes-Barre, with 60,000 people , Pittston with 15 ,000 , Nanticoke and Plymouth with 12,000. We Slovaks number more than 8,000. Surrounding these cities, as chicks s urround their mother hens, arc scattered the various villages and "places" where most of our countrymen live, because the housing is cheaper there. The houses that they rent arc of clapboard construction and consist of 3-4 rooms, with a kitchen, and give them some freedom. The entire population depends upon the coal industry , be cause there is no other. When coal is in demand . there is plenty of work and good times. and the miner can earn up to $80.00 per month, or more. It all depends upon how many wagons of coal he can fill ; at other times earnings arc skimpy: $10.00 to $20.00 per month. or less. In hard times. people work only 2-3 days a week. and goof oil the rest of the time . Even Vienna has beggars! The miner requires $4.00 to $8.00 a month to clothe and feed himself, his wife and children, and during hard times he often falls into debt. When winter comes the mines usually come alive. and the miner can pay off his debts . That's when the butcher. the grocer and saloonkeeper arc paid off. The Jewish saloonkeeper is like a white raven m America . Herc a Slovak can open his own business with a few hundred dollars in capital , become a businessman , and move up to a hig her class, just like in Hungary , when one becomes an aristocrat. Our �SLOVAKIA 105 brothers like to drink in America as well , so there are lots of saloons . Our comrades in the "wet" districts like to run up a tab, and promise to pay up on pay day. However, all saloonkcepers complain that they are owed more than they care to mention . It is impossible to collect on such a debt because state laws do not recognize it. Our saloonkccpers sell not only beer but also whiskey. Slovaks drink only the cheapest brand , which costs $ 1.25 a gallon and is pure poison! A gall on of good whiskey costs $4.00 to $6.00, but our people avoid it because it is not "strong" enough! Our Shortcomings. The most important day in the entire month is payday. Other industries pay twice a month . Here, it comes only once a month. On payday evening there is happiness and good cheer, and the saloonkeepers have their harvest, as does the devil. The "places" and "patches" are the mos t lively. because they have no police constables. Many houses arc full of noise , laughter and singing, because Slovaks love to sing, but this merrymaking often ends in sadness. The "finale" is usually a fi ght , jail , a fine , and judgment. The largest beneficiaries arc the squires and lawyers . These squabbles have often ended with the death penalty or life impri sonment. The day after one often finds in front of homes, or saloons. empty SO-litre kegs, drained of their beer and resembling cannons in Lad ys mith . In recent times , however, things have gotten better - people do not have much money, they arc more careful, and all nationalities arc organized into fratern al-benefit societies and parishes. We shouldn't be surprised by such be haviour, because the hungry do not know moderation. they stuff themselves until they get sick. Not all Slovaks behave like animals on payday. Usually it is only the bachelors, who live as boarders. Some Slovak homes contain as many as 12 boarders who pay $2.00 to $3 .00 per month for room and board . The poor owner of the hou se has to suffer much abuse because , if he �106 SLOVAKIA becomes too strict, the boarders will go elsewhere. The morality of these boarders is rapidly deteriorating (only a minority is upright). Many are married, but while their wives arc enjoying themselves in Slovakia, their husbands are having a good time in America. Some drink too much, and do not go to work until they arc penniless . They won 't hear of going to church or to confes- sion , with the excuse that their church is in the Old Country, as is their pastor, and they will go to him when they return. How many of them have already died in sin! The mines are very dangerous . Death comes as easily here as pears falling from a shaking tree. Every day one hears about someone being burned by coal gas, being crushed by coal or rocks, and killed . The hospitals in Wilkes-Barre and Pittston are full of such patients . It is fairly common to see people on the street who arc missing hands, legs or who arc crippled in some way. In America it is appalling to see so much human tragedy ; life here is worth nothing. Another failing of our people is that they arc very argumentative and sue each other. In parishes they claim that, because they financially support the church, they arc free to criticize the priest, his behaviour. his sermons , his orders and his general handling of matters (especially financial ones). The Poles arc "masters" at this game, they are leaving the Church and have even established a large number of national. independent parishes free from Irish bishops. Our Slovaks arc a more humble, they will grumble , criticize, but then give way. If other nationalities <lid not set a bad example for them, our Slovaks would be quiet. Herc, too. the proverb "The sheep arc like the shepherd," holds true. These arc the faults of our Slovaks. However, the Slovaks also have a lot of �SLOVAKIA 107 good qualities, but I don't need to list them, because they are obvious to all who see. My parish. Twenty years ago there wasn't a single Slovak soul here. No Slovaks, except me, live in the city of Pittston itself. The nearest Slovaks have to walk about twenty minutes to get to church. For this reason, I have one of the worst parishes in America. Whenever it is cold, or it rains, I always fear that few people will show up in church. My parishioners live in seven "places" around Pittston. These are: West Pittston, with seven families; Sturmerville, with about 40 families; Wyoming, with ten families; in Port Griffith, with about 40 families; Smithville, with 24 families; Duryea, with about 16 families; and Pittston Junction with 14 families. About 30 of them own their homes. Three or four parishioners own 3-4 homes . The majority of my parishioners hail from Spis County in Slovakia. For instance, Port Griffith houses Slovaks predominantly from the northern Spis region of "pod Magura" (from the villages of Nedeca, Trips , Yysny and Nizny Laps, Kacvin, Cierna Hora and so on.). 3 Others come from Abauj, Zemplfn, Saris and Uzhorod counties. Only a few originate in Grava or Trencfn counties. These statistics cover only parishioners, that is, those who regularly support the church. About 200 boarders, plus 60 families support my parish. Another 200-300 boarders never set foot in the church, and are not parishioners. In America there are three kinds of Catholics. The majority are good, they fulfil their Christian duty, live as Christians , support their parish and priest, the organist and so on. Then you have the lukewarm Catholics, who hem and haw; and finally, the boarders, who don't give a hoot, live a carefree life, pay no ·' This region was ceded by Czecho-Slovakia to Poland after World War I in spi te of the fact that the majority of its inhabitants identified themselves as Slovaks. �SLOVAKIA 108 attention to their souls, and plan to live a Christian life only in the Old Country! To this group also belong the "enlightened ones" and various other individuals. You might be surprised that I can give you only an estimate of the number of my parishioners. That's because our people are always looking for better work, and always on the move, like the Jews. In my Annual Spiritual Report for the Bishop I estimated 800 "souls." The Slovaks care about their religion in spite of the fact that they are abroad and have to fend for themselves in a land which proclaims "liberty of conscience" and has many temptations. We have no patrons, no foundations, no church property , and the state does not support us. The people have to take the initiative, build their churches, and support their priests and bishops by themselves. Priests are paid between $600 and $1 ,000 yearly and the parishes have to pay a church tax to the bishop of between $25 and $200 per month (my poor parish pays only $50 per month). In America we have a sixth Commandment: support your parishes. How do Slovaks support their churches and parishes in America'? In various ways. Where there is no debt or where there are a lot of parishioners, they contribute in small amounts. In some places parishioners pay up to $ 1.00 monthly, in other places 7 5 or 50 cents or only 25 cents (as for instance. in Freeland). With me families generally pay 75 cents and individuals 50 cents, for a total of about $6 .00 per year. In addition , because this year we will be building a church (our present church was purchased from the Germans and is too small and ugly), families arc supposed to contribute an additional $ I0.00 and individuals $5.00 more per year. In some parishes these monthly contributions are gathered by "collectors" , in others, such as in Irish churches , the people �SLOVAKIA 109 bring the money directly to the parish. We have two "collectors" at each location and, as soon as payday arrives, they visit every Slovak home and collect their dues. I went out collecting for the new church myself on two occasions. That's how it is in America! All gifts go into the parish treasury and all expenses are paid out of it: the building, the priest, the organist, the churchwarden, and the church and rectory decorations. The American priest, who is really a missionary, owns onl y his vestments and his books. He simpl y cannot afford to own any furniture or other material that he would have to transport from parish to parish. Ownership-the role of the priest. All churches, sc hools, cemeteries and so on arc church property and arc registered in the name of the bishop in trust. In our parish the property is registered in the land registry office as fo llows : St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Congregation in Pittston, PA , in trust of the Rt. Rev. M.J. Hoban, Bishop of Scranton , PA. In other places the property is registered directly in the name of the bishop, or in the name of the bishop and the parish council; that depends on diocesan laws and state laws. The bishop does not concern himself with parish finances unless a problem appears in the annual report. In my case I control everything. The parish finances are in my name and I write the checks. Once a year I call a meeting of the parish collectors, who are also the trustees, and I show them the books. After that I announce these figures in church: what was our income, expenses, and how much of our debt we have retired . Other pries ts post these figures on the ch urch doors; still others publish them and hand them out to their parishioners. Those church finan ces! They have caused many uprisings rn 4 American parishes . In some places the priest has no control over ' I have desc ribed some of these " uprisings" in my '·Lay Initiative in American Slovak Pari shes. 1880- 1930" in Records of the American Catholic Hi storical �SLOVAKIA 110 the finances, he receives his pay, and that is it. But these are exceptions (among Slovaks they rarely arise), and very bad ones, and such priests are to be pitied. If the people see that their pastor is devoted, active, a good administrator, pays his debts (especially this, or he will be warned), is not arrogant (with some people you have to be very tactful), rude, cheap, demanding, snobbish and lazy, and does not shirk his duties on Sunday after Mass, then the people will support him. The Slovaks are very good in this regard. However, if one's predecessor ruined everything, then it is very difficult to regain the people's trust. From this you musn 't conclude that the priest here is a servant of the people and has no authority. We all know that in Hungary, if the priest sides with the nobles, he will triumph, but what do the people think of him? I know that people value good priests more in America than they do in Hungary. We live in a land of 40 million Protestants and atheists but it is unheard of that someone would insult a Roman Catholic priest, as often happened in Hungary. We don 't normally wear vestments in public, but we do wear Roman collars, and even without it people recognize us and address us as "Father." Here, as in the old country, people do complain to the bishops about us, and especially here where there are so many trains and streetcars, and most often about that miserable treasury, and mostly it is by the smartalecks and loudmouths who wish to control the parish. We do not have great formalities here, we address the bishop simply as "Bishop" (and usually he also serves as his own secretary) and, if he so wishes, he simply tells you that he is removing you from the parish. You are now on vacation Society of Philadelphia, 83, 3-4 (September-December. 1972). 151 -8: as has Raymond J. Kupke in ..The Slovak National Catholic Church. Passaic. New Jersey. and the Jeczusko Affair," in Slovakia, 33, 60-61 (1987-88). 63 -86. �SLOVAKIA 111 and can travel wherever you want (provided you have the finances). However, since America is a "free country" you can appeal to the Apostolic Delegate in Washington , or even to Rome itself! Here you can do it. The spiritual life. If we did not have those dissolute "boarders" among us, I could safely say that our people would be the best, the most moral and religious of all. Those who were raised in a religious way in the old country are good Catholics here as well. The work of priests in Slovakia is evident here. My Spis Slovaks are the best of all those in Pittston-they attend services the most, they s upport the parish the most, and they obey and respect their pastor. Forty children attend the parochial sc hool and if they lived closer, over 100 would attend. The people go to confession 2-3 times a year. We have a Rosary Society of the Sacred Heart and a Living Rosary Society; both have many members . Thirty of them subscribe to the religious magazine Po.sol. In the last year my parishioners raised almost $4,000 for the support of their church. This is how we live in distant America, torn from our motherland, but very few of us wish to return. It must really be better here for the poor working person. Indeed , it is! � SLOVAKIA IOI DOCUMENTATION: Sketches from a Slovak Catholic Parish in Pittston, PA [1900] by Matus Jankola (Translated by M. Mark Stolarik) 1 A nice, transparent picture is what you wish, I know. 2 However, that will be impossible. It is very difficult to write something short and interesting about our life here. I would, indeed, like to present you with something short, but our American conditions 'The Rev. Matus Jankola (1872, Budapest - 1916. Bridgeport, CT) was one of the most important leaders of Slovak Catholics in America. He emigrated to the USA with his family in 1893 and was consecrated a priest in 1895. He then served his people in Slovak parishes in Pittston. Wilkes-Barre and. from 1907 to his death in Bridgeport. Connecticut. A strong Slonk nationalist. Jankola served for a while as president of the First Catholic Slovak Union. he founded the Society of Slovak Priests in the USA. and. most important of all. the teaching order of the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, PA. When World War I broke out Jankola supported the destruction of Austria-Hungary and the creation of a federal Czccho-Slovak Republic. I have translated into English and reprinted his article on ··crty z katolfckcj slovcnskcj farnosti v Pit tston , PA", Tovary.{stvo. III (Rufombcrok. Slovakia. 1900). 301-05 for the benefit of our readers because it contains very valuable observations and insights into the early life of Slovak-Americans. For more on Jankola's life sec Jozef Pauco, Matiis Janka/a. kifoz a n.iroclovec (Danville. PA. 1959). ' Jankola wrote this article in response to a request from the Rev. Frantisek Richard Osvald. publisher and editor of Tovary.sstvo. �SLOVAKIA 102 could fill the entire issue of Tovary(stvo; nevertheless I will leave space for people more important than me. I would also like to reassure our nervous Lords I in Hungary I that they will find nothing "American" in my article which should cause them to worry. The Immense Size of the United States. With your permission I will begin with Adam and Eve, because I cannot do otherwise. The United States are truly strange with its people, customs, with its climate and untold wealth, and immense size. It is as far from New York to San Francisco as it is across the Atlantic Ocean-three days by train . If we were to compare this huge republic with Hungary , the former would be like a large, fat cat, and the latter like a mouse. For instance, Johnson 's Universal Encyclopedia gives the following statistics: the United States (including Alaska) covers 3,595 ,000 square miles whereas Hungary covers only 125,000 square miles. The state of Texas is composed of 265,780 square miles , while Austria-Hungary comprises only 264,204 square miles . Thus, the United States is 28 1/2 times larger than Hungary. Approximately a quarter of a million Slovaks live all over this huge country, and my parish is but a tiny dot. Slovak oases. One can find Slovaks all over the United States, especially in commercial and industrial cities. Our colonies resemble oases in the Sahara. They arc especially noticeable in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. The vast majority of our people work in the soft and hard coal mines. So, for instance, one will find Slovaks in the 150-milc stretch from Carbondale all the way to Shamokin , in the finest hard-coal region of the world. Some of the scams of coal arc up to twenty-five feet thick! This area is full of breakers sitting on mine shafts . It is the "Eldorado" of coal , and it employs upwards of 80,000 workers. Fifteen years ago you could count the number of Slovaks here on your fingers, today �SLOVAKIA 103 there are thousands. They are well-organized into 200 branches of fraternal-benefit societies, twelve Roman Catholic parishes, an equal number of Greek Catholic ones, and four Lutheran parishes. The Diocese of Scranton. It is the most "Slovak" of all dioceses in America, with JO Slovak parishes served by eight Roman Catholic priests, and an equal number of Greek Catholics . We Roman Catholics also have our own schools, but not everywhere. The Greek Catholic priests , on the other hand , do not care about having their own schools. We have Roman Catholic parishes in the following towns and cities: in Oliphant (founded in 1889) under the patronage of the Holy Ghost, with a filial parish in Jessup (founded in I 896) under the patronage of St. Michael; in Scranton (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Holy Family; in Plymouth (founded in 1886) under the patronage of St. Stephen the King; in Wilkes-Barre (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; in Freeland (founded in 1893) under the patronage of St. John Ncpomuccnc; in Nanticoke (founded in I 888) under the patronage of St. Joseph; in Hazleton (founded in I 883) under the patronage of St. Joseph; in Pittston (founded in 1894) under the patronage of St. John the Baptist, with a filial parish in Maltby (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Holy Trinity. At the moment we arc building a church dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Mcthodius as a filial of Plymouth. The author of this article organized the parishes in WilkesBarre and Maltby . Pittston and Other Matters. In the northern portion of Luzerne County (each county has a court house which can impose the death penalty) is a beautiful valley drained by the Susquehanna River, which resembles the Yah river at Koma.mo . The valley is approximately 20 miles long and two miles wide. It �SLOVAKIA 104 contains the best coal, and boasts 40 breakers ; The breakers and the mines below them are owned by small and large corporations . Various nationalities work here: Slovaks, Poles , Lithuanians, Italians; the Irish , Scots and Welsh are regarded as Americans, since they speak English, and our people do not. This "Wyoming Valley" has 130,000 inhabitants. Its most important cities arc Wilkes-Barre, with 60,000 people , Pittston with 15 ,000 , Nanticoke and Plymouth with 12,000. We Slovaks number more than 8,000. Surrounding these cities, as chicks s urround their mother hens, arc scattered the various villages and "places" where most of our countrymen live, because the housing is cheaper there. The houses that they rent arc of clapboard construction and consist of 3-4 rooms, with a kitchen, and give them some freedom. The entire population depends upon the coal industry , be cause there is no other. When coal is in demand . there is plenty of work and good times. and the miner can earn up to $80.00 per month, or more. It all depends upon how many wagons of coal he can fill ; at other times earnings arc skimpy: $10.00 to $20.00 per month. or less. In hard times. people work only 2-3 days a week. and goof oil the rest of the time . Even Vienna has beggars! The miner requires $4.00 to $8.00 a month to clothe and feed himself, his wife and children, and during hard times he often falls into debt. When winter comes the mines usually come alive. and the miner can pay off his debts . That's when the butcher. the grocer and saloonkeeper arc paid off. The Jewish saloonkeeper is like a white raven m America . Herc a Slovak can open his own business with a few hundred dollars in capital , become a businessman , and move up to a hig her class, just like in Hungary , when one becomes an aristocrat. Our �SLOVAKIA 105 brothers like to drink in America as well , so there are lots of saloons . Our comrades in the "wet" districts like to run up a tab, and promise to pay up on pay day. However, all saloonkcepers complain that they are owed more than they care to mention . It is impossible to collect on such a debt because state laws do not recognize it. Our saloonkccpers sell not only beer but also whiskey. Slovaks drink only the cheapest brand , which costs $ 1.25 a gallon and is pure poison! A gall on of good whiskey costs $4.00 to $6.00, but our people avoid it because it is not "strong" enough! Our Shortcomings. The most important day in the entire month is payday. Other industries pay twice a month . Here, it comes only once a month. On payday evening there is happiness and good cheer, and the saloonkeepers have their harvest, as does the devil. The "places" and "patches" are the mos t lively. because they have no police constables. Many houses arc full of noise , laughter and singing, because Slovaks love to sing, but this merrymaking often ends in sadness. The "finale" is usually a fi ght , jail , a fine , and judgment. The largest beneficiaries arc the squires and lawyers . These squabbles have often ended with the death penalty or life impri sonment. The day after one often finds in front of homes, or saloons. empty SO-litre kegs, drained of their beer and resembling cannons in Lad ys mith . In recent times , however, things have gotten better - people do not have much money, they arc more careful, and all nationalities arc organized into fratern al-benefit societies and parishes. We shouldn't be surprised by such be haviour, because the hungry do not know moderation. they stuff themselves until they get sick. Not all Slovaks behave like animals on payday. Usually it is only the bachelors, who live as boarders. Some Slovak homes contain as many as 12 boarders who pay $2.00 to $3 .00 per month for room and board . The poor owner of the hou se has to suffer much abuse because , if he �106 SLOVAKIA becomes too strict, the boarders will go elsewhere. The morality of these boarders is rapidly deteriorating (only a minority is upright). Many are married, but while their wives arc enjoying themselves in Slovakia, their husbands are having a good time in America. Some drink too much, and do not go to work until they arc penniless . They won 't hear of going to church or to confes- sion , with the excuse that their church is in the Old Country, as is their pastor, and they will go to him when they return. How many of them have already died in sin! The mines are very dangerous . Death comes as easily here as pears falling from a shaking tree. Every day one hears about someone being burned by coal gas, being crushed by coal or rocks, and killed . The hospitals in Wilkes-Barre and Pittston are full of such patients . It is fairly common to see people on the street who arc missing hands, legs or who arc crippled in some way. In America it is appalling to see so much human tragedy ; life here is worth nothing. Another failing of our people is that they arc very argumentative and sue each other. In parishes they claim that, because they financially support the church, they arc free to criticize the priest, his behaviour. his sermons , his orders and his general handling of matters (especially financial ones). The Poles arc "masters" at this game, they are leaving the Church and have even established a large number of national. independent parishes free from Irish bishops. Our Slovaks arc a more humble, they will grumble , criticize, but then give way. If other nationalities <lid not set a bad example for them, our Slovaks would be quiet. Herc, too. the proverb "The sheep arc like the shepherd," holds true. These arc the faults of our Slovaks. However, the Slovaks also have a lot of �SLOVAKIA 107 good qualities, but I don't need to list them, because they are obvious to all who see. My parish. Twenty years ago there wasn't a single Slovak soul here. No Slovaks, except me, live in the city of Pittston itself. The nearest Slovaks have to walk about twenty minutes to get to church. For this reason, I have one of the worst parishes in America. Whenever it is cold, or it rains, I always fear that few people will show up in church. My parishioners live in seven "places" around Pittston. These are: West Pittston, with seven families; Sturmerville, with about 40 families; Wyoming, with ten families; in Port Griffith, with about 40 families; Smithville, with 24 families; Duryea, with about 16 families; and Pittston Junction with 14 families. About 30 of them own their homes. Three or four parishioners own 3-4 homes . The majority of my parishioners hail from Spis County in Slovakia. For instance, Port Griffith houses Slovaks predominantly from the northern Spis region of "pod Magura" (from the villages of Nedeca, Trips , Yysny and Nizny Laps, Kacvin, Cierna Hora and so on.). 3 Others come from Abauj, Zemplfn, Saris and Uzhorod counties. Only a few originate in Grava or Trencfn counties. These statistics cover only parishioners, that is, those who regularly support the church. About 200 boarders, plus 60 families support my parish. Another 200-300 boarders never set foot in the church, and are not parishioners. In America there are three kinds of Catholics. The majority are good, they fulfil their Christian duty, live as Christians , support their parish and priest, the organist and so on. Then you have the lukewarm Catholics, who hem and haw; and finally, the boarders, who don't give a hoot, live a carefree life, pay no ·' This region was ceded by Czecho-Slovakia to Poland after World War I in spi te of the fact that the majority of its inhabitants identified themselves as Slovaks. �SLOVAKIA 108 attention to their souls, and plan to live a Christian life only in the Old Country! To this group also belong the "enlightened ones" and various other individuals. You might be surprised that I can give you only an estimate of the number of my parishioners. That's because our people are always looking for better work, and always on the move, like the Jews. In my Annual Spiritual Report for the Bishop I estimated 800 "souls." The Slovaks care about their religion in spite of the fact that they are abroad and have to fend for themselves in a land which proclaims "liberty of conscience" and has many temptations. We have no patrons, no foundations, no church property , and the state does not support us. The people have to take the initiative, build their churches, and support their priests and bishops by themselves. Priests are paid between $600 and $1 ,000 yearly and the parishes have to pay a church tax to the bishop of between $25 and $200 per month (my poor parish pays only $50 per month). In America we have a sixth Commandment: support your parishes. How do Slovaks support their churches and parishes in America'? In various ways. Where there is no debt or where there are a lot of parishioners, they contribute in small amounts. In some places parishioners pay up to $ 1.00 monthly, in other places 7 5 or 50 cents or only 25 cents (as for instance. in Freeland). With me families generally pay 75 cents and individuals 50 cents, for a total of about $6 .00 per year. In addition , because this year we will be building a church (our present church was purchased from the Germans and is too small and ugly), families arc supposed to contribute an additional $ I0.00 and individuals $5.00 more per year. In some parishes these monthly contributions are gathered by "collectors" , in others, such as in Irish churches , the people �SLOVAKIA 109 bring the money directly to the parish. We have two "collectors" at each location and, as soon as payday arrives, they visit every Slovak home and collect their dues. I went out collecting for the new church myself on two occasions. That's how it is in America! All gifts go into the parish treasury and all expenses are paid out of it: the building, the priest, the organist, the churchwarden, and the church and rectory decorations. The American priest, who is really a missionary, owns onl y his vestments and his books. He simpl y cannot afford to own any furniture or other material that he would have to transport from parish to parish. Ownership-the role of the priest. All churches, sc hools, cemeteries and so on arc church property and arc registered in the name of the bishop in trust. In our parish the property is registered in the land registry office as fo llows : St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Congregation in Pittston, PA , in trust of the Rt. Rev. M.J. Hoban, Bishop of Scranton , PA. In other places the property is registered directly in the name of the bishop, or in the name of the bishop and the parish council; that depends on diocesan laws and state laws. The bishop does not concern himself with parish finances unless a problem appears in the annual report. In my case I control everything. The parish finances are in my name and I write the checks. Once a year I call a meeting of the parish collectors, who are also the trustees, and I show them the books. After that I announce these figures in church: what was our income, expenses, and how much of our debt we have retired . Other pries ts post these figures on the ch urch doors; still others publish them and hand them out to their parishioners. Those church finan ces! They have caused many uprisings rn 4 American parishes . In some places the priest has no control over ' I have desc ribed some of these " uprisings" in my '·Lay Initiative in American Slovak Pari shes. 1880- 1930" in Records of the American Catholic Hi storical �SLOVAKIA 110 the finances, he receives his pay, and that is it. But these are exceptions (among Slovaks they rarely arise), and very bad ones, and such priests are to be pitied. If the people see that their pastor is devoted, active, a good administrator, pays his debts (especially this, or he will be warned), is not arrogant (with some people you have to be very tactful), rude, cheap, demanding, snobbish and lazy, and does not shirk his duties on Sunday after Mass, then the people will support him. The Slovaks are very good in this regard. However, if one's predecessor ruined everything, then it is very difficult to regain the people's trust. From this you musn 't conclude that the priest here is a servant of the people and has no authority. We all know that in Hungary, if the priest sides with the nobles, he will triumph, but what do the people think of him? I know that people value good priests more in America than they do in Hungary. We live in a land of 40 million Protestants and atheists but it is unheard of that someone would insult a Roman Catholic priest, as often happened in Hungary. We don 't normally wear vestments in public, but we do wear Roman collars, and even without it people recognize us and address us as "Father." Here, as in the old country, people do complain to the bishops about us, and especially here where there are so many trains and streetcars, and most often about that miserable treasury, and mostly it is by the smartalecks and loudmouths who wish to control the parish. We do not have great formalities here, we address the bishop simply as "Bishop" (and usually he also serves as his own secretary) and, if he so wishes, he simply tells you that he is removing you from the parish. You are now on vacation Society of Philadelphia, 83, 3-4 (September-December. 1972). 151 -8: as has Raymond J. Kupke in ..The Slovak National Catholic Church. Passaic. New Jersey. and the Jeczusko Affair," in Slovakia, 33, 60-61 (1987-88). 63 -86. �SLOVAKIA 111 and can travel wherever you want (provided you have the finances). However, since America is a "free country" you can appeal to the Apostolic Delegate in Washington , or even to Rome itself! Here you can do it. The spiritual life. If we did not have those dissolute "boarders" among us, I could safely say that our people would be the best, the most moral and religious of all. Those who were raised in a religious way in the old country are good Catholics here as well. The work of priests in Slovakia is evident here. My Spis Slovaks are the best of all those in Pittston-they attend services the most, they s upport the parish the most, and they obey and respect their pastor. Forty children attend the parochial sc hool and if they lived closer, over 100 would attend. The people go to confession 2-3 times a year. We have a Rosary Society of the Sacred Heart and a Living Rosary Society; both have many members . Thirty of them subscribe to the religious magazine Po.sol. In the last year my parishioners raised almost $4,000 for the support of their church. This is how we live in distant America, torn from our motherland, but very few of us wish to return. It must really be better here for the poor working person. Indeed , it is! � 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 2003, Vol. 37 Description An account of the resource Vol. 37 (No. 68-69), 2003. 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 2003 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 IOI DOCUMENTATION: Sketches from a Slovak Catholic Parish in Pittston, PA [1900] by Matus Jankola (Translated by M. Mark Stolarik) 1 A nice, transparent picture is what you wish, I know. 2 However, that will be impossible. It is very difficult to write something short and interesting about our life here. I would, indeed, like to present you with something short, but our American conditions 'The Rev. Matus Jankola (1872, Budapest - 1916. Bridgeport, CT) was one of the most important leaders of Slovak Catholics in America. He emigrated to the USA with his family in 1893 and was consecrated a priest in 1895. He then served his people in Slovak parishes in Pittston. Wilkes-Barre and. from 1907 to his death in Bridgeport. Connecticut. A strong Slonk nationalist. Jankola served for a while as president of the First Catholic Slovak Union. he founded the Society of Slovak Priests in the USA. and. most important of all. the teaching order of the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, PA. When World War I broke out Jankola supported the destruction of Austria-Hungary and the creation of a federal Czccho-Slovak Republic. I have translated into English and reprinted his article on ··crty z katolfckcj slovcnskcj farnosti v Pit tston , PA", Tovary.{stvo. III (Rufombcrok. Slovakia. 1900). 301-05 for the benefit of our readers because it contains very valuable observations and insights into the early life of Slovak-Americans. For more on Jankola's life sec Jozef Pauco, Matiis Janka/a. kifoz a n.iroclovec (Danville. PA. 1959). ' Jankola wrote this article in response to a request from the Rev. Frantisek Richard Osvald. publisher and editor of Tovary.sstvo. SLOVAKIA 102 could fill the entire issue of Tovary(stvo; nevertheless I will leave space for people more important than me. I would also like to reassure our nervous Lords I in Hungary I that they will find nothing "American" in my article which should cause them to worry. The Immense Size of the United States. With your permission I will begin with Adam and Eve, because I cannot do otherwise. The United States are truly strange with its people, customs, with its climate and untold wealth, and immense size. It is as far from New York to San Francisco as it is across the Atlantic Ocean-three days by train . If we were to compare this huge republic with Hungary , the former would be like a large, fat cat, and the latter like a mouse. For instance, Johnson 's Universal Encyclopedia gives the following statistics: the United States (including Alaska) covers 3,595 ,000 square miles whereas Hungary covers only 125,000 square miles. The state of Texas is composed of 265,780 square miles , while Austria-Hungary comprises only 264,204 square miles . Thus, the United States is 28 1/2 times larger than Hungary. Approximately a quarter of a million Slovaks live all over this huge country, and my parish is but a tiny dot. Slovak oases. One can find Slovaks all over the United States, especially in commercial and industrial cities. Our colonies resemble oases in the Sahara. They arc especially noticeable in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. The vast majority of our people work in the soft and hard coal mines. So, for instance, one will find Slovaks in the 150-milc stretch from Carbondale all the way to Shamokin , in the finest hard-coal region of the world. Some of the scams of coal arc up to twenty-five feet thick! This area is full of breakers sitting on mine shafts . It is the "Eldorado" of coal , and it employs upwards of 80,000 workers. Fifteen years ago you could count the number of Slovaks here on your fingers, today SLOVAKIA 103 there are thousands. They are well-organized into 200 branches of fraternal-benefit societies, twelve Roman Catholic parishes, an equal number of Greek Catholic ones, and four Lutheran parishes. The Diocese of Scranton. It is the most "Slovak" of all dioceses in America, with JO Slovak parishes served by eight Roman Catholic priests, and an equal number of Greek Catholics . We Roman Catholics also have our own schools, but not everywhere. The Greek Catholic priests , on the other hand , do not care about having their own schools. We have Roman Catholic parishes in the following towns and cities: in Oliphant (founded in 1889) under the patronage of the Holy Ghost, with a filial parish in Jessup (founded in I 896) under the patronage of St. Michael; in Scranton (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Holy Family; in Plymouth (founded in 1886) under the patronage of St. Stephen the King; in Wilkes-Barre (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; in Freeland (founded in 1893) under the patronage of St. John Ncpomuccnc; in Nanticoke (founded in I 888) under the patronage of St. Joseph; in Hazleton (founded in I 883) under the patronage of St. Joseph; in Pittston (founded in 1894) under the patronage of St. John the Baptist, with a filial parish in Maltby (founded in 1895) under the patronage of the Holy Trinity. At the moment we arc building a church dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Mcthodius as a filial of Plymouth. The author of this article organized the parishes in WilkesBarre and Maltby . Pittston and Other Matters. In the northern portion of Luzerne County (each county has a court house which can impose the death penalty) is a beautiful valley drained by the Susquehanna River, which resembles the Yah river at Koma.mo . The valley is approximately 20 miles long and two miles wide. It SLOVAKIA 104 contains the best coal, and boasts 40 breakers ; The breakers and the mines below them are owned by small and large corporations . Various nationalities work here: Slovaks, Poles , Lithuanians, Italians; the Irish , Scots and Welsh are regarded as Americans, since they speak English, and our people do not. This "Wyoming Valley" has 130,000 inhabitants. Its most important cities arc Wilkes-Barre, with 60,000 people , Pittston with 15 ,000 , Nanticoke and Plymouth with 12,000. We Slovaks number more than 8,000. Surrounding these cities, as chicks s urround their mother hens, arc scattered the various villages and "places" where most of our countrymen live, because the housing is cheaper there. The houses that they rent arc of clapboard construction and consist of 3-4 rooms, with a kitchen, and give them some freedom. The entire population depends upon the coal industry , be cause there is no other. When coal is in demand . there is plenty of work and good times. and the miner can earn up to $80.00 per month, or more. It all depends upon how many wagons of coal he can fill ; at other times earnings arc skimpy: $10.00 to $20.00 per month. or less. In hard times. people work only 2-3 days a week. and goof oil the rest of the time . Even Vienna has beggars! The miner requires $4.00 to $8.00 a month to clothe and feed himself, his wife and children, and during hard times he often falls into debt. When winter comes the mines usually come alive. and the miner can pay off his debts . That's when the butcher. the grocer and saloonkeeper arc paid off. The Jewish saloonkeeper is like a white raven m America . Herc a Slovak can open his own business with a few hundred dollars in capital , become a businessman , and move up to a hig her class, just like in Hungary , when one becomes an aristocrat. Our SLOVAKIA 105 brothers like to drink in America as well , so there are lots of saloons . Our comrades in the "wet" districts like to run up a tab, and promise to pay up on pay day. However, all saloonkcepers complain that they are owed more than they care to mention . It is impossible to collect on such a debt because state laws do not recognize it. Our saloonkccpers sell not only beer but also whiskey. Slovaks drink only the cheapest brand , which costs $ 1.25 a gallon and is pure poison! A gall on of good whiskey costs $4.00 to $6.00, but our people avoid it because it is not "strong" enough! Our Shortcomings. The most important day in the entire month is payday. Other industries pay twice a month . Here, it comes only once a month. On payday evening there is happiness and good cheer, and the saloonkeepers have their harvest, as does the devil. The "places" and "patches" are the mos t lively. because they have no police constables. Many houses arc full of noise , laughter and singing, because Slovaks love to sing, but this merrymaking often ends in sadness. The "finale" is usually a fi ght , jail , a fine , and judgment. The largest beneficiaries arc the squires and lawyers . These squabbles have often ended with the death penalty or life impri sonment. The day after one often finds in front of homes, or saloons. empty SO-litre kegs, drained of their beer and resembling cannons in Lad ys mith . In recent times , however, things have gotten better - people do not have much money, they arc more careful, and all nationalities arc organized into fratern al-benefit societies and parishes. We shouldn't be surprised by such be haviour, because the hungry do not know moderation. they stuff themselves until they get sick. Not all Slovaks behave like animals on payday. Usually it is only the bachelors, who live as boarders. Some Slovak homes contain as many as 12 boarders who pay $2.00 to $3 .00 per month for room and board . The poor owner of the hou se has to suffer much abuse because , if he 106 SLOVAKIA becomes too strict, the boarders will go elsewhere. The morality of these boarders is rapidly deteriorating (only a minority is upright). Many are married, but while their wives arc enjoying themselves in Slovakia, their husbands are having a good time in America. Some drink too much, and do not go to work until they arc penniless . They won 't hear of going to church or to confes- sion , with the excuse that their church is in the Old Country, as is their pastor, and they will go to him when they return. How many of them have already died in sin! The mines are very dangerous . Death comes as easily here as pears falling from a shaking tree. Every day one hears about someone being burned by coal gas, being crushed by coal or rocks, and killed . The hospitals in Wilkes-Barre and Pittston are full of such patients . It is fairly common to see people on the street who arc missing hands, legs or who arc crippled in some way. In America it is appalling to see so much human tragedy ; life here is worth nothing. Another failing of our people is that they arc very argumentative and sue each other. In parishes they claim that, because they financially support the church, they arc free to criticize the priest, his behaviour. his sermons , his orders and his general handling of matters (especially financial ones). The Poles arc "masters" at this game, they are leaving the Church and have even established a large number of national. independent parishes free from Irish bishops. Our Slovaks arc a more humble, they will grumble , criticize, but then give way. If other nationalities <lid not set a bad example for them, our Slovaks would be quiet. Herc, too. the proverb "The sheep arc like the shepherd," holds true. These arc the faults of our Slovaks. However, the Slovaks also have a lot of SLOVAKIA 107 good qualities, but I don't need to list them, because they are obvious to all who see. My parish. Twenty years ago there wasn't a single Slovak soul here. No Slovaks, except me, live in the city of Pittston itself. The nearest Slovaks have to walk about twenty minutes to get to church. For this reason, I have one of the worst parishes in America. Whenever it is cold, or it rains, I always fear that few people will show up in church. My parishioners live in seven "places" around Pittston. These are: West Pittston, with seven families; Sturmerville, with about 40 families; Wyoming, with ten families; in Port Griffith, with about 40 families; Smithville, with 24 families; Duryea, with about 16 families; and Pittston Junction with 14 families. About 30 of them own their homes. Three or four parishioners own 3-4 homes . The majority of my parishioners hail from Spis County in Slovakia. For instance, Port Griffith houses Slovaks predominantly from the northern Spis region of "pod Magura" (from the villages of Nedeca, Trips , Yysny and Nizny Laps, Kacvin, Cierna Hora and so on.). 3 Others come from Abauj, Zemplfn, Saris and Uzhorod counties. Only a few originate in Grava or Trencfn counties. These statistics cover only parishioners, that is, those who regularly support the church. About 200 boarders, plus 60 families support my parish. Another 200-300 boarders never set foot in the church, and are not parishioners. In America there are three kinds of Catholics. The majority are good, they fulfil their Christian duty, live as Christians , support their parish and priest, the organist and so on. Then you have the lukewarm Catholics, who hem and haw; and finally, the boarders, who don't give a hoot, live a carefree life, pay no ·' This region was ceded by Czecho-Slovakia to Poland after World War I in spi te of the fact that the majority of its inhabitants identified themselves as Slovaks. SLOVAKIA 108 attention to their souls, and plan to live a Christian life only in the Old Country! To this group also belong the "enlightened ones" and various other individuals. You might be surprised that I can give you only an estimate of the number of my parishioners. That's because our people are always looking for better work, and always on the move, like the Jews. In my Annual Spiritual Report for the Bishop I estimated 800 "souls." The Slovaks care about their religion in spite of the fact that they are abroad and have to fend for themselves in a land which proclaims "liberty of conscience" and has many temptations. We have no patrons, no foundations, no church property , and the state does not support us. The people have to take the initiative, build their churches, and support their priests and bishops by themselves. Priests are paid between $600 and $1 ,000 yearly and the parishes have to pay a church tax to the bishop of between $25 and $200 per month (my poor parish pays only $50 per month). In America we have a sixth Commandment: support your parishes. How do Slovaks support their churches and parishes in America'? In various ways. Where there is no debt or where there are a lot of parishioners, they contribute in small amounts. In some places parishioners pay up to $ 1.00 monthly, in other places 7 5 or 50 cents or only 25 cents (as for instance. in Freeland). With me families generally pay 75 cents and individuals 50 cents, for a total of about $6 .00 per year. In addition , because this year we will be building a church (our present church was purchased from the Germans and is too small and ugly), families arc supposed to contribute an additional $ I0.00 and individuals $5.00 more per year. In some parishes these monthly contributions are gathered by "collectors" , in others, such as in Irish churches , the people SLOVAKIA 109 bring the money directly to the parish. We have two "collectors" at each location and, as soon as payday arrives, they visit every Slovak home and collect their dues. I went out collecting for the new church myself on two occasions. That's how it is in America! All gifts go into the parish treasury and all expenses are paid out of it: the building, the priest, the organist, the churchwarden, and the church and rectory decorations. The American priest, who is really a missionary, owns onl y his vestments and his books. He simpl y cannot afford to own any furniture or other material that he would have to transport from parish to parish. Ownership-the role of the priest. All churches, sc hools, cemeteries and so on arc church property and arc registered in the name of the bishop in trust. In our parish the property is registered in the land registry office as fo llows : St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Congregation in Pittston, PA , in trust of the Rt. Rev. M.J. Hoban, Bishop of Scranton , PA. In other places the property is registered directly in the name of the bishop, or in the name of the bishop and the parish council; that depends on diocesan laws and state laws. The bishop does not concern himself with parish finances unless a problem appears in the annual report. In my case I control everything. The parish finances are in my name and I write the checks. Once a year I call a meeting of the parish collectors, who are also the trustees, and I show them the books. After that I announce these figures in church: what was our income, expenses, and how much of our debt we have retired . Other pries ts post these figures on the ch urch doors; still others publish them and hand them out to their parishioners. Those church finan ces! They have caused many uprisings rn 4 American parishes . In some places the priest has no control over ' I have desc ribed some of these " uprisings" in my '·Lay Initiative in American Slovak Pari shes. 1880- 1930" in Records of the American Catholic Hi storical SLOVAKIA 110 the finances, he receives his pay, and that is it. But these are exceptions (among Slovaks they rarely arise), and very bad ones, and such priests are to be pitied. If the people see that their pastor is devoted, active, a good administrator, pays his debts (especially this, or he will be warned), is not arrogant (with some people you have to be very tactful), rude, cheap, demanding, snobbish and lazy, and does not shirk his duties on Sunday after Mass, then the people will support him. The Slovaks are very good in this regard. However, if one's predecessor ruined everything, then it is very difficult to regain the people's trust. From this you musn 't conclude that the priest here is a servant of the people and has no authority. We all know that in Hungary, if the priest sides with the nobles, he will triumph, but what do the people think of him? I know that people value good priests more in America than they do in Hungary. We live in a land of 40 million Protestants and atheists but it is unheard of that someone would insult a Roman Catholic priest, as often happened in Hungary. We don 't normally wear vestments in public, but we do wear Roman collars, and even without it people recognize us and address us as "Father." Here, as in the old country, people do complain to the bishops about us, and especially here where there are so many trains and streetcars, and most often about that miserable treasury, and mostly it is by the smartalecks and loudmouths who wish to control the parish. We do not have great formalities here, we address the bishop simply as "Bishop" (and usually he also serves as his own secretary) and, if he so wishes, he simply tells you that he is removing you from the parish. You are now on vacation Society of Philadelphia, 83, 3-4 (September-December. 1972). 151 -8: as has Raymond J. Kupke in ..The Slovak National Catholic Church. Passaic. New Jersey. and the Jeczusko Affair," in Slovakia, 33, 60-61 (1987-88). 63 -86. SLOVAKIA 111 and can travel wherever you want (provided you have the finances). However, since America is a "free country" you can appeal to the Apostolic Delegate in Washington , or even to Rome itself! Here you can do it. The spiritual life. If we did not have those dissolute "boarders" among us, I could safely say that our people would be the best, the most moral and religious of all. Those who were raised in a religious way in the old country are good Catholics here as well. The work of priests in Slovakia is evident here. My Spis Slovaks are the best of all those in Pittston-they attend services the most, they s upport the parish the most, and they obey and respect their pastor. Forty children attend the parochial sc hool and if they lived closer, over 100 would attend. The people go to confession 2-3 times a year. We have a Rosary Society of the Sacred Heart and a Living Rosary Society; both have many members . Thirty of them subscribe to the religious magazine Po.sol. In the last year my parishioners raised almost $4,000 for the support of their church. This is how we live in distant America, torn from our motherland, but very few of us wish to return. It must really be better here for the poor working person. Indeed , it is!  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 Sketches from a Slovak Catholic Parish in Pittston, PA [1900] by Matúš Jankola Description An account of the resource trans. by M. Mark Stolarik Slovakia, Vol. 37 (No. 68-69), 2003 pp. 101-111 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jankola, Matúš, 1872-1916 Stolarik, M. Mark, 1943- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 LCNAF SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9fb5dee5b865bf5c0596256b4d8b6877.pdf 1f753216e874a382a1ed9ac6419dbe6d PDF Text Text 94 SLOVAKIA Powers of Darkness and Powers of Truth Marian Jankovsky Alexander Dubcek, a Slovak communist politician whose name swept around the globe like a comet and found a place among nominees for the Nobel Prize described his efforts, his political program, with the expression: To show the human face of Communism. This slogan which suddenly magnetized other European nations under communistic imperialism, sounded an alarm within Kremlin walls. Moscow's anger found expression in the occupation of Bohemia and Slovakia on the night of August 21, 1968. Armed occupation was at the same time an answer to Dubcek and other reformers and it served notice to the rest of the world that Communism does not have a human face. Dubcek was not the only one nor the first to undertake social reforms in such a way as to preserve the dignity of man. Perhaps even Lenin himself and even Engels, the teacher of Marx had entertained such ideas at the beginning of their career. And history records similar attempts in the eighteenth century and in earlier times. All of them, however, reached a cul de sac situation, when they directed the attempt to reform society without violence into utopian channels-to something fictitious and unrealizable. Since this need, this cry to preserve man's dignity is ageless and man himself is unable to find the approach and the means of attaining it, God himself came to man's aid: He sent to earth his Son who dispelled this hopelessness and announced a gospel and principles under which a society of brothers, of friends, could be realized. Man had experienced frustrations and found himself on erroneous paths since he chose to act alone-to disregard God, to oppose God and to defy God in his effort to found a social order on norms that would provide respect for the dignity of man. Though in certain instances these aspirations were sincere and honorable, they either remained on the utopian plane or degenerated into coarse violence primarily because they denied the fundamental nature of man which is �SLOVAKIA 95 theocentric. It is the nature of a man to tend toward God with his heart and mind just as it is natural for a child to direct affections toward his parents. It is a law of origin; of the created and the Creator; of Cause and effect. Many modern-day reformers returned to Plato; they drew instruction from the teachings of Thomas More, but in the final resolution, they cloaked all these concepts in the Marx-Lenin and Stalin-Brezhnev realities and imposed on them the most brutish form to which a social philosophy could ever degenerate. From the spiritual standpoint, this happened because Lenin-Bolshevik Communism was established on dogmas of a single category: the denial of God and of all that is supernatural. And if man: is not to have God's image, there remains for him nothing else only the face of the enemy of God whose name is Satan. Politically, this inhuman face of bolshevism assumed its form from the fact that bolshevism is founded, perpetuated, and disseminated solely by force and methods of open-or what is more base--disguised violence. Lenin the ideologist became a cruel avenger when, after unsuccessful attempts at murder at the gallows, executions with bullets, imprisonments and deportations to Siberia, he initiated the liquidation of adversaries both real and suspected. And bloody hands that were bloodied were never again washed clean. Stalin, the most tyrannical exponent of bolshevism, revealed in a conversation with Churchill that the number of victims whom he had physically liquidated exceeded millions. History which one day, please God, will see light, records twenty million persons executed, shot, tortured to death with hunger and beatings during Stalin's day. Modern sociology and philosophy habitually labels as fascism the evils and political errors of some regimes of this century. Assuredly, every type of fascism is evil because it is based upon violence and denies the human and supernatural rights of the men and nations which it subjugates. Communism zealously over-reacts in dealing with fascist propaganda. Every regime, each person whom Communism set out to destroy, it first accused of fascism . And here lies the great irony of hypocritical baseness, for such denouncing of the evils of fascism was simply a convenient device by which communistic bolshevism tried to �96 SLOVAKIA avert the attention of the world away from the evil of which it was itself guilty. And we know that this kind of political trickery of diverting attention sometimes serves the communists well. As a matter of fact, however, the truth is that long before there was a black (Mussolinist) or brown (Hitlerist) fascism, there already existed a red or Kremlin fascism . Long before some European countries resorted to concentration camps and began to liquidate political opponents, Soviet Russia already had a well-tested tradition of such procedures. And so it is evident that both with its ideology and its program, and principally with its despotic methods, Communism lost all right to be called a progressive movement, a social program. It is, on the contrary, in every aspect reactionary, abusive, and dangerous to nations. It is the deformation of the human face of man to whom it promised paradise on earth and delivered him hell. Under the following headings we wish to point our several features of this inhuman face of Communism in general, as well as with specific references to Slovakia. We choose primarily issues on which Communism counted most heavily and in which it failed deplorably. Communism disavowed, maligned, and betrayed these ideals and values: a) the ideal of the personal freedom of man and the freedom of nations; b) the ideal of work upon which it stamped a bold seal of slavery; c) the ideal of society (family, town, state) which it yoked with laws of violence and dictatorship; d ) the ideal of the dignity of man who did not become the subject of its program, but rather its tool; e ) and finally, Communism disavowed its own political ideals: the struggle against imperialism, inasmuch as it is itself hard-grained imperialism; the struggle against exploitation, since it is itself a most cruel exploiter; the ideal of coexistence, which it crushes always and everywhere with its notorious "veto," "njet". MAN IS CREATED FOR FREEDOM Freedom ranks very high on the scale of values. God who ordained laws for man, who defined for him and �SLOVAKIA 97 illumined paths to perfection, who permitted his Son to shed blood on the wood of the cross for the redemption of humanity, left to man such a degree of freedom that even He himself respects it. Man's freedom was the communist regime's first target. No tyrannical power, no regime of fear and violence could survive if men were permitted their freedom. Today the whole world can judge to what an extent freedom is being suppressed in the Soviet Union. This it can learn from the scattered articles, rallies, demonstrations, and testimonies which some Soviet people themselves, communists at that, felt compelled to give or were able to release either in hiding or in some brief period of political moderation, when there was an exchange of political sides; e. g. after Kruschev came into power. Pasternak, Kuznecov, Solzhenicyn, Ehrenburg, and others revealed in their writings at least part of the picture of the absurd non-freedom prevalent in Soviet Russia. The nations of central Europe caught in the misfortune of being "liberated" by the Soviet regime all too soon experienced the burden of non-liberty in all areas of public and private life. An elaborate spy-system covered and controlled every aspect of living. There was spying in schools, in churches, among afficials, in cafes, on the street, in factories, and even in prison cells where the regime planted its agents as ostensibly sympathetic fellow-prisoners in order ·to draw from those in jail information that they could not obtain otherwise. In Slovakia the communist regim e was not content with creating a universal atmosphere of fear and distrust but everywhere in public life it especially resorted to a persistent and unmerciful use of tactics of power--display and coercion. It introduced numerous clauses in schools of higher learning, and in departments of theology it . assumed the prerogative of deciding who may and who may not pursue studies. It filled positions in government and public life as well as in agricultural departments not on the basis of professional merit and competence but rather according to their degree of party loyalty and their proficiency in informing. Highly educated qualified people �98 - -- SLOVAKIA - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- were given assignments as store-keepers; tailors were appointed school principals. The communist regime restricted or completely forbade change of residence; it ordered Slovaks to move to Bohemian borderline territory and in this way effected massive and enforced denationalization. Agents of the regime had the authority to awaken anyone at anytime during the night for investigation. An interminable circulation of cadre forms held people in continual check. Peasants were stripped of freedom when farm cooperatives were established in many areas with the help of the police force. Compulsory quotas of produce were imposed upon them regardless whether they raised these products or not, regardless of their ability to supply them or not. If they failed to meet the quota, farmers lost their property and were often evicted from their homes. By assigning commissioners to seminaries, to theology faculties, to bishops' offices, to church societies and the press, and by organizing a so-called peace-movement of the Catholic clergy which was communist devised, the party usurped control of the Church subsequent to its liquidation of convents and imprisonment of many priests, of bishops, and Catholic laymen. Naturally, while this curtailment of freedom afflicted oppoments of communistic ideology most seriously, it also served to hold in check the members of the Party who had only one choice: either absolute obedience or expulsion and social degradation or perhaps-not infrequently-imprisonment. The execution of Clementis, the imprisonment and torture of Husak, Lobl, Holdos, Viest and thousands of other communists shows that bolshevism does not tolerate freedom even on behalf of its most faithful adherents. It knows how to crush anyone who dares to exercise free choice. And so, by its despotic reaction toward freedom, Communism proves that as a tyrant, it does not deserve freedom of any kind; that it is in theory and practise superlatively reactionary, anti-human, and inhuman. MAN IS CREATED FOR WORK God himself works. The creation and preservation of the world is the result of work, understood in the divine �SLOVAKIA 99 sense. Jesus Christ spent his maturing years working, and he blessed work. Man himself by his vocation and purpose in life is so constituted that work helps him to develope; in work he creates values; in work he manifests his freedom. Communism wove a significant web of symbolism around work and even formulated an official greeting intended to bestow honor on work. In essence, however , it all degenerated into profanity and mere hypocritical expression. Those who best succeeded in avoiding work were the loudest in shouting "Honor to work! "-laborers, farmers, and often representatives from anti-social circles -persons now transformed into public officials and officious functionaries . In reality work became odious when people had to be forced into it, when the regime paid it poor wages or rather exploited it to such an extent that most of the profits poured into hands that did not labor. Consequently, work was performed carelessly, lazily, superficially, unreliably. Much was said about work each morning before a construction job or in the factory in the so-called tenminute warm-ups that usually lasted up to an hour. Poet5 composed odes to work and were honored for them by government awards. But work itself became more and more burdensome. If, therefore, slave labor was some kind of communist ideal, for communism did bring it to that concept, then the era of slavery should have to be considered the pinnacle of civilization. As a result of communist conditioning, work in Slovakia appeared in two forms: on the one hand labor was overplayed to the populace; on the other, people were driven to work. This was all that Communism was capable of doing with an otherwise priceless value. Finally, the fact that in a communist state living standards among the populace--principally in the working class- by comparison with workers' standards in the free democratic worlct declined by steady stages confirms the devaluation 0f work by bolshevism and its hypocritical attitude toward it. Because if during the previous Republic- to offer at least one illustration-the inhabitants of one town annually hauled to the public market 400 wagonloads of grain and �100 SLOVAKIA during the peak of the great cooperative movement a town's inhabitants were forced to buy their supply of flour and milk, what is the only inference to be made? That there was no production; that work, which is also generative force of prosperity, lost its economic effectiveness. MAN IS CREATED FOR SOCIETY Psychologically man is constituted to tend toward companionship. He establishes families and is in his element within a family group. Common interests draw him toward smaller and larger societies; he forms nations and states, and he endows all his interrelationship with neighbors with a friendly spirit. Here too, in the area of familial ties, Communism has failed even as a philosophical and sociological system. It brought into social relationships hatred, mistrust, suspicion, and intolerance. All too familiar are examples like these: communist teachers persuaded or induced children to denounce their parents-to report when they meet, to what radio programs they listen, with whom they correspond, what contacts they have with persons in a foreign country, the nature of conversations and discussions in the home. Like procedures were directed to offices, among teachers, in schools, at work, in factories. In the Soviet Union where this type of upbringing prevailed for fifty years it was bound to yield its pernicious fruit, for even the family circle was affected by the Party program. In her novel Dva veky the writer Golubkovova presents instances of the alienation of couples and the estrangement of parents from their children because the tyranny of Party ideology penetrates into the innermost circles of family life and compels primacy for Party interests over the needs and interests of family living and even over conjugal love. Social life in Slovakia, marked by traditionally recognized trust and friendship, was forced under this system of informing to retreat into the core of the family circle. And even there, the people carefully scrutinize and observe whom they may be entertaining at table. If someone strange �SLOVAKIA 101 came to visit, or if there was a guest before whom they knew they ought to be silent, the entire conversation shifted to trivial matters. Finally, the extensive system of listening in on conversations which was installed in restaurants, offices, and business establishments as well as the presence of a vast network of informers inevitably caused people to resort to whispering, to prefer silence in the company of unknown persons. Confidence and friendship were being lost--these necessary values on which is built friendship and tolerance. And so instead of idealized collectivism which Communism so greatly stressed, there developed a society of individuals locked within themselves or narrowed to only the relationships cultivated in a private family. Even good friends began to suspect one another if their conversation happened to reach the ears of the state police even though they themselves were not guilty of transmitting the information which may have been picked up by the hearing devices that seemed to be omnipresent, even in private dwellings . A person living in a democratic free world can hardly imagine such diabolical inventions. But such it was and is, and its father is bolshevism. THE CENTRAL POINT OF ALL PROGRESS IS MAN Every advance in science, civilization, hygiene, and economy relates to man and his welfare. Families as well as nations and states are social institutions designed to enable every good to reach man who is worthy of every effort and endeavor. Communism repudiated even this worth of man, making him not the object but the instrument of its own politics. This was done first of all by denying man the right of free choice. Man was not permitted to decide for himself his prospects for education and schooling, type of work, place of work, place of residence--all this he had to accept on orders from the Communist party. And so it was that people could not choose a profession, either according to personal preference or inherent talent but had to be satisfied with whatever official ordained. Reflecting on the fact that such unwise management caused great cultural and economic loss to society, one must also �102 SLOVAKIA deplore the dichotomy effected by such decisions and the personal liberty of man and his human dignity. Specific mention must be made at this point of judicial r eprisals, investigations under inhuman conditions-beatings and torture to compel confessions of guilt-imprisonments during inquest lasting even beyond a year and this without court decision, false accusations and the like. If the almost 80-year old bishop Jan Vojtassak on orders from a sub-intelligent prison guard had to make a given number of knee-bends in jail, this was not the fruit only of the stupidity of the guard but the harvesting of the r egime which approved and countenanced such methods, delighted in them, and with them bullied the people. Communism failed to appreciate even its own members. It valued them only in so far as they were statistical numbers. Before the idol of the communist divinity every human value had to prostrate. That was in itself deplorable and outrageous, but in relation to the dictatorship of despotic bolshevism it was also unbelievably hopeless and painful. IDEALS Communism raised for itself a number of ideals with which it hoped to justify its existence. For example, the unification of nations, avowed opposition to exploitation, the fight against colonialism and imperialism, a program for the common welfare, and the idea of peace. Not a single one of these ideals fructified under Communism. E x p l o i t a t i o n. Even though the matter of opposition to exploitation became one of the basic principles of the communist program, it is ironic that there is perhaps no other regime that so exploits people, especially the working class, as does the communist system. It is well known that the earnings of workmen in Slovakia, compared with wages paid in other countries, were so low that they did not even satisfy the living minimum of families. It was impossible to conceive that a wife and children could subsist on the father 's pay. In every family the wife too had to seek employment; this meant a rush in early �SLOVAKIA 103 morning to bring the children to the nursery, and after work returning for them, cooking dinner, doing household chores, etc. Every person was exploited; and if ever woman was a slave, it was definitely in the communist state. The exploitation of workers was all the worse since they had no right to call a strike or to use any other fonn of protest for manifesting personal dissatisfaction or making known their demands. Strikes were constitutionally outlawed. Even the farmer was exploited, since profits from his labors were distributed among several middlemen before his produce reached the consumer. For a kilo of fruit of which the consumer paid about five crowns on the warket, the producer received one crown. The remainder became the shared profit of the business machine, organizations of various sorts, the state taxes, etc. Exploited too was the apparatus of officialdom, especially teachers who, by comparison, received the lowest of wages, even less than laborers and many other less qualified employees. Communism greatly harmed the concept of the unification of nations by sowing hatred, and by creating an insurmountable barrier with its two-world-comm unistic and capitalistic-prop aganda; it lowered an iron curtain. The struggle against colonialism and imperialism was communism's theoretically powerful weapon in an age marked with the liberalizing of colonialized nations. On the other hand, however, Communism defamed this very idea when it formed the Soviet Union by means of imperialist wars and pressures, especially after World War II when it structured the entire communist empire by resorting to armed force, invasions, and the occupation of territories which it forcibly seized as its own. The question of well-being or prosperity in communistic regimes is so illusory, that today communist powers are embarassed to speak of it publicly, As long as it was possible to do so, communism placed the guilt for economic failure on its previous regimes, on reactions within the state itself, on crop failure. However, when the economic �104 SLOVAKIA slump reached such proportions that it was impossible to hide it any longer, the regime stopped explaining and simply gave orders, constantly repeating its frequently initiated but seldom completed 5-year plan and its competitions with capitalistic nations which it consecutively lost. And finally, the idea of peace which was such a convincing cloak for the whole international politicking of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries: Peace by communistic thinking meant nothing else but exclusive communistic world government. Not only examples of brutal aggressiveness in Hungary, in Czecho-Slovakia, in the endless conflicts disturbing the Russo-Chinese border, but the entire content of activities within the organization which Communism called "peaceful" and stand evidently, and remain a priori in direct conflict with the fundamentals of peace. The regime, which evokes insecurity and fear, which tramples underfoot the basic rights of man, which disrespects the principles of personal and national freedom, which enslaves man, cannot seriously speak of peace. And so it seems, that it is in this area that the communist regime has most seriously wounded the dignity of man. And today, this cloud hangs over Slovakia. A nation, which knew how to survive for over a thousand years under numerous forms of oppression, today unceasingly resists and will continue to resist this yoke because the spirit simply cannot tolerate submission to the violence of brutal materialism. Therefore, as oil rises to the surface, so this spirit will also rise and celebrate its triumph of extraordinary patience and interior strength drawn from the infinity of God. (Translated by Sister M. Raymund Horvath, SS.C.M.) THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies AtJxiliary, the "VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak culb1rai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festi vals, social evenings, etc. our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "Vcielky" in every large Slovak community. � 94 SLOVAKIA Powers of Darkness and Powers of Truth Marian Jankovsky Alexander Dubcek, a Slovak communist politician whose name swept around the globe like a comet and found a place among nominees for the Nobel Prize described his efforts, his political program, with the expression: To show the human face of Communism. This slogan which suddenly magnetized other European nations under communistic imperialism, sounded an alarm within Kremlin walls. Moscow's anger found expression in the occupation of Bohemia and Slovakia on the night of August 21, 1968. Armed occupation was at the same time an answer to Dubcek and other reformers and it served notice to the rest of the world that Communism does not have a human face. Dubcek was not the only one nor the first to undertake social reforms in such a way as to preserve the dignity of man. Perhaps even Lenin himself and even Engels, the teacher of Marx had entertained such ideas at the beginning of their career. And history records similar attempts in the eighteenth century and in earlier times. All of them, however, reached a cul de sac situation, when they directed the attempt to reform society without violence into utopian channels-to something fictitious and unrealizable. Since this need, this cry to preserve man's dignity is ageless and man himself is unable to find the approach and the means of attaining it, God himself came to man's aid: He sent to earth his Son who dispelled this hopelessness and announced a gospel and principles under which a society of brothers, of friends, could be realized. Man had experienced frustrations and found himself on erroneous paths since he chose to act alone-to disregard God, to oppose God and to defy God in his effort to found a social order on norms that would provide respect for the dignity of man. Though in certain instances these aspirations were sincere and honorable, they either remained on the utopian plane or degenerated into coarse violence primarily because they denied the fundamental nature of man which is �SLOVAKIA 95 theocentric. It is the nature of a man to tend toward God with his heart and mind just as it is natural for a child to direct affections toward his parents. It is a law of origin; of the created and the Creator; of Cause and effect. Many modern-day reformers returned to Plato; they drew instruction from the teachings of Thomas More, but in the final resolution, they cloaked all these concepts in the Marx-Lenin and Stalin-Brezhnev realities and imposed on them the most brutish form to which a social philosophy could ever degenerate. From the spiritual standpoint, this happened because Lenin-Bolshevik Communism was established on dogmas of a single category: the denial of God and of all that is supernatural. And if man: is not to have God's image, there remains for him nothing else only the face of the enemy of God whose name is Satan. Politically, this inhuman face of bolshevism assumed its form from the fact that bolshevism is founded, perpetuated, and disseminated solely by force and methods of open-or what is more base--disguised violence. Lenin the ideologist became a cruel avenger when, after unsuccessful attempts at murder at the gallows, executions with bullets, imprisonments and deportations to Siberia, he initiated the liquidation of adversaries both real and suspected. And bloody hands that were bloodied were never again washed clean. Stalin, the most tyrannical exponent of bolshevism, revealed in a conversation with Churchill that the number of victims whom he had physically liquidated exceeded millions. History which one day, please God, will see light, records twenty million persons executed, shot, tortured to death with hunger and beatings during Stalin's day. Modern sociology and philosophy habitually labels as fascism the evils and political errors of some regimes of this century. Assuredly, every type of fascism is evil because it is based upon violence and denies the human and supernatural rights of the men and nations which it subjugates. Communism zealously over-reacts in dealing with fascist propaganda. Every regime, each person whom Communism set out to destroy, it first accused of fascism . And here lies the great irony of hypocritical baseness, for such denouncing of the evils of fascism was simply a convenient device by which communistic bolshevism tried to �96 SLOVAKIA avert the attention of the world away from the evil of which it was itself guilty. And we know that this kind of political trickery of diverting attention sometimes serves the communists well. As a matter of fact, however, the truth is that long before there was a black (Mussolinist) or brown (Hitlerist) fascism, there already existed a red or Kremlin fascism . Long before some European countries resorted to concentration camps and began to liquidate political opponents, Soviet Russia already had a well-tested tradition of such procedures. And so it is evident that both with its ideology and its program, and principally with its despotic methods, Communism lost all right to be called a progressive movement, a social program. It is, on the contrary, in every aspect reactionary, abusive, and dangerous to nations. It is the deformation of the human face of man to whom it promised paradise on earth and delivered him hell. Under the following headings we wish to point our several features of this inhuman face of Communism in general, as well as with specific references to Slovakia. We choose primarily issues on which Communism counted most heavily and in which it failed deplorably. Communism disavowed, maligned, and betrayed these ideals and values: a) the ideal of the personal freedom of man and the freedom of nations; b) the ideal of work upon which it stamped a bold seal of slavery; c) the ideal of society (family, town, state) which it yoked with laws of violence and dictatorship; d ) the ideal of the dignity of man who did not become the subject of its program, but rather its tool; e ) and finally, Communism disavowed its own political ideals: the struggle against imperialism, inasmuch as it is itself hard-grained imperialism; the struggle against exploitation, since it is itself a most cruel exploiter; the ideal of coexistence, which it crushes always and everywhere with its notorious "veto," "njet". MAN IS CREATED FOR FREEDOM Freedom ranks very high on the scale of values. God who ordained laws for man, who defined for him and �SLOVAKIA 97 illumined paths to perfection, who permitted his Son to shed blood on the wood of the cross for the redemption of humanity, left to man such a degree of freedom that even He himself respects it. Man's freedom was the communist regime's first target. No tyrannical power, no regime of fear and violence could survive if men were permitted their freedom. Today the whole world can judge to what an extent freedom is being suppressed in the Soviet Union. This it can learn from the scattered articles, rallies, demonstrations, and testimonies which some Soviet people themselves, communists at that, felt compelled to give or were able to release either in hiding or in some brief period of political moderation, when there was an exchange of political sides; e. g. after Kruschev came into power. Pasternak, Kuznecov, Solzhenicyn, Ehrenburg, and others revealed in their writings at least part of the picture of the absurd non-freedom prevalent in Soviet Russia. The nations of central Europe caught in the misfortune of being "liberated" by the Soviet regime all too soon experienced the burden of non-liberty in all areas of public and private life. An elaborate spy-system covered and controlled every aspect of living. There was spying in schools, in churches, among afficials, in cafes, on the street, in factories, and even in prison cells where the regime planted its agents as ostensibly sympathetic fellow-prisoners in order ·to draw from those in jail information that they could not obtain otherwise. In Slovakia the communist regim e was not content with creating a universal atmosphere of fear and distrust but everywhere in public life it especially resorted to a persistent and unmerciful use of tactics of power--display and coercion. It introduced numerous clauses in schools of higher learning, and in departments of theology it . assumed the prerogative of deciding who may and who may not pursue studies. It filled positions in government and public life as well as in agricultural departments not on the basis of professional merit and competence but rather according to their degree of party loyalty and their proficiency in informing. Highly educated qualified people �98 - -- SLOVAKIA - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- were given assignments as store-keepers; tailors were appointed school principals. The communist regime restricted or completely forbade change of residence; it ordered Slovaks to move to Bohemian borderline territory and in this way effected massive and enforced denationalization. Agents of the regime had the authority to awaken anyone at anytime during the night for investigation. An interminable circulation of cadre forms held people in continual check. Peasants were stripped of freedom when farm cooperatives were established in many areas with the help of the police force. Compulsory quotas of produce were imposed upon them regardless whether they raised these products or not, regardless of their ability to supply them or not. If they failed to meet the quota, farmers lost their property and were often evicted from their homes. By assigning commissioners to seminaries, to theology faculties, to bishops' offices, to church societies and the press, and by organizing a so-called peace-movement of the Catholic clergy which was communist devised, the party usurped control of the Church subsequent to its liquidation of convents and imprisonment of many priests, of bishops, and Catholic laymen. Naturally, while this curtailment of freedom afflicted oppoments of communistic ideology most seriously, it also served to hold in check the members of the Party who had only one choice: either absolute obedience or expulsion and social degradation or perhaps-not infrequently-imprisonment. The execution of Clementis, the imprisonment and torture of Husak, Lobl, Holdos, Viest and thousands of other communists shows that bolshevism does not tolerate freedom even on behalf of its most faithful adherents. It knows how to crush anyone who dares to exercise free choice. And so, by its despotic reaction toward freedom, Communism proves that as a tyrant, it does not deserve freedom of any kind; that it is in theory and practise superlatively reactionary, anti-human, and inhuman. MAN IS CREATED FOR WORK God himself works. The creation and preservation of the world is the result of work, understood in the divine �SLOVAKIA 99 sense. Jesus Christ spent his maturing years working, and he blessed work. Man himself by his vocation and purpose in life is so constituted that work helps him to develope; in work he creates values; in work he manifests his freedom. Communism wove a significant web of symbolism around work and even formulated an official greeting intended to bestow honor on work. In essence, however , it all degenerated into profanity and mere hypocritical expression. Those who best succeeded in avoiding work were the loudest in shouting "Honor to work! "-laborers, farmers, and often representatives from anti-social circles -persons now transformed into public officials and officious functionaries . In reality work became odious when people had to be forced into it, when the regime paid it poor wages or rather exploited it to such an extent that most of the profits poured into hands that did not labor. Consequently, work was performed carelessly, lazily, superficially, unreliably. Much was said about work each morning before a construction job or in the factory in the so-called tenminute warm-ups that usually lasted up to an hour. Poet5 composed odes to work and were honored for them by government awards. But work itself became more and more burdensome. If, therefore, slave labor was some kind of communist ideal, for communism did bring it to that concept, then the era of slavery should have to be considered the pinnacle of civilization. As a result of communist conditioning, work in Slovakia appeared in two forms: on the one hand labor was overplayed to the populace; on the other, people were driven to work. This was all that Communism was capable of doing with an otherwise priceless value. Finally, the fact that in a communist state living standards among the populace--principally in the working class- by comparison with workers' standards in the free democratic worlct declined by steady stages confirms the devaluation 0f work by bolshevism and its hypocritical attitude toward it. Because if during the previous Republic- to offer at least one illustration-the inhabitants of one town annually hauled to the public market 400 wagonloads of grain and �100 SLOVAKIA during the peak of the great cooperative movement a town's inhabitants were forced to buy their supply of flour and milk, what is the only inference to be made? That there was no production; that work, which is also generative force of prosperity, lost its economic effectiveness. MAN IS CREATED FOR SOCIETY Psychologically man is constituted to tend toward companionship. He establishes families and is in his element within a family group. Common interests draw him toward smaller and larger societies; he forms nations and states, and he endows all his interrelationship with neighbors with a friendly spirit. Here too, in the area of familial ties, Communism has failed even as a philosophical and sociological system. It brought into social relationships hatred, mistrust, suspicion, and intolerance. All too familiar are examples like these: communist teachers persuaded or induced children to denounce their parents-to report when they meet, to what radio programs they listen, with whom they correspond, what contacts they have with persons in a foreign country, the nature of conversations and discussions in the home. Like procedures were directed to offices, among teachers, in schools, at work, in factories. In the Soviet Union where this type of upbringing prevailed for fifty years it was bound to yield its pernicious fruit, for even the family circle was affected by the Party program. In her novel Dva veky the writer Golubkovova presents instances of the alienation of couples and the estrangement of parents from their children because the tyranny of Party ideology penetrates into the innermost circles of family life and compels primacy for Party interests over the needs and interests of family living and even over conjugal love. Social life in Slovakia, marked by traditionally recognized trust and friendship, was forced under this system of informing to retreat into the core of the family circle. And even there, the people carefully scrutinize and observe whom they may be entertaining at table. If someone strange �SLOVAKIA 101 came to visit, or if there was a guest before whom they knew they ought to be silent, the entire conversation shifted to trivial matters. Finally, the extensive system of listening in on conversations which was installed in restaurants, offices, and business establishments as well as the presence of a vast network of informers inevitably caused people to resort to whispering, to prefer silence in the company of unknown persons. Confidence and friendship were being lost--these necessary values on which is built friendship and tolerance. And so instead of idealized collectivism which Communism so greatly stressed, there developed a society of individuals locked within themselves or narrowed to only the relationships cultivated in a private family. Even good friends began to suspect one another if their conversation happened to reach the ears of the state police even though they themselves were not guilty of transmitting the information which may have been picked up by the hearing devices that seemed to be omnipresent, even in private dwellings . A person living in a democratic free world can hardly imagine such diabolical inventions. But such it was and is, and its father is bolshevism. THE CENTRAL POINT OF ALL PROGRESS IS MAN Every advance in science, civilization, hygiene, and economy relates to man and his welfare. Families as well as nations and states are social institutions designed to enable every good to reach man who is worthy of every effort and endeavor. Communism repudiated even this worth of man, making him not the object but the instrument of its own politics. This was done first of all by denying man the right of free choice. Man was not permitted to decide for himself his prospects for education and schooling, type of work, place of work, place of residence--all this he had to accept on orders from the Communist party. And so it was that people could not choose a profession, either according to personal preference or inherent talent but had to be satisfied with whatever official ordained. Reflecting on the fact that such unwise management caused great cultural and economic loss to society, one must also �102 SLOVAKIA deplore the dichotomy effected by such decisions and the personal liberty of man and his human dignity. Specific mention must be made at this point of judicial r eprisals, investigations under inhuman conditions-beatings and torture to compel confessions of guilt-imprisonments during inquest lasting even beyond a year and this without court decision, false accusations and the like. If the almost 80-year old bishop Jan Vojtassak on orders from a sub-intelligent prison guard had to make a given number of knee-bends in jail, this was not the fruit only of the stupidity of the guard but the harvesting of the r egime which approved and countenanced such methods, delighted in them, and with them bullied the people. Communism failed to appreciate even its own members. It valued them only in so far as they were statistical numbers. Before the idol of the communist divinity every human value had to prostrate. That was in itself deplorable and outrageous, but in relation to the dictatorship of despotic bolshevism it was also unbelievably hopeless and painful. IDEALS Communism raised for itself a number of ideals with which it hoped to justify its existence. For example, the unification of nations, avowed opposition to exploitation, the fight against colonialism and imperialism, a program for the common welfare, and the idea of peace. Not a single one of these ideals fructified under Communism. E x p l o i t a t i o n. Even though the matter of opposition to exploitation became one of the basic principles of the communist program, it is ironic that there is perhaps no other regime that so exploits people, especially the working class, as does the communist system. It is well known that the earnings of workmen in Slovakia, compared with wages paid in other countries, were so low that they did not even satisfy the living minimum of families. It was impossible to conceive that a wife and children could subsist on the father 's pay. In every family the wife too had to seek employment; this meant a rush in early �SLOVAKIA 103 morning to bring the children to the nursery, and after work returning for them, cooking dinner, doing household chores, etc. Every person was exploited; and if ever woman was a slave, it was definitely in the communist state. The exploitation of workers was all the worse since they had no right to call a strike or to use any other fonn of protest for manifesting personal dissatisfaction or making known their demands. Strikes were constitutionally outlawed. Even the farmer was exploited, since profits from his labors were distributed among several middlemen before his produce reached the consumer. For a kilo of fruit of which the consumer paid about five crowns on the warket, the producer received one crown. The remainder became the shared profit of the business machine, organizations of various sorts, the state taxes, etc. Exploited too was the apparatus of officialdom, especially teachers who, by comparison, received the lowest of wages, even less than laborers and many other less qualified employees. Communism greatly harmed the concept of the unification of nations by sowing hatred, and by creating an insurmountable barrier with its two-world-comm unistic and capitalistic-prop aganda; it lowered an iron curtain. The struggle against colonialism and imperialism was communism's theoretically powerful weapon in an age marked with the liberalizing of colonialized nations. On the other hand, however, Communism defamed this very idea when it formed the Soviet Union by means of imperialist wars and pressures, especially after World War II when it structured the entire communist empire by resorting to armed force, invasions, and the occupation of territories which it forcibly seized as its own. The question of well-being or prosperity in communistic regimes is so illusory, that today communist powers are embarassed to speak of it publicly, As long as it was possible to do so, communism placed the guilt for economic failure on its previous regimes, on reactions within the state itself, on crop failure. However, when the economic �104 SLOVAKIA slump reached such proportions that it was impossible to hide it any longer, the regime stopped explaining and simply gave orders, constantly repeating its frequently initiated but seldom completed 5-year plan and its competitions with capitalistic nations which it consecutively lost. And finally, the idea of peace which was such a convincing cloak for the whole international politicking of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries: Peace by communistic thinking meant nothing else but exclusive communistic world government. Not only examples of brutal aggressiveness in Hungary, in Czecho-Slovakia, in the endless conflicts disturbing the Russo-Chinese border, but the entire content of activities within the organization which Communism called "peaceful" and stand evidently, and remain a priori in direct conflict with the fundamentals of peace. The regime, which evokes insecurity and fear, which tramples underfoot the basic rights of man, which disrespects the principles of personal and national freedom, which enslaves man, cannot seriously speak of peace. And so it seems, that it is in this area that the communist regime has most seriously wounded the dignity of man. And today, this cloud hangs over Slovakia. A nation, which knew how to survive for over a thousand years under numerous forms of oppression, today unceasingly resists and will continue to resist this yoke because the spirit simply cannot tolerate submission to the violence of brutal materialism. Therefore, as oil rises to the surface, so this spirit will also rise and celebrate its triumph of extraordinary patience and interior strength drawn from the infinity of God. (Translated by Sister M. Raymund Horvath, SS.C.M.) THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies AtJxiliary, the "VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak culb1rai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festi vals, social evenings, etc. our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "Vcielky" in every large Slovak community. � 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 94 SLOVAKIA Powers of Darkness and Powers of Truth Marian Jankovsky Alexander Dubcek, a Slovak communist politician whose name swept around the globe like a comet and found a place among nominees for the Nobel Prize described his efforts, his political program, with the expression: To show the human face of Communism. This slogan which suddenly magnetized other European nations under communistic imperialism, sounded an alarm within Kremlin walls. Moscow's anger found expression in the occupation of Bohemia and Slovakia on the night of August 21, 1968. Armed occupation was at the same time an answer to Dubcek and other reformers and it served notice to the rest of the world that Communism does not have a human face. Dubcek was not the only one nor the first to undertake social reforms in such a way as to preserve the dignity of man. Perhaps even Lenin himself and even Engels, the teacher of Marx had entertained such ideas at the beginning of their career. And history records similar attempts in the eighteenth century and in earlier times. All of them, however, reached a cul de sac situation, when they directed the attempt to reform society without violence into utopian channels-to something fictitious and unrealizable. Since this need, this cry to preserve man's dignity is ageless and man himself is unable to find the approach and the means of attaining it, God himself came to man's aid: He sent to earth his Son who dispelled this hopelessness and announced a gospel and principles under which a society of brothers, of friends, could be realized. Man had experienced frustrations and found himself on erroneous paths since he chose to act alone-to disregard God, to oppose God and to defy God in his effort to found a social order on norms that would provide respect for the dignity of man. Though in certain instances these aspirations were sincere and honorable, they either remained on the utopian plane or degenerated into coarse violence primarily because they denied the fundamental nature of man which is SLOVAKIA 95 theocentric. It is the nature of a man to tend toward God with his heart and mind just as it is natural for a child to direct affections toward his parents. It is a law of origin; of the created and the Creator; of Cause and effect. Many modern-day reformers returned to Plato; they drew instruction from the teachings of Thomas More, but in the final resolution, they cloaked all these concepts in the Marx-Lenin and Stalin-Brezhnev realities and imposed on them the most brutish form to which a social philosophy could ever degenerate. From the spiritual standpoint, this happened because Lenin-Bolshevik Communism was established on dogmas of a single category: the denial of God and of all that is supernatural. And if man: is not to have God's image, there remains for him nothing else only the face of the enemy of God whose name is Satan. Politically, this inhuman face of bolshevism assumed its form from the fact that bolshevism is founded, perpetuated, and disseminated solely by force and methods of open-or what is more base--disguised violence. Lenin the ideologist became a cruel avenger when, after unsuccessful attempts at murder at the gallows, executions with bullets, imprisonments and deportations to Siberia, he initiated the liquidation of adversaries both real and suspected. And bloody hands that were bloodied were never again washed clean. Stalin, the most tyrannical exponent of bolshevism, revealed in a conversation with Churchill that the number of victims whom he had physically liquidated exceeded millions. History which one day, please God, will see light, records twenty million persons executed, shot, tortured to death with hunger and beatings during Stalin's day. Modern sociology and philosophy habitually labels as fascism the evils and political errors of some regimes of this century. Assuredly, every type of fascism is evil because it is based upon violence and denies the human and supernatural rights of the men and nations which it subjugates. Communism zealously over-reacts in dealing with fascist propaganda. Every regime, each person whom Communism set out to destroy, it first accused of fascism . And here lies the great irony of hypocritical baseness, for such denouncing of the evils of fascism was simply a convenient device by which communistic bolshevism tried to 96 SLOVAKIA avert the attention of the world away from the evil of which it was itself guilty. And we know that this kind of political trickery of diverting attention sometimes serves the communists well. As a matter of fact, however, the truth is that long before there was a black (Mussolinist) or brown (Hitlerist) fascism, there already existed a red or Kremlin fascism . Long before some European countries resorted to concentration camps and began to liquidate political opponents, Soviet Russia already had a well-tested tradition of such procedures. And so it is evident that both with its ideology and its program, and principally with its despotic methods, Communism lost all right to be called a progressive movement, a social program. It is, on the contrary, in every aspect reactionary, abusive, and dangerous to nations. It is the deformation of the human face of man to whom it promised paradise on earth and delivered him hell. Under the following headings we wish to point our several features of this inhuman face of Communism in general, as well as with specific references to Slovakia. We choose primarily issues on which Communism counted most heavily and in which it failed deplorably. Communism disavowed, maligned, and betrayed these ideals and values: a) the ideal of the personal freedom of man and the freedom of nations; b) the ideal of work upon which it stamped a bold seal of slavery; c) the ideal of society (family, town, state) which it yoked with laws of violence and dictatorship; d ) the ideal of the dignity of man who did not become the subject of its program, but rather its tool; e ) and finally, Communism disavowed its own political ideals: the struggle against imperialism, inasmuch as it is itself hard-grained imperialism; the struggle against exploitation, since it is itself a most cruel exploiter; the ideal of coexistence, which it crushes always and everywhere with its notorious "veto," "njet". MAN IS CREATED FOR FREEDOM Freedom ranks very high on the scale of values. God who ordained laws for man, who defined for him and SLOVAKIA 97 illumined paths to perfection, who permitted his Son to shed blood on the wood of the cross for the redemption of humanity, left to man such a degree of freedom that even He himself respects it. Man's freedom was the communist regime's first target. No tyrannical power, no regime of fear and violence could survive if men were permitted their freedom. Today the whole world can judge to what an extent freedom is being suppressed in the Soviet Union. This it can learn from the scattered articles, rallies, demonstrations, and testimonies which some Soviet people themselves, communists at that, felt compelled to give or were able to release either in hiding or in some brief period of political moderation, when there was an exchange of political sides; e. g. after Kruschev came into power. Pasternak, Kuznecov, Solzhenicyn, Ehrenburg, and others revealed in their writings at least part of the picture of the absurd non-freedom prevalent in Soviet Russia. The nations of central Europe caught in the misfortune of being "liberated" by the Soviet regime all too soon experienced the burden of non-liberty in all areas of public and private life. An elaborate spy-system covered and controlled every aspect of living. There was spying in schools, in churches, among afficials, in cafes, on the street, in factories, and even in prison cells where the regime planted its agents as ostensibly sympathetic fellow-prisoners in order ·to draw from those in jail information that they could not obtain otherwise. In Slovakia the communist regim e was not content with creating a universal atmosphere of fear and distrust but everywhere in public life it especially resorted to a persistent and unmerciful use of tactics of power--display and coercion. It introduced numerous clauses in schools of higher learning, and in departments of theology it . assumed the prerogative of deciding who may and who may not pursue studies. It filled positions in government and public life as well as in agricultural departments not on the basis of professional merit and competence but rather according to their degree of party loyalty and their proficiency in informing. Highly educated qualified people 98 - -- SLOVAKIA - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- were given assignments as store-keepers; tailors were appointed school principals. The communist regime restricted or completely forbade change of residence; it ordered Slovaks to move to Bohemian borderline territory and in this way effected massive and enforced denationalization. Agents of the regime had the authority to awaken anyone at anytime during the night for investigation. An interminable circulation of cadre forms held people in continual check. Peasants were stripped of freedom when farm cooperatives were established in many areas with the help of the police force. Compulsory quotas of produce were imposed upon them regardless whether they raised these products or not, regardless of their ability to supply them or not. If they failed to meet the quota, farmers lost their property and were often evicted from their homes. By assigning commissioners to seminaries, to theology faculties, to bishops' offices, to church societies and the press, and by organizing a so-called peace-movement of the Catholic clergy which was communist devised, the party usurped control of the Church subsequent to its liquidation of convents and imprisonment of many priests, of bishops, and Catholic laymen. Naturally, while this curtailment of freedom afflicted oppoments of communistic ideology most seriously, it also served to hold in check the members of the Party who had only one choice: either absolute obedience or expulsion and social degradation or perhaps-not infrequently-imprisonment. The execution of Clementis, the imprisonment and torture of Husak, Lobl, Holdos, Viest and thousands of other communists shows that bolshevism does not tolerate freedom even on behalf of its most faithful adherents. It knows how to crush anyone who dares to exercise free choice. And so, by its despotic reaction toward freedom, Communism proves that as a tyrant, it does not deserve freedom of any kind; that it is in theory and practise superlatively reactionary, anti-human, and inhuman. MAN IS CREATED FOR WORK God himself works. The creation and preservation of the world is the result of work, understood in the divine SLOVAKIA 99 sense. Jesus Christ spent his maturing years working, and he blessed work. Man himself by his vocation and purpose in life is so constituted that work helps him to develope; in work he creates values; in work he manifests his freedom. Communism wove a significant web of symbolism around work and even formulated an official greeting intended to bestow honor on work. In essence, however , it all degenerated into profanity and mere hypocritical expression. Those who best succeeded in avoiding work were the loudest in shouting "Honor to work! "-laborers, farmers, and often representatives from anti-social circles -persons now transformed into public officials and officious functionaries . In reality work became odious when people had to be forced into it, when the regime paid it poor wages or rather exploited it to such an extent that most of the profits poured into hands that did not labor. Consequently, work was performed carelessly, lazily, superficially, unreliably. Much was said about work each morning before a construction job or in the factory in the so-called tenminute warm-ups that usually lasted up to an hour. Poet5 composed odes to work and were honored for them by government awards. But work itself became more and more burdensome. If, therefore, slave labor was some kind of communist ideal, for communism did bring it to that concept, then the era of slavery should have to be considered the pinnacle of civilization. As a result of communist conditioning, work in Slovakia appeared in two forms: on the one hand labor was overplayed to the populace; on the other, people were driven to work. This was all that Communism was capable of doing with an otherwise priceless value. Finally, the fact that in a communist state living standards among the populace--principally in the working class- by comparison with workers' standards in the free democratic worlct declined by steady stages confirms the devaluation 0f work by bolshevism and its hypocritical attitude toward it. Because if during the previous Republic- to offer at least one illustration-the inhabitants of one town annually hauled to the public market 400 wagonloads of grain and 100 SLOVAKIA during the peak of the great cooperative movement a town's inhabitants were forced to buy their supply of flour and milk, what is the only inference to be made? That there was no production; that work, which is also generative force of prosperity, lost its economic effectiveness. MAN IS CREATED FOR SOCIETY Psychologically man is constituted to tend toward companionship. He establishes families and is in his element within a family group. Common interests draw him toward smaller and larger societies; he forms nations and states, and he endows all his interrelationship with neighbors with a friendly spirit. Here too, in the area of familial ties, Communism has failed even as a philosophical and sociological system. It brought into social relationships hatred, mistrust, suspicion, and intolerance. All too familiar are examples like these: communist teachers persuaded or induced children to denounce their parents-to report when they meet, to what radio programs they listen, with whom they correspond, what contacts they have with persons in a foreign country, the nature of conversations and discussions in the home. Like procedures were directed to offices, among teachers, in schools, at work, in factories. In the Soviet Union where this type of upbringing prevailed for fifty years it was bound to yield its pernicious fruit, for even the family circle was affected by the Party program. In her novel Dva veky the writer Golubkovova presents instances of the alienation of couples and the estrangement of parents from their children because the tyranny of Party ideology penetrates into the innermost circles of family life and compels primacy for Party interests over the needs and interests of family living and even over conjugal love. Social life in Slovakia, marked by traditionally recognized trust and friendship, was forced under this system of informing to retreat into the core of the family circle. And even there, the people carefully scrutinize and observe whom they may be entertaining at table. If someone strange SLOVAKIA 101 came to visit, or if there was a guest before whom they knew they ought to be silent, the entire conversation shifted to trivial matters. Finally, the extensive system of listening in on conversations which was installed in restaurants, offices, and business establishments as well as the presence of a vast network of informers inevitably caused people to resort to whispering, to prefer silence in the company of unknown persons. Confidence and friendship were being lost--these necessary values on which is built friendship and tolerance. And so instead of idealized collectivism which Communism so greatly stressed, there developed a society of individuals locked within themselves or narrowed to only the relationships cultivated in a private family. Even good friends began to suspect one another if their conversation happened to reach the ears of the state police even though they themselves were not guilty of transmitting the information which may have been picked up by the hearing devices that seemed to be omnipresent, even in private dwellings . A person living in a democratic free world can hardly imagine such diabolical inventions. But such it was and is, and its father is bolshevism. THE CENTRAL POINT OF ALL PROGRESS IS MAN Every advance in science, civilization, hygiene, and economy relates to man and his welfare. Families as well as nations and states are social institutions designed to enable every good to reach man who is worthy of every effort and endeavor. Communism repudiated even this worth of man, making him not the object but the instrument of its own politics. This was done first of all by denying man the right of free choice. Man was not permitted to decide for himself his prospects for education and schooling, type of work, place of work, place of residence--all this he had to accept on orders from the Communist party. And so it was that people could not choose a profession, either according to personal preference or inherent talent but had to be satisfied with whatever official ordained. Reflecting on the fact that such unwise management caused great cultural and economic loss to society, one must also 102 SLOVAKIA deplore the dichotomy effected by such decisions and the personal liberty of man and his human dignity. Specific mention must be made at this point of judicial r eprisals, investigations under inhuman conditions-beatings and torture to compel confessions of guilt-imprisonments during inquest lasting even beyond a year and this without court decision, false accusations and the like. If the almost 80-year old bishop Jan Vojtassak on orders from a sub-intelligent prison guard had to make a given number of knee-bends in jail, this was not the fruit only of the stupidity of the guard but the harvesting of the r egime which approved and countenanced such methods, delighted in them, and with them bullied the people. Communism failed to appreciate even its own members. It valued them only in so far as they were statistical numbers. Before the idol of the communist divinity every human value had to prostrate. That was in itself deplorable and outrageous, but in relation to the dictatorship of despotic bolshevism it was also unbelievably hopeless and painful. IDEALS Communism raised for itself a number of ideals with which it hoped to justify its existence. For example, the unification of nations, avowed opposition to exploitation, the fight against colonialism and imperialism, a program for the common welfare, and the idea of peace. Not a single one of these ideals fructified under Communism. E x p l o i t a t i o n. Even though the matter of opposition to exploitation became one of the basic principles of the communist program, it is ironic that there is perhaps no other regime that so exploits people, especially the working class, as does the communist system. It is well known that the earnings of workmen in Slovakia, compared with wages paid in other countries, were so low that they did not even satisfy the living minimum of families. It was impossible to conceive that a wife and children could subsist on the father 's pay. In every family the wife too had to seek employment; this meant a rush in early SLOVAKIA 103 morning to bring the children to the nursery, and after work returning for them, cooking dinner, doing household chores, etc. Every person was exploited; and if ever woman was a slave, it was definitely in the communist state. The exploitation of workers was all the worse since they had no right to call a strike or to use any other fonn of protest for manifesting personal dissatisfaction or making known their demands. Strikes were constitutionally outlawed. Even the farmer was exploited, since profits from his labors were distributed among several middlemen before his produce reached the consumer. For a kilo of fruit of which the consumer paid about five crowns on the warket, the producer received one crown. The remainder became the shared profit of the business machine, organizations of various sorts, the state taxes, etc. Exploited too was the apparatus of officialdom, especially teachers who, by comparison, received the lowest of wages, even less than laborers and many other less qualified employees. Communism greatly harmed the concept of the unification of nations by sowing hatred, and by creating an insurmountable barrier with its two-world-comm unistic and capitalistic-prop aganda; it lowered an iron curtain. The struggle against colonialism and imperialism was communism's theoretically powerful weapon in an age marked with the liberalizing of colonialized nations. On the other hand, however, Communism defamed this very idea when it formed the Soviet Union by means of imperialist wars and pressures, especially after World War II when it structured the entire communist empire by resorting to armed force, invasions, and the occupation of territories which it forcibly seized as its own. The question of well-being or prosperity in communistic regimes is so illusory, that today communist powers are embarassed to speak of it publicly, As long as it was possible to do so, communism placed the guilt for economic failure on its previous regimes, on reactions within the state itself, on crop failure. However, when the economic 104 SLOVAKIA slump reached such proportions that it was impossible to hide it any longer, the regime stopped explaining and simply gave orders, constantly repeating its frequently initiated but seldom completed 5-year plan and its competitions with capitalistic nations which it consecutively lost. And finally, the idea of peace which was such a convincing cloak for the whole international politicking of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries: Peace by communistic thinking meant nothing else but exclusive communistic world government. Not only examples of brutal aggressiveness in Hungary, in Czecho-Slovakia, in the endless conflicts disturbing the Russo-Chinese border, but the entire content of activities within the organization which Communism called "peaceful" and stand evidently, and remain a priori in direct conflict with the fundamentals of peace. The regime, which evokes insecurity and fear, which tramples underfoot the basic rights of man, which disrespects the principles of personal and national freedom, which enslaves man, cannot seriously speak of peace. And so it seems, that it is in this area that the communist regime has most seriously wounded the dignity of man. And today, this cloud hangs over Slovakia. A nation, which knew how to survive for over a thousand years under numerous forms of oppression, today unceasingly resists and will continue to resist this yoke because the spirit simply cannot tolerate submission to the violence of brutal materialism. Therefore, as oil rises to the surface, so this spirit will also rise and celebrate its triumph of extraordinary patience and interior strength drawn from the infinity of God. (Translated by Sister M. Raymund Horvath, SS.C.M.) THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies AtJxiliary, the "VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak culb1rai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festi vals, social evenings, etc. our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "Vcielky" in every large Slovak community.  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 Powers of Darkness and Powers of Truth Description An account of the resource Marián Jankovský Slovakia, Vol. 20 (No. 43), 1970 pp. 94-104 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jankovský, Marián 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/914a3c943f39263a5e15ed271c40ffe2.pdf 15f77a7c54bc66f1bb8c31940c077068 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 18 Sonya Jason Good Times and Love THE LIFE OF THOMAS AND MARIE BELL One learns a great deal about any person by the mate he or she chooses. This is especially pertinent for a writer. I had been most fortunate in reading the last of Thomas Bell's books first and while reading In the Midst of Life, became well acquainted with a man of integrity, courage and honesty to the very end. But beyond Bell the man and writer, I caught deep glimpses of the tender love and regard he held for his wife, Marie, and later discovered that these qualities weave in and out like a golden thread through all his works. Now, I could only know Bell by his written memorials. But happily, I could still learn to know the woman he loved and thus I sought out to investigate her, what manner of woman this was that has been loved as few women have, and what was the meter of their life together that produced such affection. She stood in the doorway of her house in Santa Cruz, a tiny, dark haired lady in a chic pantssuit. A glance, a warm embrace and she led me into the kitchen for a chicken sandwich and coffee before she would talk of anything or anyone, even Bell. Marie Bell summarized her life with her husband as full of "good times and love." And for several hours we talked of some of those good times and the love. Thomas Belejcak was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania, on March 7, 1903. His father was an immigrant Slovak but his mother was a first generation American of Slovak parents. He was the oldest of four children and was trained in the Roman Catholic religion, but later repudiated all religions. He also regretted the Anglicizing of his name to Bell but understood the necessity at the time it was done out of economic urgency. Bell's father died on his 11th birthday and he became the man of the family and at 15, was working in a glass �SLOVAKIA 19 company in Glassport, Pennsylvania. When he was 16 and working as an apprentice electrician in Donora, Pennsylvania, his mother died of tuberculosis in a sanitarium. His brother and sisters were shifted about to various relatives to care for. At 19, with the sum of $15.00 in his pocket, Bell went to New York, sleeping in subways until he found a job. He worked for a time as a mechanic in a Long Island Railroad shop before he shipped out to sea as seaman for two years. Upon his return, he found a job as salesman for Schulte's Book Store and then sent for his brother and two sisters to live with him. He wrote his first novel in his spare time, The Breed of Basil, which was neither a great literary nor financial success but revealed a sensitive talent for feeling and words. It was shortly after that he first met Marie Benedetti, the laughing, dark eyed, dark haired Marie whose characteristics were to appear in the woman in his books and stories. It was a traditional meeting but never again was this couple to follow tradition. Bell's sister, Evelyn, worked for Norcross Greeting Card Co., as did Marie, and she asked Marie and another girl for dinner. Marie arrived with a copy of a P. G. Wodehouse book under her arm. After dinner, Bell took her to the subway but accompanied the other girl all the way home across town. Later, he confided to Marie that he lost interest in the other girl when she tried to impress him with her encyclopedia. He then wrote a note to her asking for a date and arrived with a corsage of three yellow roses that were not quite appropriate for the date spent playing ball in the park. But they dated regularly after that day until he felt he should state his intentions. "I want you to know that I am not the marrying kind," Bell announced, not long after that first date in April 1931. "Then we had better call the whole thing off, because I am," she countered. Happily, they did not call it off and on January 2, 1932, 28-year-old Thomas Bell took for his bride the lovely 19year-old Marie to begin twenty-seven years of that life of good times and love. The beginning was hardly auspicious as an astrologer �20 SLOVAKIA might put it. During their first year of marriage, Bell became ill with pneumonia. After his recovery, he was forced to make a choice. Write or work. Not both. Years later, his widow stated unequivocally, that had he attempted to work and write that "it would have killed him," and noted that "A writer gives and gives, you see, never takes, and very quickly expends himself." But she refuses credit for the fact that without her or a wife just like her, there would have been few other or maybe no other books by Bell. He might well have lapsed into another frustrated creative writer whose talent is buried in the cares of the workaday world out of the necessity of earning a living for his family. But there was another destiny for Bell. And Marie was the focal point in it. She became the breadwinner of the family when he made his choice to write. "We had the perfect arrangement," she says now. "Tom wrote from 9 until 4. Then he straightened the house, cooked dinner, ordinary things for me he thought I needed and the strict diet things for him. Then we read, played games, visited and just enjoyed our hours together." Marie worked her way up from 17-year-old messenger to a $10,0000 a year art director when she left Norcross in 1955 to move to Santa Cruz. After his crucial decision, Bell wrote his second book, The Second Prince, published in England under the title, Striker Godown. In this, he utilizes many of his own experiences and expounds his views of striking out against a life of conformity-whatever risk such rebellion entails. Marie says it was during this period that he was finding himself as a person and a writer. His third novel was probably the most financially successful, Marie recalls that when he dropped by her office after a visit to his agent and swung her in the air, she caught a whiff of alcohol, something he almost never touched. "I knew something big had happened," she smiled. He showed her the one year screen writer contract that All Brides Are Beautiful had brought and swung her high again. "We're on our way to Hollywood," as they both laughed with joy. �SLOVAKIA 21 She remembers that year of 1937 in Hollywood when the book was made into the movie, From This Day Forward. as one of the most carefree in their lives. But when it came to an end, Bell refused to sign another contract. "I have other books to write," he decided, and they returned to New York. In 1940 he became seriously ill and for two years, underwent tests before a malignancy in the ilium was discovered. Ever after, he had to adhere to a stringent diet which placed limitations upon mobility and life style. Marie credits her parents for Bell's recovery from the surgery for malignancy. They owned a farm in New Jersey and it was there that Bell went to recuperate. When she saw him three weeks later, she hardly recognized the emaciated husband she had left there. Her mother had cared for Bell, cooking and coaxing him to eat until fifteen pounds were added to the spare frame. "He loved my parents and they loved him. In fact, my whole family loved him," Marie says. "They asked his advice and called him Al. In them, he found the love from a family and parents that he was not able to get from his own." After recovery, their life resumed its peaceful routine. Writing, reading, cooking and photography for Bell. Working, reading, planning their trips to Coney Island, Nantucket, and plays and family for Marie. It was then that Bell wrote his most powerful novel. Out of This Furnace is the saga of three generations of Slovak Americans with all the societal changes and the part they played. But here, he reveals at his best the varying relationships of men and women and how they changed generation by generation. At the end, the relatively independent young wife of Dobie may be the new era of more individual relationships of man-wife of the present and of the Bells themselves. Till I Come Back to You followed. Made into a play, it was badly received by Bell and the public and closed after a brief run on Broadway. During this period he wrote short stories. "That was fun ... " Marie chuckles now: "He would take a week to write one of these romantic boy-girl things and sell it for �22 SLOVAKIA two thousand dollars or more. We had lots of money then." Out of the 25 stories he wrote, one serious effort, The Man Who Made Good in America, was about the Slovak workers in the mills and republished in Our Lives, American Labor Stories in 1948. It is still acclaimed for its poignant example of the exploitation of the Slovak mill workers. The last of Bell's novels shows the refined technique of research blended with perception until the reader is certain that the writer of There Comes A Time had worked as a bank teller. Actually, Marie reveals that the union permitted him to work briefly as a teller and in other bank functions for this story of the formation of a labor union in the bank and its unification with the larger union. As in all his honest works, Bell never falls into the trap of "good guys versus bad guys, or even not so good guys." There are no heroes or heroines. There are people, real people, like Joel Pane who responds to that cross road in everyone's life when one must choose to do more with his life than just exist, or ignore that resurgence of life's beckoning at the price of beginning to decline in spirit as the physiological counterpart begins its descent. Joel Pane, however, like Bell himself, opts for life and its risks and wins his moment of peace with himself. In 1950, nearing fifty years of age, Bell developed a writing block. In exploring the reason for it with his widow, the traditional questions were asked. Was it due to the severe emotional deprivation? Being the man of the family at age eleven? The fact that there never had been a childhood? The harshness of his father? Any and all of these were enough to decimate the strongest psychological constitution. Three years of analysis followed and Bell learned to understand and accept that the tragedy of his early life was also the tragedy of his parents and an entire two or three generations of immigrants who shared in and shaped the upheaval of America, as much too gradually the shackles of poverty and exploitation were thrown off. At the end of three years, he brought Marie to meet his analyst. After a long conference, Dr. Rustin laughingly told him, "With a wife like yours, you don't need analysis. Just �SLOVAKIA 23 don't ever use it to mistreat her in any way ..." Thus ended the inner journey to the psyche, at least with the help of an analyst. For he traveled the rest of his way alone but travel he did. And he traveled outwardly, too, for this now freed him to do something he had long wanted, move to California. But it was not until he was certain that his beloved motherin-law would be all right as his father-in-law had died two years before, and she could adjust to Marie moving far away and leaving her with Marie's two sisters in New York. In his journal, In the Midst of Life, he poignantly describes that last long plane trip that ushered in a new life of being shopkeepers of a stationery and book store. "Tom had five more years of life out here. I never gave up ... when we knew he had an inoperable tumor, we tried every chemical known to science . . . every treatment ... until the very last day, I never gave up hope." And those five years were good ones although Bell wrote only on note pads and in his journal. A poor sleeper, he utilized this time for jotting down ideas and thoughts that came to an active mind. The question of childlessness had to be asked and it was. Marie pondered this for a time before she replied in her direct way. "I never minded not having children as I didn't have much of a maternal instinct. But I regretted it for Tom. He would have been a wonderful father ... " she reflected with tenderness. "He was one of those unusual people who can play with children and yet approach them with the sense of dignity of their being a distinct individual. Children loved him. My nieces and nephews loved him and when grown, often talked and still do of how he played with them and talked with them ... " The shortsightedness of adoption agencies was never a subject that Bell mentioned in his writing, perhaps too sensitive an area for exploration. But Marie tE>lls how they were refused a child--even an older child not too easily adoptable-because she worked outside the house and Bell would have been the one to remain in the home to care �24 SLOVAKIA for the child. This was an arrangement very suspect and considered abnormal at that time. But he refused to let it blight their lives. "Don't worry about it, Marie," he assured her. "We will just have to be a little bit closer to each other, that's all." Whatever else he felt, he carried it to the ocean grave with his ashes, but one suspects he would never write anything that might even slightly hurt the woman he loved. Again and again the thought of how far ahead of their time the Bells were would intrude in the middle of a statement by Marie or in reading passages from his books. How complete was his acceptance of his woman, how spontaneous the expressions of affection; notes pinned on a mirror, a hand scrawled message for "16 years with the right woman" to accompany the birthday lapel pin, a kiss in the middle of Broadway for no reason other than "I just thought how glad I am that you are with me." He recorded some of these moments with his photographic hobby. Nudes of his wife enjoying a waterfall, strolling the beach in shorts, playing with animals or pensively reading. He recorded them also in words in all his books, but particularly that last journal. One is particularly touched by his account of those last few months when he knew he was dying. One is even more scored with poignancy in the account of those last days by his widow. When he knew his end was imminent, he asked his brother to take him to the hospital so "Marie won't come · home from the store and find me dead." There, he lived one day, a day that she still hoped would not be his last, that a miracle would happen. On the last visit, she was able to tell him that In the Midst of Life was to be published by Atheneum Publishers. He patted her hand and murmured "Good publishers, Marie." She left, hoping that this would spark some new life into his wasted body. But a few hours later, he was dead. Later, she learned of how painstakingly he had planned all details of the funeral to spare her; the arrangements for cremation, the brief service, and even the outfit she would �SLOVAKIA 25 wear, the beige coat and dress rather than dark colors he hated to see her in. It was a rare funeral for California, where people avoid funerals at all costs if they can. But over 220 of his friends, customers, business acquaintances, nurses and doctors from the hospital, neighbors, all gathered for the short service. It was concluded by Marie placing a corsage of three yellow roses on his coffin, then closing it forever. In August 1961, the cardboard cakebox containing his ashes was dropped into the bay at Santa Cruz, and only the corsage of three yellow roses marked the spot for moments before it, too, floated downwards into that deep ocean of foreverness, leaving behind the two things he loved best, his "wife and typewriter" as he put it so starkly in those last words he wrote. Several months later, his widow showed that his instinct in choosing her for mate was right for she revealed integrity to match his own. Offered a huge sum of money to sell the book to Readers' Digest Condensed Book Club, she refused. She could not "bear to have Tom's last work, all of him that was in that book, cut up and changed until it was no longer him. He would not have liked that." Instead, she consented to the sale of two chapters that would be published as he wrote them. They appeared in the July issue of the Digest, with the title, Six Months to Live. Bell began his life with impatience as if he realized that it would not span the traditional three score and ten. He sat up at six months, and fearing something amiss, his parents consulted a doctor who assured them there was not. From then on, he seemed to always be in a hurry, to live, to love, to understand and to express it all. Reading his way through the local library in his teens, he cut his writing eye teeth on the real meat of Montaigne, Seneca, Keats, Russell, and Thoreau as well as all the classics. He worked at various jobs until he had no choice but to write only. When that seemed ended, he made his choice again and returned to the community life as a shopkeeper �26 SLOVAKIA and enjoyed those that he loved most, his wife, brother and sister-in-law, the beach and the solitude of reading and jotting ideas and thoughts. So sure his writing days were ended, he told no one of his past successes but it was only when they came to pay those last respects did most the mourners learn that he was a writer. "He was fascinated with people," Marie explained, "and he wanted them to talk to him as a person, not a writer." To the last, he took care of the woman he loved, planning her income and living arrangements and for that final act of dropping his ashes into the ocean, he had arranged for his brother to perform that function, not her. Bell was a third generation Slovak-American, and with his generation, the family of the Bells have ended. Curiously, none of his siblings had offspring as did neither he and his Marie. And yet, that life instinct was transmuted into his writing creativity, telling us years later about the immigrants and people of his time, more so than if he had had children who may have failed to perceive and pass on the truths about that life in that time and that place. Without his Marie it is doubtful that his mission would have been accomplished, although she refuses to see.. it other than in terms of the good fortune of having been the·· recipient of immeasurable tenderness and love, from her parents first and then from Bell. She felt that the score is even, he owed her nothing nor did she him. Ironically, Bell owned no property in his lifetime. But only three years ago, after selling the store, his widow bought the first house she ever owned and is living in it, pretty much as she always did, filling the days with friends, relatives, reading as much as she can and attending plays. She has no regrets except that Bell did not live his normal life span to share these years with her, but aside from that understandable one, her erect figure, easy and lilting laugh and bright brown eyes are the heritage of sharing a life of 27 years of "good times and love." In evaluating Bell and his books, I learned of a man of no pretense, hypocrisy and of great integrity. He told of the joys, fears and disappointmets in what the most recent �SLOVAKIA 27 psychological terminology would term "real" that has no denials of his true feelings. How much of this was his Slovak inheritance and how much individual Bell, who can say. But the destiny of his life was a good one. He produced good, very good, work and the affectionate qualities of his life were good indeed. Parents-in-law who filled the long void of a loveless childhood, a wife who fitted her life to his easily and with no complaint, and countless friends and acquaintances to enjoy the good times and finally, the courage to endure that last bitter time at the end. Although Bell disbelieved in a life after death, this is beyond his power and it appears that the strong spirit expressed in his writing is having a resurgence. One understands, as one of his doctors wrote Marie after his death, "that he was a most unusual man whose facing of the suffering of the transfusions and taps and pain was with courage we seldom see." More than that, the reader senses, as did the literary critics who received his last book, the basic decency and goodness of the man and his life and therefore celebrate their continuance, in whatever form perceived. For of all the eternal qualities, that of goodness may be the most valuable. Without it, nothing else is quite palatable; success or failure, joy or grief, even life or death, · and certainly no human relationship of a lasting nature can exist without a measure of it. For goodness is the great leavener that brings all . things in perspective, as wrote Dostoevski in his novel, The Idiot. It is the quality perhaps most derided but still, the one most yearned for-in others -and when present, is remembered long after all else is forgotten. One wishes with Bell's widow that the quantity of his years may have been greater, at least the three score and ten of the Bible he doubted or disbelieved, in the assumption that more books would have been forthcoming. And yet, in the final summation, one accepts reluctantly, as no doubt did Bell, that for the man and for t:q_e -writer, that surely one could do worse. Much worse, indeed. � SLOVAKIA 18 Sonya Jason Good Times and Love THE LIFE OF THOMAS AND MARIE BELL One learns a great deal about any person by the mate he or she chooses. This is especially pertinent for a writer. I had been most fortunate in reading the last of Thomas Bell's books first and while reading In the Midst of Life, became well acquainted with a man of integrity, courage and honesty to the very end. But beyond Bell the man and writer, I caught deep glimpses of the tender love and regard he held for his wife, Marie, and later discovered that these qualities weave in and out like a golden thread through all his works. Now, I could only know Bell by his written memorials. But happily, I could still learn to know the woman he loved and thus I sought out to investigate her, what manner of woman this was that has been loved as few women have, and what was the meter of their life together that produced such affection. She stood in the doorway of her house in Santa Cruz, a tiny, dark haired lady in a chic pantssuit. A glance, a warm embrace and she led me into the kitchen for a chicken sandwich and coffee before she would talk of anything or anyone, even Bell. Marie Bell summarized her life with her husband as full of "good times and love." And for several hours we talked of some of those good times and the love. Thomas Belejcak was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania, on March 7, 1903. His father was an immigrant Slovak but his mother was a first generation American of Slovak parents. He was the oldest of four children and was trained in the Roman Catholic religion, but later repudiated all religions. He also regretted the Anglicizing of his name to Bell but understood the necessity at the time it was done out of economic urgency. Bell's father died on his 11th birthday and he became the man of the family and at 15, was working in a glass �SLOVAKIA 19 company in Glassport, Pennsylvania. When he was 16 and working as an apprentice electrician in Donora, Pennsylvania, his mother died of tuberculosis in a sanitarium. His brother and sisters were shifted about to various relatives to care for. At 19, with the sum of $15.00 in his pocket, Bell went to New York, sleeping in subways until he found a job. He worked for a time as a mechanic in a Long Island Railroad shop before he shipped out to sea as seaman for two years. Upon his return, he found a job as salesman for Schulte's Book Store and then sent for his brother and two sisters to live with him. He wrote his first novel in his spare time, The Breed of Basil, which was neither a great literary nor financial success but revealed a sensitive talent for feeling and words. It was shortly after that he first met Marie Benedetti, the laughing, dark eyed, dark haired Marie whose characteristics were to appear in the woman in his books and stories. It was a traditional meeting but never again was this couple to follow tradition. Bell's sister, Evelyn, worked for Norcross Greeting Card Co., as did Marie, and she asked Marie and another girl for dinner. Marie arrived with a copy of a P. G. Wodehouse book under her arm. After dinner, Bell took her to the subway but accompanied the other girl all the way home across town. Later, he confided to Marie that he lost interest in the other girl when she tried to impress him with her encyclopedia. He then wrote a note to her asking for a date and arrived with a corsage of three yellow roses that were not quite appropriate for the date spent playing ball in the park. But they dated regularly after that day until he felt he should state his intentions. "I want you to know that I am not the marrying kind," Bell announced, not long after that first date in April 1931. "Then we had better call the whole thing off, because I am," she countered. Happily, they did not call it off and on January 2, 1932, 28-year-old Thomas Bell took for his bride the lovely 19year-old Marie to begin twenty-seven years of that life of good times and love. The beginning was hardly auspicious as an astrologer �20 SLOVAKIA might put it. During their first year of marriage, Bell became ill with pneumonia. After his recovery, he was forced to make a choice. Write or work. Not both. Years later, his widow stated unequivocally, that had he attempted to work and write that "it would have killed him," and noted that "A writer gives and gives, you see, never takes, and very quickly expends himself." But she refuses credit for the fact that without her or a wife just like her, there would have been few other or maybe no other books by Bell. He might well have lapsed into another frustrated creative writer whose talent is buried in the cares of the workaday world out of the necessity of earning a living for his family. But there was another destiny for Bell. And Marie was the focal point in it. She became the breadwinner of the family when he made his choice to write. "We had the perfect arrangement," she says now. "Tom wrote from 9 until 4. Then he straightened the house, cooked dinner, ordinary things for me he thought I needed and the strict diet things for him. Then we read, played games, visited and just enjoyed our hours together." Marie worked her way up from 17-year-old messenger to a $10,0000 a year art director when she left Norcross in 1955 to move to Santa Cruz. After his crucial decision, Bell wrote his second book, The Second Prince, published in England under the title, Striker Godown. In this, he utilizes many of his own experiences and expounds his views of striking out against a life of conformity-whatever risk such rebellion entails. Marie says it was during this period that he was finding himself as a person and a writer. His third novel was probably the most financially successful, Marie recalls that when he dropped by her office after a visit to his agent and swung her in the air, she caught a whiff of alcohol, something he almost never touched. "I knew something big had happened," she smiled. He showed her the one year screen writer contract that All Brides Are Beautiful had brought and swung her high again. "We're on our way to Hollywood," as they both laughed with joy. �SLOVAKIA 21 She remembers that year of 1937 in Hollywood when the book was made into the movie, From This Day Forward. as one of the most carefree in their lives. But when it came to an end, Bell refused to sign another contract. "I have other books to write," he decided, and they returned to New York. In 1940 he became seriously ill and for two years, underwent tests before a malignancy in the ilium was discovered. Ever after, he had to adhere to a stringent diet which placed limitations upon mobility and life style. Marie credits her parents for Bell's recovery from the surgery for malignancy. They owned a farm in New Jersey and it was there that Bell went to recuperate. When she saw him three weeks later, she hardly recognized the emaciated husband she had left there. Her mother had cared for Bell, cooking and coaxing him to eat until fifteen pounds were added to the spare frame. "He loved my parents and they loved him. In fact, my whole family loved him," Marie says. "They asked his advice and called him Al. In them, he found the love from a family and parents that he was not able to get from his own." After recovery, their life resumed its peaceful routine. Writing, reading, cooking and photography for Bell. Working, reading, planning their trips to Coney Island, Nantucket, and plays and family for Marie. It was then that Bell wrote his most powerful novel. Out of This Furnace is the saga of three generations of Slovak Americans with all the societal changes and the part they played. But here, he reveals at his best the varying relationships of men and women and how they changed generation by generation. At the end, the relatively independent young wife of Dobie may be the new era of more individual relationships of man-wife of the present and of the Bells themselves. Till I Come Back to You followed. Made into a play, it was badly received by Bell and the public and closed after a brief run on Broadway. During this period he wrote short stories. "That was fun ... " Marie chuckles now: "He would take a week to write one of these romantic boy-girl things and sell it for �22 SLOVAKIA two thousand dollars or more. We had lots of money then." Out of the 25 stories he wrote, one serious effort, The Man Who Made Good in America, was about the Slovak workers in the mills and republished in Our Lives, American Labor Stories in 1948. It is still acclaimed for its poignant example of the exploitation of the Slovak mill workers. The last of Bell's novels shows the refined technique of research blended with perception until the reader is certain that the writer of There Comes A Time had worked as a bank teller. Actually, Marie reveals that the union permitted him to work briefly as a teller and in other bank functions for this story of the formation of a labor union in the bank and its unification with the larger union. As in all his honest works, Bell never falls into the trap of "good guys versus bad guys, or even not so good guys." There are no heroes or heroines. There are people, real people, like Joel Pane who responds to that cross road in everyone's life when one must choose to do more with his life than just exist, or ignore that resurgence of life's beckoning at the price of beginning to decline in spirit as the physiological counterpart begins its descent. Joel Pane, however, like Bell himself, opts for life and its risks and wins his moment of peace with himself. In 1950, nearing fifty years of age, Bell developed a writing block. In exploring the reason for it with his widow, the traditional questions were asked. Was it due to the severe emotional deprivation? Being the man of the family at age eleven? The fact that there never had been a childhood? The harshness of his father? Any and all of these were enough to decimate the strongest psychological constitution. Three years of analysis followed and Bell learned to understand and accept that the tragedy of his early life was also the tragedy of his parents and an entire two or three generations of immigrants who shared in and shaped the upheaval of America, as much too gradually the shackles of poverty and exploitation were thrown off. At the end of three years, he brought Marie to meet his analyst. After a long conference, Dr. Rustin laughingly told him, "With a wife like yours, you don't need analysis. Just �SLOVAKIA 23 don't ever use it to mistreat her in any way ..." Thus ended the inner journey to the psyche, at least with the help of an analyst. For he traveled the rest of his way alone but travel he did. And he traveled outwardly, too, for this now freed him to do something he had long wanted, move to California. But it was not until he was certain that his beloved motherin-law would be all right as his father-in-law had died two years before, and she could adjust to Marie moving far away and leaving her with Marie's two sisters in New York. In his journal, In the Midst of Life, he poignantly describes that last long plane trip that ushered in a new life of being shopkeepers of a stationery and book store. "Tom had five more years of life out here. I never gave up ... when we knew he had an inoperable tumor, we tried every chemical known to science . . . every treatment ... until the very last day, I never gave up hope." And those five years were good ones although Bell wrote only on note pads and in his journal. A poor sleeper, he utilized this time for jotting down ideas and thoughts that came to an active mind. The question of childlessness had to be asked and it was. Marie pondered this for a time before she replied in her direct way. "I never minded not having children as I didn't have much of a maternal instinct. But I regretted it for Tom. He would have been a wonderful father ... " she reflected with tenderness. "He was one of those unusual people who can play with children and yet approach them with the sense of dignity of their being a distinct individual. Children loved him. My nieces and nephews loved him and when grown, often talked and still do of how he played with them and talked with them ... " The shortsightedness of adoption agencies was never a subject that Bell mentioned in his writing, perhaps too sensitive an area for exploration. But Marie tE>lls how they were refused a child--even an older child not too easily adoptable-because she worked outside the house and Bell would have been the one to remain in the home to care �24 SLOVAKIA for the child. This was an arrangement very suspect and considered abnormal at that time. But he refused to let it blight their lives. "Don't worry about it, Marie," he assured her. "We will just have to be a little bit closer to each other, that's all." Whatever else he felt, he carried it to the ocean grave with his ashes, but one suspects he would never write anything that might even slightly hurt the woman he loved. Again and again the thought of how far ahead of their time the Bells were would intrude in the middle of a statement by Marie or in reading passages from his books. How complete was his acceptance of his woman, how spontaneous the expressions of affection; notes pinned on a mirror, a hand scrawled message for "16 years with the right woman" to accompany the birthday lapel pin, a kiss in the middle of Broadway for no reason other than "I just thought how glad I am that you are with me." He recorded some of these moments with his photographic hobby. Nudes of his wife enjoying a waterfall, strolling the beach in shorts, playing with animals or pensively reading. He recorded them also in words in all his books, but particularly that last journal. One is particularly touched by his account of those last few months when he knew he was dying. One is even more scored with poignancy in the account of those last days by his widow. When he knew his end was imminent, he asked his brother to take him to the hospital so "Marie won't come · home from the store and find me dead." There, he lived one day, a day that she still hoped would not be his last, that a miracle would happen. On the last visit, she was able to tell him that In the Midst of Life was to be published by Atheneum Publishers. He patted her hand and murmured "Good publishers, Marie." She left, hoping that this would spark some new life into his wasted body. But a few hours later, he was dead. Later, she learned of how painstakingly he had planned all details of the funeral to spare her; the arrangements for cremation, the brief service, and even the outfit she would �SLOVAKIA 25 wear, the beige coat and dress rather than dark colors he hated to see her in. It was a rare funeral for California, where people avoid funerals at all costs if they can. But over 220 of his friends, customers, business acquaintances, nurses and doctors from the hospital, neighbors, all gathered for the short service. It was concluded by Marie placing a corsage of three yellow roses on his coffin, then closing it forever. In August 1961, the cardboard cakebox containing his ashes was dropped into the bay at Santa Cruz, and only the corsage of three yellow roses marked the spot for moments before it, too, floated downwards into that deep ocean of foreverness, leaving behind the two things he loved best, his "wife and typewriter" as he put it so starkly in those last words he wrote. Several months later, his widow showed that his instinct in choosing her for mate was right for she revealed integrity to match his own. Offered a huge sum of money to sell the book to Readers' Digest Condensed Book Club, she refused. She could not "bear to have Tom's last work, all of him that was in that book, cut up and changed until it was no longer him. He would not have liked that." Instead, she consented to the sale of two chapters that would be published as he wrote them. They appeared in the July issue of the Digest, with the title, Six Months to Live. Bell began his life with impatience as if he realized that it would not span the traditional three score and ten. He sat up at six months, and fearing something amiss, his parents consulted a doctor who assured them there was not. From then on, he seemed to always be in a hurry, to live, to love, to understand and to express it all. Reading his way through the local library in his teens, he cut his writing eye teeth on the real meat of Montaigne, Seneca, Keats, Russell, and Thoreau as well as all the classics. He worked at various jobs until he had no choice but to write only. When that seemed ended, he made his choice again and returned to the community life as a shopkeeper �26 SLOVAKIA and enjoyed those that he loved most, his wife, brother and sister-in-law, the beach and the solitude of reading and jotting ideas and thoughts. So sure his writing days were ended, he told no one of his past successes but it was only when they came to pay those last respects did most the mourners learn that he was a writer. "He was fascinated with people," Marie explained, "and he wanted them to talk to him as a person, not a writer." To the last, he took care of the woman he loved, planning her income and living arrangements and for that final act of dropping his ashes into the ocean, he had arranged for his brother to perform that function, not her. Bell was a third generation Slovak-American, and with his generation, the family of the Bells have ended. Curiously, none of his siblings had offspring as did neither he and his Marie. And yet, that life instinct was transmuted into his writing creativity, telling us years later about the immigrants and people of his time, more so than if he had had children who may have failed to perceive and pass on the truths about that life in that time and that place. Without his Marie it is doubtful that his mission would have been accomplished, although she refuses to see.. it other than in terms of the good fortune of having been the·· recipient of immeasurable tenderness and love, from her parents first and then from Bell. She felt that the score is even, he owed her nothing nor did she him. Ironically, Bell owned no property in his lifetime. But only three years ago, after selling the store, his widow bought the first house she ever owned and is living in it, pretty much as she always did, filling the days with friends, relatives, reading as much as she can and attending plays. She has no regrets except that Bell did not live his normal life span to share these years with her, but aside from that understandable one, her erect figure, easy and lilting laugh and bright brown eyes are the heritage of sharing a life of 27 years of "good times and love." In evaluating Bell and his books, I learned of a man of no pretense, hypocrisy and of great integrity. He told of the joys, fears and disappointmets in what the most recent �SLOVAKIA 27 psychological terminology would term "real" that has no denials of his true feelings. How much of this was his Slovak inheritance and how much individual Bell, who can say. But the destiny of his life was a good one. He produced good, very good, work and the affectionate qualities of his life were good indeed. Parents-in-law who filled the long void of a loveless childhood, a wife who fitted her life to his easily and with no complaint, and countless friends and acquaintances to enjoy the good times and finally, the courage to endure that last bitter time at the end. Although Bell disbelieved in a life after death, this is beyond his power and it appears that the strong spirit expressed in his writing is having a resurgence. One understands, as one of his doctors wrote Marie after his death, "that he was a most unusual man whose facing of the suffering of the transfusions and taps and pain was with courage we seldom see." More than that, the reader senses, as did the literary critics who received his last book, the basic decency and goodness of the man and his life and therefore celebrate their continuance, in whatever form perceived. For of all the eternal qualities, that of goodness may be the most valuable. Without it, nothing else is quite palatable; success or failure, joy or grief, even life or death, · and certainly no human relationship of a lasting nature can exist without a measure of it. For goodness is the great leavener that brings all . things in perspective, as wrote Dostoevski in his novel, The Idiot. It is the quality perhaps most derided but still, the one most yearned for-in others -and when present, is remembered long after all else is forgotten. One wishes with Bell's widow that the quantity of his years may have been greater, at least the three score and ten of the Bible he doubted or disbelieved, in the assumption that more books would have been forthcoming. And yet, in the final summation, one accepts reluctantly, as no doubt did Bell, that for the man and for t:q_e -writer, that surely one could do worse. Much worse, indeed. � 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 1975, Vol. 25 Description An account of the resource Vol. 25 (No. 48), 1975. 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 1975 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 18 Sonya Jason Good Times and Love THE LIFE OF THOMAS AND MARIE BELL One learns a great deal about any person by the mate he or she chooses. This is especially pertinent for a writer. I had been most fortunate in reading the last of Thomas Bell's books first and while reading In the Midst of Life, became well acquainted with a man of integrity, courage and honesty to the very end. But beyond Bell the man and writer, I caught deep glimpses of the tender love and regard he held for his wife, Marie, and later discovered that these qualities weave in and out like a golden thread through all his works. Now, I could only know Bell by his written memorials. But happily, I could still learn to know the woman he loved and thus I sought out to investigate her, what manner of woman this was that has been loved as few women have, and what was the meter of their life together that produced such affection. She stood in the doorway of her house in Santa Cruz, a tiny, dark haired lady in a chic pantssuit. A glance, a warm embrace and she led me into the kitchen for a chicken sandwich and coffee before she would talk of anything or anyone, even Bell. Marie Bell summarized her life with her husband as full of "good times and love." And for several hours we talked of some of those good times and the love. Thomas Belejcak was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania, on March 7, 1903. His father was an immigrant Slovak but his mother was a first generation American of Slovak parents. He was the oldest of four children and was trained in the Roman Catholic religion, but later repudiated all religions. He also regretted the Anglicizing of his name to Bell but understood the necessity at the time it was done out of economic urgency. Bell's father died on his 11th birthday and he became the man of the family and at 15, was working in a glass SLOVAKIA 19 company in Glassport, Pennsylvania. When he was 16 and working as an apprentice electrician in Donora, Pennsylvania, his mother died of tuberculosis in a sanitarium. His brother and sisters were shifted about to various relatives to care for. At 19, with the sum of $15.00 in his pocket, Bell went to New York, sleeping in subways until he found a job. He worked for a time as a mechanic in a Long Island Railroad shop before he shipped out to sea as seaman for two years. Upon his return, he found a job as salesman for Schulte's Book Store and then sent for his brother and two sisters to live with him. He wrote his first novel in his spare time, The Breed of Basil, which was neither a great literary nor financial success but revealed a sensitive talent for feeling and words. It was shortly after that he first met Marie Benedetti, the laughing, dark eyed, dark haired Marie whose characteristics were to appear in the woman in his books and stories. It was a traditional meeting but never again was this couple to follow tradition. Bell's sister, Evelyn, worked for Norcross Greeting Card Co., as did Marie, and she asked Marie and another girl for dinner. Marie arrived with a copy of a P. G. Wodehouse book under her arm. After dinner, Bell took her to the subway but accompanied the other girl all the way home across town. Later, he confided to Marie that he lost interest in the other girl when she tried to impress him with her encyclopedia. He then wrote a note to her asking for a date and arrived with a corsage of three yellow roses that were not quite appropriate for the date spent playing ball in the park. But they dated regularly after that day until he felt he should state his intentions. "I want you to know that I am not the marrying kind," Bell announced, not long after that first date in April 1931. "Then we had better call the whole thing off, because I am," she countered. Happily, they did not call it off and on January 2, 1932, 28-year-old Thomas Bell took for his bride the lovely 19year-old Marie to begin twenty-seven years of that life of good times and love. The beginning was hardly auspicious as an astrologer 20 SLOVAKIA might put it. During their first year of marriage, Bell became ill with pneumonia. After his recovery, he was forced to make a choice. Write or work. Not both. Years later, his widow stated unequivocally, that had he attempted to work and write that "it would have killed him," and noted that "A writer gives and gives, you see, never takes, and very quickly expends himself." But she refuses credit for the fact that without her or a wife just like her, there would have been few other or maybe no other books by Bell. He might well have lapsed into another frustrated creative writer whose talent is buried in the cares of the workaday world out of the necessity of earning a living for his family. But there was another destiny for Bell. And Marie was the focal point in it. She became the breadwinner of the family when he made his choice to write. "We had the perfect arrangement," she says now. "Tom wrote from 9 until 4. Then he straightened the house, cooked dinner, ordinary things for me he thought I needed and the strict diet things for him. Then we read, played games, visited and just enjoyed our hours together." Marie worked her way up from 17-year-old messenger to a $10,0000 a year art director when she left Norcross in 1955 to move to Santa Cruz. After his crucial decision, Bell wrote his second book, The Second Prince, published in England under the title, Striker Godown. In this, he utilizes many of his own experiences and expounds his views of striking out against a life of conformity-whatever risk such rebellion entails. Marie says it was during this period that he was finding himself as a person and a writer. His third novel was probably the most financially successful, Marie recalls that when he dropped by her office after a visit to his agent and swung her in the air, she caught a whiff of alcohol, something he almost never touched. "I knew something big had happened," she smiled. He showed her the one year screen writer contract that All Brides Are Beautiful had brought and swung her high again. "We're on our way to Hollywood," as they both laughed with joy. SLOVAKIA 21 She remembers that year of 1937 in Hollywood when the book was made into the movie, From This Day Forward. as one of the most carefree in their lives. But when it came to an end, Bell refused to sign another contract. "I have other books to write," he decided, and they returned to New York. In 1940 he became seriously ill and for two years, underwent tests before a malignancy in the ilium was discovered. Ever after, he had to adhere to a stringent diet which placed limitations upon mobility and life style. Marie credits her parents for Bell's recovery from the surgery for malignancy. They owned a farm in New Jersey and it was there that Bell went to recuperate. When she saw him three weeks later, she hardly recognized the emaciated husband she had left there. Her mother had cared for Bell, cooking and coaxing him to eat until fifteen pounds were added to the spare frame. "He loved my parents and they loved him. In fact, my whole family loved him," Marie says. "They asked his advice and called him Al. In them, he found the love from a family and parents that he was not able to get from his own." After recovery, their life resumed its peaceful routine. Writing, reading, cooking and photography for Bell. Working, reading, planning their trips to Coney Island, Nantucket, and plays and family for Marie. It was then that Bell wrote his most powerful novel. Out of This Furnace is the saga of three generations of Slovak Americans with all the societal changes and the part they played. But here, he reveals at his best the varying relationships of men and women and how they changed generation by generation. At the end, the relatively independent young wife of Dobie may be the new era of more individual relationships of man-wife of the present and of the Bells themselves. Till I Come Back to You followed. Made into a play, it was badly received by Bell and the public and closed after a brief run on Broadway. During this period he wrote short stories. "That was fun ... " Marie chuckles now: "He would take a week to write one of these romantic boy-girl things and sell it for 22 SLOVAKIA two thousand dollars or more. We had lots of money then." Out of the 25 stories he wrote, one serious effort, The Man Who Made Good in America, was about the Slovak workers in the mills and republished in Our Lives, American Labor Stories in 1948. It is still acclaimed for its poignant example of the exploitation of the Slovak mill workers. The last of Bell's novels shows the refined technique of research blended with perception until the reader is certain that the writer of There Comes A Time had worked as a bank teller. Actually, Marie reveals that the union permitted him to work briefly as a teller and in other bank functions for this story of the formation of a labor union in the bank and its unification with the larger union. As in all his honest works, Bell never falls into the trap of "good guys versus bad guys, or even not so good guys." There are no heroes or heroines. There are people, real people, like Joel Pane who responds to that cross road in everyone's life when one must choose to do more with his life than just exist, or ignore that resurgence of life's beckoning at the price of beginning to decline in spirit as the physiological counterpart begins its descent. Joel Pane, however, like Bell himself, opts for life and its risks and wins his moment of peace with himself. In 1950, nearing fifty years of age, Bell developed a writing block. In exploring the reason for it with his widow, the traditional questions were asked. Was it due to the severe emotional deprivation? Being the man of the family at age eleven? The fact that there never had been a childhood? The harshness of his father? Any and all of these were enough to decimate the strongest psychological constitution. Three years of analysis followed and Bell learned to understand and accept that the tragedy of his early life was also the tragedy of his parents and an entire two or three generations of immigrants who shared in and shaped the upheaval of America, as much too gradually the shackles of poverty and exploitation were thrown off. At the end of three years, he brought Marie to meet his analyst. After a long conference, Dr. Rustin laughingly told him, "With a wife like yours, you don't need analysis. Just SLOVAKIA 23 don't ever use it to mistreat her in any way ..." Thus ended the inner journey to the psyche, at least with the help of an analyst. For he traveled the rest of his way alone but travel he did. And he traveled outwardly, too, for this now freed him to do something he had long wanted, move to California. But it was not until he was certain that his beloved motherin-law would be all right as his father-in-law had died two years before, and she could adjust to Marie moving far away and leaving her with Marie's two sisters in New York. In his journal, In the Midst of Life, he poignantly describes that last long plane trip that ushered in a new life of being shopkeepers of a stationery and book store. "Tom had five more years of life out here. I never gave up ... when we knew he had an inoperable tumor, we tried every chemical known to science . . . every treatment ... until the very last day, I never gave up hope." And those five years were good ones although Bell wrote only on note pads and in his journal. A poor sleeper, he utilized this time for jotting down ideas and thoughts that came to an active mind. The question of childlessness had to be asked and it was. Marie pondered this for a time before she replied in her direct way. "I never minded not having children as I didn't have much of a maternal instinct. But I regretted it for Tom. He would have been a wonderful father ... " she reflected with tenderness. "He was one of those unusual people who can play with children and yet approach them with the sense of dignity of their being a distinct individual. Children loved him. My nieces and nephews loved him and when grown, often talked and still do of how he played with them and talked with them ... " The shortsightedness of adoption agencies was never a subject that Bell mentioned in his writing, perhaps too sensitive an area for exploration. But Marie tE>lls how they were refused a child--even an older child not too easily adoptable-because she worked outside the house and Bell would have been the one to remain in the home to care 24 SLOVAKIA for the child. This was an arrangement very suspect and considered abnormal at that time. But he refused to let it blight their lives. "Don't worry about it, Marie," he assured her. "We will just have to be a little bit closer to each other, that's all." Whatever else he felt, he carried it to the ocean grave with his ashes, but one suspects he would never write anything that might even slightly hurt the woman he loved. Again and again the thought of how far ahead of their time the Bells were would intrude in the middle of a statement by Marie or in reading passages from his books. How complete was his acceptance of his woman, how spontaneous the expressions of affection; notes pinned on a mirror, a hand scrawled message for "16 years with the right woman" to accompany the birthday lapel pin, a kiss in the middle of Broadway for no reason other than "I just thought how glad I am that you are with me." He recorded some of these moments with his photographic hobby. Nudes of his wife enjoying a waterfall, strolling the beach in shorts, playing with animals or pensively reading. He recorded them also in words in all his books, but particularly that last journal. One is particularly touched by his account of those last few months when he knew he was dying. One is even more scored with poignancy in the account of those last days by his widow. When he knew his end was imminent, he asked his brother to take him to the hospital so "Marie won't come · home from the store and find me dead." There, he lived one day, a day that she still hoped would not be his last, that a miracle would happen. On the last visit, she was able to tell him that In the Midst of Life was to be published by Atheneum Publishers. He patted her hand and murmured "Good publishers, Marie." She left, hoping that this would spark some new life into his wasted body. But a few hours later, he was dead. Later, she learned of how painstakingly he had planned all details of the funeral to spare her; the arrangements for cremation, the brief service, and even the outfit she would SLOVAKIA 25 wear, the beige coat and dress rather than dark colors he hated to see her in. It was a rare funeral for California, where people avoid funerals at all costs if they can. But over 220 of his friends, customers, business acquaintances, nurses and doctors from the hospital, neighbors, all gathered for the short service. It was concluded by Marie placing a corsage of three yellow roses on his coffin, then closing it forever. In August 1961, the cardboard cakebox containing his ashes was dropped into the bay at Santa Cruz, and only the corsage of three yellow roses marked the spot for moments before it, too, floated downwards into that deep ocean of foreverness, leaving behind the two things he loved best, his "wife and typewriter" as he put it so starkly in those last words he wrote. Several months later, his widow showed that his instinct in choosing her for mate was right for she revealed integrity to match his own. Offered a huge sum of money to sell the book to Readers' Digest Condensed Book Club, she refused. She could not "bear to have Tom's last work, all of him that was in that book, cut up and changed until it was no longer him. He would not have liked that." Instead, she consented to the sale of two chapters that would be published as he wrote them. They appeared in the July issue of the Digest, with the title, Six Months to Live. Bell began his life with impatience as if he realized that it would not span the traditional three score and ten. He sat up at six months, and fearing something amiss, his parents consulted a doctor who assured them there was not. From then on, he seemed to always be in a hurry, to live, to love, to understand and to express it all. Reading his way through the local library in his teens, he cut his writing eye teeth on the real meat of Montaigne, Seneca, Keats, Russell, and Thoreau as well as all the classics. He worked at various jobs until he had no choice but to write only. When that seemed ended, he made his choice again and returned to the community life as a shopkeeper 26 SLOVAKIA and enjoyed those that he loved most, his wife, brother and sister-in-law, the beach and the solitude of reading and jotting ideas and thoughts. So sure his writing days were ended, he told no one of his past successes but it was only when they came to pay those last respects did most the mourners learn that he was a writer. "He was fascinated with people," Marie explained, "and he wanted them to talk to him as a person, not a writer." To the last, he took care of the woman he loved, planning her income and living arrangements and for that final act of dropping his ashes into the ocean, he had arranged for his brother to perform that function, not her. Bell was a third generation Slovak-American, and with his generation, the family of the Bells have ended. Curiously, none of his siblings had offspring as did neither he and his Marie. And yet, that life instinct was transmuted into his writing creativity, telling us years later about the immigrants and people of his time, more so than if he had had children who may have failed to perceive and pass on the truths about that life in that time and that place. Without his Marie it is doubtful that his mission would have been accomplished, although she refuses to see.. it other than in terms of the good fortune of having been the·· recipient of immeasurable tenderness and love, from her parents first and then from Bell. She felt that the score is even, he owed her nothing nor did she him. Ironically, Bell owned no property in his lifetime. But only three years ago, after selling the store, his widow bought the first house she ever owned and is living in it, pretty much as she always did, filling the days with friends, relatives, reading as much as she can and attending plays. She has no regrets except that Bell did not live his normal life span to share these years with her, but aside from that understandable one, her erect figure, easy and lilting laugh and bright brown eyes are the heritage of sharing a life of 27 years of "good times and love." In evaluating Bell and his books, I learned of a man of no pretense, hypocrisy and of great integrity. He told of the joys, fears and disappointmets in what the most recent SLOVAKIA 27 psychological terminology would term "real" that has no denials of his true feelings. How much of this was his Slovak inheritance and how much individual Bell, who can say. But the destiny of his life was a good one. He produced good, very good, work and the affectionate qualities of his life were good indeed. Parents-in-law who filled the long void of a loveless childhood, a wife who fitted her life to his easily and with no complaint, and countless friends and acquaintances to enjoy the good times and finally, the courage to endure that last bitter time at the end. Although Bell disbelieved in a life after death, this is beyond his power and it appears that the strong spirit expressed in his writing is having a resurgence. One understands, as one of his doctors wrote Marie after his death, "that he was a most unusual man whose facing of the suffering of the transfusions and taps and pain was with courage we seldom see." More than that, the reader senses, as did the literary critics who received his last book, the basic decency and goodness of the man and his life and therefore celebrate their continuance, in whatever form perceived. For of all the eternal qualities, that of goodness may be the most valuable. Without it, nothing else is quite palatable; success or failure, joy or grief, even life or death, · and certainly no human relationship of a lasting nature can exist without a measure of it. For goodness is the great leavener that brings all . things in perspective, as wrote Dostoevski in his novel, The Idiot. It is the quality perhaps most derided but still, the one most yearned for-in others -and when present, is remembered long after all else is forgotten. One wishes with Bell's widow that the quantity of his years may have been greater, at least the three score and ten of the Bible he doubted or disbelieved, in the assumption that more books would have been forthcoming. And yet, in the final summation, one accepts reluctantly, as no doubt did Bell, that for the man and for t:q_e -writer, that surely one could do worse. Much worse, indeed.  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 Good Times and Love: The Life of Thomas and Marie Bell Description An account of the resource Sonya Jason Slovakia, Vol. 25 (No. 48), 1975 pp. 18-27 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jason, Sonya, 1924- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6e569d0c39e1821f0ee1671443347001.pdf d16efb37ce3186a20087b170159ad16b PDF Text Text 126 SLOVAKIA Babushka SONYA JASON She was in church again this morning. As before, the image in long, dark blue skirt and blouse, navy kerchief covering her head that only accentuated the high Slavic cheekbones and pale blue eyes; so strongly did she resemble my long dead mother that it jarred me deeply. Throughout Divine Liturgy, my spirit prayed but my heart battled tears and homesickness , not only for my mother, but for the wealth of the past. As a child I had always seen at least one old lady at every weekday church service . There still is. Babushka or " little grandmother" we called them and still do. As there can be no Orthodox Liturgy unless a community of worshippers of at least two or three is present, including the celebrant priest , often her efforts to be there on winter or stormy mornings made the difference whether a particular saint would be honored in God's house on his or her feast day in that liturgical year. Today was my name-saint 's day and I set aside pressing duties to drive twenty-five miles to worship and petition not only for my needs but for those of my loved ones and all the world. Standing near the babushka to light a candle , I heard her lips murmur in prayer and noted that her mind was far, far away. She was oblivious to my presence and became immersed at once in the Liturgy and remained so throughout. Whoever she was , she cared only about what she was doing, and this morning, it was the business of prayer and worship. I could feel a spiritual energy emanate from her very presence. Like her, my mother had had a sense of identity so strong that you felt it at once. My very first knowledge of this came the year before I started school. A new little girl whose family had just moved into our coal mining patch the week before timidly wandered over. Warily we sized each other up. " Where did you come from? " Her query did not connote Freudian curiosity about sexual origins or even another town. Rather, it was ordinary for us children to learn the country of parents ' origin. From this , invisible guidelines were established, and if both sets of parents were \ll'om the same country in Europe, frequently friendships of depth were formed at once. �SLOVAKIA 127 " I'm Czech, " I replied. "I'm Polish." But my mother, scrubbing shirt collars on a corrugated washboard set in a galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor , straightened up with a frown . She brushed a tawny tendril off her glistening brow and pushed it back into the knot on top of her head. " Come here ... " she beckoned me with a finger dribbling bubbles of strong laundry soap. " You are Slovak," she corrected. I shrugged. " What 's the difference? " My question was partly puzzlement and partly that indifference of children to the vagaries of their parents. " Difference?" she echoed. Drying arms on her apron after plunging the shirts under suds to soak, she waved my new friend and me inside . We watched her cut thick slices of freshly baked bread from a loaf cooling on the shelf above the kitchen table and butter them . Eagerly we accepted and sat beside her to eat and listen. " You and Mary are sisters . But are you exactly alike? " The bread was warm and delicious and helped me ponder. I was dark and chubby. Mary fair and thin. The comparison made me giggle , but through a mouthful of bread I managed a '' huh uh. '' " Well, it's the same thing. Czechs and Slovaks are brothers and sisters but not the same." She then entertained us with the legend of King Sviitopluk as it has been told to untold generations of Czech and Slovak children . It seems that long ago good King Sviitopluk had two sons , Mojmir II and Sviitopluk II. They were fractious and greedy for each other's share of the kingdom as well as their own. On his deathbed, the old king summoned them and, holding their hands together in brotherly bond , admonished them: '' As long as you remember you are brothers and remain united, all will be well with you. If you forget and fight each other, you will suffer and your people with you. " Their vows of unity evaporated with their tears and hardly was the king in his grave before they began to squabble and conspire for each other's territories. In time, the dire warning came true; Bohemia and Slovakia, united and thriving as the Great Moravian Empire , were overrun and conquered as soon as they were divided. And so they remain to this day, separate in geography and philosophy and fates , although brothers and sisters in spirit. This example of the tragic consequences of sibling rivalry left an indelible impression upon me , but not the story of the Old Country. For �128 SLOVAKIA I was an American . .. and the Old Country meant little to me for many years. Not until that time in mid-life when we come full circle to what and who we are was I able to know and appreciate my mother for the individual she was and relish her memory to the fullest . ' 'I am Slovak-American . . . but you are American-Slovak .. . '' she would point out when we tried to urge supposedly superior ways upon her. Thus she paid tribute to Caesar without judgment. It was fine for us , but for her, she accepted only those changes she cared to adopt and we were not to forget it. And so we grew. Through good times , not so many, and bad times , more numerous, she never lost that sense of identity . Contained in it was a firm faith in Life and God, exemplified for her in her robust Eastern Orthodox faith . Although we lived too far from a church for regular attendance, babies were driven long distances for baptisms and on their name day would be carried to the nearest church for special remembrance. Also, on most holidays , special liturgical prayers were chanted in Slavonic by my father from his frayed prayer book with mother singing the responses. "For our President , for all civil authorities, for every city and country, let us pray to the Lord . . . '' a booming baritone would rise and fall. And back in light, high soprano would come the sung response, " Lord have mercy. " Eagerly I awaited my name day. Leaving brothers and sisters in care of a friend , my mother and I walked the four miles of country road lined with trees flamboyant in fall colors of late September. It was doubly special because we were both named for St. Sophia. At tiny St. John 's, the ikons, candles gleaming in the interior of mellow woods , and perfumed incense accompanying the prayers of intense , bearded Father Michael were awesome. But it was the babushki, those women standing at the front of the church, staunch, solid, and intent upon every word that wended its way upwards over the altar in a trail of incense vapor, that I recall most vividly. Whoever they were they mattered so much that there was no need to ask about them. They just were . When a particular one coaxed me to join her in singing the response , I refused. On the way home , my mother chided me . " But I don 't understand that language \ .. " I protested. " I talk English ." ' Was there a tinge of arrogance or presentiment of falsity that might harm her child that made my mother walk a silent mile with wor- �SLOVAKIA 129 ried face before she spoke? I don't know. But right before we crossed the bridge that led up the hill to the mining patch, she abruptly stopped. "See?" she pointed to the bridge. "That is you." "Me?" "Yes, I am Slovak who came here . . . yet . . . " and she struggled so hard for just the right words, ''I am not 100 percent American. Never." She pointed to her heart. "In here, you not 100 percent. Your children, maybe, but not you, not yet ... " She shook her head vehemently. ' ' But some day you will pray in church in English . . . like you talk." But as the legend of Svatopluk, the words faded almost as soon as spoken, the profound simile of first generation Americans as bridges connecting two cultures seeming wasted on a child. At the beginning of World War II my family moved to the city of Pittsburgh, but my mother remained Slovak-American and who she was all the days of her life. Her native land was a small area in the heartland of Europe, and every army of history had rolled over it again and again. Yet in villages and huts and farms, families such as ours managed to preserve a spark of identity of a people separate from all other peoples. Through centuries of political and economic repression and the contempts of a world that advanced more rapidly, yes even that of sibling Czechs whose German influence helped industrial advances, rural Slovaks as my mother never lost faith in themselves as persons or as a people. Above all, there was a deep faith in God and gratitude for the gift of life itself with all its tragedies. When my three brothers immediately enlisted in the Army she only sighed an agony-filled "vojna . . . vojna . .. "war ... war ... for her native land had suffered its destruction countless times and would again. And now even her adopted land was afflicted. When that dreaded telegram came saying that one of her sons, Nick, was killed in France, her anguish could only weep, ''vojna ... vojna .. . '' and her sorrow was finally assuaged in her church and by her God whom she still trusted as preserver of Life. And then one day we assembled from various parts of the country to weep through a last Liturgy for her. The large spirit had departed the tiny, tired body that had borne twelve children and raised ten by laboring through numberless 18-hour days required to feed, clothe, and nourish physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The depth of our loss was indescribable. She was our strength. Our comfort. Our life. And now she was gone. Even our powerful father �130 SLOVAKIA never quite recovered, and none of us was surprised when he followed her three years later, the light of his life having left this earth. It was years before I returned to the church of my mother. I had a search to make first. In other philosophies . Into the intellect. The emotions . Even at other altars. But that bowl of emptiness that was my inner being remained unfulfilled. I had consciously forgotten St. Sophia' s Day, but my heart must have remembered. Because it was the end of September when I found my way to a tiny Orthodox church in my Los Angeles suburb so much like the St . John's of my childhood, four decades and thousands of miles apart. Intense, bearded Father Sergei welcomed me and sat silently through my tale of bewilderment and woe. I had much of what the world valued, earned with so much effort. Then why hadn't God rewarded me with happiness? Why was I so sad? He smiled gently and touched my hand. '' But you have tried to cut off your roots . Did you think you could truly live like that? '' I drew back in protest. God was universal. God was immense. God was everywhere . Of course . Of course . Of course. He nodded assent to it all. But even before he said it, the ancient teaching of the Bible not to despise the church of one 's mother rose to my memory. So? What could it mean to me in the 1970s? The feeling part. Not the legal, formal , structured part. But that part of my mother's church that was a God of love , of mercy and nonjudgment, of trust in the largesse of life on earth and hereafter, a life so rich in mysteries that no arrogant egotism could hope to fathom it in a lifetime. Oh, how it had sustained her as she lived it and how expansive her life of spirit had been! The many who came to her funeral witnessed to that. Over and over they wept with us , remembering, " She was so kind ," or " When I was sick she came to see me every day and once brought a jar of peaches ,'' this in a depression year that must have emptied her larder of hoarded desserts , and " She always had a word of encouragement for me . . .. '' Together we mourned our loss. Joy despite a hard life and in her God. And I had lost it if indeed I had ever had it, I now bewailed. " But not at all. Why look , her prayers received a miraculous answer. God sent the Holy Spirit to bring you full circle . . . why, you have come home. And do you know sometl\ing? She was right . . . you will pray the Liturgy in English . . . . ' ' \ For he was the same priest who had changed tradition by celebrat- �SLOVAKIA 131 ing Liturgy in English aftet translating words and music from Old Slavonic, beginning just a short time before in this very church. Tears submerged the abutment to the bridge of connection for a time. With them, accumulated dust of the nonsense of years was washed away until once more that inner child emerged to again stand free and adventurous in heart . "Wisdom, " the priest had intoned this morning as he always does preceding the gospel reading. Sophia. The name meant wisdom. And my mother had had it. A peasant surety that was as deep as the intellect , only kinder and warmer. So many others had come to drink of that fountain and never had one gone away again still thirsty. Was my mother unique? Certainly in the individual sense. One of a kind I was sure until the publication of my novel, Concomitant Soldier. In it I had drawn from her qualities to create a key character. Then came the reviews and letters . ' ' Anna is my Italian nonna (grandmother) all over again . " Anna is just like my Swedish moder (mother) .. . " '' Anna is just like my wonderful Tia Roas . . . ' ' And even, "Anna is exactly like my English nanny I loved so much " She was, it seems, not only multi-ethnic, but her number was legion. And she left an imprint upon spirits that truly unites, first, sec~ ond, and third-generation Americans of very persuasion, and fortunate indeed are those families who experienced her grace. For too long, my life had been one of activity but, not united to my feelings and spirit, made every achievement empty. Somehow the babushki I knew, just as my mother, had never been so fragmented, perhaps more common in our day of increasing opportunities in the outer world of action. And today as I become a link in that long chain of babushki, past, present, and those to come , when I light candles and follow ancient prayers of liturgical custom, my spirit will join with those countless others as we add a special petition for the sacred tradition of wholeness to be handed down intact to our daughters and sisters everywhere. Although I don 't possess that intuitive sense of destiny and sure strength of spirit, still there is hope as the Church they served teaches, and maybe if I listen as intently to the still voice from the temple within, something of the mystery of who and why I am in this particular time and place and how to carry my own light into my world today will be revealed. Until then , it is enough merely to try to become my mother's daughter. Amen and amen. �� 126 SLOVAKIA Babushka SONYA JASON She was in church again this morning. As before, the image in long, dark blue skirt and blouse, navy kerchief covering her head that only accentuated the high Slavic cheekbones and pale blue eyes; so strongly did she resemble my long dead mother that it jarred me deeply. Throughout Divine Liturgy, my spirit prayed but my heart battled tears and homesickness , not only for my mother, but for the wealth of the past. As a child I had always seen at least one old lady at every weekday church service . There still is. Babushka or " little grandmother" we called them and still do. As there can be no Orthodox Liturgy unless a community of worshippers of at least two or three is present, including the celebrant priest , often her efforts to be there on winter or stormy mornings made the difference whether a particular saint would be honored in God's house on his or her feast day in that liturgical year. Today was my name-saint 's day and I set aside pressing duties to drive twenty-five miles to worship and petition not only for my needs but for those of my loved ones and all the world. Standing near the babushka to light a candle , I heard her lips murmur in prayer and noted that her mind was far, far away. She was oblivious to my presence and became immersed at once in the Liturgy and remained so throughout. Whoever she was , she cared only about what she was doing, and this morning, it was the business of prayer and worship. I could feel a spiritual energy emanate from her very presence. Like her, my mother had had a sense of identity so strong that you felt it at once. My very first knowledge of this came the year before I started school. A new little girl whose family had just moved into our coal mining patch the week before timidly wandered over. Warily we sized each other up. " Where did you come from? " Her query did not connote Freudian curiosity about sexual origins or even another town. Rather, it was ordinary for us children to learn the country of parents ' origin. From this , invisible guidelines were established, and if both sets of parents were \ll'om the same country in Europe, frequently friendships of depth were formed at once. �SLOVAKIA 127 " I'm Czech, " I replied. "I'm Polish." But my mother, scrubbing shirt collars on a corrugated washboard set in a galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor , straightened up with a frown . She brushed a tawny tendril off her glistening brow and pushed it back into the knot on top of her head. " Come here ... " she beckoned me with a finger dribbling bubbles of strong laundry soap. " You are Slovak," she corrected. I shrugged. " What 's the difference? " My question was partly puzzlement and partly that indifference of children to the vagaries of their parents. " Difference?" she echoed. Drying arms on her apron after plunging the shirts under suds to soak, she waved my new friend and me inside . We watched her cut thick slices of freshly baked bread from a loaf cooling on the shelf above the kitchen table and butter them . Eagerly we accepted and sat beside her to eat and listen. " You and Mary are sisters . But are you exactly alike? " The bread was warm and delicious and helped me ponder. I was dark and chubby. Mary fair and thin. The comparison made me giggle , but through a mouthful of bread I managed a '' huh uh. '' " Well, it's the same thing. Czechs and Slovaks are brothers and sisters but not the same." She then entertained us with the legend of King Sviitopluk as it has been told to untold generations of Czech and Slovak children . It seems that long ago good King Sviitopluk had two sons , Mojmir II and Sviitopluk II. They were fractious and greedy for each other's share of the kingdom as well as their own. On his deathbed, the old king summoned them and, holding their hands together in brotherly bond , admonished them: '' As long as you remember you are brothers and remain united, all will be well with you. If you forget and fight each other, you will suffer and your people with you. " Their vows of unity evaporated with their tears and hardly was the king in his grave before they began to squabble and conspire for each other's territories. In time, the dire warning came true; Bohemia and Slovakia, united and thriving as the Great Moravian Empire , were overrun and conquered as soon as they were divided. And so they remain to this day, separate in geography and philosophy and fates , although brothers and sisters in spirit. This example of the tragic consequences of sibling rivalry left an indelible impression upon me , but not the story of the Old Country. For �128 SLOVAKIA I was an American . .. and the Old Country meant little to me for many years. Not until that time in mid-life when we come full circle to what and who we are was I able to know and appreciate my mother for the individual she was and relish her memory to the fullest . ' 'I am Slovak-American . . . but you are American-Slovak .. . '' she would point out when we tried to urge supposedly superior ways upon her. Thus she paid tribute to Caesar without judgment. It was fine for us , but for her, she accepted only those changes she cared to adopt and we were not to forget it. And so we grew. Through good times , not so many, and bad times , more numerous, she never lost that sense of identity . Contained in it was a firm faith in Life and God, exemplified for her in her robust Eastern Orthodox faith . Although we lived too far from a church for regular attendance, babies were driven long distances for baptisms and on their name day would be carried to the nearest church for special remembrance. Also, on most holidays , special liturgical prayers were chanted in Slavonic by my father from his frayed prayer book with mother singing the responses. "For our President , for all civil authorities, for every city and country, let us pray to the Lord . . . '' a booming baritone would rise and fall. And back in light, high soprano would come the sung response, " Lord have mercy. " Eagerly I awaited my name day. Leaving brothers and sisters in care of a friend , my mother and I walked the four miles of country road lined with trees flamboyant in fall colors of late September. It was doubly special because we were both named for St. Sophia. At tiny St. John 's, the ikons, candles gleaming in the interior of mellow woods , and perfumed incense accompanying the prayers of intense , bearded Father Michael were awesome. But it was the babushki, those women standing at the front of the church, staunch, solid, and intent upon every word that wended its way upwards over the altar in a trail of incense vapor, that I recall most vividly. Whoever they were they mattered so much that there was no need to ask about them. They just were . When a particular one coaxed me to join her in singing the response , I refused. On the way home , my mother chided me . " But I don 't understand that language \ .. " I protested. " I talk English ." ' Was there a tinge of arrogance or presentiment of falsity that might harm her child that made my mother walk a silent mile with wor- �SLOVAKIA 129 ried face before she spoke? I don't know. But right before we crossed the bridge that led up the hill to the mining patch, she abruptly stopped. "See?" she pointed to the bridge. "That is you." "Me?" "Yes, I am Slovak who came here . . . yet . . . " and she struggled so hard for just the right words, ''I am not 100 percent American. Never." She pointed to her heart. "In here, you not 100 percent. Your children, maybe, but not you, not yet ... " She shook her head vehemently. ' ' But some day you will pray in church in English . . . like you talk." But as the legend of Svatopluk, the words faded almost as soon as spoken, the profound simile of first generation Americans as bridges connecting two cultures seeming wasted on a child. At the beginning of World War II my family moved to the city of Pittsburgh, but my mother remained Slovak-American and who she was all the days of her life. Her native land was a small area in the heartland of Europe, and every army of history had rolled over it again and again. Yet in villages and huts and farms, families such as ours managed to preserve a spark of identity of a people separate from all other peoples. Through centuries of political and economic repression and the contempts of a world that advanced more rapidly, yes even that of sibling Czechs whose German influence helped industrial advances, rural Slovaks as my mother never lost faith in themselves as persons or as a people. Above all, there was a deep faith in God and gratitude for the gift of life itself with all its tragedies. When my three brothers immediately enlisted in the Army she only sighed an agony-filled "vojna . . . vojna . .. "war ... war ... for her native land had suffered its destruction countless times and would again. And now even her adopted land was afflicted. When that dreaded telegram came saying that one of her sons, Nick, was killed in France, her anguish could only weep, ''vojna ... vojna .. . '' and her sorrow was finally assuaged in her church and by her God whom she still trusted as preserver of Life. And then one day we assembled from various parts of the country to weep through a last Liturgy for her. The large spirit had departed the tiny, tired body that had borne twelve children and raised ten by laboring through numberless 18-hour days required to feed, clothe, and nourish physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The depth of our loss was indescribable. She was our strength. Our comfort. Our life. And now she was gone. Even our powerful father �130 SLOVAKIA never quite recovered, and none of us was surprised when he followed her three years later, the light of his life having left this earth. It was years before I returned to the church of my mother. I had a search to make first. In other philosophies . Into the intellect. The emotions . Even at other altars. But that bowl of emptiness that was my inner being remained unfulfilled. I had consciously forgotten St. Sophia' s Day, but my heart must have remembered. Because it was the end of September when I found my way to a tiny Orthodox church in my Los Angeles suburb so much like the St . John's of my childhood, four decades and thousands of miles apart. Intense, bearded Father Sergei welcomed me and sat silently through my tale of bewilderment and woe. I had much of what the world valued, earned with so much effort. Then why hadn't God rewarded me with happiness? Why was I so sad? He smiled gently and touched my hand. '' But you have tried to cut off your roots . Did you think you could truly live like that? '' I drew back in protest. God was universal. God was immense. God was everywhere . Of course . Of course . Of course. He nodded assent to it all. But even before he said it, the ancient teaching of the Bible not to despise the church of one 's mother rose to my memory. So? What could it mean to me in the 1970s? The feeling part. Not the legal, formal , structured part. But that part of my mother's church that was a God of love , of mercy and nonjudgment, of trust in the largesse of life on earth and hereafter, a life so rich in mysteries that no arrogant egotism could hope to fathom it in a lifetime. Oh, how it had sustained her as she lived it and how expansive her life of spirit had been! The many who came to her funeral witnessed to that. Over and over they wept with us , remembering, " She was so kind ," or " When I was sick she came to see me every day and once brought a jar of peaches ,'' this in a depression year that must have emptied her larder of hoarded desserts , and " She always had a word of encouragement for me . . .. '' Together we mourned our loss. Joy despite a hard life and in her God. And I had lost it if indeed I had ever had it, I now bewailed. " But not at all. Why look , her prayers received a miraculous answer. God sent the Holy Spirit to bring you full circle . . . why, you have come home. And do you know sometl\ing? She was right . . . you will pray the Liturgy in English . . . . ' ' \ For he was the same priest who had changed tradition by celebrat- �SLOVAKIA 131 ing Liturgy in English aftet translating words and music from Old Slavonic, beginning just a short time before in this very church. Tears submerged the abutment to the bridge of connection for a time. With them, accumulated dust of the nonsense of years was washed away until once more that inner child emerged to again stand free and adventurous in heart . "Wisdom, " the priest had intoned this morning as he always does preceding the gospel reading. Sophia. The name meant wisdom. And my mother had had it. A peasant surety that was as deep as the intellect , only kinder and warmer. So many others had come to drink of that fountain and never had one gone away again still thirsty. Was my mother unique? Certainly in the individual sense. One of a kind I was sure until the publication of my novel, Concomitant Soldier. In it I had drawn from her qualities to create a key character. Then came the reviews and letters . ' ' Anna is my Italian nonna (grandmother) all over again . " Anna is just like my Swedish moder (mother) .. . " '' Anna is just like my wonderful Tia Roas . . . ' ' And even, "Anna is exactly like my English nanny I loved so much " She was, it seems, not only multi-ethnic, but her number was legion. And she left an imprint upon spirits that truly unites, first, sec~ ond, and third-generation Americans of very persuasion, and fortunate indeed are those families who experienced her grace. For too long, my life had been one of activity but, not united to my feelings and spirit, made every achievement empty. Somehow the babushki I knew, just as my mother, had never been so fragmented, perhaps more common in our day of increasing opportunities in the outer world of action. And today as I become a link in that long chain of babushki, past, present, and those to come , when I light candles and follow ancient prayers of liturgical custom, my spirit will join with those countless others as we add a special petition for the sacred tradition of wholeness to be handed down intact to our daughters and sisters everywhere. Although I don 't possess that intuitive sense of destiny and sure strength of spirit, still there is hope as the Church they served teaches, and maybe if I listen as intently to the still voice from the temple within, something of the mystery of who and why I am in this particular time and place and how to carry my own light into my world today will be revealed. Until then , it is enough merely to try to become my mother's daughter. Amen and amen. �� 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 126 SLOVAKIA Babushka SONYA JASON She was in church again this morning. As before, the image in long, dark blue skirt and blouse, navy kerchief covering her head that only accentuated the high Slavic cheekbones and pale blue eyes; so strongly did she resemble my long dead mother that it jarred me deeply. Throughout Divine Liturgy, my spirit prayed but my heart battled tears and homesickness , not only for my mother, but for the wealth of the past. As a child I had always seen at least one old lady at every weekday church service . There still is. Babushka or " little grandmother" we called them and still do. As there can be no Orthodox Liturgy unless a community of worshippers of at least two or three is present, including the celebrant priest , often her efforts to be there on winter or stormy mornings made the difference whether a particular saint would be honored in God's house on his or her feast day in that liturgical year. Today was my name-saint 's day and I set aside pressing duties to drive twenty-five miles to worship and petition not only for my needs but for those of my loved ones and all the world. Standing near the babushka to light a candle , I heard her lips murmur in prayer and noted that her mind was far, far away. She was oblivious to my presence and became immersed at once in the Liturgy and remained so throughout. Whoever she was , she cared only about what she was doing, and this morning, it was the business of prayer and worship. I could feel a spiritual energy emanate from her very presence. Like her, my mother had had a sense of identity so strong that you felt it at once. My very first knowledge of this came the year before I started school. A new little girl whose family had just moved into our coal mining patch the week before timidly wandered over. Warily we sized each other up. " Where did you come from? " Her query did not connote Freudian curiosity about sexual origins or even another town. Rather, it was ordinary for us children to learn the country of parents ' origin. From this , invisible guidelines were established, and if both sets of parents were \ll'om the same country in Europe, frequently friendships of depth were formed at once. SLOVAKIA 127 " I'm Czech, " I replied. "I'm Polish." But my mother, scrubbing shirt collars on a corrugated washboard set in a galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor , straightened up with a frown . She brushed a tawny tendril off her glistening brow and pushed it back into the knot on top of her head. " Come here ... " she beckoned me with a finger dribbling bubbles of strong laundry soap. " You are Slovak," she corrected. I shrugged. " What 's the difference? " My question was partly puzzlement and partly that indifference of children to the vagaries of their parents. " Difference?" she echoed. Drying arms on her apron after plunging the shirts under suds to soak, she waved my new friend and me inside . We watched her cut thick slices of freshly baked bread from a loaf cooling on the shelf above the kitchen table and butter them . Eagerly we accepted and sat beside her to eat and listen. " You and Mary are sisters . But are you exactly alike? " The bread was warm and delicious and helped me ponder. I was dark and chubby. Mary fair and thin. The comparison made me giggle , but through a mouthful of bread I managed a '' huh uh. '' " Well, it's the same thing. Czechs and Slovaks are brothers and sisters but not the same." She then entertained us with the legend of King Sviitopluk as it has been told to untold generations of Czech and Slovak children . It seems that long ago good King Sviitopluk had two sons , Mojmir II and Sviitopluk II. They were fractious and greedy for each other's share of the kingdom as well as their own. On his deathbed, the old king summoned them and, holding their hands together in brotherly bond , admonished them: '' As long as you remember you are brothers and remain united, all will be well with you. If you forget and fight each other, you will suffer and your people with you. " Their vows of unity evaporated with their tears and hardly was the king in his grave before they began to squabble and conspire for each other's territories. In time, the dire warning came true; Bohemia and Slovakia, united and thriving as the Great Moravian Empire , were overrun and conquered as soon as they were divided. And so they remain to this day, separate in geography and philosophy and fates , although brothers and sisters in spirit. This example of the tragic consequences of sibling rivalry left an indelible impression upon me , but not the story of the Old Country. For 128 SLOVAKIA I was an American . .. and the Old Country meant little to me for many years. Not until that time in mid-life when we come full circle to what and who we are was I able to know and appreciate my mother for the individual she was and relish her memory to the fullest . ' 'I am Slovak-American . . . but you are American-Slovak .. . '' she would point out when we tried to urge supposedly superior ways upon her. Thus she paid tribute to Caesar without judgment. It was fine for us , but for her, she accepted only those changes she cared to adopt and we were not to forget it. And so we grew. Through good times , not so many, and bad times , more numerous, she never lost that sense of identity . Contained in it was a firm faith in Life and God, exemplified for her in her robust Eastern Orthodox faith . Although we lived too far from a church for regular attendance, babies were driven long distances for baptisms and on their name day would be carried to the nearest church for special remembrance. Also, on most holidays , special liturgical prayers were chanted in Slavonic by my father from his frayed prayer book with mother singing the responses. "For our President , for all civil authorities, for every city and country, let us pray to the Lord . . . '' a booming baritone would rise and fall. And back in light, high soprano would come the sung response, " Lord have mercy. " Eagerly I awaited my name day. Leaving brothers and sisters in care of a friend , my mother and I walked the four miles of country road lined with trees flamboyant in fall colors of late September. It was doubly special because we were both named for St. Sophia. At tiny St. John 's, the ikons, candles gleaming in the interior of mellow woods , and perfumed incense accompanying the prayers of intense , bearded Father Michael were awesome. But it was the babushki, those women standing at the front of the church, staunch, solid, and intent upon every word that wended its way upwards over the altar in a trail of incense vapor, that I recall most vividly. Whoever they were they mattered so much that there was no need to ask about them. They just were . When a particular one coaxed me to join her in singing the response , I refused. On the way home , my mother chided me . " But I don 't understand that language \ .. " I protested. " I talk English ." ' Was there a tinge of arrogance or presentiment of falsity that might harm her child that made my mother walk a silent mile with wor- SLOVAKIA 129 ried face before she spoke? I don't know. But right before we crossed the bridge that led up the hill to the mining patch, she abruptly stopped. "See?" she pointed to the bridge. "That is you." "Me?" "Yes, I am Slovak who came here . . . yet . . . " and she struggled so hard for just the right words, ''I am not 100 percent American. Never." She pointed to her heart. "In here, you not 100 percent. Your children, maybe, but not you, not yet ... " She shook her head vehemently. ' ' But some day you will pray in church in English . . . like you talk." But as the legend of Svatopluk, the words faded almost as soon as spoken, the profound simile of first generation Americans as bridges connecting two cultures seeming wasted on a child. At the beginning of World War II my family moved to the city of Pittsburgh, but my mother remained Slovak-American and who she was all the days of her life. Her native land was a small area in the heartland of Europe, and every army of history had rolled over it again and again. Yet in villages and huts and farms, families such as ours managed to preserve a spark of identity of a people separate from all other peoples. Through centuries of political and economic repression and the contempts of a world that advanced more rapidly, yes even that of sibling Czechs whose German influence helped industrial advances, rural Slovaks as my mother never lost faith in themselves as persons or as a people. Above all, there was a deep faith in God and gratitude for the gift of life itself with all its tragedies. When my three brothers immediately enlisted in the Army she only sighed an agony-filled "vojna . . . vojna . .. "war ... war ... for her native land had suffered its destruction countless times and would again. And now even her adopted land was afflicted. When that dreaded telegram came saying that one of her sons, Nick, was killed in France, her anguish could only weep, ''vojna ... vojna .. . '' and her sorrow was finally assuaged in her church and by her God whom she still trusted as preserver of Life. And then one day we assembled from various parts of the country to weep through a last Liturgy for her. The large spirit had departed the tiny, tired body that had borne twelve children and raised ten by laboring through numberless 18-hour days required to feed, clothe, and nourish physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The depth of our loss was indescribable. She was our strength. Our comfort. Our life. And now she was gone. Even our powerful father 130 SLOVAKIA never quite recovered, and none of us was surprised when he followed her three years later, the light of his life having left this earth. It was years before I returned to the church of my mother. I had a search to make first. In other philosophies . Into the intellect. The emotions . Even at other altars. But that bowl of emptiness that was my inner being remained unfulfilled. I had consciously forgotten St. Sophia' s Day, but my heart must have remembered. Because it was the end of September when I found my way to a tiny Orthodox church in my Los Angeles suburb so much like the St . John's of my childhood, four decades and thousands of miles apart. Intense, bearded Father Sergei welcomed me and sat silently through my tale of bewilderment and woe. I had much of what the world valued, earned with so much effort. Then why hadn't God rewarded me with happiness? Why was I so sad? He smiled gently and touched my hand. '' But you have tried to cut off your roots . Did you think you could truly live like that? '' I drew back in protest. God was universal. God was immense. God was everywhere . Of course . Of course . Of course. He nodded assent to it all. But even before he said it, the ancient teaching of the Bible not to despise the church of one 's mother rose to my memory. So? What could it mean to me in the 1970s? The feeling part. Not the legal, formal , structured part. But that part of my mother's church that was a God of love , of mercy and nonjudgment, of trust in the largesse of life on earth and hereafter, a life so rich in mysteries that no arrogant egotism could hope to fathom it in a lifetime. Oh, how it had sustained her as she lived it and how expansive her life of spirit had been! The many who came to her funeral witnessed to that. Over and over they wept with us , remembering, " She was so kind ," or " When I was sick she came to see me every day and once brought a jar of peaches ,'' this in a depression year that must have emptied her larder of hoarded desserts , and " She always had a word of encouragement for me . . .. '' Together we mourned our loss. Joy despite a hard life and in her God. And I had lost it if indeed I had ever had it, I now bewailed. " But not at all. Why look , her prayers received a miraculous answer. God sent the Holy Spirit to bring you full circle . . . why, you have come home. And do you know sometl\ing? She was right . . . you will pray the Liturgy in English . . . . ' ' \ For he was the same priest who had changed tradition by celebrat- SLOVAKIA 131 ing Liturgy in English aftet translating words and music from Old Slavonic, beginning just a short time before in this very church. Tears submerged the abutment to the bridge of connection for a time. With them, accumulated dust of the nonsense of years was washed away until once more that inner child emerged to again stand free and adventurous in heart . "Wisdom, " the priest had intoned this morning as he always does preceding the gospel reading. Sophia. The name meant wisdom. And my mother had had it. A peasant surety that was as deep as the intellect , only kinder and warmer. So many others had come to drink of that fountain and never had one gone away again still thirsty. Was my mother unique? Certainly in the individual sense. One of a kind I was sure until the publication of my novel, Concomitant Soldier. In it I had drawn from her qualities to create a key character. Then came the reviews and letters . ' ' Anna is my Italian nonna (grandmother) all over again . " Anna is just like my Swedish moder (mother) .. . " '' Anna is just like my wonderful Tia Roas . . . ' ' And even, "Anna is exactly like my English nanny I loved so much " She was, it seems, not only multi-ethnic, but her number was legion. And she left an imprint upon spirits that truly unites, first, sec~ ond, and third-generation Americans of very persuasion, and fortunate indeed are those families who experienced her grace. For too long, my life had been one of activity but, not united to my feelings and spirit, made every achievement empty. Somehow the babushki I knew, just as my mother, had never been so fragmented, perhaps more common in our day of increasing opportunities in the outer world of action. And today as I become a link in that long chain of babushki, past, present, and those to come , when I light candles and follow ancient prayers of liturgical custom, my spirit will join with those countless others as we add a special petition for the sacred tradition of wholeness to be handed down intact to our daughters and sisters everywhere. Although I don 't possess that intuitive sense of destiny and sure strength of spirit, still there is hope as the Church they served teaches, and maybe if I listen as intently to the still voice from the temple within, something of the mystery of who and why I am in this particular time and place and how to carry my own light into my world today will be revealed. Until then , it is enough merely to try to become my mother's daughter. Amen and amen.  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 Babushka Description An account of the resource Sonya Jason Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 126-131 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jason, Sonya, 1924- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/db9406de1877bf3caee16bbde1228629.pdf 68f331c788157997074284046248c701 PDF Text Text \ ARTICLES ��SLOVAKIA 17 The Slovak State In Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) " YESHAYAHU JELINEK Denison University Like any other controversial topic, the historiography of the Slovak state (1939-1945) knows several schools of writing. Rather than research-systems and scholarly approaches, political views, prejudices (or lack of them), and personal background determine characteristics of these schools. Almost each of the themes covering the six years of existence of the Slovak state has been discussed from various angles. In the West, in spite of extensive publishing, scholarly research which would break through the stultifying fences of exile and ethnic literature is still somehow limited. In Czechoslovakia, and in the East in general, publication is strangled in a political straight-jacket. The sixties were the most productive years there; since the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, however, scholarship has again reached a standstill. This bibliography does not intend to exhaust the topic, nor to label the included entries, but rather to provide readers with a key for further research and writing. Therefore many important works may have been left out.(1) I would tentatively divide the various schools into the following major groups: supporters of the Slovak state, its adversaries, Communists and pro-Communists, and unaffiliated academics. Naturally, none of these distinctions will be held objective by many of the affected authors. Moreover, scholars and writers habitually regard themselves objective and unaffiliated (including the author of this essay), while others may consider them engaged and biased. Among the supporters of Slovak independence I would count many of the 1945 political exiles and some of the 1948 and 1968 emigrants, some Slovaks residing in Western countries, members of the Carpatho-German groups in West Germany, and several Catholic writers. The adversaries include, above all, members of the Slovak exile of 1948 and post-1968, Jews (whether originally from Slovakia or not) , Magyars, Czechs, and anti-Catholic writers . Communist and pro-Communist publications have appeared predominantly in Czechoslovakia, but there are also some in other �18 SLOVAKIA Eastern and Western countries. The academic group is most diverse. Nonetheless, many of its participants originated in Czechoslovakia and in the neighboring countries, and we are still missing a solid strata of students taking an academic interest in Slovakia without having emotional or ethnic attachment. It is this group which has contributed much of the fresh insight and unbiased scholarship. The authors included in this bibliography have published in more than a half-dozen languages. Besides the well-known series of German(2) and Vatican(3) documents , which discuss Slovakia frequently, the only important and extensive collections of primary documentation are the two volumes edited by Vilem Precan.(4) Less informative are Cesta ke kvetnu(5) and Dokumeny z historie ceskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943.(6) Most of the published sources cover the years 1943-45 and/or the resistance and Communist activities. Scattered documents deal with the foundation of the state, and with Slovak autonomy (September 1938-March 1939). We are still missing a solid volume devoted to the years 1939-1943. Milan S. Durica tried to fill the void, but reached only September 1939,(7) and furthermore, his collection is in Italian - a language unfamiliar to many researchers. Also helpful is Ferdinand Durcansky. (8) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry has been well documented by Livia Rothkirchen. (9) Works covering twentieth-century Slovakia include the ones by Joseph M . Kirschbaum,(10) :Cubomir Liptak,(11) Jozef Lettrich,(12) Joseph A. Mikus,(13) Gilbert L. Oddo,(14) and Eugen Steiner.(15) Books devoted to the Slovak state are those by the East German Hans Dress,(16) the Israeli Yeshayahu Jelinek,(17) and the Slovak Communist Imrich Stanek.(18) Among shorter essays worth noting are Durica's(19) and Joerg K. Hoensch's.(20) Less scholarly are Vincent Bolecek,(21) Francois d ' Orchival,(22) Jozef F. Rudinsky,(23) and others. Important information could be obtained from symphosia. Perhaps the most comprehensive is by supporters of the Slovak state, Slovenska Republika.(24) Less adequate are volumes of Karl Bosl (ed.)(25) and Kirschbaum (ed.).(26) The collection Slovenske N<irodne Povstanie Roku 1944 printed in Slovakia is devoted to the Slovak National Uprising, but includes also several studies of other aspects of the Slovak state .(27) . Foreign relations have been mostly treated in a partisan fashion. The exceptionally prolific Frantisek Vnuk(28) and ·Kirschbaum(29) wrote a large number of essays on this topic, as have done Martin Broszat,(30) Durica,(31) Siegfried Fauck,(32) and Liptak.(33) Karol Sidor, Slovakia's Minister to the Holy See, summarized his ex- �SLOVAKIA 19 periences.(34) Not very informative, but supplementary to Sidor, is Jozef Kapala.(35) Internal political developments were discussed by Jelinek,(36) Kirschbaum,(37) Liptak,(38) and Vnuk.(39) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry is one of the more controversial facets in the annals of the country, and has received a diverse treatment. Jewish and Israeli 'scholarship are represented by Jelinek,(40) Ladislav Lipscher,(41) Rothkirchen,(42) Hedrich Steiner,(43) and Jan Steiner.(44) Among the non-Jews, important are John S. Conway,(45) i'.>urica,(46) Fierello Cavalli,(47) and the Jewish convert to Christianity Ladislav Hoffmann.(48) Memoirs have been written by the Zionist Yirmiyahu Oscar Neumann,(49) and the Orthodox Rabbi Michael Dov Weismandel(50) and Aron Greunhutt.(51) Ivan Kamenec 's dissertation in Bratislava was not published, but he has produced some valuable contributions.(52) The Magyar minority in Slovakia was treated by Stephen Revai(53) and the Communist Juraj Purgat.(64) Paul Brosz(55) and Liptak,(56) among others, discussed the ethnic Germans, while Andrej Dudas(57) gave a hostile description of the Rusins (Ruthenians). The German Josef Steinhuebel, who sat in the Slovak parliament, recorded his life and times.(58) A summary of the situation of the minorities during World War II can be found in a work by Jelinek.(59) Many studies have probed the war-time economy, and here I shall mention Adela Hornova,(60) Hans Kaiser,(61) and Liptak,(62) yet these studies do not present faithfully the positive aspects of Slovakia's economy. Their analysis is marred by the authors' biases. Neither the pro-independence(63) nor the Communist(64) writings are satisfactory. Similar is the nature of the numerous publications devoted to the state ' s President Dr. Jozef Tiso . Among the more scholarly presentations , there are biographies and studies by Lisa Guarda-Nardini,(65) Franz M. Schneider,(66) and Anthony X. Southerland.(67) Konstantin Culen is the Dean of Tiso 's biographers,(68) yet his is an emotional work. We shall recall two articles about stormtroopers in Slovakia, one by Jelinek(69) and one by Ladislav Susko.(70) It is regrettable that memoirs are scarce. Those that do exist include Georges Dunan ,(71) Tido J . Gaspar.(72) and Jozef Pauco.(73) I do not intend to survey here the voluminous literature dedicated to the resistance and the Slovak National Uprising, and to the Communist party and class struggle. Each of these topics deserves independent studies , and would be outside the scope of this paper. Also excluded are various fields like social conditions, education, press cultural life , the army , and religion. For some of these fields we are missing good sources , others were dealt with in Czechoslovakia only, �20 SLOVAKIA and we are lacking balancing views. Works in Western languages are in short supply, too. While the range of the literature on the history of the Slovak state is not small, it is still unsatisfactory. Our knowledge suffers from wide gaps, and even when we are lucky enough to possess studies and articles , these are often not based on rigorous research but are strongly tinged by the author's biases. There are still many important details that require in-depth research. FOOTNOTES (1) Good bibliographies of post-War publications in the West can be found in Michael Lacko's " Bibliographica," Slovak Studies (Rome) , Vol. VIl (1967), and XVIl (1977). Unfortunately, editorializing comments appended to some of the entries seem to be occasionally biased. (2) U.S. Department of State , Documents of German Foreign Policy, 1919-1945, S eries D, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. (3) Secretaire d 'etat de sa Saintete, Actes et Documentes du Saint Siege relatifs a la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, Citta de! Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. (4) Slovenske Narodne Povstanie, Dokumenty (The Slovak National Uprising, Documents) . Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1965: Slovenske Narodn e Povstanie, Nemci a Slovensko 1944, Dokumenty (The Germans and Slovakia 1944) , Bratislava: Epocha, 1970. (5) Milos Klimes - Petr Lesjuk - Irena Mala - Vilem Precan , eds., Cesta ke k vetnu. Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku . (The road to May. Creation of the People's Democracy in Czechoslovakia), Two volumes, Prague: Nakladatel'stvi Ceskoslovenske akademie ved, 1965. (6) Libuse Otahlova and Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1945, (Documents from the history of Czechoslovak politics 1939-1945), (Acta Occupationis Bohemiae & Moraviae), Two volumes, Prague: Academia, 1966. (7) La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania 1938-1945. I. Dagli accordi di Monaco all'inizio della seconda guerra mondiale (Ottobre 1938-Settembre 1939) . Padova: Marsilio Editori, 1964. (8) Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost' - Biela kniha, (The right of Slovaks to Independence - White Book) . Buenos Aires : Slovensky Oslobodzovaci Vybor, 1954. I . (9) Hurban yahaduth slovakia: teur history b ' teudoth, ('ll'he destruction of the Slovakian Jewry: a documentary history) . Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1961. (10) Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (11) Slovensko v 20. storoti, (Slovakia in the 20th Century). Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1968. (12) H istory of Modem Slovakia . New York : Praeger, 1955 . (13) Slovakia - A Political History: 1918-1950. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Marquette University Press , 1963. �SLOVAKIA 21 (14) Sl.ovakia and.Its People. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (15) The Sl.ovak Dilemma. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1973. (16) Sl.owakei und faschistische Neuordnung Europas 1939-1940. Berlin: Akademia Verlag, 1972. (17) The Parish Republic: Blinka 's Sl.ovak People's Party, 1939-1945. Boulder, Colorado : East European Quarterly , 1976. - . (18) Zrada a pad. Hlinko0§ti separrttiste a tak zvany sl.ovensky stat. (The treason and the collapse . Hlinka's separatists ',and the so-called Slovak state). Prague: Statne vydavatefstvo politickej literatui'y ~ 1958. (19) " The Republic of Slovakia, Its Origin and Existence," Sl.ovak Studies , I (1961); "Slovensko za drujej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika, " (Slovakia during the Second World War - the Slovak Republic), in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin. Lausanne : Liber, 1976, pp . 123-154. (20) "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds ., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1948. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1973, pp . 271-295 . (21) Sl.ovensky §tat, (The Slovak state) . Jamaica, N.Y.: by the author, 1973. (22) Le Danube etait noir. La cause de la Slovaquie independent . Paris : Ed. La table ronde, 1968. (23) Ceskoslovensky §tdt a Slovenskd republika, (The Czechoslovak state and the Slovak Republic). Munich : By the author, S.A. (24) Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Sl.ovenskd.Republika, 1939-1945. Scranton, Pa . : Obrana Press, 1949. (25) Die Slowakei als Mitteleuropaisches Problem in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Munich: Verlag Robert Lerche , 1965. (26) Sl.ovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Toronto, Ontario: The Slovak World Congress , 1973 . (27) (The Slovak National Uprising of 1944). Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1965. (28) " Slovakia 's Accession to the Tripartite Pact," Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 6-19; "The German Zone of Protection in Slovakia, " Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 7-23 ; "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Sl.ovak Studies, IX (1969), pp. 49-73 ; " Vpad Mad'arov na slovensky vychod, " (The Hungarian invasion of the Slovak east), Kalend<ir Jednota, 1959, pp. 56-63 ; Slovensk<i ot<izka na Zdpade v rokoch 1939-1940, (The Slovak question in the West, 1939-1940) . Cleveland, Ohio: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1974. (29) " International Recognition of the Slovak Republic, " Slovakia , I (1951), pp. 23-31; "British Policy and Slovakia (1939-1945) ," Slovakia , X (1960) , pp. 50-61; "Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States, " Slovakia , XXIlI (1973) , pp . 111-112; " Schicksal des slowakischen Gesandschaft in Bern, " Slowakei, VII (1969), pp . 87-100 ; "Osudy vyslanectiev Slovenskej republiky, " (The fate of the Slovak Republic ' s embassies). Kalend<ir Jednota , 1961, pp. 109-117. (30) " Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1939-1940 und seine Ruckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik,'' Gutachten des Institutes fuer Zeitgeschichte, Munich: In Selbstverlag, 1958, pp. 221-229. �22 SLOVAKIA (31) "Beziehungen zwischen der Slowakischen Republik und dem Heiligen Stuhl," Swvakei, XI-XII (1973-74). pp. 59-89; "Machtpolitische Eingriffe des Dritten Reiches in die Politik der Slowakischen Republik, '' Tradition und Neubegin. Internationale Forschungen zur deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert. Cologne-Berlin-BonnMunich : Verlag Carl Heymans, 1975, pp. 245-257. (32) "Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1941-43 und seine Rueckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik, ' ' Gutachten des Instituts fuer Zeitgeschichte. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt, 1966, pp. 59-60. (33) "Mad'arsko v politike slovenskeho statu 1939-1943," (Hungary in the politics of the Slovak state), Historicky tasopis , XIV , 1 (1966), pp. 161-218. (34) Sest' rokov pri Vatikane, (Six years at the Vatican). Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1947. (35) Spod Roh~ov po Vatikan , (From the Rohac Mountain to Vatican), Galt, Ontario: Dobra Kniha, 1972. (36) " Slovakia's Internal Policy and the Third Reich, August 1940 - February 1941," Central European History , IV, 3 (September 1971) , pp. 97-119. (37) ''The Politics of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party in the Slovak Republic,'' Swvakia, I. (1951), pp . 43-49; "The Constitution of the Slovak Republic," Swvakia, IX (1959), pp. 47-68. (38) " Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a slovenskeho statu, " (The preparations and the course of the 1940 talks between representatives of Germany and the Slovak state), Historicky Casopis , XIII , 3 (1965), pp . 329-365. (39) " Prvych sest' mesiacov posalzburgskej ery," (The first six months of the postSalzburg period). Kalendcir Jednota, 1960, pp. 65-81 ; "Udalosti okolo Salzburgu," (The Salzburg Occurences). Literarny Almanach Swvaka v Amerike, 1961 ; "Lebensfiihigkeit des unabhiingigen slowakischen Staates," Slowakei, II (1964), pp. 43-50 . (40) " The ' Final Solution ' - the Slovak Version, " East European Quarterly , IV, 4 (1971), pp . 431-441; "The Vatican, the Catholic Church, the Catholics, and the Persecution of the Jews During the Second World War: the Case of Slovakia, " in B. Vago and G.L. Mosse, eds., Jews and Non-Jews in Eastern Europe, 1918-1945. Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, New York: John Wiler and Sons, 1974, pp . 221255. (41) "Die Einstellung des Dritten Reiches auf die Judenpolitik des slowakischen Regierung, " in Karol Bosl, ed., Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. MunichVienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971, pp. 139-157. (42) "The Policy of the Vatican and the Holocaust in 'Independent' Slovakia, 19391945," Yad Vashem Studies, VI (1966). pp. 23-45 . See also ft . no. 9. The book includes an extensive introduction in English. (43) The Tragedy of Swvakian Jewry . Bratislava: Dokl]}nentacna akcia, 1949; " La tache de la 'Dokumentacna akcia.' La situation des Juifs , en Slo\ra_quie pedant la persecution. " Les Juifs en Europe, 1939-1945. Paris: 1949. (44) The Anti-Jewish Legislation and Expulsion from the Economy in the Slovak State (1939-1945), in Hebrew, Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1974; "The ' Protected by the President' of Dr. Tiso, " in Hebrew, Shvuth , 3 (1975), pp. 64-69. �SLOVAKIA 23 (45) "The Churches, the Slovak State, and the Jews 1939-1945," The Slavonic and East European Review, Lil. 126 (January 1974), pp. 85-112 . (46) " Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, VIl (1957), pp . 122; La Republica Eslovaca y la Tragedia de los Judeios Euro peas. Beunos Aires: Instituto Argentino-Eslovaco, 1975. (47) " La Santa Sede contro le deportazioni degli Ebrei dalla Slovacchia durante le seconda guerra mondiale," Civilta Cattolica, 112-3 (1961), pp. 3-18. (48) '' Die katholische Kirche und die Tragoedie des slowakischen Juden,'' Slowakei, VIl (1969), pp . 69-86. (49) Im Schatten des_Tod.es . T.el Aviv : Olamenu, 1956. (50) Min ha-Metsar, (From the S~aits). New York: Emunah, 1960. (51) Katastrophenzeit des slowa'kischen Judentums. Aufsteig und niedergang der Juden von Pressburg. Tel Aviv: By the author, 1972 . (52) "2idovsky koncentrafoy a pracovny tabor v Novakoch," (The Jewish concentration and labor camp in Novaky) . Hornci Nitra, m (1966), pp . 51-68 ; Vznik a vyvoj iidovskych pracovnych tciborov a stredisk na Slovensku v rokoch 1942-1944, " (The creation and development of Jewish labor camps and centers in Slovakia in the years of 19421944), Nove Obzory , VIII (1966), pp . 15-38. (53) Hungarians in Czechoslovakia , Yonkers, N .Y .: Institute for Minority Studies on Hungarians Attached to Czechoslovakia and Carpatho-Ruthenia, 1959. (54) Od Trianonu po Ko!ice. (K mad'arskej otcizke v Ceskoslovensku . ) (From Trianon to Kosice. - The Hungarian Question in Czechoslovakia.) Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury; 1970. (55) Die Karpathendeutschen in der Slowakei, 1918-1945. Stuttgart: gemeinschaft der Karpatendeutschen aus der Slowakei, 1972. Arbeits- (56) "Role of the German Minority in Slovakia in the Years of the Second World War," Studia Historica Slovaca , I (1963), pp . 150-178. (57) Rusinskci otcizka ajej uzadie, (The Ruthenian question and its background .) Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1971. (58) Mein Leben. Kampf eines katholischen Pfarrers fuer den Glauben und das Deutschtum in der Slowakei. Stuttgart: Hilfsbund karpathendeutscher Katholiken, 1975. (59) "Slovakia and her Minorities , 1939-1945. People With and Without National Protection, " Nationalities Papers, IV, I (1976), pp. 1-16. (60) " Charakteristika ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu, " (The characteristics of the economy of the so-called Slovak state), Ekonomicky CaS-Opis, II (1954), pp. 337-48; "Hlavne crty militarizacie ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu," (The main line of militarization of the economy of the so-called Slovak state). Ekonomicky Casopis, V (1959) , pp. 438-68. (61) '' Die Eingliederung der Slowakei in die nationalsozialistische Kriegswirtschaft, '' in Karl Bos!, ed. , Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. Munich-Vienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971 , pp. 115-138. (62) " Podrobenie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitalom" (Opression of Slovak industry by German capital), Historicky Casopis, XI, 1 (1955), pp . 2-23. �24 SLOVAKIA (63) Frantisek Vnuk, ' 'Die slowakische Haltung zum Nationalsozialismus," Slowakei, IV (1966), pp. 3-9; Jozef Pauco, " Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat," Slovakia, pp. 37-50; Karol Sidor, " O takzvanom slovenskom narodnom socializme, " (About the socalled Slovak National Socialism) , KalendarJednoty, 1964, pp . 143-153. (64) Ladislav Lipscher, "Vyvin a charakteristicke crty fa§izmu na Slovensku," (The development and the characteristics of Fascism in Slovakia), Prispevky k dejinam fa§izmu v Ceskoslovensku a Mad'arsku . Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1969, pp . 9-60 ; Andrej Siracky, Klerofa§isticka ideologia ludactva. (The Clerical-Fascist ideology of the Ludaks) . Bratislava: SNPL, 1955. (65) Tiso: Una TerzaProposta. Padova: CESEO, Liviana Editrice, 1978. (66) "Josef Tiso. Katholischer Priester und Staatsprasident der Slovakei, " Slovak Studies, X (1970) , pp . 7-146. (67) Dr. Joseph Tiso and Modern Slovakia . Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. (68) Po Sviitoplukovi. druha na§a hlava, (After Svatopluk, our second leader) . Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1947. (69) " Stormtroopers in Slovakia: The Rodobrana and the Hlinka Guard," Journal of Contemporary History , VI, 3 (1971), pp . 97-119. (70) " Hlinkova Garda od svojho vzniku az po salzburske rokovania (1938-1940), " (The Hlinka Guard from its creation until the Salzburg talks). Zbornik Muzea Slovenskeho Narodneho Povstania , II (1968) , pp. 167-258. (71) Ne perdes pas leur trace . Neuchatel: Daconniere , 1950. (72) "Z pamiiti," (Reminiscences , Slo venske Pohfady, LXXXIV (1968) , 6, pp. 84-99, 7, pp . 62-79 , 8, pp. 76-85 , 9, pp . 108-114 , 10, 102-110, 11 , pp . 104-107, 12, pp . 78-83. (73) Tak sme sa poznali, (And so we became acquainted). Middletown, Pa.: Slovak v Amerike, 1967. � \ ARTICLES ��SLOVAKIA 17 The Slovak State In Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) " YESHAYAHU JELINEK Denison University Like any other controversial topic, the historiography of the Slovak state (1939-1945) knows several schools of writing. Rather than research-systems and scholarly approaches, political views, prejudices (or lack of them), and personal background determine characteristics of these schools. Almost each of the themes covering the six years of existence of the Slovak state has been discussed from various angles. In the West, in spite of extensive publishing, scholarly research which would break through the stultifying fences of exile and ethnic literature is still somehow limited. In Czechoslovakia, and in the East in general, publication is strangled in a political straight-jacket. The sixties were the most productive years there; since the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, however, scholarship has again reached a standstill. This bibliography does not intend to exhaust the topic, nor to label the included entries, but rather to provide readers with a key for further research and writing. Therefore many important works may have been left out.(1) I would tentatively divide the various schools into the following major groups: supporters of the Slovak state, its adversaries, Communists and pro-Communists, and unaffiliated academics. Naturally, none of these distinctions will be held objective by many of the affected authors. Moreover, scholars and writers habitually regard themselves objective and unaffiliated (including the author of this essay), while others may consider them engaged and biased. Among the supporters of Slovak independence I would count many of the 1945 political exiles and some of the 1948 and 1968 emigrants, some Slovaks residing in Western countries, members of the Carpatho-German groups in West Germany, and several Catholic writers. The adversaries include, above all, members of the Slovak exile of 1948 and post-1968, Jews (whether originally from Slovakia or not) , Magyars, Czechs, and anti-Catholic writers . Communist and pro-Communist publications have appeared predominantly in Czechoslovakia, but there are also some in other �18 SLOVAKIA Eastern and Western countries. The academic group is most diverse. Nonetheless, many of its participants originated in Czechoslovakia and in the neighboring countries, and we are still missing a solid strata of students taking an academic interest in Slovakia without having emotional or ethnic attachment. It is this group which has contributed much of the fresh insight and unbiased scholarship. The authors included in this bibliography have published in more than a half-dozen languages. Besides the well-known series of German(2) and Vatican(3) documents , which discuss Slovakia frequently, the only important and extensive collections of primary documentation are the two volumes edited by Vilem Precan.(4) Less informative are Cesta ke kvetnu(5) and Dokumeny z historie ceskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943.(6) Most of the published sources cover the years 1943-45 and/or the resistance and Communist activities. Scattered documents deal with the foundation of the state, and with Slovak autonomy (September 1938-March 1939). We are still missing a solid volume devoted to the years 1939-1943. Milan S. Durica tried to fill the void, but reached only September 1939,(7) and furthermore, his collection is in Italian - a language unfamiliar to many researchers. Also helpful is Ferdinand Durcansky. (8) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry has been well documented by Livia Rothkirchen. (9) Works covering twentieth-century Slovakia include the ones by Joseph M . Kirschbaum,(10) :Cubomir Liptak,(11) Jozef Lettrich,(12) Joseph A. Mikus,(13) Gilbert L. Oddo,(14) and Eugen Steiner.(15) Books devoted to the Slovak state are those by the East German Hans Dress,(16) the Israeli Yeshayahu Jelinek,(17) and the Slovak Communist Imrich Stanek.(18) Among shorter essays worth noting are Durica's(19) and Joerg K. Hoensch's.(20) Less scholarly are Vincent Bolecek,(21) Francois d ' Orchival,(22) Jozef F. Rudinsky,(23) and others. Important information could be obtained from symphosia. Perhaps the most comprehensive is by supporters of the Slovak state, Slovenska Republika.(24) Less adequate are volumes of Karl Bosl (ed.)(25) and Kirschbaum (ed.).(26) The collection Slovenske N<irodne Povstanie Roku 1944 printed in Slovakia is devoted to the Slovak National Uprising, but includes also several studies of other aspects of the Slovak state .(27) . Foreign relations have been mostly treated in a partisan fashion. The exceptionally prolific Frantisek Vnuk(28) and ·Kirschbaum(29) wrote a large number of essays on this topic, as have done Martin Broszat,(30) Durica,(31) Siegfried Fauck,(32) and Liptak.(33) Karol Sidor, Slovakia's Minister to the Holy See, summarized his ex- �SLOVAKIA 19 periences.(34) Not very informative, but supplementary to Sidor, is Jozef Kapala.(35) Internal political developments were discussed by Jelinek,(36) Kirschbaum,(37) Liptak,(38) and Vnuk.(39) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry is one of the more controversial facets in the annals of the country, and has received a diverse treatment. Jewish and Israeli 'scholarship are represented by Jelinek,(40) Ladislav Lipscher,(41) Rothkirchen,(42) Hedrich Steiner,(43) and Jan Steiner.(44) Among the non-Jews, important are John S. Conway,(45) i'.>urica,(46) Fierello Cavalli,(47) and the Jewish convert to Christianity Ladislav Hoffmann.(48) Memoirs have been written by the Zionist Yirmiyahu Oscar Neumann,(49) and the Orthodox Rabbi Michael Dov Weismandel(50) and Aron Greunhutt.(51) Ivan Kamenec 's dissertation in Bratislava was not published, but he has produced some valuable contributions.(52) The Magyar minority in Slovakia was treated by Stephen Revai(53) and the Communist Juraj Purgat.(64) Paul Brosz(55) and Liptak,(56) among others, discussed the ethnic Germans, while Andrej Dudas(57) gave a hostile description of the Rusins (Ruthenians). The German Josef Steinhuebel, who sat in the Slovak parliament, recorded his life and times.(58) A summary of the situation of the minorities during World War II can be found in a work by Jelinek.(59) Many studies have probed the war-time economy, and here I shall mention Adela Hornova,(60) Hans Kaiser,(61) and Liptak,(62) yet these studies do not present faithfully the positive aspects of Slovakia's economy. Their analysis is marred by the authors' biases. Neither the pro-independence(63) nor the Communist(64) writings are satisfactory. Similar is the nature of the numerous publications devoted to the state ' s President Dr. Jozef Tiso . Among the more scholarly presentations , there are biographies and studies by Lisa Guarda-Nardini,(65) Franz M. Schneider,(66) and Anthony X. Southerland.(67) Konstantin Culen is the Dean of Tiso 's biographers,(68) yet his is an emotional work. We shall recall two articles about stormtroopers in Slovakia, one by Jelinek(69) and one by Ladislav Susko.(70) It is regrettable that memoirs are scarce. Those that do exist include Georges Dunan ,(71) Tido J . Gaspar.(72) and Jozef Pauco.(73) I do not intend to survey here the voluminous literature dedicated to the resistance and the Slovak National Uprising, and to the Communist party and class struggle. Each of these topics deserves independent studies , and would be outside the scope of this paper. Also excluded are various fields like social conditions, education, press cultural life , the army , and religion. For some of these fields we are missing good sources , others were dealt with in Czechoslovakia only, �20 SLOVAKIA and we are lacking balancing views. Works in Western languages are in short supply, too. While the range of the literature on the history of the Slovak state is not small, it is still unsatisfactory. Our knowledge suffers from wide gaps, and even when we are lucky enough to possess studies and articles , these are often not based on rigorous research but are strongly tinged by the author's biases. There are still many important details that require in-depth research. FOOTNOTES (1) Good bibliographies of post-War publications in the West can be found in Michael Lacko's " Bibliographica," Slovak Studies (Rome) , Vol. VIl (1967), and XVIl (1977). Unfortunately, editorializing comments appended to some of the entries seem to be occasionally biased. (2) U.S. Department of State , Documents of German Foreign Policy, 1919-1945, S eries D, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. (3) Secretaire d 'etat de sa Saintete, Actes et Documentes du Saint Siege relatifs a la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, Citta de! Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. (4) Slovenske Narodne Povstanie, Dokumenty (The Slovak National Uprising, Documents) . Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1965: Slovenske Narodn e Povstanie, Nemci a Slovensko 1944, Dokumenty (The Germans and Slovakia 1944) , Bratislava: Epocha, 1970. (5) Milos Klimes - Petr Lesjuk - Irena Mala - Vilem Precan , eds., Cesta ke k vetnu. Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku . (The road to May. Creation of the People's Democracy in Czechoslovakia), Two volumes, Prague: Nakladatel'stvi Ceskoslovenske akademie ved, 1965. (6) Libuse Otahlova and Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1945, (Documents from the history of Czechoslovak politics 1939-1945), (Acta Occupationis Bohemiae & Moraviae), Two volumes, Prague: Academia, 1966. (7) La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania 1938-1945. I. Dagli accordi di Monaco all'inizio della seconda guerra mondiale (Ottobre 1938-Settembre 1939) . Padova: Marsilio Editori, 1964. (8) Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost' - Biela kniha, (The right of Slovaks to Independence - White Book) . Buenos Aires : Slovensky Oslobodzovaci Vybor, 1954. I . (9) Hurban yahaduth slovakia: teur history b ' teudoth, ('ll'he destruction of the Slovakian Jewry: a documentary history) . Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1961. (10) Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (11) Slovensko v 20. storoti, (Slovakia in the 20th Century). Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1968. (12) H istory of Modem Slovakia . New York : Praeger, 1955 . (13) Slovakia - A Political History: 1918-1950. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Marquette University Press , 1963. �SLOVAKIA 21 (14) Sl.ovakia and.Its People. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (15) The Sl.ovak Dilemma. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1973. (16) Sl.owakei und faschistische Neuordnung Europas 1939-1940. Berlin: Akademia Verlag, 1972. (17) The Parish Republic: Blinka 's Sl.ovak People's Party, 1939-1945. Boulder, Colorado : East European Quarterly , 1976. - . (18) Zrada a pad. Hlinko0§ti separrttiste a tak zvany sl.ovensky stat. (The treason and the collapse . Hlinka's separatists ',and the so-called Slovak state). Prague: Statne vydavatefstvo politickej literatui'y ~ 1958. (19) " The Republic of Slovakia, Its Origin and Existence," Sl.ovak Studies , I (1961); "Slovensko za drujej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika, " (Slovakia during the Second World War - the Slovak Republic), in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin. Lausanne : Liber, 1976, pp . 123-154. (20) "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds ., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1948. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1973, pp . 271-295 . (21) Sl.ovensky §tat, (The Slovak state) . Jamaica, N.Y.: by the author, 1973. (22) Le Danube etait noir. La cause de la Slovaquie independent . Paris : Ed. La table ronde, 1968. (23) Ceskoslovensky §tdt a Slovenskd republika, (The Czechoslovak state and the Slovak Republic). Munich : By the author, S.A. (24) Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Sl.ovenskd.Republika, 1939-1945. Scranton, Pa . : Obrana Press, 1949. (25) Die Slowakei als Mitteleuropaisches Problem in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Munich: Verlag Robert Lerche , 1965. (26) Sl.ovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Toronto, Ontario: The Slovak World Congress , 1973 . (27) (The Slovak National Uprising of 1944). Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1965. (28) " Slovakia 's Accession to the Tripartite Pact," Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 6-19; "The German Zone of Protection in Slovakia, " Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 7-23 ; "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Sl.ovak Studies, IX (1969), pp. 49-73 ; " Vpad Mad'arov na slovensky vychod, " (The Hungarian invasion of the Slovak east), Kalend<ir Jednota, 1959, pp. 56-63 ; Slovensk<i ot<izka na Zdpade v rokoch 1939-1940, (The Slovak question in the West, 1939-1940) . Cleveland, Ohio: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1974. (29) " International Recognition of the Slovak Republic, " Slovakia , I (1951), pp. 23-31; "British Policy and Slovakia (1939-1945) ," Slovakia , X (1960) , pp. 50-61; "Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States, " Slovakia , XXIlI (1973) , pp . 111-112; " Schicksal des slowakischen Gesandschaft in Bern, " Slowakei, VII (1969), pp . 87-100 ; "Osudy vyslanectiev Slovenskej republiky, " (The fate of the Slovak Republic ' s embassies). Kalend<ir Jednota , 1961, pp. 109-117. (30) " Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1939-1940 und seine Ruckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik,'' Gutachten des Institutes fuer Zeitgeschichte, Munich: In Selbstverlag, 1958, pp. 221-229. �22 SLOVAKIA (31) "Beziehungen zwischen der Slowakischen Republik und dem Heiligen Stuhl," Swvakei, XI-XII (1973-74). pp. 59-89; "Machtpolitische Eingriffe des Dritten Reiches in die Politik der Slowakischen Republik, '' Tradition und Neubegin. Internationale Forschungen zur deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert. Cologne-Berlin-BonnMunich : Verlag Carl Heymans, 1975, pp. 245-257. (32) "Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1941-43 und seine Rueckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik, ' ' Gutachten des Instituts fuer Zeitgeschichte. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt, 1966, pp. 59-60. (33) "Mad'arsko v politike slovenskeho statu 1939-1943," (Hungary in the politics of the Slovak state), Historicky tasopis , XIV , 1 (1966), pp. 161-218. (34) Sest' rokov pri Vatikane, (Six years at the Vatican). Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1947. (35) Spod Roh~ov po Vatikan , (From the Rohac Mountain to Vatican), Galt, Ontario: Dobra Kniha, 1972. (36) " Slovakia's Internal Policy and the Third Reich, August 1940 - February 1941," Central European History , IV, 3 (September 1971) , pp. 97-119. (37) ''The Politics of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party in the Slovak Republic,'' Swvakia, I. (1951), pp . 43-49; "The Constitution of the Slovak Republic," Swvakia, IX (1959), pp. 47-68. (38) " Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a slovenskeho statu, " (The preparations and the course of the 1940 talks between representatives of Germany and the Slovak state), Historicky Casopis , XIII , 3 (1965), pp . 329-365. (39) " Prvych sest' mesiacov posalzburgskej ery," (The first six months of the postSalzburg period). Kalendcir Jednota, 1960, pp. 65-81 ; "Udalosti okolo Salzburgu," (The Salzburg Occurences). Literarny Almanach Swvaka v Amerike, 1961 ; "Lebensfiihigkeit des unabhiingigen slowakischen Staates," Slowakei, II (1964), pp. 43-50 . (40) " The ' Final Solution ' - the Slovak Version, " East European Quarterly , IV, 4 (1971), pp . 431-441; "The Vatican, the Catholic Church, the Catholics, and the Persecution of the Jews During the Second World War: the Case of Slovakia, " in B. Vago and G.L. Mosse, eds., Jews and Non-Jews in Eastern Europe, 1918-1945. Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, New York: John Wiler and Sons, 1974, pp . 221255. (41) "Die Einstellung des Dritten Reiches auf die Judenpolitik des slowakischen Regierung, " in Karol Bosl, ed., Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. MunichVienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971, pp. 139-157. (42) "The Policy of the Vatican and the Holocaust in 'Independent' Slovakia, 19391945," Yad Vashem Studies, VI (1966). pp. 23-45 . See also ft . no. 9. The book includes an extensive introduction in English. (43) The Tragedy of Swvakian Jewry . Bratislava: Dokl]}nentacna akcia, 1949; " La tache de la 'Dokumentacna akcia.' La situation des Juifs , en Slo\ra_quie pedant la persecution. " Les Juifs en Europe, 1939-1945. Paris: 1949. (44) The Anti-Jewish Legislation and Expulsion from the Economy in the Slovak State (1939-1945), in Hebrew, Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1974; "The ' Protected by the President' of Dr. Tiso, " in Hebrew, Shvuth , 3 (1975), pp. 64-69. �SLOVAKIA 23 (45) "The Churches, the Slovak State, and the Jews 1939-1945," The Slavonic and East European Review, Lil. 126 (January 1974), pp. 85-112 . (46) " Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, VIl (1957), pp . 122; La Republica Eslovaca y la Tragedia de los Judeios Euro peas. Beunos Aires: Instituto Argentino-Eslovaco, 1975. (47) " La Santa Sede contro le deportazioni degli Ebrei dalla Slovacchia durante le seconda guerra mondiale," Civilta Cattolica, 112-3 (1961), pp. 3-18. (48) '' Die katholische Kirche und die Tragoedie des slowakischen Juden,'' Slowakei, VIl (1969), pp . 69-86. (49) Im Schatten des_Tod.es . T.el Aviv : Olamenu, 1956. (50) Min ha-Metsar, (From the S~aits). New York: Emunah, 1960. (51) Katastrophenzeit des slowa'kischen Judentums. Aufsteig und niedergang der Juden von Pressburg. Tel Aviv: By the author, 1972 . (52) "2idovsky koncentrafoy a pracovny tabor v Novakoch," (The Jewish concentration and labor camp in Novaky) . Hornci Nitra, m (1966), pp . 51-68 ; Vznik a vyvoj iidovskych pracovnych tciborov a stredisk na Slovensku v rokoch 1942-1944, " (The creation and development of Jewish labor camps and centers in Slovakia in the years of 19421944), Nove Obzory , VIII (1966), pp . 15-38. (53) Hungarians in Czechoslovakia , Yonkers, N .Y .: Institute for Minority Studies on Hungarians Attached to Czechoslovakia and Carpatho-Ruthenia, 1959. (54) Od Trianonu po Ko!ice. (K mad'arskej otcizke v Ceskoslovensku . ) (From Trianon to Kosice. - The Hungarian Question in Czechoslovakia.) Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury; 1970. (55) Die Karpathendeutschen in der Slowakei, 1918-1945. Stuttgart: gemeinschaft der Karpatendeutschen aus der Slowakei, 1972. Arbeits- (56) "Role of the German Minority in Slovakia in the Years of the Second World War," Studia Historica Slovaca , I (1963), pp . 150-178. (57) Rusinskci otcizka ajej uzadie, (The Ruthenian question and its background .) Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1971. (58) Mein Leben. Kampf eines katholischen Pfarrers fuer den Glauben und das Deutschtum in der Slowakei. Stuttgart: Hilfsbund karpathendeutscher Katholiken, 1975. (59) "Slovakia and her Minorities , 1939-1945. People With and Without National Protection, " Nationalities Papers, IV, I (1976), pp. 1-16. (60) " Charakteristika ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu, " (The characteristics of the economy of the so-called Slovak state), Ekonomicky CaS-Opis, II (1954), pp. 337-48; "Hlavne crty militarizacie ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu," (The main line of militarization of the economy of the so-called Slovak state). Ekonomicky Casopis, V (1959) , pp. 438-68. (61) '' Die Eingliederung der Slowakei in die nationalsozialistische Kriegswirtschaft, '' in Karl Bos!, ed. , Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. Munich-Vienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971 , pp. 115-138. (62) " Podrobenie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitalom" (Opression of Slovak industry by German capital), Historicky Casopis, XI, 1 (1955), pp . 2-23. �24 SLOVAKIA (63) Frantisek Vnuk, ' 'Die slowakische Haltung zum Nationalsozialismus," Slowakei, IV (1966), pp. 3-9; Jozef Pauco, " Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat," Slovakia, pp. 37-50; Karol Sidor, " O takzvanom slovenskom narodnom socializme, " (About the socalled Slovak National Socialism) , KalendarJednoty, 1964, pp . 143-153. (64) Ladislav Lipscher, "Vyvin a charakteristicke crty fa§izmu na Slovensku," (The development and the characteristics of Fascism in Slovakia), Prispevky k dejinam fa§izmu v Ceskoslovensku a Mad'arsku . Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1969, pp . 9-60 ; Andrej Siracky, Klerofa§isticka ideologia ludactva. (The Clerical-Fascist ideology of the Ludaks) . Bratislava: SNPL, 1955. (65) Tiso: Una TerzaProposta. Padova: CESEO, Liviana Editrice, 1978. (66) "Josef Tiso. Katholischer Priester und Staatsprasident der Slovakei, " Slovak Studies, X (1970) , pp . 7-146. (67) Dr. Joseph Tiso and Modern Slovakia . Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. (68) Po Sviitoplukovi. druha na§a hlava, (After Svatopluk, our second leader) . Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1947. (69) " Stormtroopers in Slovakia: The Rodobrana and the Hlinka Guard," Journal of Contemporary History , VI, 3 (1971), pp . 97-119. (70) " Hlinkova Garda od svojho vzniku az po salzburske rokovania (1938-1940), " (The Hlinka Guard from its creation until the Salzburg talks). Zbornik Muzea Slovenskeho Narodneho Povstania , II (1968) , pp. 167-258. (71) Ne perdes pas leur trace . Neuchatel: Daconniere , 1950. (72) "Z pamiiti," (Reminiscences , Slo venske Pohfady, LXXXIV (1968) , 6, pp. 84-99, 7, pp . 62-79 , 8, pp. 76-85 , 9, pp . 108-114 , 10, 102-110, 11 , pp . 104-107, 12, pp . 78-83. (73) Tak sme sa poznali, (And so we became acquainted). Middletown, Pa.: Slovak v Amerike, 1967. � 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 \ ARTICLES SLOVAKIA 17 The Slovak State In Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) " YESHAYAHU JELINEK Denison University Like any other controversial topic, the historiography of the Slovak state (1939-1945) knows several schools of writing. Rather than research-systems and scholarly approaches, political views, prejudices (or lack of them), and personal background determine characteristics of these schools. Almost each of the themes covering the six years of existence of the Slovak state has been discussed from various angles. In the West, in spite of extensive publishing, scholarly research which would break through the stultifying fences of exile and ethnic literature is still somehow limited. In Czechoslovakia, and in the East in general, publication is strangled in a political straight-jacket. The sixties were the most productive years there; since the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, however, scholarship has again reached a standstill. This bibliography does not intend to exhaust the topic, nor to label the included entries, but rather to provide readers with a key for further research and writing. Therefore many important works may have been left out.(1) I would tentatively divide the various schools into the following major groups: supporters of the Slovak state, its adversaries, Communists and pro-Communists, and unaffiliated academics. Naturally, none of these distinctions will be held objective by many of the affected authors. Moreover, scholars and writers habitually regard themselves objective and unaffiliated (including the author of this essay), while others may consider them engaged and biased. Among the supporters of Slovak independence I would count many of the 1945 political exiles and some of the 1948 and 1968 emigrants, some Slovaks residing in Western countries, members of the Carpatho-German groups in West Germany, and several Catholic writers. The adversaries include, above all, members of the Slovak exile of 1948 and post-1968, Jews (whether originally from Slovakia or not) , Magyars, Czechs, and anti-Catholic writers . Communist and pro-Communist publications have appeared predominantly in Czechoslovakia, but there are also some in other 18 SLOVAKIA Eastern and Western countries. The academic group is most diverse. Nonetheless, many of its participants originated in Czechoslovakia and in the neighboring countries, and we are still missing a solid strata of students taking an academic interest in Slovakia without having emotional or ethnic attachment. It is this group which has contributed much of the fresh insight and unbiased scholarship. The authors included in this bibliography have published in more than a half-dozen languages. Besides the well-known series of German(2) and Vatican(3) documents , which discuss Slovakia frequently, the only important and extensive collections of primary documentation are the two volumes edited by Vilem Precan.(4) Less informative are Cesta ke kvetnu(5) and Dokumeny z historie ceskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943.(6) Most of the published sources cover the years 1943-45 and/or the resistance and Communist activities. Scattered documents deal with the foundation of the state, and with Slovak autonomy (September 1938-March 1939). We are still missing a solid volume devoted to the years 1939-1943. Milan S. Durica tried to fill the void, but reached only September 1939,(7) and furthermore, his collection is in Italian - a language unfamiliar to many researchers. Also helpful is Ferdinand Durcansky. (8) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry has been well documented by Livia Rothkirchen. (9) Works covering twentieth-century Slovakia include the ones by Joseph M . Kirschbaum,(10) :Cubomir Liptak,(11) Jozef Lettrich,(12) Joseph A. Mikus,(13) Gilbert L. Oddo,(14) and Eugen Steiner.(15) Books devoted to the Slovak state are those by the East German Hans Dress,(16) the Israeli Yeshayahu Jelinek,(17) and the Slovak Communist Imrich Stanek.(18) Among shorter essays worth noting are Durica's(19) and Joerg K. Hoensch's.(20) Less scholarly are Vincent Bolecek,(21) Francois d ' Orchival,(22) Jozef F. Rudinsky,(23) and others. Important information could be obtained from symphosia. Perhaps the most comprehensive is by supporters of the Slovak state, Slovenska Republika.(24) Less adequate are volumes of Karl Bosl (ed.)(25) and Kirschbaum (ed.).(26) The collection Slovenske N<irodne Povstanie Roku 1944 printed in Slovakia is devoted to the Slovak National Uprising, but includes also several studies of other aspects of the Slovak state .(27) . Foreign relations have been mostly treated in a partisan fashion. The exceptionally prolific Frantisek Vnuk(28) and ·Kirschbaum(29) wrote a large number of essays on this topic, as have done Martin Broszat,(30) Durica,(31) Siegfried Fauck,(32) and Liptak.(33) Karol Sidor, Slovakia's Minister to the Holy See, summarized his ex- SLOVAKIA 19 periences.(34) Not very informative, but supplementary to Sidor, is Jozef Kapala.(35) Internal political developments were discussed by Jelinek,(36) Kirschbaum,(37) Liptak,(38) and Vnuk.(39) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry is one of the more controversial facets in the annals of the country, and has received a diverse treatment. Jewish and Israeli 'scholarship are represented by Jelinek,(40) Ladislav Lipscher,(41) Rothkirchen,(42) Hedrich Steiner,(43) and Jan Steiner.(44) Among the non-Jews, important are John S. Conway,(45) i'.>urica,(46) Fierello Cavalli,(47) and the Jewish convert to Christianity Ladislav Hoffmann.(48) Memoirs have been written by the Zionist Yirmiyahu Oscar Neumann,(49) and the Orthodox Rabbi Michael Dov Weismandel(50) and Aron Greunhutt.(51) Ivan Kamenec 's dissertation in Bratislava was not published, but he has produced some valuable contributions.(52) The Magyar minority in Slovakia was treated by Stephen Revai(53) and the Communist Juraj Purgat.(64) Paul Brosz(55) and Liptak,(56) among others, discussed the ethnic Germans, while Andrej Dudas(57) gave a hostile description of the Rusins (Ruthenians). The German Josef Steinhuebel, who sat in the Slovak parliament, recorded his life and times.(58) A summary of the situation of the minorities during World War II can be found in a work by Jelinek.(59) Many studies have probed the war-time economy, and here I shall mention Adela Hornova,(60) Hans Kaiser,(61) and Liptak,(62) yet these studies do not present faithfully the positive aspects of Slovakia's economy. Their analysis is marred by the authors' biases. Neither the pro-independence(63) nor the Communist(64) writings are satisfactory. Similar is the nature of the numerous publications devoted to the state ' s President Dr. Jozef Tiso . Among the more scholarly presentations , there are biographies and studies by Lisa Guarda-Nardini,(65) Franz M. Schneider,(66) and Anthony X. Southerland.(67) Konstantin Culen is the Dean of Tiso 's biographers,(68) yet his is an emotional work. We shall recall two articles about stormtroopers in Slovakia, one by Jelinek(69) and one by Ladislav Susko.(70) It is regrettable that memoirs are scarce. Those that do exist include Georges Dunan ,(71) Tido J . Gaspar.(72) and Jozef Pauco.(73) I do not intend to survey here the voluminous literature dedicated to the resistance and the Slovak National Uprising, and to the Communist party and class struggle. Each of these topics deserves independent studies , and would be outside the scope of this paper. Also excluded are various fields like social conditions, education, press cultural life , the army , and religion. For some of these fields we are missing good sources , others were dealt with in Czechoslovakia only, 20 SLOVAKIA and we are lacking balancing views. Works in Western languages are in short supply, too. While the range of the literature on the history of the Slovak state is not small, it is still unsatisfactory. Our knowledge suffers from wide gaps, and even when we are lucky enough to possess studies and articles , these are often not based on rigorous research but are strongly tinged by the author's biases. There are still many important details that require in-depth research. FOOTNOTES (1) Good bibliographies of post-War publications in the West can be found in Michael Lacko's " Bibliographica," Slovak Studies (Rome) , Vol. VIl (1967), and XVIl (1977). Unfortunately, editorializing comments appended to some of the entries seem to be occasionally biased. (2) U.S. Department of State , Documents of German Foreign Policy, 1919-1945, S eries D, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. (3) Secretaire d 'etat de sa Saintete, Actes et Documentes du Saint Siege relatifs a la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, Citta de! Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. (4) Slovenske Narodne Povstanie, Dokumenty (The Slovak National Uprising, Documents) . Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1965: Slovenske Narodn e Povstanie, Nemci a Slovensko 1944, Dokumenty (The Germans and Slovakia 1944) , Bratislava: Epocha, 1970. (5) Milos Klimes - Petr Lesjuk - Irena Mala - Vilem Precan , eds., Cesta ke k vetnu. Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku . (The road to May. Creation of the People's Democracy in Czechoslovakia), Two volumes, Prague: Nakladatel'stvi Ceskoslovenske akademie ved, 1965. (6) Libuse Otahlova and Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1945, (Documents from the history of Czechoslovak politics 1939-1945), (Acta Occupationis Bohemiae & Moraviae), Two volumes, Prague: Academia, 1966. (7) La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania 1938-1945. I. Dagli accordi di Monaco all'inizio della seconda guerra mondiale (Ottobre 1938-Settembre 1939) . Padova: Marsilio Editori, 1964. (8) Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost' - Biela kniha, (The right of Slovaks to Independence - White Book) . Buenos Aires : Slovensky Oslobodzovaci Vybor, 1954. I . (9) Hurban yahaduth slovakia: teur history b ' teudoth, ('ll'he destruction of the Slovakian Jewry: a documentary history) . Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1961. (10) Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (11) Slovensko v 20. storoti, (Slovakia in the 20th Century). Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1968. (12) H istory of Modem Slovakia . New York : Praeger, 1955 . (13) Slovakia - A Political History: 1918-1950. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Marquette University Press , 1963. SLOVAKIA 21 (14) Sl.ovakia and.Its People. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (15) The Sl.ovak Dilemma. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1973. (16) Sl.owakei und faschistische Neuordnung Europas 1939-1940. Berlin: Akademia Verlag, 1972. (17) The Parish Republic: Blinka 's Sl.ovak People's Party, 1939-1945. Boulder, Colorado : East European Quarterly , 1976. - . (18) Zrada a pad. Hlinko0§ti separrttiste a tak zvany sl.ovensky stat. (The treason and the collapse . Hlinka's separatists ',and the so-called Slovak state). Prague: Statne vydavatefstvo politickej literatui'y ~ 1958. (19) " The Republic of Slovakia, Its Origin and Existence," Sl.ovak Studies , I (1961); "Slovensko za drujej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika, " (Slovakia during the Second World War - the Slovak Republic), in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin. Lausanne : Liber, 1976, pp . 123-154. (20) "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds ., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1948. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1973, pp . 271-295 . (21) Sl.ovensky §tat, (The Slovak state) . Jamaica, N.Y.: by the author, 1973. (22) Le Danube etait noir. La cause de la Slovaquie independent . Paris : Ed. La table ronde, 1968. (23) Ceskoslovensky §tdt a Slovenskd republika, (The Czechoslovak state and the Slovak Republic). Munich : By the author, S.A. (24) Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Sl.ovenskd.Republika, 1939-1945. Scranton, Pa . : Obrana Press, 1949. (25) Die Slowakei als Mitteleuropaisches Problem in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Munich: Verlag Robert Lerche , 1965. (26) Sl.ovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Toronto, Ontario: The Slovak World Congress , 1973 . (27) (The Slovak National Uprising of 1944). Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1965. (28) " Slovakia 's Accession to the Tripartite Pact," Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 6-19; "The German Zone of Protection in Slovakia, " Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 7-23 ; "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Sl.ovak Studies, IX (1969), pp. 49-73 ; " Vpad Mad'arov na slovensky vychod, " (The Hungarian invasion of the Slovak east), Kalend<ir Jednota, 1959, pp. 56-63 ; Slovensk<i ot<izka na Zdpade v rokoch 1939-1940, (The Slovak question in the West, 1939-1940) . Cleveland, Ohio: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1974. (29) " International Recognition of the Slovak Republic, " Slovakia , I (1951), pp. 23-31; "British Policy and Slovakia (1939-1945) ," Slovakia , X (1960) , pp. 50-61; "Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States, " Slovakia , XXIlI (1973) , pp . 111-112; " Schicksal des slowakischen Gesandschaft in Bern, " Slowakei, VII (1969), pp . 87-100 ; "Osudy vyslanectiev Slovenskej republiky, " (The fate of the Slovak Republic ' s embassies). Kalend<ir Jednota , 1961, pp. 109-117. (30) " Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1939-1940 und seine Ruckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik,'' Gutachten des Institutes fuer Zeitgeschichte, Munich: In Selbstverlag, 1958, pp. 221-229. 22 SLOVAKIA (31) "Beziehungen zwischen der Slowakischen Republik und dem Heiligen Stuhl," Swvakei, XI-XII (1973-74). pp. 59-89; "Machtpolitische Eingriffe des Dritten Reiches in die Politik der Slowakischen Republik, '' Tradition und Neubegin. Internationale Forschungen zur deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert. Cologne-Berlin-BonnMunich : Verlag Carl Heymans, 1975, pp. 245-257. (32) "Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1941-43 und seine Rueckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik, ' ' Gutachten des Instituts fuer Zeitgeschichte. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt, 1966, pp. 59-60. (33) "Mad'arsko v politike slovenskeho statu 1939-1943," (Hungary in the politics of the Slovak state), Historicky tasopis , XIV , 1 (1966), pp. 161-218. (34) Sest' rokov pri Vatikane, (Six years at the Vatican). Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1947. (35) Spod Roh~ov po Vatikan , (From the Rohac Mountain to Vatican), Galt, Ontario: Dobra Kniha, 1972. (36) " Slovakia's Internal Policy and the Third Reich, August 1940 - February 1941," Central European History , IV, 3 (September 1971) , pp. 97-119. (37) ''The Politics of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party in the Slovak Republic,'' Swvakia, I. (1951), pp . 43-49; "The Constitution of the Slovak Republic," Swvakia, IX (1959), pp. 47-68. (38) " Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a slovenskeho statu, " (The preparations and the course of the 1940 talks between representatives of Germany and the Slovak state), Historicky Casopis , XIII , 3 (1965), pp . 329-365. (39) " Prvych sest' mesiacov posalzburgskej ery," (The first six months of the postSalzburg period). Kalendcir Jednota, 1960, pp. 65-81 ; "Udalosti okolo Salzburgu," (The Salzburg Occurences). Literarny Almanach Swvaka v Amerike, 1961 ; "Lebensfiihigkeit des unabhiingigen slowakischen Staates," Slowakei, II (1964), pp. 43-50 . (40) " The ' Final Solution ' - the Slovak Version, " East European Quarterly , IV, 4 (1971), pp . 431-441; "The Vatican, the Catholic Church, the Catholics, and the Persecution of the Jews During the Second World War: the Case of Slovakia, " in B. Vago and G.L. Mosse, eds., Jews and Non-Jews in Eastern Europe, 1918-1945. Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, New York: John Wiler and Sons, 1974, pp . 221255. (41) "Die Einstellung des Dritten Reiches auf die Judenpolitik des slowakischen Regierung, " in Karol Bosl, ed., Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. MunichVienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971, pp. 139-157. (42) "The Policy of the Vatican and the Holocaust in 'Independent' Slovakia, 19391945," Yad Vashem Studies, VI (1966). pp. 23-45 . See also ft . no. 9. The book includes an extensive introduction in English. (43) The Tragedy of Swvakian Jewry . Bratislava: Dokl]}nentacna akcia, 1949; " La tache de la 'Dokumentacna akcia.' La situation des Juifs , en Slo\ra_quie pedant la persecution. " Les Juifs en Europe, 1939-1945. Paris: 1949. (44) The Anti-Jewish Legislation and Expulsion from the Economy in the Slovak State (1939-1945), in Hebrew, Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1974; "The ' Protected by the President' of Dr. Tiso, " in Hebrew, Shvuth , 3 (1975), pp. 64-69. SLOVAKIA 23 (45) "The Churches, the Slovak State, and the Jews 1939-1945," The Slavonic and East European Review, Lil. 126 (January 1974), pp. 85-112 . (46) " Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, VIl (1957), pp . 122; La Republica Eslovaca y la Tragedia de los Judeios Euro peas. Beunos Aires: Instituto Argentino-Eslovaco, 1975. (47) " La Santa Sede contro le deportazioni degli Ebrei dalla Slovacchia durante le seconda guerra mondiale," Civilta Cattolica, 112-3 (1961), pp. 3-18. (48) '' Die katholische Kirche und die Tragoedie des slowakischen Juden,'' Slowakei, VIl (1969), pp . 69-86. (49) Im Schatten des_Tod.es . T.el Aviv : Olamenu, 1956. (50) Min ha-Metsar, (From the S~aits). New York: Emunah, 1960. (51) Katastrophenzeit des slowa'kischen Judentums. Aufsteig und niedergang der Juden von Pressburg. Tel Aviv: By the author, 1972 . (52) "2idovsky koncentrafoy a pracovny tabor v Novakoch," (The Jewish concentration and labor camp in Novaky) . Hornci Nitra, m (1966), pp . 51-68 ; Vznik a vyvoj iidovskych pracovnych tciborov a stredisk na Slovensku v rokoch 1942-1944, " (The creation and development of Jewish labor camps and centers in Slovakia in the years of 19421944), Nove Obzory , VIII (1966), pp . 15-38. (53) Hungarians in Czechoslovakia , Yonkers, N .Y .: Institute for Minority Studies on Hungarians Attached to Czechoslovakia and Carpatho-Ruthenia, 1959. (54) Od Trianonu po Ko!ice. (K mad'arskej otcizke v Ceskoslovensku . ) (From Trianon to Kosice. - The Hungarian Question in Czechoslovakia.) Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury; 1970. (55) Die Karpathendeutschen in der Slowakei, 1918-1945. Stuttgart: gemeinschaft der Karpatendeutschen aus der Slowakei, 1972. Arbeits- (56) "Role of the German Minority in Slovakia in the Years of the Second World War," Studia Historica Slovaca , I (1963), pp . 150-178. (57) Rusinskci otcizka ajej uzadie, (The Ruthenian question and its background .) Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1971. (58) Mein Leben. Kampf eines katholischen Pfarrers fuer den Glauben und das Deutschtum in der Slowakei. Stuttgart: Hilfsbund karpathendeutscher Katholiken, 1975. (59) "Slovakia and her Minorities , 1939-1945. People With and Without National Protection, " Nationalities Papers, IV, I (1976), pp. 1-16. (60) " Charakteristika ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu, " (The characteristics of the economy of the so-called Slovak state), Ekonomicky CaS-Opis, II (1954), pp. 337-48; "Hlavne crty militarizacie ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu," (The main line of militarization of the economy of the so-called Slovak state). Ekonomicky Casopis, V (1959) , pp. 438-68. (61) '' Die Eingliederung der Slowakei in die nationalsozialistische Kriegswirtschaft, '' in Karl Bos!, ed. , Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. Munich-Vienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971 , pp. 115-138. (62) " Podrobenie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitalom" (Opression of Slovak industry by German capital), Historicky Casopis, XI, 1 (1955), pp . 2-23. 24 SLOVAKIA (63) Frantisek Vnuk, ' 'Die slowakische Haltung zum Nationalsozialismus," Slowakei, IV (1966), pp. 3-9; Jozef Pauco, " Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat," Slovakia, pp. 37-50; Karol Sidor, " O takzvanom slovenskom narodnom socializme, " (About the socalled Slovak National Socialism) , KalendarJednoty, 1964, pp . 143-153. (64) Ladislav Lipscher, "Vyvin a charakteristicke crty fa§izmu na Slovensku," (The development and the characteristics of Fascism in Slovakia), Prispevky k dejinam fa§izmu v Ceskoslovensku a Mad'arsku . Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1969, pp . 9-60 ; Andrej Siracky, Klerofa§isticka ideologia ludactva. (The Clerical-Fascist ideology of the Ludaks) . Bratislava: SNPL, 1955. (65) Tiso: Una TerzaProposta. Padova: CESEO, Liviana Editrice, 1978. (66) "Josef Tiso. Katholischer Priester und Staatsprasident der Slovakei, " Slovak Studies, X (1970) , pp . 7-146. (67) Dr. Joseph Tiso and Modern Slovakia . Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. (68) Po Sviitoplukovi. druha na§a hlava, (After Svatopluk, our second leader) . Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1947. (69) " Stormtroopers in Slovakia: The Rodobrana and the Hlinka Guard," Journal of Contemporary History , VI, 3 (1971), pp . 97-119. (70) " Hlinkova Garda od svojho vzniku az po salzburske rokovania (1938-1940), " (The Hlinka Guard from its creation until the Salzburg talks). Zbornik Muzea Slovenskeho Narodneho Povstania , II (1968) , pp. 167-258. (71) Ne perdes pas leur trace . Neuchatel: Daconniere , 1950. (72) "Z pamiiti," (Reminiscences , Slo venske Pohfady, LXXXIV (1968) , 6, pp. 84-99, 7, pp . 62-79 , 8, pp. 76-85 , 9, pp . 108-114 , 10, 102-110, 11 , pp . 104-107, 12, pp . 78-83. (73) Tak sme sa poznali, (And so we became acquainted). Middletown, Pa.: Slovak v Amerike, 1967.  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 Slovak State in Post-war Historiography Description An account of the resource Yeshayahu Jelinek Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 pp. 17-24 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jelínek, Yešhayahu A., 1933-2016 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/05fe4f2f83dc4f2aa778c108aefd8aec.pdf c0a4fb8581aad0734d386ff72b9d397f PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 95 SLOVAK-POLISH RELATIONS Joanna Glowinska, ed., Stosunki polsko-slowackie w I polowie XX wieku. Wroclaw: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej Wroclaw, 2006. 118 pp., list of abbreviations, name index. Petr Blazek, Pawel Jaworski, and Lukasz Kaminski , eds., Mirdzy przymusowq przyjainiq a prawdziwq solidarnosciq. Czesi - Polacy Slowacy, 1938-39 - 1945 - 1989, Cz~sc I. Warszawa: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej , 2007 . 152 pp., name index. Grzegorz Motyka, ed., Sluiby bezpieczenstwa Polski i Czechoslowacji wobec Ukrainc6w (1945-1989) . Z warsztat6w badawczych. Warszawa: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej , 2005 . 381 pp., list of abbreviations, name index. MARCEL JESENSKY University of Ottawa lnstytut Pamirci Narodowej (the Institute of National Remembrance) in Warsaw was established by the Polish Parliament in 1998 to preserve the memory of the 1939-1989 period. It is also engages in public education, research and dissemination of its findings. The three publications under review cover various aspects of Slovak Czech - Polish bilateral and trilateral relations in the 20th century. Polish-Slovak Relations in the First Half of the 20th Century, edited by Joanna Glowinska presents materials from a 2006 PolishSlovak conference held in Opole, Poland. Despite the fact that Polish-Slovak relations in the first half of the 20th century remained in the shadow of Polish-Czech relations, publications like this could signal the beginnings of a "catch-up" process. The book offers the contributions of four Slovak and three Polish historians on a wide range of topics. For the Polish contributors, Dariusz Dllbrowski examined Eastern Slovakia as a subject of PolishHungarian activities before WW II, Mateusz Gniazdowski reviewed relations between Slovak autonomists and the so-called Sanacja government of Jozef Pilsudski , and Ewa Orlof discussed relations between the Polish and Slovak governments from 15 March to 1 Sep- �96 SLOVAKIA tember 1939. For the Slovak contributors, Ivan A. Petransky evaluated the history of the Slovak Republic in 1939 - 1945, Dusan Seges discussed relations between the Polish exile government and Slovak politicians during WW II, Martin Lacko scrutinized the activities of Slovak soldiers in Poland in 1939 and 1941 and Juraj Marusiak reconsidered the Slovak National Uprising in 1944 and its consequences and the role of the Poles in the Uprising. Lukasz Kaminski concluded the conference with a comparison of Polish and Slovak positions at the end of WW II. Two additional pieces were particularly interesting. One was a review of the Polish "awakening movement" among the highlanders of the Slovak-Polish borderland (Gorals) by Mateusz Gniazdowski. The Gorals fascinated Polish "awakeners" and they considered them to be Poles because of the closeness of their dialect to the Polish language (asserting as obvious the link between language and nationality). But the majority of the Gorals in Slovakia lacked any Polish national consciousness and claimed Slovak nationality. Some Polish "awakeners" maintained the naive view that the Polish-Slovak rapprochement would persuade the Slovaks to accept Polish ethno-linguistic argumentation with the consequent border readjustment in the Slovak-Polish borderland. Thus one of the interesting paradoxes of Polish-Slovak relations in the interwar period was the fact that the persons who supported and shaped the Polish policy of rapprochement with the Slovaks advocated, at the same time, irredentism in the common borderland. Secondly, Dusan Seges's penetrating analysis of multifaceted and evolving contacts between the Polish and Slovak political authorities during WW II made a strong argument for the need to consider Slovak-Polish relations as a distinct problem, not as one element of Polish-Czechoslovak relations during wartime. It is hardly surprising that, on some historical questions, the Slovak and Polish perspectives could not be reconciled. This was demonstrated in Kaminski's concluding remarks that "Slovakia saw the war end with the losses of territories that had never been an integral part of the country, neither in a historical nor in a cultural sense." The issue of the Polish-Slovak borderland and its population remains particularly challenging, but the era of a single "correct" historical perspective has ended. The publication Between the Forced Sympathy and the Real Soli- �SLOVAKIA 97 darity. Czechs - Poles - Slovaks, 1938-39 - 1945 - 1989, Part I, contains 18 contributions of historians from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Great Britain made within the "Enemies or Allies during WWII" segment of the November 2004 conference in Wroclaw, Poland. The History Institute of Wroclaw University and the Institute of National Remembrance jointly sponsored the conference in collaboration with the Institute For Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Thus, Slawomir M. Nowinowski presented an introductory overview of Polish-Czechoslovak relations at the outset of WW II, Jaroslav Boucek gave a picture of Poland in the work of the Czech historian Jan Slavik (1885-1978) and Anna Cichocka reviewed the portrayal of Czechoslovakia on the pages of the Polish journal Polityka in 193 8-193 9. Furthermore, Piotr Kolakowski focused his attention on the activities of Polish military intelligence against Czechoslovakia at the end of the 1930s, Robert Kowalski described Polish-Slovak relations against a background of German diplomatic activities in 1939, Pavel Micianik inspected the activities of the Slovak army during the campaign against Poland and Jan Nemecek examined the relations between the Polish and Czechoslovak governments in exile. In addition, Jacek Piotrowski observed exiled Polish president Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz and the plans for a Polish-Czechoslovak federation , Dariusz Miszewski talked about general Kazimierz Sosnkowski's views on the strategic importance of Czechoslovakia for Poland' s security in 1938-1943, Pawel Jaworski pondered on the Polish-Czechoslovak contacts in Sweden during WWII and Dusan Seges explored Karol Sidor's contacts with Kazimierz Papee in the Vatican through the memorandum La question slovaque from June of 1943. Subsequently, Roman Baron clarified the mutual perceptions of the Czechs and Poles from the perspective of Polish and Czechoslovak political emigres, Martin D. Brown shed light on the Foreign Office ' s influence on shaping British-PolishCzechoslovak relations, Radoslaw Zurawski elucidated on the Foreign Office' s role in Polish-Czechoslovak relations (November 1940-August 1942) and Vit Smetana expounded on the issue of Czecho-slovak-Polish confederation and the big powers. Finally, Jaroslav Vaculik illustrated the activities of the Czechoslovak army group in Volhynia in 1939-1940, Mecislav Barak gave details about two concepts of resistance in Tes in Silesia (Zaolzie) in 193 8-1945 and Petr Koura talked about the picture of Poland in the Czech un- �98 SLOVAKIA derground press in 1939-1945. The majority of the participants reflected, from various perspectives, upon the issues of competing Slovak, Czech and Polish territorial claims in Tesin Silesia (Zaolzie), Spis and Orava, and on Slovak-Czech-Polish regional cooperation with the emphasis on the role of Slovakia and its presence or absence. The presentations made several interesting observations and I would like to focus on two of them. Slawomir Nowikowski observed that the Zaolzie region played the role of a barometer in Polish-Czechoslovak relations in 19181938. It was a striking revelation that the Poles seemed unaware of the extent of hostility generated in Czechoslovakia by Polish territorial aspirations in Zaolzie, Spis and Orava. Accordingly, the search for a consensus in the Czechoslovak-Polish territorial issues in 19181938 appeared like squaring the circle. The Czechoslovak-Polish territorial disputes became insignificant after 1945 in comparison with the Polish territorial loses incurred in its eastern regions. Mecislav Borak demonstrated divergent attitudes of the Communists towards the territorial ambitions of their governments. While the Polish Communists condemned and distanced themselves verbally from the prewar Polish governments' foreign policies, they never abandoned Polish territorial claims in Tesin. The Polish Communists adopted the view of their bourgeois predecessors, upholding in their activities the right of self-determination of all Poles. This attitude sharply contrasted with that of the Slovak and Czech Communists who supported the abandonment of Slovak territorial claims in the Northern Spis and Orava regions. This publication advances further Slovak-Czech-Polish exchanges of views on their shared past, particularly in less researched and published topics. A divergence of views should not hamper the continuing evaluation and re-evaluation of the shared Slovak-Czech-Polish past. The publication's plentiful collection of new and older archival resources will certainly help researchers and historians dealing with the Slovak, Czech and Polish histories. Therefore, the publication is recommended reading for professional and amateur historians. The IPN 's Monografie series is dedicated to the modem history of Poland (1939-1989). Its publication The Security Services of Poland and Czechoslovakia against the Ukrainians (1945-1989) presents eight works of Polish and Czech authors dealing with the �SLOVAKIA 99 Polish and Czechoslovak special services and their activities against the Ukrainian minority and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Resistance Anny (UPA). Grzegorz Motyka introduced the activities of the security services of Poland and Czechoslovakia against the Ukrainians, Jan Pisulinski spoke about Rzeszow's security office and its activities against the Ukrainians in 1944-1956, Tomasz Balbus described anti-communist actions of the Ukrainians in south-west Poland in 1945-1954 and Mariusz Zaj<l_czkowski glanced at Polish-Czechoslovak security cooperation in the case of Jan Szpontak. Marcin Majewski, meanwhile, spoke about the case of Teodor Oak and the security operation "Paj<l,ki," Igor Halagida discussed the cooperation of the Polish State Security (SB) and the Soviet KGB against the Ukrainian minority in the 1960s, Grzegorz Motyka and Mariusz Zaj<l_czkowski documented attempts at re-writing history in the Peoples' Republic of Poland, Ondrej Koutek commented on the activities of the Czechoslovak security services against the Ukrainians in 1945-1989 and Lubos Vesely expounded on the war with the banderovci in post-war Czechoslovakia. The contribution of Tomasz Balbus attracted my attention. The governments of Poland and Czechoslovakia resolved to keep all aspects of Ukrainian nationalist expression under control and to manipulate it for their own purposes. The Polish government successfully created and maintained the perception, widely shared by the Poles until today, that the OUN-UPA activities targeted primarily the Polish population. In reality the Ukrainian nationalists hoped to liberate the Ukraine from the Soviet Union and to create an independent country. The publication concludes the current stage of research conduced by the Office of Public Education of the IPN on the Polish-Ukrainian relations in 1939-1989. Historians of Central and East Europe will find plentiful archival resources in The Security Services of Poland and Czechoslovakia Against the Ukrainians (I 945-1989). However, many interesting questions remain on the activities of the Ukrainian resistance in Poland and Czechoslovakia. Taking into account the fact that their resistance activities made substantial contact with Slovakia, Slovak scholars should also be involved in such research. �� SLOVAKIA 95 SLOVAK-POLISH RELATIONS Joanna Glowinska, ed., Stosunki polsko-slowackie w I polowie XX wieku. Wroclaw: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej Wroclaw, 2006. 118 pp., list of abbreviations, name index. Petr Blazek, Pawel Jaworski, and Lukasz Kaminski , eds., Mirdzy przymusowq przyjainiq a prawdziwq solidarnosciq. Czesi - Polacy Slowacy, 1938-39 - 1945 - 1989, Cz~sc I. Warszawa: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej , 2007 . 152 pp., name index. Grzegorz Motyka, ed., Sluiby bezpieczenstwa Polski i Czechoslowacji wobec Ukrainc6w (1945-1989) . Z warsztat6w badawczych. Warszawa: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej , 2005 . 381 pp., list of abbreviations, name index. MARCEL JESENSKY University of Ottawa lnstytut Pamirci Narodowej (the Institute of National Remembrance) in Warsaw was established by the Polish Parliament in 1998 to preserve the memory of the 1939-1989 period. It is also engages in public education, research and dissemination of its findings. The three publications under review cover various aspects of Slovak Czech - Polish bilateral and trilateral relations in the 20th century. Polish-Slovak Relations in the First Half of the 20th Century, edited by Joanna Glowinska presents materials from a 2006 PolishSlovak conference held in Opole, Poland. Despite the fact that Polish-Slovak relations in the first half of the 20th century remained in the shadow of Polish-Czech relations, publications like this could signal the beginnings of a "catch-up" process. The book offers the contributions of four Slovak and three Polish historians on a wide range of topics. For the Polish contributors, Dariusz Dllbrowski examined Eastern Slovakia as a subject of PolishHungarian activities before WW II, Mateusz Gniazdowski reviewed relations between Slovak autonomists and the so-called Sanacja government of Jozef Pilsudski , and Ewa Orlof discussed relations between the Polish and Slovak governments from 15 March to 1 Sep- �96 SLOVAKIA tember 1939. For the Slovak contributors, Ivan A. Petransky evaluated the history of the Slovak Republic in 1939 - 1945, Dusan Seges discussed relations between the Polish exile government and Slovak politicians during WW II, Martin Lacko scrutinized the activities of Slovak soldiers in Poland in 1939 and 1941 and Juraj Marusiak reconsidered the Slovak National Uprising in 1944 and its consequences and the role of the Poles in the Uprising. Lukasz Kaminski concluded the conference with a comparison of Polish and Slovak positions at the end of WW II. Two additional pieces were particularly interesting. One was a review of the Polish "awakening movement" among the highlanders of the Slovak-Polish borderland (Gorals) by Mateusz Gniazdowski. The Gorals fascinated Polish "awakeners" and they considered them to be Poles because of the closeness of their dialect to the Polish language (asserting as obvious the link between language and nationality). But the majority of the Gorals in Slovakia lacked any Polish national consciousness and claimed Slovak nationality. Some Polish "awakeners" maintained the naive view that the Polish-Slovak rapprochement would persuade the Slovaks to accept Polish ethno-linguistic argumentation with the consequent border readjustment in the Slovak-Polish borderland. Thus one of the interesting paradoxes of Polish-Slovak relations in the interwar period was the fact that the persons who supported and shaped the Polish policy of rapprochement with the Slovaks advocated, at the same time, irredentism in the common borderland. Secondly, Dusan Seges's penetrating analysis of multifaceted and evolving contacts between the Polish and Slovak political authorities during WW II made a strong argument for the need to consider Slovak-Polish relations as a distinct problem, not as one element of Polish-Czechoslovak relations during wartime. It is hardly surprising that, on some historical questions, the Slovak and Polish perspectives could not be reconciled. This was demonstrated in Kaminski's concluding remarks that "Slovakia saw the war end with the losses of territories that had never been an integral part of the country, neither in a historical nor in a cultural sense." The issue of the Polish-Slovak borderland and its population remains particularly challenging, but the era of a single "correct" historical perspective has ended. The publication Between the Forced Sympathy and the Real Soli- �SLOVAKIA 97 darity. Czechs - Poles - Slovaks, 1938-39 - 1945 - 1989, Part I, contains 18 contributions of historians from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Great Britain made within the "Enemies or Allies during WWII" segment of the November 2004 conference in Wroclaw, Poland. The History Institute of Wroclaw University and the Institute of National Remembrance jointly sponsored the conference in collaboration with the Institute For Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Thus, Slawomir M. Nowinowski presented an introductory overview of Polish-Czechoslovak relations at the outset of WW II, Jaroslav Boucek gave a picture of Poland in the work of the Czech historian Jan Slavik (1885-1978) and Anna Cichocka reviewed the portrayal of Czechoslovakia on the pages of the Polish journal Polityka in 193 8-193 9. Furthermore, Piotr Kolakowski focused his attention on the activities of Polish military intelligence against Czechoslovakia at the end of the 1930s, Robert Kowalski described Polish-Slovak relations against a background of German diplomatic activities in 1939, Pavel Micianik inspected the activities of the Slovak army during the campaign against Poland and Jan Nemecek examined the relations between the Polish and Czechoslovak governments in exile. In addition, Jacek Piotrowski observed exiled Polish president Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz and the plans for a Polish-Czechoslovak federation , Dariusz Miszewski talked about general Kazimierz Sosnkowski's views on the strategic importance of Czechoslovakia for Poland' s security in 1938-1943, Pawel Jaworski pondered on the Polish-Czechoslovak contacts in Sweden during WWII and Dusan Seges explored Karol Sidor's contacts with Kazimierz Papee in the Vatican through the memorandum La question slovaque from June of 1943. Subsequently, Roman Baron clarified the mutual perceptions of the Czechs and Poles from the perspective of Polish and Czechoslovak political emigres, Martin D. Brown shed light on the Foreign Office ' s influence on shaping British-PolishCzechoslovak relations, Radoslaw Zurawski elucidated on the Foreign Office' s role in Polish-Czechoslovak relations (November 1940-August 1942) and Vit Smetana expounded on the issue of Czecho-slovak-Polish confederation and the big powers. Finally, Jaroslav Vaculik illustrated the activities of the Czechoslovak army group in Volhynia in 1939-1940, Mecislav Barak gave details about two concepts of resistance in Tes in Silesia (Zaolzie) in 193 8-1945 and Petr Koura talked about the picture of Poland in the Czech un- �98 SLOVAKIA derground press in 1939-1945. The majority of the participants reflected, from various perspectives, upon the issues of competing Slovak, Czech and Polish territorial claims in Tesin Silesia (Zaolzie), Spis and Orava, and on Slovak-Czech-Polish regional cooperation with the emphasis on the role of Slovakia and its presence or absence. The presentations made several interesting observations and I would like to focus on two of them. Slawomir Nowikowski observed that the Zaolzie region played the role of a barometer in Polish-Czechoslovak relations in 19181938. It was a striking revelation that the Poles seemed unaware of the extent of hostility generated in Czechoslovakia by Polish territorial aspirations in Zaolzie, Spis and Orava. Accordingly, the search for a consensus in the Czechoslovak-Polish territorial issues in 19181938 appeared like squaring the circle. The Czechoslovak-Polish territorial disputes became insignificant after 1945 in comparison with the Polish territorial loses incurred in its eastern regions. Mecislav Borak demonstrated divergent attitudes of the Communists towards the territorial ambitions of their governments. While the Polish Communists condemned and distanced themselves verbally from the prewar Polish governments' foreign policies, they never abandoned Polish territorial claims in Tesin. The Polish Communists adopted the view of their bourgeois predecessors, upholding in their activities the right of self-determination of all Poles. This attitude sharply contrasted with that of the Slovak and Czech Communists who supported the abandonment of Slovak territorial claims in the Northern Spis and Orava regions. This publication advances further Slovak-Czech-Polish exchanges of views on their shared past, particularly in less researched and published topics. A divergence of views should not hamper the continuing evaluation and re-evaluation of the shared Slovak-Czech-Polish past. The publication's plentiful collection of new and older archival resources will certainly help researchers and historians dealing with the Slovak, Czech and Polish histories. Therefore, the publication is recommended reading for professional and amateur historians. The IPN 's Monografie series is dedicated to the modem history of Poland (1939-1989). Its publication The Security Services of Poland and Czechoslovakia against the Ukrainians (1945-1989) presents eight works of Polish and Czech authors dealing with the �SLOVAKIA 99 Polish and Czechoslovak special services and their activities against the Ukrainian minority and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Resistance Anny (UPA). Grzegorz Motyka introduced the activities of the security services of Poland and Czechoslovakia against the Ukrainians, Jan Pisulinski spoke about Rzeszow's security office and its activities against the Ukrainians in 1944-1956, Tomasz Balbus described anti-communist actions of the Ukrainians in south-west Poland in 1945-1954 and Mariusz Zaj<l_czkowski glanced at Polish-Czechoslovak security cooperation in the case of Jan Szpontak. Marcin Majewski, meanwhile, spoke about the case of Teodor Oak and the security operation "Paj<l,ki," Igor Halagida discussed the cooperation of the Polish State Security (SB) and the Soviet KGB against the Ukrainian minority in the 1960s, Grzegorz Motyka and Mariusz Zaj<l_czkowski documented attempts at re-writing history in the Peoples' Republic of Poland, Ondrej Koutek commented on the activities of the Czechoslovak security services against the Ukrainians in 1945-1989 and Lubos Vesely expounded on the war with the banderovci in post-war Czechoslovakia. The contribution of Tomasz Balbus attracted my attention. The governments of Poland and Czechoslovakia resolved to keep all aspects of Ukrainian nationalist expression under control and to manipulate it for their own purposes. The Polish government successfully created and maintained the perception, widely shared by the Poles until today, that the OUN-UPA activities targeted primarily the Polish population. In reality the Ukrainian nationalists hoped to liberate the Ukraine from the Soviet Union and to create an independent country. The publication concludes the current stage of research conduced by the Office of Public Education of the IPN on the Polish-Ukrainian relations in 1939-1989. Historians of Central and East Europe will find plentiful archival resources in The Security Services of Poland and Czechoslovakia Against the Ukrainians (I 945-1989). However, many interesting questions remain on the activities of the Ukrainian resistance in Poland and Czechoslovakia. Taking into account the fact that their resistance activities made substantial contact with Slovakia, Slovak scholars should also be involved in such research. �� 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 2010, Vol. 40 Description An account of the resource Vol. 40 (No. 74-75), 2010. 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 2010 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 95 SLOVAK-POLISH RELATIONS Joanna Glowinska, ed., Stosunki polsko-slowackie w I polowie XX wieku. Wroclaw: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej Wroclaw, 2006. 118 pp., list of abbreviations, name index. Petr Blazek, Pawel Jaworski, and Lukasz Kaminski , eds., Mirdzy przymusowq przyjainiq a prawdziwq solidarnosciq. Czesi - Polacy Slowacy, 1938-39 - 1945 - 1989, Cz~sc I. Warszawa: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej , 2007 . 152 pp., name index. Grzegorz Motyka, ed., Sluiby bezpieczenstwa Polski i Czechoslowacji wobec Ukrainc6w (1945-1989) . Z warsztat6w badawczych. Warszawa: Instytut Pami~ci Narodowej , 2005 . 381 pp., list of abbreviations, name index. MARCEL JESENSKY University of Ottawa lnstytut Pamirci Narodowej (the Institute of National Remembrance) in Warsaw was established by the Polish Parliament in 1998 to preserve the memory of the 1939-1989 period. It is also engages in public education, research and dissemination of its findings. The three publications under review cover various aspects of Slovak Czech - Polish bilateral and trilateral relations in the 20th century. Polish-Slovak Relations in the First Half of the 20th Century, edited by Joanna Glowinska presents materials from a 2006 PolishSlovak conference held in Opole, Poland. Despite the fact that Polish-Slovak relations in the first half of the 20th century remained in the shadow of Polish-Czech relations, publications like this could signal the beginnings of a "catch-up" process. The book offers the contributions of four Slovak and three Polish historians on a wide range of topics. For the Polish contributors, Dariusz Dllbrowski examined Eastern Slovakia as a subject of PolishHungarian activities before WW II, Mateusz Gniazdowski reviewed relations between Slovak autonomists and the so-called Sanacja government of Jozef Pilsudski , and Ewa Orlof discussed relations between the Polish and Slovak governments from 15 March to 1 Sep- 96 SLOVAKIA tember 1939. For the Slovak contributors, Ivan A. Petransky evaluated the history of the Slovak Republic in 1939 - 1945, Dusan Seges discussed relations between the Polish exile government and Slovak politicians during WW II, Martin Lacko scrutinized the activities of Slovak soldiers in Poland in 1939 and 1941 and Juraj Marusiak reconsidered the Slovak National Uprising in 1944 and its consequences and the role of the Poles in the Uprising. Lukasz Kaminski concluded the conference with a comparison of Polish and Slovak positions at the end of WW II. Two additional pieces were particularly interesting. One was a review of the Polish "awakening movement" among the highlanders of the Slovak-Polish borderland (Gorals) by Mateusz Gniazdowski. The Gorals fascinated Polish "awakeners" and they considered them to be Poles because of the closeness of their dialect to the Polish language (asserting as obvious the link between language and nationality). But the majority of the Gorals in Slovakia lacked any Polish national consciousness and claimed Slovak nationality. Some Polish "awakeners" maintained the naive view that the Polish-Slovak rapprochement would persuade the Slovaks to accept Polish ethno-linguistic argumentation with the consequent border readjustment in the Slovak-Polish borderland. Thus one of the interesting paradoxes of Polish-Slovak relations in the interwar period was the fact that the persons who supported and shaped the Polish policy of rapprochement with the Slovaks advocated, at the same time, irredentism in the common borderland. Secondly, Dusan Seges's penetrating analysis of multifaceted and evolving contacts between the Polish and Slovak political authorities during WW II made a strong argument for the need to consider Slovak-Polish relations as a distinct problem, not as one element of Polish-Czechoslovak relations during wartime. It is hardly surprising that, on some historical questions, the Slovak and Polish perspectives could not be reconciled. This was demonstrated in Kaminski's concluding remarks that "Slovakia saw the war end with the losses of territories that had never been an integral part of the country, neither in a historical nor in a cultural sense." The issue of the Polish-Slovak borderland and its population remains particularly challenging, but the era of a single "correct" historical perspective has ended. The publication Between the Forced Sympathy and the Real Soli- SLOVAKIA 97 darity. Czechs - Poles - Slovaks, 1938-39 - 1945 - 1989, Part I, contains 18 contributions of historians from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Great Britain made within the "Enemies or Allies during WWII" segment of the November 2004 conference in Wroclaw, Poland. The History Institute of Wroclaw University and the Institute of National Remembrance jointly sponsored the conference in collaboration with the Institute For Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Thus, Slawomir M. Nowinowski presented an introductory overview of Polish-Czechoslovak relations at the outset of WW II, Jaroslav Boucek gave a picture of Poland in the work of the Czech historian Jan Slavik (1885-1978) and Anna Cichocka reviewed the portrayal of Czechoslovakia on the pages of the Polish journal Polityka in 193 8-193 9. Furthermore, Piotr Kolakowski focused his attention on the activities of Polish military intelligence against Czechoslovakia at the end of the 1930s, Robert Kowalski described Polish-Slovak relations against a background of German diplomatic activities in 1939, Pavel Micianik inspected the activities of the Slovak army during the campaign against Poland and Jan Nemecek examined the relations between the Polish and Czechoslovak governments in exile. In addition, Jacek Piotrowski observed exiled Polish president Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz and the plans for a Polish-Czechoslovak federation , Dariusz Miszewski talked about general Kazimierz Sosnkowski's views on the strategic importance of Czechoslovakia for Poland' s security in 1938-1943, Pawel Jaworski pondered on the Polish-Czechoslovak contacts in Sweden during WWII and Dusan Seges explored Karol Sidor's contacts with Kazimierz Papee in the Vatican through the memorandum La question slovaque from June of 1943. Subsequently, Roman Baron clarified the mutual perceptions of the Czechs and Poles from the perspective of Polish and Czechoslovak political emigres, Martin D. Brown shed light on the Foreign Office ' s influence on shaping British-PolishCzechoslovak relations, Radoslaw Zurawski elucidated on the Foreign Office' s role in Polish-Czechoslovak relations (November 1940-August 1942) and Vit Smetana expounded on the issue of Czecho-slovak-Polish confederation and the big powers. Finally, Jaroslav Vaculik illustrated the activities of the Czechoslovak army group in Volhynia in 1939-1940, Mecislav Barak gave details about two concepts of resistance in Tes in Silesia (Zaolzie) in 193 8-1945 and Petr Koura talked about the picture of Poland in the Czech un- 98 SLOVAKIA derground press in 1939-1945. The majority of the participants reflected, from various perspectives, upon the issues of competing Slovak, Czech and Polish territorial claims in Tesin Silesia (Zaolzie), Spis and Orava, and on Slovak-Czech-Polish regional cooperation with the emphasis on the role of Slovakia and its presence or absence. The presentations made several interesting observations and I would like to focus on two of them. Slawomir Nowikowski observed that the Zaolzie region played the role of a barometer in Polish-Czechoslovak relations in 19181938. It was a striking revelation that the Poles seemed unaware of the extent of hostility generated in Czechoslovakia by Polish territorial aspirations in Zaolzie, Spis and Orava. Accordingly, the search for a consensus in the Czechoslovak-Polish territorial issues in 19181938 appeared like squaring the circle. The Czechoslovak-Polish territorial disputes became insignificant after 1945 in comparison with the Polish territorial loses incurred in its eastern regions. Mecislav Borak demonstrated divergent attitudes of the Communists towards the territorial ambitions of their governments. While the Polish Communists condemned and distanced themselves verbally from the prewar Polish governments' foreign policies, they never abandoned Polish territorial claims in Tesin. The Polish Communists adopted the view of their bourgeois predecessors, upholding in their activities the right of self-determination of all Poles. This attitude sharply contrasted with that of the Slovak and Czech Communists who supported the abandonment of Slovak territorial claims in the Northern Spis and Orava regions. This publication advances further Slovak-Czech-Polish exchanges of views on their shared past, particularly in less researched and published topics. A divergence of views should not hamper the continuing evaluation and re-evaluation of the shared Slovak-Czech-Polish past. The publication's plentiful collection of new and older archival resources will certainly help researchers and historians dealing with the Slovak, Czech and Polish histories. Therefore, the publication is recommended reading for professional and amateur historians. The IPN 's Monografie series is dedicated to the modem history of Poland (1939-1989). Its publication The Security Services of Poland and Czechoslovakia against the Ukrainians (1945-1989) presents eight works of Polish and Czech authors dealing with the SLOVAKIA 99 Polish and Czechoslovak special services and their activities against the Ukrainian minority and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Resistance Anny (UPA). Grzegorz Motyka introduced the activities of the security services of Poland and Czechoslovakia against the Ukrainians, Jan Pisulinski spoke about Rzeszow's security office and its activities against the Ukrainians in 1944-1956, Tomasz Balbus described anti-communist actions of the Ukrainians in south-west Poland in 1945-1954 and Mariusz Zaj<l_czkowski glanced at Polish-Czechoslovak security cooperation in the case of Jan Szpontak. Marcin Majewski, meanwhile, spoke about the case of Teodor Oak and the security operation "Paj<l,ki," Igor Halagida discussed the cooperation of the Polish State Security (SB) and the Soviet KGB against the Ukrainian minority in the 1960s, Grzegorz Motyka and Mariusz Zaj<l_czkowski documented attempts at re-writing history in the Peoples' Republic of Poland, Ondrej Koutek commented on the activities of the Czechoslovak security services against the Ukrainians in 1945-1989 and Lubos Vesely expounded on the war with the banderovci in post-war Czechoslovakia. The contribution of Tomasz Balbus attracted my attention. The governments of Poland and Czechoslovakia resolved to keep all aspects of Ukrainian nationalist expression under control and to manipulate it for their own purposes. The Polish government successfully created and maintained the perception, widely shared by the Poles until today, that the OUN-UPA activities targeted primarily the Polish population. In reality the Ukrainian nationalists hoped to liberate the Ukraine from the Soviet Union and to create an independent country. The publication concludes the current stage of research conduced by the Office of Public Education of the IPN on the Polish-Ukrainian relations in 1939-1989. Historians of Central and East Europe will find plentiful archival resources in The Security Services of Poland and Czechoslovakia Against the Ukrainians (I 945-1989). However, many interesting questions remain on the activities of the Ukrainian resistance in Poland and Czechoslovakia. Taking into account the fact that their resistance activities made substantial contact with Slovakia, Slovak scholars should also be involved in such research.  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 Review Essay: Slovak-Polish Relations Description An account of the resource Marcel Jesenský Slovakia, Vol. 40 (No. 74-75), 2010 pp. 95-99 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jesenský, Marcel Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e9a545c6701bae7a962bd2db2a3834d8.pdf 0dd3fe301e1b099f10663374997e72a5 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 25 The Slovak Intelligentsia 1918-1938 OWEN V. JOHNSON \ The 25th issue of Slovensky dennik, published December 7, 1918, carried a message from the Slovak Society of Studying Youth. It began bluntly, '' A nation is strong only if it has a strong intelligentsia.'' Issue No. 1, published November 9, 1918, called on the Slovak intelligentsia to come forward. Since the new Czechoslovak state will need a great many Slovak people for offices and schools, we challenge each Slovak intelligent to immediately apply in writing or personally to the Legal Committee of the Slovak National Council listing complete name and address. Slovensky dennik might well have devoted its limited space to other matters, for the Slovakia of 1918 was ahnost without an intelligentsia, a body without a head. How and to what extent was this void filled in the following twenty years? In essence, this essay is a preliminary examination of that question. A combination of historical and ideological circumstances has combined to divert attention almost completely from a serious study of the development of education and the concomitant development of the intelligentsia (using here the Marxist definition of the intelligentsia as being "educated specialists") in interwar Slovakia, and in fact for the whole of Czechoslovakia.(!) Victor Mamatey describes Slovak politicians as showing considerable energy in promoting the cultural and educational development of the Slovak people,(2) but furnishes no evidence. R. W. Seton-Watson describes the "remarkable transformation" wrought in the field of education in Slovakia, but provides only broad quantitative evidence, referring especially to the elementary schools. (3) Reprinted by permission from Russian and Slavic History (Papers from the Banff ' 74 Conference) edited by D. K. Rowney and G. E. Orchard, Slavica Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 14388, Columbus, Ohio 43214. �26 SLOVAKIA While Czech and Slovak historians generally evaluate this phenomenon favorably, only now is any extensive research developing in the field. The published draft survey, Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin(4) does not once mention education. One report on a meeting of the Polish-Czechoslovak Historical Commission in Warsaw in September 1972 pointed out, "There emerged in the rich discussion many questions which even in our historiography have not been resolved through analytical work (such as) (the growth of national intelligentsia, the question of education ... ).(5) Oldriska Kodedova, reviewing Kuzmin's Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekoslovakii, comments(6) that insufficient attention has been paid to the social and nationality problem of education between the two wars. She points out that there is not a single basic work on the subject. Professor Jozef Matej, chairman of the pedagogical department of the Faculty of Philosophy at Comenius University in Bratislava, surveys the considerable progress made in research over the last five years, and declares that the editorial board of Jednotna skola supports the publication of articles about the history of education and pedagogy in the "bourgeois" Republic.(7) Admittedly this problem is not one that lends itself easily to a time frame as short as twenty years. Even the very few high school graduates from 1919 would have been less than forty years old in 1938, an age which in the traditional European context was still quite young. The names which showed up as outstanding among high school students· in the twenties and thirties became the leaders only in the turbulent forties and fifties. Perforce, then, this paper must confine itself to observations on some aspects of the development of the intelligentsia. A thorough study would require a complete monograph. What I will seek to do is discuss briefly the circumstances that brought about the poverty of the intelligentsia before 1918, identify institutions which contributed to the development of this educated group of Slovaks in the interwar period; describe summarily the educational system in use and provide a statistical overview of the schools and the students who studied in them; briefly describe other signs of cultural development; and suggest some accomplishments, shortcomings, and problems on the period. Linguistic and anthropological experts have long debated the question as to whether the term Czechoslovlik can be used to describe one language and one nation, or whether the individual Czech and Slovak terms should be used. This paper proceeds on the basis of the latter, as a means to better understanding the problem at hand. If the idea of a Slovak nation was to have a solid basis, whether in a �SLOVAKIA 27 \ Czechoslovak state or by it'self, it was necessary that an intelligentsia develop from the Slovak people . The course of events prior to the creation of Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I found the Slovak people practically without a nationally conscious Slovak intelligentsia. Policies pursued by the Hungarian government following the 1867 Ausgleich had made it practically impossible for any Slovak youth who aspired to advanced education and a high position in life, to succeeed without giving up his Slovak identity. There were no Slovak schools beyond the primary level. It is generally accepted(8) that there were only between five hundred and a thousand educated and nationally conscious Slovaks in the year 1918. This estimate can be challenged on the basis that it represented the number of Slovaks and members of their families on whom the Hungarian authorities kept watch because of Slovak or panSlavic tendencies.(9) There may well have been several thousand nationally neutral intelligentsia who found it quite simple to fit into a Czechoslovak environment following the founding of the Republic. Several Slovak historians are seeking at this time a more accurate estimate.(10) Certainly the predominantly agricultural configuration of the Slovak society did not promote Slovak intellectual development. The cities , with few exceptions , were Hungarian, German, or Jewish dominated. Thus we are left with a Slovak intelligentsia made up primarily of clergymen, doctors , and lawyers, and their families .(11) One could not in any case expect that there would be a sufficient number of Slovaks who would have the requisite administrative experience to run a modem state and nation. To overcome this shortcoming it was necessary to bring in Czechs.(12) An example can be made of the advanced educational establishments. There were about twenty qualified and nationally conscious Slovaks who could teach in the gymnasia, enough persons to supply about two schools . Perhaps three hundred nationally conscious Slovaks were qualified to teach in the elementary schools.(13) Dr. Karel Koch , later Surgeon-General for Slovakia, lists only three Slovak-oriented surgeons remaining in Slovakia in 1918.(14) Borovicka even says that after the attainment of independence in 1918 there was not a single Slovak government official whatever with a Slovak national consciousness .(15) The bleakness of the situation was described poignantly by Dr. Vavro Srobar, a future Agrarian Party Minister of Education. "There were so few of us that we almost all knew each other personally , we knew even addresses , as well as personal and family relationships. " (16) �28 SLOVAKIA Accustomed to the Hungarian tradition, the Slovak peasant looked upon the intelligentsia as those people who, on the basis of a definite higher schooling got an official position or who otherwise stood out on the basis of their knowledge, property and influence in public, and earned admission to intelligent society. High school and university education and a proper knowledge of Hungarian or German, gentlemanly behavior, official position in the church, county, school, etc. gave legitimation to the title of intelligent. (17) The intelligentsia were the people who worked with their heads, not their hands. On this basis, one may consider a study of schools which awarded the maturitne vysvedcenie (matriculation certificate) or its equivalent and of the students in these schools as a study of the intelligentsia. The certificate was given for the successful completion of the school leaving examination at the end of high school (similar to the French baccalaureat). Of five categories of state employees, three required at least a high school education. A fourth required lower high school or middle school joined with special courses. While the fifth included those demanding only general elementary education, elementary and middle school teachers were included in this category.(18) At this point, attention must be directed to the structure of the whole school system. School attendance in Slovakia was mandatory for six years until 1922; after that, eight years was required, although the increase could not be enforced until the late twenties for lack of the needed personnel and facilities. All students spent the first five years in elementary (l'udove) schools. The other three years could be taken in middle schools, or in the beginning grades of the various secondary schools. In some of the more rural areas, only the elementary school existed, and here students who had no intention of continuing higher studies were allowed to attend if no alternative school was available. There were about 4000 elementary schools. The majority of the schools awarding the matriculation certificate came under the general heading gymnasia. Children who had completed elementary school and were at last ten years old, could apply for admission to the gymnasia. These were of fm\f types: 1. The classical gymnasium, of which there· were very few, was an eight-year school. Successful completion of the course allowed the student to enter the university directly. Until reforms �SLOVAKIA 29 \ instituted in early 1930s, students in these schools studied Latin from the first year and Greek from the fifth. 2. The real gymnasium was by far the most popular because its graduates could directly enter both universities and technical universities. In these schools, French or English was taken instead of Greek beginning in the fifth year. 3. The real reformed gymnasium, which was more popular in the early years of the Republic, later lost attractiveness, and many of these schools were converted to real gymnasia. They followed the same curriculum as the real gymnasia except that a third language (English, Italian, or a Slavic one) replaced Latin in the seventh year. The reason for their later unpopularity was the necessity of taking an additional examination in Latin in order to gain entrance into the university. 4. The re<ilka was a seven-year school and its graduates had entrance directly only into the technical universities. No classical language was required, and French or English was begun in the second year. Other schools which awarded the matriculation certificate were only four years in length. The most wide-spread in Slovakia was the teacher-training institute , conducting a four year course of instruction which qualified its graduates to teach in the elementary, and after a time, the middle schools. Students were admitted in their ninth year of schooling in most cases , provided they had reached the minimum age of fifteen . During the depression this type of institution reached its peak of popularity with several times more applicants being turned down than were admitted. This is explained by its providing its graduates nearly guaranteed employment without their having to consider how to obtain funds to study at the university . Compared to the gymnasia and the teacher training institutes, the four other types of schools which gave degrees equivalent to the matriculation certificate were limited in number. The priemyseln<i skola , or industrial school, was four years in length, and its graduates could be admitted directly to the technical universities. These schools operated under a severe handicap in Slovakia during the first republic, for it was not until the fall of 1938 that the first Slovak technical university was opened. In anticipation of this event, enrolhnent in the technical high schools swelled considerably after the mid-thirties. The commercial academy (obchodn<i akademia) graduate also completed a four-year program which allowed him to enter either the technical university or the law faculty. Graduates of the four year �30 SLOVAKIA agricultural high school in Kosice or the four year forestry high school in Banska Stiavnica could enter the technical universities in their respective fields. The agriculture high school was designed primarily, however, for the education of independent farmers, and the forestry high school for the preparation of forest administrators. While much attention has been directed thus far to the rights to higher education achieved by these secondary school graduates, the percentage of those completing higher education was not overwhelming. Gustav Husak, in admittedly rough calculations, adjudged between 2000 and 2500 Slovaks engaged in university studies in the 1933-34 school year.(19) That compares with the 19,047 students in Slovakia attending the gymnasia and teacher training institutes that year. The 1930 census counted 2,295,067 Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. (20) During the twelve-year period 1926-7-1937-8, slightly more than seven percent of the total number of students at the Evangelical Gymnasium in Presov took the maturita examination.(21) If this figure is applied as a rough ratio for all of Slovakia, it would mean that in the above mentioned year of 1933-34, approximately 1330 students in Slovakia took the maturita. In the same year, approximately one fifth of the law students at Comenius University were first year students (2861162).(22) Applying this percentage to Husak's estimated total of 20002500 Slovaks attending institutions of higher learning, we arrive at the figure of about 600 first year Slovak students in all university faculties. This means that less than one half of those holding the matriculation certificate went on to the university. And of these, some forty percent did not complete the first set of state examinations normally given after two years study.(23) According to these calculations, less than one third of those holding the matriculation certificate from the gymnasium completed a university degree.(24) (The original estimate of 1330 maturants includes the graduates of the teacher training institutes who rarely continued to the university.) Support for using the criteria of a secondary school education to define the intelligent is offered by the percentage of such students in the whole educational spectrum. In the school year 1921-22, students of gymnasia and teacher training institutes 'made up 2. 7 percent of the total number of students in Slovakia.(25) For reasons that are both complex and unclear, statistical offices of the Czechoslovak Republic did not publish complete data on the number of those gaining the matriculation certificate each year. In Slovakia, a circular with some such information was prepared by the Bratislava (Slovak) Referent for Education each year until the late �SLOVAKIA 31 1920s. The only other manner in which this number can be determined is by a methodical examination of the annual high school yearbooks sponsored by each school. Let it be taken as an assumption, based on a general familiarity with . the figures, that an average of about one thousand Czechoslovak s~udents in Slovakia each year passed the maturita exam, or about 20,000 during the life of the Republic. The figure is of course lower in the early years, and much higher in the period just before Munich. The general accuracy of this estimate can be judged by the estimate of Robert Rosko(26) that 68,000 employees in Slovakia in 1953 had higher and specialized secondary education. Stefanek's estimate of 50,000 students having completed high school studies by 1944(27) is likely too high. Only one writer, Jan Novacky, probably with statistics furnished by the Ministry of Education, has calculated the number of persons receiving the matriculation certificate over a period of time (Table 1). These data suggest the projection of 1330 recipients of the maturita for the year 1933-34 is reasonably accurate as does our estimated average of one thousand matriculation certificates per year for the 1918-19-1937-38 period. The number of graduates of the teacher training institutes remained fairly constant at about 300 per year.(28) The number of girl students in grade VIII (and thus eligible for the maturita examination) as a percentage of the total number of girl students enrolled in the gymnasia in 1927-28 was just under five percent, thus fifty percent less than the average for all those enrolled. (29) TABLE 1 NUMBER OF MATRICULATION CERTIFICATES (HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS) AWARDED 1918-19 - 1928-29: SELECTED YEARS AND TOTAL Total 1918-19 Type of Institution 1918-19 1923-24 1928-29 1928-29 3075 Real gymnasium 84 250 532 Teacher training institute 122 262 247 3014 Real reformed gymnasium 5 70 189 1000 23 44 82 623 Realka 64 Classical gymnasium 0 0 36 Total Source: 234 626 1086 7776 Jan M. Novacky, ed., Desat' rokov slovenskych strednych skol, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp. 68-71. �32 SLOVAKIA The figures we have been discussing up to this point refer to the Czechoslovak high schools in Slovakia. They include a smattering of Hungarians, Jews, Germans, and other nationalities , as well as Czechs and Slovaks. The number of Czechs in some schools was substantial. For example, during the 1937-38 school year, the First Czechoslovak real gymnasium in Bratislava had 896 students, of which less than half (431) were Slovak. Three hundred eighty-six were Czech, 43 German , 24 Hungarian , and the rest other nationalities.(30) In Banska Bystrica, 394 out of 470 students in that year were Slovak , 66 Czech and the other ten divided among four nationalities.(31) Again, a complete survey must await further computation. What can be said with safety is that a significant proportion - ten to twenty-five percent - of the students were not Slovaks. The only known official publication which differentiates between Czechs and Slovaks in the high schools in Slovakia was published for the 1922-23 school year in Slovakia by the Skalsk y Referat. Of the 11,267 students, 1286 are Czech, 8501 Slovak, and the rest belong to other nationalities. At the same time there were six Czechs and 116 Slovaks in non-Czechoslovak institutions . This confirms our estimate of ten to twenty-five percent non-Slovaks.(32) The State Statistical Office of the Czechoslovak Republic did not, in its school statistics, differentiate between Czechs and Slovaks , using instead the inclusive term Czechoslovak. However, between half and two thirds of the individual schools did make a distinction in their published yearly reports, and some of them also expressed the distinction on the statistical forms mailed to the Ministry of Education. It is this lack of readily available data which has hindered until now any significant studies of this question. Because some schools only used the term Czechoslovak means we shall never have a completely accurate picture of the nationality situation. This attitude of Czechoslovakism in the statistics occurred for a variety of reasons : political conviction, political fear, lack of interest , or desire to maintain the status quo. It was the principal (riaditel') who decided which policy would be followed.(33) Because of these varying motivations, one cannot with reliability apportion the students in the unoi(ferentiated schools to the specific nationalities. Further, even when a aifferent,.iation is made in the general and classroom statistics between ' nationalities, we do not have available this information for individual students, so as to be able to determine whether such and such an individual student, be he Czech or Slovak, passed the maturita exam. We must content ourselves with comparing the percentage of each nationality in the final year of school and applying these percentages to the number of persons taking the �33 SLOVAKIA maturita exams. Even in the less common instances when the maturita recording books are availa\:ile in the archives , they frequently do not specify the nationality, but fist only the place of birth. While this is of some assistance in obtaining a reasonably accurate picture , the very existence of 120,000 Czechs in Slovakia(34) will distort it, as well as the non-Czechoslovak abode of many of these persons prior to 1918. In the above Banska Bystrica case, although there were 66 Czechs , only 34 of the students were born in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. There will also be some distortion , when we cannot specifically distinguish Czech from Slovak, in identifying the social, religious, and other characteristics of the students according to nationality. Here again, it seems that we must proceed on the basis of what we have , hoping that studies of the individual schools described by Matej(35) will tum up better information. Let us use 1927-28 as a sample year. The decline in the number of enrollees which developed later because of the wartime decline in the birth rate and not yet made itself felt. With the exception of a number of schools which would open in the last four years of the Republic, almost all schools were operating as full institutions. Some had been converted from Hungarian to Slovak over a period of seven or eight years . TABLE 2 CZECHOSLOVAK SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SLOVAKIA , 1927-28 Type of School Real gymnasium Real reformed gymnasium Realka Teacher training institute Commercial academy Industrial high school Classical gymnasium Agricultural high school Forestry high school Total Number Students Graduates Studentsgraduate 24 8217 426 19 10 3 2939 997 165 98 18 13 6 3 2 1 1 63 970 617 470 406 98 Unavailable 14,714 327 62 100 16 14 14 1222 10 3 10 5 25 7 12 �34 SLOVAKIA Sources: Novacky, Desat' rokov , pp. 63-67; Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1918-1959, Bratislava: Poverenictvo Podohospodarstva, 1959, pp. 62-67; Anton Stefanek, Education in Pre-War Hungary and in Slovakia To-Day," in Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey ed. by Robert W. Seton-Watson, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1931, p. 130; Individual vyrocne zpravy of the agricultural high school, commercial high schools , and industrial high schools. The most productive gymnasium of any kind in the first eleven years was the real gymnasium at Bratislava with 363 degrees awarded followed by the realka at Zilina with 340. Other gymnasia producing more than 200 matriculation certificate holders in the first eleven years were the real gymnasia at Kosice, Nitra, Ruzomberok, Trencin, Trnava, and Banska Bystrica. The teacher training institute at Modra produced by far the largest number of graduates in the first eleven years with 419, primarily because of the 142 which it graduated in the first three years, a figure twice the number of any other school during that period, excepting Tmava, which also had the second highest eleven year total with 323. Seven other institutions had more than 200 graduates each. Over the twenty year period, there were 51 gymnasia of different types, 17 teacher training institutes, 5 industrial high schools, 7 commercial high schools, and one each of the agricultural and forestry high schools. A significant number of this total (16-82) began operation in the last four years, a jump of about 25 percent from the number in existence at the end of the 1933-34 school year. The reasons for this sudden increase will be discussed below. The total does not include a private unlicensed secondary school operated in Bratislava in the 193738 school year which used French as the language of instruction and was seeking state accreditation. The proportion of secondary school students in the population was lower in all Slovak counties (between 3 and 8 per 1000) than in Prague (12-13 per 1000) .(36) By some strange quirk, however, the county of Mikulas had the highest number of secondary schools in relation to the population (9-10-200,000) anywhere in Czechoslovakia. This included 14 schools for 319,509 people.(37) In Slovakia in 1922-23 there was one Czechoslovak student for each 179 Czecho~lovak inhabitants. For the whole country (excepting Ruthenia) the ratio was I-116.(38) There were other schools which one might consider as producers of intelligentsia. The so-called pedagogical academy which began to operate in Bratislava in the 1930-31 school year at the suggestion of the �SLOVAKIA 35 Slovak Pedagogical Society was the first step toward placing teacher training on the university level. It was a one-year program which gave gymnasium graduates the right to teach in elementary schools. In seven years it produced 706 graduates.(39) Graduates of the teacher training institutes did no~ have the possibility nor the need to attend. Comenius University \11 Bratislava had three faculties - law, medicine, and philosophy- ano began accepting gymnasium graduates in the fall of 1921.(40) Slovaks could attend other universities in the country as well. The Slovak Technical University opened only in the fall of 1938. There were two theological faculties. The Lutheran faculty, which operated throughout the twenty years, received university rank in 1934. The Catholic faculty, authorized in 1919, began operations in 1936 although in the interim there were a half dozen small seminaries scattered around Slovakia. The music and drama academy of Bratislava received university status in 1926. The higher agricultural co-operative school opened in Bratislava in 1936 to help provide administrative officials for the co-operative movement. Previously these officials had come from among the graduates of the commercial academies and commercial schools (usually 2-year programs not leading to a matriculation certificate). Students were chosen from among those who already held the matriculation certificate, with preference to persons who had been graduated from the commercial or agricultural high schools and to those with co-operative experience. Those who had a partial high school education or had finished middle school and one of the agricultural or commercial schools, and had two years of experience in the co-operative movement as well, could qualify if they successfully passed an entrance exam. There were only 22 students in each year of operation. There were also a number of theological academies with the equivalency rank of universities. Entrants were required to hold the matriculation certificate. The six Catholic institutes (seminaries) mentioned above closed with the opening of the Bratislava theological faculty in 1936. Even so , Slovakia still possessed more than half of the theological institutes in the country. There were also a half dozen city music schools , sometimes supported by the public, but these were rather for private music instruction and did not fit into the regular scheme of formal education . Reference has been made to vocational courses in the fields of agricultural, industrial and commercial education. There was in these courses no attempt to advance beyond the teaching of specific skills. The courses varied from several weeks to two years. �36 SLOVAKIA Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural and national organization, sponsored in many cities the so-called enlightenment courses. These consisted on one or a series of lectures, and would more properly fall under the heading of popular or civic education. The local organizations of Matica slovenska were supposed to be distributing knowledge, rather than fostering it.(41) Courses held by the Army for illiterate soldiers should be considered also in the realm of popular education. What other evidence do we have of cultural advancement during the period under discussion? One is the publication of books, magazines and newspapers. Before the outbreak of World War I there was some of this activity , although exactly how much is uncertain. Stefan Krcmery , long active in Matica slovenska, said that a total of 41 periodicals in 1909 had declined to ten by 1918.(42) A more recent survey conducted by Matica slovenska shows the total growing from 32 in 1900 to 47 in 1910 to 61 in 1914 before dropping to 30 in 1918.(43) The most important were N arodnie noviny , published three times a week at Martin, and Slouenske pohl'ady, a monthly literary journal.(44) Jozef Votruba, a Slovak patriot , was said to have remarked(45) that the Slovak intelligentsia was made up of those who read Narodnie nouiny. Similar problems arise in trying to measure the number of journals published after the revolution. Maria Kipsova, in a definitive bibliography published in 1968, (46) lists 980 journals definitely located and 80 journals not found which were published in Slovak during the 20-year period. Jozef Darmo 's incomplete study(47) of Slovak journalism, published two years earlier, says there was a total of 1565 magazines and newspapers published, of which 442 were Hungarian and an undefined number in other languages. A survey compiled by the press referent for Slovakia in 1927(48) listed 162 purely Slovak publications for that year . Approximately one-third of these were political , another third organizational . Eight of the publications were dailies, all but one of them published ip Bratislava. A further 49 publications were multi-lingual with Slova~ as one of the languages . Nearly half of the all-Slovak publications · (77) Had a frequency of monthly or less. The Kipsova bibliography shows that the great majority of these publications did not long survive . Included among the reasons were the lack of printers and the inability to extend circulation beyond the cities into the countryside . Quite simply, the rural population was not yet accustomed to reading.(49) While some efforts have been made at estimating the extent of circulation of the various publications ,(50) there is no source extensive enough to provide any adequate analysis. The expansion of the number of daily papers from two (one of which was Hungarian-oriented)(51) before the war , to eight �SLOVAKIA 37 under the Czechoslovak ~epublic indicates definite progress. Even with insufficient evidence, 'one can presume a circulation expansion as well. While there is considerable disagreement, too, over the exact number of Slovak books published between the wars,(52) it averaged 600-800 per year, of which about three quarters were published in Slovakia itself. A provisional B ibliografia slovenskych knih 19191938(53) published in 1965, listed 13,320 items definitely identified, and 6530 uncertain. If the nearly 19,000 were in fact all published, it would establish an average of approximately one thousand per year, somewhat higher than the estimate by Stefanek (13,425).(54) Most likely, not all of the desiderata will be included in a definitive bibliography, soon to be published by Matica slovenska, since, for instance, some of the jubilee high school yearbooks, which are in fact not books, are included, plus some listings which are only Slovakicized titles of Czech books. The most difficult problem is unfortunately unsolvable, that is, how many copies of each of these books were published. Only a few organizations, such as Matica slovenska, kept publication totals . One estimate suggested that pre-war printings rarely exceeded 600-800 copies; by 1928 the average was 250010,000.(55) Stefanek provides some interesting comparisons of the occupations of writers before and after the revolution. (56) They show that before the revolution 112 out of 178 writers were priests (two-thirds Lutheran, one-third Catholic). After 1918 (approximately 1935) only 14111 are priests. The bulk (47) are academicians. Another measurement of general progress can be noted in the area of libraries. In 1927 there were 3283 research libraries for teachers with 258 ,200 books; 216 school libraries containing 1,185,464 books including 150,000 at Comenius University; and 2592 communal libraries with 202 , 781 books . (5 7) By 1932 the number of libraries in the first two categories had increased only by seven, but the number of volumes was up half a million.(58) Since there were only private church libraries and those of priests and patriots prior to 1918, there is a definite note of progress here. One of the most difficult problems in handling a subject of this type is to maintain a differentiation between the terms intelligentsia and national enlightenment. While we have noted the tremendous development of communal libraries, libraries which average less than one hundred books apiece will not contribute much to the development of the intelligentsia, although they may significantly raise the national consciousness of the broad mass of the population. The same problem �38 SLOVAKIA must be faced when we examine the national and religious cultural societies . Either we must redefine what we call a member of the intelligentsia or we must recognize the fact that these organizations had different purposes. The Society of St. Adalbert is a case in point. A Catholic society with 100,000 members, it dealt mainly with popular education and Catholic science and literature.(59) Yet Peter Vajcik(60) described one of the society's three aims as being to help the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, a much smaller group . The Lutheran Church had a similar society of Tranoscius. Matica slovenska anguished over the direction of its goals . Until 1932 it tended to reflect more accurately the number of intelligentsia than did the two specifically religious societies, but it also included a number of Czechs and people of other nationalities involved in the work of popular education. In some respects it sought to fulfill the role of a scientific academy, but lacked the personnel and monetary support, and could not tear itself away from its popular education role . Interestingly , when its membership roles swelled after the capture of the leadership in 1932 by those who favored a greater amount of Slovak autonomy, its organized scientific research increased substantially. The membership increased from 11,063 in 1930 to 30,147 in 1936.(61) The Safarik Scientific Society was organized in 1926 mainly by the members of the faculty of Comenius University. It was begun with the intent of increasing the amount of knowledge about Slovakia and Ruthenia. Strongly supported by persons with a Czechoslovak orientation, it frequently found itself at loggerheads with the people in Matica slovenska.(62) In 1934 it had a total of 168 members of whom only 40 were Slovak. It was divided into two sections, one for the social sciences and one for the natural sciences. In the latter, there were only 16 Slovaks among 101 members, which can in part be explained by the lack of a faculty of natural sciences at Comenius University . During its twelve year existence it published 45 volumes of research results.(63) A number of other societies or organizations which could be called cultural or intellectual also functioned but they will not be dealt with here . These include the Slovak Museum Society, the Slovak Cultural (Vlastivedne) Museum, the East Slovak Museum, the Slovak Pedagogical Society, the Union of Slovak Students, DAV , and the several unions of teachers.(64) · Having sketched the general outline of the development of the intelligentsia , it becomes necessary to examine the broader context of the matter as it relates to political development and the whole of life in interwar Czechoslovakia. �SLOVAKIA 39 It was the early actio~s of the Czechoslovak government taken in the field of education that\ ~ere the most far reaching. Before 1918 there were 53 secondary schools in Slovakia, all Hungarian.(65) Following the attainment of independence, three were closed immediately, two others were combined, and in nine towns new secondary schools were organized. Before the New Year, three secondary schools were operating, and a total of thirteen were giving instruction after three months of independence. (66) Anton Stefanek, assigned the task of co-ordinating this project, described his guiding principle as ''the democratic principle of religious and racial equality before the law."(67) Thus, in purely Slovak districts, the schools were deMagyarized. In the southern districts, he "on the whole" left the status quo. This immediate de-Magyarization of the Slovak high schools was exceptionally important. Changes which are readily accepted in a time of revolution are not achieved even gradually in times of peace and quiet. The entire Czech policy followed in the southern parts of Slovakia sought to integrate the area into the Czechoslovak Republic. (68) The new schools which were opened in essentially Hungarian towns such as Nove Zamky or Lucenec, took root rapidly even though a Hungarian school was also frequently authorized. While these cities had been Hungarian for several decades, the countryside was in many cases still Slovak. The extra assistance provided by the central authorities was frequently the deciding factor in reclaiming the cities, and thus the gathering places of the intelligentsia, for the Slovaks . According to the 1930 census, only seven cities in Slovakia had more than 20,000 persons. Of these, all had two or more Czechoslovak secondary schools except Komarno, which did not gain its first Czechoslovak secondary school until 1936. Only two of the fourteen towns with between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, Guta and Handlova, did not have secondary schools . Handlova is only seven miles from Prievidza, which had a school. Guta (now called Kolarovo), is in a strongly Hungarian area about ten miles southwest of Nove Zarnky, which also had a gymnasium .(69) State control was extended over six Catholic high schools in 1919, under fear that the vacant six sees, which were responsible for their supervision , would be filled by Hungarians . The only other two alternatives , according to Stefanek, were to close the schools, or to accept Hungarian control. It was the attempt by the Slovak People 's Party to gain restoration of three of these Catholic gymnasia in 1921 which led to that party's break-away from the Czech People ' s Party. Josef Susta , the Minister of Education in the Cerny government, ap- �40 SLOVAKIA parently made promises to the effect that the schools would be returned to Catholic control, an action which his successor, Vavro Srobar, an Agrarian Slovak, refused to carry out once the Benes government took office . (70) The Protestants in contrast, carried out an internal reorganization in 1919 and were allowed to maintain control over their schools. Within a decade they gave up all but one for financial reasons .(71) It might be mentioned that the Slovak National Council, which spoke for Slovakia in its declaration of union with the Czechs at Martin October 30, 1918, apparently made no effort to institute an educational system, although some of its local branch officials served to help coordinate the setting up of new schools . Mamatey attributes this to inexperience in the exercise of political power.(72) The impliction is that the Slovak elite, carried over from the Hungarian era, did not use realistic methods in developing a modem nation. Thus, they did not conceive of the need to build an expanded intelligentsia. (73) Much of the policy relating to education was determined by administrative , rather than legislative action. Thus, the fact that five out of the twelve interwar Ministers of Education were Slovaks is of considerable significance. Actually these five held the post for a •longer period (by three months) than Czechs, and many significant reforms were accomplished under them. Ivan Derer, a Social Democrat, held the post for the longest period, from 1929 to 1934. Milan Hodza, an, Agrarian, had the third longest term (1926-1929), a period that probably would have lasted longer had he not become embroiled in conflict with Masaryk and Benes over foreign policy matters. Several policy changes were carried out which affected secondary education in Slovakia. One involved converting the realka to the Austrian or Czech pattern, which meant a seven-year, rather than an eight-year, curriculum, and thus lessened in the eyes of many Slovaks the value of its education. The six-year higher girls ' schools were first reestablished as lycees , then converted quickly to real reformed gymnasia because the former institutions had offered little perspective for further education or employment. The use of boarding schools was also generally eliminated in Slovakia. Prior to World War I, boarding schools had helped to foster Magyarization by cutting off the students from the Slovak countryside. By 1923 only sixteen remained , of which eleven were located at teacher training institutes. (74) At the same time , various organizations set up " intemats" in many towns to strengthen thE\regained Slovak foothold . This made it possible for young people from remote districts , for whom poor transportation connections would have preve~ted daily com- �SLOVAKIA 41 muting, to acquire a secondary education. Others could avoid the otherwise inflated living costs in the cities.(75) The government also sought to increase the percentage of women in the schools. By the year i937-38 girls made up nearly one-third of the students in the gymnasia, ~though as noted above, a smaller percentage actually completed the final year (and presumably the maturita exam). In the teacher training institutes more than half of the total enrollees were girls. Government regulations specified that these institutes were to have equal numbers of boys and girls. (76) As the country began to emerge from the depression, there developed also a rapid increase in the total enrollment of the secondary schools. There were a number of reasons for this, including the growth of cities, better preparation in elementary schools, and the increased post-war birth rate. The government responded by approving various arrangements to open new schools, including some sponsored by cities and some by church bodies. They were made possible under Article 54 of Hungarian law XXX-1883,(77) under which the state assumed responsibility for paying the personnel, who had to meet state qualification standards, while the sponsoring group paid the operating expenses. The schools charged higher tuition, but these higher rates were usually justified by the savings in transportation costs which students would otherwise have had to pay if they were commuting to another school. There were several of these schools in Kosice operated by church groups. Examples of city-sponsored schools were in Piest'any, Koma.mo, and Topol'cany. Acceptance of these arrangements occurred because of an improvement in the economic situation, (78) the fact that there was no longer doubt about the ability of these schools to attract a sufficient number of qualified professors , and the ability of the organizations to meet the requirements of XXX-1883. The analysis of placement - where did the graduates go - is a task beyond the goals of this paper. The central government apparently did not concern itself with these matters except for a brief period during the depression.(79) Many of the secondary schools themselves did not bother with such records either. Occasionally the yearbooks or reports to the Ministry of Education contained information about the future plans of the graduates. It is only in scattered cases at the time of the dedication of a new building or during a celebration of an anniversary that the occupations of the graduates were recorded at all, e.g., Kremnica-1937 or Zlate Moravce-1924. Unfortunately, these samples are not sufficiently broad to draw any conclusions . There is an intriguing organization called the Sprostredkovatel'na prace pre nezamestnanu inteligenciu na Slovensku, which evolved in 1934. �42 SLOVAKIA Sponsored by the Slovak League and the Economic Institute of Slovakia and Ruthenia, with the apparent support of the Agrarian Party, it collected data on graduates and their job searches.(80) Even without these data, let me suggest some judgments on the development of the intelligentsia in interwar Slovakia. First of all, it is clear that significant progress was made . The very fact that the independent Slovak State was able to function at all is evidence of this progress.(81) The Slovak State would not have been possible in 1918. By 1938, the large majority of the intelligentsia was Slovak in language and feeling . Under the situation prevailing before 1918, many of these people would have become members of the intelligentsia, but it would have been as Hungarians, not as Slovaks. It seems that there was not an intellectual proletariat in Slovakia.(82) As Ivan Derer pointed out, even in the depths of depression in 1933 all qualified Slovak high school and elementary teachers had positions.(83) He also catalogued the many other positions which Slovaks filled.(84) What the Czechoslovak Republic failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical, and professional - that are required to conduct a modern nation. Insufficient emphasis was put on the education that would develop leaders in industry, commerce, and even agriculture. This type of policy requires particular effort because in fluid postwar situations, there is a tendency to chose occupations where training is short and not too strenuous and the prospects of rapid enrichment promising.(85) This helps to explain Slovakia's lack of military men , of engineers , and of doctors. One must also keep in mind that the younger members of the small Slovak intelligentsia in 1918 had been able to gain positions of influence at a young age, something that could not be continued after the revolutionary wave had subsided and the Czechs who had come to Slovakia to help had become entrenched. (86) The young Slovak intelligent was not unemployed, but underemployed. One must recall that particularly in later years the central government had doubts as to whether it could trust the Slovak intelligentsia. Whatever feelings of distress this under-employment engen~red were worsened by the attitudes carried over from the Hungarian\ experience that education was the road to success .(87) Pre-independe:o.ce lead,ership was in the hands of a highly visible educated majority,. which fostered assumptions of the links between education , political mobility, and the benefits accruing to members of the intelligentsia. �SLOVAKIA 43 Quite probably , time was too short to produce a large enough intelligentsia in all fields. (88) In twenty years , the Czechoslovak government laid the groundwork for the future , and for twenty years built on it. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic after World War II provided the opportunity to look critically at what had and had not been done before in the area of intelligentsia development and to make adjustments. · ' But it was not just a matter of insufficient time. I would suggest that the interwar Czechoslovak government was not concerned with developing a specifically Slovak intelligentsia. Instead, its main goal was to reclaim the entire area of Slovakia for the Czechoslovak nationstate. By establishing a large number of Slovak secondary schools in cities of any size, especially those with large Hungarian populations , it could insure that this was done . But the early success of these centralist policies delayed recognition of certain aspects of the developing Slovak problem. If a Slovak nation was to be a viable entity, it required Slovak participation in all aspects and at all levels of society , not just where vacancies existed in a larger Czechoslovak society. One of the reasons for the above-mentioned lack of a Slovak technical university was the assumption that sufficient numbers of persons (mostly Czechs and Germans) were being educated in Bohemia and Moravia. Such an institution in Slovakia was said to be superfluous. If the concept of national self-awareness is not considered , then such an approach is plausible. On the other hand, when a nation has a feeling of running its affairs in the state in which it exists , even if that state be multinational, it has much greater reason to support the continued existence of that state. It then has no reason to trade the security it knows for the uncertainty of separation. Most Slovaks were initially very willing to cooperate with the Czechs, as demonstrated in the Martin declaration, recognizing that it was primarily Czech activities which had achieved the separation of Slovakia from Hungary and its attachment to the Czech Lands. But if Czechoslovakism embodies something more than Greater Czechism , it implied the balanced development of both parts and peoples of the country . If not, then the Slovaks were ipso facto a minority . Prior to 1938, the international political setting mitigated against any Slovak separation, since some kind of political attachment to Hungary or Poland would have resulted, yet active recognition of the concept of a Slovak nation by the Czechoslovak government would have strengthened Slovak resistance, alongside the Czechs , to the developing German threat. �44 SLOVAKIA Masaryk did not see in the Slovak case what he had been so willing to see in the Czech: the desire, as a nation, to develop and administer a complete society, particularly when that nation is part of the multinational state. He admitted in 1931 that he did not himself fully understand the Czech-Slovak relationship. I believe ... that the Comenius University helps the young to understand the true political and cultural task of Slovakia in our Republic. In a large degree it is the question of the relationship between Czechs and Slovaks. I have considered this problem myself and I must think still further about it.(89) While it might be argued that Masaryk was merely being respectful to his hosts, it is more likely the uncertainty he expressed was real. The so-called Castle group which gathered around Masaryk may have been nationally tolerant,(90) but it did not actively promote the development of individual nationalities.(91) One cannot, then, say the interwar Czechoslovak Republic did not, through its educational and cultural system, develop an intelligentsia in Slovakia. As has been shown, it made substantial progress. But it may be criticized for not actively supporting the production of an intelligentsia tailored to meet the needs of Slovakia, which by meeting the Slovak desire for self-management, would have strengthened the integrity of the Czechoslovak state. FOOTNOTES As Lucien W . Pye has noted, there is a large gap between the broad assumptions about the importance of education in national development and the limited amount of research on the subject. See Lucien W . Pye , " Foreword," in Education and Political Development , ed . James Coleman, Princeton, N .J ; rrinceton University Press, 1965, p . v. ' (2) Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy ," in A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, ed. by Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, Princeton, N.J .: Princeton University Press , 1973 , p. 118 . (3) R. W . Seton-Watson , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks , Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1965, p . 336. (4) Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin: Maketa , m, Prague: Nakladatelstvi Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved, 1960. (5) Historicky fosopis , Vol. XXI , No . 1 (1973) , p. 155. (6) Oldriska Kodedova, Ceskoslovensky tasopis historicky, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (1973) , p. 114. (1) �SLOVAKIA 45 ' (7) Jozef Matej, "Sucasny stav a perspektivy rozvoja dejin pedagogiky na Slovensku," Jednotna skola, Vol. XXVI, No. 1 (January 1974) , pp . 56-70 . (8) E .g ., Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 323; Stefan Krcmery , "A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature ," Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. VI (1928), p . 160. (9) Anton Stefanek, Zaklady sociografie Slovenska , Bratislava: Slovenska Akademia Vied , 1944, pp . 137-142. (10) Conversations with Slovak historians, 1973-74. (ll) Anton Stefanek, " Novoslovaci," Sociologicka revue, Vol. VI, No. 3-4 (1935), pp. 272-3 . (12) Ludwig v. Gogolak , Beitrage zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes, ill Muenchen : R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972, p . 163; Ferdinand Peroutka, Budovani statu, I, Praha : Fr. Borovy, 1936, p . 208 . (13) Jozef Matej, Kapitoly z dejin slovenskeho skolstva apedagogiky (19. a 20. storoc!ie), Bratislava: Univerzita Komenskeho, 1972, 2nd ed., p . 71. (14) Letter to author, February 2, 1973. (15) Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics, Prague : Orbis , 1929, p . 44 . (16) Peroutka , Budo vani statu, I, p . 207. (17) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 114. (18) Jaroslav Kopac, Dejiny skolstvi a pedagogiky v Ceskoslovensku, I, Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyne, 1971 , p. 48 footnote . There were some exceptions to the rule, however, such as the fact that high school graduation was not a requirement for the highly influential position of notary. (19) Gustav Husak, "Zprava predsedu socialnej komisie SSS," Vyroc!na zprava 1935-36: 15 rokov Sviizu Slovenskeho Studentstva v Bratislave , p . 13. (20) Czechoslovakia-Statistical Abstract , Prague : Orbis, 1963 , p. 18 . (21) Mirko Trnovsky, ed ., Sbornik prac profesorov evanj. kolej. slovenskeho gymnazia v Presove k vyroc!iu 1919-1939 Presov : Slovenska statna knihtlaciaren , 1940, p . 55 . (22) Vratislav Busek , " Pravnicke studium ve svetle statistiky, " Pravny obzor, Vol. XX, No . 15-16 (1-15 October 1937), p . 688 . (23) Ibid., pp . 682-8 . (24) Matej , Kapitoly, 1st ed., p . 83, notes that the contents of a 1933 curriculum reform were directed toward two goals, theoretical preparation of the graduates for the university , and partly for the practical needs of life. (25) Skolstvo na Slovensku, Bratislava: Slovensky planovaci urad, 1949, p . 46. (26) Sociol6gia, Vol. IV, No . 3 (1972), pp . 193-204, as cited in ABSEES Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, ill, No. 2 (26) (Oct. 1972), p . 167. (27) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 296 . (28) Jan M. Novacky, ed ., Desat' rokov slo venskych strednych sk6l, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp . 68-71. Novacky's calculations omit the teacher training institutes operated by churches. The total for 1933-4 is actually 1542 , but the difference of 200 from the estimate can be wholly attributed to the doubled enrollment in the teacher training institutes in the early thirties - Zpravy Statniho uradu statistickeho republiky Ceskoslove nske, 1935, No. 3-7. �46 SLOVAKIA (29) Skolstvo, p . 47. (30) See the school's Vyrofod zprciva 1937-38, pp . 54-57. (31) See the school's Vyrofod zprdva 1937-38, pp. 13-15. (32) Priloha " Stredne skoly," Zprcivy §kolskeho referdtu v Bratislave ministerstva ~kolstva a ndrodnej osvety, 1922. (33) Paul R. Magocsi, " The Role of Education in the Formation of a National Consciousness ," East European Quarterly, Vo. Vll, No. 2 (Summer 1973) , p . 162 . (34) Paul E. Zinner, Communist Strategy and Tactics in Czechoslovakia, 1918-48, New York : Frederick A. Praeger, 1963 , p . 12; Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 386. (35) Matej, " Sucasny stav," pp. 56-70. (36) Josef Henrich and Mikulas Smok, Eenseignement clans la Republique Tchecoslovaque , Prague : Ostredni spolek ceskoslovenskych profesoru, 1923, p . 94. (37) Ibid. , p . 95. (38) Ibid., p . 91. (39) Matej , Kapitoly, 2nd ed ., p . 83. (40) Richard Homa, Patndct let Komenskeho university v Bratislaue, Bratislava, 1934, p . 9. {41) Michal Fedor, Poslanie a program Matice slovenskej na vychodnom Slovensku, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1966, p . 91. (42) Krcmery, "A Survey," p . 161. {43) Michal Potemra, ed ., Bibliografia slovenskych novin a c!asopisov do roku 1918, Martin : Matica· slovenska, 1958. (44) Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 282 . (45) Related to author by Czech historian . Efforts to locate published citation to date fruitless . (46) Maria Kipsova et al., Bibliografia slovenskych a inorec!ouych nouin a c!asopisou z rokou 1919-1938, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1968. (47) Jozef Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika 1918-1938, II, Martin: Matica slovenska, 1966. (48) Soznam c!asopisou na Slouensku 1927, Bratislava: Tlacovy referat pre spravu Slovensku, 1927. (49) Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika, p . 159. (50) E .g ., Darmo . (51) Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 324. (52) Ibid ., pp . 318-324. (53) Bibliografia slouenskych knih 1919-1938, Vol. 1-XVIl, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1965 . (54) Stefimek, Z ciklady, p . 318. (55) Stefan Krcmery, " Slovak Literature," in Seton-~atson , Slovakia Then & Now , p . 141 . \ (56) Stefanek, Zciklady , pp . 313-314. (57) Manuel Statistique de la R epublique Tchechoslo uaque, ill, Prague : Statni urad statisticky, 1928, pp. 17-19. A law of February 1919 set up in each community �SLOVAKIA 47 educational committees to con\ truct libraries and run lectures and courses . In Slovakia, this matter was generally handled by the local branch of Matica slovenska. (58) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque , 1934, Prague: L'Office de Statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque, 1934, Table XIV-17 . (59) Stefanek, Zdklady , p. 303 . (60) Peter Vajcik , " Zvesti z Literarno-vedeckeho odboru SSV ," Kultura, Vol. VII , No. 1 (1935) , p . 38 . (61) Ivan Kusy, " Obnovenie Matice slovenskej a jej uloha za predmnichovskej CSR, " in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch: Sbornik stati, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1963 , pp. 224-232 . (62) Frantisek Bokes, Snahy o organizovanie slovenskej vedy od konca 18. storoi!ia do vzniku SAV, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1967, p. 65. (63) Miroslav Kropilak, "Zakladne kulturnopoliticke problemy Slovenska v rokoch 191838 ," in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch, p. 205 . (64) In particular note the Spolok profesorov Slovakov, which after its founding in 1921 worked particularly for better placement of Slovak teachers in Slovak high schools. Viz its Sbornik Spolku profesorov Slovdkov . (65) Hendrich and Smok, Eenseignement , p . 73. (66) Karel Veleminsky, "Czecho-Slovak Secondary Schools ," in The Czecho-Slovak Republic , Prague: Czecho-Slovak Foreigners' Office, 1919, Vol. IV, Part 3 , p . 13 . In 1919, the Ministry of Education carried out a census in Slovakia for the purpose of determining how many schools would be needed. Peroutka, Budo vdni stdtu , I, p. 210. (67) Stefanek, " Education in Pre-War Hungary ," p . 121. (68) Gogolak , Beitrage , ill, p . 160. (69) Annuaire statistique , 1935, Table 11-17 and 1937, Table 11-4. (70) Milos Trap! , " Ke skolske legislative obecnych a obcanskych (mest'anskych) skol a jejimu uplatnovani v ceskych zemich 1918-1922," in Z dejin i!eskeho §kolstv i, ed by Ervin Koukal , Prague : Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi, 1970, p . 44 footnote 82. (71) Stefanek, "Education in Pre-War Hungary," p . 121. (72) Victor S. Mamatey , ''The Establishment of the Republic,'' in Mamatey and Luz.a, A History, p . 30 . (73) Gogolak , B eitrage , ill, p . 165. (74) Hendrich and Smok , Eenseignement , p . 34. (75) See Msano 52143-1920 Odbor V Oddeleni 19 of 15 August 1920, Carton 1297-State Central Archive (SOA) - Prague. The " intemats" also separated the students from parental influence which " is not always characterized by friendly feelings toward our state ." - Instruktorat Ministerstva socialnej starostlivosti (IMSS) Carton 5 item 276 in Slovak State Central Archive (SSOA) - Bratislava. This particular item is a letter from the acting headmaster of the Banska Stiavnica real gymnasium to the Ministerstvo socialni pece c. 798-1920 of 15 July 1920. (76) Skolstvo , pp . 23 , 11 1, and 150. (77) The fir st law passed in the new Czechoslovak Republic decreed that all laws in force in Austria-Hungary would be carried over to the new state . This explains how Hungarian law would be considered in Slovakia . �48 SLOVAKIA (78) E.g., note willingness of Fimini (Ministry of Finance) and Nejvyssi ucetni kontrolni urad (NUKU) to postpone indefinitely closing of school in exchange for opening of realka in Bardejov, or to substitute a closing of a school in Bohemia or Moravia-Msano 104.048-1938 Odbor ill Oddeleni 2 of 1 July 1938-Carton 1297-SUA. (79) Msano , 2637-1934 Pres . Odd . Studijni, 20 April 1934 , SUA , Carton 1445. (80) Okresny archiv, Prievidza , Prievidza gymnasium collection, 605-1934 and 214-1936 (Carton 3) . (81) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland & Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. (82) This contradicts Zinner's assertions in Communist Strategy, p. 12 . (83) Ivan Derer, Ceskoslovenskci otcizka, Prague: Orbis , 1935, p. 38. (84) Ibid . (85) R. W. Seton-Watson, "Introduction . Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Problem ," in Slovakia Then and Now, p . 62. (86) James S. Coleman, " Introduction : Education and Political Development " in Education and Political Development discusses the tension that develops with lack of political mobility for the second generation. Thomson 's assertion that the Czechoslovak government adhered to a policy of returning Czech officeholders to the historic lands as soon as possible does not hold up . S. Harrison Thomson , Czechoslovakia in European History , Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1953, p . 334. (87) See page 184. (88) See Matej, Kapitoly, 2nd ed., p . 86. (89) Zprciva o tinnosti Spolku pre postavenie a vydriovanie Universitnej koleje a akademickej menzi, 1930, p . 6. (Speech at Bratislava.) (90) Kopac, Dejiny ~kolstvi, I, p . 11. (91) It has been suggested that the Czechs erred in Slovakia after 1918 by trying to transform before forming a nation . See Jan Hajda, " The Role of the Intelligentsia in the Developme nt of the Czechoslovak Society,'' in The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture ed. by Miroslav Rechcigl , The Hague: Mouton , 1964, pp . 307-312. � SLOVAKIA 25 The Slovak Intelligentsia 1918-1938 OWEN V. JOHNSON \ The 25th issue of Slovensky dennik, published December 7, 1918, carried a message from the Slovak Society of Studying Youth. It began bluntly, '' A nation is strong only if it has a strong intelligentsia.'' Issue No. 1, published November 9, 1918, called on the Slovak intelligentsia to come forward. Since the new Czechoslovak state will need a great many Slovak people for offices and schools, we challenge each Slovak intelligent to immediately apply in writing or personally to the Legal Committee of the Slovak National Council listing complete name and address. Slovensky dennik might well have devoted its limited space to other matters, for the Slovakia of 1918 was ahnost without an intelligentsia, a body without a head. How and to what extent was this void filled in the following twenty years? In essence, this essay is a preliminary examination of that question. A combination of historical and ideological circumstances has combined to divert attention almost completely from a serious study of the development of education and the concomitant development of the intelligentsia (using here the Marxist definition of the intelligentsia as being "educated specialists") in interwar Slovakia, and in fact for the whole of Czechoslovakia.(!) Victor Mamatey describes Slovak politicians as showing considerable energy in promoting the cultural and educational development of the Slovak people,(2) but furnishes no evidence. R. W. Seton-Watson describes the "remarkable transformation" wrought in the field of education in Slovakia, but provides only broad quantitative evidence, referring especially to the elementary schools. (3) Reprinted by permission from Russian and Slavic History (Papers from the Banff ' 74 Conference) edited by D. K. Rowney and G. E. Orchard, Slavica Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 14388, Columbus, Ohio 43214. �26 SLOVAKIA While Czech and Slovak historians generally evaluate this phenomenon favorably, only now is any extensive research developing in the field. The published draft survey, Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin(4) does not once mention education. One report on a meeting of the Polish-Czechoslovak Historical Commission in Warsaw in September 1972 pointed out, "There emerged in the rich discussion many questions which even in our historiography have not been resolved through analytical work (such as) (the growth of national intelligentsia, the question of education ... ).(5) Oldriska Kodedova, reviewing Kuzmin's Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekoslovakii, comments(6) that insufficient attention has been paid to the social and nationality problem of education between the two wars. She points out that there is not a single basic work on the subject. Professor Jozef Matej, chairman of the pedagogical department of the Faculty of Philosophy at Comenius University in Bratislava, surveys the considerable progress made in research over the last five years, and declares that the editorial board of Jednotna skola supports the publication of articles about the history of education and pedagogy in the "bourgeois" Republic.(7) Admittedly this problem is not one that lends itself easily to a time frame as short as twenty years. Even the very few high school graduates from 1919 would have been less than forty years old in 1938, an age which in the traditional European context was still quite young. The names which showed up as outstanding among high school students· in the twenties and thirties became the leaders only in the turbulent forties and fifties. Perforce, then, this paper must confine itself to observations on some aspects of the development of the intelligentsia. A thorough study would require a complete monograph. What I will seek to do is discuss briefly the circumstances that brought about the poverty of the intelligentsia before 1918, identify institutions which contributed to the development of this educated group of Slovaks in the interwar period; describe summarily the educational system in use and provide a statistical overview of the schools and the students who studied in them; briefly describe other signs of cultural development; and suggest some accomplishments, shortcomings, and problems on the period. Linguistic and anthropological experts have long debated the question as to whether the term Czechoslovlik can be used to describe one language and one nation, or whether the individual Czech and Slovak terms should be used. This paper proceeds on the basis of the latter, as a means to better understanding the problem at hand. If the idea of a Slovak nation was to have a solid basis, whether in a �SLOVAKIA 27 \ Czechoslovak state or by it'self, it was necessary that an intelligentsia develop from the Slovak people . The course of events prior to the creation of Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I found the Slovak people practically without a nationally conscious Slovak intelligentsia. Policies pursued by the Hungarian government following the 1867 Ausgleich had made it practically impossible for any Slovak youth who aspired to advanced education and a high position in life, to succeeed without giving up his Slovak identity. There were no Slovak schools beyond the primary level. It is generally accepted(8) that there were only between five hundred and a thousand educated and nationally conscious Slovaks in the year 1918. This estimate can be challenged on the basis that it represented the number of Slovaks and members of their families on whom the Hungarian authorities kept watch because of Slovak or panSlavic tendencies.(9) There may well have been several thousand nationally neutral intelligentsia who found it quite simple to fit into a Czechoslovak environment following the founding of the Republic. Several Slovak historians are seeking at this time a more accurate estimate.(10) Certainly the predominantly agricultural configuration of the Slovak society did not promote Slovak intellectual development. The cities , with few exceptions , were Hungarian, German, or Jewish dominated. Thus we are left with a Slovak intelligentsia made up primarily of clergymen, doctors , and lawyers, and their families .(11) One could not in any case expect that there would be a sufficient number of Slovaks who would have the requisite administrative experience to run a modem state and nation. To overcome this shortcoming it was necessary to bring in Czechs.(12) An example can be made of the advanced educational establishments. There were about twenty qualified and nationally conscious Slovaks who could teach in the gymnasia, enough persons to supply about two schools . Perhaps three hundred nationally conscious Slovaks were qualified to teach in the elementary schools.(13) Dr. Karel Koch , later Surgeon-General for Slovakia, lists only three Slovak-oriented surgeons remaining in Slovakia in 1918.(14) Borovicka even says that after the attainment of independence in 1918 there was not a single Slovak government official whatever with a Slovak national consciousness .(15) The bleakness of the situation was described poignantly by Dr. Vavro Srobar, a future Agrarian Party Minister of Education. "There were so few of us that we almost all knew each other personally , we knew even addresses , as well as personal and family relationships. " (16) �28 SLOVAKIA Accustomed to the Hungarian tradition, the Slovak peasant looked upon the intelligentsia as those people who, on the basis of a definite higher schooling got an official position or who otherwise stood out on the basis of their knowledge, property and influence in public, and earned admission to intelligent society. High school and university education and a proper knowledge of Hungarian or German, gentlemanly behavior, official position in the church, county, school, etc. gave legitimation to the title of intelligent. (17) The intelligentsia were the people who worked with their heads, not their hands. On this basis, one may consider a study of schools which awarded the maturitne vysvedcenie (matriculation certificate) or its equivalent and of the students in these schools as a study of the intelligentsia. The certificate was given for the successful completion of the school leaving examination at the end of high school (similar to the French baccalaureat). Of five categories of state employees, three required at least a high school education. A fourth required lower high school or middle school joined with special courses. While the fifth included those demanding only general elementary education, elementary and middle school teachers were included in this category.(18) At this point, attention must be directed to the structure of the whole school system. School attendance in Slovakia was mandatory for six years until 1922; after that, eight years was required, although the increase could not be enforced until the late twenties for lack of the needed personnel and facilities. All students spent the first five years in elementary (l'udove) schools. The other three years could be taken in middle schools, or in the beginning grades of the various secondary schools. In some of the more rural areas, only the elementary school existed, and here students who had no intention of continuing higher studies were allowed to attend if no alternative school was available. There were about 4000 elementary schools. The majority of the schools awarding the matriculation certificate came under the general heading gymnasia. Children who had completed elementary school and were at last ten years old, could apply for admission to the gymnasia. These were of fm\f types: 1. The classical gymnasium, of which there· were very few, was an eight-year school. Successful completion of the course allowed the student to enter the university directly. Until reforms �SLOVAKIA 29 \ instituted in early 1930s, students in these schools studied Latin from the first year and Greek from the fifth. 2. The real gymnasium was by far the most popular because its graduates could directly enter both universities and technical universities. In these schools, French or English was taken instead of Greek beginning in the fifth year. 3. The real reformed gymnasium, which was more popular in the early years of the Republic, later lost attractiveness, and many of these schools were converted to real gymnasia. They followed the same curriculum as the real gymnasia except that a third language (English, Italian, or a Slavic one) replaced Latin in the seventh year. The reason for their later unpopularity was the necessity of taking an additional examination in Latin in order to gain entrance into the university. 4. The re<ilka was a seven-year school and its graduates had entrance directly only into the technical universities. No classical language was required, and French or English was begun in the second year. Other schools which awarded the matriculation certificate were only four years in length. The most wide-spread in Slovakia was the teacher-training institute , conducting a four year course of instruction which qualified its graduates to teach in the elementary, and after a time, the middle schools. Students were admitted in their ninth year of schooling in most cases , provided they had reached the minimum age of fifteen . During the depression this type of institution reached its peak of popularity with several times more applicants being turned down than were admitted. This is explained by its providing its graduates nearly guaranteed employment without their having to consider how to obtain funds to study at the university . Compared to the gymnasia and the teacher training institutes, the four other types of schools which gave degrees equivalent to the matriculation certificate were limited in number. The priemyseln<i skola , or industrial school, was four years in length, and its graduates could be admitted directly to the technical universities. These schools operated under a severe handicap in Slovakia during the first republic, for it was not until the fall of 1938 that the first Slovak technical university was opened. In anticipation of this event, enrolhnent in the technical high schools swelled considerably after the mid-thirties. The commercial academy (obchodn<i akademia) graduate also completed a four-year program which allowed him to enter either the technical university or the law faculty. Graduates of the four year �30 SLOVAKIA agricultural high school in Kosice or the four year forestry high school in Banska Stiavnica could enter the technical universities in their respective fields. The agriculture high school was designed primarily, however, for the education of independent farmers, and the forestry high school for the preparation of forest administrators. While much attention has been directed thus far to the rights to higher education achieved by these secondary school graduates, the percentage of those completing higher education was not overwhelming. Gustav Husak, in admittedly rough calculations, adjudged between 2000 and 2500 Slovaks engaged in university studies in the 1933-34 school year.(19) That compares with the 19,047 students in Slovakia attending the gymnasia and teacher training institutes that year. The 1930 census counted 2,295,067 Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. (20) During the twelve-year period 1926-7-1937-8, slightly more than seven percent of the total number of students at the Evangelical Gymnasium in Presov took the maturita examination.(21) If this figure is applied as a rough ratio for all of Slovakia, it would mean that in the above mentioned year of 1933-34, approximately 1330 students in Slovakia took the maturita. In the same year, approximately one fifth of the law students at Comenius University were first year students (2861162).(22) Applying this percentage to Husak's estimated total of 20002500 Slovaks attending institutions of higher learning, we arrive at the figure of about 600 first year Slovak students in all university faculties. This means that less than one half of those holding the matriculation certificate went on to the university. And of these, some forty percent did not complete the first set of state examinations normally given after two years study.(23) According to these calculations, less than one third of those holding the matriculation certificate from the gymnasium completed a university degree.(24) (The original estimate of 1330 maturants includes the graduates of the teacher training institutes who rarely continued to the university.) Support for using the criteria of a secondary school education to define the intelligent is offered by the percentage of such students in the whole educational spectrum. In the school year 1921-22, students of gymnasia and teacher training institutes 'made up 2. 7 percent of the total number of students in Slovakia.(25) For reasons that are both complex and unclear, statistical offices of the Czechoslovak Republic did not publish complete data on the number of those gaining the matriculation certificate each year. In Slovakia, a circular with some such information was prepared by the Bratislava (Slovak) Referent for Education each year until the late �SLOVAKIA 31 1920s. The only other manner in which this number can be determined is by a methodical examination of the annual high school yearbooks sponsored by each school. Let it be taken as an assumption, based on a general familiarity with . the figures, that an average of about one thousand Czechoslovak s~udents in Slovakia each year passed the maturita exam, or about 20,000 during the life of the Republic. The figure is of course lower in the early years, and much higher in the period just before Munich. The general accuracy of this estimate can be judged by the estimate of Robert Rosko(26) that 68,000 employees in Slovakia in 1953 had higher and specialized secondary education. Stefanek's estimate of 50,000 students having completed high school studies by 1944(27) is likely too high. Only one writer, Jan Novacky, probably with statistics furnished by the Ministry of Education, has calculated the number of persons receiving the matriculation certificate over a period of time (Table 1). These data suggest the projection of 1330 recipients of the maturita for the year 1933-34 is reasonably accurate as does our estimated average of one thousand matriculation certificates per year for the 1918-19-1937-38 period. The number of graduates of the teacher training institutes remained fairly constant at about 300 per year.(28) The number of girl students in grade VIII (and thus eligible for the maturita examination) as a percentage of the total number of girl students enrolled in the gymnasia in 1927-28 was just under five percent, thus fifty percent less than the average for all those enrolled. (29) TABLE 1 NUMBER OF MATRICULATION CERTIFICATES (HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS) AWARDED 1918-19 - 1928-29: SELECTED YEARS AND TOTAL Total 1918-19 Type of Institution 1918-19 1923-24 1928-29 1928-29 3075 Real gymnasium 84 250 532 Teacher training institute 122 262 247 3014 Real reformed gymnasium 5 70 189 1000 23 44 82 623 Realka 64 Classical gymnasium 0 0 36 Total Source: 234 626 1086 7776 Jan M. Novacky, ed., Desat' rokov slovenskych strednych skol, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp. 68-71. �32 SLOVAKIA The figures we have been discussing up to this point refer to the Czechoslovak high schools in Slovakia. They include a smattering of Hungarians, Jews, Germans, and other nationalities , as well as Czechs and Slovaks. The number of Czechs in some schools was substantial. For example, during the 1937-38 school year, the First Czechoslovak real gymnasium in Bratislava had 896 students, of which less than half (431) were Slovak. Three hundred eighty-six were Czech, 43 German , 24 Hungarian , and the rest other nationalities.(30) In Banska Bystrica, 394 out of 470 students in that year were Slovak , 66 Czech and the other ten divided among four nationalities.(31) Again, a complete survey must await further computation. What can be said with safety is that a significant proportion - ten to twenty-five percent - of the students were not Slovaks. The only known official publication which differentiates between Czechs and Slovaks in the high schools in Slovakia was published for the 1922-23 school year in Slovakia by the Skalsk y Referat. Of the 11,267 students, 1286 are Czech, 8501 Slovak, and the rest belong to other nationalities. At the same time there were six Czechs and 116 Slovaks in non-Czechoslovak institutions . This confirms our estimate of ten to twenty-five percent non-Slovaks.(32) The State Statistical Office of the Czechoslovak Republic did not, in its school statistics, differentiate between Czechs and Slovaks , using instead the inclusive term Czechoslovak. However, between half and two thirds of the individual schools did make a distinction in their published yearly reports, and some of them also expressed the distinction on the statistical forms mailed to the Ministry of Education. It is this lack of readily available data which has hindered until now any significant studies of this question. Because some schools only used the term Czechoslovak means we shall never have a completely accurate picture of the nationality situation. This attitude of Czechoslovakism in the statistics occurred for a variety of reasons : political conviction, political fear, lack of interest , or desire to maintain the status quo. It was the principal (riaditel') who decided which policy would be followed.(33) Because of these varying motivations, one cannot with reliability apportion the students in the unoi(ferentiated schools to the specific nationalities. Further, even when a aifferent,.iation is made in the general and classroom statistics between ' nationalities, we do not have available this information for individual students, so as to be able to determine whether such and such an individual student, be he Czech or Slovak, passed the maturita exam. We must content ourselves with comparing the percentage of each nationality in the final year of school and applying these percentages to the number of persons taking the �33 SLOVAKIA maturita exams. Even in the less common instances when the maturita recording books are availa\:ile in the archives , they frequently do not specify the nationality, but fist only the place of birth. While this is of some assistance in obtaining a reasonably accurate picture , the very existence of 120,000 Czechs in Slovakia(34) will distort it, as well as the non-Czechoslovak abode of many of these persons prior to 1918. In the above Banska Bystrica case, although there were 66 Czechs , only 34 of the students were born in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. There will also be some distortion , when we cannot specifically distinguish Czech from Slovak, in identifying the social, religious, and other characteristics of the students according to nationality. Here again, it seems that we must proceed on the basis of what we have , hoping that studies of the individual schools described by Matej(35) will tum up better information. Let us use 1927-28 as a sample year. The decline in the number of enrollees which developed later because of the wartime decline in the birth rate and not yet made itself felt. With the exception of a number of schools which would open in the last four years of the Republic, almost all schools were operating as full institutions. Some had been converted from Hungarian to Slovak over a period of seven or eight years . TABLE 2 CZECHOSLOVAK SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SLOVAKIA , 1927-28 Type of School Real gymnasium Real reformed gymnasium Realka Teacher training institute Commercial academy Industrial high school Classical gymnasium Agricultural high school Forestry high school Total Number Students Graduates Studentsgraduate 24 8217 426 19 10 3 2939 997 165 98 18 13 6 3 2 1 1 63 970 617 470 406 98 Unavailable 14,714 327 62 100 16 14 14 1222 10 3 10 5 25 7 12 �34 SLOVAKIA Sources: Novacky, Desat' rokov , pp. 63-67; Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1918-1959, Bratislava: Poverenictvo Podohospodarstva, 1959, pp. 62-67; Anton Stefanek, Education in Pre-War Hungary and in Slovakia To-Day," in Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey ed. by Robert W. Seton-Watson, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1931, p. 130; Individual vyrocne zpravy of the agricultural high school, commercial high schools , and industrial high schools. The most productive gymnasium of any kind in the first eleven years was the real gymnasium at Bratislava with 363 degrees awarded followed by the realka at Zilina with 340. Other gymnasia producing more than 200 matriculation certificate holders in the first eleven years were the real gymnasia at Kosice, Nitra, Ruzomberok, Trencin, Trnava, and Banska Bystrica. The teacher training institute at Modra produced by far the largest number of graduates in the first eleven years with 419, primarily because of the 142 which it graduated in the first three years, a figure twice the number of any other school during that period, excepting Tmava, which also had the second highest eleven year total with 323. Seven other institutions had more than 200 graduates each. Over the twenty year period, there were 51 gymnasia of different types, 17 teacher training institutes, 5 industrial high schools, 7 commercial high schools, and one each of the agricultural and forestry high schools. A significant number of this total (16-82) began operation in the last four years, a jump of about 25 percent from the number in existence at the end of the 1933-34 school year. The reasons for this sudden increase will be discussed below. The total does not include a private unlicensed secondary school operated in Bratislava in the 193738 school year which used French as the language of instruction and was seeking state accreditation. The proportion of secondary school students in the population was lower in all Slovak counties (between 3 and 8 per 1000) than in Prague (12-13 per 1000) .(36) By some strange quirk, however, the county of Mikulas had the highest number of secondary schools in relation to the population (9-10-200,000) anywhere in Czechoslovakia. This included 14 schools for 319,509 people.(37) In Slovakia in 1922-23 there was one Czechoslovak student for each 179 Czecho~lovak inhabitants. For the whole country (excepting Ruthenia) the ratio was I-116.(38) There were other schools which one might consider as producers of intelligentsia. The so-called pedagogical academy which began to operate in Bratislava in the 1930-31 school year at the suggestion of the �SLOVAKIA 35 Slovak Pedagogical Society was the first step toward placing teacher training on the university level. It was a one-year program which gave gymnasium graduates the right to teach in elementary schools. In seven years it produced 706 graduates.(39) Graduates of the teacher training institutes did no~ have the possibility nor the need to attend. Comenius University \11 Bratislava had three faculties - law, medicine, and philosophy- ano began accepting gymnasium graduates in the fall of 1921.(40) Slovaks could attend other universities in the country as well. The Slovak Technical University opened only in the fall of 1938. There were two theological faculties. The Lutheran faculty, which operated throughout the twenty years, received university rank in 1934. The Catholic faculty, authorized in 1919, began operations in 1936 although in the interim there were a half dozen small seminaries scattered around Slovakia. The music and drama academy of Bratislava received university status in 1926. The higher agricultural co-operative school opened in Bratislava in 1936 to help provide administrative officials for the co-operative movement. Previously these officials had come from among the graduates of the commercial academies and commercial schools (usually 2-year programs not leading to a matriculation certificate). Students were chosen from among those who already held the matriculation certificate, with preference to persons who had been graduated from the commercial or agricultural high schools and to those with co-operative experience. Those who had a partial high school education or had finished middle school and one of the agricultural or commercial schools, and had two years of experience in the co-operative movement as well, could qualify if they successfully passed an entrance exam. There were only 22 students in each year of operation. There were also a number of theological academies with the equivalency rank of universities. Entrants were required to hold the matriculation certificate. The six Catholic institutes (seminaries) mentioned above closed with the opening of the Bratislava theological faculty in 1936. Even so , Slovakia still possessed more than half of the theological institutes in the country. There were also a half dozen city music schools , sometimes supported by the public, but these were rather for private music instruction and did not fit into the regular scheme of formal education . Reference has been made to vocational courses in the fields of agricultural, industrial and commercial education. There was in these courses no attempt to advance beyond the teaching of specific skills. The courses varied from several weeks to two years. �36 SLOVAKIA Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural and national organization, sponsored in many cities the so-called enlightenment courses. These consisted on one or a series of lectures, and would more properly fall under the heading of popular or civic education. The local organizations of Matica slovenska were supposed to be distributing knowledge, rather than fostering it.(41) Courses held by the Army for illiterate soldiers should be considered also in the realm of popular education. What other evidence do we have of cultural advancement during the period under discussion? One is the publication of books, magazines and newspapers. Before the outbreak of World War I there was some of this activity , although exactly how much is uncertain. Stefan Krcmery , long active in Matica slovenska, said that a total of 41 periodicals in 1909 had declined to ten by 1918.(42) A more recent survey conducted by Matica slovenska shows the total growing from 32 in 1900 to 47 in 1910 to 61 in 1914 before dropping to 30 in 1918.(43) The most important were N arodnie noviny , published three times a week at Martin, and Slouenske pohl'ady, a monthly literary journal.(44) Jozef Votruba, a Slovak patriot , was said to have remarked(45) that the Slovak intelligentsia was made up of those who read Narodnie nouiny. Similar problems arise in trying to measure the number of journals published after the revolution. Maria Kipsova, in a definitive bibliography published in 1968, (46) lists 980 journals definitely located and 80 journals not found which were published in Slovak during the 20-year period. Jozef Darmo 's incomplete study(47) of Slovak journalism, published two years earlier, says there was a total of 1565 magazines and newspapers published, of which 442 were Hungarian and an undefined number in other languages. A survey compiled by the press referent for Slovakia in 1927(48) listed 162 purely Slovak publications for that year . Approximately one-third of these were political , another third organizational . Eight of the publications were dailies, all but one of them published ip Bratislava. A further 49 publications were multi-lingual with Slova~ as one of the languages . Nearly half of the all-Slovak publications · (77) Had a frequency of monthly or less. The Kipsova bibliography shows that the great majority of these publications did not long survive . Included among the reasons were the lack of printers and the inability to extend circulation beyond the cities into the countryside . Quite simply, the rural population was not yet accustomed to reading.(49) While some efforts have been made at estimating the extent of circulation of the various publications ,(50) there is no source extensive enough to provide any adequate analysis. The expansion of the number of daily papers from two (one of which was Hungarian-oriented)(51) before the war , to eight �SLOVAKIA 37 under the Czechoslovak ~epublic indicates definite progress. Even with insufficient evidence, 'one can presume a circulation expansion as well. While there is considerable disagreement, too, over the exact number of Slovak books published between the wars,(52) it averaged 600-800 per year, of which about three quarters were published in Slovakia itself. A provisional B ibliografia slovenskych knih 19191938(53) published in 1965, listed 13,320 items definitely identified, and 6530 uncertain. If the nearly 19,000 were in fact all published, it would establish an average of approximately one thousand per year, somewhat higher than the estimate by Stefanek (13,425).(54) Most likely, not all of the desiderata will be included in a definitive bibliography, soon to be published by Matica slovenska, since, for instance, some of the jubilee high school yearbooks, which are in fact not books, are included, plus some listings which are only Slovakicized titles of Czech books. The most difficult problem is unfortunately unsolvable, that is, how many copies of each of these books were published. Only a few organizations, such as Matica slovenska, kept publication totals . One estimate suggested that pre-war printings rarely exceeded 600-800 copies; by 1928 the average was 250010,000.(55) Stefanek provides some interesting comparisons of the occupations of writers before and after the revolution. (56) They show that before the revolution 112 out of 178 writers were priests (two-thirds Lutheran, one-third Catholic). After 1918 (approximately 1935) only 14111 are priests. The bulk (47) are academicians. Another measurement of general progress can be noted in the area of libraries. In 1927 there were 3283 research libraries for teachers with 258 ,200 books; 216 school libraries containing 1,185,464 books including 150,000 at Comenius University; and 2592 communal libraries with 202 , 781 books . (5 7) By 1932 the number of libraries in the first two categories had increased only by seven, but the number of volumes was up half a million.(58) Since there were only private church libraries and those of priests and patriots prior to 1918, there is a definite note of progress here. One of the most difficult problems in handling a subject of this type is to maintain a differentiation between the terms intelligentsia and national enlightenment. While we have noted the tremendous development of communal libraries, libraries which average less than one hundred books apiece will not contribute much to the development of the intelligentsia, although they may significantly raise the national consciousness of the broad mass of the population. The same problem �38 SLOVAKIA must be faced when we examine the national and religious cultural societies . Either we must redefine what we call a member of the intelligentsia or we must recognize the fact that these organizations had different purposes. The Society of St. Adalbert is a case in point. A Catholic society with 100,000 members, it dealt mainly with popular education and Catholic science and literature.(59) Yet Peter Vajcik(60) described one of the society's three aims as being to help the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, a much smaller group . The Lutheran Church had a similar society of Tranoscius. Matica slovenska anguished over the direction of its goals . Until 1932 it tended to reflect more accurately the number of intelligentsia than did the two specifically religious societies, but it also included a number of Czechs and people of other nationalities involved in the work of popular education. In some respects it sought to fulfill the role of a scientific academy, but lacked the personnel and monetary support, and could not tear itself away from its popular education role . Interestingly , when its membership roles swelled after the capture of the leadership in 1932 by those who favored a greater amount of Slovak autonomy, its organized scientific research increased substantially. The membership increased from 11,063 in 1930 to 30,147 in 1936.(61) The Safarik Scientific Society was organized in 1926 mainly by the members of the faculty of Comenius University. It was begun with the intent of increasing the amount of knowledge about Slovakia and Ruthenia. Strongly supported by persons with a Czechoslovak orientation, it frequently found itself at loggerheads with the people in Matica slovenska.(62) In 1934 it had a total of 168 members of whom only 40 were Slovak. It was divided into two sections, one for the social sciences and one for the natural sciences. In the latter, there were only 16 Slovaks among 101 members, which can in part be explained by the lack of a faculty of natural sciences at Comenius University . During its twelve year existence it published 45 volumes of research results.(63) A number of other societies or organizations which could be called cultural or intellectual also functioned but they will not be dealt with here . These include the Slovak Museum Society, the Slovak Cultural (Vlastivedne) Museum, the East Slovak Museum, the Slovak Pedagogical Society, the Union of Slovak Students, DAV , and the several unions of teachers.(64) · Having sketched the general outline of the development of the intelligentsia , it becomes necessary to examine the broader context of the matter as it relates to political development and the whole of life in interwar Czechoslovakia. �SLOVAKIA 39 It was the early actio~s of the Czechoslovak government taken in the field of education that\ ~ere the most far reaching. Before 1918 there were 53 secondary schools in Slovakia, all Hungarian.(65) Following the attainment of independence, three were closed immediately, two others were combined, and in nine towns new secondary schools were organized. Before the New Year, three secondary schools were operating, and a total of thirteen were giving instruction after three months of independence. (66) Anton Stefanek, assigned the task of co-ordinating this project, described his guiding principle as ''the democratic principle of religious and racial equality before the law."(67) Thus, in purely Slovak districts, the schools were deMagyarized. In the southern districts, he "on the whole" left the status quo. This immediate de-Magyarization of the Slovak high schools was exceptionally important. Changes which are readily accepted in a time of revolution are not achieved even gradually in times of peace and quiet. The entire Czech policy followed in the southern parts of Slovakia sought to integrate the area into the Czechoslovak Republic. (68) The new schools which were opened in essentially Hungarian towns such as Nove Zamky or Lucenec, took root rapidly even though a Hungarian school was also frequently authorized. While these cities had been Hungarian for several decades, the countryside was in many cases still Slovak. The extra assistance provided by the central authorities was frequently the deciding factor in reclaiming the cities, and thus the gathering places of the intelligentsia, for the Slovaks . According to the 1930 census, only seven cities in Slovakia had more than 20,000 persons. Of these, all had two or more Czechoslovak secondary schools except Komarno, which did not gain its first Czechoslovak secondary school until 1936. Only two of the fourteen towns with between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, Guta and Handlova, did not have secondary schools . Handlova is only seven miles from Prievidza, which had a school. Guta (now called Kolarovo), is in a strongly Hungarian area about ten miles southwest of Nove Zarnky, which also had a gymnasium .(69) State control was extended over six Catholic high schools in 1919, under fear that the vacant six sees, which were responsible for their supervision , would be filled by Hungarians . The only other two alternatives , according to Stefanek, were to close the schools, or to accept Hungarian control. It was the attempt by the Slovak People 's Party to gain restoration of three of these Catholic gymnasia in 1921 which led to that party's break-away from the Czech People ' s Party. Josef Susta , the Minister of Education in the Cerny government, ap- �40 SLOVAKIA parently made promises to the effect that the schools would be returned to Catholic control, an action which his successor, Vavro Srobar, an Agrarian Slovak, refused to carry out once the Benes government took office . (70) The Protestants in contrast, carried out an internal reorganization in 1919 and were allowed to maintain control over their schools. Within a decade they gave up all but one for financial reasons .(71) It might be mentioned that the Slovak National Council, which spoke for Slovakia in its declaration of union with the Czechs at Martin October 30, 1918, apparently made no effort to institute an educational system, although some of its local branch officials served to help coordinate the setting up of new schools . Mamatey attributes this to inexperience in the exercise of political power.(72) The impliction is that the Slovak elite, carried over from the Hungarian era, did not use realistic methods in developing a modem nation. Thus, they did not conceive of the need to build an expanded intelligentsia. (73) Much of the policy relating to education was determined by administrative , rather than legislative action. Thus, the fact that five out of the twelve interwar Ministers of Education were Slovaks is of considerable significance. Actually these five held the post for a •longer period (by three months) than Czechs, and many significant reforms were accomplished under them. Ivan Derer, a Social Democrat, held the post for the longest period, from 1929 to 1934. Milan Hodza, an, Agrarian, had the third longest term (1926-1929), a period that probably would have lasted longer had he not become embroiled in conflict with Masaryk and Benes over foreign policy matters. Several policy changes were carried out which affected secondary education in Slovakia. One involved converting the realka to the Austrian or Czech pattern, which meant a seven-year, rather than an eight-year, curriculum, and thus lessened in the eyes of many Slovaks the value of its education. The six-year higher girls ' schools were first reestablished as lycees , then converted quickly to real reformed gymnasia because the former institutions had offered little perspective for further education or employment. The use of boarding schools was also generally eliminated in Slovakia. Prior to World War I, boarding schools had helped to foster Magyarization by cutting off the students from the Slovak countryside. By 1923 only sixteen remained , of which eleven were located at teacher training institutes. (74) At the same time , various organizations set up " intemats" in many towns to strengthen thE\regained Slovak foothold . This made it possible for young people from remote districts , for whom poor transportation connections would have preve~ted daily com- �SLOVAKIA 41 muting, to acquire a secondary education. Others could avoid the otherwise inflated living costs in the cities.(75) The government also sought to increase the percentage of women in the schools. By the year i937-38 girls made up nearly one-third of the students in the gymnasia, ~though as noted above, a smaller percentage actually completed the final year (and presumably the maturita exam). In the teacher training institutes more than half of the total enrollees were girls. Government regulations specified that these institutes were to have equal numbers of boys and girls. (76) As the country began to emerge from the depression, there developed also a rapid increase in the total enrollment of the secondary schools. There were a number of reasons for this, including the growth of cities, better preparation in elementary schools, and the increased post-war birth rate. The government responded by approving various arrangements to open new schools, including some sponsored by cities and some by church bodies. They were made possible under Article 54 of Hungarian law XXX-1883,(77) under which the state assumed responsibility for paying the personnel, who had to meet state qualification standards, while the sponsoring group paid the operating expenses. The schools charged higher tuition, but these higher rates were usually justified by the savings in transportation costs which students would otherwise have had to pay if they were commuting to another school. There were several of these schools in Kosice operated by church groups. Examples of city-sponsored schools were in Piest'any, Koma.mo, and Topol'cany. Acceptance of these arrangements occurred because of an improvement in the economic situation, (78) the fact that there was no longer doubt about the ability of these schools to attract a sufficient number of qualified professors , and the ability of the organizations to meet the requirements of XXX-1883. The analysis of placement - where did the graduates go - is a task beyond the goals of this paper. The central government apparently did not concern itself with these matters except for a brief period during the depression.(79) Many of the secondary schools themselves did not bother with such records either. Occasionally the yearbooks or reports to the Ministry of Education contained information about the future plans of the graduates. It is only in scattered cases at the time of the dedication of a new building or during a celebration of an anniversary that the occupations of the graduates were recorded at all, e.g., Kremnica-1937 or Zlate Moravce-1924. Unfortunately, these samples are not sufficiently broad to draw any conclusions . There is an intriguing organization called the Sprostredkovatel'na prace pre nezamestnanu inteligenciu na Slovensku, which evolved in 1934. �42 SLOVAKIA Sponsored by the Slovak League and the Economic Institute of Slovakia and Ruthenia, with the apparent support of the Agrarian Party, it collected data on graduates and their job searches.(80) Even without these data, let me suggest some judgments on the development of the intelligentsia in interwar Slovakia. First of all, it is clear that significant progress was made . The very fact that the independent Slovak State was able to function at all is evidence of this progress.(81) The Slovak State would not have been possible in 1918. By 1938, the large majority of the intelligentsia was Slovak in language and feeling . Under the situation prevailing before 1918, many of these people would have become members of the intelligentsia, but it would have been as Hungarians, not as Slovaks. It seems that there was not an intellectual proletariat in Slovakia.(82) As Ivan Derer pointed out, even in the depths of depression in 1933 all qualified Slovak high school and elementary teachers had positions.(83) He also catalogued the many other positions which Slovaks filled.(84) What the Czechoslovak Republic failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical, and professional - that are required to conduct a modern nation. Insufficient emphasis was put on the education that would develop leaders in industry, commerce, and even agriculture. This type of policy requires particular effort because in fluid postwar situations, there is a tendency to chose occupations where training is short and not too strenuous and the prospects of rapid enrichment promising.(85) This helps to explain Slovakia's lack of military men , of engineers , and of doctors. One must also keep in mind that the younger members of the small Slovak intelligentsia in 1918 had been able to gain positions of influence at a young age, something that could not be continued after the revolutionary wave had subsided and the Czechs who had come to Slovakia to help had become entrenched. (86) The young Slovak intelligent was not unemployed, but underemployed. One must recall that particularly in later years the central government had doubts as to whether it could trust the Slovak intelligentsia. Whatever feelings of distress this under-employment engen~red were worsened by the attitudes carried over from the Hungarian\ experience that education was the road to success .(87) Pre-independe:o.ce lead,ership was in the hands of a highly visible educated majority,. which fostered assumptions of the links between education , political mobility, and the benefits accruing to members of the intelligentsia. �SLOVAKIA 43 Quite probably , time was too short to produce a large enough intelligentsia in all fields. (88) In twenty years , the Czechoslovak government laid the groundwork for the future , and for twenty years built on it. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic after World War II provided the opportunity to look critically at what had and had not been done before in the area of intelligentsia development and to make adjustments. · ' But it was not just a matter of insufficient time. I would suggest that the interwar Czechoslovak government was not concerned with developing a specifically Slovak intelligentsia. Instead, its main goal was to reclaim the entire area of Slovakia for the Czechoslovak nationstate. By establishing a large number of Slovak secondary schools in cities of any size, especially those with large Hungarian populations , it could insure that this was done . But the early success of these centralist policies delayed recognition of certain aspects of the developing Slovak problem. If a Slovak nation was to be a viable entity, it required Slovak participation in all aspects and at all levels of society , not just where vacancies existed in a larger Czechoslovak society. One of the reasons for the above-mentioned lack of a Slovak technical university was the assumption that sufficient numbers of persons (mostly Czechs and Germans) were being educated in Bohemia and Moravia. Such an institution in Slovakia was said to be superfluous. If the concept of national self-awareness is not considered , then such an approach is plausible. On the other hand, when a nation has a feeling of running its affairs in the state in which it exists , even if that state be multinational, it has much greater reason to support the continued existence of that state. It then has no reason to trade the security it knows for the uncertainty of separation. Most Slovaks were initially very willing to cooperate with the Czechs, as demonstrated in the Martin declaration, recognizing that it was primarily Czech activities which had achieved the separation of Slovakia from Hungary and its attachment to the Czech Lands. But if Czechoslovakism embodies something more than Greater Czechism , it implied the balanced development of both parts and peoples of the country . If not, then the Slovaks were ipso facto a minority . Prior to 1938, the international political setting mitigated against any Slovak separation, since some kind of political attachment to Hungary or Poland would have resulted, yet active recognition of the concept of a Slovak nation by the Czechoslovak government would have strengthened Slovak resistance, alongside the Czechs , to the developing German threat. �44 SLOVAKIA Masaryk did not see in the Slovak case what he had been so willing to see in the Czech: the desire, as a nation, to develop and administer a complete society, particularly when that nation is part of the multinational state. He admitted in 1931 that he did not himself fully understand the Czech-Slovak relationship. I believe ... that the Comenius University helps the young to understand the true political and cultural task of Slovakia in our Republic. In a large degree it is the question of the relationship between Czechs and Slovaks. I have considered this problem myself and I must think still further about it.(89) While it might be argued that Masaryk was merely being respectful to his hosts, it is more likely the uncertainty he expressed was real. The so-called Castle group which gathered around Masaryk may have been nationally tolerant,(90) but it did not actively promote the development of individual nationalities.(91) One cannot, then, say the interwar Czechoslovak Republic did not, through its educational and cultural system, develop an intelligentsia in Slovakia. As has been shown, it made substantial progress. But it may be criticized for not actively supporting the production of an intelligentsia tailored to meet the needs of Slovakia, which by meeting the Slovak desire for self-management, would have strengthened the integrity of the Czechoslovak state. FOOTNOTES As Lucien W . Pye has noted, there is a large gap between the broad assumptions about the importance of education in national development and the limited amount of research on the subject. See Lucien W . Pye , " Foreword," in Education and Political Development , ed . James Coleman, Princeton, N .J ; rrinceton University Press, 1965, p . v. ' (2) Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy ," in A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, ed. by Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, Princeton, N.J .: Princeton University Press , 1973 , p. 118 . (3) R. W . Seton-Watson , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks , Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1965, p . 336. (4) Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin: Maketa , m, Prague: Nakladatelstvi Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved, 1960. (5) Historicky fosopis , Vol. XXI , No . 1 (1973) , p. 155. (6) Oldriska Kodedova, Ceskoslovensky tasopis historicky, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (1973) , p. 114. (1) �SLOVAKIA 45 ' (7) Jozef Matej, "Sucasny stav a perspektivy rozvoja dejin pedagogiky na Slovensku," Jednotna skola, Vol. XXVI, No. 1 (January 1974) , pp . 56-70 . (8) E .g ., Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 323; Stefan Krcmery , "A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature ," Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. VI (1928), p . 160. (9) Anton Stefanek, Zaklady sociografie Slovenska , Bratislava: Slovenska Akademia Vied , 1944, pp . 137-142. (10) Conversations with Slovak historians, 1973-74. (ll) Anton Stefanek, " Novoslovaci," Sociologicka revue, Vol. VI, No. 3-4 (1935), pp. 272-3 . (12) Ludwig v. Gogolak , Beitrage zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes, ill Muenchen : R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972, p . 163; Ferdinand Peroutka, Budovani statu, I, Praha : Fr. Borovy, 1936, p . 208 . (13) Jozef Matej, Kapitoly z dejin slovenskeho skolstva apedagogiky (19. a 20. storoc!ie), Bratislava: Univerzita Komenskeho, 1972, 2nd ed., p . 71. (14) Letter to author, February 2, 1973. (15) Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics, Prague : Orbis , 1929, p . 44 . (16) Peroutka , Budo vani statu, I, p . 207. (17) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 114. (18) Jaroslav Kopac, Dejiny skolstvi a pedagogiky v Ceskoslovensku, I, Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyne, 1971 , p. 48 footnote . There were some exceptions to the rule, however, such as the fact that high school graduation was not a requirement for the highly influential position of notary. (19) Gustav Husak, "Zprava predsedu socialnej komisie SSS," Vyroc!na zprava 1935-36: 15 rokov Sviizu Slovenskeho Studentstva v Bratislave , p . 13. (20) Czechoslovakia-Statistical Abstract , Prague : Orbis, 1963 , p. 18 . (21) Mirko Trnovsky, ed ., Sbornik prac profesorov evanj. kolej. slovenskeho gymnazia v Presove k vyroc!iu 1919-1939 Presov : Slovenska statna knihtlaciaren , 1940, p . 55 . (22) Vratislav Busek , " Pravnicke studium ve svetle statistiky, " Pravny obzor, Vol. XX, No . 15-16 (1-15 October 1937), p . 688 . (23) Ibid., pp . 682-8 . (24) Matej , Kapitoly, 1st ed., p . 83, notes that the contents of a 1933 curriculum reform were directed toward two goals, theoretical preparation of the graduates for the university , and partly for the practical needs of life. (25) Skolstvo na Slovensku, Bratislava: Slovensky planovaci urad, 1949, p . 46. (26) Sociol6gia, Vol. IV, No . 3 (1972), pp . 193-204, as cited in ABSEES Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, ill, No. 2 (26) (Oct. 1972), p . 167. (27) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 296 . (28) Jan M. Novacky, ed ., Desat' rokov slo venskych strednych sk6l, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp . 68-71. Novacky's calculations omit the teacher training institutes operated by churches. The total for 1933-4 is actually 1542 , but the difference of 200 from the estimate can be wholly attributed to the doubled enrollment in the teacher training institutes in the early thirties - Zpravy Statniho uradu statistickeho republiky Ceskoslove nske, 1935, No. 3-7. �46 SLOVAKIA (29) Skolstvo, p . 47. (30) See the school's Vyrofod zprciva 1937-38, pp . 54-57. (31) See the school's Vyrofod zprdva 1937-38, pp. 13-15. (32) Priloha " Stredne skoly," Zprcivy §kolskeho referdtu v Bratislave ministerstva ~kolstva a ndrodnej osvety, 1922. (33) Paul R. Magocsi, " The Role of Education in the Formation of a National Consciousness ," East European Quarterly, Vo. Vll, No. 2 (Summer 1973) , p . 162 . (34) Paul E. Zinner, Communist Strategy and Tactics in Czechoslovakia, 1918-48, New York : Frederick A. Praeger, 1963 , p . 12; Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 386. (35) Matej, " Sucasny stav," pp. 56-70. (36) Josef Henrich and Mikulas Smok, Eenseignement clans la Republique Tchecoslovaque , Prague : Ostredni spolek ceskoslovenskych profesoru, 1923, p . 94. (37) Ibid. , p . 95. (38) Ibid., p . 91. (39) Matej , Kapitoly, 2nd ed ., p . 83. (40) Richard Homa, Patndct let Komenskeho university v Bratislaue, Bratislava, 1934, p . 9. {41) Michal Fedor, Poslanie a program Matice slovenskej na vychodnom Slovensku, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1966, p . 91. (42) Krcmery, "A Survey," p . 161. {43) Michal Potemra, ed ., Bibliografia slovenskych novin a c!asopisov do roku 1918, Martin : Matica· slovenska, 1958. (44) Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 282 . (45) Related to author by Czech historian . Efforts to locate published citation to date fruitless . (46) Maria Kipsova et al., Bibliografia slovenskych a inorec!ouych nouin a c!asopisou z rokou 1919-1938, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1968. (47) Jozef Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika 1918-1938, II, Martin: Matica slovenska, 1966. (48) Soznam c!asopisou na Slouensku 1927, Bratislava: Tlacovy referat pre spravu Slovensku, 1927. (49) Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika, p . 159. (50) E .g ., Darmo . (51) Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 324. (52) Ibid ., pp . 318-324. (53) Bibliografia slouenskych knih 1919-1938, Vol. 1-XVIl, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1965 . (54) Stefimek, Z ciklady, p . 318. (55) Stefan Krcmery, " Slovak Literature," in Seton-~atson , Slovakia Then & Now , p . 141 . \ (56) Stefanek, Zciklady , pp . 313-314. (57) Manuel Statistique de la R epublique Tchechoslo uaque, ill, Prague : Statni urad statisticky, 1928, pp. 17-19. A law of February 1919 set up in each community �SLOVAKIA 47 educational committees to con\ truct libraries and run lectures and courses . In Slovakia, this matter was generally handled by the local branch of Matica slovenska. (58) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque , 1934, Prague: L'Office de Statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque, 1934, Table XIV-17 . (59) Stefanek, Zdklady , p. 303 . (60) Peter Vajcik , " Zvesti z Literarno-vedeckeho odboru SSV ," Kultura, Vol. VII , No. 1 (1935) , p . 38 . (61) Ivan Kusy, " Obnovenie Matice slovenskej a jej uloha za predmnichovskej CSR, " in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch: Sbornik stati, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1963 , pp. 224-232 . (62) Frantisek Bokes, Snahy o organizovanie slovenskej vedy od konca 18. storoi!ia do vzniku SAV, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1967, p. 65. (63) Miroslav Kropilak, "Zakladne kulturnopoliticke problemy Slovenska v rokoch 191838 ," in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch, p. 205 . (64) In particular note the Spolok profesorov Slovakov, which after its founding in 1921 worked particularly for better placement of Slovak teachers in Slovak high schools. Viz its Sbornik Spolku profesorov Slovdkov . (65) Hendrich and Smok, Eenseignement , p . 73. (66) Karel Veleminsky, "Czecho-Slovak Secondary Schools ," in The Czecho-Slovak Republic , Prague: Czecho-Slovak Foreigners' Office, 1919, Vol. IV, Part 3 , p . 13 . In 1919, the Ministry of Education carried out a census in Slovakia for the purpose of determining how many schools would be needed. Peroutka, Budo vdni stdtu , I, p. 210. (67) Stefanek, " Education in Pre-War Hungary ," p . 121. (68) Gogolak , Beitrage , ill, p . 160. (69) Annuaire statistique , 1935, Table 11-17 and 1937, Table 11-4. (70) Milos Trap! , " Ke skolske legislative obecnych a obcanskych (mest'anskych) skol a jejimu uplatnovani v ceskych zemich 1918-1922," in Z dejin i!eskeho §kolstv i, ed by Ervin Koukal , Prague : Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi, 1970, p . 44 footnote 82. (71) Stefanek, "Education in Pre-War Hungary," p . 121. (72) Victor S. Mamatey , ''The Establishment of the Republic,'' in Mamatey and Luz.a, A History, p . 30 . (73) Gogolak , B eitrage , ill, p . 165. (74) Hendrich and Smok , Eenseignement , p . 34. (75) See Msano 52143-1920 Odbor V Oddeleni 19 of 15 August 1920, Carton 1297-State Central Archive (SOA) - Prague. The " intemats" also separated the students from parental influence which " is not always characterized by friendly feelings toward our state ." - Instruktorat Ministerstva socialnej starostlivosti (IMSS) Carton 5 item 276 in Slovak State Central Archive (SSOA) - Bratislava. This particular item is a letter from the acting headmaster of the Banska Stiavnica real gymnasium to the Ministerstvo socialni pece c. 798-1920 of 15 July 1920. (76) Skolstvo , pp . 23 , 11 1, and 150. (77) The fir st law passed in the new Czechoslovak Republic decreed that all laws in force in Austria-Hungary would be carried over to the new state . This explains how Hungarian law would be considered in Slovakia . �48 SLOVAKIA (78) E.g., note willingness of Fimini (Ministry of Finance) and Nejvyssi ucetni kontrolni urad (NUKU) to postpone indefinitely closing of school in exchange for opening of realka in Bardejov, or to substitute a closing of a school in Bohemia or Moravia-Msano 104.048-1938 Odbor ill Oddeleni 2 of 1 July 1938-Carton 1297-SUA. (79) Msano , 2637-1934 Pres . Odd . Studijni, 20 April 1934 , SUA , Carton 1445. (80) Okresny archiv, Prievidza , Prievidza gymnasium collection, 605-1934 and 214-1936 (Carton 3) . (81) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland & Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. (82) This contradicts Zinner's assertions in Communist Strategy, p. 12 . (83) Ivan Derer, Ceskoslovenskci otcizka, Prague: Orbis , 1935, p. 38. (84) Ibid . (85) R. W. Seton-Watson, "Introduction . Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Problem ," in Slovakia Then and Now, p . 62. (86) James S. Coleman, " Introduction : Education and Political Development " in Education and Political Development discusses the tension that develops with lack of political mobility for the second generation. Thomson 's assertion that the Czechoslovak government adhered to a policy of returning Czech officeholders to the historic lands as soon as possible does not hold up . S. Harrison Thomson , Czechoslovakia in European History , Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1953, p . 334. (87) See page 184. (88) See Matej, Kapitoly, 2nd ed., p . 86. (89) Zprciva o tinnosti Spolku pre postavenie a vydriovanie Universitnej koleje a akademickej menzi, 1930, p . 6. (Speech at Bratislava.) (90) Kopac, Dejiny ~kolstvi, I, p . 11. (91) It has been suggested that the Czechs erred in Slovakia after 1918 by trying to transform before forming a nation . See Jan Hajda, " The Role of the Intelligentsia in the Developme nt of the Czechoslovak Society,'' in The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture ed. by Miroslav Rechcigl , The Hague: Mouton , 1964, pp . 307-312. � 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 25 The Slovak Intelligentsia 1918-1938 OWEN V. JOHNSON \ The 25th issue of Slovensky dennik, published December 7, 1918, carried a message from the Slovak Society of Studying Youth. It began bluntly, '' A nation is strong only if it has a strong intelligentsia.'' Issue No. 1, published November 9, 1918, called on the Slovak intelligentsia to come forward. Since the new Czechoslovak state will need a great many Slovak people for offices and schools, we challenge each Slovak intelligent to immediately apply in writing or personally to the Legal Committee of the Slovak National Council listing complete name and address. Slovensky dennik might well have devoted its limited space to other matters, for the Slovakia of 1918 was ahnost without an intelligentsia, a body without a head. How and to what extent was this void filled in the following twenty years? In essence, this essay is a preliminary examination of that question. A combination of historical and ideological circumstances has combined to divert attention almost completely from a serious study of the development of education and the concomitant development of the intelligentsia (using here the Marxist definition of the intelligentsia as being "educated specialists") in interwar Slovakia, and in fact for the whole of Czechoslovakia.(!) Victor Mamatey describes Slovak politicians as showing considerable energy in promoting the cultural and educational development of the Slovak people,(2) but furnishes no evidence. R. W. Seton-Watson describes the "remarkable transformation" wrought in the field of education in Slovakia, but provides only broad quantitative evidence, referring especially to the elementary schools. (3) Reprinted by permission from Russian and Slavic History (Papers from the Banff ' 74 Conference) edited by D. K. Rowney and G. E. Orchard, Slavica Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 14388, Columbus, Ohio 43214. 26 SLOVAKIA While Czech and Slovak historians generally evaluate this phenomenon favorably, only now is any extensive research developing in the field. The published draft survey, Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin(4) does not once mention education. One report on a meeting of the Polish-Czechoslovak Historical Commission in Warsaw in September 1972 pointed out, "There emerged in the rich discussion many questions which even in our historiography have not been resolved through analytical work (such as) (the growth of national intelligentsia, the question of education ... ).(5) Oldriska Kodedova, reviewing Kuzmin's Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekoslovakii, comments(6) that insufficient attention has been paid to the social and nationality problem of education between the two wars. She points out that there is not a single basic work on the subject. Professor Jozef Matej, chairman of the pedagogical department of the Faculty of Philosophy at Comenius University in Bratislava, surveys the considerable progress made in research over the last five years, and declares that the editorial board of Jednotna skola supports the publication of articles about the history of education and pedagogy in the "bourgeois" Republic.(7) Admittedly this problem is not one that lends itself easily to a time frame as short as twenty years. Even the very few high school graduates from 1919 would have been less than forty years old in 1938, an age which in the traditional European context was still quite young. The names which showed up as outstanding among high school students· in the twenties and thirties became the leaders only in the turbulent forties and fifties. Perforce, then, this paper must confine itself to observations on some aspects of the development of the intelligentsia. A thorough study would require a complete monograph. What I will seek to do is discuss briefly the circumstances that brought about the poverty of the intelligentsia before 1918, identify institutions which contributed to the development of this educated group of Slovaks in the interwar period; describe summarily the educational system in use and provide a statistical overview of the schools and the students who studied in them; briefly describe other signs of cultural development; and suggest some accomplishments, shortcomings, and problems on the period. Linguistic and anthropological experts have long debated the question as to whether the term Czechoslovlik can be used to describe one language and one nation, or whether the individual Czech and Slovak terms should be used. This paper proceeds on the basis of the latter, as a means to better understanding the problem at hand. If the idea of a Slovak nation was to have a solid basis, whether in a SLOVAKIA 27 \ Czechoslovak state or by it'self, it was necessary that an intelligentsia develop from the Slovak people . The course of events prior to the creation of Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I found the Slovak people practically without a nationally conscious Slovak intelligentsia. Policies pursued by the Hungarian government following the 1867 Ausgleich had made it practically impossible for any Slovak youth who aspired to advanced education and a high position in life, to succeeed without giving up his Slovak identity. There were no Slovak schools beyond the primary level. It is generally accepted(8) that there were only between five hundred and a thousand educated and nationally conscious Slovaks in the year 1918. This estimate can be challenged on the basis that it represented the number of Slovaks and members of their families on whom the Hungarian authorities kept watch because of Slovak or panSlavic tendencies.(9) There may well have been several thousand nationally neutral intelligentsia who found it quite simple to fit into a Czechoslovak environment following the founding of the Republic. Several Slovak historians are seeking at this time a more accurate estimate.(10) Certainly the predominantly agricultural configuration of the Slovak society did not promote Slovak intellectual development. The cities , with few exceptions , were Hungarian, German, or Jewish dominated. Thus we are left with a Slovak intelligentsia made up primarily of clergymen, doctors , and lawyers, and their families .(11) One could not in any case expect that there would be a sufficient number of Slovaks who would have the requisite administrative experience to run a modem state and nation. To overcome this shortcoming it was necessary to bring in Czechs.(12) An example can be made of the advanced educational establishments. There were about twenty qualified and nationally conscious Slovaks who could teach in the gymnasia, enough persons to supply about two schools . Perhaps three hundred nationally conscious Slovaks were qualified to teach in the elementary schools.(13) Dr. Karel Koch , later Surgeon-General for Slovakia, lists only three Slovak-oriented surgeons remaining in Slovakia in 1918.(14) Borovicka even says that after the attainment of independence in 1918 there was not a single Slovak government official whatever with a Slovak national consciousness .(15) The bleakness of the situation was described poignantly by Dr. Vavro Srobar, a future Agrarian Party Minister of Education. "There were so few of us that we almost all knew each other personally , we knew even addresses , as well as personal and family relationships. " (16) 28 SLOVAKIA Accustomed to the Hungarian tradition, the Slovak peasant looked upon the intelligentsia as those people who, on the basis of a definite higher schooling got an official position or who otherwise stood out on the basis of their knowledge, property and influence in public, and earned admission to intelligent society. High school and university education and a proper knowledge of Hungarian or German, gentlemanly behavior, official position in the church, county, school, etc. gave legitimation to the title of intelligent. (17) The intelligentsia were the people who worked with their heads, not their hands. On this basis, one may consider a study of schools which awarded the maturitne vysvedcenie (matriculation certificate) or its equivalent and of the students in these schools as a study of the intelligentsia. The certificate was given for the successful completion of the school leaving examination at the end of high school (similar to the French baccalaureat). Of five categories of state employees, three required at least a high school education. A fourth required lower high school or middle school joined with special courses. While the fifth included those demanding only general elementary education, elementary and middle school teachers were included in this category.(18) At this point, attention must be directed to the structure of the whole school system. School attendance in Slovakia was mandatory for six years until 1922; after that, eight years was required, although the increase could not be enforced until the late twenties for lack of the needed personnel and facilities. All students spent the first five years in elementary (l'udove) schools. The other three years could be taken in middle schools, or in the beginning grades of the various secondary schools. In some of the more rural areas, only the elementary school existed, and here students who had no intention of continuing higher studies were allowed to attend if no alternative school was available. There were about 4000 elementary schools. The majority of the schools awarding the matriculation certificate came under the general heading gymnasia. Children who had completed elementary school and were at last ten years old, could apply for admission to the gymnasia. These were of fm\f types: 1. The classical gymnasium, of which there· were very few, was an eight-year school. Successful completion of the course allowed the student to enter the university directly. Until reforms SLOVAKIA 29 \ instituted in early 1930s, students in these schools studied Latin from the first year and Greek from the fifth. 2. The real gymnasium was by far the most popular because its graduates could directly enter both universities and technical universities. In these schools, French or English was taken instead of Greek beginning in the fifth year. 3. The real reformed gymnasium, which was more popular in the early years of the Republic, later lost attractiveness, and many of these schools were converted to real gymnasia. They followed the same curriculum as the real gymnasia except that a third language (English, Italian, or a Slavic one) replaced Latin in the seventh year. The reason for their later unpopularity was the necessity of taking an additional examination in Latin in order to gain entrance into the university. 4. The re<ilka was a seven-year school and its graduates had entrance directly only into the technical universities. No classical language was required, and French or English was begun in the second year. Other schools which awarded the matriculation certificate were only four years in length. The most wide-spread in Slovakia was the teacher-training institute , conducting a four year course of instruction which qualified its graduates to teach in the elementary, and after a time, the middle schools. Students were admitted in their ninth year of schooling in most cases , provided they had reached the minimum age of fifteen . During the depression this type of institution reached its peak of popularity with several times more applicants being turned down than were admitted. This is explained by its providing its graduates nearly guaranteed employment without their having to consider how to obtain funds to study at the university . Compared to the gymnasia and the teacher training institutes, the four other types of schools which gave degrees equivalent to the matriculation certificate were limited in number. The priemyseln<i skola , or industrial school, was four years in length, and its graduates could be admitted directly to the technical universities. These schools operated under a severe handicap in Slovakia during the first republic, for it was not until the fall of 1938 that the first Slovak technical university was opened. In anticipation of this event, enrolhnent in the technical high schools swelled considerably after the mid-thirties. The commercial academy (obchodn<i akademia) graduate also completed a four-year program which allowed him to enter either the technical university or the law faculty. Graduates of the four year 30 SLOVAKIA agricultural high school in Kosice or the four year forestry high school in Banska Stiavnica could enter the technical universities in their respective fields. The agriculture high school was designed primarily, however, for the education of independent farmers, and the forestry high school for the preparation of forest administrators. While much attention has been directed thus far to the rights to higher education achieved by these secondary school graduates, the percentage of those completing higher education was not overwhelming. Gustav Husak, in admittedly rough calculations, adjudged between 2000 and 2500 Slovaks engaged in university studies in the 1933-34 school year.(19) That compares with the 19,047 students in Slovakia attending the gymnasia and teacher training institutes that year. The 1930 census counted 2,295,067 Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. (20) During the twelve-year period 1926-7-1937-8, slightly more than seven percent of the total number of students at the Evangelical Gymnasium in Presov took the maturita examination.(21) If this figure is applied as a rough ratio for all of Slovakia, it would mean that in the above mentioned year of 1933-34, approximately 1330 students in Slovakia took the maturita. In the same year, approximately one fifth of the law students at Comenius University were first year students (2861162).(22) Applying this percentage to Husak's estimated total of 20002500 Slovaks attending institutions of higher learning, we arrive at the figure of about 600 first year Slovak students in all university faculties. This means that less than one half of those holding the matriculation certificate went on to the university. And of these, some forty percent did not complete the first set of state examinations normally given after two years study.(23) According to these calculations, less than one third of those holding the matriculation certificate from the gymnasium completed a university degree.(24) (The original estimate of 1330 maturants includes the graduates of the teacher training institutes who rarely continued to the university.) Support for using the criteria of a secondary school education to define the intelligent is offered by the percentage of such students in the whole educational spectrum. In the school year 1921-22, students of gymnasia and teacher training institutes 'made up 2. 7 percent of the total number of students in Slovakia.(25) For reasons that are both complex and unclear, statistical offices of the Czechoslovak Republic did not publish complete data on the number of those gaining the matriculation certificate each year. In Slovakia, a circular with some such information was prepared by the Bratislava (Slovak) Referent for Education each year until the late SLOVAKIA 31 1920s. The only other manner in which this number can be determined is by a methodical examination of the annual high school yearbooks sponsored by each school. Let it be taken as an assumption, based on a general familiarity with . the figures, that an average of about one thousand Czechoslovak s~udents in Slovakia each year passed the maturita exam, or about 20,000 during the life of the Republic. The figure is of course lower in the early years, and much higher in the period just before Munich. The general accuracy of this estimate can be judged by the estimate of Robert Rosko(26) that 68,000 employees in Slovakia in 1953 had higher and specialized secondary education. Stefanek's estimate of 50,000 students having completed high school studies by 1944(27) is likely too high. Only one writer, Jan Novacky, probably with statistics furnished by the Ministry of Education, has calculated the number of persons receiving the matriculation certificate over a period of time (Table 1). These data suggest the projection of 1330 recipients of the maturita for the year 1933-34 is reasonably accurate as does our estimated average of one thousand matriculation certificates per year for the 1918-19-1937-38 period. The number of graduates of the teacher training institutes remained fairly constant at about 300 per year.(28) The number of girl students in grade VIII (and thus eligible for the maturita examination) as a percentage of the total number of girl students enrolled in the gymnasia in 1927-28 was just under five percent, thus fifty percent less than the average for all those enrolled. (29) TABLE 1 NUMBER OF MATRICULATION CERTIFICATES (HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS) AWARDED 1918-19 - 1928-29: SELECTED YEARS AND TOTAL Total 1918-19 Type of Institution 1918-19 1923-24 1928-29 1928-29 3075 Real gymnasium 84 250 532 Teacher training institute 122 262 247 3014 Real reformed gymnasium 5 70 189 1000 23 44 82 623 Realka 64 Classical gymnasium 0 0 36 Total Source: 234 626 1086 7776 Jan M. Novacky, ed., Desat' rokov slovenskych strednych skol, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp. 68-71. 32 SLOVAKIA The figures we have been discussing up to this point refer to the Czechoslovak high schools in Slovakia. They include a smattering of Hungarians, Jews, Germans, and other nationalities , as well as Czechs and Slovaks. The number of Czechs in some schools was substantial. For example, during the 1937-38 school year, the First Czechoslovak real gymnasium in Bratislava had 896 students, of which less than half (431) were Slovak. Three hundred eighty-six were Czech, 43 German , 24 Hungarian , and the rest other nationalities.(30) In Banska Bystrica, 394 out of 470 students in that year were Slovak , 66 Czech and the other ten divided among four nationalities.(31) Again, a complete survey must await further computation. What can be said with safety is that a significant proportion - ten to twenty-five percent - of the students were not Slovaks. The only known official publication which differentiates between Czechs and Slovaks in the high schools in Slovakia was published for the 1922-23 school year in Slovakia by the Skalsk y Referat. Of the 11,267 students, 1286 are Czech, 8501 Slovak, and the rest belong to other nationalities. At the same time there were six Czechs and 116 Slovaks in non-Czechoslovak institutions . This confirms our estimate of ten to twenty-five percent non-Slovaks.(32) The State Statistical Office of the Czechoslovak Republic did not, in its school statistics, differentiate between Czechs and Slovaks , using instead the inclusive term Czechoslovak. However, between half and two thirds of the individual schools did make a distinction in their published yearly reports, and some of them also expressed the distinction on the statistical forms mailed to the Ministry of Education. It is this lack of readily available data which has hindered until now any significant studies of this question. Because some schools only used the term Czechoslovak means we shall never have a completely accurate picture of the nationality situation. This attitude of Czechoslovakism in the statistics occurred for a variety of reasons : political conviction, political fear, lack of interest , or desire to maintain the status quo. It was the principal (riaditel') who decided which policy would be followed.(33) Because of these varying motivations, one cannot with reliability apportion the students in the unoi(ferentiated schools to the specific nationalities. Further, even when a aifferent,.iation is made in the general and classroom statistics between ' nationalities, we do not have available this information for individual students, so as to be able to determine whether such and such an individual student, be he Czech or Slovak, passed the maturita exam. We must content ourselves with comparing the percentage of each nationality in the final year of school and applying these percentages to the number of persons taking the 33 SLOVAKIA maturita exams. Even in the less common instances when the maturita recording books are availa\:ile in the archives , they frequently do not specify the nationality, but fist only the place of birth. While this is of some assistance in obtaining a reasonably accurate picture , the very existence of 120,000 Czechs in Slovakia(34) will distort it, as well as the non-Czechoslovak abode of many of these persons prior to 1918. In the above Banska Bystrica case, although there were 66 Czechs , only 34 of the students were born in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. There will also be some distortion , when we cannot specifically distinguish Czech from Slovak, in identifying the social, religious, and other characteristics of the students according to nationality. Here again, it seems that we must proceed on the basis of what we have , hoping that studies of the individual schools described by Matej(35) will tum up better information. Let us use 1927-28 as a sample year. The decline in the number of enrollees which developed later because of the wartime decline in the birth rate and not yet made itself felt. With the exception of a number of schools which would open in the last four years of the Republic, almost all schools were operating as full institutions. Some had been converted from Hungarian to Slovak over a period of seven or eight years . TABLE 2 CZECHOSLOVAK SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SLOVAKIA , 1927-28 Type of School Real gymnasium Real reformed gymnasium Realka Teacher training institute Commercial academy Industrial high school Classical gymnasium Agricultural high school Forestry high school Total Number Students Graduates Studentsgraduate 24 8217 426 19 10 3 2939 997 165 98 18 13 6 3 2 1 1 63 970 617 470 406 98 Unavailable 14,714 327 62 100 16 14 14 1222 10 3 10 5 25 7 12 34 SLOVAKIA Sources: Novacky, Desat' rokov , pp. 63-67; Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1918-1959, Bratislava: Poverenictvo Podohospodarstva, 1959, pp. 62-67; Anton Stefanek, Education in Pre-War Hungary and in Slovakia To-Day," in Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey ed. by Robert W. Seton-Watson, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1931, p. 130; Individual vyrocne zpravy of the agricultural high school, commercial high schools , and industrial high schools. The most productive gymnasium of any kind in the first eleven years was the real gymnasium at Bratislava with 363 degrees awarded followed by the realka at Zilina with 340. Other gymnasia producing more than 200 matriculation certificate holders in the first eleven years were the real gymnasia at Kosice, Nitra, Ruzomberok, Trencin, Trnava, and Banska Bystrica. The teacher training institute at Modra produced by far the largest number of graduates in the first eleven years with 419, primarily because of the 142 which it graduated in the first three years, a figure twice the number of any other school during that period, excepting Tmava, which also had the second highest eleven year total with 323. Seven other institutions had more than 200 graduates each. Over the twenty year period, there were 51 gymnasia of different types, 17 teacher training institutes, 5 industrial high schools, 7 commercial high schools, and one each of the agricultural and forestry high schools. A significant number of this total (16-82) began operation in the last four years, a jump of about 25 percent from the number in existence at the end of the 1933-34 school year. The reasons for this sudden increase will be discussed below. The total does not include a private unlicensed secondary school operated in Bratislava in the 193738 school year which used French as the language of instruction and was seeking state accreditation. The proportion of secondary school students in the population was lower in all Slovak counties (between 3 and 8 per 1000) than in Prague (12-13 per 1000) .(36) By some strange quirk, however, the county of Mikulas had the highest number of secondary schools in relation to the population (9-10-200,000) anywhere in Czechoslovakia. This included 14 schools for 319,509 people.(37) In Slovakia in 1922-23 there was one Czechoslovak student for each 179 Czecho~lovak inhabitants. For the whole country (excepting Ruthenia) the ratio was I-116.(38) There were other schools which one might consider as producers of intelligentsia. The so-called pedagogical academy which began to operate in Bratislava in the 1930-31 school year at the suggestion of the SLOVAKIA 35 Slovak Pedagogical Society was the first step toward placing teacher training on the university level. It was a one-year program which gave gymnasium graduates the right to teach in elementary schools. In seven years it produced 706 graduates.(39) Graduates of the teacher training institutes did no~ have the possibility nor the need to attend. Comenius University \11 Bratislava had three faculties - law, medicine, and philosophy- ano began accepting gymnasium graduates in the fall of 1921.(40) Slovaks could attend other universities in the country as well. The Slovak Technical University opened only in the fall of 1938. There were two theological faculties. The Lutheran faculty, which operated throughout the twenty years, received university rank in 1934. The Catholic faculty, authorized in 1919, began operations in 1936 although in the interim there were a half dozen small seminaries scattered around Slovakia. The music and drama academy of Bratislava received university status in 1926. The higher agricultural co-operative school opened in Bratislava in 1936 to help provide administrative officials for the co-operative movement. Previously these officials had come from among the graduates of the commercial academies and commercial schools (usually 2-year programs not leading to a matriculation certificate). Students were chosen from among those who already held the matriculation certificate, with preference to persons who had been graduated from the commercial or agricultural high schools and to those with co-operative experience. Those who had a partial high school education or had finished middle school and one of the agricultural or commercial schools, and had two years of experience in the co-operative movement as well, could qualify if they successfully passed an entrance exam. There were only 22 students in each year of operation. There were also a number of theological academies with the equivalency rank of universities. Entrants were required to hold the matriculation certificate. The six Catholic institutes (seminaries) mentioned above closed with the opening of the Bratislava theological faculty in 1936. Even so , Slovakia still possessed more than half of the theological institutes in the country. There were also a half dozen city music schools , sometimes supported by the public, but these were rather for private music instruction and did not fit into the regular scheme of formal education . Reference has been made to vocational courses in the fields of agricultural, industrial and commercial education. There was in these courses no attempt to advance beyond the teaching of specific skills. The courses varied from several weeks to two years. 36 SLOVAKIA Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural and national organization, sponsored in many cities the so-called enlightenment courses. These consisted on one or a series of lectures, and would more properly fall under the heading of popular or civic education. The local organizations of Matica slovenska were supposed to be distributing knowledge, rather than fostering it.(41) Courses held by the Army for illiterate soldiers should be considered also in the realm of popular education. What other evidence do we have of cultural advancement during the period under discussion? One is the publication of books, magazines and newspapers. Before the outbreak of World War I there was some of this activity , although exactly how much is uncertain. Stefan Krcmery , long active in Matica slovenska, said that a total of 41 periodicals in 1909 had declined to ten by 1918.(42) A more recent survey conducted by Matica slovenska shows the total growing from 32 in 1900 to 47 in 1910 to 61 in 1914 before dropping to 30 in 1918.(43) The most important were N arodnie noviny , published three times a week at Martin, and Slouenske pohl'ady, a monthly literary journal.(44) Jozef Votruba, a Slovak patriot , was said to have remarked(45) that the Slovak intelligentsia was made up of those who read Narodnie nouiny. Similar problems arise in trying to measure the number of journals published after the revolution. Maria Kipsova, in a definitive bibliography published in 1968, (46) lists 980 journals definitely located and 80 journals not found which were published in Slovak during the 20-year period. Jozef Darmo 's incomplete study(47) of Slovak journalism, published two years earlier, says there was a total of 1565 magazines and newspapers published, of which 442 were Hungarian and an undefined number in other languages. A survey compiled by the press referent for Slovakia in 1927(48) listed 162 purely Slovak publications for that year . Approximately one-third of these were political , another third organizational . Eight of the publications were dailies, all but one of them published ip Bratislava. A further 49 publications were multi-lingual with Slova~ as one of the languages . Nearly half of the all-Slovak publications · (77) Had a frequency of monthly or less. The Kipsova bibliography shows that the great majority of these publications did not long survive . Included among the reasons were the lack of printers and the inability to extend circulation beyond the cities into the countryside . Quite simply, the rural population was not yet accustomed to reading.(49) While some efforts have been made at estimating the extent of circulation of the various publications ,(50) there is no source extensive enough to provide any adequate analysis. The expansion of the number of daily papers from two (one of which was Hungarian-oriented)(51) before the war , to eight SLOVAKIA 37 under the Czechoslovak ~epublic indicates definite progress. Even with insufficient evidence, 'one can presume a circulation expansion as well. While there is considerable disagreement, too, over the exact number of Slovak books published between the wars,(52) it averaged 600-800 per year, of which about three quarters were published in Slovakia itself. A provisional B ibliografia slovenskych knih 19191938(53) published in 1965, listed 13,320 items definitely identified, and 6530 uncertain. If the nearly 19,000 were in fact all published, it would establish an average of approximately one thousand per year, somewhat higher than the estimate by Stefanek (13,425).(54) Most likely, not all of the desiderata will be included in a definitive bibliography, soon to be published by Matica slovenska, since, for instance, some of the jubilee high school yearbooks, which are in fact not books, are included, plus some listings which are only Slovakicized titles of Czech books. The most difficult problem is unfortunately unsolvable, that is, how many copies of each of these books were published. Only a few organizations, such as Matica slovenska, kept publication totals . One estimate suggested that pre-war printings rarely exceeded 600-800 copies; by 1928 the average was 250010,000.(55) Stefanek provides some interesting comparisons of the occupations of writers before and after the revolution. (56) They show that before the revolution 112 out of 178 writers were priests (two-thirds Lutheran, one-third Catholic). After 1918 (approximately 1935) only 14111 are priests. The bulk (47) are academicians. Another measurement of general progress can be noted in the area of libraries. In 1927 there were 3283 research libraries for teachers with 258 ,200 books; 216 school libraries containing 1,185,464 books including 150,000 at Comenius University; and 2592 communal libraries with 202 , 781 books . (5 7) By 1932 the number of libraries in the first two categories had increased only by seven, but the number of volumes was up half a million.(58) Since there were only private church libraries and those of priests and patriots prior to 1918, there is a definite note of progress here. One of the most difficult problems in handling a subject of this type is to maintain a differentiation between the terms intelligentsia and national enlightenment. While we have noted the tremendous development of communal libraries, libraries which average less than one hundred books apiece will not contribute much to the development of the intelligentsia, although they may significantly raise the national consciousness of the broad mass of the population. The same problem 38 SLOVAKIA must be faced when we examine the national and religious cultural societies . Either we must redefine what we call a member of the intelligentsia or we must recognize the fact that these organizations had different purposes. The Society of St. Adalbert is a case in point. A Catholic society with 100,000 members, it dealt mainly with popular education and Catholic science and literature.(59) Yet Peter Vajcik(60) described one of the society's three aims as being to help the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, a much smaller group . The Lutheran Church had a similar society of Tranoscius. Matica slovenska anguished over the direction of its goals . Until 1932 it tended to reflect more accurately the number of intelligentsia than did the two specifically religious societies, but it also included a number of Czechs and people of other nationalities involved in the work of popular education. In some respects it sought to fulfill the role of a scientific academy, but lacked the personnel and monetary support, and could not tear itself away from its popular education role . Interestingly , when its membership roles swelled after the capture of the leadership in 1932 by those who favored a greater amount of Slovak autonomy, its organized scientific research increased substantially. The membership increased from 11,063 in 1930 to 30,147 in 1936.(61) The Safarik Scientific Society was organized in 1926 mainly by the members of the faculty of Comenius University. It was begun with the intent of increasing the amount of knowledge about Slovakia and Ruthenia. Strongly supported by persons with a Czechoslovak orientation, it frequently found itself at loggerheads with the people in Matica slovenska.(62) In 1934 it had a total of 168 members of whom only 40 were Slovak. It was divided into two sections, one for the social sciences and one for the natural sciences. In the latter, there were only 16 Slovaks among 101 members, which can in part be explained by the lack of a faculty of natural sciences at Comenius University . During its twelve year existence it published 45 volumes of research results.(63) A number of other societies or organizations which could be called cultural or intellectual also functioned but they will not be dealt with here . These include the Slovak Museum Society, the Slovak Cultural (Vlastivedne) Museum, the East Slovak Museum, the Slovak Pedagogical Society, the Union of Slovak Students, DAV , and the several unions of teachers.(64) · Having sketched the general outline of the development of the intelligentsia , it becomes necessary to examine the broader context of the matter as it relates to political development and the whole of life in interwar Czechoslovakia. SLOVAKIA 39 It was the early actio~s of the Czechoslovak government taken in the field of education that\ ~ere the most far reaching. Before 1918 there were 53 secondary schools in Slovakia, all Hungarian.(65) Following the attainment of independence, three were closed immediately, two others were combined, and in nine towns new secondary schools were organized. Before the New Year, three secondary schools were operating, and a total of thirteen were giving instruction after three months of independence. (66) Anton Stefanek, assigned the task of co-ordinating this project, described his guiding principle as ''the democratic principle of religious and racial equality before the law."(67) Thus, in purely Slovak districts, the schools were deMagyarized. In the southern districts, he "on the whole" left the status quo. This immediate de-Magyarization of the Slovak high schools was exceptionally important. Changes which are readily accepted in a time of revolution are not achieved even gradually in times of peace and quiet. The entire Czech policy followed in the southern parts of Slovakia sought to integrate the area into the Czechoslovak Republic. (68) The new schools which were opened in essentially Hungarian towns such as Nove Zamky or Lucenec, took root rapidly even though a Hungarian school was also frequently authorized. While these cities had been Hungarian for several decades, the countryside was in many cases still Slovak. The extra assistance provided by the central authorities was frequently the deciding factor in reclaiming the cities, and thus the gathering places of the intelligentsia, for the Slovaks . According to the 1930 census, only seven cities in Slovakia had more than 20,000 persons. Of these, all had two or more Czechoslovak secondary schools except Komarno, which did not gain its first Czechoslovak secondary school until 1936. Only two of the fourteen towns with between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, Guta and Handlova, did not have secondary schools . Handlova is only seven miles from Prievidza, which had a school. Guta (now called Kolarovo), is in a strongly Hungarian area about ten miles southwest of Nove Zarnky, which also had a gymnasium .(69) State control was extended over six Catholic high schools in 1919, under fear that the vacant six sees, which were responsible for their supervision , would be filled by Hungarians . The only other two alternatives , according to Stefanek, were to close the schools, or to accept Hungarian control. It was the attempt by the Slovak People 's Party to gain restoration of three of these Catholic gymnasia in 1921 which led to that party's break-away from the Czech People ' s Party. Josef Susta , the Minister of Education in the Cerny government, ap- 40 SLOVAKIA parently made promises to the effect that the schools would be returned to Catholic control, an action which his successor, Vavro Srobar, an Agrarian Slovak, refused to carry out once the Benes government took office . (70) The Protestants in contrast, carried out an internal reorganization in 1919 and were allowed to maintain control over their schools. Within a decade they gave up all but one for financial reasons .(71) It might be mentioned that the Slovak National Council, which spoke for Slovakia in its declaration of union with the Czechs at Martin October 30, 1918, apparently made no effort to institute an educational system, although some of its local branch officials served to help coordinate the setting up of new schools . Mamatey attributes this to inexperience in the exercise of political power.(72) The impliction is that the Slovak elite, carried over from the Hungarian era, did not use realistic methods in developing a modem nation. Thus, they did not conceive of the need to build an expanded intelligentsia. (73) Much of the policy relating to education was determined by administrative , rather than legislative action. Thus, the fact that five out of the twelve interwar Ministers of Education were Slovaks is of considerable significance. Actually these five held the post for a •longer period (by three months) than Czechs, and many significant reforms were accomplished under them. Ivan Derer, a Social Democrat, held the post for the longest period, from 1929 to 1934. Milan Hodza, an, Agrarian, had the third longest term (1926-1929), a period that probably would have lasted longer had he not become embroiled in conflict with Masaryk and Benes over foreign policy matters. Several policy changes were carried out which affected secondary education in Slovakia. One involved converting the realka to the Austrian or Czech pattern, which meant a seven-year, rather than an eight-year, curriculum, and thus lessened in the eyes of many Slovaks the value of its education. The six-year higher girls ' schools were first reestablished as lycees , then converted quickly to real reformed gymnasia because the former institutions had offered little perspective for further education or employment. The use of boarding schools was also generally eliminated in Slovakia. Prior to World War I, boarding schools had helped to foster Magyarization by cutting off the students from the Slovak countryside. By 1923 only sixteen remained , of which eleven were located at teacher training institutes. (74) At the same time , various organizations set up " intemats" in many towns to strengthen thE\regained Slovak foothold . This made it possible for young people from remote districts , for whom poor transportation connections would have preve~ted daily com- SLOVAKIA 41 muting, to acquire a secondary education. Others could avoid the otherwise inflated living costs in the cities.(75) The government also sought to increase the percentage of women in the schools. By the year i937-38 girls made up nearly one-third of the students in the gymnasia, ~though as noted above, a smaller percentage actually completed the final year (and presumably the maturita exam). In the teacher training institutes more than half of the total enrollees were girls. Government regulations specified that these institutes were to have equal numbers of boys and girls. (76) As the country began to emerge from the depression, there developed also a rapid increase in the total enrollment of the secondary schools. There were a number of reasons for this, including the growth of cities, better preparation in elementary schools, and the increased post-war birth rate. The government responded by approving various arrangements to open new schools, including some sponsored by cities and some by church bodies. They were made possible under Article 54 of Hungarian law XXX-1883,(77) under which the state assumed responsibility for paying the personnel, who had to meet state qualification standards, while the sponsoring group paid the operating expenses. The schools charged higher tuition, but these higher rates were usually justified by the savings in transportation costs which students would otherwise have had to pay if they were commuting to another school. There were several of these schools in Kosice operated by church groups. Examples of city-sponsored schools were in Piest'any, Koma.mo, and Topol'cany. Acceptance of these arrangements occurred because of an improvement in the economic situation, (78) the fact that there was no longer doubt about the ability of these schools to attract a sufficient number of qualified professors , and the ability of the organizations to meet the requirements of XXX-1883. The analysis of placement - where did the graduates go - is a task beyond the goals of this paper. The central government apparently did not concern itself with these matters except for a brief period during the depression.(79) Many of the secondary schools themselves did not bother with such records either. Occasionally the yearbooks or reports to the Ministry of Education contained information about the future plans of the graduates. It is only in scattered cases at the time of the dedication of a new building or during a celebration of an anniversary that the occupations of the graduates were recorded at all, e.g., Kremnica-1937 or Zlate Moravce-1924. Unfortunately, these samples are not sufficiently broad to draw any conclusions . There is an intriguing organization called the Sprostredkovatel'na prace pre nezamestnanu inteligenciu na Slovensku, which evolved in 1934. 42 SLOVAKIA Sponsored by the Slovak League and the Economic Institute of Slovakia and Ruthenia, with the apparent support of the Agrarian Party, it collected data on graduates and their job searches.(80) Even without these data, let me suggest some judgments on the development of the intelligentsia in interwar Slovakia. First of all, it is clear that significant progress was made . The very fact that the independent Slovak State was able to function at all is evidence of this progress.(81) The Slovak State would not have been possible in 1918. By 1938, the large majority of the intelligentsia was Slovak in language and feeling . Under the situation prevailing before 1918, many of these people would have become members of the intelligentsia, but it would have been as Hungarians, not as Slovaks. It seems that there was not an intellectual proletariat in Slovakia.(82) As Ivan Derer pointed out, even in the depths of depression in 1933 all qualified Slovak high school and elementary teachers had positions.(83) He also catalogued the many other positions which Slovaks filled.(84) What the Czechoslovak Republic failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical, and professional - that are required to conduct a modern nation. Insufficient emphasis was put on the education that would develop leaders in industry, commerce, and even agriculture. This type of policy requires particular effort because in fluid postwar situations, there is a tendency to chose occupations where training is short and not too strenuous and the prospects of rapid enrichment promising.(85) This helps to explain Slovakia's lack of military men , of engineers , and of doctors. One must also keep in mind that the younger members of the small Slovak intelligentsia in 1918 had been able to gain positions of influence at a young age, something that could not be continued after the revolutionary wave had subsided and the Czechs who had come to Slovakia to help had become entrenched. (86) The young Slovak intelligent was not unemployed, but underemployed. One must recall that particularly in later years the central government had doubts as to whether it could trust the Slovak intelligentsia. Whatever feelings of distress this under-employment engen~red were worsened by the attitudes carried over from the Hungarian\ experience that education was the road to success .(87) Pre-independe:o.ce lead,ership was in the hands of a highly visible educated majority,. which fostered assumptions of the links between education , political mobility, and the benefits accruing to members of the intelligentsia. SLOVAKIA 43 Quite probably , time was too short to produce a large enough intelligentsia in all fields. (88) In twenty years , the Czechoslovak government laid the groundwork for the future , and for twenty years built on it. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic after World War II provided the opportunity to look critically at what had and had not been done before in the area of intelligentsia development and to make adjustments. · ' But it was not just a matter of insufficient time. I would suggest that the interwar Czechoslovak government was not concerned with developing a specifically Slovak intelligentsia. Instead, its main goal was to reclaim the entire area of Slovakia for the Czechoslovak nationstate. By establishing a large number of Slovak secondary schools in cities of any size, especially those with large Hungarian populations , it could insure that this was done . But the early success of these centralist policies delayed recognition of certain aspects of the developing Slovak problem. If a Slovak nation was to be a viable entity, it required Slovak participation in all aspects and at all levels of society , not just where vacancies existed in a larger Czechoslovak society. One of the reasons for the above-mentioned lack of a Slovak technical university was the assumption that sufficient numbers of persons (mostly Czechs and Germans) were being educated in Bohemia and Moravia. Such an institution in Slovakia was said to be superfluous. If the concept of national self-awareness is not considered , then such an approach is plausible. On the other hand, when a nation has a feeling of running its affairs in the state in which it exists , even if that state be multinational, it has much greater reason to support the continued existence of that state. It then has no reason to trade the security it knows for the uncertainty of separation. Most Slovaks were initially very willing to cooperate with the Czechs, as demonstrated in the Martin declaration, recognizing that it was primarily Czech activities which had achieved the separation of Slovakia from Hungary and its attachment to the Czech Lands. But if Czechoslovakism embodies something more than Greater Czechism , it implied the balanced development of both parts and peoples of the country . If not, then the Slovaks were ipso facto a minority . Prior to 1938, the international political setting mitigated against any Slovak separation, since some kind of political attachment to Hungary or Poland would have resulted, yet active recognition of the concept of a Slovak nation by the Czechoslovak government would have strengthened Slovak resistance, alongside the Czechs , to the developing German threat. 44 SLOVAKIA Masaryk did not see in the Slovak case what he had been so willing to see in the Czech: the desire, as a nation, to develop and administer a complete society, particularly when that nation is part of the multinational state. He admitted in 1931 that he did not himself fully understand the Czech-Slovak relationship. I believe ... that the Comenius University helps the young to understand the true political and cultural task of Slovakia in our Republic. In a large degree it is the question of the relationship between Czechs and Slovaks. I have considered this problem myself and I must think still further about it.(89) While it might be argued that Masaryk was merely being respectful to his hosts, it is more likely the uncertainty he expressed was real. The so-called Castle group which gathered around Masaryk may have been nationally tolerant,(90) but it did not actively promote the development of individual nationalities.(91) One cannot, then, say the interwar Czechoslovak Republic did not, through its educational and cultural system, develop an intelligentsia in Slovakia. As has been shown, it made substantial progress. But it may be criticized for not actively supporting the production of an intelligentsia tailored to meet the needs of Slovakia, which by meeting the Slovak desire for self-management, would have strengthened the integrity of the Czechoslovak state. FOOTNOTES As Lucien W . Pye has noted, there is a large gap between the broad assumptions about the importance of education in national development and the limited amount of research on the subject. See Lucien W . Pye , " Foreword," in Education and Political Development , ed . James Coleman, Princeton, N .J ; rrinceton University Press, 1965, p . v. ' (2) Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy ," in A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, ed. by Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, Princeton, N.J .: Princeton University Press , 1973 , p. 118 . (3) R. W . Seton-Watson , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks , Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1965, p . 336. (4) Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin: Maketa , m, Prague: Nakladatelstvi Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved, 1960. (5) Historicky fosopis , Vol. XXI , No . 1 (1973) , p. 155. (6) Oldriska Kodedova, Ceskoslovensky tasopis historicky, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (1973) , p. 114. (1) SLOVAKIA 45 ' (7) Jozef Matej, "Sucasny stav a perspektivy rozvoja dejin pedagogiky na Slovensku," Jednotna skola, Vol. XXVI, No. 1 (January 1974) , pp . 56-70 . (8) E .g ., Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 323; Stefan Krcmery , "A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature ," Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. VI (1928), p . 160. (9) Anton Stefanek, Zaklady sociografie Slovenska , Bratislava: Slovenska Akademia Vied , 1944, pp . 137-142. (10) Conversations with Slovak historians, 1973-74. (ll) Anton Stefanek, " Novoslovaci," Sociologicka revue, Vol. VI, No. 3-4 (1935), pp. 272-3 . (12) Ludwig v. Gogolak , Beitrage zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes, ill Muenchen : R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972, p . 163; Ferdinand Peroutka, Budovani statu, I, Praha : Fr. Borovy, 1936, p . 208 . (13) Jozef Matej, Kapitoly z dejin slovenskeho skolstva apedagogiky (19. a 20. storoc!ie), Bratislava: Univerzita Komenskeho, 1972, 2nd ed., p . 71. (14) Letter to author, February 2, 1973. (15) Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics, Prague : Orbis , 1929, p . 44 . (16) Peroutka , Budo vani statu, I, p . 207. (17) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 114. (18) Jaroslav Kopac, Dejiny skolstvi a pedagogiky v Ceskoslovensku, I, Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyne, 1971 , p. 48 footnote . There were some exceptions to the rule, however, such as the fact that high school graduation was not a requirement for the highly influential position of notary. (19) Gustav Husak, "Zprava predsedu socialnej komisie SSS," Vyroc!na zprava 1935-36: 15 rokov Sviizu Slovenskeho Studentstva v Bratislave , p . 13. (20) Czechoslovakia-Statistical Abstract , Prague : Orbis, 1963 , p. 18 . (21) Mirko Trnovsky, ed ., Sbornik prac profesorov evanj. kolej. slovenskeho gymnazia v Presove k vyroc!iu 1919-1939 Presov : Slovenska statna knihtlaciaren , 1940, p . 55 . (22) Vratislav Busek , " Pravnicke studium ve svetle statistiky, " Pravny obzor, Vol. XX, No . 15-16 (1-15 October 1937), p . 688 . (23) Ibid., pp . 682-8 . (24) Matej , Kapitoly, 1st ed., p . 83, notes that the contents of a 1933 curriculum reform were directed toward two goals, theoretical preparation of the graduates for the university , and partly for the practical needs of life. (25) Skolstvo na Slovensku, Bratislava: Slovensky planovaci urad, 1949, p . 46. (26) Sociol6gia, Vol. IV, No . 3 (1972), pp . 193-204, as cited in ABSEES Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, ill, No. 2 (26) (Oct. 1972), p . 167. (27) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 296 . (28) Jan M. Novacky, ed ., Desat' rokov slo venskych strednych sk6l, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp . 68-71. Novacky's calculations omit the teacher training institutes operated by churches. The total for 1933-4 is actually 1542 , but the difference of 200 from the estimate can be wholly attributed to the doubled enrollment in the teacher training institutes in the early thirties - Zpravy Statniho uradu statistickeho republiky Ceskoslove nske, 1935, No. 3-7. 46 SLOVAKIA (29) Skolstvo, p . 47. (30) See the school's Vyrofod zprciva 1937-38, pp . 54-57. (31) See the school's Vyrofod zprdva 1937-38, pp. 13-15. (32) Priloha " Stredne skoly," Zprcivy §kolskeho referdtu v Bratislave ministerstva ~kolstva a ndrodnej osvety, 1922. (33) Paul R. Magocsi, " The Role of Education in the Formation of a National Consciousness ," East European Quarterly, Vo. Vll, No. 2 (Summer 1973) , p . 162 . (34) Paul E. Zinner, Communist Strategy and Tactics in Czechoslovakia, 1918-48, New York : Frederick A. Praeger, 1963 , p . 12; Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 386. (35) Matej, " Sucasny stav," pp. 56-70. (36) Josef Henrich and Mikulas Smok, Eenseignement clans la Republique Tchecoslovaque , Prague : Ostredni spolek ceskoslovenskych profesoru, 1923, p . 94. (37) Ibid. , p . 95. (38) Ibid., p . 91. (39) Matej , Kapitoly, 2nd ed ., p . 83. (40) Richard Homa, Patndct let Komenskeho university v Bratislaue, Bratislava, 1934, p . 9. {41) Michal Fedor, Poslanie a program Matice slovenskej na vychodnom Slovensku, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1966, p . 91. (42) Krcmery, "A Survey," p . 161. {43) Michal Potemra, ed ., Bibliografia slovenskych novin a c!asopisov do roku 1918, Martin : Matica· slovenska, 1958. (44) Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 282 . (45) Related to author by Czech historian . Efforts to locate published citation to date fruitless . (46) Maria Kipsova et al., Bibliografia slovenskych a inorec!ouych nouin a c!asopisou z rokou 1919-1938, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1968. (47) Jozef Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika 1918-1938, II, Martin: Matica slovenska, 1966. (48) Soznam c!asopisou na Slouensku 1927, Bratislava: Tlacovy referat pre spravu Slovensku, 1927. (49) Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika, p . 159. (50) E .g ., Darmo . (51) Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 324. (52) Ibid ., pp . 318-324. (53) Bibliografia slouenskych knih 1919-1938, Vol. 1-XVIl, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1965 . (54) Stefimek, Z ciklady, p . 318. (55) Stefan Krcmery, " Slovak Literature," in Seton-~atson , Slovakia Then & Now , p . 141 . \ (56) Stefanek, Zciklady , pp . 313-314. (57) Manuel Statistique de la R epublique Tchechoslo uaque, ill, Prague : Statni urad statisticky, 1928, pp. 17-19. A law of February 1919 set up in each community SLOVAKIA 47 educational committees to con\ truct libraries and run lectures and courses . In Slovakia, this matter was generally handled by the local branch of Matica slovenska. (58) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque , 1934, Prague: L'Office de Statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque, 1934, Table XIV-17 . (59) Stefanek, Zdklady , p. 303 . (60) Peter Vajcik , " Zvesti z Literarno-vedeckeho odboru SSV ," Kultura, Vol. VII , No. 1 (1935) , p . 38 . (61) Ivan Kusy, " Obnovenie Matice slovenskej a jej uloha za predmnichovskej CSR, " in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch: Sbornik stati, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1963 , pp. 224-232 . (62) Frantisek Bokes, Snahy o organizovanie slovenskej vedy od konca 18. storoi!ia do vzniku SAV, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1967, p. 65. (63) Miroslav Kropilak, "Zakladne kulturnopoliticke problemy Slovenska v rokoch 191838 ," in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch, p. 205 . (64) In particular note the Spolok profesorov Slovakov, which after its founding in 1921 worked particularly for better placement of Slovak teachers in Slovak high schools. Viz its Sbornik Spolku profesorov Slovdkov . (65) Hendrich and Smok, Eenseignement , p . 73. (66) Karel Veleminsky, "Czecho-Slovak Secondary Schools ," in The Czecho-Slovak Republic , Prague: Czecho-Slovak Foreigners' Office, 1919, Vol. IV, Part 3 , p . 13 . In 1919, the Ministry of Education carried out a census in Slovakia for the purpose of determining how many schools would be needed. Peroutka, Budo vdni stdtu , I, p. 210. (67) Stefanek, " Education in Pre-War Hungary ," p . 121. (68) Gogolak , Beitrage , ill, p . 160. (69) Annuaire statistique , 1935, Table 11-17 and 1937, Table 11-4. (70) Milos Trap! , " Ke skolske legislative obecnych a obcanskych (mest'anskych) skol a jejimu uplatnovani v ceskych zemich 1918-1922," in Z dejin i!eskeho §kolstv i, ed by Ervin Koukal , Prague : Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi, 1970, p . 44 footnote 82. (71) Stefanek, "Education in Pre-War Hungary," p . 121. (72) Victor S. Mamatey , ''The Establishment of the Republic,'' in Mamatey and Luz.a, A History, p . 30 . (73) Gogolak , B eitrage , ill, p . 165. (74) Hendrich and Smok , Eenseignement , p . 34. (75) See Msano 52143-1920 Odbor V Oddeleni 19 of 15 August 1920, Carton 1297-State Central Archive (SOA) - Prague. The " intemats" also separated the students from parental influence which " is not always characterized by friendly feelings toward our state ." - Instruktorat Ministerstva socialnej starostlivosti (IMSS) Carton 5 item 276 in Slovak State Central Archive (SSOA) - Bratislava. This particular item is a letter from the acting headmaster of the Banska Stiavnica real gymnasium to the Ministerstvo socialni pece c. 798-1920 of 15 July 1920. (76) Skolstvo , pp . 23 , 11 1, and 150. (77) The fir st law passed in the new Czechoslovak Republic decreed that all laws in force in Austria-Hungary would be carried over to the new state . This explains how Hungarian law would be considered in Slovakia . 48 SLOVAKIA (78) E.g., note willingness of Fimini (Ministry of Finance) and Nejvyssi ucetni kontrolni urad (NUKU) to postpone indefinitely closing of school in exchange for opening of realka in Bardejov, or to substitute a closing of a school in Bohemia or Moravia-Msano 104.048-1938 Odbor ill Oddeleni 2 of 1 July 1938-Carton 1297-SUA. (79) Msano , 2637-1934 Pres . Odd . Studijni, 20 April 1934 , SUA , Carton 1445. (80) Okresny archiv, Prievidza , Prievidza gymnasium collection, 605-1934 and 214-1936 (Carton 3) . (81) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland & Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. (82) This contradicts Zinner's assertions in Communist Strategy, p. 12 . (83) Ivan Derer, Ceskoslovenskci otcizka, Prague: Orbis , 1935, p. 38. (84) Ibid . (85) R. W. Seton-Watson, "Introduction . Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Problem ," in Slovakia Then and Now, p . 62. (86) James S. Coleman, " Introduction : Education and Political Development " in Education and Political Development discusses the tension that develops with lack of political mobility for the second generation. Thomson 's assertion that the Czechoslovak government adhered to a policy of returning Czech officeholders to the historic lands as soon as possible does not hold up . S. Harrison Thomson , Czechoslovakia in European History , Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1953, p . 334. (87) See page 184. (88) See Matej, Kapitoly, 2nd ed., p . 86. (89) Zprciva o tinnosti Spolku pre postavenie a vydriovanie Universitnej koleje a akademickej menzi, 1930, p . 6. (Speech at Bratislava.) (90) Kopac, Dejiny ~kolstvi, I, p . 11. (91) It has been suggested that the Czechs erred in Slovakia after 1918 by trying to transform before forming a nation . See Jan Hajda, " The Role of the Intelligentsia in the Developme nt of the Czechoslovak Society,'' in The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture ed. by Miroslav Rechcigl , The Hague: Mouton , 1964, pp . 307-312.  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 Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938 Description An account of the resource Owen V. Johnson Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 pp. 25-48 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 1978-79 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c2ccecd0d7d53397979426c363fe5b0e.pdf beeb45e1f1c66541021756a65dc22283 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 45 Music S~hools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of lnterwar Slovakia* OWEN V. JOHNSON One of the blankest pages in the history of Slovak education between the First and Second World Wars belongs to the area of music education. Although the Ministry of Education had supervisory control over these schools, it was not involved with day to day inspections and other such activities. Even now, no one is sure exactly how many music schools there were. This article will summarize present knowledge about them and attempt to evaluate their importance. One thing is certain: the Slovak people had no tradition of professional music schools and had no resources to begin establishing them after World War I. The authors of one of the few books or articles about the subject, after noting the meager research output, point out, " ... (M)usic education in Slovakia in the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic was fully in the hands of Czech music pedagogues."! Teachers in Slovakia wishing to obtain qualification to teach music in the middle schools had to pass a test in music and singing before the State Examination Commissions in Prague (established 1919) or Brno (established 1920) or at the conservatory in Prague. Examination commissions for singing were finally set up in Slovakia in 1935 at Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, and Presov, but music exams could only be taken at Bratislava.2 The most important music institution in Slovakia was located in Bratislava. It grew out of discussions held at Matica slovenska and at the General Assembly of the Union of Music Professionals (Jednota hudebnich stavov), which gathered in August 19193 in Zilina to consider a proposal (originally made in Moscow in 1915) by Milos Ruppeldt • Financial support from a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant and the James and Helen Hovorka Foundation assisted the preparation of this article. The research was also facilitated by my recognition by the International Research and Exchanges Board as a "Scholar-without-Stipend." �46 SLOVAKIA for the establishment of a ''Music School for Slovakia'' with the rank of a conservatory. By November, the school was a reality and Ruppeldt had become its first director. More than two-fifths of the first year's enrollment was Czech, one-quarter Slovak, one-fifth German, and oneseventh Hungarian (See Table 1).4 Although the state made a modest subvention to the school, Gustav Habrman, the Minister of Education at the time of its founding, decided it would be essentially a private institution. Its finances and legal obligations were handled by the curia of the Music Association (Hudobny spolok) for Slovakia, on which sat two government representatives, the composer Dobroslav Orel and Moravian high school principal Alojs Kolisek. In 1922, the school divided into two divisions: the conservatory, for persons planning professional careers; and a music school, for expected amateurs. The latter had instrumental, piano, and singing sections. We will return to it later. After a lengthy struggle (in which the public took little interest) and the establishment in 1924 of a drama section, the conservatory was changed in 1926 to a public institution, called the Music and Drama Academy for Slovakia. Two years later it gained conservatory rank, a recognition which boosted the school's standing across Slovakia. By 1931-32, the number of students from outside Bratislava had exceeded the number from within the city.5 Temporarily the school was financially secure, but the Depression restored its precarious state, partially because the populace could not afford to stay interested. Enrollment remained constant at just over 200 persons . Although in many ways a small operation, the Academy 's accomplishments are one of the most distinct in the post World War II era. Many of Slovakia's composers and concert artists of the quarter century after the war were graduates of the school. In spite of enormous efforts by the public and by school officials, however, the Academy remained largely a private institution during the First Republic, a condition which a number of Slovaks considered an affront since both the conservatories in Brno and Prague were operated by the state. 6 The female students at the Academy \Were concentrated in two of the three major sections - piano and singing, where they made up about eighty percent of the student body. The males were largely in the instrumental section. The other sections - organ, composition, and drama - each had only a handful of students. As long as Czech and Slovak were considered as separate categories (until 1926-27), the number of Czechs exceeded the number of Slovaks. Other aspects of interest concerning the composition of the student body were the relative absence of Hungarians and Germans in the singing division, the �Year : 149 2 25 1 3 21 6 133 2 25 1 6 27 12 8 7 2 7 1 1 8 22 7 5 6 22 21 135 3 23 2 U2 28 25 6 201 56.2 1931 -32 147 1 25 2 1 5 U3 37 2, 55 .7 210 1930-31 153 2 32 U9 42 27 5 53.-4 223 1929-30 1 7 1.48 4 23 2 8 18 5 156 2, 26 211 53.6 1932-33 1 7 18 7 19 3 5 1.40 1 153 21 23 3 201 -45.3 1933-3.4 1.40 3 22 2 6 17 6 7 150 15 . 26 198 "8 .5 193-4-35 153 20 32_ _., 1 1 1 2 210 "8.1 1935-36 Slovaks Czechs 1919-20 61 100 55 1924-25 34 56 63 1925-26 63 1926-27 53 Source : Official government publications. According to the yearly repcrts of the Academy, the following figures delineate the numbers of Czechs and Slovaks: None Orthodox Other Jewish Roman Catholic Czech Brethren Lutheran Reformed Czechoslovak 159 2 27 1 6 25 1 1 3 35 1 60 7 203 9 228 5"-8 1928-29 18 19 121 206 55 .3 1927-28 Ul 45 35 98 46 59 58 .0 207 1926-27 "° 301 47 .2 1921 -22 215 46.3 309 1920-21 German 61 Hungar ian 8 Jewish 25 Russian, Ruthen ian , Ukrainian Polish Other Religion Czechoslovak Nationality Total students Pct . women TABLE 1 Musical and Dramatic Academy- Bratislava . 0 1 0 2 28 156 30 46.5 217 1936-37 'I "' > > i\ < Vl r 0 �48 SLOVAKIA heavy concentration of Jewish students in the piano division, and the not infrequent attendance by students in their thirties and forties. Efforts to establish an institution for the study of creative arts which would operate on the same level as the Music and Drama Academy were unsuccessful. It is the city music schools in Slovakia about which very little is known. According to Gregor and Sedlicky, there were six in existence in 1921, and by the end of the First Republic's existence, "about" ten. The first was established in November 1919 at Zvolen as a three-year school, with a three-year preparatory attached. 7 There were also schools at Brezno, Bardejov, Kosice, Presov, Nitra, Zilina, and Martin (which had a branch in Vrutky).8 The Zilina school might be considered typical for all these schools. Established in 1927, it had three sections - for violin, piano, and solo singing. It was supported in part by tuition, and in part by a subvention from the city. 9 A new school in Bratislava assumed responsibility for the musical education of those who could not devote full time to such studies at the Academy, either because they were attending another secondary school or they already had jobs. Plans to establish a school at Nitra were first reported in the local press in November 1927, but it was not until two years later that a governing curatorium was set up by the city and teaching was begun. The Ministry of Education gave its official approval to the school a year later. Nitra 's first two teachers, who were graduates of the Bratislava Academy, began by offering piano, violin, and solo singing, then later added cello. In 1935, music theory and history, as well as composition, were added to the curriculum. In-house concerts were given during the year with a public concert at year's end serving as the graduation recital for students in their final year .10 In addition to functioning as centers of cultural enrichment, until 1928 the music schools could provide teacher candidates with an education adequate for passing the examination for competence in music instruction.11 After that date, they developed. their role as "feeders" for the Academy. \ The school at Presov was a more specia1 case, because a similar school had existed during the reign of the Hungarians. After the establishment of Czechoslovak control over the city in 1919, the composer Mikulas Moyzes was commissioned with the administration of the school. However, for two years his actions were hindered by the fact that the Szechenyi Circle, on which the school was organizationally dependent, was not allowed to operate because of its pro-Hungarian bias . In late 1919, Pavel Gallo, the school inspector for the Presov area, �SLOVAKIA 49 asked the Ministry of Edu ation under what conditions the school could obtain direct state aid: the archives are silent on the Ministry's response.12 In 1920, the Presov City Council, in an effort to breach the impasse , contacted the city of Zvolen to gain budget and organizational information about the school there. Meanwhile , the establishment of the Music School for Slovakia in Bratislava dealt the efforts in Presov a setback. Even though Presov was thinking more in terms of establishing a conservatory only for eastern Slovakia, the concept that Bratislava was serving the whole of Slovakia dampened such hopes. Some hope was still entertained in Presov that an arrangement in which Bratislava would serve the west, Zvolen the central territories, and Presov the east, could be arranged. But it did not materialize. Presov was also engaged in a rivalry with Kosice to the south over who had the greater right to establish a music school for eastern Slovakia. The far more Hungarian nature of the school in Kosice strengthened Presov' s argument for a Czechoslovak school. The contention that the Kosice school remained Hungarian is verified by the continued presence of a majority of Hungarians in the upper professional grades (IX-XIl), as Table 2 covering the period 1920-21-1935 shows: TABLE2 Kosice Music School: Nationality of Upper Division Students (1920-21-1935) Hungarians 6-4-2-2-2-2-9-8-9-10-9-9-16-13-12-8 Czechoslovaks 1 1-1-1- 2-.2-2- 5- 5- 6-6 Jews 1-1- 3- 3- 1-1 A declaration of 1924 said all teachers in Kosice were Hungarian.13 The classes were composed almost entirely of girls. In the latter years there was a significant portion of the student body which was Jewish (by religion). In the first years, most of the students hailed from the city, then for a period of six years, students from rural homes predominated, with a return to the original domination by the city in 1935-36.14 The first shift to rural dominance took place in 1928-29, which indicates these were students who had begun their training after the founding of the Republic and took advantage of the suddenly greater access to the city. The shift back again in 1935-36 would reflect the reduced flow from the countryside to the city which began in the mid-twenties. This pattern parallels the similar trend in the regular secondary schools.15 An article in Slovensky vychod, the only daily newspaper in eastern Slovakia, in November 1919 downplayed the national question in the Presov-Kosice controversy, stressing rather the centrality of Kosice and the need to make it a vital center. �50 SLOVAKIA " It's obvious to everyone that Kosice is and will be the center of Eastern Slovakia, and thus must be so equipped .... It must concentrate all offices and schools.'' 16 The partisans of Presov were proved somewhat correct in their assertions about the non-Czechoslovak strength of the city of Kosice since the cultural representatives of Kosice were unable to organize adequately to combat the Presov campaign. Eventually the Presov school solved its problem of state recognition when the City Council offered to detach the school from the Szechenyi Circle and attach it to the Local Branch of Matica slovenska (Miestny odbor Matice slovenskej MOMS) . According to an agreement of May 1921, the teaching language of the school was to be Slovak, although Hungarian could be used temporarily as an "assisting understanding language" for students who were attending the Hungarian classes at the local Lutheran gymnasium. The national importance of the school is clear from its new mission, which included: - the propagation of music culture in Slovakia - the education of Slovak youth in music in all its valuable and serious cultural-historical direction - the development of Slovak, or Slavic, vocal and instrumental music - the education of the Slovak music public in greater dimensions , and later the education of Slovak artists and specialists.17 · Teachers either had to be graduates of a state conservatory or to have passed the relevant exams before the State Examination Commission. Although Kosice had a more complete curriculum, the more pronounced Hungarian involvement remained . Presov offered five divisions: violin, piano, solo singing, theory, and composition. All qualified students had to be accepted, paying an average fee of 40 Kc per month. There was no age limitation. Temporary problems arose when a state inspection in 1925 recommended certain reforms. When these reforms were not instituted, the Ministry of Education temporarily suspended the school's subsidy. Things were turned around in Presov by the arrival of the capable Stanislav Treybal, who became the new Pri\lcipal of one of the city's gymnazium. By 1935-36, the school had qu~fied to give state exams for private (but not public) music teachers. It also opened two branches, one about 1936 in Bardejov, which gave instruction in piano and violin and which seems to have become independent in February 1939, and another in Sabinov, which seems to have lasted for two or three months. �SLOVAKIA 51 ' The school did not produce any great number of composers, soloists, or teachers, or at least it had less success in that regard than other schools in Slovakia. The most important fact concerning the school was its existence as a Slovak cultural center, attaining an importance in the period 1926-38 which has not since been equalled.18 Little scholarship aid was available to students in the music schools. After all, the music schools were a supplementary specialized form of education. The 229 students at Presov in 1936-37 shared only 4,550 Kc in fee reductions.19 This combination of factors - the lack of scholarships, the monthly tuition fees, and the requirement of at least modest talent made these music schools into institutions for the "better situated. "20 And like so much of the rest of the cultural history of interwar Slovakia, they were an investment in the future.* • The author would welcome comments and recollections on this subject from readers. NOTES 1 Vladimir Gregor & Tibor Sedlicky, Dejiny hudebn{ vychovy v teskych zemtch a na Slcvensku (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1973), p. 162. 2 Jbid. , pp. 167-8. 3 Masaryk, Anton Stefanek, Karol Medvecky (Secretary of Slovak National Council) , and two other politicians, Milan Ivanka and Komel Stodola, had already indicated their support for the idea. Yearly report, Hudobna §kola pre Slovensko, 1919-20, p . 3. 4 Literamy archiv Matice slovenskej ('LAMS) 42 XIV 91, "Skoly hudobne," p. 1. 6 Jan Strelec, " Hudobna a dramaticka akademia pre Slovensko v Bratislava, " in A.S. 2itavsky, Pamatnik slcvenskeho Akolstva za u.tinkovania Prezidenta T. G. Masaryka (Bratislava: Vydvatel'stvo pamii.tnika slovenskeho §kolstva, 1936-7), Vol. I, p. 100. 6 Gregor & Sedlicky, Dejiny , p. 168. This also made study more expensive, shutting out those from lower social and economic levels. Strelec, "Hudobna, " p . 104. The 192627 school budget of 868,000 Kt included grants of 226,000 Kt from the state and 210,000 Kt from Bratislava County. The rest had to be raised privately or from governments of other counties or districts . This helps to explain the increasing number of students from outside Bratislava. Based on school's letter of 26 February 1927 in Podtatranska zupa 9043-1927 adm. If-Statny archiv (SA)-Bytta. 7 LAMS 42 XIV 91 , "Skoly hudobne," p . 4. 8 Adolf Cmiral, "Hudebni §koly v Ceskoslovenske Republice," Ceskoslcvenskci vlastiveda-Vol. 8-Umeni (Prague : Sfinx, 1936), p. 666 . The Zvolen school's existence is confirmed as early as November 1919. Zvolen zupa 72-1920 adm.-SA-Banska Bystrica. 9 Gregor & Sedlicky , Dejiny , p . 168. 10 Helena Stantekova & Richard Rybarit, " Z hudobneho iivota Nitry v minulosti a �52 SLOVAKIA sucasnosti ," in Alexander Csanda, ed ., Kapitoly z dejln Nitry (Bratislava: SPN, 1963) , p. 26. 11 Povazska zupa 9766-28-SA-Bytca. From this time on, seven semesters of conservatory attendance were required for credentialing. 12 The discussion is based on Maria Potemrova, '' Prispevok k dejinam hudobnej §koly v Pre§ove ," Nove obzory, Vol. 10 (1968) , pp. 119-43. 13 Odbo&a spravodajskej ustredne v Kosiciach. ZUS-66, SA-Ko§ice. 14 Yearly reports, Ko§ice Mestska hudobna skola, 1920-21-1935-36. 15 See Owen V. Johnson , "Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 19181938: Education and Its Impact," Unpublished Ph.D . dissertation , University of Michigan, 1978, pp. 251-7. 16 Slovensky vyckod, 18 November 1919, as quoted by Potemrova, " Prispevok, " p . 124. 17 Potemrova, " Prlspevok, " p. 127. 18 Ibid., p. 142. 19 Yearly report, Pre§ov Mestska hudobna §kola, 1936-37, p. 10. 20 Gustav Valkovit, '' Skolstvo v Nitre ,'' Sbomik pedagogickeho in§titutu v Nitre-Spolo~enske vedy 2 (1963), p. 28. � SLOVAKIA 45 Music S~hools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of lnterwar Slovakia* OWEN V. JOHNSON One of the blankest pages in the history of Slovak education between the First and Second World Wars belongs to the area of music education. Although the Ministry of Education had supervisory control over these schools, it was not involved with day to day inspections and other such activities. Even now, no one is sure exactly how many music schools there were. This article will summarize present knowledge about them and attempt to evaluate their importance. One thing is certain: the Slovak people had no tradition of professional music schools and had no resources to begin establishing them after World War I. The authors of one of the few books or articles about the subject, after noting the meager research output, point out, " ... (M)usic education in Slovakia in the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic was fully in the hands of Czech music pedagogues."! Teachers in Slovakia wishing to obtain qualification to teach music in the middle schools had to pass a test in music and singing before the State Examination Commissions in Prague (established 1919) or Brno (established 1920) or at the conservatory in Prague. Examination commissions for singing were finally set up in Slovakia in 1935 at Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, and Presov, but music exams could only be taken at Bratislava.2 The most important music institution in Slovakia was located in Bratislava. It grew out of discussions held at Matica slovenska and at the General Assembly of the Union of Music Professionals (Jednota hudebnich stavov), which gathered in August 19193 in Zilina to consider a proposal (originally made in Moscow in 1915) by Milos Ruppeldt • Financial support from a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant and the James and Helen Hovorka Foundation assisted the preparation of this article. The research was also facilitated by my recognition by the International Research and Exchanges Board as a "Scholar-without-Stipend." �46 SLOVAKIA for the establishment of a ''Music School for Slovakia'' with the rank of a conservatory. By November, the school was a reality and Ruppeldt had become its first director. More than two-fifths of the first year's enrollment was Czech, one-quarter Slovak, one-fifth German, and oneseventh Hungarian (See Table 1).4 Although the state made a modest subvention to the school, Gustav Habrman, the Minister of Education at the time of its founding, decided it would be essentially a private institution. Its finances and legal obligations were handled by the curia of the Music Association (Hudobny spolok) for Slovakia, on which sat two government representatives, the composer Dobroslav Orel and Moravian high school principal Alojs Kolisek. In 1922, the school divided into two divisions: the conservatory, for persons planning professional careers; and a music school, for expected amateurs. The latter had instrumental, piano, and singing sections. We will return to it later. After a lengthy struggle (in which the public took little interest) and the establishment in 1924 of a drama section, the conservatory was changed in 1926 to a public institution, called the Music and Drama Academy for Slovakia. Two years later it gained conservatory rank, a recognition which boosted the school's standing across Slovakia. By 1931-32, the number of students from outside Bratislava had exceeded the number from within the city.5 Temporarily the school was financially secure, but the Depression restored its precarious state, partially because the populace could not afford to stay interested. Enrollment remained constant at just over 200 persons . Although in many ways a small operation, the Academy 's accomplishments are one of the most distinct in the post World War II era. Many of Slovakia's composers and concert artists of the quarter century after the war were graduates of the school. In spite of enormous efforts by the public and by school officials, however, the Academy remained largely a private institution during the First Republic, a condition which a number of Slovaks considered an affront since both the conservatories in Brno and Prague were operated by the state. 6 The female students at the Academy \Were concentrated in two of the three major sections - piano and singing, where they made up about eighty percent of the student body. The males were largely in the instrumental section. The other sections - organ, composition, and drama - each had only a handful of students. As long as Czech and Slovak were considered as separate categories (until 1926-27), the number of Czechs exceeded the number of Slovaks. Other aspects of interest concerning the composition of the student body were the relative absence of Hungarians and Germans in the singing division, the �Year : 149 2 25 1 3 21 6 133 2 25 1 6 27 12 8 7 2 7 1 1 8 22 7 5 6 22 21 135 3 23 2 U2 28 25 6 201 56.2 1931 -32 147 1 25 2 1 5 U3 37 2, 55 .7 210 1930-31 153 2 32 U9 42 27 5 53.-4 223 1929-30 1 7 1.48 4 23 2 8 18 5 156 2, 26 211 53.6 1932-33 1 7 18 7 19 3 5 1.40 1 153 21 23 3 201 -45.3 1933-3.4 1.40 3 22 2 6 17 6 7 150 15 . 26 198 "8 .5 193-4-35 153 20 32_ _., 1 1 1 2 210 "8.1 1935-36 Slovaks Czechs 1919-20 61 100 55 1924-25 34 56 63 1925-26 63 1926-27 53 Source : Official government publications. According to the yearly repcrts of the Academy, the following figures delineate the numbers of Czechs and Slovaks: None Orthodox Other Jewish Roman Catholic Czech Brethren Lutheran Reformed Czechoslovak 159 2 27 1 6 25 1 1 3 35 1 60 7 203 9 228 5"-8 1928-29 18 19 121 206 55 .3 1927-28 Ul 45 35 98 46 59 58 .0 207 1926-27 "° 301 47 .2 1921 -22 215 46.3 309 1920-21 German 61 Hungar ian 8 Jewish 25 Russian, Ruthen ian , Ukrainian Polish Other Religion Czechoslovak Nationality Total students Pct . women TABLE 1 Musical and Dramatic Academy- Bratislava . 0 1 0 2 28 156 30 46.5 217 1936-37 'I "' > > i\ < Vl r 0 �48 SLOVAKIA heavy concentration of Jewish students in the piano division, and the not infrequent attendance by students in their thirties and forties. Efforts to establish an institution for the study of creative arts which would operate on the same level as the Music and Drama Academy were unsuccessful. It is the city music schools in Slovakia about which very little is known. According to Gregor and Sedlicky, there were six in existence in 1921, and by the end of the First Republic's existence, "about" ten. The first was established in November 1919 at Zvolen as a three-year school, with a three-year preparatory attached. 7 There were also schools at Brezno, Bardejov, Kosice, Presov, Nitra, Zilina, and Martin (which had a branch in Vrutky).8 The Zilina school might be considered typical for all these schools. Established in 1927, it had three sections - for violin, piano, and solo singing. It was supported in part by tuition, and in part by a subvention from the city. 9 A new school in Bratislava assumed responsibility for the musical education of those who could not devote full time to such studies at the Academy, either because they were attending another secondary school or they already had jobs. Plans to establish a school at Nitra were first reported in the local press in November 1927, but it was not until two years later that a governing curatorium was set up by the city and teaching was begun. The Ministry of Education gave its official approval to the school a year later. Nitra 's first two teachers, who were graduates of the Bratislava Academy, began by offering piano, violin, and solo singing, then later added cello. In 1935, music theory and history, as well as composition, were added to the curriculum. In-house concerts were given during the year with a public concert at year's end serving as the graduation recital for students in their final year .10 In addition to functioning as centers of cultural enrichment, until 1928 the music schools could provide teacher candidates with an education adequate for passing the examination for competence in music instruction.11 After that date, they developed. their role as "feeders" for the Academy. \ The school at Presov was a more specia1 case, because a similar school had existed during the reign of the Hungarians. After the establishment of Czechoslovak control over the city in 1919, the composer Mikulas Moyzes was commissioned with the administration of the school. However, for two years his actions were hindered by the fact that the Szechenyi Circle, on which the school was organizationally dependent, was not allowed to operate because of its pro-Hungarian bias . In late 1919, Pavel Gallo, the school inspector for the Presov area, �SLOVAKIA 49 asked the Ministry of Edu ation under what conditions the school could obtain direct state aid: the archives are silent on the Ministry's response.12 In 1920, the Presov City Council, in an effort to breach the impasse , contacted the city of Zvolen to gain budget and organizational information about the school there. Meanwhile , the establishment of the Music School for Slovakia in Bratislava dealt the efforts in Presov a setback. Even though Presov was thinking more in terms of establishing a conservatory only for eastern Slovakia, the concept that Bratislava was serving the whole of Slovakia dampened such hopes. Some hope was still entertained in Presov that an arrangement in which Bratislava would serve the west, Zvolen the central territories, and Presov the east, could be arranged. But it did not materialize. Presov was also engaged in a rivalry with Kosice to the south over who had the greater right to establish a music school for eastern Slovakia. The far more Hungarian nature of the school in Kosice strengthened Presov' s argument for a Czechoslovak school. The contention that the Kosice school remained Hungarian is verified by the continued presence of a majority of Hungarians in the upper professional grades (IX-XIl), as Table 2 covering the period 1920-21-1935 shows: TABLE2 Kosice Music School: Nationality of Upper Division Students (1920-21-1935) Hungarians 6-4-2-2-2-2-9-8-9-10-9-9-16-13-12-8 Czechoslovaks 1 1-1-1- 2-.2-2- 5- 5- 6-6 Jews 1-1- 3- 3- 1-1 A declaration of 1924 said all teachers in Kosice were Hungarian.13 The classes were composed almost entirely of girls. In the latter years there was a significant portion of the student body which was Jewish (by religion). In the first years, most of the students hailed from the city, then for a period of six years, students from rural homes predominated, with a return to the original domination by the city in 1935-36.14 The first shift to rural dominance took place in 1928-29, which indicates these were students who had begun their training after the founding of the Republic and took advantage of the suddenly greater access to the city. The shift back again in 1935-36 would reflect the reduced flow from the countryside to the city which began in the mid-twenties. This pattern parallels the similar trend in the regular secondary schools.15 An article in Slovensky vychod, the only daily newspaper in eastern Slovakia, in November 1919 downplayed the national question in the Presov-Kosice controversy, stressing rather the centrality of Kosice and the need to make it a vital center. �50 SLOVAKIA " It's obvious to everyone that Kosice is and will be the center of Eastern Slovakia, and thus must be so equipped .... It must concentrate all offices and schools.'' 16 The partisans of Presov were proved somewhat correct in their assertions about the non-Czechoslovak strength of the city of Kosice since the cultural representatives of Kosice were unable to organize adequately to combat the Presov campaign. Eventually the Presov school solved its problem of state recognition when the City Council offered to detach the school from the Szechenyi Circle and attach it to the Local Branch of Matica slovenska (Miestny odbor Matice slovenskej MOMS) . According to an agreement of May 1921, the teaching language of the school was to be Slovak, although Hungarian could be used temporarily as an "assisting understanding language" for students who were attending the Hungarian classes at the local Lutheran gymnasium. The national importance of the school is clear from its new mission, which included: - the propagation of music culture in Slovakia - the education of Slovak youth in music in all its valuable and serious cultural-historical direction - the development of Slovak, or Slavic, vocal and instrumental music - the education of the Slovak music public in greater dimensions , and later the education of Slovak artists and specialists.17 · Teachers either had to be graduates of a state conservatory or to have passed the relevant exams before the State Examination Commission. Although Kosice had a more complete curriculum, the more pronounced Hungarian involvement remained . Presov offered five divisions: violin, piano, solo singing, theory, and composition. All qualified students had to be accepted, paying an average fee of 40 Kc per month. There was no age limitation. Temporary problems arose when a state inspection in 1925 recommended certain reforms. When these reforms were not instituted, the Ministry of Education temporarily suspended the school's subsidy. Things were turned around in Presov by the arrival of the capable Stanislav Treybal, who became the new Pri\lcipal of one of the city's gymnazium. By 1935-36, the school had qu~fied to give state exams for private (but not public) music teachers. It also opened two branches, one about 1936 in Bardejov, which gave instruction in piano and violin and which seems to have become independent in February 1939, and another in Sabinov, which seems to have lasted for two or three months. �SLOVAKIA 51 ' The school did not produce any great number of composers, soloists, or teachers, or at least it had less success in that regard than other schools in Slovakia. The most important fact concerning the school was its existence as a Slovak cultural center, attaining an importance in the period 1926-38 which has not since been equalled.18 Little scholarship aid was available to students in the music schools. After all, the music schools were a supplementary specialized form of education. The 229 students at Presov in 1936-37 shared only 4,550 Kc in fee reductions.19 This combination of factors - the lack of scholarships, the monthly tuition fees, and the requirement of at least modest talent made these music schools into institutions for the "better situated. "20 And like so much of the rest of the cultural history of interwar Slovakia, they were an investment in the future.* • The author would welcome comments and recollections on this subject from readers. NOTES 1 Vladimir Gregor & Tibor Sedlicky, Dejiny hudebn{ vychovy v teskych zemtch a na Slcvensku (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1973), p. 162. 2 Jbid. , pp. 167-8. 3 Masaryk, Anton Stefanek, Karol Medvecky (Secretary of Slovak National Council) , and two other politicians, Milan Ivanka and Komel Stodola, had already indicated their support for the idea. Yearly report, Hudobna §kola pre Slovensko, 1919-20, p . 3. 4 Literamy archiv Matice slovenskej ('LAMS) 42 XIV 91, "Skoly hudobne," p. 1. 6 Jan Strelec, " Hudobna a dramaticka akademia pre Slovensko v Bratislava, " in A.S. 2itavsky, Pamatnik slcvenskeho Akolstva za u.tinkovania Prezidenta T. G. Masaryka (Bratislava: Vydvatel'stvo pamii.tnika slovenskeho §kolstva, 1936-7), Vol. I, p. 100. 6 Gregor & Sedlicky, Dejiny , p. 168. This also made study more expensive, shutting out those from lower social and economic levels. Strelec, "Hudobna, " p . 104. The 192627 school budget of 868,000 Kt included grants of 226,000 Kt from the state and 210,000 Kt from Bratislava County. The rest had to be raised privately or from governments of other counties or districts . This helps to explain the increasing number of students from outside Bratislava. Based on school's letter of 26 February 1927 in Podtatranska zupa 9043-1927 adm. If-Statny archiv (SA)-Bytta. 7 LAMS 42 XIV 91 , "Skoly hudobne," p . 4. 8 Adolf Cmiral, "Hudebni §koly v Ceskoslovenske Republice," Ceskoslcvenskci vlastiveda-Vol. 8-Umeni (Prague : Sfinx, 1936), p. 666 . The Zvolen school's existence is confirmed as early as November 1919. Zvolen zupa 72-1920 adm.-SA-Banska Bystrica. 9 Gregor & Sedlicky , Dejiny , p . 168. 10 Helena Stantekova & Richard Rybarit, " Z hudobneho iivota Nitry v minulosti a �52 SLOVAKIA sucasnosti ," in Alexander Csanda, ed ., Kapitoly z dejln Nitry (Bratislava: SPN, 1963) , p. 26. 11 Povazska zupa 9766-28-SA-Bytca. From this time on, seven semesters of conservatory attendance were required for credentialing. 12 The discussion is based on Maria Potemrova, '' Prispevok k dejinam hudobnej §koly v Pre§ove ," Nove obzory, Vol. 10 (1968) , pp. 119-43. 13 Odbo&a spravodajskej ustredne v Kosiciach. ZUS-66, SA-Ko§ice. 14 Yearly reports, Ko§ice Mestska hudobna skola, 1920-21-1935-36. 15 See Owen V. Johnson , "Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 19181938: Education and Its Impact," Unpublished Ph.D . dissertation , University of Michigan, 1978, pp. 251-7. 16 Slovensky vyckod, 18 November 1919, as quoted by Potemrova, " Prispevok, " p . 124. 17 Potemrova, " Prlspevok, " p. 127. 18 Ibid., p. 142. 19 Yearly report, Pre§ov Mestska hudobna §kola, 1936-37, p. 10. 20 Gustav Valkovit, '' Skolstvo v Nitre ,'' Sbomik pedagogickeho in§titutu v Nitre-Spolo~enske vedy 2 (1963), p. 28. � 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 45 Music S~hools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of lnterwar Slovakia* OWEN V. JOHNSON One of the blankest pages in the history of Slovak education between the First and Second World Wars belongs to the area of music education. Although the Ministry of Education had supervisory control over these schools, it was not involved with day to day inspections and other such activities. Even now, no one is sure exactly how many music schools there were. This article will summarize present knowledge about them and attempt to evaluate their importance. One thing is certain: the Slovak people had no tradition of professional music schools and had no resources to begin establishing them after World War I. The authors of one of the few books or articles about the subject, after noting the meager research output, point out, " ... (M)usic education in Slovakia in the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic was fully in the hands of Czech music pedagogues."! Teachers in Slovakia wishing to obtain qualification to teach music in the middle schools had to pass a test in music and singing before the State Examination Commissions in Prague (established 1919) or Brno (established 1920) or at the conservatory in Prague. Examination commissions for singing were finally set up in Slovakia in 1935 at Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, and Presov, but music exams could only be taken at Bratislava.2 The most important music institution in Slovakia was located in Bratislava. It grew out of discussions held at Matica slovenska and at the General Assembly of the Union of Music Professionals (Jednota hudebnich stavov), which gathered in August 19193 in Zilina to consider a proposal (originally made in Moscow in 1915) by Milos Ruppeldt • Financial support from a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant and the James and Helen Hovorka Foundation assisted the preparation of this article. The research was also facilitated by my recognition by the International Research and Exchanges Board as a "Scholar-without-Stipend." 46 SLOVAKIA for the establishment of a ''Music School for Slovakia'' with the rank of a conservatory. By November, the school was a reality and Ruppeldt had become its first director. More than two-fifths of the first year's enrollment was Czech, one-quarter Slovak, one-fifth German, and oneseventh Hungarian (See Table 1).4 Although the state made a modest subvention to the school, Gustav Habrman, the Minister of Education at the time of its founding, decided it would be essentially a private institution. Its finances and legal obligations were handled by the curia of the Music Association (Hudobny spolok) for Slovakia, on which sat two government representatives, the composer Dobroslav Orel and Moravian high school principal Alojs Kolisek. In 1922, the school divided into two divisions: the conservatory, for persons planning professional careers; and a music school, for expected amateurs. The latter had instrumental, piano, and singing sections. We will return to it later. After a lengthy struggle (in which the public took little interest) and the establishment in 1924 of a drama section, the conservatory was changed in 1926 to a public institution, called the Music and Drama Academy for Slovakia. Two years later it gained conservatory rank, a recognition which boosted the school's standing across Slovakia. By 1931-32, the number of students from outside Bratislava had exceeded the number from within the city.5 Temporarily the school was financially secure, but the Depression restored its precarious state, partially because the populace could not afford to stay interested. Enrollment remained constant at just over 200 persons . Although in many ways a small operation, the Academy 's accomplishments are one of the most distinct in the post World War II era. Many of Slovakia's composers and concert artists of the quarter century after the war were graduates of the school. In spite of enormous efforts by the public and by school officials, however, the Academy remained largely a private institution during the First Republic, a condition which a number of Slovaks considered an affront since both the conservatories in Brno and Prague were operated by the state. 6 The female students at the Academy \Were concentrated in two of the three major sections - piano and singing, where they made up about eighty percent of the student body. The males were largely in the instrumental section. The other sections - organ, composition, and drama - each had only a handful of students. As long as Czech and Slovak were considered as separate categories (until 1926-27), the number of Czechs exceeded the number of Slovaks. Other aspects of interest concerning the composition of the student body were the relative absence of Hungarians and Germans in the singing division, the Year : 149 2 25 1 3 21 6 133 2 25 1 6 27 12 8 7 2 7 1 1 8 22 7 5 6 22 21 135 3 23 2 U2 28 25 6 201 56.2 1931 -32 147 1 25 2 1 5 U3 37 2, 55 .7 210 1930-31 153 2 32 U9 42 27 5 53.-4 223 1929-30 1 7 1.48 4 23 2 8 18 5 156 2, 26 211 53.6 1932-33 1 7 18 7 19 3 5 1.40 1 153 21 23 3 201 -45.3 1933-3.4 1.40 3 22 2 6 17 6 7 150 15 . 26 198 "8 .5 193-4-35 153 20 32_ _., 1 1 1 2 210 "8.1 1935-36 Slovaks Czechs 1919-20 61 100 55 1924-25 34 56 63 1925-26 63 1926-27 53 Source : Official government publications. According to the yearly repcrts of the Academy, the following figures delineate the numbers of Czechs and Slovaks: None Orthodox Other Jewish Roman Catholic Czech Brethren Lutheran Reformed Czechoslovak 159 2 27 1 6 25 1 1 3 35 1 60 7 203 9 228 5"-8 1928-29 18 19 121 206 55 .3 1927-28 Ul 45 35 98 46 59 58 .0 207 1926-27 "° 301 47 .2 1921 -22 215 46.3 309 1920-21 German 61 Hungar ian 8 Jewish 25 Russian, Ruthen ian , Ukrainian Polish Other Religion Czechoslovak Nationality Total students Pct . women TABLE 1 Musical and Dramatic Academy- Bratislava . 0 1 0 2 28 156 30 46.5 217 1936-37 'I "' > > i\ < Vl r 0 48 SLOVAKIA heavy concentration of Jewish students in the piano division, and the not infrequent attendance by students in their thirties and forties. Efforts to establish an institution for the study of creative arts which would operate on the same level as the Music and Drama Academy were unsuccessful. It is the city music schools in Slovakia about which very little is known. According to Gregor and Sedlicky, there were six in existence in 1921, and by the end of the First Republic's existence, "about" ten. The first was established in November 1919 at Zvolen as a three-year school, with a three-year preparatory attached. 7 There were also schools at Brezno, Bardejov, Kosice, Presov, Nitra, Zilina, and Martin (which had a branch in Vrutky).8 The Zilina school might be considered typical for all these schools. Established in 1927, it had three sections - for violin, piano, and solo singing. It was supported in part by tuition, and in part by a subvention from the city. 9 A new school in Bratislava assumed responsibility for the musical education of those who could not devote full time to such studies at the Academy, either because they were attending another secondary school or they already had jobs. Plans to establish a school at Nitra were first reported in the local press in November 1927, but it was not until two years later that a governing curatorium was set up by the city and teaching was begun. The Ministry of Education gave its official approval to the school a year later. Nitra 's first two teachers, who were graduates of the Bratislava Academy, began by offering piano, violin, and solo singing, then later added cello. In 1935, music theory and history, as well as composition, were added to the curriculum. In-house concerts were given during the year with a public concert at year's end serving as the graduation recital for students in their final year .10 In addition to functioning as centers of cultural enrichment, until 1928 the music schools could provide teacher candidates with an education adequate for passing the examination for competence in music instruction.11 After that date, they developed. their role as "feeders" for the Academy. \ The school at Presov was a more specia1 case, because a similar school had existed during the reign of the Hungarians. After the establishment of Czechoslovak control over the city in 1919, the composer Mikulas Moyzes was commissioned with the administration of the school. However, for two years his actions were hindered by the fact that the Szechenyi Circle, on which the school was organizationally dependent, was not allowed to operate because of its pro-Hungarian bias . In late 1919, Pavel Gallo, the school inspector for the Presov area, SLOVAKIA 49 asked the Ministry of Edu ation under what conditions the school could obtain direct state aid: the archives are silent on the Ministry's response.12 In 1920, the Presov City Council, in an effort to breach the impasse , contacted the city of Zvolen to gain budget and organizational information about the school there. Meanwhile , the establishment of the Music School for Slovakia in Bratislava dealt the efforts in Presov a setback. Even though Presov was thinking more in terms of establishing a conservatory only for eastern Slovakia, the concept that Bratislava was serving the whole of Slovakia dampened such hopes. Some hope was still entertained in Presov that an arrangement in which Bratislava would serve the west, Zvolen the central territories, and Presov the east, could be arranged. But it did not materialize. Presov was also engaged in a rivalry with Kosice to the south over who had the greater right to establish a music school for eastern Slovakia. The far more Hungarian nature of the school in Kosice strengthened Presov' s argument for a Czechoslovak school. The contention that the Kosice school remained Hungarian is verified by the continued presence of a majority of Hungarians in the upper professional grades (IX-XIl), as Table 2 covering the period 1920-21-1935 shows: TABLE2 Kosice Music School: Nationality of Upper Division Students (1920-21-1935) Hungarians 6-4-2-2-2-2-9-8-9-10-9-9-16-13-12-8 Czechoslovaks 1 1-1-1- 2-.2-2- 5- 5- 6-6 Jews 1-1- 3- 3- 1-1 A declaration of 1924 said all teachers in Kosice were Hungarian.13 The classes were composed almost entirely of girls. In the latter years there was a significant portion of the student body which was Jewish (by religion). In the first years, most of the students hailed from the city, then for a period of six years, students from rural homes predominated, with a return to the original domination by the city in 1935-36.14 The first shift to rural dominance took place in 1928-29, which indicates these were students who had begun their training after the founding of the Republic and took advantage of the suddenly greater access to the city. The shift back again in 1935-36 would reflect the reduced flow from the countryside to the city which began in the mid-twenties. This pattern parallels the similar trend in the regular secondary schools.15 An article in Slovensky vychod, the only daily newspaper in eastern Slovakia, in November 1919 downplayed the national question in the Presov-Kosice controversy, stressing rather the centrality of Kosice and the need to make it a vital center. 50 SLOVAKIA " It's obvious to everyone that Kosice is and will be the center of Eastern Slovakia, and thus must be so equipped .... It must concentrate all offices and schools.'' 16 The partisans of Presov were proved somewhat correct in their assertions about the non-Czechoslovak strength of the city of Kosice since the cultural representatives of Kosice were unable to organize adequately to combat the Presov campaign. Eventually the Presov school solved its problem of state recognition when the City Council offered to detach the school from the Szechenyi Circle and attach it to the Local Branch of Matica slovenska (Miestny odbor Matice slovenskej MOMS) . According to an agreement of May 1921, the teaching language of the school was to be Slovak, although Hungarian could be used temporarily as an "assisting understanding language" for students who were attending the Hungarian classes at the local Lutheran gymnasium. The national importance of the school is clear from its new mission, which included: - the propagation of music culture in Slovakia - the education of Slovak youth in music in all its valuable and serious cultural-historical direction - the development of Slovak, or Slavic, vocal and instrumental music - the education of the Slovak music public in greater dimensions , and later the education of Slovak artists and specialists.17 · Teachers either had to be graduates of a state conservatory or to have passed the relevant exams before the State Examination Commission. Although Kosice had a more complete curriculum, the more pronounced Hungarian involvement remained . Presov offered five divisions: violin, piano, solo singing, theory, and composition. All qualified students had to be accepted, paying an average fee of 40 Kc per month. There was no age limitation. Temporary problems arose when a state inspection in 1925 recommended certain reforms. When these reforms were not instituted, the Ministry of Education temporarily suspended the school's subsidy. Things were turned around in Presov by the arrival of the capable Stanislav Treybal, who became the new Pri\lcipal of one of the city's gymnazium. By 1935-36, the school had qu~fied to give state exams for private (but not public) music teachers. It also opened two branches, one about 1936 in Bardejov, which gave instruction in piano and violin and which seems to have become independent in February 1939, and another in Sabinov, which seems to have lasted for two or three months. SLOVAKIA 51 ' The school did not produce any great number of composers, soloists, or teachers, or at least it had less success in that regard than other schools in Slovakia. The most important fact concerning the school was its existence as a Slovak cultural center, attaining an importance in the period 1926-38 which has not since been equalled.18 Little scholarship aid was available to students in the music schools. After all, the music schools were a supplementary specialized form of education. The 229 students at Presov in 1936-37 shared only 4,550 Kc in fee reductions.19 This combination of factors - the lack of scholarships, the monthly tuition fees, and the requirement of at least modest talent made these music schools into institutions for the "better situated. "20 And like so much of the rest of the cultural history of interwar Slovakia, they were an investment in the future.* • The author would welcome comments and recollections on this subject from readers. NOTES 1 Vladimir Gregor & Tibor Sedlicky, Dejiny hudebn{ vychovy v teskych zemtch a na Slcvensku (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1973), p. 162. 2 Jbid. , pp. 167-8. 3 Masaryk, Anton Stefanek, Karol Medvecky (Secretary of Slovak National Council) , and two other politicians, Milan Ivanka and Komel Stodola, had already indicated their support for the idea. Yearly report, Hudobna §kola pre Slovensko, 1919-20, p . 3. 4 Literamy archiv Matice slovenskej ('LAMS) 42 XIV 91, "Skoly hudobne," p. 1. 6 Jan Strelec, " Hudobna a dramaticka akademia pre Slovensko v Bratislava, " in A.S. 2itavsky, Pamatnik slcvenskeho Akolstva za u.tinkovania Prezidenta T. G. Masaryka (Bratislava: Vydvatel'stvo pamii.tnika slovenskeho §kolstva, 1936-7), Vol. I, p. 100. 6 Gregor & Sedlicky, Dejiny , p. 168. This also made study more expensive, shutting out those from lower social and economic levels. Strelec, "Hudobna, " p . 104. The 192627 school budget of 868,000 Kt included grants of 226,000 Kt from the state and 210,000 Kt from Bratislava County. The rest had to be raised privately or from governments of other counties or districts . This helps to explain the increasing number of students from outside Bratislava. Based on school's letter of 26 February 1927 in Podtatranska zupa 9043-1927 adm. If-Statny archiv (SA)-Bytta. 7 LAMS 42 XIV 91 , "Skoly hudobne," p . 4. 8 Adolf Cmiral, "Hudebni §koly v Ceskoslovenske Republice," Ceskoslcvenskci vlastiveda-Vol. 8-Umeni (Prague : Sfinx, 1936), p. 666 . The Zvolen school's existence is confirmed as early as November 1919. Zvolen zupa 72-1920 adm.-SA-Banska Bystrica. 9 Gregor & Sedlicky , Dejiny , p . 168. 10 Helena Stantekova & Richard Rybarit, " Z hudobneho iivota Nitry v minulosti a 52 SLOVAKIA sucasnosti ," in Alexander Csanda, ed ., Kapitoly z dejln Nitry (Bratislava: SPN, 1963) , p. 26. 11 Povazska zupa 9766-28-SA-Bytca. From this time on, seven semesters of conservatory attendance were required for credentialing. 12 The discussion is based on Maria Potemrova, '' Prispevok k dejinam hudobnej §koly v Pre§ove ," Nove obzory, Vol. 10 (1968) , pp. 119-43. 13 Odbo&a spravodajskej ustredne v Kosiciach. ZUS-66, SA-Ko§ice. 14 Yearly reports, Ko§ice Mestska hudobna skola, 1920-21-1935-36. 15 See Owen V. Johnson , "Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 19181938: Education and Its Impact," Unpublished Ph.D . dissertation , University of Michigan, 1978, pp. 251-7. 16 Slovensky vyckod, 18 November 1919, as quoted by Potemrova, " Prispevok, " p . 124. 17 Potemrova, " Prlspevok, " p. 127. 18 Ibid., p. 142. 19 Yearly report, Pre§ov Mestska hudobna §kola, 1936-37, p. 10. 20 Gustav Valkovit, '' Skolstvo v Nitre ,'' Sbomik pedagogickeho in§titutu v Nitre-Spolo~enske vedy 2 (1963), p. 28.  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 Music Schools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of Interwar Slovakia Description An account of the resource Owen V. Johnson Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 45-52 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 1980-81 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/9dc86c5a6e35cec03fa65bcc3c27426b.pdf 83e57f4902c0efb3f718c590d57f75fe PDF Text Text 124 SLOVAKIA General Milan Rastislav Stefanik and the Moven1ent for Czecho-Slovak Independence Mary Ann Kadera It soon became apparent to Thomas G. Masaryk and the group of exiles around him; namely, Edward Benes, Antonin Svehla, and the Doctors Hajn, Scheiner, Herban and samal1 that in order to induce the allies to agree to the partition of the Dual Monarchy, the people who would be free after the partition had to make a tangible contribution to the allied war efforts. "To this end the National Czecho-Slovak Committee was established with Masaryk as head, Edward Benes, Masaryk's right-hand man, as secretary and the great Slovak, General Milan Stefanik as vice president." 2 Since Stefanik was the only one of the three who had had any military experience (he had served with distinction in the French Air Force) the task of providing a Czecho-Slovak division to fight with the allied armies was given to him. The son of a Protestant minister, Stefanik, who was born in the Slovak village of Kosariska in 1880, had achieved a brilliant career as a mathematician and an astronomer of world wide stature. After completing his studies of science, law and medicine at the University of Prague, he went to Paris in 19043 where he became Secretary to the Astronomical Observ:atory. As a result he was sent on scientific and astronomical missions to various parts of the world such as Mont Blanc, Spain, Oxford, Turkestan, Algiers, South America and Tahiti. 4 Using his influence in the Frenoh social circle, Stefanik began to acquaint those in influence of Magyar tyranny and to gain their sympathy for the suffering Slovak nation. As soon as Austria declared war on Serbs, Stefanik left Marocco where he had been engaged in astronomical observation and returned to France and enlisted as a private in the French army. (Stefanik was also a citizen �SLOVAKIA 125 of France). After first fighting on the Western front, Stefanik was tranferred to the French Air Force in January and in July 1915 took part in the battles on the Aisne and near Ypres. 5 Afterwards he was sent as an airman to Serbia. Having no contact with Masaryk or his plans as yet, Stefanik already thought of organizing a separate corps of Slovaks who had fought against their convictions on the side of Austria-Hungary and who had been captured by the Allies. Due to the Serbian retreat he was forced to abandon this plan. Toward the end of November, Stefanik arrived in Rome on a special torpedo boat from Vallona. While in Rome his fame as a member of the French Academy led to his acquaintance with the French Ambassador, Monsieur Barrere and Sonnino, the Italian Foreign Minister. Upon returning to Paris, Stefanik became associated with Masaryk and Benes. Thus the nucleus of the CzechoSlovak Legion was organized in France. It was Stefanik who held the link to the important government officials who would one day decide the fate of Austria-Hungary and with it Czecho-Slovakia. Stefanik travelled to Italy where he used his influence to spread the cause of establishing an independent state for the Czechs and the Slovaks after the defeat of AustriaHungary. In July and August of 19166 he visited Russia where he conferred with all military authorities and even with the Tsar who sent, through Stefanik, greetings to Masaryk and approval of his policy. From Russia Stefanik went to the Rumanian front where he organized many volunteer Slovak prisoners for military service in France which arrived in the summer of 1917. He returned to Russia in January 1917 and then proceeded to Paris. While in Paris, he kept in touch with the Southern Slavic states and Italy. Then, he continued to Rome. 7 Of Stefanik and his journey, Thomas G. Masaryk, in his book, The Making of a State, comments: His methods were those of an apostle rather than of <1 diplomat and soldier. In Paris, where he had gradually made a ckcle of friends and admirers, he smoothed the way for me and for Dr. Benes in many an influential quarter and he did tqe same in Rome. When I Ulink of him I always remember the picture ()f �126 SLOVAKIA our little Slovak tinkers who wander throughout the world; but this Slovak wandered through all the Allied fronts, through all Government Departments, political drawing-rooms and Courts. From him Marshall Foch heard for the first time about us and our work against Austria.a "But perhaps stefanik's most important contribution to the future of his people was the visit he made to the United States in 1917." 9 In the United States, American Slovaks and Czechs were promoting the cause of Czechoslovakia. It was Stefanik who was largely responsible for the combining of the two efforts ( one here and the other in Paris) toward the common goal both were seeking. Although the American Slovaks wanted a Slovakia free of Magyar rule, they distrusted the idea of uniting with the Czechs who were numerically superior. Before they would accept this union, they had to be guaranteeed that Slovakia would be a political and cultural autonomy in the proposed new state. For this reason representatives of the Czech National Alliance and the Slovak League met and signed the Cleveland Agreement. In the Agreement three main points were emphasized: 1) The new state would be a federal republic consisting of both Czech lands (Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia) and Slovakia. 2) Slovakia would be nationally autonomous, it would have its own administration, schools and cultural development and also the use of the Slovak language within its borders. 3) Voting suffrage in Czecho-Slovakia would be secret, universal and direct. 10 But despite the good will which was created by the Cleveland Agreement, Slovak fears of "Czechism" still persisted. There was good reason for this fear. In 1916 Czech spokesmen began to use the term "Czechia" to describe the Council's objectives, the Council's publication, "Samostatnost," talked unceasingly of the Czech army, the Czech language and the Czech culture, leaving no doubt that for them the new state was to be dominated by the Czechs. Even Masaryk stated in an official communique to London that "The Slovaks are Czechs." In so doing, he not only ignored a thousand years of history but also brought the full weight of Slovak wrath upon him. In his reply to Masaryk, Vladimir Hurban wrote to Masaryk in 1917: �SLOVAKIA 127 There is not a single Slovak in all Slovakia who would call himself a Czech. Slovaks regard themselves as an ethnically distinct nation, as such we have lived and suffered. As Slovaks we hope to see dawn of liberty fur our land; we wish to unite with Czechs in one political state, but onl.y if our national and cultural autonomy will be safeguarded.11 In order to counteract the Pan-Czech attitude and to have the Cleveland Agreement gain wider acceptance in Europe, the Slovak League of America sent Gustav Kosik, editor of the Catholic Sokol and Dr. Stephen Osusky, a lawyer and a Protestant minister, as its representative to the National Council. During this time the recruitment of the Czech-Slovak foreign legion was going wery slowly. For this reason Edward Benes requested the French government to entrust Stefanik with the mission of organizing volunteers among the American Czechs and Slovaks for the army in France with the approval of the United States government. Permission was granted while Stefanik was still in Russia. Stefanik postponed this trip to the United States in order to complete his work in Rumania where he gained one thousand 12 prisoners for the Czecho-Slovak army. Before stefanik's departure 1 the French government had already sent a special political commission headed by Franklin Bouillon to gain the permission of the United States government for this task. Upon arriving in America in June 191713 Stefanik through the French ambassador, Jusserand, immediately contacted the government officials in Washington. After a conference with the then Secretary of State, Lansing, in which Jusserand stressed the loyalty of the Czechs and Slovaks to the United States of America, permission was granted to all Czechs and Slovaks not subject to military duty in the American army to join the CzechoSlovak Legion in France. Besides the recruitment, Stefanik · also had to see to the financial and travelling arrangements. While in the United States, Stefanik contacted American journalists and wrote several articles on the cause for the newpapers. He aroused both the interest of F. H. Allen of the "World" and of Gordon Smith, ("The New Republic,") and his articles soon appeared in their magazines. �128 SLOVAKIA Theodore Roosevelt, Lansing Frank and A. Polk Oater the head of the American delegation at the Peace Conference at Versailles) were other influential people with whom Stefanik caxne in close contact. 14 It has been conceded by most historians that Stefanik achieved his greatest success in the United States by securing the cooperation of both parties ( the Czechs and the Slovaks) in the Czecho-Slovak movement. stefanik was a true Slovak patriot. "While dealing with him the American Slovaks could be sure of an integrity and a sincere awareness of Slovak affairs they often found missing in Czech leaders." 15 For this reason, Stefanik was able to dispel the skepticism with which the Slovaks had greeted any and all manifestations of centralist Pan-Czechism. The first important meeting between Stefanik and the Czechs and the Slovaks was held on July 1, 191 7 at the Congress Hall Hotel in Washington. Dr. Fisher, President of the Czech National Society; Albert Mamatey, President of the Slovak League; Emil Voslm; Ivan Daxner; Charles Pergler; Dr. Hrdlicka; Ivan Bielek; and, Ferdinand Pisecky were some of the important men who attended. "Stefanik reported on conditions in Russia but the main object of the meeting was to arrange the military organization and the cooperation of the Czechs and Slovaks. At this meeting Daxner raised the Czecho-Slovak question and against his so-called 'autonomistic attitude,' Stefanik emphasized the necessity of forming a politically inseparable state and not an ethnographically inseparable one." 16 (Whether Stefanik envisioned a separate Slovak assembly in Bratislava to handle Slovak affairs is not clear.) Charles Pergler who also attended the meeting has asserted: " Naturally, the representatives of the Slovak organizations of the future Czechoslovak state often came to Stefanik. Stefanik always insisted that it was the concern of the nation at home, that it alone must decide concerning its future organization, in short, that it is impossible to dictate from beyond the borders of the country and that every such attempt would be futile. Whenever the question of Slovak autonomy arose, he !decidedly pointed out, that no guarantees could be demanded from th<>se living outside of the new state. " 11 �SLOVAKIA 129 However, it is impossible to deny the fact that Stefanik, although he gave no written promise, did reach an agreement with the American Slovaks and succeeded in gaining their cooperation with the American Czechs without the Slovaks relinquishing their principles. Stefanik in a ringing declaration on September 16 at the Carnegie Hall mass meeting told several thousand compatriots that "Our fight against Austria-Hungary can end only when both our fraternal nations, the Czechs and the Slovaks, are united in an independent State free of Magyar-German domination." 18 It was at this meeting also that Franklin Bouillon made the first public statement by an influential allied statesman officially calling for the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. At a meeting held in New York on September 20, Stefanik was able to dispel the fears of the Slovak Catholic clergymen-that Slovak Catholicism would suffer at the hands of a completely Czechi"zed non-Catholic or perhaps anti-Catholic government in Prague. Stefanik and the Clergy agreed that the new state would have to guarantee religious in addition to cultural freedom for Slovakia before the American Slovaks would give their full support to it. Of the success of this meeting Benes later wrote: ''The meeting with the Slovak priests was very important because at this meeting Stefanik broke all suspicion and unwillingness of the priests as regards the movement for independence . . ." 19 Although stefanik's delicate health prohibited him from making many public appearances, when he did, however, he succeeded in making a deep impression upon his listeners. He spoke both Slovak and Czech and would sometimes pass from one laguage into the other in the same speech. "He gained the confidence off the people by his enthusiasm and his fascinating manner as well as with his firm and uncompromising attitude towards all things." 20 In other meetings which were held Stefanik met with presidents of the Slovak and Czech organizations (July 1); received a deputation of Slovaks headed by Milan Getting �130 SLOVAKIA (July 24); was present at a meeting of Czecho-Slovak artists (August 13); and, in September addressed the Czech and Slovak women of New York. 21 After a meeting which took place between the sixteenth and eighteenth of October, Stefanik along with other Czech and Slovak leaders organized a Czecho-Slovak military committee in order that the recruiting could proceed in an orga_¢zed manner. After the meeting recruiting was begun by a proclamation for mobilization by Stefanik who also issued instructions for the Czecho-Slovak soldiers in America. The country was divided into four sections each · with a separate "reporter" who was responsible to Stefanik. This plan later had to be adjusted. The recruiting did not go as well as had been expected. Many of the Czechs and Slovaks had already joined the Canadian army even before the United States entered the War and, forty thousand22 joined the American army soon after the United States entered. Thus, only two thousand five hundred23 men were recruited. Having completed the task of cementing Czecho-Sloval{ relationships in the United States, Stefanik was granted permission by French General Vignal to return to Paris in order to organize the Czechs in France. Vignal highly praised stefanik's work in America in a telegram sent on November 5 and December 5, 1917 saying: "He proved to possess the highest degree of tact, discipline and sense for organization. His personal influence in all matters was such that no misunderstanding arose during his stay and all the Crech groups followed his directions" aqd again "I am not able to praise sufficiently this great patriot, coolheaded and inspired by the most honest and highest feelings. Full of tact and wisdom, he gained the sympathies of the highest officials of the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he organizeld with the greatest success the recruiting of the Czechoslovaks."24 All of this time, the collapse of Austria-Hungary continued steadily. In 1918 for the first time the Czech members of the Reichsrat demanded a sovereign state of their own. The establishment of Czecho-Slovakia had only vaguely been an allied war aim. However, when the Allies realized how important a Czech and Slovak movement free of Bolshevism would be in central Europe, the National Council then began to make progress. It was �SLOVAKIA 131 Stefani.k's Czecho-Slovak legion in Russia that finally swayed the tide of allied opinion. The legion had remained apart from and had even fought against the Bolsheviks and, for this reason, Allied statesmen took another look at Masaryk's National Council and its aims. May 30, 1918 Thomas Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact which guaranteed Slovakia its autonomy. "On September 3, 1918 Masaryk and the National Council were recognized as the de-facto government of Czecho-Slovakia. The new government now had legal existence.''.25 However, the feeling which followed this was shortlived. It was soon discovered that Masaryk did not take the signing of the Pittsburgh Pact seriously as can be seen by the statement, "it (the Pittsburgh Pact) was concluded in order to appease a small faction which was dreaming of God knows what sort of independence for Slovakia." 26 According to Gilbert L. Oddo, the Slovaks in America should have insisted that Stefanik, too, sign the Pittsburgh Pact thus binding the National Council itself. The declaration of independence that was presented to Secretary of State Lansing in order to be approved had stated: "that the rights of Bohemia might be united to those of the Slovak brethren in Slovakia, once a part of our (Czech) state ... " 27 Stefanik was displeased with the manner and the wording of the declaration. An aide had written that the General was disturbed because the proclamation was issued in Washington instead of Paris; issued without his previous knowledge; and, that Masaryk had affixed his (Stefanik's) signature to it without prior consultation. Stefanik voiced these objections both to Masaryk and Benes by telegraph on October eighteenth. 28 Soon after Masaryk's National Council took over the Czecho-Slovak government in Prague on October 28, 191829 other atrocities were committed to make Slovakia seem more insignificant. Dr. Vavro srobar was appointed by Prague as Minister Plenipotentiary for the administration of Slovakia. He had surrounded himself solely with Prague-educated Czechophiles and was strongly against any form of Slovak autonomy. �132 SLOVAKIA At the Peace Conference at Versailles in 1919, the Slovak nation was included in Czecho-Slovakia only because Masaryk and Benes asserted that the Slovaks were Czechs who spoke a dialect of the Czech language. When Andrew Hlinka, the great Slovak fighter for autonomy and leader of the Slovak People's Party, wanted to expose this false claim, he was expelled. He was later imprisoned by the Czechs. But the worst blow to Slovakia was the death of General Milan Stefanik amidst circumstances that have been suspected ever since. A little after 11 a.m. on May 4, 1919 the Italian plane-Caproni No. 11,495, carrying Stefanik to CzechoSlovakia to take up his duties as first Minister of Defense in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, circled the Vajnory Airport near Bratislava for a landing. In one blind flash the plane rocked, burst into flames, and crashed to the ground, a victim of an anti-aircraft barrage thrown up by the Czecho-Slovak military garrison at the field on orders from its Czech commanding officer. Prague tried to keep the tragedy very secret. When that proved to be impossible, stefanik's death was explained as an accident. The commanding officer had thought it to be an enemy plane. "But despite all the rationalizing attempts of Czech propaganda, eye witnesses still alive today, as well as certain members of the military garrison, insist that the shooting was willful, that Stefanik was deliberately murdered." 30 Masaryk expressed his personal regrets but refused to have the "accident" investigated either because it would damage the negotiations at Versailles or perhaps because it would give damaging evidence of Czech duplicity and deceit. Stefanik had been openly displeased with the slighting reference to Slovakia in Masaryk's declaration of independence. "Stefanik was a fierce Slovak patriot who would not stand still to the Czech centralism, the outline of which by this time had already been revealed."31 He was a Slovak Christian who could nev_er compromise with the rationalist agnosticism of the chief policy makers in Prague. Stefanik was thus an "inconvenient gadfly" 32 to Czech plans to make Slovakia a part of the "great Czechia" that �SLOVAKIA 133 the National Council had dreamed of. The death of Stefanik served Prague well. It can only be suspected if it was planned that way. Even from the sketchy reference to his work and the surprisingly meagre sources available to the historian of today, it is clearly evident that in courage, in self-sacrifice, in tact and ability in diplomacy, in integrity, and in zeal for the cause he was no t surpassed by anyone of the leaders in the Czech<>-Slovak movement for independence.33 Thus, with stefanik',s death the year 1919 came to a tragic close. The autonomy which had been sought, cherished and died for under Magyar rule still seemed a remote hope. Indeed, Slovakia did not become an independent state until 1939 under Tiso. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) S. Harrison Thomson, Czecho-Slovakia in European History, Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 1944, p. 252. Gilbert L. Oddo, Slovakia And Its People, New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960, p . 160. Dr. Thomas Garigue Masaryk, The Making of a State, New York : Frederick A. Stokes, 1927, p. 191. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. , p. 102. Ibid., p. 104. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p . 161. Ibid., p. 162. Ibid., p . 163. Stephanie 0. Husek, " General Milan Rastislav Stefanik in America,"' Jednota Katolicky Kalend.ar, 1938, p. 184. Gilbert L. O<l):lo, op. cit., p. 165. Stephanie 0 . Husek, op. cit., p. 185. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 166. Stephanie 0 . Rusek, op. cit., p. 189. Ibid. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 167. Ibid. , pp. 168-169. Stephanie 0. Husek, <ip. cit., p. 190. Ibid. Ibid. , p. 183. Ib~i., p. 184. Ibid. , p. 192. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 177. Ibid., p. 176. Ibid., p. 183. Ibid. Ibid., p. 182. Ibid., pp. 191-192. �134 SLOVAKIA 31) Ibid., p . 192. 32) Ibid. 33) Stephanie 0. Rusek, op. cit., p. 182. BIBLIOGRAPHY Harrison, S. Czechoslovakia in European History, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1944, pp. 196-283. Husek, Stephanie 0 . Ph.D. "General Milan Ra:stislav Stefanik in America," in Jednota Katolicky Kalerzt:lar, 1938, pp. 181-192. Kerner, Robert J . (ed). Czechoslovakia, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1940. Masaryk, Thomas Garigue, The Making of a State, New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1927. Oddo, Gilbert L. Slovakia And Its People, New York: Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Seton-Watson, R. W. A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, New York: Hutchinson and Co., 1943. Weiss, Louise. "The Founders of the Czech Republic," in Current H istory, Vol. 11, pp. 287-289. (SECOND PRIZE AWARD) Svatopluk: Political Opportunist or National Hero? Mary Susan Sabol Great Moravia, founded in the early ninth century, was the first political organization established by the Danubian Slavs without foreign leadership or foreign interference. Because of the Frankish pressure on the Slavs after the Avar's fall, the Slavs under Mojmir I determined to create an independent state, with its power centers at Devin and Nitra, based on the tradition of the previous Samo state. Great Moravia achieved its greatest power and influence under Svatopluk, of the Mojmirid line, from 871 to 894.1 In 870, Svatopluk, regent of Nitra, plotted with German backing against his uncle, Rastislav, ruler of the Great Moravian Empire. 2 When Rastislav heard of the plot, he challenged Svatopluk to do battle. Rastislav, however, was defeated and taken prisoner by the Germans. Svatopluk was entrusted with Great Moravia by Carloman, son of Louis the German. Soon Svatopluk lost the confidence of the Germans; was deposed and imprisoned. � 124 SLOVAKIA General Milan Rastislav Stefanik and the Moven1ent for Czecho-Slovak Independence Mary Ann Kadera It soon became apparent to Thomas G. Masaryk and the group of exiles around him; namely, Edward Benes, Antonin Svehla, and the Doctors Hajn, Scheiner, Herban and samal1 that in order to induce the allies to agree to the partition of the Dual Monarchy, the people who would be free after the partition had to make a tangible contribution to the allied war efforts. "To this end the National Czecho-Slovak Committee was established with Masaryk as head, Edward Benes, Masaryk's right-hand man, as secretary and the great Slovak, General Milan Stefanik as vice president." 2 Since Stefanik was the only one of the three who had had any military experience (he had served with distinction in the French Air Force) the task of providing a Czecho-Slovak division to fight with the allied armies was given to him. The son of a Protestant minister, Stefanik, who was born in the Slovak village of Kosariska in 1880, had achieved a brilliant career as a mathematician and an astronomer of world wide stature. After completing his studies of science, law and medicine at the University of Prague, he went to Paris in 19043 where he became Secretary to the Astronomical Observ:atory. As a result he was sent on scientific and astronomical missions to various parts of the world such as Mont Blanc, Spain, Oxford, Turkestan, Algiers, South America and Tahiti. 4 Using his influence in the Frenoh social circle, Stefanik began to acquaint those in influence of Magyar tyranny and to gain their sympathy for the suffering Slovak nation. As soon as Austria declared war on Serbs, Stefanik left Marocco where he had been engaged in astronomical observation and returned to France and enlisted as a private in the French army. (Stefanik was also a citizen �SLOVAKIA 125 of France). After first fighting on the Western front, Stefanik was tranferred to the French Air Force in January and in July 1915 took part in the battles on the Aisne and near Ypres. 5 Afterwards he was sent as an airman to Serbia. Having no contact with Masaryk or his plans as yet, Stefanik already thought of organizing a separate corps of Slovaks who had fought against their convictions on the side of Austria-Hungary and who had been captured by the Allies. Due to the Serbian retreat he was forced to abandon this plan. Toward the end of November, Stefanik arrived in Rome on a special torpedo boat from Vallona. While in Rome his fame as a member of the French Academy led to his acquaintance with the French Ambassador, Monsieur Barrere and Sonnino, the Italian Foreign Minister. Upon returning to Paris, Stefanik became associated with Masaryk and Benes. Thus the nucleus of the CzechoSlovak Legion was organized in France. It was Stefanik who held the link to the important government officials who would one day decide the fate of Austria-Hungary and with it Czecho-Slovakia. Stefanik travelled to Italy where he used his influence to spread the cause of establishing an independent state for the Czechs and the Slovaks after the defeat of AustriaHungary. In July and August of 19166 he visited Russia where he conferred with all military authorities and even with the Tsar who sent, through Stefanik, greetings to Masaryk and approval of his policy. From Russia Stefanik went to the Rumanian front where he organized many volunteer Slovak prisoners for military service in France which arrived in the summer of 1917. He returned to Russia in January 1917 and then proceeded to Paris. While in Paris, he kept in touch with the Southern Slavic states and Italy. Then, he continued to Rome. 7 Of Stefanik and his journey, Thomas G. Masaryk, in his book, The Making of a State, comments: His methods were those of an apostle rather than of <1 diplomat and soldier. In Paris, where he had gradually made a ckcle of friends and admirers, he smoothed the way for me and for Dr. Benes in many an influential quarter and he did tqe same in Rome. When I Ulink of him I always remember the picture ()f �126 SLOVAKIA our little Slovak tinkers who wander throughout the world; but this Slovak wandered through all the Allied fronts, through all Government Departments, political drawing-rooms and Courts. From him Marshall Foch heard for the first time about us and our work against Austria.a "But perhaps stefanik's most important contribution to the future of his people was the visit he made to the United States in 1917." 9 In the United States, American Slovaks and Czechs were promoting the cause of Czechoslovakia. It was Stefanik who was largely responsible for the combining of the two efforts ( one here and the other in Paris) toward the common goal both were seeking. Although the American Slovaks wanted a Slovakia free of Magyar rule, they distrusted the idea of uniting with the Czechs who were numerically superior. Before they would accept this union, they had to be guaranteeed that Slovakia would be a political and cultural autonomy in the proposed new state. For this reason representatives of the Czech National Alliance and the Slovak League met and signed the Cleveland Agreement. In the Agreement three main points were emphasized: 1) The new state would be a federal republic consisting of both Czech lands (Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia) and Slovakia. 2) Slovakia would be nationally autonomous, it would have its own administration, schools and cultural development and also the use of the Slovak language within its borders. 3) Voting suffrage in Czecho-Slovakia would be secret, universal and direct. 10 But despite the good will which was created by the Cleveland Agreement, Slovak fears of "Czechism" still persisted. There was good reason for this fear. In 1916 Czech spokesmen began to use the term "Czechia" to describe the Council's objectives, the Council's publication, "Samostatnost," talked unceasingly of the Czech army, the Czech language and the Czech culture, leaving no doubt that for them the new state was to be dominated by the Czechs. Even Masaryk stated in an official communique to London that "The Slovaks are Czechs." In so doing, he not only ignored a thousand years of history but also brought the full weight of Slovak wrath upon him. In his reply to Masaryk, Vladimir Hurban wrote to Masaryk in 1917: �SLOVAKIA 127 There is not a single Slovak in all Slovakia who would call himself a Czech. Slovaks regard themselves as an ethnically distinct nation, as such we have lived and suffered. As Slovaks we hope to see dawn of liberty fur our land; we wish to unite with Czechs in one political state, but onl.y if our national and cultural autonomy will be safeguarded.11 In order to counteract the Pan-Czech attitude and to have the Cleveland Agreement gain wider acceptance in Europe, the Slovak League of America sent Gustav Kosik, editor of the Catholic Sokol and Dr. Stephen Osusky, a lawyer and a Protestant minister, as its representative to the National Council. During this time the recruitment of the Czech-Slovak foreign legion was going wery slowly. For this reason Edward Benes requested the French government to entrust Stefanik with the mission of organizing volunteers among the American Czechs and Slovaks for the army in France with the approval of the United States government. Permission was granted while Stefanik was still in Russia. Stefanik postponed this trip to the United States in order to complete his work in Rumania where he gained one thousand 12 prisoners for the Czecho-Slovak army. Before stefanik's departure 1 the French government had already sent a special political commission headed by Franklin Bouillon to gain the permission of the United States government for this task. Upon arriving in America in June 191713 Stefanik through the French ambassador, Jusserand, immediately contacted the government officials in Washington. After a conference with the then Secretary of State, Lansing, in which Jusserand stressed the loyalty of the Czechs and Slovaks to the United States of America, permission was granted to all Czechs and Slovaks not subject to military duty in the American army to join the CzechoSlovak Legion in France. Besides the recruitment, Stefanik · also had to see to the financial and travelling arrangements. While in the United States, Stefanik contacted American journalists and wrote several articles on the cause for the newpapers. He aroused both the interest of F. H. Allen of the "World" and of Gordon Smith, ("The New Republic,") and his articles soon appeared in their magazines. �128 SLOVAKIA Theodore Roosevelt, Lansing Frank and A. Polk Oater the head of the American delegation at the Peace Conference at Versailles) were other influential people with whom Stefanik caxne in close contact. 14 It has been conceded by most historians that Stefanik achieved his greatest success in the United States by securing the cooperation of both parties ( the Czechs and the Slovaks) in the Czecho-Slovak movement. stefanik was a true Slovak patriot. "While dealing with him the American Slovaks could be sure of an integrity and a sincere awareness of Slovak affairs they often found missing in Czech leaders." 15 For this reason, Stefanik was able to dispel the skepticism with which the Slovaks had greeted any and all manifestations of centralist Pan-Czechism. The first important meeting between Stefanik and the Czechs and the Slovaks was held on July 1, 191 7 at the Congress Hall Hotel in Washington. Dr. Fisher, President of the Czech National Society; Albert Mamatey, President of the Slovak League; Emil Voslm; Ivan Daxner; Charles Pergler; Dr. Hrdlicka; Ivan Bielek; and, Ferdinand Pisecky were some of the important men who attended. "Stefanik reported on conditions in Russia but the main object of the meeting was to arrange the military organization and the cooperation of the Czechs and Slovaks. At this meeting Daxner raised the Czecho-Slovak question and against his so-called 'autonomistic attitude,' Stefanik emphasized the necessity of forming a politically inseparable state and not an ethnographically inseparable one." 16 (Whether Stefanik envisioned a separate Slovak assembly in Bratislava to handle Slovak affairs is not clear.) Charles Pergler who also attended the meeting has asserted: " Naturally, the representatives of the Slovak organizations of the future Czechoslovak state often came to Stefanik. Stefanik always insisted that it was the concern of the nation at home, that it alone must decide concerning its future organization, in short, that it is impossible to dictate from beyond the borders of the country and that every such attempt would be futile. Whenever the question of Slovak autonomy arose, he !decidedly pointed out, that no guarantees could be demanded from th<>se living outside of the new state. " 11 �SLOVAKIA 129 However, it is impossible to deny the fact that Stefanik, although he gave no written promise, did reach an agreement with the American Slovaks and succeeded in gaining their cooperation with the American Czechs without the Slovaks relinquishing their principles. Stefanik in a ringing declaration on September 16 at the Carnegie Hall mass meeting told several thousand compatriots that "Our fight against Austria-Hungary can end only when both our fraternal nations, the Czechs and the Slovaks, are united in an independent State free of Magyar-German domination." 18 It was at this meeting also that Franklin Bouillon made the first public statement by an influential allied statesman officially calling for the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. At a meeting held in New York on September 20, Stefanik was able to dispel the fears of the Slovak Catholic clergymen-that Slovak Catholicism would suffer at the hands of a completely Czechi"zed non-Catholic or perhaps anti-Catholic government in Prague. Stefanik and the Clergy agreed that the new state would have to guarantee religious in addition to cultural freedom for Slovakia before the American Slovaks would give their full support to it. Of the success of this meeting Benes later wrote: ''The meeting with the Slovak priests was very important because at this meeting Stefanik broke all suspicion and unwillingness of the priests as regards the movement for independence . . ." 19 Although stefanik's delicate health prohibited him from making many public appearances, when he did, however, he succeeded in making a deep impression upon his listeners. He spoke both Slovak and Czech and would sometimes pass from one laguage into the other in the same speech. "He gained the confidence off the people by his enthusiasm and his fascinating manner as well as with his firm and uncompromising attitude towards all things." 20 In other meetings which were held Stefanik met with presidents of the Slovak and Czech organizations (July 1); received a deputation of Slovaks headed by Milan Getting �130 SLOVAKIA (July 24); was present at a meeting of Czecho-Slovak artists (August 13); and, in September addressed the Czech and Slovak women of New York. 21 After a meeting which took place between the sixteenth and eighteenth of October, Stefanik along with other Czech and Slovak leaders organized a Czecho-Slovak military committee in order that the recruiting could proceed in an orga_¢zed manner. After the meeting recruiting was begun by a proclamation for mobilization by Stefanik who also issued instructions for the Czecho-Slovak soldiers in America. The country was divided into four sections each · with a separate "reporter" who was responsible to Stefanik. This plan later had to be adjusted. The recruiting did not go as well as had been expected. Many of the Czechs and Slovaks had already joined the Canadian army even before the United States entered the War and, forty thousand22 joined the American army soon after the United States entered. Thus, only two thousand five hundred23 men were recruited. Having completed the task of cementing Czecho-Sloval{ relationships in the United States, Stefanik was granted permission by French General Vignal to return to Paris in order to organize the Czechs in France. Vignal highly praised stefanik's work in America in a telegram sent on November 5 and December 5, 1917 saying: "He proved to possess the highest degree of tact, discipline and sense for organization. His personal influence in all matters was such that no misunderstanding arose during his stay and all the Crech groups followed his directions" aqd again "I am not able to praise sufficiently this great patriot, coolheaded and inspired by the most honest and highest feelings. Full of tact and wisdom, he gained the sympathies of the highest officials of the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he organizeld with the greatest success the recruiting of the Czechoslovaks."24 All of this time, the collapse of Austria-Hungary continued steadily. In 1918 for the first time the Czech members of the Reichsrat demanded a sovereign state of their own. The establishment of Czecho-Slovakia had only vaguely been an allied war aim. However, when the Allies realized how important a Czech and Slovak movement free of Bolshevism would be in central Europe, the National Council then began to make progress. It was �SLOVAKIA 131 Stefani.k's Czecho-Slovak legion in Russia that finally swayed the tide of allied opinion. The legion had remained apart from and had even fought against the Bolsheviks and, for this reason, Allied statesmen took another look at Masaryk's National Council and its aims. May 30, 1918 Thomas Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact which guaranteed Slovakia its autonomy. "On September 3, 1918 Masaryk and the National Council were recognized as the de-facto government of Czecho-Slovakia. The new government now had legal existence.''.25 However, the feeling which followed this was shortlived. It was soon discovered that Masaryk did not take the signing of the Pittsburgh Pact seriously as can be seen by the statement, "it (the Pittsburgh Pact) was concluded in order to appease a small faction which was dreaming of God knows what sort of independence for Slovakia." 26 According to Gilbert L. Oddo, the Slovaks in America should have insisted that Stefanik, too, sign the Pittsburgh Pact thus binding the National Council itself. The declaration of independence that was presented to Secretary of State Lansing in order to be approved had stated: "that the rights of Bohemia might be united to those of the Slovak brethren in Slovakia, once a part of our (Czech) state ... " 27 Stefanik was displeased with the manner and the wording of the declaration. An aide had written that the General was disturbed because the proclamation was issued in Washington instead of Paris; issued without his previous knowledge; and, that Masaryk had affixed his (Stefanik's) signature to it without prior consultation. Stefanik voiced these objections both to Masaryk and Benes by telegraph on October eighteenth. 28 Soon after Masaryk's National Council took over the Czecho-Slovak government in Prague on October 28, 191829 other atrocities were committed to make Slovakia seem more insignificant. Dr. Vavro srobar was appointed by Prague as Minister Plenipotentiary for the administration of Slovakia. He had surrounded himself solely with Prague-educated Czechophiles and was strongly against any form of Slovak autonomy. �132 SLOVAKIA At the Peace Conference at Versailles in 1919, the Slovak nation was included in Czecho-Slovakia only because Masaryk and Benes asserted that the Slovaks were Czechs who spoke a dialect of the Czech language. When Andrew Hlinka, the great Slovak fighter for autonomy and leader of the Slovak People's Party, wanted to expose this false claim, he was expelled. He was later imprisoned by the Czechs. But the worst blow to Slovakia was the death of General Milan Stefanik amidst circumstances that have been suspected ever since. A little after 11 a.m. on May 4, 1919 the Italian plane-Caproni No. 11,495, carrying Stefanik to CzechoSlovakia to take up his duties as first Minister of Defense in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, circled the Vajnory Airport near Bratislava for a landing. In one blind flash the plane rocked, burst into flames, and crashed to the ground, a victim of an anti-aircraft barrage thrown up by the Czecho-Slovak military garrison at the field on orders from its Czech commanding officer. Prague tried to keep the tragedy very secret. When that proved to be impossible, stefanik's death was explained as an accident. The commanding officer had thought it to be an enemy plane. "But despite all the rationalizing attempts of Czech propaganda, eye witnesses still alive today, as well as certain members of the military garrison, insist that the shooting was willful, that Stefanik was deliberately murdered." 30 Masaryk expressed his personal regrets but refused to have the "accident" investigated either because it would damage the negotiations at Versailles or perhaps because it would give damaging evidence of Czech duplicity and deceit. Stefanik had been openly displeased with the slighting reference to Slovakia in Masaryk's declaration of independence. "Stefanik was a fierce Slovak patriot who would not stand still to the Czech centralism, the outline of which by this time had already been revealed."31 He was a Slovak Christian who could nev_er compromise with the rationalist agnosticism of the chief policy makers in Prague. Stefanik was thus an "inconvenient gadfly" 32 to Czech plans to make Slovakia a part of the "great Czechia" that �SLOVAKIA 133 the National Council had dreamed of. The death of Stefanik served Prague well. It can only be suspected if it was planned that way. Even from the sketchy reference to his work and the surprisingly meagre sources available to the historian of today, it is clearly evident that in courage, in self-sacrifice, in tact and ability in diplomacy, in integrity, and in zeal for the cause he was no t surpassed by anyone of the leaders in the Czech<>-Slovak movement for independence.33 Thus, with stefanik',s death the year 1919 came to a tragic close. The autonomy which had been sought, cherished and died for under Magyar rule still seemed a remote hope. Indeed, Slovakia did not become an independent state until 1939 under Tiso. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) S. Harrison Thomson, Czecho-Slovakia in European History, Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 1944, p. 252. Gilbert L. Oddo, Slovakia And Its People, New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960, p . 160. Dr. Thomas Garigue Masaryk, The Making of a State, New York : Frederick A. Stokes, 1927, p. 191. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. , p. 102. Ibid., p. 104. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p . 161. Ibid., p. 162. Ibid., p . 163. Stephanie 0. Husek, " General Milan Rastislav Stefanik in America,"' Jednota Katolicky Kalend.ar, 1938, p. 184. Gilbert L. O<l):lo, op. cit., p. 165. Stephanie 0 . Husek, op. cit., p. 185. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 166. Stephanie 0 . Rusek, op. cit., p. 189. Ibid. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 167. Ibid. , pp. 168-169. Stephanie 0. Husek, <ip. cit., p. 190. Ibid. Ibid. , p. 183. Ib~i., p. 184. Ibid. , p. 192. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 177. Ibid., p. 176. Ibid., p. 183. Ibid. Ibid., p. 182. Ibid., pp. 191-192. �134 SLOVAKIA 31) Ibid., p . 192. 32) Ibid. 33) Stephanie 0. Rusek, op. cit., p. 182. BIBLIOGRAPHY Harrison, S. Czechoslovakia in European History, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1944, pp. 196-283. Husek, Stephanie 0 . Ph.D. "General Milan Ra:stislav Stefanik in America," in Jednota Katolicky Kalerzt:lar, 1938, pp. 181-192. Kerner, Robert J . (ed). Czechoslovakia, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1940. Masaryk, Thomas Garigue, The Making of a State, New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1927. Oddo, Gilbert L. Slovakia And Its People, New York: Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Seton-Watson, R. W. A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, New York: Hutchinson and Co., 1943. Weiss, Louise. "The Founders of the Czech Republic," in Current H istory, Vol. 11, pp. 287-289. (SECOND PRIZE AWARD) Svatopluk: Political Opportunist or National Hero? Mary Susan Sabol Great Moravia, founded in the early ninth century, was the first political organization established by the Danubian Slavs without foreign leadership or foreign interference. Because of the Frankish pressure on the Slavs after the Avar's fall, the Slavs under Mojmir I determined to create an independent state, with its power centers at Devin and Nitra, based on the tradition of the previous Samo state. Great Moravia achieved its greatest power and influence under Svatopluk, of the Mojmirid line, from 871 to 894.1 In 870, Svatopluk, regent of Nitra, plotted with German backing against his uncle, Rastislav, ruler of the Great Moravian Empire. 2 When Rastislav heard of the plot, he challenged Svatopluk to do battle. Rastislav, however, was defeated and taken prisoner by the Germans. Svatopluk was entrusted with Great Moravia by Carloman, son of Louis the German. Soon Svatopluk lost the confidence of the Germans; was deposed and imprisoned. � 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 124 SLOVAKIA General Milan Rastislav Stefanik and the Moven1ent for Czecho-Slovak Independence Mary Ann Kadera It soon became apparent to Thomas G. Masaryk and the group of exiles around him; namely, Edward Benes, Antonin Svehla, and the Doctors Hajn, Scheiner, Herban and samal1 that in order to induce the allies to agree to the partition of the Dual Monarchy, the people who would be free after the partition had to make a tangible contribution to the allied war efforts. "To this end the National Czecho-Slovak Committee was established with Masaryk as head, Edward Benes, Masaryk's right-hand man, as secretary and the great Slovak, General Milan Stefanik as vice president." 2 Since Stefanik was the only one of the three who had had any military experience (he had served with distinction in the French Air Force) the task of providing a Czecho-Slovak division to fight with the allied armies was given to him. The son of a Protestant minister, Stefanik, who was born in the Slovak village of Kosariska in 1880, had achieved a brilliant career as a mathematician and an astronomer of world wide stature. After completing his studies of science, law and medicine at the University of Prague, he went to Paris in 19043 where he became Secretary to the Astronomical Observ:atory. As a result he was sent on scientific and astronomical missions to various parts of the world such as Mont Blanc, Spain, Oxford, Turkestan, Algiers, South America and Tahiti. 4 Using his influence in the Frenoh social circle, Stefanik began to acquaint those in influence of Magyar tyranny and to gain their sympathy for the suffering Slovak nation. As soon as Austria declared war on Serbs, Stefanik left Marocco where he had been engaged in astronomical observation and returned to France and enlisted as a private in the French army. (Stefanik was also a citizen SLOVAKIA 125 of France). After first fighting on the Western front, Stefanik was tranferred to the French Air Force in January and in July 1915 took part in the battles on the Aisne and near Ypres. 5 Afterwards he was sent as an airman to Serbia. Having no contact with Masaryk or his plans as yet, Stefanik already thought of organizing a separate corps of Slovaks who had fought against their convictions on the side of Austria-Hungary and who had been captured by the Allies. Due to the Serbian retreat he was forced to abandon this plan. Toward the end of November, Stefanik arrived in Rome on a special torpedo boat from Vallona. While in Rome his fame as a member of the French Academy led to his acquaintance with the French Ambassador, Monsieur Barrere and Sonnino, the Italian Foreign Minister. Upon returning to Paris, Stefanik became associated with Masaryk and Benes. Thus the nucleus of the CzechoSlovak Legion was organized in France. It was Stefanik who held the link to the important government officials who would one day decide the fate of Austria-Hungary and with it Czecho-Slovakia. Stefanik travelled to Italy where he used his influence to spread the cause of establishing an independent state for the Czechs and the Slovaks after the defeat of AustriaHungary. In July and August of 19166 he visited Russia where he conferred with all military authorities and even with the Tsar who sent, through Stefanik, greetings to Masaryk and approval of his policy. From Russia Stefanik went to the Rumanian front where he organized many volunteer Slovak prisoners for military service in France which arrived in the summer of 1917. He returned to Russia in January 1917 and then proceeded to Paris. While in Paris, he kept in touch with the Southern Slavic states and Italy. Then, he continued to Rome. 7 Of Stefanik and his journey, Thomas G. Masaryk, in his book, The Making of a State, comments: His methods were those of an apostle rather than of <1 diplomat and soldier. In Paris, where he had gradually made a ckcle of friends and admirers, he smoothed the way for me and for Dr. Benes in many an influential quarter and he did tqe same in Rome. When I Ulink of him I always remember the picture ()f 126 SLOVAKIA our little Slovak tinkers who wander throughout the world; but this Slovak wandered through all the Allied fronts, through all Government Departments, political drawing-rooms and Courts. From him Marshall Foch heard for the first time about us and our work against Austria.a "But perhaps stefanik's most important contribution to the future of his people was the visit he made to the United States in 1917." 9 In the United States, American Slovaks and Czechs were promoting the cause of Czechoslovakia. It was Stefanik who was largely responsible for the combining of the two efforts ( one here and the other in Paris) toward the common goal both were seeking. Although the American Slovaks wanted a Slovakia free of Magyar rule, they distrusted the idea of uniting with the Czechs who were numerically superior. Before they would accept this union, they had to be guaranteeed that Slovakia would be a political and cultural autonomy in the proposed new state. For this reason representatives of the Czech National Alliance and the Slovak League met and signed the Cleveland Agreement. In the Agreement three main points were emphasized: 1) The new state would be a federal republic consisting of both Czech lands (Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia) and Slovakia. 2) Slovakia would be nationally autonomous, it would have its own administration, schools and cultural development and also the use of the Slovak language within its borders. 3) Voting suffrage in Czecho-Slovakia would be secret, universal and direct. 10 But despite the good will which was created by the Cleveland Agreement, Slovak fears of "Czechism" still persisted. There was good reason for this fear. In 1916 Czech spokesmen began to use the term "Czechia" to describe the Council's objectives, the Council's publication, "Samostatnost," talked unceasingly of the Czech army, the Czech language and the Czech culture, leaving no doubt that for them the new state was to be dominated by the Czechs. Even Masaryk stated in an official communique to London that "The Slovaks are Czechs." In so doing, he not only ignored a thousand years of history but also brought the full weight of Slovak wrath upon him. In his reply to Masaryk, Vladimir Hurban wrote to Masaryk in 1917: SLOVAKIA 127 There is not a single Slovak in all Slovakia who would call himself a Czech. Slovaks regard themselves as an ethnically distinct nation, as such we have lived and suffered. As Slovaks we hope to see dawn of liberty fur our land; we wish to unite with Czechs in one political state, but onl.y if our national and cultural autonomy will be safeguarded.11 In order to counteract the Pan-Czech attitude and to have the Cleveland Agreement gain wider acceptance in Europe, the Slovak League of America sent Gustav Kosik, editor of the Catholic Sokol and Dr. Stephen Osusky, a lawyer and a Protestant minister, as its representative to the National Council. During this time the recruitment of the Czech-Slovak foreign legion was going wery slowly. For this reason Edward Benes requested the French government to entrust Stefanik with the mission of organizing volunteers among the American Czechs and Slovaks for the army in France with the approval of the United States government. Permission was granted while Stefanik was still in Russia. Stefanik postponed this trip to the United States in order to complete his work in Rumania where he gained one thousand 12 prisoners for the Czecho-Slovak army. Before stefanik's departure 1 the French government had already sent a special political commission headed by Franklin Bouillon to gain the permission of the United States government for this task. Upon arriving in America in June 191713 Stefanik through the French ambassador, Jusserand, immediately contacted the government officials in Washington. After a conference with the then Secretary of State, Lansing, in which Jusserand stressed the loyalty of the Czechs and Slovaks to the United States of America, permission was granted to all Czechs and Slovaks not subject to military duty in the American army to join the CzechoSlovak Legion in France. Besides the recruitment, Stefanik · also had to see to the financial and travelling arrangements. While in the United States, Stefanik contacted American journalists and wrote several articles on the cause for the newpapers. He aroused both the interest of F. H. Allen of the "World" and of Gordon Smith, ("The New Republic,") and his articles soon appeared in their magazines. 128 SLOVAKIA Theodore Roosevelt, Lansing Frank and A. Polk Oater the head of the American delegation at the Peace Conference at Versailles) were other influential people with whom Stefanik caxne in close contact. 14 It has been conceded by most historians that Stefanik achieved his greatest success in the United States by securing the cooperation of both parties ( the Czechs and the Slovaks) in the Czecho-Slovak movement. stefanik was a true Slovak patriot. "While dealing with him the American Slovaks could be sure of an integrity and a sincere awareness of Slovak affairs they often found missing in Czech leaders." 15 For this reason, Stefanik was able to dispel the skepticism with which the Slovaks had greeted any and all manifestations of centralist Pan-Czechism. The first important meeting between Stefanik and the Czechs and the Slovaks was held on July 1, 191 7 at the Congress Hall Hotel in Washington. Dr. Fisher, President of the Czech National Society; Albert Mamatey, President of the Slovak League; Emil Voslm; Ivan Daxner; Charles Pergler; Dr. Hrdlicka; Ivan Bielek; and, Ferdinand Pisecky were some of the important men who attended. "Stefanik reported on conditions in Russia but the main object of the meeting was to arrange the military organization and the cooperation of the Czechs and Slovaks. At this meeting Daxner raised the Czecho-Slovak question and against his so-called 'autonomistic attitude,' Stefanik emphasized the necessity of forming a politically inseparable state and not an ethnographically inseparable one." 16 (Whether Stefanik envisioned a separate Slovak assembly in Bratislava to handle Slovak affairs is not clear.) Charles Pergler who also attended the meeting has asserted: " Naturally, the representatives of the Slovak organizations of the future Czechoslovak state often came to Stefanik. Stefanik always insisted that it was the concern of the nation at home, that it alone must decide concerning its future organization, in short, that it is impossible to dictate from beyond the borders of the country and that every such attempt would be futile. Whenever the question of Slovak autonomy arose, he !decidedly pointed out, that no guarantees could be demanded from th<>se living outside of the new state. " 11 SLOVAKIA 129 However, it is impossible to deny the fact that Stefanik, although he gave no written promise, did reach an agreement with the American Slovaks and succeeded in gaining their cooperation with the American Czechs without the Slovaks relinquishing their principles. Stefanik in a ringing declaration on September 16 at the Carnegie Hall mass meeting told several thousand compatriots that "Our fight against Austria-Hungary can end only when both our fraternal nations, the Czechs and the Slovaks, are united in an independent State free of Magyar-German domination." 18 It was at this meeting also that Franklin Bouillon made the first public statement by an influential allied statesman officially calling for the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. At a meeting held in New York on September 20, Stefanik was able to dispel the fears of the Slovak Catholic clergymen-that Slovak Catholicism would suffer at the hands of a completely Czechi"zed non-Catholic or perhaps anti-Catholic government in Prague. Stefanik and the Clergy agreed that the new state would have to guarantee religious in addition to cultural freedom for Slovakia before the American Slovaks would give their full support to it. Of the success of this meeting Benes later wrote: ''The meeting with the Slovak priests was very important because at this meeting Stefanik broke all suspicion and unwillingness of the priests as regards the movement for independence . . ." 19 Although stefanik's delicate health prohibited him from making many public appearances, when he did, however, he succeeded in making a deep impression upon his listeners. He spoke both Slovak and Czech and would sometimes pass from one laguage into the other in the same speech. "He gained the confidence off the people by his enthusiasm and his fascinating manner as well as with his firm and uncompromising attitude towards all things." 20 In other meetings which were held Stefanik met with presidents of the Slovak and Czech organizations (July 1); received a deputation of Slovaks headed by Milan Getting 130 SLOVAKIA (July 24); was present at a meeting of Czecho-Slovak artists (August 13); and, in September addressed the Czech and Slovak women of New York. 21 After a meeting which took place between the sixteenth and eighteenth of October, Stefanik along with other Czech and Slovak leaders organized a Czecho-Slovak military committee in order that the recruiting could proceed in an orga_¢zed manner. After the meeting recruiting was begun by a proclamation for mobilization by Stefanik who also issued instructions for the Czecho-Slovak soldiers in America. The country was divided into four sections each · with a separate "reporter" who was responsible to Stefanik. This plan later had to be adjusted. The recruiting did not go as well as had been expected. Many of the Czechs and Slovaks had already joined the Canadian army even before the United States entered the War and, forty thousand22 joined the American army soon after the United States entered. Thus, only two thousand five hundred23 men were recruited. Having completed the task of cementing Czecho-Sloval{ relationships in the United States, Stefanik was granted permission by French General Vignal to return to Paris in order to organize the Czechs in France. Vignal highly praised stefanik's work in America in a telegram sent on November 5 and December 5, 1917 saying: "He proved to possess the highest degree of tact, discipline and sense for organization. His personal influence in all matters was such that no misunderstanding arose during his stay and all the Crech groups followed his directions" aqd again "I am not able to praise sufficiently this great patriot, coolheaded and inspired by the most honest and highest feelings. Full of tact and wisdom, he gained the sympathies of the highest officials of the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he organizeld with the greatest success the recruiting of the Czechoslovaks."24 All of this time, the collapse of Austria-Hungary continued steadily. In 1918 for the first time the Czech members of the Reichsrat demanded a sovereign state of their own. The establishment of Czecho-Slovakia had only vaguely been an allied war aim. However, when the Allies realized how important a Czech and Slovak movement free of Bolshevism would be in central Europe, the National Council then began to make progress. It was SLOVAKIA 131 Stefani.k's Czecho-Slovak legion in Russia that finally swayed the tide of allied opinion. The legion had remained apart from and had even fought against the Bolsheviks and, for this reason, Allied statesmen took another look at Masaryk's National Council and its aims. May 30, 1918 Thomas Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact which guaranteed Slovakia its autonomy. "On September 3, 1918 Masaryk and the National Council were recognized as the de-facto government of Czecho-Slovakia. The new government now had legal existence.''.25 However, the feeling which followed this was shortlived. It was soon discovered that Masaryk did not take the signing of the Pittsburgh Pact seriously as can be seen by the statement, "it (the Pittsburgh Pact) was concluded in order to appease a small faction which was dreaming of God knows what sort of independence for Slovakia." 26 According to Gilbert L. Oddo, the Slovaks in America should have insisted that Stefanik, too, sign the Pittsburgh Pact thus binding the National Council itself. The declaration of independence that was presented to Secretary of State Lansing in order to be approved had stated: "that the rights of Bohemia might be united to those of the Slovak brethren in Slovakia, once a part of our (Czech) state ... " 27 Stefanik was displeased with the manner and the wording of the declaration. An aide had written that the General was disturbed because the proclamation was issued in Washington instead of Paris; issued without his previous knowledge; and, that Masaryk had affixed his (Stefanik's) signature to it without prior consultation. Stefanik voiced these objections both to Masaryk and Benes by telegraph on October eighteenth. 28 Soon after Masaryk's National Council took over the Czecho-Slovak government in Prague on October 28, 191829 other atrocities were committed to make Slovakia seem more insignificant. Dr. Vavro srobar was appointed by Prague as Minister Plenipotentiary for the administration of Slovakia. He had surrounded himself solely with Prague-educated Czechophiles and was strongly against any form of Slovak autonomy. 132 SLOVAKIA At the Peace Conference at Versailles in 1919, the Slovak nation was included in Czecho-Slovakia only because Masaryk and Benes asserted that the Slovaks were Czechs who spoke a dialect of the Czech language. When Andrew Hlinka, the great Slovak fighter for autonomy and leader of the Slovak People's Party, wanted to expose this false claim, he was expelled. He was later imprisoned by the Czechs. But the worst blow to Slovakia was the death of General Milan Stefanik amidst circumstances that have been suspected ever since. A little after 11 a.m. on May 4, 1919 the Italian plane-Caproni No. 11,495, carrying Stefanik to CzechoSlovakia to take up his duties as first Minister of Defense in the Czecho-Slovak Republic, circled the Vajnory Airport near Bratislava for a landing. In one blind flash the plane rocked, burst into flames, and crashed to the ground, a victim of an anti-aircraft barrage thrown up by the Czecho-Slovak military garrison at the field on orders from its Czech commanding officer. Prague tried to keep the tragedy very secret. When that proved to be impossible, stefanik's death was explained as an accident. The commanding officer had thought it to be an enemy plane. "But despite all the rationalizing attempts of Czech propaganda, eye witnesses still alive today, as well as certain members of the military garrison, insist that the shooting was willful, that Stefanik was deliberately murdered." 30 Masaryk expressed his personal regrets but refused to have the "accident" investigated either because it would damage the negotiations at Versailles or perhaps because it would give damaging evidence of Czech duplicity and deceit. Stefanik had been openly displeased with the slighting reference to Slovakia in Masaryk's declaration of independence. "Stefanik was a fierce Slovak patriot who would not stand still to the Czech centralism, the outline of which by this time had already been revealed."31 He was a Slovak Christian who could nev_er compromise with the rationalist agnosticism of the chief policy makers in Prague. Stefanik was thus an "inconvenient gadfly" 32 to Czech plans to make Slovakia a part of the "great Czechia" that SLOVAKIA 133 the National Council had dreamed of. The death of Stefanik served Prague well. It can only be suspected if it was planned that way. Even from the sketchy reference to his work and the surprisingly meagre sources available to the historian of today, it is clearly evident that in courage, in self-sacrifice, in tact and ability in diplomacy, in integrity, and in zeal for the cause he was no t surpassed by anyone of the leaders in the Czech<>-Slovak movement for independence.33 Thus, with stefanik',s death the year 1919 came to a tragic close. The autonomy which had been sought, cherished and died for under Magyar rule still seemed a remote hope. Indeed, Slovakia did not become an independent state until 1939 under Tiso. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) S. Harrison Thomson, Czecho-Slovakia in European History, Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 1944, p. 252. Gilbert L. Oddo, Slovakia And Its People, New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960, p . 160. Dr. Thomas Garigue Masaryk, The Making of a State, New York : Frederick A. Stokes, 1927, p. 191. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. , p. 102. Ibid., p. 104. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p . 161. Ibid., p. 162. Ibid., p . 163. Stephanie 0. Husek, " General Milan Rastislav Stefanik in America,"' Jednota Katolicky Kalend.ar, 1938, p. 184. Gilbert L. O<l):lo, op. cit., p. 165. Stephanie 0 . Husek, op. cit., p. 185. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 166. Stephanie 0 . Rusek, op. cit., p. 189. Ibid. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 167. Ibid. , pp. 168-169. Stephanie 0. Husek, <ip. cit., p. 190. Ibid. Ibid. , p. 183. Ib~i., p. 184. Ibid. , p. 192. Gilbert L. Oddo, op. cit., p. 177. Ibid., p. 176. Ibid., p. 183. Ibid. Ibid., p. 182. Ibid., pp. 191-192. 134 SLOVAKIA 31) Ibid., p . 192. 32) Ibid. 33) Stephanie 0. Rusek, op. cit., p. 182. BIBLIOGRAPHY Harrison, S. Czechoslovakia in European History, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1944, pp. 196-283. Husek, Stephanie 0 . Ph.D. "General Milan Ra:stislav Stefanik in America," in Jednota Katolicky Kalerzt:lar, 1938, pp. 181-192. Kerner, Robert J . (ed). Czechoslovakia, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1940. Masaryk, Thomas Garigue, The Making of a State, New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1927. Oddo, Gilbert L. Slovakia And Its People, New York: Robert Speller & Sons, 1960. Seton-Watson, R. W. A History of the Czechs and Slovaks, New York: Hutchinson and Co., 1943. Weiss, Louise. "The Founders of the Czech Republic," in Current H istory, Vol. 11, pp. 287-289. (SECOND PRIZE AWARD) Svatopluk: Political Opportunist or National Hero? Mary Susan Sabol Great Moravia, founded in the early ninth century, was the first political organization established by the Danubian Slavs without foreign leadership or foreign interference. Because of the Frankish pressure on the Slavs after the Avar's fall, the Slavs under Mojmir I determined to create an independent state, with its power centers at Devin and Nitra, based on the tradition of the previous Samo state. Great Moravia achieved its greatest power and influence under Svatopluk, of the Mojmirid line, from 871 to 894.1 In 870, Svatopluk, regent of Nitra, plotted with German backing against his uncle, Rastislav, ruler of the Great Moravian Empire. 2 When Rastislav heard of the plot, he challenged Svatopluk to do battle. Rastislav, however, was defeated and taken prisoner by the Germans. Svatopluk was entrusted with Great Moravia by Carloman, son of Louis the German. Soon Svatopluk lost the confidence of the Germans; was deposed and imprisoned.  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 General Milan Rastislav Štefánik and the Movement for Czecho-Slovak Independence Description An account of the resource Mary Ann Kadera Slovakia, Vol. 21 (No. 44), 1971 pp. 124-134 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kadera, Mary Ann 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/381bb0784bfd37eebcd96837261c4b13.pdf d1ccaf0725964245ee605b85153fc161 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 61 EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS WELCOME DR. KIRSCIIBAUM'S BOOK {We are pleased to publish for the benefit of our readers -and of the Slovak cause a translation of an article wh'ich appeared in French in the Europea"' Bulletfn (Jian.-Feb. 1001'), the official organ of Euro• pean Federalists, puiblished in Blome. Kirschlbawm's ,book was received 'by critics in the UnHed States, Canad:a, Germany, Spain and! ]taly, as a brilliant defer.se o.f the Slo• vak cause and an overdue scholarly wol.'k on Slovalkia. The European, Federalists welcome the book as an excellent de· .f ense of the idea of Central Ewope,a n Federation. This is the transla· tion of the French article in the Bulletin Euro-peen, J-anuary-Felbruary issue, .19611.) A DIFFICULT BUT HOPEFUL FEDERATION By Georges Kallay A!lmost a century ago, on March 1, 1871, before the French National Assembly, during a sitting held at Bordeaux, Victor Hugo delivered a speech. Mainly he said: "and one shall hear France cry out: my turn has come. Am I your enemy? No, I am your sister. I took everything back from you and I return you everything on one condiftion: that we shall be nothing else but one people, one family, and one repU!blic. I shall demolish my fortresses, you shall demolish yours. Fraternity is my vengeance. No more frontiers, the Rhine belongs to all. Let us be the same repU!blic, let us be the United States of Europe. Let us be the Continental federation, let us be European liberty." These words for a public opinion of a century ago must have lbeen as non-contemporary as they were visionary. France had just been vanquished by Germany. Circumstances were hardly favorable for such ideas. However, the speaker had the courage to formulate them and the audience had the cou~age to hear them. Today Europe has the courage to realize them. However there is still a part of Europe where one seeks to unite the states by an entirely different method than the one Victor Hugo was thinking of, with the West behind him. It is a question of the states uf Central and Oriental Europe. Of these states, lbhose turned to the West �62 SLOVAKIA have always tried to defend Europe against the advance of Oriental Powers. The greatest confusion reigns in these countries with regards to a federal idea, because of con/tradictory directions which originate from the central power, It.he Kremlin. A federal idea exists in this sense that these countries must unite, willy nilly, around the Soviet Union. Yet, or just because of this, the federal idea is not popular. There is proof in the fact ,that all material prepared and published on the occasion of the Congress of 'Stockholm ignored or even sought to refute the federal idea. The Czech historian Zdenek Jindra, for example, in his work "Contributions a FHistoire Contemporaine des Peuples de FEurope Centrale," edited in Prague, hazards to say that a federation of Central Europe is bU!t the expression of the German spirit of domination because a German, Friedrich Neumann, dared to say forty years ago that a federation of Central Europe would be a good thing. By such reasoning one concludes that to prevent the realization of German ideas of domination, there is only one remedy: to turn to the Soviet Union for aid. One of the most eminent representatives of the federal thesis among his advocates in Central Europe, is a historian who now lives in Canada, Joseph Kirschbaum. Born at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, he was only six years old when it ·Collapsed and, ·consequently, officially he became a "Czechoslovak." When Slovakia gained its independence, Kirschbaum, 23 years of age, •b ecame one of the most prominent representatives in Slovak politics. Slovak national politics condemned Czech domination as well as German domination which equally sought to subjugate the Slovak people. In many of his political works, Kirschbaum affirms the necessity of a Central European Federation. His most recent work, "Slovakia, Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe," is but the e~pression of his federal thesis. He points out that ithe countries of Central and Oriental Europe must come to understand that they must unite if they do not wish to play the role of satellites of a foreign power. A full chapter of the book 'b y Kirschbaum is dedicated �SLOVAKIA 63 to the necessity of an integration of Central Europe. The author speaks mainly of the dangers which threaten the countries of Central Europe. Two forces want to dominate these territories at all costs: Pan-Germanism and PanSlavism. The first wants German domination, and the second, Russian domination. But Kirschbaum points out that it is not a question of Hitler's Germany, nor a Stalinist Russia, but a general historical tendency of these two states toward expansion. To conquer or put these tendencies to sleep, there would be no better remedy than a union of the peoples of Central Europe even under a simple federal form. Wilth regards to this •p oint of view, the peace treaties which followed the second World War were particularly injurious in the sense that they served no other purpose but to put the peoples against one another. One single example which was particulaTly marked: Czecho-Slovakia was reconstructed while the major part of the population, t he Czechs and the Slovaks did not wish it. If these two peoples had ·b een united in 1918 by a federation, this union would have been sanctioned, in the years which followed, the defense of liberty and democracy. But the corutrary was achieved so as to throw them as prey to dictatorial ambitions. The powers which dictated the peace treaties had followed the principle: divide et impera. But another power made profit of rt:he division. According to Kirschbaum, the states of Central Europe were opposed to dictatorial ideas as much in 1938 as in 1945. But ·b eing divided, they were unable to press their opinions and oppose dictatorships. I must refer once more to Kirschbaum when I affirm that the union of 1the peoples of Central Europe would have been profifable not only to themselves, but also to all of Europe and to the peace of the world. One must not forget that iboth World Wars originated in Central Eu.rope. Kirschbaum affirms (and he seems 1to be right not only in appearance but when studying reality closely) that as long as an impregnable wall shall exist ,b etween Germany and Russia, there shall be neither order nor peace in Central Europe. This troubled situation in that corner of �64 SLOVAKIA the world means trouble for the entire world. According to Kirschbaum the only way ,to prevent a new aggression is to realize a federation of these territories. And the way matters stand presently, peace shall not reign in Europe as long as half of its people are suffering under the Soviet yoke. Even though I am not in full accord wi!th all of the author's views, in panticular with the project of the federation to be realized, I must say that I agree with him fully on the principle. At the moment the rest is unimportant. What is now important is to communicate to the peoples on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the faith of their union. It is a difficult but necessary task, because from an ideological point of view they find themselves under a complete anarchy: on one side 1they see the complete unification imposed by the Kremlin and, on the other, they have a tendency to reject any federal idea because they are unable to see how to realize it. Evirdently refugees from the countries behind the Iron Curtain are persuaded by the necessity of a federation perhaps more easily than men who have always known freedom. But the refugees represen/t only a small fraction of the population of Central and Oriental Europe. Behind the Iron Curtain chaos and confusion still reign: there nationalism has lost a great part of its prestige, most certainly. Bwt one cannot conclude and say that supernationalization has gained all the votes. cho-6lovakia by Antonin Novotny, Red Czeeh president. And the a,n.1Ji-stalinist bloc annauniced in Prague that the body of former Ozech President Klement Gottwald will 1:J,e moved ifrom ilts mausoleum in Prague. The body of Gottwald, an old Stallirui:st wlho died ·1ni 1953, will be interred "in the same manner as those of the ot'her leading fighters in the Party," NCJ1Votny decla'I'ed. The Czech Reds are also l!C ll!: ll!: reconsidering ~ e names of streets THE COMIC OPE ~ of "d~ta- antl enter.prises whidh bear the l'inization" bias ·b een staged in Oze- names of Stalin and Gottw•ald. SLOVAKS everywhere in the free world are making preparations to celebrate the 1100th airmiversary of the adrvent of SS. Cyril and Methodlius to Slav•akia, the homeliand of the Slovaks. T•h e Slovalk apostles began their mission in SlCJ1Vakiia in 863. The year 1963 will fo·c us the limelight of hlistory on the Christian character of the Slovak nation. The first Ohristilan church was bu't'Dt 1oi Nitra in 830. 1 � SLOVAKIA 61 EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS WELCOME DR. KIRSCIIBAUM'S BOOK {We are pleased to publish for the benefit of our readers -and of the Slovak cause a translation of an article wh'ich appeared in French in the Europea"' Bulletfn (Jian.-Feb. 1001'), the official organ of Euro• pean Federalists, puiblished in Blome. Kirschlbawm's ,book was received 'by critics in the UnHed States, Canad:a, Germany, Spain and! ]taly, as a brilliant defer.se o.f the Slo• vak cause and an overdue scholarly wol.'k on Slovalkia. The European, Federalists welcome the book as an excellent de· .f ense of the idea of Central Ewope,a n Federation. This is the transla· tion of the French article in the Bulletin Euro-peen, J-anuary-Felbruary issue, .19611.) A DIFFICULT BUT HOPEFUL FEDERATION By Georges Kallay A!lmost a century ago, on March 1, 1871, before the French National Assembly, during a sitting held at Bordeaux, Victor Hugo delivered a speech. Mainly he said: "and one shall hear France cry out: my turn has come. Am I your enemy? No, I am your sister. I took everything back from you and I return you everything on one condiftion: that we shall be nothing else but one people, one family, and one repU!blic. I shall demolish my fortresses, you shall demolish yours. Fraternity is my vengeance. No more frontiers, the Rhine belongs to all. Let us be the same repU!blic, let us be the United States of Europe. Let us be the Continental federation, let us be European liberty." These words for a public opinion of a century ago must have lbeen as non-contemporary as they were visionary. France had just been vanquished by Germany. Circumstances were hardly favorable for such ideas. However, the speaker had the courage to formulate them and the audience had the cou~age to hear them. Today Europe has the courage to realize them. However there is still a part of Europe where one seeks to unite the states by an entirely different method than the one Victor Hugo was thinking of, with the West behind him. It is a question of the states uf Central and Oriental Europe. Of these states, lbhose turned to the West �62 SLOVAKIA have always tried to defend Europe against the advance of Oriental Powers. The greatest confusion reigns in these countries with regards to a federal idea, because of con/tradictory directions which originate from the central power, It.he Kremlin. A federal idea exists in this sense that these countries must unite, willy nilly, around the Soviet Union. Yet, or just because of this, the federal idea is not popular. There is proof in the fact ,that all material prepared and published on the occasion of the Congress of 'Stockholm ignored or even sought to refute the federal idea. The Czech historian Zdenek Jindra, for example, in his work "Contributions a FHistoire Contemporaine des Peuples de FEurope Centrale," edited in Prague, hazards to say that a federation of Central Europe is bU!t the expression of the German spirit of domination because a German, Friedrich Neumann, dared to say forty years ago that a federation of Central Europe would be a good thing. By such reasoning one concludes that to prevent the realization of German ideas of domination, there is only one remedy: to turn to the Soviet Union for aid. One of the most eminent representatives of the federal thesis among his advocates in Central Europe, is a historian who now lives in Canada, Joseph Kirschbaum. Born at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, he was only six years old when it ·Collapsed and, ·consequently, officially he became a "Czechoslovak." When Slovakia gained its independence, Kirschbaum, 23 years of age, •b ecame one of the most prominent representatives in Slovak politics. Slovak national politics condemned Czech domination as well as German domination which equally sought to subjugate the Slovak people. In many of his political works, Kirschbaum affirms the necessity of a Central European Federation. His most recent work, "Slovakia, Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe," is but the e~pression of his federal thesis. He points out that ithe countries of Central and Oriental Europe must come to understand that they must unite if they do not wish to play the role of satellites of a foreign power. A full chapter of the book 'b y Kirschbaum is dedicated �SLOVAKIA 63 to the necessity of an integration of Central Europe. The author speaks mainly of the dangers which threaten the countries of Central Europe. Two forces want to dominate these territories at all costs: Pan-Germanism and PanSlavism. The first wants German domination, and the second, Russian domination. But Kirschbaum points out that it is not a question of Hitler's Germany, nor a Stalinist Russia, but a general historical tendency of these two states toward expansion. To conquer or put these tendencies to sleep, there would be no better remedy than a union of the peoples of Central Europe even under a simple federal form. Wilth regards to this •p oint of view, the peace treaties which followed the second World War were particularly injurious in the sense that they served no other purpose but to put the peoples against one another. One single example which was particulaTly marked: Czecho-Slovakia was reconstructed while the major part of the population, t he Czechs and the Slovaks did not wish it. If these two peoples had ·b een united in 1918 by a federation, this union would have been sanctioned, in the years which followed, the defense of liberty and democracy. But the corutrary was achieved so as to throw them as prey to dictatorial ambitions. The powers which dictated the peace treaties had followed the principle: divide et impera. But another power made profit of rt:he division. According to Kirschbaum, the states of Central Europe were opposed to dictatorial ideas as much in 1938 as in 1945. But ·b eing divided, they were unable to press their opinions and oppose dictatorships. I must refer once more to Kirschbaum when I affirm that the union of 1the peoples of Central Europe would have been profifable not only to themselves, but also to all of Europe and to the peace of the world. One must not forget that iboth World Wars originated in Central Eu.rope. Kirschbaum affirms (and he seems 1to be right not only in appearance but when studying reality closely) that as long as an impregnable wall shall exist ,b etween Germany and Russia, there shall be neither order nor peace in Central Europe. This troubled situation in that corner of �64 SLOVAKIA the world means trouble for the entire world. According to Kirschbaum the only way ,to prevent a new aggression is to realize a federation of these territories. And the way matters stand presently, peace shall not reign in Europe as long as half of its people are suffering under the Soviet yoke. Even though I am not in full accord wi!th all of the author's views, in panticular with the project of the federation to be realized, I must say that I agree with him fully on the principle. At the moment the rest is unimportant. What is now important is to communicate to the peoples on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the faith of their union. It is a difficult but necessary task, because from an ideological point of view they find themselves under a complete anarchy: on one side 1they see the complete unification imposed by the Kremlin and, on the other, they have a tendency to reject any federal idea because they are unable to see how to realize it. Evirdently refugees from the countries behind the Iron Curtain are persuaded by the necessity of a federation perhaps more easily than men who have always known freedom. But the refugees represen/t only a small fraction of the population of Central and Oriental Europe. Behind the Iron Curtain chaos and confusion still reign: there nationalism has lost a great part of its prestige, most certainly. Bwt one cannot conclude and say that supernationalization has gained all the votes. cho-6lovakia by Antonin Novotny, Red Czeeh president. And the a,n.1Ji-stalinist bloc annauniced in Prague that the body of former Ozech President Klement Gottwald will 1:J,e moved ifrom ilts mausoleum in Prague. The body of Gottwald, an old Stallirui:st wlho died ·1ni 1953, will be interred "in the same manner as those of the ot'her leading fighters in the Party," NCJ1Votny decla'I'ed. The Czech Reds are also l!C ll!: ll!: reconsidering ~ e names of streets THE COMIC OPE ~ of "d~ta- antl enter.prises whidh bear the l'inization" bias ·b een staged in Oze- names of Stalin and Gottw•ald. SLOVAKS everywhere in the free world are making preparations to celebrate the 1100th airmiversary of the adrvent of SS. Cyril and Methodlius to Slav•akia, the homeliand of the Slovaks. T•h e Slovalk apostles began their mission in SlCJ1Vakiia in 863. The year 1963 will fo·c us the limelight of hlistory on the Christian character of the Slovak nation. The first Ohristilan church was bu't'Dt 1oi Nitra in 830. 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 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 SLOVAKIA 61 EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS WELCOME DR. KIRSCIIBAUM'S BOOK {We are pleased to publish for the benefit of our readers -and of the Slovak cause a translation of an article wh'ich appeared in French in the Europea"' Bulletfn (Jian.-Feb. 1001'), the official organ of Euro• pean Federalists, puiblished in Blome. Kirschlbawm's ,book was received 'by critics in the UnHed States, Canad:a, Germany, Spain and! ]taly, as a brilliant defer.se o.f the Slo• vak cause and an overdue scholarly wol.'k on Slovalkia. The European, Federalists welcome the book as an excellent de· .f ense of the idea of Central Ewope,a n Federation. This is the transla· tion of the French article in the Bulletin Euro-peen, J-anuary-Felbruary issue, .19611.) A DIFFICULT BUT HOPEFUL FEDERATION By Georges Kallay A!lmost a century ago, on March 1, 1871, before the French National Assembly, during a sitting held at Bordeaux, Victor Hugo delivered a speech. Mainly he said: "and one shall hear France cry out: my turn has come. Am I your enemy? No, I am your sister. I took everything back from you and I return you everything on one condiftion: that we shall be nothing else but one people, one family, and one repU!blic. I shall demolish my fortresses, you shall demolish yours. Fraternity is my vengeance. No more frontiers, the Rhine belongs to all. Let us be the same repU!blic, let us be the United States of Europe. Let us be the Continental federation, let us be European liberty." These words for a public opinion of a century ago must have lbeen as non-contemporary as they were visionary. France had just been vanquished by Germany. Circumstances were hardly favorable for such ideas. However, the speaker had the courage to formulate them and the audience had the cou~age to hear them. Today Europe has the courage to realize them. However there is still a part of Europe where one seeks to unite the states by an entirely different method than the one Victor Hugo was thinking of, with the West behind him. It is a question of the states uf Central and Oriental Europe. Of these states, lbhose turned to the West 62 SLOVAKIA have always tried to defend Europe against the advance of Oriental Powers. The greatest confusion reigns in these countries with regards to a federal idea, because of con/tradictory directions which originate from the central power, It.he Kremlin. A federal idea exists in this sense that these countries must unite, willy nilly, around the Soviet Union. Yet, or just because of this, the federal idea is not popular. There is proof in the fact ,that all material prepared and published on the occasion of the Congress of 'Stockholm ignored or even sought to refute the federal idea. The Czech historian Zdenek Jindra, for example, in his work "Contributions a FHistoire Contemporaine des Peuples de FEurope Centrale," edited in Prague, hazards to say that a federation of Central Europe is bU!t the expression of the German spirit of domination because a German, Friedrich Neumann, dared to say forty years ago that a federation of Central Europe would be a good thing. By such reasoning one concludes that to prevent the realization of German ideas of domination, there is only one remedy: to turn to the Soviet Union for aid. One of the most eminent representatives of the federal thesis among his advocates in Central Europe, is a historian who now lives in Canada, Joseph Kirschbaum. Born at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, he was only six years old when it ·Collapsed and, ·consequently, officially he became a "Czechoslovak." When Slovakia gained its independence, Kirschbaum, 23 years of age, •b ecame one of the most prominent representatives in Slovak politics. Slovak national politics condemned Czech domination as well as German domination which equally sought to subjugate the Slovak people. In many of his political works, Kirschbaum affirms the necessity of a Central European Federation. His most recent work, "Slovakia, Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe," is but the e~pression of his federal thesis. He points out that ithe countries of Central and Oriental Europe must come to understand that they must unite if they do not wish to play the role of satellites of a foreign power. A full chapter of the book 'b y Kirschbaum is dedicated SLOVAKIA 63 to the necessity of an integration of Central Europe. The author speaks mainly of the dangers which threaten the countries of Central Europe. Two forces want to dominate these territories at all costs: Pan-Germanism and PanSlavism. The first wants German domination, and the second, Russian domination. But Kirschbaum points out that it is not a question of Hitler's Germany, nor a Stalinist Russia, but a general historical tendency of these two states toward expansion. To conquer or put these tendencies to sleep, there would be no better remedy than a union of the peoples of Central Europe even under a simple federal form. Wilth regards to this •p oint of view, the peace treaties which followed the second World War were particularly injurious in the sense that they served no other purpose but to put the peoples against one another. One single example which was particulaTly marked: Czecho-Slovakia was reconstructed while the major part of the population, t he Czechs and the Slovaks did not wish it. If these two peoples had ·b een united in 1918 by a federation, this union would have been sanctioned, in the years which followed, the defense of liberty and democracy. But the corutrary was achieved so as to throw them as prey to dictatorial ambitions. The powers which dictated the peace treaties had followed the principle: divide et impera. But another power made profit of rt:he division. According to Kirschbaum, the states of Central Europe were opposed to dictatorial ideas as much in 1938 as in 1945. But ·b eing divided, they were unable to press their opinions and oppose dictatorships. I must refer once more to Kirschbaum when I affirm that the union of 1the peoples of Central Europe would have been profifable not only to themselves, but also to all of Europe and to the peace of the world. One must not forget that iboth World Wars originated in Central Eu.rope. Kirschbaum affirms (and he seems 1to be right not only in appearance but when studying reality closely) that as long as an impregnable wall shall exist ,b etween Germany and Russia, there shall be neither order nor peace in Central Europe. This troubled situation in that corner of 64 SLOVAKIA the world means trouble for the entire world. According to Kirschbaum the only way ,to prevent a new aggression is to realize a federation of these territories. And the way matters stand presently, peace shall not reign in Europe as long as half of its people are suffering under the Soviet yoke. Even though I am not in full accord wi!th all of the author's views, in panticular with the project of the federation to be realized, I must say that I agree with him fully on the principle. At the moment the rest is unimportant. What is now important is to communicate to the peoples on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the faith of their union. It is a difficult but necessary task, because from an ideological point of view they find themselves under a complete anarchy: on one side 1they see the complete unification imposed by the Kremlin and, on the other, they have a tendency to reject any federal idea because they are unable to see how to realize it. Evirdently refugees from the countries behind the Iron Curtain are persuaded by the necessity of a federation perhaps more easily than men who have always known freedom. But the refugees represen/t only a small fraction of the population of Central and Oriental Europe. Behind the Iron Curtain chaos and confusion still reign: there nationalism has lost a great part of its prestige, most certainly. Bwt one cannot conclude and say that supernationalization has gained all the votes. cho-6lovakia by Antonin Novotny, Red Czeeh president. And the a,n.1Ji-stalinist bloc annauniced in Prague that the body of former Ozech President Klement Gottwald will 1:J,e moved ifrom ilts mausoleum in Prague. The body of Gottwald, an old Stallirui:st wlho died ·1ni 1953, will be interred "in the same manner as those of the ot'her leading fighters in the Party," NCJ1Votny decla'I'ed. The Czech Reds are also l!C ll!: ll!: reconsidering ~ e names of streets THE COMIC OPE ~ of "d~ta- antl enter.prises whidh bear the l'inization" bias ·b een staged in Oze- names of Stalin and Gottw•ald. SLOVAKS everywhere in the free world are making preparations to celebrate the 1100th airmiversary of the adrvent of SS. Cyril and Methodlius to Slav•akia, the homeliand of the Slovaks. T•h e Slovalk apostles began their mission in SlCJ1Vakiia in 863. The year 1963 will fo·c us the limelight of hlistory on the Christian character of the Slovak nation. The first Ohristilan church was bu't'Dt 1oi Nitra in 830. 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 A Difficult But Hopeful Federation Description An account of the resource Georges Kallay Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 61-64 editor explains in introduction titled "European Federalists Welcome Kirschbaum's Book" that article is a translation from French originally printed in Bulletin Européen (European Bulletin), Jan.-Feb. 1961 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kallay, Georges Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/3d2608382e5e1506d6ea3aa964680705.pdf 91ce7adcf88ddff23c5135867a1d78e7 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 23 Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the lnterwar Years JOSEF KALVODA For centuries Central Europe has been an area ,of mixed nationalities and both Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, when the latter was established in 1918-1919, were multi-national states. The need for peace and cooperation among the many national groups gave rise to several proposals for a federal solution of the problems of small nations living in the area. One may recall that on January 23, 1849 the Czech historian and political leader Frantisek Palacky proposed the reorganization of the Austrian Empire along federal lines. 1 One can also cite a statement by the known Czech journalist Karel Havlicek Borovsky who argued against Bohemia's joining the German Reich proposed by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849 . He wrote: ''Our federation is Austria. '' 2 The struggle for the state right by the National (Old) Czech party , led by Frantisek Ladislav Rieger, in the nineteenth century was also a reflection of the Czech nation's desire to federalize the Austrian state. Until World War I the struggle for the ' ' state right '' was continued by the Young Czech party, as well as by the other Czech political parties with the exception of the Social Democrats and Professor Thomas G. Masaryk who advocated federalization of the state along ethnic lines. 3 In the interwar years several proposals for a federal solution of the Czech-Slovak problem and the problem of "Balkanized" East Central Europe and Europe in general were made by some citizens and political leaders in Czechoslovakia. These ideas will be briefly considered in this paper. A discussion of federalist thought in Czechoslovakia ought �24 SLOVAKIA to begin with the first plans for establishment of a state that would include the Czech historical lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia) and Slovakia, known originally as Upper Hungary. During World War I the idea of an independent Czecho-Slovak state was endorsed by some Czech groups both at home and abroad , including the Bohemian National Alliance and the Slovak League of America. In order to promote the independence movement , representatives of the two organizations met in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 15, 1915 , where they agreed on what they believed their countrymen in Austria-Hungary would accept in the event of their liberation. The ' 'Cleveland Agreement'' provided for the autonomy of both the Czech lands and Slovakia, proclaiming that the union of the Czech and Slovak peoples will be in a '' federative union of states, ' ' with complete national autonomy for Slovakia. Slovakia would have its own schools, its own state administration, cultural freedom and Slovak would be the official language.4 A few years later the agreement was presented to Thomas G. Masaryk in Pittsburgh at a meeting of representatives of the Bohemian National Alliance , the Slovak League , and the National Alliance of Bohemian Catholics. Since some Slovaks expressed an apprehension that in the future Czecho-Slovak state the Slovaks might be enveloped ("Czechified" ), Masaryk, the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council seated in Paris, decided to revise it. He wrote in Slovak the so-called Pittsburgh Agreement, signed by him and 6ther Czechs and Slovaks on May 30, 1918. 5 The agreement stated that representatives of the named organizations ' ' approve of a political program aiming to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an independent state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have its own administration , its own diet, and its own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in schools , in government offices , and in public life generally. The Czecho-Slovak state shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic .' ' The document was destined to have far-reaching consequences in the history of Czechoslovakia. In their struggle for selfgovernment and their efforts to change the centralist constitution of 1920, the Slovak autonomists invoked the Pittsburgh Agreement. One may argue that the idea of a federal union of the Czechs �SLOVAKIA 25 and Slovaks in the Cleveland Agreement, as well as the autonomous arrangement promised by the Pittsburgh Agreement, were manifestations of the influence of the United States federal system of government on the thinking of those who signed them. Similarly, as it is in the states of the American federation, the Pittsburgh Agreement stipulated that Slovakia "shall have its own administration, its own diet, and its own courts.'' Since Czechs and Slovaks are two different nations speaking similar but different languages, it was necessary to make the Slovak language in Slovakia "the official language in schools, in governmental offices, and in public life generally." In view of the fact that in 1915, in a memorandum to the British government, Masaryk stated that the new s·tate (' 'Independent Bohemia") would be a monarchy, because only a small group of "radicals" favored a republic, 6 and that most of the leaders of the independence movement in the Czech lands and Milan R. Stefanik, who represented the Slovaks in the CzechoSlovak National Council, were monarchists, it would seem that the American environment influenced Masaryk's decision to proclaim the new state a republic. The principles stated in the Pittsburgh Agreement were not implemented in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920; the latter established a centralist state administration. Autonomy for Ruthenia, the easternmost province of Czechoslovakia, provided for in the constitution, was not realized either until the collapse of the First Republic in October 1938. (Incidentally, the Slovaks had autonomy during the Second Republic that came to its end in March, 1939.) Champions of the autonomist movement in Slovakia, the Slovak People's party and the Slovak National party, constantly emphasized the need for a federal arrangement in the state that they supported. In May 1936, in a parliamentary discussion of the proposed Law for the Defense of the State (Law 131 of May 13, 1936), a Slovak People's party deputy and a former member of government, Jozef Tiso, declared that the Slovak nation considered the state of the Czechs and Slovaks their own state and that his party supported the law. As on many other occasions, Tiso discussed the Slovak problem and the demand for the implementation of the �26 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh Agreement. As he put it, "Autonomy is education of the Slovak nation toward seeing in this state its own state in which it rules ... Autonomy is education for state-forming thinking of the Slovaks" . .. " 7 The autonomist program, he emphasized, made the Slovaks conscious of the fact that Czechoslovakia was their state, and that the latter did not mean the merging of the . two nations, but a unity of the two nations in one common state. In the discussion of the same legislative proposal a Senator of the Slovak People's party, Gejza Fritz, emphasized that the "root of the autonomy is the Pittsburgh Agreement, concluded and signed by Czechs and Slovaks and the then president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council,'' Masaryk. The autonomy was to be within the boundaries of the state, not outside of it. As he put it, ''We demand self-government that is not incompatible with the state unity. That such an autonomy is possible is evidenced by the fact that the Constitution guarantees autonomy to CarpathoRussia (Ruthenia) within the framework of the united Czechoslovak republic.' ' 9 He pointed out that the president of the state had signed the agreement and that for ''those reasons it is not logical to claim that autonomy is separatism.'' In its substance, "autonomy means decentralization." In addition, the Slovaks demand equal rights for the Slovak language, he said , pointing out that ''to strive for a united Czechoslovak nation would mean to increase the antagonism of all Slovaks.' ' 9 * * * * * During. World War I Masaryk's objective was the establishment of an independent state. However, until the summer of 1918 he was prepared to accept autonomy for the Czechs within the framework of Austria-Hungary if independence were not attainable.10 By this time France and the United States had already parted with the idea of preserving a federalized Austria-Hungary; the latter collapsed by the end of October 1918. But even after the declaration of Czecho-Slovak independence by Masaryk in Washington, D.C., on October 18 , the Czech leader presided over a meeting of representatives of several national groups from Central Europe between October 23 and 26, 1918, that announced the intention to establish a Democratic Mid-European Union. This �SLOVAKIA 27 meeting, held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, led some people in Washington, D.C., to believe that on the ruins of AustriaHungary a new central european federation would emerge. The final resolution produced by the conference, called the ''Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations,'' was read by Masaryk in front of Independence Hall and was hailed by the American press as something approaching a declaration of a united Europe. 11 · On November 1, 1918, the original of the declaration was submitted to President Woodrow Wilson by Masaryk, who was the first of its twelve signatories. In the accompanying letter to Wilson Masaryk stated that the union ''tries to replace the German Plan of Mittel-Europe by a positive plan of reorganization of the many smaller nations which are located between the Germans (in Germany and Austria) and Russians; there are about eighteen such nations, beginning with the Finns and ending with the Greeks. . . . The primary aim of the war and the coming peace is the reorganization of the East, including now Russia; and the first condition of this reorganization of Eastern Europe and through it of Europe and mankind, is the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary, composed of eight non-German nations, oppressed and exploited by a degenerate dynasty and reckless feudal aristocracy supported by the Germans and Magyars.'' 12 In the last paragraph of the letter Masaryk proclaimed: "Mr. President, we see in you one of the greatest leaders of modern democracy and constructive policy; it is in making a sincere attempt to apply such a policy to our particular nations and to the whole of Europe that we hope you will engage your interest in our Union's endeavors." The signatories of the declaration, claiming to represent ''more than fifty million people constituting a chain of nations lying between the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Seas, comprising Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Jugoslavs , Ukrainians, UhroRusins, Lithuanians, Roumanians and Italian Irredentists , Unredeemed Greeks, Albanians, Zionists and Armenians, wholly or partly subject to alien domination ... accept and subscribe to the following as basic principles for all free peoples." �28 SLOVAKIA ''First. That all governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. Second. That it is the inalienable right of every people to organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare, safety and happiness. Third. That the free and natural development of the ideals of any state should be allowed to pursue their normal and unhindered course unless such course harms or threatens the common interest of all. Fourth. That there should be no secret diplomacy, and all proposed treaties and agreements between nations should be made public - prior to their adoption and ratification. Fifth. That we believe our peoples, having kindred ideals and purposes, should coordinate their efforts to insure the liberties of their individual nations for the furtherance of their own common welfare, provided such a union contributes to the peace and welfare of the world. Sixth. That there should be formed a league of the nations of the world in a common and binding agreement for genuine and practical cooperation to secure justice and therefore peace among nations .'' The signatories of the declaration pledged '' on behalf of their respective nations'' that the principles set forth in it '' shall be incorporated in the organic laws of whatever government our respective peoples may hereafter establish.'' As it happened, the vast majority of the Czechoslovak Revolutionary (Constituent) National Assembly , established after the war, followed Masaryk's views and paid no attention to the principles stated in the Declaration of the Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations. The assembly did not derive its powers from the consent of the governed; it was not elected by the peoples living in Czechoslovakia; the Germans , Hungarians , Poles , and Ruthenians in Czechoslovakia were not represented in it at all; and the Germans, Hungarians , Slovaks , and Ruthenians living in the country were not allowed to "organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare , safety and happiness . " 13 �SLOVAKIA 29 * * * * * While visiting the United States in the fall of 1918, Roman Dmowski, the head to the Polish National Committee Abroad, seated in Paris, suggested to Masaryk the formation of a Federation consisting of Czecho-Slovakia and Poland. Masaryk refused the proposal, but favored "a certain kind of Economic Union, to be worked out; and a military defense against Germany, essentially non-aggressive." Not farseeing the problem of frontier adjustment with Poland, Masaryk asked Dmowski "to write out text of agreement on these lines.'' The Polish leader, however, did not formulate such an agreement, since he, apparently, was not interested in anything short of Federation. 14 The proposed Federation of the three Western Slavic nations, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, could have provided an ample guarantee of peace in Central Europe, since the three nations could have faced together the prospective threats coming from either east or west, and could have jointly resolved the national minority problem. In the 1930s the idea of close cooperation with Poland was endorsed by the leader of the Czechoslovak National Democratic party, Karel Kramaf, and the leader of the Slovak People's party, Andrej Hlinka. At that time, due to hostility between Czechoslovakia's foreign minister Edvard Benes, and the Polish foreign minister Jozef Beck, such a policy was not practical and could not be implemented. 15 * * * * * At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Czecho-Slovakia was represented by a delegation of which the principal spokesman was Edvard Benes. InMemoire No. 3, one of the documents submitted by him to the conference, addressing itself to "The lot of the Germans in the Czecho-Slovak Republic," a promise was made that ''the Germans of Bohemia [sic] would have the same rights as the Czecho-Slovaks themselves. The German tongue would be the second tongue of the land .... The regime adopted would be similar to that of Switzerland. " 16 In his note of May 20, 1919, Benes elaborated on the latter point, announcing the intention of the state to apply the principles of the Swiss Republic in creating the organs of the new state that would be '' a sort of Switzerland.'' In the con- �30 SLOVAKIA clusion of his memorandum Benes promised ''an extremely liberal regime, which will very much resemble that of Switzerland. " 17 This was a statement of intention - one of those by which the way to hell is paved. It was not implemented and a centralistic Constitution was adopted in Czechoslovakia in 1920. One may speculate, as did Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, that ''had the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia at the time of its organization in 1919 been based upon the cantonal system, its history . . . might have been very different and far happier.'' 18 * * * * * Dr. Milan Hodza, a Slovak by birth, was a well-known exponent of the idea of establishing a Central European or a Danubian Federation. 19 He proceeded from the assumption that the League of Nations and the Little Entente were ineffective and inadequate for preserving peace in Europe. The latter had to unite in order to maintain peace and advance prosperity. However, Europe's final unification presupposes, first of all, an effective regional cooperation. Therefore, Hodza developed the theme of the union of Central Europe when the new order was established in Europe after World War I. As a prominent politician of the Republican (agrarian) party, he propagated the idea of a federated Central Europe numbering about 110 million people, stretching from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea and covering the region between Germany and Soviet Russia. 20 Since the states in the region were predominantly agrarian, the federation had to be based on agrarian democracy. 21 Already in 1925, at the national congress of the Republican party, Hodza declared that there was a need for Central European solidarity; the latter would save Czechoslovakia from either Bolshevik or imperialistic attack. 22 He believed that the interests of Czechoslovakia and Poland could be reconcilled and their close cooperation with the other nations in the area would benefit all of Europe. In his lecture, delivered in London in 1930, Hodza stated: ''It is universally an international danger when dictatorship becomes a contagious disease, which weakens the organism of states and nations. Thus one day we could expose ourselves to the danger which might infect Central Europe with Moscow's �SLOVAKIA 31 dictatorship. Therefore, it is important that Central Europe does not become the carrier of dictatorial bacilli, but rather a trench, or barrier, against dictatorship. " 23 In Hodza's view, the national sovereignty of small nations should not be construed as isolationism, but rather a foundation stone for international cooperation. Since the nations of Central Europe have mutual interests and similar traditions , they have to come closer together and work for a wider international cooperation. A federation of states from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea, united on the basis of democratic principles, would be a barrier against Bolshevism and the first step toward establishing a United States of Europe. 24 Hodza became prime minister of Czechoslovakia in November 1935 and Benes was elected the state's president in the middle of December 1935. When from December 20, 1935, to February 29, 1936, Hodza was also the acting minister of foreign affairs, he tried very hard to get his favorite project off the ground. In an attempt to implement it, he visited Vienna on January 17 , 1936, Paris, February 8-15, Belgrade, February 21-25, and again Vienna, March 8-10, 1936. 25 The Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg fully endorsed Hodza's project, but it was viewed skeptically in other countries and, above all, in the Czechoslovak ministry of foreign affairs staffed by Benes appointees. The new president was especially annoyed by Hodza's conduct of foreign policy. Later Benes commented with disdain on the prime minister's activities as follows: "Hodza went to Vienna, had lunch with Schuschnigg, told him that something should be done in Central Europe to remove the German threat to Austria. Upon his return to Prague he told me that he had negotiated an alliance with Austria. It caused alarm in France and in England, because these countries were informed to the effect that everything would be signed, sealed and delivered in three weeks . Of course it was a bluff. " 26 When in the summer of 1938 a large demonstration in favor of autonomy of Slovakia took place in the capital city of Bratislava, Hodza made an attempt to take the wind out of the autonomist sails. He revealed his own plan for self-government in Slovakia. This proposal, known as the ''Hodza Plan,'' was revealed in detail �32 SLOVAKIA in his Slovensky dennik. The key provision in it was as follows: "Slovakia will have her own diet with legislative powers, her own government of six ministers to deal exclusively with Slovak matters. The Slovak language will be the only official language in Slovakia. A separate Slovak commission will supervise and decide the personal questions connected with appointments of the state employees to eliminate irregularities and to see that Slovak claims are not bypassed.' •21 After the Munich settlement, on October 6, 1938, Slovak autonomy was proclaimed. The manifest was signed by seven nonSocialist parties (including the Slovak People's party), representing about 75 percent of the Slovak electorate. The Czecho-Slovak National Assembly approved the Constitutional Law of Slovak selfrule on November 22 , 1938 by a unanimous vote. (The deputies of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia left the Chamber before the voting. )2 8 * * * * * In the interwar years a prominent federalist advocating the establishment of a United States of Europe, Count Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, lived in Czechoslovakia. He became famous after World War II, when many Americans and West Europeans embraced his ideas. 29 His pioneering work did bring fruits when the West European community was established. Czechoslovakia, however, was a member of the Soviet bloc , and did not benefit from it. ,· Born in Tokyo on November 17, 1894, Coudenhove-Kalergi's mother was Japanese and his father was an Austrian diplomat. The Coudenhove-Kalergi's home was the old Castle of Ronsperk in Bohemia. The Treaty of Saint Germain of 1919 made the Count a citizen of Czechoslovakia. 30 When the Nazis occupied the country in 1939 , he accepted French citizenship and, eventually, left Europe for the United States. During the interwar years Coudenhove-Kalergi was the leading theoretician and founder of the Pan-European movement. He devoted his talents and efforts to the cause of European federation. Among those whom he inspired and persuaded to support the movement was Edouard Herriot, a one-time prime minister �SLOVAKIA 33 and minister of foreign affairs in France, and the author of The United States of Europe. Herriot was the first European statesman who appealed openly for a United States of Europe. 31 A student of history, Coudenhove-Kalergi was familiar with attempts to unify Europe made over the centuries by writers and kings, including George Podiebrad, a famous King of Bohemia in the fifteenth century. His first article on ''The European Question" appeared in the summer of 1922 in the Berlin Volkische Zeitung and the Vienna Neue Freie Presse.32 After finding some influential supporters among political leaders of the time, the first issue of the movements's new periodical, Pan-Europe, came out in April 1924. It contained an article entitled "The European Manifesto.'' Due to extensive publicity generated by the movement, his book on Pan-Europe began to appear in several languages. 33 The English language edition, with an introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, was published in 1926 in New York. 34 In Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi noticed the political decline of Europe as a consequence of the World War: "From the center of the world Europe has moved to its periphery. The world hegemony of Europe is overthrown for all time .'' The validity of the last sentence was called to doubt by some, when Germany rose again as a great power in the 1930s. Yet the outcome of World War II confirmed his observation that "the United States of America has developed into the leading World Power." As he observed in his book first published in 1923, in the World War the United States " proved the decisive factor . Today , the United States of America is the wealthiest, the most powerful, and the most advanced country in the world." At the same time, however, "Europe's power of action in world politics is paralyzed by her disunion.' ' 35 In advocating the consolidation of Europe into a politicoeconomic federation, Coudenhove-Kalergi encountered objection from several quarters branding Pan-Europe a utopia. To this he replied that "every great historical happening began as a utopia and ended as a reality." He pointed out that in 1913 the Polish and Czecho-Slovak republics were utopias; "in 1918 they became realities. In 1916 the victory of the communists in Russia was a �34 SLOVAKIA utopia; in 1917 it was an accomplished fact. " 36 Whether PanEurope would be realized depended on the will of the Europeans; if the latter would support the idea and work for it, a utopia would become a reality. As he put it, ''While thousands believe in PanEurope, it is a utopia; so long as millions believe in it, it is a program; but once a hundred million believe in it, it becomes a fact." Thus in 1923 Coudenhove-Kalergi called upon the youth of Europe ''to convert the utopia of yesterday into a reality of tomorrow.' ' 37 Constantly referring to historical events, Coudenhove-Kalergi emphasized that power-relationships among countries have been changing with time. For example, the Bohemian empire of King Ottokar was a great power stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and was about the size of European Russia; Bohemia of the 1920s was as small as was the Grand Duchy of Weimar a century earlier. According to him, ''Time works for Russia and against Europe," This was an observation not shared by many people at that time. He also pointed out how the United States became a great power and how this technically most advanced country was ''the first to try the new method of political organization, namely, a system of peaceful federations, culminating in the PanAmerican Union and in the idea of a League of Nations. Although the American conditions are different than those in Europe, states that are small may not be able to lead an independent existence and, therefore, they have to establish federations." As he saw it, "The leading World powers of today are federations: Russia, England, America. Political rapprochement of neighboring countries must be realized, if conflicts are to be avoided.' ' 38 Coudenhove-Kalergi observed that the formation of the PanAmerican League was not directed against any other state system, but solely against war, and "toward furthering the cultural progress of all." The American example should be followed by Europe. The latter must supplement "its modern science of communications by a modern science of politics, else it will be in danger of blindly staggering into another war and of suffocating in a very sea of gas-bombs.' •39 The Count regretted that Europe was regressing further and further toward atomization, since Austria-Hungary, Western �SLOVAKIA 35 Russia, and European Turkey dissolved themselves into a multitude of petty states. This process needs to be reversed by promoting integration, otherwise, if the liberation of European peoples is not completed by their unification, '' sooner or later the European state will be swallowed up by the growing World Powers.' ' 40 Europe must find a means of harmonizing freedom with organization, that is to follow the example of America in establishing a federation. Coudenhove-Kalergi presented a plan for the establishment of such a federation and discussed several reasons for which the nations of Europe should unite. First, Bolshevik Russia made no secret of her aggressive intentions: Bolshevism fights with propaganda in the one hand and with sword in the other; "it resorts to violence, terrorism and militarism.' ' 41 Therefore, the aim of all Europeans, regardless of party or nation, should be the prevention of a Soviet invasion that would bring about the destruction of liberty and the other cherished values. A Pan-European security pact guaranteeing the protection of European eastern frontiers would lay the foundation for an understanding with Soviet Russia. He suggested that if Texas, New Mexico, and California were independent states, they would be in constant danger from Mexico. But "as states of the American federal union they are secure against any such danger. " 42 Similarly, the Soviet threat to Romania, Poland, and Finland would disappear as soon as they would become members of the United States of Europe. As long as they were isolated, they represented a constant temptation for Soviet Russia. Furthermore, Coudenhove-Kalergi suggested that the quarrels among the European states weakened their power defense against Soviet Russia. Therefore, there was a need for European solidarity for an effective defense of the eastern frontiers of Europe. Any war in Europe would offer the Soviets a welcome opportunity for intervention; "and once Russian armies have secured a footing in Europe, they will scarcely relinquish it of their own free will.'' He also saw a danger in the pro-Russian orientation of some states, notably Germany. He suggested that there was a large number of Germans who hoped, "through an alliance with Russia, to tear up the Treaty of Versailles and once more partition Poland. " 43 �36 SLOVAKIA Whether Germany would be saved or estranged from Europe depended on the Western powers, above all on France, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote, and he predicted that in the FrancoGerman conflict neither Germany nor France, "but Russia will in the long run be victorious. ' ' He warned that France still had time to preserve ''the German sister republic for the family of European states; tomorrow it may be already too late.'' He added that "upon this question hinges the future of Europe. " 44 Though less immediate, there was a danger "from forcible separation of eastern Europe,'' should there be a sudden change in the internal policy of Russia, and should the latter return to Pan-Slavism. In that case the Pan-Slav memories of the Southern and Western Slavs would be revived and Hungary and Bulgaria would try to recover lost territories ' 'by means of an alliance with the Russian reaction. In that event Russia's power would extend as far as the Adriatic Sea. " 4 5 These dangers, Coudenhove-Kalergi believed, could be averted by the timely creation of the Pan-European Federation. In his view, the historical moment in the time of his writing (1923) was more favorable than it ever was before. The situation would likely worsen every month and ''it is more than doubtful whether after a victory of the Russian reaction a Pan-European Federation would still l)e possible, " 46 he wrote. The formation of the United States of Europe would make possible an agreement on disarmament and economic cooperation with Soviet Russia. Since united Europe would possess great military and economic power, the danger of war with Russia would be removed. As long as Europe was divided , he said, there was a danger of a new war. A united Europe would have a larger population and incomparably more highly developed industries and, therefore, Soviet Russia "would realize the hopelessness of war and will be ready to disarm." But, he writes , as long as the regime in Russia is organized on a Soviet basis , it would be better for ''Russo-European peace if these two federations remain separate.' ' 47 The Soviet regime endeavored to overthrow the democratic order in Europe and, therefore , a merging of the two federations was not practical. However, '' Should Russia become democratic, a new situation would result.' ' Then it would be possi- �SLOVAKIA 37 ble to consider the question of Russia's joining the European federation. Turning to Europe's relations with the United States, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote that "The economic model for PanEurope is provided by the United States of America; the political model for Pan-Europe's development, by the Pan-American Union.' ' 48 Since its origin, with the exception of the Civil War era, the United States has been a political and economic unity. Europeans should realize that the success of the American dream has been due to the existence of a common market and the political unity of the continent. They should utilize the experiences gathered in the United States and the entire American continent in their efforts to build Pan-Europe. Though Pan-Americanism was still in the process of development , it had a head start over PanEuropeanism. The history of the development of Pan-Americanism has great significance for Pan-Europe. Coudenhove-Kalergi believed that the League of Nations, as conceived by President Woodrow Wilson, was a utopia. 49 Two great powers, Russia and the United States, did not belong to it, and Germany was excluded from it. The League should be reorganized, he suggested, and the Europeans should work for its strengthening in order to avoid war. While World War I weakened Europe , " the War of the Future would inflict the deathblow upon it. " 50 In his view , " Only Pan-European federation , by the introduction and joint guarantee of a compulsory court arbitration, can definitely secure the internal peace of Europe." Coudenhove-Kalergi regretted the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy. While the peace of 1919 signified an advance over prewar conditions politically, economically it was a step backward. As he put it , nationalistic demagogues "have brought disaster to millions of people , and the threat of economic ruin to the continent. " 51 The many opponents of Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi divided into four categories: the National Chauvinists , the Communists , the Militarists, and the Protected Industries. 52 He realized the difficulty of combatting them with his idea that rejected conflict and promoted cooperaton among European nations. His idea, indeed, did not overcome the odds represented by the mentioned �38 SLOVAKIA opponents and national (state) sovereignty. Coudenhove-Kalergi realized that the greatest obstacle to the formation of a United States of Europe lay in the thousand-yearold rivalry between France and Germany. 53 Therefore, the PanEuropeans would have to strive for reconciliation of these two nations in order to prevent a future catastrophy. His own efforts were directed at winning over for his idea both the French and German political leaders. He was more successful in France than in Germany. According to an old Czech proverb, ''Nobody is a prophet in his own fatherland.'' It applied to the fullest extent to Coudenhove-Kalergi. After publishing several articles on Paneuropa in 1922, he decided to try to persuade a well-known European personality ''with vision and authority'' to sponsor the Paneuropean idea. As a citizen of Czechoslovakia, he turned first to that country's president, Thomas G. Masaryk. The latter was sympathetic to the idea of European union but unwilling to associate himself with a crusade for Pan-Europe. 54 In order to obtain the blessing of the Prague government for the movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi dedicated one of the first copies of his book to Masaryk with whom he subsequently met on several 9ccasions. Masaryk introduced him to the foreign minister Edvard Benes, an acknowledged leader of the Little Entente and a well-known figure in international politics. According to the Count, ''unlike Masaryk, Benes was not a genuine European. Fundamentally, he was a Czech nationalist . .. . He spoke the language of Pan-Europe because he believed that to do so was good for his country. But he had no intention of sacrificing a single Czech interest on the altar of European unity. " 55 While he favored '' a collective guarantee of Czechoslovakia's frontiers,'' Benes opposed ''effective protection of the German minorities.'' While he favored ''the dismantling of custom barriers towards Eastern Europe so as to widen the market for Czech goods," he opposed "customs union with Germany for fear of competition from that quarter." Thus Benes 's attitude toward the Pan-European movement tended to be ambiguous; "in theory he was Pan-European, but in practice a Czech nationalist. " 56 After Coudenhove's manuscript on Pan-Europe came out in �SLOVAKIA 39 Vienna in 1923, Chancellor Ignaz Seipel of Austria, who was concerned with the future of his country, was willing to support the European idea and, moreover, offered Coudenhove-Kalergi space for his projected organization in the Hofburg Palace. 57 Since the palace was the seat of the Austrian government and the movement had now an official sponsor, Coudenhove-Kalergi announced the establishment of the Paneuropean Union and a Paneuropean press with headquarters in cosmopolitan Vienna. Coudenhove-Kalergi found prominent supporters of the European idea in France in Edouard Herriot, who had strong European impulses and became prime minister, and Aristide Briand, who became foreign minister, and Alex Leger. It was clear to the young enthusiast that in order to bring about European unity it was necessary to find support for the idea also in Gefmany. With France being the leader in building a European movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi tried to persuade German political leaders, first of all Chancellor Wilhelm Marx, to support the movement. 58 France was the country in search of European security and all political parties, except the Communist, supported the European idea, but in Germany the support was less pronounced, despite Coudenhove-Kalergi's efforts to persuade the Germans that they would benefit from close Paneuropean cooperation both politically and economically. Indeed , the Count pointed out that the success of the United States was due to the customs union, to the vast free market, and that the United States ought to be a model for Europe. He repeatedly stated that Europe could become as peaceful as Switzerland and as prosperous as the United States if it would unite. 59 As a result of long and careful planning by CoudenhoveKalergi, the First Congress of the Paneuropean Union was held in Vienna , October 3-6 , 1926 . He had hoped to persuade a large number of European political leaders to take part in it. Since success of his plans for a united Europe depended primarily on the cooperation of France and Germany, Coudenhove-Kalergi was most anxious to have at the congress Aristide Briand , Edouard Herriot , and Paul Painleve (the premier) of France, and Chancellor Wilhelm Marx an d foreign minister Gustav Stresemann of Germany. While none of them actually attended the congress , the �40 SLOVAKIA three French politicians sent warm greetings and the French government was officially represented at the congress by the French minister in Vienna. The Germans were less cooperative, though Chancellor Marx sent the young Count a short telegram wishing him success and stating that the Reich Chancellor would follow the course of the congress with great interest. 60 Coudenhove-Kalergi was not completely unsuccessful in Germany. On the eve of the congress Thomas Mann joined the Paneuropean Union and Paul Lobe agreed to serve as an honorary president of the congress along with Edvard Benes, Joseph Caillaux, Nicholas Politis, Francesco Nitti, and Ignaz Seipel. Austria seemed to be the greatest supporter of the movement. Chancellor Rudolph Ramek welcomed the delegates, including those from France, Belgium, Norway, and Czechoslovakia, where chapters of the movement had been established. 61 The congress was hailed as a great success in many leading European newspapers. According to an editorial in the Manchester Guardian Weekly of October 8, 1926, "The United States of Europe is no longer a dream; it has entered on the world of realities." Yet, the reality of the situation was such that even CoudenhoveKalergi realized that the reserved attitude of the German government and the agitation for Anschluss were stumbling blocs for the realization of his dream. He said that the Anschluss was a PanGerman not a Paneuropean idea and that some German politicians were using Paneuropean slogans to cloak their nationalist demands for power. 62 At the same time the Paneuropean Union was growing in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, and even in Germany new people were joining the movement. 63 In France Aristide Briand was an honorary president of the Paneuropean Union and a strong advocate of the European idea. Indeed , with the exception of the Communist party, political parties in France looked very favorably on the Paneuropean movement. 64 The latter had some grass roots and official support in Czechoslovakia, whose foreign policy was oriented towards France. As Coudenhove-Kalergi put it, Benes believed in " the eventual establishment of a European Federation, but doubted whether it could be achieved in the short run . . . it was this doubt which induced him to give support to our project. Had-he believed �SLOVAKIA 41 in its immediate realization, he would probably have opposed it.' '65 Since Ignaz Seipel and Karl Renner of Austria had come out openly in support of European Federation, Benes did not wish to appear less European-minded. Therefore, he accepted "the honorary chairmanship of the Czech committee and wrote an excellent preface for the Czech edition of Pan-Europe.'' He helped to organize the committee and "secured for it the co-operation of outstanding politicians of Czech and German descent.' ' 66 He also furnished Coudenhove-Kalergi with a diplomatic passport which was extremely useful to him. Benes also opened for him many doors in France and other Entente states, thus helping him overcome ''the double handicap'' of his Austrian origin and his German mother-tongue.6 7 Among the Paneuropeans were also those who advocated a gradual approach to European federation and envisaged a federation of Danubian states. Among the most active champions of Danubian federation were Milan Hodza and Vaclav Schuster in Czechoslovakia, Elemer Hantos and Erno Bleier in Hungary, and Barons van Barolin and van Mises in Austria. Some of the supporters of the larger European idea argued that a Danubian federation would be a step toward a European federation. 68 The second Paneuropean Congress was held in Berlin in May, 1930. Prior to it, the French Foreign Office prepared a memorandum on a European federal system. The Briand memorandum was hailed by the congress as ''the first step toward the fulfillment . . . of an European federation,' ' 69 and interested powers were urged to accept the French proposals. Briand's proposals were taken seriously by the British Foreign Office, but the German government's response was that some basic changes in the postwar settlement were a condition for its participation in a federal system. Replies of other countries were also conditional and, as history tells us, the Briand plan was never implemented. The arrival of the Nazi regime in Germany was a very serious setback for Coudenhove's Paneurope. Indeed, the Nazi-projected Pan-Europe meant the domination of the continent by one nation and not a cooperation of all European nations as equals. Since Coudenhove-Kalergi was a persona non grata in the Third Reich, �42 SLOVAKIA he accepted French citizenship when Bohemia-Moravia became a part of it in 1939.7° Eventually, he left Europe for the United States where he continued his work and where, in 1943, he published his autobiography, Crusade for Pan-Europe. In 1944 New York University appointed him Professor of History. In New York he also established contacts with many European statesmen, including General de Gaule, and discussed with them post-war problems.7 1 * * * * * Needless to say, conditions in Central Europe are different from those in the United States where the traditional policy of assimilation has resulted in a multi-cultural society speaking the same language. With its heterogeneous population and traditions of nationalistic conflicts and cooperation in national and multinational states, federalism is the solution proposed for the unyielding problem of nationalities and minorities in Europe. While in the United States individual immigrants have been and can be assimilated, since such adjustment on the part of the immigrant is a prerequisite for finding his/her place in the new land of opportunity, it is not possible to assimilate nations or national groups possessing strong national consciousness and conscious of their national identity. Therefore, national federalism which tolerates differences in language and culture can be the only practical and feasible arrangement in East Central Europe, just as it has been the case in Switzerland. National federalism would bring economic prosperity, national freedom and regional security to nations living in the area. When the facade of national states in East Central Europe crumbled at the beginning of World War II, individuals concerned with the long-range policies in the area began to assess the national requirements of majorities and minorities in the area. Stefan Osusky, former Czechoslovak minister in Paris, presented a summary of these requirements: 72 Undoubtedly, the nations in Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe have a right to their national liberty. But the interests of the European peoples require that those nations should not be encouraged in the dream of bringing about national uniformity within their States . Not �SLOVAKIA 43 on national uniformity but on national liberty depends the existence and the future of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Bulgaria. It is by guaranteeing the peoples of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe their freedom of national consciousness that the foundation of the peace of Europe will be laid. Furthermore, national uniformity would mean the elimination of every authority except that of the State. In countries with different religions, languages, customs and traditions, this is not desirable. For the preservation of religious, linguistic and cultural liberty means not only that individuals have a right to profess the religion of their choice, speak the lapguage of their mothers and live according to the traditions and customs of their ancestors; it means the practical possibility of associating together and administering their own particular affairs. These requirements for cooperation among the nations living in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe were valid then as they are today. Let us hope that one day the small nations in the area will reject conflict and chose cooperation and that they will find a federal solution to the problem that is common to all of them: they are too weak to stand alone between the solid masses of Germans and Russians. NOTES 1 Frantisek Palacky and Ludwig van Lohner formulated a plan for redivision of the Habsburg Empire into national territories: German Austria, Bohemia including Slovakia, the Polish provinces, the Illyrian provinces, the Italian provinces, the South Slavic area, the Hungarian area, and the Wallachian (Romanian) provinces. This plan was endorsed by the Austrian Reichstag , dominated by federalist thinking, meeting in Kromeffz late in 1848 and early 1849 to draw up a new constitution for the empire. However, the Vienna government, after suppressing the revolution of 1848, dissolved the Reichstag and imposed a centralistic constitution. Wenzel Jaksch, Europe 's Road to Potsdam . Translated and edited by Kurt Glaser. (New York, 1963) , pp . 26-27 . For details and documents see Bohus Rieger, Franti§ka Palackeho spisy drobne [Small Works of Frantisek Palacky] (Prague , 1898, vol. I) pp . 59ff. Also Karel Kramaf, Geske statnf pravo (Prague, 1896) . �SLOVAKIA 44 As the leader of the Czech National party, Palacky in 1848 was invited to join those who later met in the Frankfurt Parliament, but he refused . At that time Palacky wrote that, had the Austrian Empire not existed, it would have been necessary to create it . 2 H. Raupach, Der tschechische Friihnationalism (Essen, 1939), p. 92 . On May 29, 1849, Havlicek wrote in Narodnf Noviny: "We want an association of free nations in Austria , in Central Europe." 3 Jaksch, Europe's Road, pp . 70-71; also Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (New York, 1986), p. 32. 4 Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Whiting, Ind . 1957) p. 210; Kon~tantln Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava , 1937), p. 78. Also , Kalvoda , The Genesis, pp. 69-70 . 5 Culen, p . 177; Yurchak, pp . 212-214; Kalvoda , pp . 284-285 . 6 Kalvoda, The Genesis, pp. 76-77. 7 Frantgek Berdych, ed. , Obrana statu a na~e politicke strany (Prague, 1938), pp. 168-169. a Ibid., p. 171. 9 Ibid., p. 172. Incidentally, only two major groups in the Czechoslovak parliament voted against the law: the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, and the Sudeten German party led by Konrad Henlein . See ibid. , pp . 207ff. 10 Ira E. Bennett, "The Czechs Will Rise Again," The Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 1941; J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918 (Prague, 1968), p . 40. 11 Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 426. 12 Masaryk to Wilson, November 1, 1918; Wilson to Masaryk, November 5, 1918; and Masaryk to Wilson, November 7, 1918, Woodrow Wilson Papers (The Manuscript Division, Library of Congress). 13 Kalvoda, The Genesis, p . 427. 14 Josef Kalvoda, "The Czechoslovak Problem, " Nationalities Papers, Vol. XIl, No. 2 (Fall 1984), p. 245. 15 Ibid. 16 Delegation Propaganda: Czechoslovak Republic, Memoire No . III, The Hoover Institution, quoted in Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 445 . 17 Ibid. (The Genesis). 18 Nicholas Murray Butler, Why War? (New York, 1940), p . 20 . 19 Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe: Reflections and Reminiscences (London , 1942). 20 Michal Mu.dry , Milan Hodia v Amerike (Chicago , 1949). p. 231. 21 Ibid., p . 177 . 22 23 Ibid . Ibid., p. 231. 24 Ibid., p . 232 . 25 R. Kravcek, "Hodzuv plan," Slovansky pfehled, No . 6, 1967, pp. 347-3 53 ; also Hodza 's book, Federation . �SLOVAKIA 45 26 Libuse Otahalova a Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943 (Prague 1966), vol. I, p. 293 . 27 Mudry, Milan Hodia v Amerike, p. 58. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed. , Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries (Toronto, Ont., 1978), p . 123 . See also a book by the same author, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1960), pp. 78-84; Joachim Kuhl, Federationsplane in Donauraum und in Ost mitteleuropa (Miinchen, 1958); and Rudolf Wierer, Der Federalism im Donauraum (Graz-Koln, 1960). 29 Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers the World (London, 1953) . 28 30 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe. Autobiography of a Man and a Movement (New York, 1943). 31 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p . 109. 32 Ibid., p. 91. 33 Ibid., p. 102. 34 35 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe (New York, 1926) . Ibid. , pp . 6-8. 36 Ibid. , p. xv. 31 Ibid., p. xvi. 36Ibid., pp . 10-11. 39 Ibid. , p . 11. 40 Ibid., p. 13. Ibid., p. 58. 41 43 Ibid., p . 62. Ibid ., p . 63. 44 Ibid. , p. 64. 45 46 Ibid. Ibid. 47 Ibid., p. 67-69 48 Ibid., p. 74 . 42 Ibid., p. 87. Ibid., p . 112 . 5 1 Ibid., p . 122 . 49 50 52 Ibid., pp. 186-190. 53 Ibid., pp . 132-147 . 54 Coudenhove-Kalergi , Crusade for Pan-Europe, p. 88. 55 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p. 103. Ibid., pp. 103-104. 56 57 Carl H. Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , 1914-1932 (Chapel Hill and London , 1983) p . 29 . 58 Ibid., p . 41. �46 59 SLOVAKIA Ibid., p. 63 . so Ibid., p . 70. 62 Ibid., p. 71. Ibid., p . 88. 63 Ibid., p . 89 . 61 Coudenhove-Kalergi , An Idea Conquers, p. 104. Ibid., p . 105 . 66 Ibid. , p. 104. 64 65 67 Ibid., p . 105 . 68 Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , p. 99 . Ibid., p. 145. 69 °Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe, 7 pp . 208-209. 71 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, pp. 254-255 . 72 ~tefan Osusky, The Contemporary Review, November, 1941 , pp . 280-281, cited in Oscar I. Janowsky, Nationalities and National Minorities (With special Reference to East-Central Europe) (New York, 1945), pp. 167-168. � SLOVAKIA 23 Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the lnterwar Years JOSEF KALVODA For centuries Central Europe has been an area ,of mixed nationalities and both Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, when the latter was established in 1918-1919, were multi-national states. The need for peace and cooperation among the many national groups gave rise to several proposals for a federal solution of the problems of small nations living in the area. One may recall that on January 23, 1849 the Czech historian and political leader Frantisek Palacky proposed the reorganization of the Austrian Empire along federal lines. 1 One can also cite a statement by the known Czech journalist Karel Havlicek Borovsky who argued against Bohemia's joining the German Reich proposed by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849 . He wrote: ''Our federation is Austria. '' 2 The struggle for the state right by the National (Old) Czech party , led by Frantisek Ladislav Rieger, in the nineteenth century was also a reflection of the Czech nation's desire to federalize the Austrian state. Until World War I the struggle for the ' ' state right '' was continued by the Young Czech party, as well as by the other Czech political parties with the exception of the Social Democrats and Professor Thomas G. Masaryk who advocated federalization of the state along ethnic lines. 3 In the interwar years several proposals for a federal solution of the Czech-Slovak problem and the problem of "Balkanized" East Central Europe and Europe in general were made by some citizens and political leaders in Czechoslovakia. These ideas will be briefly considered in this paper. A discussion of federalist thought in Czechoslovakia ought �24 SLOVAKIA to begin with the first plans for establishment of a state that would include the Czech historical lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia) and Slovakia, known originally as Upper Hungary. During World War I the idea of an independent Czecho-Slovak state was endorsed by some Czech groups both at home and abroad , including the Bohemian National Alliance and the Slovak League of America. In order to promote the independence movement , representatives of the two organizations met in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 15, 1915 , where they agreed on what they believed their countrymen in Austria-Hungary would accept in the event of their liberation. The ' 'Cleveland Agreement'' provided for the autonomy of both the Czech lands and Slovakia, proclaiming that the union of the Czech and Slovak peoples will be in a '' federative union of states, ' ' with complete national autonomy for Slovakia. Slovakia would have its own schools, its own state administration, cultural freedom and Slovak would be the official language.4 A few years later the agreement was presented to Thomas G. Masaryk in Pittsburgh at a meeting of representatives of the Bohemian National Alliance , the Slovak League , and the National Alliance of Bohemian Catholics. Since some Slovaks expressed an apprehension that in the future Czecho-Slovak state the Slovaks might be enveloped ("Czechified" ), Masaryk, the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council seated in Paris, decided to revise it. He wrote in Slovak the so-called Pittsburgh Agreement, signed by him and 6ther Czechs and Slovaks on May 30, 1918. 5 The agreement stated that representatives of the named organizations ' ' approve of a political program aiming to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an independent state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have its own administration , its own diet, and its own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in schools , in government offices , and in public life generally. The Czecho-Slovak state shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic .' ' The document was destined to have far-reaching consequences in the history of Czechoslovakia. In their struggle for selfgovernment and their efforts to change the centralist constitution of 1920, the Slovak autonomists invoked the Pittsburgh Agreement. One may argue that the idea of a federal union of the Czechs �SLOVAKIA 25 and Slovaks in the Cleveland Agreement, as well as the autonomous arrangement promised by the Pittsburgh Agreement, were manifestations of the influence of the United States federal system of government on the thinking of those who signed them. Similarly, as it is in the states of the American federation, the Pittsburgh Agreement stipulated that Slovakia "shall have its own administration, its own diet, and its own courts.'' Since Czechs and Slovaks are two different nations speaking similar but different languages, it was necessary to make the Slovak language in Slovakia "the official language in schools, in governmental offices, and in public life generally." In view of the fact that in 1915, in a memorandum to the British government, Masaryk stated that the new s·tate (' 'Independent Bohemia") would be a monarchy, because only a small group of "radicals" favored a republic, 6 and that most of the leaders of the independence movement in the Czech lands and Milan R. Stefanik, who represented the Slovaks in the CzechoSlovak National Council, were monarchists, it would seem that the American environment influenced Masaryk's decision to proclaim the new state a republic. The principles stated in the Pittsburgh Agreement were not implemented in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920; the latter established a centralist state administration. Autonomy for Ruthenia, the easternmost province of Czechoslovakia, provided for in the constitution, was not realized either until the collapse of the First Republic in October 1938. (Incidentally, the Slovaks had autonomy during the Second Republic that came to its end in March, 1939.) Champions of the autonomist movement in Slovakia, the Slovak People's party and the Slovak National party, constantly emphasized the need for a federal arrangement in the state that they supported. In May 1936, in a parliamentary discussion of the proposed Law for the Defense of the State (Law 131 of May 13, 1936), a Slovak People's party deputy and a former member of government, Jozef Tiso, declared that the Slovak nation considered the state of the Czechs and Slovaks their own state and that his party supported the law. As on many other occasions, Tiso discussed the Slovak problem and the demand for the implementation of the �26 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh Agreement. As he put it, "Autonomy is education of the Slovak nation toward seeing in this state its own state in which it rules ... Autonomy is education for state-forming thinking of the Slovaks" . .. " 7 The autonomist program, he emphasized, made the Slovaks conscious of the fact that Czechoslovakia was their state, and that the latter did not mean the merging of the . two nations, but a unity of the two nations in one common state. In the discussion of the same legislative proposal a Senator of the Slovak People's party, Gejza Fritz, emphasized that the "root of the autonomy is the Pittsburgh Agreement, concluded and signed by Czechs and Slovaks and the then president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council,'' Masaryk. The autonomy was to be within the boundaries of the state, not outside of it. As he put it, ''We demand self-government that is not incompatible with the state unity. That such an autonomy is possible is evidenced by the fact that the Constitution guarantees autonomy to CarpathoRussia (Ruthenia) within the framework of the united Czechoslovak republic.' ' 9 He pointed out that the president of the state had signed the agreement and that for ''those reasons it is not logical to claim that autonomy is separatism.'' In its substance, "autonomy means decentralization." In addition, the Slovaks demand equal rights for the Slovak language, he said , pointing out that ''to strive for a united Czechoslovak nation would mean to increase the antagonism of all Slovaks.' ' 9 * * * * * During. World War I Masaryk's objective was the establishment of an independent state. However, until the summer of 1918 he was prepared to accept autonomy for the Czechs within the framework of Austria-Hungary if independence were not attainable.10 By this time France and the United States had already parted with the idea of preserving a federalized Austria-Hungary; the latter collapsed by the end of October 1918. But even after the declaration of Czecho-Slovak independence by Masaryk in Washington, D.C., on October 18 , the Czech leader presided over a meeting of representatives of several national groups from Central Europe between October 23 and 26, 1918, that announced the intention to establish a Democratic Mid-European Union. This �SLOVAKIA 27 meeting, held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, led some people in Washington, D.C., to believe that on the ruins of AustriaHungary a new central european federation would emerge. The final resolution produced by the conference, called the ''Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations,'' was read by Masaryk in front of Independence Hall and was hailed by the American press as something approaching a declaration of a united Europe. 11 · On November 1, 1918, the original of the declaration was submitted to President Woodrow Wilson by Masaryk, who was the first of its twelve signatories. In the accompanying letter to Wilson Masaryk stated that the union ''tries to replace the German Plan of Mittel-Europe by a positive plan of reorganization of the many smaller nations which are located between the Germans (in Germany and Austria) and Russians; there are about eighteen such nations, beginning with the Finns and ending with the Greeks. . . . The primary aim of the war and the coming peace is the reorganization of the East, including now Russia; and the first condition of this reorganization of Eastern Europe and through it of Europe and mankind, is the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary, composed of eight non-German nations, oppressed and exploited by a degenerate dynasty and reckless feudal aristocracy supported by the Germans and Magyars.'' 12 In the last paragraph of the letter Masaryk proclaimed: "Mr. President, we see in you one of the greatest leaders of modern democracy and constructive policy; it is in making a sincere attempt to apply such a policy to our particular nations and to the whole of Europe that we hope you will engage your interest in our Union's endeavors." The signatories of the declaration, claiming to represent ''more than fifty million people constituting a chain of nations lying between the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Seas, comprising Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Jugoslavs , Ukrainians, UhroRusins, Lithuanians, Roumanians and Italian Irredentists , Unredeemed Greeks, Albanians, Zionists and Armenians, wholly or partly subject to alien domination ... accept and subscribe to the following as basic principles for all free peoples." �28 SLOVAKIA ''First. That all governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. Second. That it is the inalienable right of every people to organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare, safety and happiness. Third. That the free and natural development of the ideals of any state should be allowed to pursue their normal and unhindered course unless such course harms or threatens the common interest of all. Fourth. That there should be no secret diplomacy, and all proposed treaties and agreements between nations should be made public - prior to their adoption and ratification. Fifth. That we believe our peoples, having kindred ideals and purposes, should coordinate their efforts to insure the liberties of their individual nations for the furtherance of their own common welfare, provided such a union contributes to the peace and welfare of the world. Sixth. That there should be formed a league of the nations of the world in a common and binding agreement for genuine and practical cooperation to secure justice and therefore peace among nations .'' The signatories of the declaration pledged '' on behalf of their respective nations'' that the principles set forth in it '' shall be incorporated in the organic laws of whatever government our respective peoples may hereafter establish.'' As it happened, the vast majority of the Czechoslovak Revolutionary (Constituent) National Assembly , established after the war, followed Masaryk's views and paid no attention to the principles stated in the Declaration of the Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations. The assembly did not derive its powers from the consent of the governed; it was not elected by the peoples living in Czechoslovakia; the Germans , Hungarians , Poles , and Ruthenians in Czechoslovakia were not represented in it at all; and the Germans, Hungarians , Slovaks , and Ruthenians living in the country were not allowed to "organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare , safety and happiness . " 13 �SLOVAKIA 29 * * * * * While visiting the United States in the fall of 1918, Roman Dmowski, the head to the Polish National Committee Abroad, seated in Paris, suggested to Masaryk the formation of a Federation consisting of Czecho-Slovakia and Poland. Masaryk refused the proposal, but favored "a certain kind of Economic Union, to be worked out; and a military defense against Germany, essentially non-aggressive." Not farseeing the problem of frontier adjustment with Poland, Masaryk asked Dmowski "to write out text of agreement on these lines.'' The Polish leader, however, did not formulate such an agreement, since he, apparently, was not interested in anything short of Federation. 14 The proposed Federation of the three Western Slavic nations, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, could have provided an ample guarantee of peace in Central Europe, since the three nations could have faced together the prospective threats coming from either east or west, and could have jointly resolved the national minority problem. In the 1930s the idea of close cooperation with Poland was endorsed by the leader of the Czechoslovak National Democratic party, Karel Kramaf, and the leader of the Slovak People's party, Andrej Hlinka. At that time, due to hostility between Czechoslovakia's foreign minister Edvard Benes, and the Polish foreign minister Jozef Beck, such a policy was not practical and could not be implemented. 15 * * * * * At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Czecho-Slovakia was represented by a delegation of which the principal spokesman was Edvard Benes. InMemoire No. 3, one of the documents submitted by him to the conference, addressing itself to "The lot of the Germans in the Czecho-Slovak Republic," a promise was made that ''the Germans of Bohemia [sic] would have the same rights as the Czecho-Slovaks themselves. The German tongue would be the second tongue of the land .... The regime adopted would be similar to that of Switzerland. " 16 In his note of May 20, 1919, Benes elaborated on the latter point, announcing the intention of the state to apply the principles of the Swiss Republic in creating the organs of the new state that would be '' a sort of Switzerland.'' In the con- �30 SLOVAKIA clusion of his memorandum Benes promised ''an extremely liberal regime, which will very much resemble that of Switzerland. " 17 This was a statement of intention - one of those by which the way to hell is paved. It was not implemented and a centralistic Constitution was adopted in Czechoslovakia in 1920. One may speculate, as did Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, that ''had the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia at the time of its organization in 1919 been based upon the cantonal system, its history . . . might have been very different and far happier.'' 18 * * * * * Dr. Milan Hodza, a Slovak by birth, was a well-known exponent of the idea of establishing a Central European or a Danubian Federation. 19 He proceeded from the assumption that the League of Nations and the Little Entente were ineffective and inadequate for preserving peace in Europe. The latter had to unite in order to maintain peace and advance prosperity. However, Europe's final unification presupposes, first of all, an effective regional cooperation. Therefore, Hodza developed the theme of the union of Central Europe when the new order was established in Europe after World War I. As a prominent politician of the Republican (agrarian) party, he propagated the idea of a federated Central Europe numbering about 110 million people, stretching from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea and covering the region between Germany and Soviet Russia. 20 Since the states in the region were predominantly agrarian, the federation had to be based on agrarian democracy. 21 Already in 1925, at the national congress of the Republican party, Hodza declared that there was a need for Central European solidarity; the latter would save Czechoslovakia from either Bolshevik or imperialistic attack. 22 He believed that the interests of Czechoslovakia and Poland could be reconcilled and their close cooperation with the other nations in the area would benefit all of Europe. In his lecture, delivered in London in 1930, Hodza stated: ''It is universally an international danger when dictatorship becomes a contagious disease, which weakens the organism of states and nations. Thus one day we could expose ourselves to the danger which might infect Central Europe with Moscow's �SLOVAKIA 31 dictatorship. Therefore, it is important that Central Europe does not become the carrier of dictatorial bacilli, but rather a trench, or barrier, against dictatorship. " 23 In Hodza's view, the national sovereignty of small nations should not be construed as isolationism, but rather a foundation stone for international cooperation. Since the nations of Central Europe have mutual interests and similar traditions , they have to come closer together and work for a wider international cooperation. A federation of states from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea, united on the basis of democratic principles, would be a barrier against Bolshevism and the first step toward establishing a United States of Europe. 24 Hodza became prime minister of Czechoslovakia in November 1935 and Benes was elected the state's president in the middle of December 1935. When from December 20, 1935, to February 29, 1936, Hodza was also the acting minister of foreign affairs, he tried very hard to get his favorite project off the ground. In an attempt to implement it, he visited Vienna on January 17 , 1936, Paris, February 8-15, Belgrade, February 21-25, and again Vienna, March 8-10, 1936. 25 The Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg fully endorsed Hodza's project, but it was viewed skeptically in other countries and, above all, in the Czechoslovak ministry of foreign affairs staffed by Benes appointees. The new president was especially annoyed by Hodza's conduct of foreign policy. Later Benes commented with disdain on the prime minister's activities as follows: "Hodza went to Vienna, had lunch with Schuschnigg, told him that something should be done in Central Europe to remove the German threat to Austria. Upon his return to Prague he told me that he had negotiated an alliance with Austria. It caused alarm in France and in England, because these countries were informed to the effect that everything would be signed, sealed and delivered in three weeks . Of course it was a bluff. " 26 When in the summer of 1938 a large demonstration in favor of autonomy of Slovakia took place in the capital city of Bratislava, Hodza made an attempt to take the wind out of the autonomist sails. He revealed his own plan for self-government in Slovakia. This proposal, known as the ''Hodza Plan,'' was revealed in detail �32 SLOVAKIA in his Slovensky dennik. The key provision in it was as follows: "Slovakia will have her own diet with legislative powers, her own government of six ministers to deal exclusively with Slovak matters. The Slovak language will be the only official language in Slovakia. A separate Slovak commission will supervise and decide the personal questions connected with appointments of the state employees to eliminate irregularities and to see that Slovak claims are not bypassed.' •21 After the Munich settlement, on October 6, 1938, Slovak autonomy was proclaimed. The manifest was signed by seven nonSocialist parties (including the Slovak People's party), representing about 75 percent of the Slovak electorate. The Czecho-Slovak National Assembly approved the Constitutional Law of Slovak selfrule on November 22 , 1938 by a unanimous vote. (The deputies of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia left the Chamber before the voting. )2 8 * * * * * In the interwar years a prominent federalist advocating the establishment of a United States of Europe, Count Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, lived in Czechoslovakia. He became famous after World War II, when many Americans and West Europeans embraced his ideas. 29 His pioneering work did bring fruits when the West European community was established. Czechoslovakia, however, was a member of the Soviet bloc , and did not benefit from it. ,· Born in Tokyo on November 17, 1894, Coudenhove-Kalergi's mother was Japanese and his father was an Austrian diplomat. The Coudenhove-Kalergi's home was the old Castle of Ronsperk in Bohemia. The Treaty of Saint Germain of 1919 made the Count a citizen of Czechoslovakia. 30 When the Nazis occupied the country in 1939 , he accepted French citizenship and, eventually, left Europe for the United States. During the interwar years Coudenhove-Kalergi was the leading theoretician and founder of the Pan-European movement. He devoted his talents and efforts to the cause of European federation. Among those whom he inspired and persuaded to support the movement was Edouard Herriot, a one-time prime minister �SLOVAKIA 33 and minister of foreign affairs in France, and the author of The United States of Europe. Herriot was the first European statesman who appealed openly for a United States of Europe. 31 A student of history, Coudenhove-Kalergi was familiar with attempts to unify Europe made over the centuries by writers and kings, including George Podiebrad, a famous King of Bohemia in the fifteenth century. His first article on ''The European Question" appeared in the summer of 1922 in the Berlin Volkische Zeitung and the Vienna Neue Freie Presse.32 After finding some influential supporters among political leaders of the time, the first issue of the movements's new periodical, Pan-Europe, came out in April 1924. It contained an article entitled "The European Manifesto.'' Due to extensive publicity generated by the movement, his book on Pan-Europe began to appear in several languages. 33 The English language edition, with an introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, was published in 1926 in New York. 34 In Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi noticed the political decline of Europe as a consequence of the World War: "From the center of the world Europe has moved to its periphery. The world hegemony of Europe is overthrown for all time .'' The validity of the last sentence was called to doubt by some, when Germany rose again as a great power in the 1930s. Yet the outcome of World War II confirmed his observation that "the United States of America has developed into the leading World Power." As he observed in his book first published in 1923, in the World War the United States " proved the decisive factor . Today , the United States of America is the wealthiest, the most powerful, and the most advanced country in the world." At the same time, however, "Europe's power of action in world politics is paralyzed by her disunion.' ' 35 In advocating the consolidation of Europe into a politicoeconomic federation, Coudenhove-Kalergi encountered objection from several quarters branding Pan-Europe a utopia. To this he replied that "every great historical happening began as a utopia and ended as a reality." He pointed out that in 1913 the Polish and Czecho-Slovak republics were utopias; "in 1918 they became realities. In 1916 the victory of the communists in Russia was a �34 SLOVAKIA utopia; in 1917 it was an accomplished fact. " 36 Whether PanEurope would be realized depended on the will of the Europeans; if the latter would support the idea and work for it, a utopia would become a reality. As he put it, ''While thousands believe in PanEurope, it is a utopia; so long as millions believe in it, it is a program; but once a hundred million believe in it, it becomes a fact." Thus in 1923 Coudenhove-Kalergi called upon the youth of Europe ''to convert the utopia of yesterday into a reality of tomorrow.' ' 37 Constantly referring to historical events, Coudenhove-Kalergi emphasized that power-relationships among countries have been changing with time. For example, the Bohemian empire of King Ottokar was a great power stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and was about the size of European Russia; Bohemia of the 1920s was as small as was the Grand Duchy of Weimar a century earlier. According to him, ''Time works for Russia and against Europe," This was an observation not shared by many people at that time. He also pointed out how the United States became a great power and how this technically most advanced country was ''the first to try the new method of political organization, namely, a system of peaceful federations, culminating in the PanAmerican Union and in the idea of a League of Nations. Although the American conditions are different than those in Europe, states that are small may not be able to lead an independent existence and, therefore, they have to establish federations." As he saw it, "The leading World powers of today are federations: Russia, England, America. Political rapprochement of neighboring countries must be realized, if conflicts are to be avoided.' ' 38 Coudenhove-Kalergi observed that the formation of the PanAmerican League was not directed against any other state system, but solely against war, and "toward furthering the cultural progress of all." The American example should be followed by Europe. The latter must supplement "its modern science of communications by a modern science of politics, else it will be in danger of blindly staggering into another war and of suffocating in a very sea of gas-bombs.' •39 The Count regretted that Europe was regressing further and further toward atomization, since Austria-Hungary, Western �SLOVAKIA 35 Russia, and European Turkey dissolved themselves into a multitude of petty states. This process needs to be reversed by promoting integration, otherwise, if the liberation of European peoples is not completed by their unification, '' sooner or later the European state will be swallowed up by the growing World Powers.' ' 40 Europe must find a means of harmonizing freedom with organization, that is to follow the example of America in establishing a federation. Coudenhove-Kalergi presented a plan for the establishment of such a federation and discussed several reasons for which the nations of Europe should unite. First, Bolshevik Russia made no secret of her aggressive intentions: Bolshevism fights with propaganda in the one hand and with sword in the other; "it resorts to violence, terrorism and militarism.' ' 41 Therefore, the aim of all Europeans, regardless of party or nation, should be the prevention of a Soviet invasion that would bring about the destruction of liberty and the other cherished values. A Pan-European security pact guaranteeing the protection of European eastern frontiers would lay the foundation for an understanding with Soviet Russia. He suggested that if Texas, New Mexico, and California were independent states, they would be in constant danger from Mexico. But "as states of the American federal union they are secure against any such danger. " 42 Similarly, the Soviet threat to Romania, Poland, and Finland would disappear as soon as they would become members of the United States of Europe. As long as they were isolated, they represented a constant temptation for Soviet Russia. Furthermore, Coudenhove-Kalergi suggested that the quarrels among the European states weakened their power defense against Soviet Russia. Therefore, there was a need for European solidarity for an effective defense of the eastern frontiers of Europe. Any war in Europe would offer the Soviets a welcome opportunity for intervention; "and once Russian armies have secured a footing in Europe, they will scarcely relinquish it of their own free will.'' He also saw a danger in the pro-Russian orientation of some states, notably Germany. He suggested that there was a large number of Germans who hoped, "through an alliance with Russia, to tear up the Treaty of Versailles and once more partition Poland. " 43 �36 SLOVAKIA Whether Germany would be saved or estranged from Europe depended on the Western powers, above all on France, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote, and he predicted that in the FrancoGerman conflict neither Germany nor France, "but Russia will in the long run be victorious. ' ' He warned that France still had time to preserve ''the German sister republic for the family of European states; tomorrow it may be already too late.'' He added that "upon this question hinges the future of Europe. " 44 Though less immediate, there was a danger "from forcible separation of eastern Europe,'' should there be a sudden change in the internal policy of Russia, and should the latter return to Pan-Slavism. In that case the Pan-Slav memories of the Southern and Western Slavs would be revived and Hungary and Bulgaria would try to recover lost territories ' 'by means of an alliance with the Russian reaction. In that event Russia's power would extend as far as the Adriatic Sea. " 4 5 These dangers, Coudenhove-Kalergi believed, could be averted by the timely creation of the Pan-European Federation. In his view, the historical moment in the time of his writing (1923) was more favorable than it ever was before. The situation would likely worsen every month and ''it is more than doubtful whether after a victory of the Russian reaction a Pan-European Federation would still l)e possible, " 46 he wrote. The formation of the United States of Europe would make possible an agreement on disarmament and economic cooperation with Soviet Russia. Since united Europe would possess great military and economic power, the danger of war with Russia would be removed. As long as Europe was divided , he said, there was a danger of a new war. A united Europe would have a larger population and incomparably more highly developed industries and, therefore, Soviet Russia "would realize the hopelessness of war and will be ready to disarm." But, he writes , as long as the regime in Russia is organized on a Soviet basis , it would be better for ''Russo-European peace if these two federations remain separate.' ' 47 The Soviet regime endeavored to overthrow the democratic order in Europe and, therefore , a merging of the two federations was not practical. However, '' Should Russia become democratic, a new situation would result.' ' Then it would be possi- �SLOVAKIA 37 ble to consider the question of Russia's joining the European federation. Turning to Europe's relations with the United States, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote that "The economic model for PanEurope is provided by the United States of America; the political model for Pan-Europe's development, by the Pan-American Union.' ' 48 Since its origin, with the exception of the Civil War era, the United States has been a political and economic unity. Europeans should realize that the success of the American dream has been due to the existence of a common market and the political unity of the continent. They should utilize the experiences gathered in the United States and the entire American continent in their efforts to build Pan-Europe. Though Pan-Americanism was still in the process of development , it had a head start over PanEuropeanism. The history of the development of Pan-Americanism has great significance for Pan-Europe. Coudenhove-Kalergi believed that the League of Nations, as conceived by President Woodrow Wilson, was a utopia. 49 Two great powers, Russia and the United States, did not belong to it, and Germany was excluded from it. The League should be reorganized, he suggested, and the Europeans should work for its strengthening in order to avoid war. While World War I weakened Europe , " the War of the Future would inflict the deathblow upon it. " 50 In his view , " Only Pan-European federation , by the introduction and joint guarantee of a compulsory court arbitration, can definitely secure the internal peace of Europe." Coudenhove-Kalergi regretted the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy. While the peace of 1919 signified an advance over prewar conditions politically, economically it was a step backward. As he put it , nationalistic demagogues "have brought disaster to millions of people , and the threat of economic ruin to the continent. " 51 The many opponents of Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi divided into four categories: the National Chauvinists , the Communists , the Militarists, and the Protected Industries. 52 He realized the difficulty of combatting them with his idea that rejected conflict and promoted cooperaton among European nations. His idea, indeed, did not overcome the odds represented by the mentioned �38 SLOVAKIA opponents and national (state) sovereignty. Coudenhove-Kalergi realized that the greatest obstacle to the formation of a United States of Europe lay in the thousand-yearold rivalry between France and Germany. 53 Therefore, the PanEuropeans would have to strive for reconciliation of these two nations in order to prevent a future catastrophy. His own efforts were directed at winning over for his idea both the French and German political leaders. He was more successful in France than in Germany. According to an old Czech proverb, ''Nobody is a prophet in his own fatherland.'' It applied to the fullest extent to Coudenhove-Kalergi. After publishing several articles on Paneuropa in 1922, he decided to try to persuade a well-known European personality ''with vision and authority'' to sponsor the Paneuropean idea. As a citizen of Czechoslovakia, he turned first to that country's president, Thomas G. Masaryk. The latter was sympathetic to the idea of European union but unwilling to associate himself with a crusade for Pan-Europe. 54 In order to obtain the blessing of the Prague government for the movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi dedicated one of the first copies of his book to Masaryk with whom he subsequently met on several 9ccasions. Masaryk introduced him to the foreign minister Edvard Benes, an acknowledged leader of the Little Entente and a well-known figure in international politics. According to the Count, ''unlike Masaryk, Benes was not a genuine European. Fundamentally, he was a Czech nationalist . .. . He spoke the language of Pan-Europe because he believed that to do so was good for his country. But he had no intention of sacrificing a single Czech interest on the altar of European unity. " 55 While he favored '' a collective guarantee of Czechoslovakia's frontiers,'' Benes opposed ''effective protection of the German minorities.'' While he favored ''the dismantling of custom barriers towards Eastern Europe so as to widen the market for Czech goods," he opposed "customs union with Germany for fear of competition from that quarter." Thus Benes 's attitude toward the Pan-European movement tended to be ambiguous; "in theory he was Pan-European, but in practice a Czech nationalist. " 56 After Coudenhove's manuscript on Pan-Europe came out in �SLOVAKIA 39 Vienna in 1923, Chancellor Ignaz Seipel of Austria, who was concerned with the future of his country, was willing to support the European idea and, moreover, offered Coudenhove-Kalergi space for his projected organization in the Hofburg Palace. 57 Since the palace was the seat of the Austrian government and the movement had now an official sponsor, Coudenhove-Kalergi announced the establishment of the Paneuropean Union and a Paneuropean press with headquarters in cosmopolitan Vienna. Coudenhove-Kalergi found prominent supporters of the European idea in France in Edouard Herriot, who had strong European impulses and became prime minister, and Aristide Briand, who became foreign minister, and Alex Leger. It was clear to the young enthusiast that in order to bring about European unity it was necessary to find support for the idea also in Gefmany. With France being the leader in building a European movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi tried to persuade German political leaders, first of all Chancellor Wilhelm Marx, to support the movement. 58 France was the country in search of European security and all political parties, except the Communist, supported the European idea, but in Germany the support was less pronounced, despite Coudenhove-Kalergi's efforts to persuade the Germans that they would benefit from close Paneuropean cooperation both politically and economically. Indeed , the Count pointed out that the success of the United States was due to the customs union, to the vast free market, and that the United States ought to be a model for Europe. He repeatedly stated that Europe could become as peaceful as Switzerland and as prosperous as the United States if it would unite. 59 As a result of long and careful planning by CoudenhoveKalergi, the First Congress of the Paneuropean Union was held in Vienna , October 3-6 , 1926 . He had hoped to persuade a large number of European political leaders to take part in it. Since success of his plans for a united Europe depended primarily on the cooperation of France and Germany, Coudenhove-Kalergi was most anxious to have at the congress Aristide Briand , Edouard Herriot , and Paul Painleve (the premier) of France, and Chancellor Wilhelm Marx an d foreign minister Gustav Stresemann of Germany. While none of them actually attended the congress , the �40 SLOVAKIA three French politicians sent warm greetings and the French government was officially represented at the congress by the French minister in Vienna. The Germans were less cooperative, though Chancellor Marx sent the young Count a short telegram wishing him success and stating that the Reich Chancellor would follow the course of the congress with great interest. 60 Coudenhove-Kalergi was not completely unsuccessful in Germany. On the eve of the congress Thomas Mann joined the Paneuropean Union and Paul Lobe agreed to serve as an honorary president of the congress along with Edvard Benes, Joseph Caillaux, Nicholas Politis, Francesco Nitti, and Ignaz Seipel. Austria seemed to be the greatest supporter of the movement. Chancellor Rudolph Ramek welcomed the delegates, including those from France, Belgium, Norway, and Czechoslovakia, where chapters of the movement had been established. 61 The congress was hailed as a great success in many leading European newspapers. According to an editorial in the Manchester Guardian Weekly of October 8, 1926, "The United States of Europe is no longer a dream; it has entered on the world of realities." Yet, the reality of the situation was such that even CoudenhoveKalergi realized that the reserved attitude of the German government and the agitation for Anschluss were stumbling blocs for the realization of his dream. He said that the Anschluss was a PanGerman not a Paneuropean idea and that some German politicians were using Paneuropean slogans to cloak their nationalist demands for power. 62 At the same time the Paneuropean Union was growing in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, and even in Germany new people were joining the movement. 63 In France Aristide Briand was an honorary president of the Paneuropean Union and a strong advocate of the European idea. Indeed , with the exception of the Communist party, political parties in France looked very favorably on the Paneuropean movement. 64 The latter had some grass roots and official support in Czechoslovakia, whose foreign policy was oriented towards France. As Coudenhove-Kalergi put it, Benes believed in " the eventual establishment of a European Federation, but doubted whether it could be achieved in the short run . . . it was this doubt which induced him to give support to our project. Had-he believed �SLOVAKIA 41 in its immediate realization, he would probably have opposed it.' '65 Since Ignaz Seipel and Karl Renner of Austria had come out openly in support of European Federation, Benes did not wish to appear less European-minded. Therefore, he accepted "the honorary chairmanship of the Czech committee and wrote an excellent preface for the Czech edition of Pan-Europe.'' He helped to organize the committee and "secured for it the co-operation of outstanding politicians of Czech and German descent.' ' 66 He also furnished Coudenhove-Kalergi with a diplomatic passport which was extremely useful to him. Benes also opened for him many doors in France and other Entente states, thus helping him overcome ''the double handicap'' of his Austrian origin and his German mother-tongue.6 7 Among the Paneuropeans were also those who advocated a gradual approach to European federation and envisaged a federation of Danubian states. Among the most active champions of Danubian federation were Milan Hodza and Vaclav Schuster in Czechoslovakia, Elemer Hantos and Erno Bleier in Hungary, and Barons van Barolin and van Mises in Austria. Some of the supporters of the larger European idea argued that a Danubian federation would be a step toward a European federation. 68 The second Paneuropean Congress was held in Berlin in May, 1930. Prior to it, the French Foreign Office prepared a memorandum on a European federal system. The Briand memorandum was hailed by the congress as ''the first step toward the fulfillment . . . of an European federation,' ' 69 and interested powers were urged to accept the French proposals. Briand's proposals were taken seriously by the British Foreign Office, but the German government's response was that some basic changes in the postwar settlement were a condition for its participation in a federal system. Replies of other countries were also conditional and, as history tells us, the Briand plan was never implemented. The arrival of the Nazi regime in Germany was a very serious setback for Coudenhove's Paneurope. Indeed, the Nazi-projected Pan-Europe meant the domination of the continent by one nation and not a cooperation of all European nations as equals. Since Coudenhove-Kalergi was a persona non grata in the Third Reich, �42 SLOVAKIA he accepted French citizenship when Bohemia-Moravia became a part of it in 1939.7° Eventually, he left Europe for the United States where he continued his work and where, in 1943, he published his autobiography, Crusade for Pan-Europe. In 1944 New York University appointed him Professor of History. In New York he also established contacts with many European statesmen, including General de Gaule, and discussed with them post-war problems.7 1 * * * * * Needless to say, conditions in Central Europe are different from those in the United States where the traditional policy of assimilation has resulted in a multi-cultural society speaking the same language. With its heterogeneous population and traditions of nationalistic conflicts and cooperation in national and multinational states, federalism is the solution proposed for the unyielding problem of nationalities and minorities in Europe. While in the United States individual immigrants have been and can be assimilated, since such adjustment on the part of the immigrant is a prerequisite for finding his/her place in the new land of opportunity, it is not possible to assimilate nations or national groups possessing strong national consciousness and conscious of their national identity. Therefore, national federalism which tolerates differences in language and culture can be the only practical and feasible arrangement in East Central Europe, just as it has been the case in Switzerland. National federalism would bring economic prosperity, national freedom and regional security to nations living in the area. When the facade of national states in East Central Europe crumbled at the beginning of World War II, individuals concerned with the long-range policies in the area began to assess the national requirements of majorities and minorities in the area. Stefan Osusky, former Czechoslovak minister in Paris, presented a summary of these requirements: 72 Undoubtedly, the nations in Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe have a right to their national liberty. But the interests of the European peoples require that those nations should not be encouraged in the dream of bringing about national uniformity within their States . Not �SLOVAKIA 43 on national uniformity but on national liberty depends the existence and the future of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Bulgaria. It is by guaranteeing the peoples of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe their freedom of national consciousness that the foundation of the peace of Europe will be laid. Furthermore, national uniformity would mean the elimination of every authority except that of the State. In countries with different religions, languages, customs and traditions, this is not desirable. For the preservation of religious, linguistic and cultural liberty means not only that individuals have a right to profess the religion of their choice, speak the lapguage of their mothers and live according to the traditions and customs of their ancestors; it means the practical possibility of associating together and administering their own particular affairs. These requirements for cooperation among the nations living in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe were valid then as they are today. Let us hope that one day the small nations in the area will reject conflict and chose cooperation and that they will find a federal solution to the problem that is common to all of them: they are too weak to stand alone between the solid masses of Germans and Russians. NOTES 1 Frantisek Palacky and Ludwig van Lohner formulated a plan for redivision of the Habsburg Empire into national territories: German Austria, Bohemia including Slovakia, the Polish provinces, the Illyrian provinces, the Italian provinces, the South Slavic area, the Hungarian area, and the Wallachian (Romanian) provinces. This plan was endorsed by the Austrian Reichstag , dominated by federalist thinking, meeting in Kromeffz late in 1848 and early 1849 to draw up a new constitution for the empire. However, the Vienna government, after suppressing the revolution of 1848, dissolved the Reichstag and imposed a centralistic constitution. Wenzel Jaksch, Europe 's Road to Potsdam . Translated and edited by Kurt Glaser. (New York, 1963) , pp . 26-27 . For details and documents see Bohus Rieger, Franti§ka Palackeho spisy drobne [Small Works of Frantisek Palacky] (Prague , 1898, vol. I) pp . 59ff. Also Karel Kramaf, Geske statnf pravo (Prague, 1896) . �SLOVAKIA 44 As the leader of the Czech National party, Palacky in 1848 was invited to join those who later met in the Frankfurt Parliament, but he refused . At that time Palacky wrote that, had the Austrian Empire not existed, it would have been necessary to create it . 2 H. Raupach, Der tschechische Friihnationalism (Essen, 1939), p. 92 . On May 29, 1849, Havlicek wrote in Narodnf Noviny: "We want an association of free nations in Austria , in Central Europe." 3 Jaksch, Europe's Road, pp . 70-71; also Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (New York, 1986), p. 32. 4 Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Whiting, Ind . 1957) p. 210; Kon~tantln Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava , 1937), p. 78. Also , Kalvoda , The Genesis, pp. 69-70 . 5 Culen, p . 177; Yurchak, pp . 212-214; Kalvoda , pp . 284-285 . 6 Kalvoda, The Genesis, pp. 76-77. 7 Frantgek Berdych, ed. , Obrana statu a na~e politicke strany (Prague, 1938), pp. 168-169. a Ibid., p. 171. 9 Ibid., p. 172. Incidentally, only two major groups in the Czechoslovak parliament voted against the law: the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, and the Sudeten German party led by Konrad Henlein . See ibid. , pp . 207ff. 10 Ira E. Bennett, "The Czechs Will Rise Again," The Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 1941; J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918 (Prague, 1968), p . 40. 11 Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 426. 12 Masaryk to Wilson, November 1, 1918; Wilson to Masaryk, November 5, 1918; and Masaryk to Wilson, November 7, 1918, Woodrow Wilson Papers (The Manuscript Division, Library of Congress). 13 Kalvoda, The Genesis, p . 427. 14 Josef Kalvoda, "The Czechoslovak Problem, " Nationalities Papers, Vol. XIl, No. 2 (Fall 1984), p. 245. 15 Ibid. 16 Delegation Propaganda: Czechoslovak Republic, Memoire No . III, The Hoover Institution, quoted in Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 445 . 17 Ibid. (The Genesis). 18 Nicholas Murray Butler, Why War? (New York, 1940), p . 20 . 19 Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe: Reflections and Reminiscences (London , 1942). 20 Michal Mu.dry , Milan Hodia v Amerike (Chicago , 1949). p. 231. 21 Ibid., p . 177 . 22 23 Ibid . Ibid., p. 231. 24 Ibid., p . 232 . 25 R. Kravcek, "Hodzuv plan," Slovansky pfehled, No . 6, 1967, pp. 347-3 53 ; also Hodza 's book, Federation . �SLOVAKIA 45 26 Libuse Otahalova a Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943 (Prague 1966), vol. I, p. 293 . 27 Mudry, Milan Hodia v Amerike, p. 58. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed. , Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries (Toronto, Ont., 1978), p . 123 . See also a book by the same author, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1960), pp. 78-84; Joachim Kuhl, Federationsplane in Donauraum und in Ost mitteleuropa (Miinchen, 1958); and Rudolf Wierer, Der Federalism im Donauraum (Graz-Koln, 1960). 29 Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers the World (London, 1953) . 28 30 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe. Autobiography of a Man and a Movement (New York, 1943). 31 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p . 109. 32 Ibid., p. 91. 33 Ibid., p. 102. 34 35 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe (New York, 1926) . Ibid. , pp . 6-8. 36 Ibid. , p. xv. 31 Ibid., p. xvi. 36Ibid., pp . 10-11. 39 Ibid. , p . 11. 40 Ibid., p. 13. Ibid., p. 58. 41 43 Ibid., p . 62. Ibid ., p . 63. 44 Ibid. , p. 64. 45 46 Ibid. Ibid. 47 Ibid., p. 67-69 48 Ibid., p. 74 . 42 Ibid., p. 87. Ibid., p . 112 . 5 1 Ibid., p . 122 . 49 50 52 Ibid., pp. 186-190. 53 Ibid., pp . 132-147 . 54 Coudenhove-Kalergi , Crusade for Pan-Europe, p. 88. 55 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p. 103. Ibid., pp. 103-104. 56 57 Carl H. Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , 1914-1932 (Chapel Hill and London , 1983) p . 29 . 58 Ibid., p . 41. �46 59 SLOVAKIA Ibid., p. 63 . so Ibid., p . 70. 62 Ibid., p. 71. Ibid., p . 88. 63 Ibid., p . 89 . 61 Coudenhove-Kalergi , An Idea Conquers, p. 104. Ibid., p . 105 . 66 Ibid. , p. 104. 64 65 67 Ibid., p . 105 . 68 Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , p. 99 . Ibid., p. 145. 69 °Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe, 7 pp . 208-209. 71 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, pp. 254-255 . 72 ~tefan Osusky, The Contemporary Review, November, 1941 , pp . 280-281, cited in Oscar I. Janowsky, Nationalities and National Minorities (With special Reference to East-Central Europe) (New York, 1945), pp. 167-168. � 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 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. 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 1987-88 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 23 Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the lnterwar Years JOSEF KALVODA For centuries Central Europe has been an area ,of mixed nationalities and both Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, when the latter was established in 1918-1919, were multi-national states. The need for peace and cooperation among the many national groups gave rise to several proposals for a federal solution of the problems of small nations living in the area. One may recall that on January 23, 1849 the Czech historian and political leader Frantisek Palacky proposed the reorganization of the Austrian Empire along federal lines. 1 One can also cite a statement by the known Czech journalist Karel Havlicek Borovsky who argued against Bohemia's joining the German Reich proposed by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849 . He wrote: ''Our federation is Austria. '' 2 The struggle for the state right by the National (Old) Czech party , led by Frantisek Ladislav Rieger, in the nineteenth century was also a reflection of the Czech nation's desire to federalize the Austrian state. Until World War I the struggle for the ' ' state right '' was continued by the Young Czech party, as well as by the other Czech political parties with the exception of the Social Democrats and Professor Thomas G. Masaryk who advocated federalization of the state along ethnic lines. 3 In the interwar years several proposals for a federal solution of the Czech-Slovak problem and the problem of "Balkanized" East Central Europe and Europe in general were made by some citizens and political leaders in Czechoslovakia. These ideas will be briefly considered in this paper. A discussion of federalist thought in Czechoslovakia ought 24 SLOVAKIA to begin with the first plans for establishment of a state that would include the Czech historical lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia) and Slovakia, known originally as Upper Hungary. During World War I the idea of an independent Czecho-Slovak state was endorsed by some Czech groups both at home and abroad , including the Bohemian National Alliance and the Slovak League of America. In order to promote the independence movement , representatives of the two organizations met in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 15, 1915 , where they agreed on what they believed their countrymen in Austria-Hungary would accept in the event of their liberation. The ' 'Cleveland Agreement'' provided for the autonomy of both the Czech lands and Slovakia, proclaiming that the union of the Czech and Slovak peoples will be in a '' federative union of states, ' ' with complete national autonomy for Slovakia. Slovakia would have its own schools, its own state administration, cultural freedom and Slovak would be the official language.4 A few years later the agreement was presented to Thomas G. Masaryk in Pittsburgh at a meeting of representatives of the Bohemian National Alliance , the Slovak League , and the National Alliance of Bohemian Catholics. Since some Slovaks expressed an apprehension that in the future Czecho-Slovak state the Slovaks might be enveloped ("Czechified" ), Masaryk, the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council seated in Paris, decided to revise it. He wrote in Slovak the so-called Pittsburgh Agreement, signed by him and 6ther Czechs and Slovaks on May 30, 1918. 5 The agreement stated that representatives of the named organizations ' ' approve of a political program aiming to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an independent state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have its own administration , its own diet, and its own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in schools , in government offices , and in public life generally. The Czecho-Slovak state shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic .' ' The document was destined to have far-reaching consequences in the history of Czechoslovakia. In their struggle for selfgovernment and their efforts to change the centralist constitution of 1920, the Slovak autonomists invoked the Pittsburgh Agreement. One may argue that the idea of a federal union of the Czechs SLOVAKIA 25 and Slovaks in the Cleveland Agreement, as well as the autonomous arrangement promised by the Pittsburgh Agreement, were manifestations of the influence of the United States federal system of government on the thinking of those who signed them. Similarly, as it is in the states of the American federation, the Pittsburgh Agreement stipulated that Slovakia "shall have its own administration, its own diet, and its own courts.'' Since Czechs and Slovaks are two different nations speaking similar but different languages, it was necessary to make the Slovak language in Slovakia "the official language in schools, in governmental offices, and in public life generally." In view of the fact that in 1915, in a memorandum to the British government, Masaryk stated that the new s·tate (' 'Independent Bohemia") would be a monarchy, because only a small group of "radicals" favored a republic, 6 and that most of the leaders of the independence movement in the Czech lands and Milan R. Stefanik, who represented the Slovaks in the CzechoSlovak National Council, were monarchists, it would seem that the American environment influenced Masaryk's decision to proclaim the new state a republic. The principles stated in the Pittsburgh Agreement were not implemented in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920; the latter established a centralist state administration. Autonomy for Ruthenia, the easternmost province of Czechoslovakia, provided for in the constitution, was not realized either until the collapse of the First Republic in October 1938. (Incidentally, the Slovaks had autonomy during the Second Republic that came to its end in March, 1939.) Champions of the autonomist movement in Slovakia, the Slovak People's party and the Slovak National party, constantly emphasized the need for a federal arrangement in the state that they supported. In May 1936, in a parliamentary discussion of the proposed Law for the Defense of the State (Law 131 of May 13, 1936), a Slovak People's party deputy and a former member of government, Jozef Tiso, declared that the Slovak nation considered the state of the Czechs and Slovaks their own state and that his party supported the law. As on many other occasions, Tiso discussed the Slovak problem and the demand for the implementation of the 26 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh Agreement. As he put it, "Autonomy is education of the Slovak nation toward seeing in this state its own state in which it rules ... Autonomy is education for state-forming thinking of the Slovaks" . .. " 7 The autonomist program, he emphasized, made the Slovaks conscious of the fact that Czechoslovakia was their state, and that the latter did not mean the merging of the . two nations, but a unity of the two nations in one common state. In the discussion of the same legislative proposal a Senator of the Slovak People's party, Gejza Fritz, emphasized that the "root of the autonomy is the Pittsburgh Agreement, concluded and signed by Czechs and Slovaks and the then president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council,'' Masaryk. The autonomy was to be within the boundaries of the state, not outside of it. As he put it, ''We demand self-government that is not incompatible with the state unity. That such an autonomy is possible is evidenced by the fact that the Constitution guarantees autonomy to CarpathoRussia (Ruthenia) within the framework of the united Czechoslovak republic.' ' 9 He pointed out that the president of the state had signed the agreement and that for ''those reasons it is not logical to claim that autonomy is separatism.'' In its substance, "autonomy means decentralization." In addition, the Slovaks demand equal rights for the Slovak language, he said , pointing out that ''to strive for a united Czechoslovak nation would mean to increase the antagonism of all Slovaks.' ' 9 * * * * * During. World War I Masaryk's objective was the establishment of an independent state. However, until the summer of 1918 he was prepared to accept autonomy for the Czechs within the framework of Austria-Hungary if independence were not attainable.10 By this time France and the United States had already parted with the idea of preserving a federalized Austria-Hungary; the latter collapsed by the end of October 1918. But even after the declaration of Czecho-Slovak independence by Masaryk in Washington, D.C., on October 18 , the Czech leader presided over a meeting of representatives of several national groups from Central Europe between October 23 and 26, 1918, that announced the intention to establish a Democratic Mid-European Union. This SLOVAKIA 27 meeting, held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, led some people in Washington, D.C., to believe that on the ruins of AustriaHungary a new central european federation would emerge. The final resolution produced by the conference, called the ''Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations,'' was read by Masaryk in front of Independence Hall and was hailed by the American press as something approaching a declaration of a united Europe. 11 · On November 1, 1918, the original of the declaration was submitted to President Woodrow Wilson by Masaryk, who was the first of its twelve signatories. In the accompanying letter to Wilson Masaryk stated that the union ''tries to replace the German Plan of Mittel-Europe by a positive plan of reorganization of the many smaller nations which are located between the Germans (in Germany and Austria) and Russians; there are about eighteen such nations, beginning with the Finns and ending with the Greeks. . . . The primary aim of the war and the coming peace is the reorganization of the East, including now Russia; and the first condition of this reorganization of Eastern Europe and through it of Europe and mankind, is the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary, composed of eight non-German nations, oppressed and exploited by a degenerate dynasty and reckless feudal aristocracy supported by the Germans and Magyars.'' 12 In the last paragraph of the letter Masaryk proclaimed: "Mr. President, we see in you one of the greatest leaders of modern democracy and constructive policy; it is in making a sincere attempt to apply such a policy to our particular nations and to the whole of Europe that we hope you will engage your interest in our Union's endeavors." The signatories of the declaration, claiming to represent ''more than fifty million people constituting a chain of nations lying between the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Seas, comprising Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Jugoslavs , Ukrainians, UhroRusins, Lithuanians, Roumanians and Italian Irredentists , Unredeemed Greeks, Albanians, Zionists and Armenians, wholly or partly subject to alien domination ... accept and subscribe to the following as basic principles for all free peoples." 28 SLOVAKIA ''First. That all governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. Second. That it is the inalienable right of every people to organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare, safety and happiness. Third. That the free and natural development of the ideals of any state should be allowed to pursue their normal and unhindered course unless such course harms or threatens the common interest of all. Fourth. That there should be no secret diplomacy, and all proposed treaties and agreements between nations should be made public - prior to their adoption and ratification. Fifth. That we believe our peoples, having kindred ideals and purposes, should coordinate their efforts to insure the liberties of their individual nations for the furtherance of their own common welfare, provided such a union contributes to the peace and welfare of the world. Sixth. That there should be formed a league of the nations of the world in a common and binding agreement for genuine and practical cooperation to secure justice and therefore peace among nations .'' The signatories of the declaration pledged '' on behalf of their respective nations'' that the principles set forth in it '' shall be incorporated in the organic laws of whatever government our respective peoples may hereafter establish.'' As it happened, the vast majority of the Czechoslovak Revolutionary (Constituent) National Assembly , established after the war, followed Masaryk's views and paid no attention to the principles stated in the Declaration of the Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations. The assembly did not derive its powers from the consent of the governed; it was not elected by the peoples living in Czechoslovakia; the Germans , Hungarians , Poles , and Ruthenians in Czechoslovakia were not represented in it at all; and the Germans, Hungarians , Slovaks , and Ruthenians living in the country were not allowed to "organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare , safety and happiness . " 13 SLOVAKIA 29 * * * * * While visiting the United States in the fall of 1918, Roman Dmowski, the head to the Polish National Committee Abroad, seated in Paris, suggested to Masaryk the formation of a Federation consisting of Czecho-Slovakia and Poland. Masaryk refused the proposal, but favored "a certain kind of Economic Union, to be worked out; and a military defense against Germany, essentially non-aggressive." Not farseeing the problem of frontier adjustment with Poland, Masaryk asked Dmowski "to write out text of agreement on these lines.'' The Polish leader, however, did not formulate such an agreement, since he, apparently, was not interested in anything short of Federation. 14 The proposed Federation of the three Western Slavic nations, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, could have provided an ample guarantee of peace in Central Europe, since the three nations could have faced together the prospective threats coming from either east or west, and could have jointly resolved the national minority problem. In the 1930s the idea of close cooperation with Poland was endorsed by the leader of the Czechoslovak National Democratic party, Karel Kramaf, and the leader of the Slovak People's party, Andrej Hlinka. At that time, due to hostility between Czechoslovakia's foreign minister Edvard Benes, and the Polish foreign minister Jozef Beck, such a policy was not practical and could not be implemented. 15 * * * * * At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Czecho-Slovakia was represented by a delegation of which the principal spokesman was Edvard Benes. InMemoire No. 3, one of the documents submitted by him to the conference, addressing itself to "The lot of the Germans in the Czecho-Slovak Republic," a promise was made that ''the Germans of Bohemia [sic] would have the same rights as the Czecho-Slovaks themselves. The German tongue would be the second tongue of the land .... The regime adopted would be similar to that of Switzerland. " 16 In his note of May 20, 1919, Benes elaborated on the latter point, announcing the intention of the state to apply the principles of the Swiss Republic in creating the organs of the new state that would be '' a sort of Switzerland.'' In the con- 30 SLOVAKIA clusion of his memorandum Benes promised ''an extremely liberal regime, which will very much resemble that of Switzerland. " 17 This was a statement of intention - one of those by which the way to hell is paved. It was not implemented and a centralistic Constitution was adopted in Czechoslovakia in 1920. One may speculate, as did Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, that ''had the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia at the time of its organization in 1919 been based upon the cantonal system, its history . . . might have been very different and far happier.'' 18 * * * * * Dr. Milan Hodza, a Slovak by birth, was a well-known exponent of the idea of establishing a Central European or a Danubian Federation. 19 He proceeded from the assumption that the League of Nations and the Little Entente were ineffective and inadequate for preserving peace in Europe. The latter had to unite in order to maintain peace and advance prosperity. However, Europe's final unification presupposes, first of all, an effective regional cooperation. Therefore, Hodza developed the theme of the union of Central Europe when the new order was established in Europe after World War I. As a prominent politician of the Republican (agrarian) party, he propagated the idea of a federated Central Europe numbering about 110 million people, stretching from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea and covering the region between Germany and Soviet Russia. 20 Since the states in the region were predominantly agrarian, the federation had to be based on agrarian democracy. 21 Already in 1925, at the national congress of the Republican party, Hodza declared that there was a need for Central European solidarity; the latter would save Czechoslovakia from either Bolshevik or imperialistic attack. 22 He believed that the interests of Czechoslovakia and Poland could be reconcilled and their close cooperation with the other nations in the area would benefit all of Europe. In his lecture, delivered in London in 1930, Hodza stated: ''It is universally an international danger when dictatorship becomes a contagious disease, which weakens the organism of states and nations. Thus one day we could expose ourselves to the danger which might infect Central Europe with Moscow's SLOVAKIA 31 dictatorship. Therefore, it is important that Central Europe does not become the carrier of dictatorial bacilli, but rather a trench, or barrier, against dictatorship. " 23 In Hodza's view, the national sovereignty of small nations should not be construed as isolationism, but rather a foundation stone for international cooperation. Since the nations of Central Europe have mutual interests and similar traditions , they have to come closer together and work for a wider international cooperation. A federation of states from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea, united on the basis of democratic principles, would be a barrier against Bolshevism and the first step toward establishing a United States of Europe. 24 Hodza became prime minister of Czechoslovakia in November 1935 and Benes was elected the state's president in the middle of December 1935. When from December 20, 1935, to February 29, 1936, Hodza was also the acting minister of foreign affairs, he tried very hard to get his favorite project off the ground. In an attempt to implement it, he visited Vienna on January 17 , 1936, Paris, February 8-15, Belgrade, February 21-25, and again Vienna, March 8-10, 1936. 25 The Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg fully endorsed Hodza's project, but it was viewed skeptically in other countries and, above all, in the Czechoslovak ministry of foreign affairs staffed by Benes appointees. The new president was especially annoyed by Hodza's conduct of foreign policy. Later Benes commented with disdain on the prime minister's activities as follows: "Hodza went to Vienna, had lunch with Schuschnigg, told him that something should be done in Central Europe to remove the German threat to Austria. Upon his return to Prague he told me that he had negotiated an alliance with Austria. It caused alarm in France and in England, because these countries were informed to the effect that everything would be signed, sealed and delivered in three weeks . Of course it was a bluff. " 26 When in the summer of 1938 a large demonstration in favor of autonomy of Slovakia took place in the capital city of Bratislava, Hodza made an attempt to take the wind out of the autonomist sails. He revealed his own plan for self-government in Slovakia. This proposal, known as the ''Hodza Plan,'' was revealed in detail 32 SLOVAKIA in his Slovensky dennik. The key provision in it was as follows: "Slovakia will have her own diet with legislative powers, her own government of six ministers to deal exclusively with Slovak matters. The Slovak language will be the only official language in Slovakia. A separate Slovak commission will supervise and decide the personal questions connected with appointments of the state employees to eliminate irregularities and to see that Slovak claims are not bypassed.' •21 After the Munich settlement, on October 6, 1938, Slovak autonomy was proclaimed. The manifest was signed by seven nonSocialist parties (including the Slovak People's party), representing about 75 percent of the Slovak electorate. The Czecho-Slovak National Assembly approved the Constitutional Law of Slovak selfrule on November 22 , 1938 by a unanimous vote. (The deputies of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia left the Chamber before the voting. )2 8 * * * * * In the interwar years a prominent federalist advocating the establishment of a United States of Europe, Count Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, lived in Czechoslovakia. He became famous after World War II, when many Americans and West Europeans embraced his ideas. 29 His pioneering work did bring fruits when the West European community was established. Czechoslovakia, however, was a member of the Soviet bloc , and did not benefit from it. ,· Born in Tokyo on November 17, 1894, Coudenhove-Kalergi's mother was Japanese and his father was an Austrian diplomat. The Coudenhove-Kalergi's home was the old Castle of Ronsperk in Bohemia. The Treaty of Saint Germain of 1919 made the Count a citizen of Czechoslovakia. 30 When the Nazis occupied the country in 1939 , he accepted French citizenship and, eventually, left Europe for the United States. During the interwar years Coudenhove-Kalergi was the leading theoretician and founder of the Pan-European movement. He devoted his talents and efforts to the cause of European federation. Among those whom he inspired and persuaded to support the movement was Edouard Herriot, a one-time prime minister SLOVAKIA 33 and minister of foreign affairs in France, and the author of The United States of Europe. Herriot was the first European statesman who appealed openly for a United States of Europe. 31 A student of history, Coudenhove-Kalergi was familiar with attempts to unify Europe made over the centuries by writers and kings, including George Podiebrad, a famous King of Bohemia in the fifteenth century. His first article on ''The European Question" appeared in the summer of 1922 in the Berlin Volkische Zeitung and the Vienna Neue Freie Presse.32 After finding some influential supporters among political leaders of the time, the first issue of the movements's new periodical, Pan-Europe, came out in April 1924. It contained an article entitled "The European Manifesto.'' Due to extensive publicity generated by the movement, his book on Pan-Europe began to appear in several languages. 33 The English language edition, with an introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, was published in 1926 in New York. 34 In Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi noticed the political decline of Europe as a consequence of the World War: "From the center of the world Europe has moved to its periphery. The world hegemony of Europe is overthrown for all time .'' The validity of the last sentence was called to doubt by some, when Germany rose again as a great power in the 1930s. Yet the outcome of World War II confirmed his observation that "the United States of America has developed into the leading World Power." As he observed in his book first published in 1923, in the World War the United States " proved the decisive factor . Today , the United States of America is the wealthiest, the most powerful, and the most advanced country in the world." At the same time, however, "Europe's power of action in world politics is paralyzed by her disunion.' ' 35 In advocating the consolidation of Europe into a politicoeconomic federation, Coudenhove-Kalergi encountered objection from several quarters branding Pan-Europe a utopia. To this he replied that "every great historical happening began as a utopia and ended as a reality." He pointed out that in 1913 the Polish and Czecho-Slovak republics were utopias; "in 1918 they became realities. In 1916 the victory of the communists in Russia was a 34 SLOVAKIA utopia; in 1917 it was an accomplished fact. " 36 Whether PanEurope would be realized depended on the will of the Europeans; if the latter would support the idea and work for it, a utopia would become a reality. As he put it, ''While thousands believe in PanEurope, it is a utopia; so long as millions believe in it, it is a program; but once a hundred million believe in it, it becomes a fact." Thus in 1923 Coudenhove-Kalergi called upon the youth of Europe ''to convert the utopia of yesterday into a reality of tomorrow.' ' 37 Constantly referring to historical events, Coudenhove-Kalergi emphasized that power-relationships among countries have been changing with time. For example, the Bohemian empire of King Ottokar was a great power stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and was about the size of European Russia; Bohemia of the 1920s was as small as was the Grand Duchy of Weimar a century earlier. According to him, ''Time works for Russia and against Europe," This was an observation not shared by many people at that time. He also pointed out how the United States became a great power and how this technically most advanced country was ''the first to try the new method of political organization, namely, a system of peaceful federations, culminating in the PanAmerican Union and in the idea of a League of Nations. Although the American conditions are different than those in Europe, states that are small may not be able to lead an independent existence and, therefore, they have to establish federations." As he saw it, "The leading World powers of today are federations: Russia, England, America. Political rapprochement of neighboring countries must be realized, if conflicts are to be avoided.' ' 38 Coudenhove-Kalergi observed that the formation of the PanAmerican League was not directed against any other state system, but solely against war, and "toward furthering the cultural progress of all." The American example should be followed by Europe. The latter must supplement "its modern science of communications by a modern science of politics, else it will be in danger of blindly staggering into another war and of suffocating in a very sea of gas-bombs.' •39 The Count regretted that Europe was regressing further and further toward atomization, since Austria-Hungary, Western SLOVAKIA 35 Russia, and European Turkey dissolved themselves into a multitude of petty states. This process needs to be reversed by promoting integration, otherwise, if the liberation of European peoples is not completed by their unification, '' sooner or later the European state will be swallowed up by the growing World Powers.' ' 40 Europe must find a means of harmonizing freedom with organization, that is to follow the example of America in establishing a federation. Coudenhove-Kalergi presented a plan for the establishment of such a federation and discussed several reasons for which the nations of Europe should unite. First, Bolshevik Russia made no secret of her aggressive intentions: Bolshevism fights with propaganda in the one hand and with sword in the other; "it resorts to violence, terrorism and militarism.' ' 41 Therefore, the aim of all Europeans, regardless of party or nation, should be the prevention of a Soviet invasion that would bring about the destruction of liberty and the other cherished values. A Pan-European security pact guaranteeing the protection of European eastern frontiers would lay the foundation for an understanding with Soviet Russia. He suggested that if Texas, New Mexico, and California were independent states, they would be in constant danger from Mexico. But "as states of the American federal union they are secure against any such danger. " 42 Similarly, the Soviet threat to Romania, Poland, and Finland would disappear as soon as they would become members of the United States of Europe. As long as they were isolated, they represented a constant temptation for Soviet Russia. Furthermore, Coudenhove-Kalergi suggested that the quarrels among the European states weakened their power defense against Soviet Russia. Therefore, there was a need for European solidarity for an effective defense of the eastern frontiers of Europe. Any war in Europe would offer the Soviets a welcome opportunity for intervention; "and once Russian armies have secured a footing in Europe, they will scarcely relinquish it of their own free will.'' He also saw a danger in the pro-Russian orientation of some states, notably Germany. He suggested that there was a large number of Germans who hoped, "through an alliance with Russia, to tear up the Treaty of Versailles and once more partition Poland. " 43 36 SLOVAKIA Whether Germany would be saved or estranged from Europe depended on the Western powers, above all on France, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote, and he predicted that in the FrancoGerman conflict neither Germany nor France, "but Russia will in the long run be victorious. ' ' He warned that France still had time to preserve ''the German sister republic for the family of European states; tomorrow it may be already too late.'' He added that "upon this question hinges the future of Europe. " 44 Though less immediate, there was a danger "from forcible separation of eastern Europe,'' should there be a sudden change in the internal policy of Russia, and should the latter return to Pan-Slavism. In that case the Pan-Slav memories of the Southern and Western Slavs would be revived and Hungary and Bulgaria would try to recover lost territories ' 'by means of an alliance with the Russian reaction. In that event Russia's power would extend as far as the Adriatic Sea. " 4 5 These dangers, Coudenhove-Kalergi believed, could be averted by the timely creation of the Pan-European Federation. In his view, the historical moment in the time of his writing (1923) was more favorable than it ever was before. The situation would likely worsen every month and ''it is more than doubtful whether after a victory of the Russian reaction a Pan-European Federation would still l)e possible, " 46 he wrote. The formation of the United States of Europe would make possible an agreement on disarmament and economic cooperation with Soviet Russia. Since united Europe would possess great military and economic power, the danger of war with Russia would be removed. As long as Europe was divided , he said, there was a danger of a new war. A united Europe would have a larger population and incomparably more highly developed industries and, therefore, Soviet Russia "would realize the hopelessness of war and will be ready to disarm." But, he writes , as long as the regime in Russia is organized on a Soviet basis , it would be better for ''Russo-European peace if these two federations remain separate.' ' 47 The Soviet regime endeavored to overthrow the democratic order in Europe and, therefore , a merging of the two federations was not practical. However, '' Should Russia become democratic, a new situation would result.' ' Then it would be possi- SLOVAKIA 37 ble to consider the question of Russia's joining the European federation. Turning to Europe's relations with the United States, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote that "The economic model for PanEurope is provided by the United States of America; the political model for Pan-Europe's development, by the Pan-American Union.' ' 48 Since its origin, with the exception of the Civil War era, the United States has been a political and economic unity. Europeans should realize that the success of the American dream has been due to the existence of a common market and the political unity of the continent. They should utilize the experiences gathered in the United States and the entire American continent in their efforts to build Pan-Europe. Though Pan-Americanism was still in the process of development , it had a head start over PanEuropeanism. The history of the development of Pan-Americanism has great significance for Pan-Europe. Coudenhove-Kalergi believed that the League of Nations, as conceived by President Woodrow Wilson, was a utopia. 49 Two great powers, Russia and the United States, did not belong to it, and Germany was excluded from it. The League should be reorganized, he suggested, and the Europeans should work for its strengthening in order to avoid war. While World War I weakened Europe , " the War of the Future would inflict the deathblow upon it. " 50 In his view , " Only Pan-European federation , by the introduction and joint guarantee of a compulsory court arbitration, can definitely secure the internal peace of Europe." Coudenhove-Kalergi regretted the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy. While the peace of 1919 signified an advance over prewar conditions politically, economically it was a step backward. As he put it , nationalistic demagogues "have brought disaster to millions of people , and the threat of economic ruin to the continent. " 51 The many opponents of Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi divided into four categories: the National Chauvinists , the Communists , the Militarists, and the Protected Industries. 52 He realized the difficulty of combatting them with his idea that rejected conflict and promoted cooperaton among European nations. His idea, indeed, did not overcome the odds represented by the mentioned 38 SLOVAKIA opponents and national (state) sovereignty. Coudenhove-Kalergi realized that the greatest obstacle to the formation of a United States of Europe lay in the thousand-yearold rivalry between France and Germany. 53 Therefore, the PanEuropeans would have to strive for reconciliation of these two nations in order to prevent a future catastrophy. His own efforts were directed at winning over for his idea both the French and German political leaders. He was more successful in France than in Germany. According to an old Czech proverb, ''Nobody is a prophet in his own fatherland.'' It applied to the fullest extent to Coudenhove-Kalergi. After publishing several articles on Paneuropa in 1922, he decided to try to persuade a well-known European personality ''with vision and authority'' to sponsor the Paneuropean idea. As a citizen of Czechoslovakia, he turned first to that country's president, Thomas G. Masaryk. The latter was sympathetic to the idea of European union but unwilling to associate himself with a crusade for Pan-Europe. 54 In order to obtain the blessing of the Prague government for the movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi dedicated one of the first copies of his book to Masaryk with whom he subsequently met on several 9ccasions. Masaryk introduced him to the foreign minister Edvard Benes, an acknowledged leader of the Little Entente and a well-known figure in international politics. According to the Count, ''unlike Masaryk, Benes was not a genuine European. Fundamentally, he was a Czech nationalist . .. . He spoke the language of Pan-Europe because he believed that to do so was good for his country. But he had no intention of sacrificing a single Czech interest on the altar of European unity. " 55 While he favored '' a collective guarantee of Czechoslovakia's frontiers,'' Benes opposed ''effective protection of the German minorities.'' While he favored ''the dismantling of custom barriers towards Eastern Europe so as to widen the market for Czech goods," he opposed "customs union with Germany for fear of competition from that quarter." Thus Benes 's attitude toward the Pan-European movement tended to be ambiguous; "in theory he was Pan-European, but in practice a Czech nationalist. " 56 After Coudenhove's manuscript on Pan-Europe came out in SLOVAKIA 39 Vienna in 1923, Chancellor Ignaz Seipel of Austria, who was concerned with the future of his country, was willing to support the European idea and, moreover, offered Coudenhove-Kalergi space for his projected organization in the Hofburg Palace. 57 Since the palace was the seat of the Austrian government and the movement had now an official sponsor, Coudenhove-Kalergi announced the establishment of the Paneuropean Union and a Paneuropean press with headquarters in cosmopolitan Vienna. Coudenhove-Kalergi found prominent supporters of the European idea in France in Edouard Herriot, who had strong European impulses and became prime minister, and Aristide Briand, who became foreign minister, and Alex Leger. It was clear to the young enthusiast that in order to bring about European unity it was necessary to find support for the idea also in Gefmany. With France being the leader in building a European movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi tried to persuade German political leaders, first of all Chancellor Wilhelm Marx, to support the movement. 58 France was the country in search of European security and all political parties, except the Communist, supported the European idea, but in Germany the support was less pronounced, despite Coudenhove-Kalergi's efforts to persuade the Germans that they would benefit from close Paneuropean cooperation both politically and economically. Indeed , the Count pointed out that the success of the United States was due to the customs union, to the vast free market, and that the United States ought to be a model for Europe. He repeatedly stated that Europe could become as peaceful as Switzerland and as prosperous as the United States if it would unite. 59 As a result of long and careful planning by CoudenhoveKalergi, the First Congress of the Paneuropean Union was held in Vienna , October 3-6 , 1926 . He had hoped to persuade a large number of European political leaders to take part in it. Since success of his plans for a united Europe depended primarily on the cooperation of France and Germany, Coudenhove-Kalergi was most anxious to have at the congress Aristide Briand , Edouard Herriot , and Paul Painleve (the premier) of France, and Chancellor Wilhelm Marx an d foreign minister Gustav Stresemann of Germany. While none of them actually attended the congress , the 40 SLOVAKIA three French politicians sent warm greetings and the French government was officially represented at the congress by the French minister in Vienna. The Germans were less cooperative, though Chancellor Marx sent the young Count a short telegram wishing him success and stating that the Reich Chancellor would follow the course of the congress with great interest. 60 Coudenhove-Kalergi was not completely unsuccessful in Germany. On the eve of the congress Thomas Mann joined the Paneuropean Union and Paul Lobe agreed to serve as an honorary president of the congress along with Edvard Benes, Joseph Caillaux, Nicholas Politis, Francesco Nitti, and Ignaz Seipel. Austria seemed to be the greatest supporter of the movement. Chancellor Rudolph Ramek welcomed the delegates, including those from France, Belgium, Norway, and Czechoslovakia, where chapters of the movement had been established. 61 The congress was hailed as a great success in many leading European newspapers. According to an editorial in the Manchester Guardian Weekly of October 8, 1926, "The United States of Europe is no longer a dream; it has entered on the world of realities." Yet, the reality of the situation was such that even CoudenhoveKalergi realized that the reserved attitude of the German government and the agitation for Anschluss were stumbling blocs for the realization of his dream. He said that the Anschluss was a PanGerman not a Paneuropean idea and that some German politicians were using Paneuropean slogans to cloak their nationalist demands for power. 62 At the same time the Paneuropean Union was growing in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, and even in Germany new people were joining the movement. 63 In France Aristide Briand was an honorary president of the Paneuropean Union and a strong advocate of the European idea. Indeed , with the exception of the Communist party, political parties in France looked very favorably on the Paneuropean movement. 64 The latter had some grass roots and official support in Czechoslovakia, whose foreign policy was oriented towards France. As Coudenhove-Kalergi put it, Benes believed in " the eventual establishment of a European Federation, but doubted whether it could be achieved in the short run . . . it was this doubt which induced him to give support to our project. Had-he believed SLOVAKIA 41 in its immediate realization, he would probably have opposed it.' '65 Since Ignaz Seipel and Karl Renner of Austria had come out openly in support of European Federation, Benes did not wish to appear less European-minded. Therefore, he accepted "the honorary chairmanship of the Czech committee and wrote an excellent preface for the Czech edition of Pan-Europe.'' He helped to organize the committee and "secured for it the co-operation of outstanding politicians of Czech and German descent.' ' 66 He also furnished Coudenhove-Kalergi with a diplomatic passport which was extremely useful to him. Benes also opened for him many doors in France and other Entente states, thus helping him overcome ''the double handicap'' of his Austrian origin and his German mother-tongue.6 7 Among the Paneuropeans were also those who advocated a gradual approach to European federation and envisaged a federation of Danubian states. Among the most active champions of Danubian federation were Milan Hodza and Vaclav Schuster in Czechoslovakia, Elemer Hantos and Erno Bleier in Hungary, and Barons van Barolin and van Mises in Austria. Some of the supporters of the larger European idea argued that a Danubian federation would be a step toward a European federation. 68 The second Paneuropean Congress was held in Berlin in May, 1930. Prior to it, the French Foreign Office prepared a memorandum on a European federal system. The Briand memorandum was hailed by the congress as ''the first step toward the fulfillment . . . of an European federation,' ' 69 and interested powers were urged to accept the French proposals. Briand's proposals were taken seriously by the British Foreign Office, but the German government's response was that some basic changes in the postwar settlement were a condition for its participation in a federal system. Replies of other countries were also conditional and, as history tells us, the Briand plan was never implemented. The arrival of the Nazi regime in Germany was a very serious setback for Coudenhove's Paneurope. Indeed, the Nazi-projected Pan-Europe meant the domination of the continent by one nation and not a cooperation of all European nations as equals. Since Coudenhove-Kalergi was a persona non grata in the Third Reich, 42 SLOVAKIA he accepted French citizenship when Bohemia-Moravia became a part of it in 1939.7° Eventually, he left Europe for the United States where he continued his work and where, in 1943, he published his autobiography, Crusade for Pan-Europe. In 1944 New York University appointed him Professor of History. In New York he also established contacts with many European statesmen, including General de Gaule, and discussed with them post-war problems.7 1 * * * * * Needless to say, conditions in Central Europe are different from those in the United States where the traditional policy of assimilation has resulted in a multi-cultural society speaking the same language. With its heterogeneous population and traditions of nationalistic conflicts and cooperation in national and multinational states, federalism is the solution proposed for the unyielding problem of nationalities and minorities in Europe. While in the United States individual immigrants have been and can be assimilated, since such adjustment on the part of the immigrant is a prerequisite for finding his/her place in the new land of opportunity, it is not possible to assimilate nations or national groups possessing strong national consciousness and conscious of their national identity. Therefore, national federalism which tolerates differences in language and culture can be the only practical and feasible arrangement in East Central Europe, just as it has been the case in Switzerland. National federalism would bring economic prosperity, national freedom and regional security to nations living in the area. When the facade of national states in East Central Europe crumbled at the beginning of World War II, individuals concerned with the long-range policies in the area began to assess the national requirements of majorities and minorities in the area. Stefan Osusky, former Czechoslovak minister in Paris, presented a summary of these requirements: 72 Undoubtedly, the nations in Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe have a right to their national liberty. But the interests of the European peoples require that those nations should not be encouraged in the dream of bringing about national uniformity within their States . Not SLOVAKIA 43 on national uniformity but on national liberty depends the existence and the future of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Bulgaria. It is by guaranteeing the peoples of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe their freedom of national consciousness that the foundation of the peace of Europe will be laid. Furthermore, national uniformity would mean the elimination of every authority except that of the State. In countries with different religions, languages, customs and traditions, this is not desirable. For the preservation of religious, linguistic and cultural liberty means not only that individuals have a right to profess the religion of their choice, speak the lapguage of their mothers and live according to the traditions and customs of their ancestors; it means the practical possibility of associating together and administering their own particular affairs. These requirements for cooperation among the nations living in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe were valid then as they are today. Let us hope that one day the small nations in the area will reject conflict and chose cooperation and that they will find a federal solution to the problem that is common to all of them: they are too weak to stand alone between the solid masses of Germans and Russians. NOTES 1 Frantisek Palacky and Ludwig van Lohner formulated a plan for redivision of the Habsburg Empire into national territories: German Austria, Bohemia including Slovakia, the Polish provinces, the Illyrian provinces, the Italian provinces, the South Slavic area, the Hungarian area, and the Wallachian (Romanian) provinces. This plan was endorsed by the Austrian Reichstag , dominated by federalist thinking, meeting in Kromeffz late in 1848 and early 1849 to draw up a new constitution for the empire. However, the Vienna government, after suppressing the revolution of 1848, dissolved the Reichstag and imposed a centralistic constitution. Wenzel Jaksch, Europe 's Road to Potsdam . Translated and edited by Kurt Glaser. (New York, 1963) , pp . 26-27 . For details and documents see Bohus Rieger, Franti§ka Palackeho spisy drobne [Small Works of Frantisek Palacky] (Prague , 1898, vol. I) pp . 59ff. Also Karel Kramaf, Geske statnf pravo (Prague, 1896) . SLOVAKIA 44 As the leader of the Czech National party, Palacky in 1848 was invited to join those who later met in the Frankfurt Parliament, but he refused . At that time Palacky wrote that, had the Austrian Empire not existed, it would have been necessary to create it . 2 H. Raupach, Der tschechische Friihnationalism (Essen, 1939), p. 92 . On May 29, 1849, Havlicek wrote in Narodnf Noviny: "We want an association of free nations in Austria , in Central Europe." 3 Jaksch, Europe's Road, pp . 70-71; also Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (New York, 1986), p. 32. 4 Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Whiting, Ind . 1957) p. 210; Kon~tantln Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava , 1937), p. 78. Also , Kalvoda , The Genesis, pp. 69-70 . 5 Culen, p . 177; Yurchak, pp . 212-214; Kalvoda , pp . 284-285 . 6 Kalvoda, The Genesis, pp. 76-77. 7 Frantgek Berdych, ed. , Obrana statu a na~e politicke strany (Prague, 1938), pp. 168-169. a Ibid., p. 171. 9 Ibid., p. 172. Incidentally, only two major groups in the Czechoslovak parliament voted against the law: the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, and the Sudeten German party led by Konrad Henlein . See ibid. , pp . 207ff. 10 Ira E. Bennett, "The Czechs Will Rise Again," The Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 1941; J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918 (Prague, 1968), p . 40. 11 Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 426. 12 Masaryk to Wilson, November 1, 1918; Wilson to Masaryk, November 5, 1918; and Masaryk to Wilson, November 7, 1918, Woodrow Wilson Papers (The Manuscript Division, Library of Congress). 13 Kalvoda, The Genesis, p . 427. 14 Josef Kalvoda, "The Czechoslovak Problem, " Nationalities Papers, Vol. XIl, No. 2 (Fall 1984), p. 245. 15 Ibid. 16 Delegation Propaganda: Czechoslovak Republic, Memoire No . III, The Hoover Institution, quoted in Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 445 . 17 Ibid. (The Genesis). 18 Nicholas Murray Butler, Why War? (New York, 1940), p . 20 . 19 Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe: Reflections and Reminiscences (London , 1942). 20 Michal Mu.dry , Milan Hodia v Amerike (Chicago , 1949). p. 231. 21 Ibid., p . 177 . 22 23 Ibid . Ibid., p. 231. 24 Ibid., p . 232 . 25 R. Kravcek, "Hodzuv plan," Slovansky pfehled, No . 6, 1967, pp. 347-3 53 ; also Hodza 's book, Federation . SLOVAKIA 45 26 Libuse Otahalova a Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943 (Prague 1966), vol. I, p. 293 . 27 Mudry, Milan Hodia v Amerike, p. 58. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed. , Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries (Toronto, Ont., 1978), p . 123 . See also a book by the same author, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1960), pp. 78-84; Joachim Kuhl, Federationsplane in Donauraum und in Ost mitteleuropa (Miinchen, 1958); and Rudolf Wierer, Der Federalism im Donauraum (Graz-Koln, 1960). 29 Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers the World (London, 1953) . 28 30 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe. Autobiography of a Man and a Movement (New York, 1943). 31 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p . 109. 32 Ibid., p. 91. 33 Ibid., p. 102. 34 35 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe (New York, 1926) . Ibid. , pp . 6-8. 36 Ibid. , p. xv. 31 Ibid., p. xvi. 36Ibid., pp . 10-11. 39 Ibid. , p . 11. 40 Ibid., p. 13. Ibid., p. 58. 41 43 Ibid., p . 62. Ibid ., p . 63. 44 Ibid. , p. 64. 45 46 Ibid. Ibid. 47 Ibid., p. 67-69 48 Ibid., p. 74 . 42 Ibid., p. 87. Ibid., p . 112 . 5 1 Ibid., p . 122 . 49 50 52 Ibid., pp. 186-190. 53 Ibid., pp . 132-147 . 54 Coudenhove-Kalergi , Crusade for Pan-Europe, p. 88. 55 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p. 103. Ibid., pp. 103-104. 56 57 Carl H. Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , 1914-1932 (Chapel Hill and London , 1983) p . 29 . 58 Ibid., p . 41. 46 59 SLOVAKIA Ibid., p. 63 . so Ibid., p . 70. 62 Ibid., p. 71. Ibid., p . 88. 63 Ibid., p . 89 . 61 Coudenhove-Kalergi , An Idea Conquers, p. 104. Ibid., p . 105 . 66 Ibid. , p. 104. 64 65 67 Ibid., p . 105 . 68 Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , p. 99 . Ibid., p. 145. 69 °Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe, 7 pp . 208-209. 71 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, pp. 254-255 . 72 ~tefan Osusky, The Contemporary Review, November, 1941 , pp . 280-281, cited in Oscar I. Janowsky, Nationalities and National Minorities (With special Reference to East-Central Europe) (New York, 1945), pp. 167-168.  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 Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the Interwar Years Description An account of the resource Josef Kalvoda Slovakia, Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88 pp. 23-46 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kalvoda, Josef, 1923-1999 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/47327409e105ee97510413943ee0b6bd.pdf 64c0f2e60d8bfad4e4f2c47e3eab6e1b PDF Text Text 24 SLOVAKIA vakia. The editor of the Czech periodical had the opportunity to learn how the Slovaks in Rome felt about the matter. They held no ill will for the Archbishop of London, but they did for the Czechs associated with Novy Zivot, the editor of which certainly knows better. The Czechs apparently have learned little or nothing from the past. They keep parroting listlessly the slogan "truth will prevail" - a la Masaryk and Benes - while they spread false propaganda even about those who are supposed to be "closely related" to them. It is obvious that the Czech periodical "Novy Zivot" (New Life) is still following the old life which brought ruin to the Slovak and Czech nations. • • • INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL JUSTICE Rev. William A. Kaschmitter, M.N. Due to the scientific and technological revolutions of the past century, the world has become international in spite of itself and does not know what to do about this new situation. The number of international organizations created since 1860 to cope with specific international problems is simply phenomenal. The first global attempt made to grapple with all of these problems in general was made after World War I when the League of Nations was formally erected. The League failed but its failure did not kill the sense of need :for such an organization and after World War II another attempt was made in the creation of the United Nations Organization. Unfortunately, many people today fear that the United Nations Organization will go the way of the League unless it can "grow up" and mature to the point where it can command not only the respect but also the confidence of all nations, great and small. Justice - Not Merely Charity There are good-hearted people who think that charity alone will suffice to cure the ills of our world. It is true that love for God and neighbor are the two greatest commandments and that acording to St. Paul, Charity is the �SLOVAKIA 25 fulfillment of the law. We must remember, however, that obligations of justice take precedence over the obligations of charity and that where justice is lacking there can be no true charity. To give to our neighbor in charity what is due to him in justice would be sordid mockery. Those of us who have seen Communists at close range know how violently they oppose charity as a substitute for justice but unfortunately they seem to know little about what justice really is and what it demands. It is equally unfortunate that many of our anti-Communist statesmen seem to know just as little as the Communists do about what justice demands in the international sphere. The Charter of the United Nations in its Preamble speaks of justice for all nations, and President Eisenhower in a recent television address declared that justice and peace are only two faces of the same coin. These declarations would not only be admirable but supremely important if they were accompanied by a clear-cut and sound definition of what justice between nations is and what it demands. Even without a precise definition of justice and its demands, such declarations would be truly precious if we could assume that the present world order is just; for then every one of us could easily supply a definition merely by saying that justice demands the preservation of the status quo, the observance of international treaties, international agreements, etc. Here, the crucial question is: Is Our Present World Order Just? Many good people seem to think that the only thing that's wrong with our world is that we have too many Communists and that if we could only be rid of Communism the whole world could be happy. They think that the ogre of Communism is kept alive only by the lying propaganda of a few self-seeking tyrants who keep their dupes in line with the most savage terrorism. I hold no brief for Communism. I could not defend Communism without betraying my own friends who suffered exquisite torture at Communist hands and without betraying all of the Christians in China, some of whom were buried alive by the Communists while I was; still in Peking. �26 SLOVAKIA Without excusing the horrors and abuses of the Communists, let us admit here and now that it is precisely the injustice of our present unbalanced and unhealthy world order that provides the Communist propaganda machine with its best ammunition. I hope within the next few minutes to cite some facts and statistics to prove that our present world is unjust but before taking up that point I'd like to call your attention to a few of the glaring failures and mistakes of the Free World in its fight against Communism. The Free World is placing great emphasis on military preparedness as a means of combatting the Communist threat. That, of course, is necessary. It's a mistake, however, to think that bombs and bullets can ever be an antidote to an ideology - especially the kind of ideology which Pope Pius XI has described as a kind of mysticism - a false mysticism, it is true, but still a mysticism. There are Communists who would be willing to fight with stones and stick;; if necessary and are willing to die rather than give up that pseudo-mysticism of theirs. MQst people in the Free World admit that bombs and bullets are no real antidote to the Communist ideology and they are therefore stressing the idea of freedom as an anti-dote to Communistic ideals and practices. Freedom is, of course, one of God's greatest natural gifts to man. History has also proven over and over again that an atmosphere of freedom is most conducive not only to sound political life but also to healthy economic development. This freedom, however, must be real; it must be for all; above all, it must be in harmony with justice. When I was directing the Catholic news service in Peking I got reports of a million people starving to death in China. These people were "free" to eat - if they could find the necessary food. They couldn't find it - and hence they were not really free to eat. The liberalistic ideas of John Locke, John Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rosseau as applied in the nineteenth century led to economic anarchy and all kinds of injustice. That kind of liberty gave birth to the monstrosity that we know as Communism today and it is still provid- �SLOVAKIA 27 ing ammunition for the Communist propaganda machine in the hungry countries today. Liberty of that kind is as closely related to Communism as a grandfather is related to his grandson. Liberty if joined together with justice can indeed serve as a splendid antidote to the Communist ideology and there are many good men who are making it so today. On the other hand, there are others who are loud in condemning Communism, but who are afraid even to whisper that the hungry people in other countries have a real right to human existence. That kind of anti-communism is ineffectual if not actually harmful. Let us then have liberty - but let it be a liberty that is eternally wedded to JUSTICE FOR ALL MEN! It is only on this kind of justice, coupled with liberty, that we will be ruble to provide an effective antidote to the Communist ideology. The biggest job ahead of us is to create a system of social thought that will provide for real justice for all men. If that justice is wedded to the truth that makes men free, this combination of justice and truth and freedom will give birth to an ideology that will be more effective than all of the "A" and "H" bombs in the world. If, on the other hand, we continue to tolerate a world order in which more than half of humanity is deprived of its right to a truly human existence, our bombs may prove to be nothing but the instruments of a wholesale destruction in which democracy itself will perish and we ourselves will go down to ultimate defeat. Our Unjust World Order Providing enough food for everybody is certainly one of the most basic requirements for a healty world order. There are many prophets of doom who fear that the day will soon come when the earth simply cannot provide food for all. It is certainly true that half of the world's population today is undernourished if not actualJy starving. Some say that no less than 70 percent of the human race is undernourished. �28 SLOVAKIA The question for us to consider is this: is all this hunger really due to over-population or is it due to mismanagement in our conduct of world affairs? Experts of our Department of Agriculture in Washington are quoted as saying that 16,000,000,000 acres could be used by modern methods throughout the world for food production. On the other hand, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations declared in its 1956 Yearbook that at present less than 3,340,000,000 acres are under cultivation. If these figures are accurate, it means that 79 percent of the land that could be used for food production, is now simply going to waste. These statistics certainly indicate that there is still a great deal of land that we could use and are not using. Other facts seem to indicate that we are not using our Godgiven brains either. Alluding to the great progress made by the agricultural scientists in recent years, the Daily News in New York declared editorially on August 7, 1952 that if we really put our scientific know-how and technical skill to work in this country, the Mississippi Basin alone could provide food for a population of 500,000,000 or approximately three times the present total population of this whole country. Reader's Digest in its issue for September, 1952, carried an article in which it was stated that Brazil alone could support a total population of one billion or nearly twenty times its present population. These estimates are based on the present findings of agricultural science and we must remember that the scientists are constantly finding ways of increasing production. As one of them declared : "The big harvest is still ahead." Another scientist, Professor Rosin, who is not interested in agriculture but in chemistry, has declared that if we devoted only as much money to chemical research as w spend in one month on military preparedness, the chemists could find ways of producing so much food artificially that we could turn all our farms into parks and flowerbeds and still feed humanity more adequately than it is being fed today. A sad but effective commentary on the statistics quoted above is provided by the "plague" of agricultural over- �SLOVAKIA 29 production which is giving farmers and statesmen such a headache in various countries. During his campaign speech on agriculture last fall, President Eisenhower told us that our Government has spent $9,000,000,000 for the purchase of agricultural surplus products merely to keep them off the market and is storing them at the cost of $1,000,000 a day. In 1957 our Government had paid farmers 260 million dollars for not cultivating 12,000,000 acres and, according to the President's campaign speech,. the planning called for the immobilization of from forty to fifty million acres in 1958. Agricultral producers of about 25 countries who met in Nairobi, Africa, a few years ago, complained that the most serious problem confronting world agriculture today is the fact that "effective demand" cannot keep up with productive capacity. Time does not permit of any detailed discussion of natural resources of our earth in so far as these things industry, trade and finance or of the still undeveloped have a bearing on hunger and the world's other ills. Suffice it to say that industry in some areas is forced to curtail production and lay off workers simply because people in other areas, some of which are enormously rich in undeveloped resources, are too poor to buy what they really need or what they would like to have. The facts and figures which I have just quoted seem to prove conclusively that if half of the human race is still hungry, the blame is not to be placed on poor old mother earth. Neither are our agricultural scientists to blame. The blame is rather to be placed on the immaturity of our international politics and our international economics. Our science is indeed worthy of the twentieth century but our international economics and our international politics seem to be stuck somewhere in the nineteenth, the eighteenth, the seventeenth or the sixteenth century. The tragic significance of the agricultural statistics which I have just quoted is punctuated and accentuated when they are compared with conditions in the hungry nations. Japan, with a population of more than 90,000,000 �30 SLOVAKIA today has less farm land than is actually under cultivation in the little State of New York. With more than six million farm families, the country has only 14,000,000 acres of food producing land. Let us remember that according to the experts quoted by Josue de Castro, there are still nearly 13,000,000,000 acres throughout the world that could be used for food production but are actually lying idle. If these figures are even approximately correct, it means that throughout the world there are more than 900 arable acres lying idle for every acre that Japan has at her disposal for food production. In the cities of Japan, a better than average wage is sufficient only to keep a man, his wife and one child in comfort. With two children the situation is no longer comfortable and with three children, a man with even a better than average wage is apt to go into debt. Three million people in Japan are suffering from tuberculosis and 1,300,000 are more or less mentally deranged, largely due to economic worries. Under such circumstances, is it surprising that this Abortion has been legalized for economic reasons so that non-Christian nation is going all-out for birth-control? a family that is too poor to support another child can legally have an abortion. In 1955 abortions in Japan equalled the number of births - 1,700,000 of each. The Japanese know the horrors connected with abortions and for that reason 30,000 experts have been trained in the use of contraceptives so as to teach people everywhere how to use them. Shall we ,b lame the Japanese for these practices or shall we place the blame on the insane world order that makes such things necessary? It would take too long to give the corresponding data concerning India, Java, Egypt, China and many other crowded sectors of the globe. I have already told you that when I was in Peking I received reports of 1,000,000 deaths by starvation in China at a time when my own brothers in Idaho were being paid for not cultivating their fields. Need I remind you that China is today the second greatest stronghold of Communism in the world? �SLOVAKIA 31 Where Is The Solution? Many of you may remember that certain spokesmen for the World Health Organization of the United Nations hoped to solve the world's problems by starting all-out birth control movements in the crowded areas of the globe. Some of the Catholic representatives in the World Health Organization opposed this plan so bitterly that the others dared not go on openly with their plan for fear that the whole Organizatiofl would be destroyed. Though the Catholic representatnves in the World Health Organization opposed birth control they did not succeed in bringing forward any real solution. During a violent controversy I had in Tokyo eight years ago .on the subject of birth control, I too was challenged to bring forward a positive solution. The challenge seemed reasonable so a number of us began to study not only the effects of the world's population and its resources but also contemporary social theory. After several years we arrived at the conclusion that contemporary social theory - at least our Catholic social teaching - is mature anough to INDICATE solutions for social and economic problems WITHIN a nation but that even our Catholic social doctrine has not matured to the point where it can effectively grapple with INTERNATIONAL social and economic problems. It was obvious to all of us that we could not find the talent in Japan that would be needed to extend our social teaching to the international sphere so I gave up my press work on the first of January last year in order to go looking for the needed talent. During this year and a half I have contacted a large number of Catholic specialists in economics, sociology, international law, moral theology, natural law, etc. In Asia and Europe as well as in the United States I found general agreement among the scholars I consulted to the effect that our failure to extend our social teaching to the international sphere has: a) greatly weakened our position in the face of international Communism; b) defeated many of our efforts for world peace. These specialists also agree that it is imperative to mobil- �32 SLOVAKIA ize the best talent of the whole world for the creation of a new science of international social justice. A Science Of International Social Justice It is of the essence of a science that it should include all of the related principles underlying a specified field of knowledge along with the conclusions logically drawn from those principles. The history of all of our sciences shows that no science has ever grown up over night but in many cases the principles were shown and accepted long before they were coordinated into a system and before most of the conclusions had been drawn. In the matter of international social justice, we have a few basic principles which can now be affirmed though the scholars have not as yet drawn up any system of conclusions from them. Perhaps the most basic of these principles is that every human being has a real right to a human existence. That does not mean that every one is entitled to a Cadillac or a Ford. Perhaps not to a bicycle. But every human being does have a right to enough to eat, enough to wear, enough to feed, clothe and house his children. People also have a right to found a family and therefore also the right to enough of this world's goods so that they can observe the natural law in family life. The correlative of a "right" is not charity or handouts, but justice. It cannot be said that this or that individual has an obligation in justice to provide this or that stranger with all that is needed for a human existence. It can, however, be said that society has an obligation in justice to set up such a social and economic order as will enable all men, under the proper conditions, to secure for themselves what is needed for a truly human existence. It can also be said that all of the members of society have an obligation in justice to do their share in order that society as a whole can create such a social and economic order. A second principle that can be affirmed is the one enunciated by Pope Pius XII on June 1, 1941, when he pointed to all of the land now going to waste throughout �SLOVAKIA 33 the world and declared that it had been "created and prepared" by God "for the use of all .. " His Holiness did not, of course say: "for the OWNERSHIP of all." It is to be expected that any attempt to reduce this principle to practice will meet with bitter opposition on the part of that liberalistic school of thought which seeks absolute freedom of action in the economic sphere and refuses to face the responsibilities which are correlative to every right. Perhaps the best answer for people who take this stand is the well known fact that a mistake in a chemical laboratory can blow up not only the laboratory but all of the workers who are in it. History shows many cases in which mistakes in politics or economics have also led to explosions that are far more disastrous than can occur in any laboratory. Communism might be referred to as one such explosion - and it has already engulfed nations with a total population of some 800,000,000. You may remember that Pope Pius XII on December 24, 1941, only two and a half weeks after Pearl Harbor, called for a "new order, based on moral principles" which would enable "nations less favored by nature" to have access to resources beyond their borders, resources which, His Holiness declared, were "destined for all." In the same paragraph, His Holiness warned that if nothing were done in the future peace treaty to create such an order, there would remain in the relations between peoples a deep and far reaching root of dissension which would eventually "lead to new conflicts." It was, perhaps, fear of such new conflicts which prompted the authors of the Atlantic Charter to make a similar plea or pledge earlier that year. Unfortunately, little has been done so far as to implement the pleas and pledges of the Holy Father or the Atlantic Charter. That the Pope's warning about "future conflicts" was well-grounded is proven by the many danger spots that exist in our world today. There is no need to cite more than one example - that of Japan: Hoping to solve their naitonal prdblems in a peaceful way, a group of Japanese business men suggested a few �34 SLOVAKIA years ago that Japan buy the whole island of New Guinea and thought $8,000,000,000 would be a fair price. The island has a population of less than 2,000,000 but an American population expert estimated in 1929 that it could support about 125,000,000 Orientals. If the proposition had reached the discussion stage, all of the nations involved could have insisted on conditions that would guarantee their own security but refusal on the part of Australia and England was so instantaneous and blunt, that it never did reach the discussion stage. According to Anton Zischka in his book Japan in der Welt, Portugal was willing to sell her part of Tim.or to Japan several decades ago but was forbidden to do so by England to which Portugal owed a great deal of money. If Japan had been able to buy New Guinea, her people would have new hope for the future and would be kept so busy with development work that radicals and war-mongers would get little or no hearing and Japan would today be a strong, steadying influence for the whole Far East. As it is, most of the foreigners I met in Tokyo feel that if nothing is done soon and in a big way to remedy Japan's economic condition, no moderate Government will be able to remain in power in Tokyo 15 or 20 years from now. These people fear that if nothing is done to give the J apanase people real hope, the country will be forced by economic necessity to go either to the extreme right of more militarism or to the extreme left of Communism. The probability is in favor of Communism and this view is confirmed by a report concerning the Japanese Federation of Student Autonomous Organizations published in the New York Times on July 18, 1957. According to the Times article,, the Federation has 270,000 members out of a total of 680,000 College and University students and its official magazine recently published an article which spoke of the "heavy responsibilities" the members would have in carrying out their "special mission" when the Democratic revolution comes. A leading Australian Catholic who visited me in Tokyo several years ago summed up the situation as follows: If Japan goes Communist, the United States will have to withdraw from Okinawa and that will mean that Australia, �SLOVAKIA 35 Indonesia, the Philippines, Burma, Siam and what is left of Korea and Indochina will all be surrendered to Communism. Developments of this sort would certainly bring World War III much closer. If such a war does break out, many will cry out again in a frenzy against "War Criminals." It is logical to ask, however, whether the real "War Criminal" will not be that unhealthy and insane world order which leaves half of humanity hungry in a world of potential plenty. Appeal to the Universities I have referred to two principles which could serve as foundations for a new science of international social justice. One of these principles is that every human being has a real right to a human existence. The other is that the land now going to waste was created and prepared by God for the use of all. I have also referred to the pleas of Pope Pius XII and the Atlantic Charter for a world order which would give hungry nations access to resources beyond their borders. To build up such a science and blueprint this new world order will require the best talent the world has to offer. While this science would provide guidance for statesmen, we must recognize that the statesmen are too busy to undertake this kind of an assignment which requires the quiet study that is possible only for university men and private research workers. The new science will have to be based on natural law but if it is to be of practical value it will have to be integrated with all of the social sciences. For this reason, the cooperation of economists, sociologists and specialists in international law, etc., will be needed as well as that of moralists and specialists in natural law. Objections It might be objected that even the most perfect science of international social justice will be of no use unless we get international laws passed to back up the findings of such a science. This is a real objection but an answer to it is to be found in the relationship between the ideas of law and justice. While laws are enacted to guarantee a regime of justice, it is absolutely impossible even to draft a �36 SLOVAKIA good law until our notions of justice are clear. Within nations where people have been rubbing shoulders for century after century, our notions of what is fair for everybody are fairly clear and it is for this reason that the nations have been a:ble to draft many god laws. In the international sphere, however, practically no progress has been made in the notion of justice and its demands since the days of Francisco de Vitoria 400 years ago and Hugo Grotius 300 years ago. This is one of the main reasons why our international law is ,s till so inadequate and there is no hope of developing a really effective system of international law or of ending our era of virtual international anarchy until our notions of justice between nations are clarified. Another objection which some might raise is that any attempt to introduce real international social justice would simply rob the rich without helping the poor. To this the answer is obvious. The fact that most farmers and workers in the United States today have enough money to buy automobiles has not hurt our automobile industry in the least. If an era of international social justice could raise the living standards of another billion and a half of human beings, their added buying power would open up such markets and inaugurate such a period of general prosperity as the world has never dared to envision even in its fondest dreams. Last Argument in Favor As a final argument in favor of international social justice we might say that there is no real hope of world peace as long as large segments of the human race have every reason to feel that they are not being treated justly. This feeling is the stuff of which wars are made and promoted with the plea of "self defense." World War II cost us 20,000,000 dead and 30,000,000 wounded. Financial costs, including war damages and war costs amounted to $1,340,000,000,000 or about $520 for every man, woman and child in the whole world - a total of $2,600 for every family of five persons. Not included in these items are the tears and heartaches of hundreds of millions of human beings who lost a father, a brother or a son during the war. If we are pushed into an atomic World War III, the cost of World �SLOVAKIA 37 War II will look like peanuts. It has been well said that the next war will be fought with atomic power and the one after that with bows and arrows. I remember that when I started to study history some 47 years ago, I congratulated myself on having been born in an age that is civilized and no longer wages war. I was just old enough to register for service when World War I ended, but, during World War II, I had ample time in J:ipanese Concentration Camps to think over the kind of civilization we have today and the result has been a very, very sad disillusionment. Millions of others, soldiers with their wives, their parents and their children have been similarly disillusioned and if one of our Catholic organizations can spearhead a movement in favor of such justice as will prevent wars in the future it will have millions of followers . • • • WHO SAID IT? "The United States passed a law against Communists. This law is giving the gentlemen from the Central Action Committee of the (Czechoslovak) National Front - who now shamelessly appear under the name the Council of Free Czechoslovakia - quite a headache. The new law is made to order for all Socialists, but also for many Czech Populists and Slovak Democrats who helped to destroy the economical structure of Czecho-:Slovakia, to suppress political freedom and who otherwise cleared the road for the complete victory of Communism. Of course, it is altogether possible that the gentlemen will try to dodge the consequences of their past by denying and lying about it. But it is not only the National Socialists who are appearing under a false flag. (Lettrich's) Slovak DemocFats are doing the same thing: without notifying their members or asking them for their assent, they have now changed to "Slovak Agrarians." Of course, income from the Agrarian International is connected with this and the gentlemen, who never before were agriculturists by vocation, have nevertheless become professional Slovak Agrarians." - (NAROD, Czech Bulletin, London, Nov. 1950). � 24 SLOVAKIA vakia. The editor of the Czech periodical had the opportunity to learn how the Slovaks in Rome felt about the matter. They held no ill will for the Archbishop of London, but they did for the Czechs associated with Novy Zivot, the editor of which certainly knows better. The Czechs apparently have learned little or nothing from the past. They keep parroting listlessly the slogan "truth will prevail" - a la Masaryk and Benes - while they spread false propaganda even about those who are supposed to be "closely related" to them. It is obvious that the Czech periodical "Novy Zivot" (New Life) is still following the old life which brought ruin to the Slovak and Czech nations. • • • INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL JUSTICE Rev. William A. Kaschmitter, M.N. Due to the scientific and technological revolutions of the past century, the world has become international in spite of itself and does not know what to do about this new situation. The number of international organizations created since 1860 to cope with specific international problems is simply phenomenal. The first global attempt made to grapple with all of these problems in general was made after World War I when the League of Nations was formally erected. The League failed but its failure did not kill the sense of need :for such an organization and after World War II another attempt was made in the creation of the United Nations Organization. Unfortunately, many people today fear that the United Nations Organization will go the way of the League unless it can "grow up" and mature to the point where it can command not only the respect but also the confidence of all nations, great and small. Justice - Not Merely Charity There are good-hearted people who think that charity alone will suffice to cure the ills of our world. It is true that love for God and neighbor are the two greatest commandments and that acording to St. Paul, Charity is the �SLOVAKIA 25 fulfillment of the law. We must remember, however, that obligations of justice take precedence over the obligations of charity and that where justice is lacking there can be no true charity. To give to our neighbor in charity what is due to him in justice would be sordid mockery. Those of us who have seen Communists at close range know how violently they oppose charity as a substitute for justice but unfortunately they seem to know little about what justice really is and what it demands. It is equally unfortunate that many of our anti-Communist statesmen seem to know just as little as the Communists do about what justice demands in the international sphere. The Charter of the United Nations in its Preamble speaks of justice for all nations, and President Eisenhower in a recent television address declared that justice and peace are only two faces of the same coin. These declarations would not only be admirable but supremely important if they were accompanied by a clear-cut and sound definition of what justice between nations is and what it demands. Even without a precise definition of justice and its demands, such declarations would be truly precious if we could assume that the present world order is just; for then every one of us could easily supply a definition merely by saying that justice demands the preservation of the status quo, the observance of international treaties, international agreements, etc. Here, the crucial question is: Is Our Present World Order Just? Many good people seem to think that the only thing that's wrong with our world is that we have too many Communists and that if we could only be rid of Communism the whole world could be happy. They think that the ogre of Communism is kept alive only by the lying propaganda of a few self-seeking tyrants who keep their dupes in line with the most savage terrorism. I hold no brief for Communism. I could not defend Communism without betraying my own friends who suffered exquisite torture at Communist hands and without betraying all of the Christians in China, some of whom were buried alive by the Communists while I was; still in Peking. �26 SLOVAKIA Without excusing the horrors and abuses of the Communists, let us admit here and now that it is precisely the injustice of our present unbalanced and unhealthy world order that provides the Communist propaganda machine with its best ammunition. I hope within the next few minutes to cite some facts and statistics to prove that our present world is unjust but before taking up that point I'd like to call your attention to a few of the glaring failures and mistakes of the Free World in its fight against Communism. The Free World is placing great emphasis on military preparedness as a means of combatting the Communist threat. That, of course, is necessary. It's a mistake, however, to think that bombs and bullets can ever be an antidote to an ideology - especially the kind of ideology which Pope Pius XI has described as a kind of mysticism - a false mysticism, it is true, but still a mysticism. There are Communists who would be willing to fight with stones and stick;; if necessary and are willing to die rather than give up that pseudo-mysticism of theirs. MQst people in the Free World admit that bombs and bullets are no real antidote to the Communist ideology and they are therefore stressing the idea of freedom as an anti-dote to Communistic ideals and practices. Freedom is, of course, one of God's greatest natural gifts to man. History has also proven over and over again that an atmosphere of freedom is most conducive not only to sound political life but also to healthy economic development. This freedom, however, must be real; it must be for all; above all, it must be in harmony with justice. When I was directing the Catholic news service in Peking I got reports of a million people starving to death in China. These people were "free" to eat - if they could find the necessary food. They couldn't find it - and hence they were not really free to eat. The liberalistic ideas of John Locke, John Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rosseau as applied in the nineteenth century led to economic anarchy and all kinds of injustice. That kind of liberty gave birth to the monstrosity that we know as Communism today and it is still provid- �SLOVAKIA 27 ing ammunition for the Communist propaganda machine in the hungry countries today. Liberty of that kind is as closely related to Communism as a grandfather is related to his grandson. Liberty if joined together with justice can indeed serve as a splendid antidote to the Communist ideology and there are many good men who are making it so today. On the other hand, there are others who are loud in condemning Communism, but who are afraid even to whisper that the hungry people in other countries have a real right to human existence. That kind of anti-communism is ineffectual if not actually harmful. Let us then have liberty - but let it be a liberty that is eternally wedded to JUSTICE FOR ALL MEN! It is only on this kind of justice, coupled with liberty, that we will be ruble to provide an effective antidote to the Communist ideology. The biggest job ahead of us is to create a system of social thought that will provide for real justice for all men. If that justice is wedded to the truth that makes men free, this combination of justice and truth and freedom will give birth to an ideology that will be more effective than all of the "A" and "H" bombs in the world. If, on the other hand, we continue to tolerate a world order in which more than half of humanity is deprived of its right to a truly human existence, our bombs may prove to be nothing but the instruments of a wholesale destruction in which democracy itself will perish and we ourselves will go down to ultimate defeat. Our Unjust World Order Providing enough food for everybody is certainly one of the most basic requirements for a healty world order. There are many prophets of doom who fear that the day will soon come when the earth simply cannot provide food for all. It is certainly true that half of the world's population today is undernourished if not actualJy starving. Some say that no less than 70 percent of the human race is undernourished. �28 SLOVAKIA The question for us to consider is this: is all this hunger really due to over-population or is it due to mismanagement in our conduct of world affairs? Experts of our Department of Agriculture in Washington are quoted as saying that 16,000,000,000 acres could be used by modern methods throughout the world for food production. On the other hand, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations declared in its 1956 Yearbook that at present less than 3,340,000,000 acres are under cultivation. If these figures are accurate, it means that 79 percent of the land that could be used for food production, is now simply going to waste. These statistics certainly indicate that there is still a great deal of land that we could use and are not using. Other facts seem to indicate that we are not using our Godgiven brains either. Alluding to the great progress made by the agricultural scientists in recent years, the Daily News in New York declared editorially on August 7, 1952 that if we really put our scientific know-how and technical skill to work in this country, the Mississippi Basin alone could provide food for a population of 500,000,000 or approximately three times the present total population of this whole country. Reader's Digest in its issue for September, 1952, carried an article in which it was stated that Brazil alone could support a total population of one billion or nearly twenty times its present population. These estimates are based on the present findings of agricultural science and we must remember that the scientists are constantly finding ways of increasing production. As one of them declared : "The big harvest is still ahead." Another scientist, Professor Rosin, who is not interested in agriculture but in chemistry, has declared that if we devoted only as much money to chemical research as w spend in one month on military preparedness, the chemists could find ways of producing so much food artificially that we could turn all our farms into parks and flowerbeds and still feed humanity more adequately than it is being fed today. A sad but effective commentary on the statistics quoted above is provided by the "plague" of agricultural over- �SLOVAKIA 29 production which is giving farmers and statesmen such a headache in various countries. During his campaign speech on agriculture last fall, President Eisenhower told us that our Government has spent $9,000,000,000 for the purchase of agricultural surplus products merely to keep them off the market and is storing them at the cost of $1,000,000 a day. In 1957 our Government had paid farmers 260 million dollars for not cultivating 12,000,000 acres and, according to the President's campaign speech,. the planning called for the immobilization of from forty to fifty million acres in 1958. Agricultral producers of about 25 countries who met in Nairobi, Africa, a few years ago, complained that the most serious problem confronting world agriculture today is the fact that "effective demand" cannot keep up with productive capacity. Time does not permit of any detailed discussion of natural resources of our earth in so far as these things industry, trade and finance or of the still undeveloped have a bearing on hunger and the world's other ills. Suffice it to say that industry in some areas is forced to curtail production and lay off workers simply because people in other areas, some of which are enormously rich in undeveloped resources, are too poor to buy what they really need or what they would like to have. The facts and figures which I have just quoted seem to prove conclusively that if half of the human race is still hungry, the blame is not to be placed on poor old mother earth. Neither are our agricultural scientists to blame. The blame is rather to be placed on the immaturity of our international politics and our international economics. Our science is indeed worthy of the twentieth century but our international economics and our international politics seem to be stuck somewhere in the nineteenth, the eighteenth, the seventeenth or the sixteenth century. The tragic significance of the agricultural statistics which I have just quoted is punctuated and accentuated when they are compared with conditions in the hungry nations. Japan, with a population of more than 90,000,000 �30 SLOVAKIA today has less farm land than is actually under cultivation in the little State of New York. With more than six million farm families, the country has only 14,000,000 acres of food producing land. Let us remember that according to the experts quoted by Josue de Castro, there are still nearly 13,000,000,000 acres throughout the world that could be used for food production but are actually lying idle. If these figures are even approximately correct, it means that throughout the world there are more than 900 arable acres lying idle for every acre that Japan has at her disposal for food production. In the cities of Japan, a better than average wage is sufficient only to keep a man, his wife and one child in comfort. With two children the situation is no longer comfortable and with three children, a man with even a better than average wage is apt to go into debt. Three million people in Japan are suffering from tuberculosis and 1,300,000 are more or less mentally deranged, largely due to economic worries. Under such circumstances, is it surprising that this Abortion has been legalized for economic reasons so that non-Christian nation is going all-out for birth-control? a family that is too poor to support another child can legally have an abortion. In 1955 abortions in Japan equalled the number of births - 1,700,000 of each. The Japanese know the horrors connected with abortions and for that reason 30,000 experts have been trained in the use of contraceptives so as to teach people everywhere how to use them. Shall we ,b lame the Japanese for these practices or shall we place the blame on the insane world order that makes such things necessary? It would take too long to give the corresponding data concerning India, Java, Egypt, China and many other crowded sectors of the globe. I have already told you that when I was in Peking I received reports of 1,000,000 deaths by starvation in China at a time when my own brothers in Idaho were being paid for not cultivating their fields. Need I remind you that China is today the second greatest stronghold of Communism in the world? �SLOVAKIA 31 Where Is The Solution? Many of you may remember that certain spokesmen for the World Health Organization of the United Nations hoped to solve the world's problems by starting all-out birth control movements in the crowded areas of the globe. Some of the Catholic representatives in the World Health Organization opposed this plan so bitterly that the others dared not go on openly with their plan for fear that the whole Organizatiofl would be destroyed. Though the Catholic representatnves in the World Health Organization opposed birth control they did not succeed in bringing forward any real solution. During a violent controversy I had in Tokyo eight years ago .on the subject of birth control, I too was challenged to bring forward a positive solution. The challenge seemed reasonable so a number of us began to study not only the effects of the world's population and its resources but also contemporary social theory. After several years we arrived at the conclusion that contemporary social theory - at least our Catholic social teaching - is mature anough to INDICATE solutions for social and economic problems WITHIN a nation but that even our Catholic social doctrine has not matured to the point where it can effectively grapple with INTERNATIONAL social and economic problems. It was obvious to all of us that we could not find the talent in Japan that would be needed to extend our social teaching to the international sphere so I gave up my press work on the first of January last year in order to go looking for the needed talent. During this year and a half I have contacted a large number of Catholic specialists in economics, sociology, international law, moral theology, natural law, etc. In Asia and Europe as well as in the United States I found general agreement among the scholars I consulted to the effect that our failure to extend our social teaching to the international sphere has: a) greatly weakened our position in the face of international Communism; b) defeated many of our efforts for world peace. These specialists also agree that it is imperative to mobil- �32 SLOVAKIA ize the best talent of the whole world for the creation of a new science of international social justice. A Science Of International Social Justice It is of the essence of a science that it should include all of the related principles underlying a specified field of knowledge along with the conclusions logically drawn from those principles. The history of all of our sciences shows that no science has ever grown up over night but in many cases the principles were shown and accepted long before they were coordinated into a system and before most of the conclusions had been drawn. In the matter of international social justice, we have a few basic principles which can now be affirmed though the scholars have not as yet drawn up any system of conclusions from them. Perhaps the most basic of these principles is that every human being has a real right to a human existence. That does not mean that every one is entitled to a Cadillac or a Ford. Perhaps not to a bicycle. But every human being does have a right to enough to eat, enough to wear, enough to feed, clothe and house his children. People also have a right to found a family and therefore also the right to enough of this world's goods so that they can observe the natural law in family life. The correlative of a "right" is not charity or handouts, but justice. It cannot be said that this or that individual has an obligation in justice to provide this or that stranger with all that is needed for a human existence. It can, however, be said that society has an obligation in justice to set up such a social and economic order as will enable all men, under the proper conditions, to secure for themselves what is needed for a truly human existence. It can also be said that all of the members of society have an obligation in justice to do their share in order that society as a whole can create such a social and economic order. A second principle that can be affirmed is the one enunciated by Pope Pius XII on June 1, 1941, when he pointed to all of the land now going to waste throughout �SLOVAKIA 33 the world and declared that it had been "created and prepared" by God "for the use of all .. " His Holiness did not, of course say: "for the OWNERSHIP of all." It is to be expected that any attempt to reduce this principle to practice will meet with bitter opposition on the part of that liberalistic school of thought which seeks absolute freedom of action in the economic sphere and refuses to face the responsibilities which are correlative to every right. Perhaps the best answer for people who take this stand is the well known fact that a mistake in a chemical laboratory can blow up not only the laboratory but all of the workers who are in it. History shows many cases in which mistakes in politics or economics have also led to explosions that are far more disastrous than can occur in any laboratory. Communism might be referred to as one such explosion - and it has already engulfed nations with a total population of some 800,000,000. You may remember that Pope Pius XII on December 24, 1941, only two and a half weeks after Pearl Harbor, called for a "new order, based on moral principles" which would enable "nations less favored by nature" to have access to resources beyond their borders, resources which, His Holiness declared, were "destined for all." In the same paragraph, His Holiness warned that if nothing were done in the future peace treaty to create such an order, there would remain in the relations between peoples a deep and far reaching root of dissension which would eventually "lead to new conflicts." It was, perhaps, fear of such new conflicts which prompted the authors of the Atlantic Charter to make a similar plea or pledge earlier that year. Unfortunately, little has been done so far as to implement the pleas and pledges of the Holy Father or the Atlantic Charter. That the Pope's warning about "future conflicts" was well-grounded is proven by the many danger spots that exist in our world today. There is no need to cite more than one example - that of Japan: Hoping to solve their naitonal prdblems in a peaceful way, a group of Japanese business men suggested a few �34 SLOVAKIA years ago that Japan buy the whole island of New Guinea and thought $8,000,000,000 would be a fair price. The island has a population of less than 2,000,000 but an American population expert estimated in 1929 that it could support about 125,000,000 Orientals. If the proposition had reached the discussion stage, all of the nations involved could have insisted on conditions that would guarantee their own security but refusal on the part of Australia and England was so instantaneous and blunt, that it never did reach the discussion stage. According to Anton Zischka in his book Japan in der Welt, Portugal was willing to sell her part of Tim.or to Japan several decades ago but was forbidden to do so by England to which Portugal owed a great deal of money. If Japan had been able to buy New Guinea, her people would have new hope for the future and would be kept so busy with development work that radicals and war-mongers would get little or no hearing and Japan would today be a strong, steadying influence for the whole Far East. As it is, most of the foreigners I met in Tokyo feel that if nothing is done soon and in a big way to remedy Japan's economic condition, no moderate Government will be able to remain in power in Tokyo 15 or 20 years from now. These people fear that if nothing is done to give the J apanase people real hope, the country will be forced by economic necessity to go either to the extreme right of more militarism or to the extreme left of Communism. The probability is in favor of Communism and this view is confirmed by a report concerning the Japanese Federation of Student Autonomous Organizations published in the New York Times on July 18, 1957. According to the Times article,, the Federation has 270,000 members out of a total of 680,000 College and University students and its official magazine recently published an article which spoke of the "heavy responsibilities" the members would have in carrying out their "special mission" when the Democratic revolution comes. A leading Australian Catholic who visited me in Tokyo several years ago summed up the situation as follows: If Japan goes Communist, the United States will have to withdraw from Okinawa and that will mean that Australia, �SLOVAKIA 35 Indonesia, the Philippines, Burma, Siam and what is left of Korea and Indochina will all be surrendered to Communism. Developments of this sort would certainly bring World War III much closer. If such a war does break out, many will cry out again in a frenzy against "War Criminals." It is logical to ask, however, whether the real "War Criminal" will not be that unhealthy and insane world order which leaves half of humanity hungry in a world of potential plenty. Appeal to the Universities I have referred to two principles which could serve as foundations for a new science of international social justice. One of these principles is that every human being has a real right to a human existence. The other is that the land now going to waste was created and prepared by God for the use of all. I have also referred to the pleas of Pope Pius XII and the Atlantic Charter for a world order which would give hungry nations access to resources beyond their borders. To build up such a science and blueprint this new world order will require the best talent the world has to offer. While this science would provide guidance for statesmen, we must recognize that the statesmen are too busy to undertake this kind of an assignment which requires the quiet study that is possible only for university men and private research workers. The new science will have to be based on natural law but if it is to be of practical value it will have to be integrated with all of the social sciences. For this reason, the cooperation of economists, sociologists and specialists in international law, etc., will be needed as well as that of moralists and specialists in natural law. Objections It might be objected that even the most perfect science of international social justice will be of no use unless we get international laws passed to back up the findings of such a science. This is a real objection but an answer to it is to be found in the relationship between the ideas of law and justice. While laws are enacted to guarantee a regime of justice, it is absolutely impossible even to draft a �36 SLOVAKIA good law until our notions of justice are clear. Within nations where people have been rubbing shoulders for century after century, our notions of what is fair for everybody are fairly clear and it is for this reason that the nations have been a:ble to draft many god laws. In the international sphere, however, practically no progress has been made in the notion of justice and its demands since the days of Francisco de Vitoria 400 years ago and Hugo Grotius 300 years ago. This is one of the main reasons why our international law is ,s till so inadequate and there is no hope of developing a really effective system of international law or of ending our era of virtual international anarchy until our notions of justice between nations are clarified. Another objection which some might raise is that any attempt to introduce real international social justice would simply rob the rich without helping the poor. To this the answer is obvious. The fact that most farmers and workers in the United States today have enough money to buy automobiles has not hurt our automobile industry in the least. If an era of international social justice could raise the living standards of another billion and a half of human beings, their added buying power would open up such markets and inaugurate such a period of general prosperity as the world has never dared to envision even in its fondest dreams. Last Argument in Favor As a final argument in favor of international social justice we might say that there is no real hope of world peace as long as large segments of the human race have every reason to feel that they are not being treated justly. This feeling is the stuff of which wars are made and promoted with the plea of "self defense." World War II cost us 20,000,000 dead and 30,000,000 wounded. Financial costs, including war damages and war costs amounted to $1,340,000,000,000 or about $520 for every man, woman and child in the whole world - a total of $2,600 for every family of five persons. Not included in these items are the tears and heartaches of hundreds of millions of human beings who lost a father, a brother or a son during the war. If we are pushed into an atomic World War III, the cost of World �SLOVAKIA 37 War II will look like peanuts. It has been well said that the next war will be fought with atomic power and the one after that with bows and arrows. I remember that when I started to study history some 47 years ago, I congratulated myself on having been born in an age that is civilized and no longer wages war. I was just old enough to register for service when World War I ended, but, during World War II, I had ample time in J:ipanese Concentration Camps to think over the kind of civilization we have today and the result has been a very, very sad disillusionment. Millions of others, soldiers with their wives, their parents and their children have been similarly disillusioned and if one of our Catholic organizations can spearhead a movement in favor of such justice as will prevent wars in the future it will have millions of followers . • • • WHO SAID IT? "The United States passed a law against Communists. This law is giving the gentlemen from the Central Action Committee of the (Czechoslovak) National Front - who now shamelessly appear under the name the Council of Free Czechoslovakia - quite a headache. The new law is made to order for all Socialists, but also for many Czech Populists and Slovak Democrats who helped to destroy the economical structure of Czecho-:Slovakia, to suppress political freedom and who otherwise cleared the road for the complete victory of Communism. Of course, it is altogether possible that the gentlemen will try to dodge the consequences of their past by denying and lying about it. But it is not only the National Socialists who are appearing under a false flag. (Lettrich's) Slovak DemocFats are doing the same thing: without notifying their members or asking them for their assent, they have now changed to "Slovak Agrarians." Of course, income from the Agrarian International is connected with this and the gentlemen, who never before were agriculturists by vocation, have nevertheless become professional Slovak Agrarians." - (NAROD, Czech Bulletin, London, Nov. 1950). � 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 24 SLOVAKIA vakia. The editor of the Czech periodical had the opportunity to learn how the Slovaks in Rome felt about the matter. They held no ill will for the Archbishop of London, but they did for the Czechs associated with Novy Zivot, the editor of which certainly knows better. The Czechs apparently have learned little or nothing from the past. They keep parroting listlessly the slogan "truth will prevail" - a la Masaryk and Benes - while they spread false propaganda even about those who are supposed to be "closely related" to them. It is obvious that the Czech periodical "Novy Zivot" (New Life) is still following the old life which brought ruin to the Slovak and Czech nations. • • • INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL JUSTICE Rev. William A. Kaschmitter, M.N. Due to the scientific and technological revolutions of the past century, the world has become international in spite of itself and does not know what to do about this new situation. The number of international organizations created since 1860 to cope with specific international problems is simply phenomenal. The first global attempt made to grapple with all of these problems in general was made after World War I when the League of Nations was formally erected. The League failed but its failure did not kill the sense of need :for such an organization and after World War II another attempt was made in the creation of the United Nations Organization. Unfortunately, many people today fear that the United Nations Organization will go the way of the League unless it can "grow up" and mature to the point where it can command not only the respect but also the confidence of all nations, great and small. Justice - Not Merely Charity There are good-hearted people who think that charity alone will suffice to cure the ills of our world. It is true that love for God and neighbor are the two greatest commandments and that acording to St. Paul, Charity is the SLOVAKIA 25 fulfillment of the law. We must remember, however, that obligations of justice take precedence over the obligations of charity and that where justice is lacking there can be no true charity. To give to our neighbor in charity what is due to him in justice would be sordid mockery. Those of us who have seen Communists at close range know how violently they oppose charity as a substitute for justice but unfortunately they seem to know little about what justice really is and what it demands. It is equally unfortunate that many of our anti-Communist statesmen seem to know just as little as the Communists do about what justice demands in the international sphere. The Charter of the United Nations in its Preamble speaks of justice for all nations, and President Eisenhower in a recent television address declared that justice and peace are only two faces of the same coin. These declarations would not only be admirable but supremely important if they were accompanied by a clear-cut and sound definition of what justice between nations is and what it demands. Even without a precise definition of justice and its demands, such declarations would be truly precious if we could assume that the present world order is just; for then every one of us could easily supply a definition merely by saying that justice demands the preservation of the status quo, the observance of international treaties, international agreements, etc. Here, the crucial question is: Is Our Present World Order Just? Many good people seem to think that the only thing that's wrong with our world is that we have too many Communists and that if we could only be rid of Communism the whole world could be happy. They think that the ogre of Communism is kept alive only by the lying propaganda of a few self-seeking tyrants who keep their dupes in line with the most savage terrorism. I hold no brief for Communism. I could not defend Communism without betraying my own friends who suffered exquisite torture at Communist hands and without betraying all of the Christians in China, some of whom were buried alive by the Communists while I was; still in Peking. 26 SLOVAKIA Without excusing the horrors and abuses of the Communists, let us admit here and now that it is precisely the injustice of our present unbalanced and unhealthy world order that provides the Communist propaganda machine with its best ammunition. I hope within the next few minutes to cite some facts and statistics to prove that our present world is unjust but before taking up that point I'd like to call your attention to a few of the glaring failures and mistakes of the Free World in its fight against Communism. The Free World is placing great emphasis on military preparedness as a means of combatting the Communist threat. That, of course, is necessary. It's a mistake, however, to think that bombs and bullets can ever be an antidote to an ideology - especially the kind of ideology which Pope Pius XI has described as a kind of mysticism - a false mysticism, it is true, but still a mysticism. There are Communists who would be willing to fight with stones and stick;; if necessary and are willing to die rather than give up that pseudo-mysticism of theirs. MQst people in the Free World admit that bombs and bullets are no real antidote to the Communist ideology and they are therefore stressing the idea of freedom as an anti-dote to Communistic ideals and practices. Freedom is, of course, one of God's greatest natural gifts to man. History has also proven over and over again that an atmosphere of freedom is most conducive not only to sound political life but also to healthy economic development. This freedom, however, must be real; it must be for all; above all, it must be in harmony with justice. When I was directing the Catholic news service in Peking I got reports of a million people starving to death in China. These people were "free" to eat - if they could find the necessary food. They couldn't find it - and hence they were not really free to eat. The liberalistic ideas of John Locke, John Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rosseau as applied in the nineteenth century led to economic anarchy and all kinds of injustice. That kind of liberty gave birth to the monstrosity that we know as Communism today and it is still provid- SLOVAKIA 27 ing ammunition for the Communist propaganda machine in the hungry countries today. Liberty of that kind is as closely related to Communism as a grandfather is related to his grandson. Liberty if joined together with justice can indeed serve as a splendid antidote to the Communist ideology and there are many good men who are making it so today. On the other hand, there are others who are loud in condemning Communism, but who are afraid even to whisper that the hungry people in other countries have a real right to human existence. That kind of anti-communism is ineffectual if not actually harmful. Let us then have liberty - but let it be a liberty that is eternally wedded to JUSTICE FOR ALL MEN! It is only on this kind of justice, coupled with liberty, that we will be ruble to provide an effective antidote to the Communist ideology. The biggest job ahead of us is to create a system of social thought that will provide for real justice for all men. If that justice is wedded to the truth that makes men free, this combination of justice and truth and freedom will give birth to an ideology that will be more effective than all of the "A" and "H" bombs in the world. If, on the other hand, we continue to tolerate a world order in which more than half of humanity is deprived of its right to a truly human existence, our bombs may prove to be nothing but the instruments of a wholesale destruction in which democracy itself will perish and we ourselves will go down to ultimate defeat. Our Unjust World Order Providing enough food for everybody is certainly one of the most basic requirements for a healty world order. There are many prophets of doom who fear that the day will soon come when the earth simply cannot provide food for all. It is certainly true that half of the world's population today is undernourished if not actualJy starving. Some say that no less than 70 percent of the human race is undernourished. 28 SLOVAKIA The question for us to consider is this: is all this hunger really due to over-population or is it due to mismanagement in our conduct of world affairs? Experts of our Department of Agriculture in Washington are quoted as saying that 16,000,000,000 acres could be used by modern methods throughout the world for food production. On the other hand, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations declared in its 1956 Yearbook that at present less than 3,340,000,000 acres are under cultivation. If these figures are accurate, it means that 79 percent of the land that could be used for food production, is now simply going to waste. These statistics certainly indicate that there is still a great deal of land that we could use and are not using. Other facts seem to indicate that we are not using our Godgiven brains either. Alluding to the great progress made by the agricultural scientists in recent years, the Daily News in New York declared editorially on August 7, 1952 that if we really put our scientific know-how and technical skill to work in this country, the Mississippi Basin alone could provide food for a population of 500,000,000 or approximately three times the present total population of this whole country. Reader's Digest in its issue for September, 1952, carried an article in which it was stated that Brazil alone could support a total population of one billion or nearly twenty times its present population. These estimates are based on the present findings of agricultural science and we must remember that the scientists are constantly finding ways of increasing production. As one of them declared : "The big harvest is still ahead." Another scientist, Professor Rosin, who is not interested in agriculture but in chemistry, has declared that if we devoted only as much money to chemical research as w spend in one month on military preparedness, the chemists could find ways of producing so much food artificially that we could turn all our farms into parks and flowerbeds and still feed humanity more adequately than it is being fed today. A sad but effective commentary on the statistics quoted above is provided by the "plague" of agricultural over- SLOVAKIA 29 production which is giving farmers and statesmen such a headache in various countries. During his campaign speech on agriculture last fall, President Eisenhower told us that our Government has spent $9,000,000,000 for the purchase of agricultural surplus products merely to keep them off the market and is storing them at the cost of $1,000,000 a day. In 1957 our Government had paid farmers 260 million dollars for not cultivating 12,000,000 acres and, according to the President's campaign speech,. the planning called for the immobilization of from forty to fifty million acres in 1958. Agricultral producers of about 25 countries who met in Nairobi, Africa, a few years ago, complained that the most serious problem confronting world agriculture today is the fact that "effective demand" cannot keep up with productive capacity. Time does not permit of any detailed discussion of natural resources of our earth in so far as these things industry, trade and finance or of the still undeveloped have a bearing on hunger and the world's other ills. Suffice it to say that industry in some areas is forced to curtail production and lay off workers simply because people in other areas, some of which are enormously rich in undeveloped resources, are too poor to buy what they really need or what they would like to have. The facts and figures which I have just quoted seem to prove conclusively that if half of the human race is still hungry, the blame is not to be placed on poor old mother earth. Neither are our agricultural scientists to blame. The blame is rather to be placed on the immaturity of our international politics and our international economics. Our science is indeed worthy of the twentieth century but our international economics and our international politics seem to be stuck somewhere in the nineteenth, the eighteenth, the seventeenth or the sixteenth century. The tragic significance of the agricultural statistics which I have just quoted is punctuated and accentuated when they are compared with conditions in the hungry nations. Japan, with a population of more than 90,000,000 30 SLOVAKIA today has less farm land than is actually under cultivation in the little State of New York. With more than six million farm families, the country has only 14,000,000 acres of food producing land. Let us remember that according to the experts quoted by Josue de Castro, there are still nearly 13,000,000,000 acres throughout the world that could be used for food production but are actually lying idle. If these figures are even approximately correct, it means that throughout the world there are more than 900 arable acres lying idle for every acre that Japan has at her disposal for food production. In the cities of Japan, a better than average wage is sufficient only to keep a man, his wife and one child in comfort. With two children the situation is no longer comfortable and with three children, a man with even a better than average wage is apt to go into debt. Three million people in Japan are suffering from tuberculosis and 1,300,000 are more or less mentally deranged, largely due to economic worries. Under such circumstances, is it surprising that this Abortion has been legalized for economic reasons so that non-Christian nation is going all-out for birth-control? a family that is too poor to support another child can legally have an abortion. In 1955 abortions in Japan equalled the number of births - 1,700,000 of each. The Japanese know the horrors connected with abortions and for that reason 30,000 experts have been trained in the use of contraceptives so as to teach people everywhere how to use them. Shall we ,b lame the Japanese for these practices or shall we place the blame on the insane world order that makes such things necessary? It would take too long to give the corresponding data concerning India, Java, Egypt, China and many other crowded sectors of the globe. I have already told you that when I was in Peking I received reports of 1,000,000 deaths by starvation in China at a time when my own brothers in Idaho were being paid for not cultivating their fields. Need I remind you that China is today the second greatest stronghold of Communism in the world? SLOVAKIA 31 Where Is The Solution? Many of you may remember that certain spokesmen for the World Health Organization of the United Nations hoped to solve the world's problems by starting all-out birth control movements in the crowded areas of the globe. Some of the Catholic representatives in the World Health Organization opposed this plan so bitterly that the others dared not go on openly with their plan for fear that the whole Organizatiofl would be destroyed. Though the Catholic representatnves in the World Health Organization opposed birth control they did not succeed in bringing forward any real solution. During a violent controversy I had in Tokyo eight years ago .on the subject of birth control, I too was challenged to bring forward a positive solution. The challenge seemed reasonable so a number of us began to study not only the effects of the world's population and its resources but also contemporary social theory. After several years we arrived at the conclusion that contemporary social theory - at least our Catholic social teaching - is mature anough to INDICATE solutions for social and economic problems WITHIN a nation but that even our Catholic social doctrine has not matured to the point where it can effectively grapple with INTERNATIONAL social and economic problems. It was obvious to all of us that we could not find the talent in Japan that would be needed to extend our social teaching to the international sphere so I gave up my press work on the first of January last year in order to go looking for the needed talent. During this year and a half I have contacted a large number of Catholic specialists in economics, sociology, international law, moral theology, natural law, etc. In Asia and Europe as well as in the United States I found general agreement among the scholars I consulted to the effect that our failure to extend our social teaching to the international sphere has: a) greatly weakened our position in the face of international Communism; b) defeated many of our efforts for world peace. These specialists also agree that it is imperative to mobil- 32 SLOVAKIA ize the best talent of the whole world for the creation of a new science of international social justice. A Science Of International Social Justice It is of the essence of a science that it should include all of the related principles underlying a specified field of knowledge along with the conclusions logically drawn from those principles. The history of all of our sciences shows that no science has ever grown up over night but in many cases the principles were shown and accepted long before they were coordinated into a system and before most of the conclusions had been drawn. In the matter of international social justice, we have a few basic principles which can now be affirmed though the scholars have not as yet drawn up any system of conclusions from them. Perhaps the most basic of these principles is that every human being has a real right to a human existence. That does not mean that every one is entitled to a Cadillac or a Ford. Perhaps not to a bicycle. But every human being does have a right to enough to eat, enough to wear, enough to feed, clothe and house his children. People also have a right to found a family and therefore also the right to enough of this world's goods so that they can observe the natural law in family life. The correlative of a "right" is not charity or handouts, but justice. It cannot be said that this or that individual has an obligation in justice to provide this or that stranger with all that is needed for a human existence. It can, however, be said that society has an obligation in justice to set up such a social and economic order as will enable all men, under the proper conditions, to secure for themselves what is needed for a truly human existence. It can also be said that all of the members of society have an obligation in justice to do their share in order that society as a whole can create such a social and economic order. A second principle that can be affirmed is the one enunciated by Pope Pius XII on June 1, 1941, when he pointed to all of the land now going to waste throughout SLOVAKIA 33 the world and declared that it had been "created and prepared" by God "for the use of all .. " His Holiness did not, of course say: "for the OWNERSHIP of all." It is to be expected that any attempt to reduce this principle to practice will meet with bitter opposition on the part of that liberalistic school of thought which seeks absolute freedom of action in the economic sphere and refuses to face the responsibilities which are correlative to every right. Perhaps the best answer for people who take this stand is the well known fact that a mistake in a chemical laboratory can blow up not only the laboratory but all of the workers who are in it. History shows many cases in which mistakes in politics or economics have also led to explosions that are far more disastrous than can occur in any laboratory. Communism might be referred to as one such explosion - and it has already engulfed nations with a total population of some 800,000,000. You may remember that Pope Pius XII on December 24, 1941, only two and a half weeks after Pearl Harbor, called for a "new order, based on moral principles" which would enable "nations less favored by nature" to have access to resources beyond their borders, resources which, His Holiness declared, were "destined for all." In the same paragraph, His Holiness warned that if nothing were done in the future peace treaty to create such an order, there would remain in the relations between peoples a deep and far reaching root of dissension which would eventually "lead to new conflicts." It was, perhaps, fear of such new conflicts which prompted the authors of the Atlantic Charter to make a similar plea or pledge earlier that year. Unfortunately, little has been done so far as to implement the pleas and pledges of the Holy Father or the Atlantic Charter. That the Pope's warning about "future conflicts" was well-grounded is proven by the many danger spots that exist in our world today. There is no need to cite more than one example - that of Japan: Hoping to solve their naitonal prdblems in a peaceful way, a group of Japanese business men suggested a few 34 SLOVAKIA years ago that Japan buy the whole island of New Guinea and thought $8,000,000,000 would be a fair price. The island has a population of less than 2,000,000 but an American population expert estimated in 1929 that it could support about 125,000,000 Orientals. If the proposition had reached the discussion stage, all of the nations involved could have insisted on conditions that would guarantee their own security but refusal on the part of Australia and England was so instantaneous and blunt, that it never did reach the discussion stage. According to Anton Zischka in his book Japan in der Welt, Portugal was willing to sell her part of Tim.or to Japan several decades ago but was forbidden to do so by England to which Portugal owed a great deal of money. If Japan had been able to buy New Guinea, her people would have new hope for the future and would be kept so busy with development work that radicals and war-mongers would get little or no hearing and Japan would today be a strong, steadying influence for the whole Far East. As it is, most of the foreigners I met in Tokyo feel that if nothing is done soon and in a big way to remedy Japan's economic condition, no moderate Government will be able to remain in power in Tokyo 15 or 20 years from now. These people fear that if nothing is done to give the J apanase people real hope, the country will be forced by economic necessity to go either to the extreme right of more militarism or to the extreme left of Communism. The probability is in favor of Communism and this view is confirmed by a report concerning the Japanese Federation of Student Autonomous Organizations published in the New York Times on July 18, 1957. According to the Times article,, the Federation has 270,000 members out of a total of 680,000 College and University students and its official magazine recently published an article which spoke of the "heavy responsibilities" the members would have in carrying out their "special mission" when the Democratic revolution comes. A leading Australian Catholic who visited me in Tokyo several years ago summed up the situation as follows: If Japan goes Communist, the United States will have to withdraw from Okinawa and that will mean that Australia, SLOVAKIA 35 Indonesia, the Philippines, Burma, Siam and what is left of Korea and Indochina will all be surrendered to Communism. Developments of this sort would certainly bring World War III much closer. If such a war does break out, many will cry out again in a frenzy against "War Criminals." It is logical to ask, however, whether the real "War Criminal" will not be that unhealthy and insane world order which leaves half of humanity hungry in a world of potential plenty. Appeal to the Universities I have referred to two principles which could serve as foundations for a new science of international social justice. One of these principles is that every human being has a real right to a human existence. The other is that the land now going to waste was created and prepared by God for the use of all. I have also referred to the pleas of Pope Pius XII and the Atlantic Charter for a world order which would give hungry nations access to resources beyond their borders. To build up such a science and blueprint this new world order will require the best talent the world has to offer. While this science would provide guidance for statesmen, we must recognize that the statesmen are too busy to undertake this kind of an assignment which requires the quiet study that is possible only for university men and private research workers. The new science will have to be based on natural law but if it is to be of practical value it will have to be integrated with all of the social sciences. For this reason, the cooperation of economists, sociologists and specialists in international law, etc., will be needed as well as that of moralists and specialists in natural law. Objections It might be objected that even the most perfect science of international social justice will be of no use unless we get international laws passed to back up the findings of such a science. This is a real objection but an answer to it is to be found in the relationship between the ideas of law and justice. While laws are enacted to guarantee a regime of justice, it is absolutely impossible even to draft a 36 SLOVAKIA good law until our notions of justice are clear. Within nations where people have been rubbing shoulders for century after century, our notions of what is fair for everybody are fairly clear and it is for this reason that the nations have been a:ble to draft many god laws. In the international sphere, however, practically no progress has been made in the notion of justice and its demands since the days of Francisco de Vitoria 400 years ago and Hugo Grotius 300 years ago. This is one of the main reasons why our international law is ,s till so inadequate and there is no hope of developing a really effective system of international law or of ending our era of virtual international anarchy until our notions of justice between nations are clarified. Another objection which some might raise is that any attempt to introduce real international social justice would simply rob the rich without helping the poor. To this the answer is obvious. The fact that most farmers and workers in the United States today have enough money to buy automobiles has not hurt our automobile industry in the least. If an era of international social justice could raise the living standards of another billion and a half of human beings, their added buying power would open up such markets and inaugurate such a period of general prosperity as the world has never dared to envision even in its fondest dreams. Last Argument in Favor As a final argument in favor of international social justice we might say that there is no real hope of world peace as long as large segments of the human race have every reason to feel that they are not being treated justly. This feeling is the stuff of which wars are made and promoted with the plea of "self defense." World War II cost us 20,000,000 dead and 30,000,000 wounded. Financial costs, including war damages and war costs amounted to $1,340,000,000,000 or about $520 for every man, woman and child in the whole world - a total of $2,600 for every family of five persons. Not included in these items are the tears and heartaches of hundreds of millions of human beings who lost a father, a brother or a son during the war. If we are pushed into an atomic World War III, the cost of World SLOVAKIA 37 War II will look like peanuts. It has been well said that the next war will be fought with atomic power and the one after that with bows and arrows. I remember that when I started to study history some 47 years ago, I congratulated myself on having been born in an age that is civilized and no longer wages war. I was just old enough to register for service when World War I ended, but, during World War II, I had ample time in J:ipanese Concentration Camps to think over the kind of civilization we have today and the result has been a very, very sad disillusionment. Millions of others, soldiers with their wives, their parents and their children have been similarly disillusioned and if one of our Catholic organizations can spearhead a movement in favor of such justice as will prevent wars in the future it will have millions of followers . • • • WHO SAID IT? "The United States passed a law against Communists. This law is giving the gentlemen from the Central Action Committee of the (Czechoslovak) National Front - who now shamelessly appear under the name the Council of Free Czechoslovakia - quite a headache. The new law is made to order for all Socialists, but also for many Czech Populists and Slovak Democrats who helped to destroy the economical structure of Czecho-:Slovakia, to suppress political freedom and who otherwise cleared the road for the complete victory of Communism. Of course, it is altogether possible that the gentlemen will try to dodge the consequences of their past by denying and lying about it. But it is not only the National Socialists who are appearing under a false flag. (Lettrich's) Slovak DemocFats are doing the same thing: without notifying their members or asking them for their assent, they have now changed to "Slovak Agrarians." Of course, income from the Agrarian International is connected with this and the gentlemen, who never before were agriculturists by vocation, have nevertheless become professional Slovak Agrarians." - (NAROD, Czech Bulletin, London, Nov. 1950).  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 International Social Justice Description An account of the resource Rev. William A. Kaschmitter, M.N. Slovakia, Vol. 9, No. 5 (30), June-December 1959 pp. 24-37 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kaschmitter, William A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June-December 1959 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/b53c4395391beb62c9c502a71a3b4099.pdf 02ecce86e7f735a5d9d6ac3243f9e1f5 PDF Text Text 68 SLOVAKIA IN RETROSPECT - SLOVAK ISSUES IN EVERY LI'.lTLE TOWN Alexander Kendrick (In the Chicago Sun, Sept. 14, 1947.) In every little town in Slovakia the Cross of the Church stands high above everything else. In many places there is an industrial plant not far away, with a hammer and sickle or a red star above its gates. There two symbols starkly represent the struggle that is taking place among 3,500,000 Slovaks, from the high Tatras to the Danube lowland. And the conflict has become compounded by the fact that the religious symbol, the Cross, has entered -p olitics also. In most pf the things which make this one third of the Czecho.:Slovak Republic a real economic, political and psychological problem - indeed, the chief problem by all odds of the coalition government - the Catholic Church and the Communist party are on opposing sides. On the No. 1 issue of Slovak autonomy, many church leaders who before the war belonged to the IIlinka party and who during the German occupation fared extremely well in the "independent" Slovak State, continue to be for full separation of 'Slovakia from the rest of the land. The Communists used to favor the "one state, one Czechoslovak nation" idea, but under pressure of the traditional and very real Slovak urge for as much self-rule as possible, they now are willing to place a hyphen in Czecho-Slovakia and have adopted the formula "two nationals in a single state." But they are against federation and, of course, against Slovak independence. On the basic economic issue of nationalization and state planning, which are accomplished facts, the church and its civil arm, the Slovakian Democratic Party, are for less of them while the Communists are for more. On the surface, Slovakia, the Ireland of central Europe, is a pleasant land, much more easy-going that the busy �SLOVAKIA 69 "Czech lands" up north. There is no rationing here as in the rest of Czecho-Slovakia. There is plenty to eat, good ibeer to drink, and fine native wines including a .p assable imitation of French champagne called Chateau Trencin. The Carpathians are filled with rest homes for workers. Everything looks fine. But underneath there are unhealed scars and smoldering fires·. Many people feel that "it was better under the Germans." Hitler, trying to demonstrate a model "independent" state, let the Slovaks pretty much alone. The other side of the picture is equally clear. The Slovak legions which Hitler sent to fight the Soviet Union deserted to the other side and came back to fight the Germans. The Slov;ak uprising in Banska Bystrica and Turciansky Svaty Martin - the third anniversary of which was joyously celebrated here the other day - were the first signs of a new Slovakia being born. Though they were put down with heavy bloodshed and the leaders had to flee to Moscow - I have talked with one of them, who flew all of Slovakia's gold reserve there - they came back with the returning Czecho-Slovakian government, and many of them hold high places in the present Slovakian Council of Trustees, the governing body, and in the trade unions. Most of them are Communists. This explains the phenomenom of the hammer and sickle and the red star over factory plants. They merely denote the fact that the plant union happens to be a Communist union. For more than two years, since the liberation of CzechoSlovakia, the opposing forces in Slovakia have had an armed truce. Now it appears to be coming to an end. Elections and a new constitution are due next year, and the campaign for both has started. Feelings run high. Armed bands are reported roving the lower Slovakian countryside, making attacks on small villages. They are the remnants of the socalled Benderovtsi, formed by a Ukrainian nationalist named Bender for anti-'Soviet action. Slovak Partisans who fought the Germans have demanded that they be rearmed to clean up the Benderovtsi, and this has aroused fears of Democratic party members that some other sort of "plot" may be afoot. �60 SLOVAKIA Members of Husak's entourage made no bones about the part they thought the Catholic church was playing in the present Slovakian turmoil. They said that by adopting an outright anti-Commun ist platform the Catholic leaders were able to attract a great many Slovak Protestants who also have no love for Communism or Russia, and were using the supposedly non-sectarian Democratic party as their instrument. In addition to anti-Commun ist and anti-Soviet feeling, anti-Czech sentiments are widespread. The recent war has heightened these feelings, for as an "independent" State Slovakia speeded up her economy and attained a considerable prosperity. Now Slovaks say they were held back by the Czechs from showing what they could do. But not all the sentiment here is anti-Commun ist, anti-.Soviet and anti-Czech. As far as the Russians are concerned, there are too many Russian graves and markers along every footpath in the Carpathians to let Slovaks forget what the Red Army did there. Agriculture and transport are to be modernized. Moreover, although the Slovaks are eating well this year, the harvest is poor because of the drqught. The Soviet grain which Czecho-Slovakia is now receiving under the new Cz.echSoviet trade agreement will go largely to Slovakia. Thus the economics of the full stomach, a language always understood in Slovakia, may help to bring about a solution of a politically terider and potentially dangerous situation. But even such a solution will not resolve the inner conflict which is outwardly represented here by the Cross on one side and the hammer and sickle on the other. That conflict will go on as long as there is a Czecho-Slovak Republic. • • • WHO SAID IT? " It is not true that an anti-Communist front exists in our coun, try (Slovakia) . . . . And nobody Is thinking of organizing one . ... such is the situation in our country today. What shall it be tomorrow? We do not think the conditions exist tor forming an anti-Communist front in our country. We do not feel the necessity for it and we do not ever( \1esire it. But just the opposite." - (CAS, offi ci al organ of Lettrich's D'E!mocratlc "Party, January 11, 19-t7.) � 68 SLOVAKIA IN RETROSPECT - SLOVAK ISSUES IN EVERY LI'.lTLE TOWN Alexander Kendrick (In the Chicago Sun, Sept. 14, 1947.) In every little town in Slovakia the Cross of the Church stands high above everything else. In many places there is an industrial plant not far away, with a hammer and sickle or a red star above its gates. There two symbols starkly represent the struggle that is taking place among 3,500,000 Slovaks, from the high Tatras to the Danube lowland. And the conflict has become compounded by the fact that the religious symbol, the Cross, has entered -p olitics also. In most pf the things which make this one third of the Czecho.:Slovak Republic a real economic, political and psychological problem - indeed, the chief problem by all odds of the coalition government - the Catholic Church and the Communist party are on opposing sides. On the No. 1 issue of Slovak autonomy, many church leaders who before the war belonged to the IIlinka party and who during the German occupation fared extremely well in the "independent" Slovak State, continue to be for full separation of 'Slovakia from the rest of the land. The Communists used to favor the "one state, one Czechoslovak nation" idea, but under pressure of the traditional and very real Slovak urge for as much self-rule as possible, they now are willing to place a hyphen in Czecho-Slovakia and have adopted the formula "two nationals in a single state." But they are against federation and, of course, against Slovak independence. On the basic economic issue of nationalization and state planning, which are accomplished facts, the church and its civil arm, the Slovakian Democratic Party, are for less of them while the Communists are for more. On the surface, Slovakia, the Ireland of central Europe, is a pleasant land, much more easy-going that the busy �SLOVAKIA 69 "Czech lands" up north. There is no rationing here as in the rest of Czecho-Slovakia. There is plenty to eat, good ibeer to drink, and fine native wines including a .p assable imitation of French champagne called Chateau Trencin. The Carpathians are filled with rest homes for workers. Everything looks fine. But underneath there are unhealed scars and smoldering fires·. Many people feel that "it was better under the Germans." Hitler, trying to demonstrate a model "independent" state, let the Slovaks pretty much alone. The other side of the picture is equally clear. The Slovak legions which Hitler sent to fight the Soviet Union deserted to the other side and came back to fight the Germans. The Slov;ak uprising in Banska Bystrica and Turciansky Svaty Martin - the third anniversary of which was joyously celebrated here the other day - were the first signs of a new Slovakia being born. Though they were put down with heavy bloodshed and the leaders had to flee to Moscow - I have talked with one of them, who flew all of Slovakia's gold reserve there - they came back with the returning Czecho-Slovakian government, and many of them hold high places in the present Slovakian Council of Trustees, the governing body, and in the trade unions. Most of them are Communists. This explains the phenomenom of the hammer and sickle and the red star over factory plants. They merely denote the fact that the plant union happens to be a Communist union. For more than two years, since the liberation of CzechoSlovakia, the opposing forces in Slovakia have had an armed truce. Now it appears to be coming to an end. Elections and a new constitution are due next year, and the campaign for both has started. Feelings run high. Armed bands are reported roving the lower Slovakian countryside, making attacks on small villages. They are the remnants of the socalled Benderovtsi, formed by a Ukrainian nationalist named Bender for anti-'Soviet action. Slovak Partisans who fought the Germans have demanded that they be rearmed to clean up the Benderovtsi, and this has aroused fears of Democratic party members that some other sort of "plot" may be afoot. �60 SLOVAKIA Members of Husak's entourage made no bones about the part they thought the Catholic church was playing in the present Slovakian turmoil. They said that by adopting an outright anti-Commun ist platform the Catholic leaders were able to attract a great many Slovak Protestants who also have no love for Communism or Russia, and were using the supposedly non-sectarian Democratic party as their instrument. In addition to anti-Commun ist and anti-Soviet feeling, anti-Czech sentiments are widespread. The recent war has heightened these feelings, for as an "independent" State Slovakia speeded up her economy and attained a considerable prosperity. Now Slovaks say they were held back by the Czechs from showing what they could do. But not all the sentiment here is anti-Commun ist, anti-.Soviet and anti-Czech. As far as the Russians are concerned, there are too many Russian graves and markers along every footpath in the Carpathians to let Slovaks forget what the Red Army did there. Agriculture and transport are to be modernized. Moreover, although the Slovaks are eating well this year, the harvest is poor because of the drqught. The Soviet grain which Czecho-Slovakia is now receiving under the new Cz.echSoviet trade agreement will go largely to Slovakia. Thus the economics of the full stomach, a language always understood in Slovakia, may help to bring about a solution of a politically terider and potentially dangerous situation. But even such a solution will not resolve the inner conflict which is outwardly represented here by the Cross on one side and the hammer and sickle on the other. That conflict will go on as long as there is a Czecho-Slovak Republic. • • • WHO SAID IT? " It is not true that an anti-Communist front exists in our coun, try (Slovakia) . . . . And nobody Is thinking of organizing one . ... such is the situation in our country today. What shall it be tomorrow? We do not think the conditions exist tor forming an anti-Communist front in our country. We do not feel the necessity for it and we do not ever( \1esire it. But just the opposite." - (CAS, offi ci al organ of Lettrich's D'E!mocratlc "Party, January 11, 19-t7.) � 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. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data 58 SLOVAKIA IN RETROSPECT - SLOVAK ISSUES IN EVERY LI'.lTLE TOWN Alexander Kendrick (In the Chicago Sun, Sept. 14, 1947.) In every little town in Slovakia the Cross of the Church stands high above everything else. In many places there is an industrial plant not far away, with a hammer and sickle or a red star above its gates. There two symbols starkly represent the struggle that is taking place among 3,500,000 Slovaks, from the high Tatras to the Danube lowland. And the conflict has become compounded by the fact that the religious symbol, the Cross, has entered -p olitics also. In most pf the things which make this one third of the Czecho.:Slovak Republic a real economic, political and psychological problem - indeed, the chief problem by all odds of the coalition government - the Catholic Church and the Communist party are on opposing sides. On the No. 1 issue of Slovak autonomy, many church leaders who before the war belonged to the IIlinka party and who during the German occupation fared extremely well in the "independent" Slovak State, continue to be for full separation of 'Slovakia from the rest of the land. The Communists used to favor the "one state, one Czechoslovak nation" idea, but under pressure of the traditional and very real Slovak urge for as much self-rule as possible, they now are willing to place a hyphen in Czecho-Slovakia and have adopted the formula "two nationals in a single state." But they are against federation and, of course, against Slovak independence. On the basic economic issue of nationalization and state planning, which are accomplished facts, the church and its civil arm, the Slovakian Democratic Party, are for less of them while the Communists are for more. On the surface, Slovakia, the Ireland of central Europe, is a pleasant land, much more easy-going that the busy SLOVAKIA 69 "Czech lands" up north. There is no rationing here as in the rest of Czecho-Slovakia. There is plenty to eat, good ibeer to drink, and fine native wines including a .p assable imitation of French champagne called Chateau Trencin. The Carpathians are filled with rest homes for workers. Everything looks fine. But underneath there are unhealed scars and smoldering fires·. Many people feel that "it was better under the Germans." Hitler, trying to demonstrate a model "independent" state, let the Slovaks pretty much alone. The other side of the picture is equally clear. The Slovak legions which Hitler sent to fight the Soviet Union deserted to the other side and came back to fight the Germans. The Slov;ak uprising in Banska Bystrica and Turciansky Svaty Martin - the third anniversary of which was joyously celebrated here the other day - were the first signs of a new Slovakia being born. Though they were put down with heavy bloodshed and the leaders had to flee to Moscow - I have talked with one of them, who flew all of Slovakia's gold reserve there - they came back with the returning Czecho-Slovakian government, and many of them hold high places in the present Slovakian Council of Trustees, the governing body, and in the trade unions. Most of them are Communists. This explains the phenomenom of the hammer and sickle and the red star over factory plants. They merely denote the fact that the plant union happens to be a Communist union. For more than two years, since the liberation of CzechoSlovakia, the opposing forces in Slovakia have had an armed truce. Now it appears to be coming to an end. Elections and a new constitution are due next year, and the campaign for both has started. Feelings run high. Armed bands are reported roving the lower Slovakian countryside, making attacks on small villages. They are the remnants of the socalled Benderovtsi, formed by a Ukrainian nationalist named Bender for anti-'Soviet action. Slovak Partisans who fought the Germans have demanded that they be rearmed to clean up the Benderovtsi, and this has aroused fears of Democratic party members that some other sort of "plot" may be afoot. 60 SLOVAKIA Members of Husak's entourage made no bones about the part they thought the Catholic church was playing in the present Slovakian turmoil. They said that by adopting an outright anti-Commun ist platform the Catholic leaders were able to attract a great many Slovak Protestants who also have no love for Communism or Russia, and were using the supposedly non-sectarian Democratic party as their instrument. In addition to anti-Commun ist and anti-Soviet feeling, anti-Czech sentiments are widespread. The recent war has heightened these feelings, for as an "independent" State Slovakia speeded up her economy and attained a considerable prosperity. Now Slovaks say they were held back by the Czechs from showing what they could do. But not all the sentiment here is anti-Commun ist, anti-.Soviet and anti-Czech. As far as the Russians are concerned, there are too many Russian graves and markers along every footpath in the Carpathians to let Slovaks forget what the Red Army did there. Agriculture and transport are to be modernized. Moreover, although the Slovaks are eating well this year, the harvest is poor because of the drqught. The Soviet grain which Czecho-Slovakia is now receiving under the new Cz.echSoviet trade agreement will go largely to Slovakia. Thus the economics of the full stomach, a language always understood in Slovakia, may help to bring about a solution of a politically terider and potentially dangerous situation. But even such a solution will not resolve the inner conflict which is outwardly represented here by the Cross on one side and the hammer and sickle on the other. That conflict will go on as long as there is a Czecho-Slovak Republic. • • • WHO SAID IT? " It is not true that an anti-Communist front exists in our coun, try (Slovakia) . . . . And nobody Is thinking of organizing one . ... such is the situation in our country today. What shall it be tomorrow? We do not think the conditions exist tor forming an anti-Communist front in our country. We do not feel the necessity for it and we do not ever( \1esire it. But just the opposite." - (CAS, offi ci al organ of Lettrich's D'E!mocratlc "Party, January 11, 19-t7.)  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 Slovak Issues in Every Little Town Description An account of the resource Alexander Kendrick Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 1 (6), April 1953 pp. 58-60 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kendrick, Alexander Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 1953 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c3f59e7ccb975d9ac93cafcf6e82b3e2.pdf 73303a198b6cff05e4d97911f95a6382 PDF Text Text 22 SLOVAKIA Once the Reds succeeded in liquidating the "unteachables," those who refused to follow the Party line, the remaining mmisters and priests had three paths to choose f.rom: (1) They could become ideological and practical collaborators with Communism, the road traveled by Jan Plojhar, a Catholic priest who, it is said, never wanted to be a priest in the first place, or Josef Hromadka, a Lutheran minister and Vice-President of the World Council of Reformed Churches (2). Like Archbishop Beran, having learned that compromise cannot work, this growp have become members of a resistance movement, (3) are those who have fallen in line with tfhe masses and when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Down through history persecutions have led to a deepening of religious life. In Czecho-Slovakia the government has had little success with its efforts to promote a substitute for religious activity in the form of youth initiation ceremonies, name-giving and the like. Perhaps an old Czech adage is again proving to be right: "When the spirit is drunk, God is forgotten. Only when trouble comes do we really learn to know Him." • • • NEW STRICTURES ON BENES Karl Kem Even outside Sudeten German circles Edward Benes' political genius is gradually being recognized for tfhe mere legend that it was. Czech hisltorians, too, are beginning to contribute to the truth. Josef Korbel's report "The Communist Subversion of Czechoslovakia 1938-1945" is additional proof to that effect. The book has received much publicity. MaJlmo's leading Swedish newspa,per Arbetet has published a lengthy review of it. 'l'lhe Neue Zurcher Zeitung takes ponderous stock of some of the mistakes made by Benes, "that shrewd diplomat," at a time when judicious people clearly foresaw "where friendship with Moscow would lead him and his country." The review in Arbetet was written by the young Fm.n Jorn Donner. The author who spent some weeks in Prague �SLOVAKIA 23 in spring 1959, where he ,rubbed elbows with the popufaition, was able to draw on personal observations. In evaluating the latest phase of Czech history, however, he does not rely solely on Czech sources. Being familiar, too, with Wenzel Jaksch's "Europe's Road to Potsdam," Donner knows that in 1948 the Communists merely gave the finishing touch to the Czech tragedy. It was initiated by the utterly shortsighted policy of the "shrewd diplomat" and is rooted in the events of 1918, namely, tJhe Peace Treaty of Saint Germain. This self-evident fact has long been recognized by observers genuinely conversant with Central European history. However, when historians living on the outskirts of the continent presently penetrate to the heart of the matter, such elucidation must be considered well-nigh sensational, particularly in lig'ht of Benes' hitherto spotless reputation in Scandinavia. Benes has been regarded - and still is throug1hout Norway and Denmark - as the upright standard-'bearer of European democracy until he was tricked by the contempti:ble Sudeten Germans and then by the vicious Communists. Though his policy is not usually examined, his fate is still deplored. Anyone who wants objectively to analyze recent Czech or Slovak history must study Jaksch's book. Unfortunately, when it comes to deflating the Benes legend, many historians silently circumvent certain significant events in Czech history. Jorn Donner is no exception in that respect. Yet tJhe fact is, that Czecho..:Slovakia was beyond salvage in 1948. The middle class and social democratic parties still in existence at that time were simply not equal to the task. Even had they possessed greater capa:bility, they could not have stemmed the tide. True, the mistakes made in 1948 were of a tactical nature. But no tactics, however clever, could have undone the basic failure of Benes in the wake of his trip to Moscow in May 1943 and even earlier. It is well-known that the trip resulted in the CzechSoviet alliance and in Moscow's approval to expropriate and drive out the 3,500,000 Sudeten German citizens of CzechoSlovakia. In 1919 at the Peace Conference of Saint Germain these citizens had been "allocated" to the CSR against their �24 SLOVAKIA wish; the right of self-determination , demanded by Benes and Masaryk for their own people, had rashly been refused the Sudeten Germans. Notwithstanding superficial assertions to the contrary, the truth is that during no phase of soi-disant Czecho-Slovak history did the majority of the Sudeten Germans aspire to "return home to the Reich"; they wanted self-administration , that natural right, held inalienable today even by the most primitive tribes in Africa or Asia, ( except for the Communist-domin ated areas, where such right is definitely tabu). However, the decisive conclusion is that Benes' politics quite logically had to terminate in Moscow's claws. Quite logically, for the 1918 establishment of the first Czech republic and its subsequent collapse (lies and deception being no stable foundation) were sponsored by, and were the inevitable outcome of that same Macchiavellism which later became Benes' ultimate wisdom. His pact with the Beelzebub of Moscow was therefore only a step consistent with his design for power to square accounts with t!he Devil of Sudeten Germandom "once and for all." The expulsion of 3,500,000 people from their ancient homeland, the brutal robbery perpetrated on all these unfortunates, was the final collapse of what had been left of Czech democracy. A state based upon deceit and intrigue, above all, on a denial to :three and one-half million of its citizens of the rig,ht of self-determination and se1f-administration, could not possibly be saved by means of robbery, without undermining the foundation of Czech liberty itself. • • • WHO SAID IT? "At this fatef.ul time, when the Reel. Army and the armies O'f the United States and other United Nations are figh:ting on German soiil, we can look foT1Ward with even greater confidence to the early defeat of the Nruzi aggressors and the atitruinment of our common go.al - a dUTa.ble a:nd just peace and a co:ntinuaruce of close coliaiboration between aJl the United Nations.'' - F. D. Roosevelt's oaJblegram, Noiv. 6, 1944, to the Soviet President on the occasion of the 27•th ainntversary of the foU1J1d!ing of the USSR. � 22 SLOVAKIA Once the Reds succeeded in liquidating the "unteachables," those who refused to follow the Party line, the remaining mmisters and priests had three paths to choose f.rom: (1) They could become ideological and practical collaborators with Communism, the road traveled by Jan Plojhar, a Catholic priest who, it is said, never wanted to be a priest in the first place, or Josef Hromadka, a Lutheran minister and Vice-President of the World Council of Reformed Churches (2). Like Archbishop Beran, having learned that compromise cannot work, this growp have become members of a resistance movement, (3) are those who have fallen in line with tfhe masses and when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Down through history persecutions have led to a deepening of religious life. In Czecho-Slovakia the government has had little success with its efforts to promote a substitute for religious activity in the form of youth initiation ceremonies, name-giving and the like. Perhaps an old Czech adage is again proving to be right: "When the spirit is drunk, God is forgotten. Only when trouble comes do we really learn to know Him." • • • NEW STRICTURES ON BENES Karl Kem Even outside Sudeten German circles Edward Benes' political genius is gradually being recognized for tfhe mere legend that it was. Czech hisltorians, too, are beginning to contribute to the truth. Josef Korbel's report "The Communist Subversion of Czechoslovakia 1938-1945" is additional proof to that effect. The book has received much publicity. MaJlmo's leading Swedish newspa,per Arbetet has published a lengthy review of it. 'l'lhe Neue Zurcher Zeitung takes ponderous stock of some of the mistakes made by Benes, "that shrewd diplomat," at a time when judicious people clearly foresaw "where friendship with Moscow would lead him and his country." The review in Arbetet was written by the young Fm.n Jorn Donner. The author who spent some weeks in Prague �SLOVAKIA 23 in spring 1959, where he ,rubbed elbows with the popufaition, was able to draw on personal observations. In evaluating the latest phase of Czech history, however, he does not rely solely on Czech sources. Being familiar, too, with Wenzel Jaksch's "Europe's Road to Potsdam," Donner knows that in 1948 the Communists merely gave the finishing touch to the Czech tragedy. It was initiated by the utterly shortsighted policy of the "shrewd diplomat" and is rooted in the events of 1918, namely, tJhe Peace Treaty of Saint Germain. This self-evident fact has long been recognized by observers genuinely conversant with Central European history. However, when historians living on the outskirts of the continent presently penetrate to the heart of the matter, such elucidation must be considered well-nigh sensational, particularly in lig'ht of Benes' hitherto spotless reputation in Scandinavia. Benes has been regarded - and still is throug1hout Norway and Denmark - as the upright standard-'bearer of European democracy until he was tricked by the contempti:ble Sudeten Germans and then by the vicious Communists. Though his policy is not usually examined, his fate is still deplored. Anyone who wants objectively to analyze recent Czech or Slovak history must study Jaksch's book. Unfortunately, when it comes to deflating the Benes legend, many historians silently circumvent certain significant events in Czech history. Jorn Donner is no exception in that respect. Yet tJhe fact is, that Czecho..:Slovakia was beyond salvage in 1948. The middle class and social democratic parties still in existence at that time were simply not equal to the task. Even had they possessed greater capa:bility, they could not have stemmed the tide. True, the mistakes made in 1948 were of a tactical nature. But no tactics, however clever, could have undone the basic failure of Benes in the wake of his trip to Moscow in May 1943 and even earlier. It is well-known that the trip resulted in the CzechSoviet alliance and in Moscow's approval to expropriate and drive out the 3,500,000 Sudeten German citizens of CzechoSlovakia. In 1919 at the Peace Conference of Saint Germain these citizens had been "allocated" to the CSR against their �24 SLOVAKIA wish; the right of self-determination , demanded by Benes and Masaryk for their own people, had rashly been refused the Sudeten Germans. Notwithstanding superficial assertions to the contrary, the truth is that during no phase of soi-disant Czecho-Slovak history did the majority of the Sudeten Germans aspire to "return home to the Reich"; they wanted self-administration , that natural right, held inalienable today even by the most primitive tribes in Africa or Asia, ( except for the Communist-domin ated areas, where such right is definitely tabu). However, the decisive conclusion is that Benes' politics quite logically had to terminate in Moscow's claws. Quite logically, for the 1918 establishment of the first Czech republic and its subsequent collapse (lies and deception being no stable foundation) were sponsored by, and were the inevitable outcome of that same Macchiavellism which later became Benes' ultimate wisdom. His pact with the Beelzebub of Moscow was therefore only a step consistent with his design for power to square accounts with t!he Devil of Sudeten Germandom "once and for all." The expulsion of 3,500,000 people from their ancient homeland, the brutal robbery perpetrated on all these unfortunates, was the final collapse of what had been left of Czech democracy. A state based upon deceit and intrigue, above all, on a denial to :three and one-half million of its citizens of the rig,ht of self-determination and se1f-administration, could not possibly be saved by means of robbery, without undermining the foundation of Czech liberty itself. • • • WHO SAID IT? "At this fatef.ul time, when the Reel. Army and the armies O'f the United States and other United Nations are figh:ting on German soiil, we can look foT1Ward with even greater confidence to the early defeat of the Nruzi aggressors and the atitruinment of our common go.al - a dUTa.ble a:nd just peace and a co:ntinuaruce of close coliaiboration between aJl the United Nations.'' - F. D. Roosevelt's oaJblegram, Noiv. 6, 1944, to the Soviet President on the occasion of the 27•th ainntversary of the foU1J1d!ing of the USSR. � 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 1960, Vol. 10 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 6 [sic] (No. 31), March-June 1960.</li> <li>Issue 7 [sic] (No. 32), September-December 1960.</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 1960 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 22 SLOVAKIA Once the Reds succeeded in liquidating the "unteachables," those who refused to follow the Party line, the remaining mmisters and priests had three paths to choose f.rom: (1) They could become ideological and practical collaborators with Communism, the road traveled by Jan Plojhar, a Catholic priest who, it is said, never wanted to be a priest in the first place, or Josef Hromadka, a Lutheran minister and Vice-President of the World Council of Reformed Churches (2). Like Archbishop Beran, having learned that compromise cannot work, this growp have become members of a resistance movement, (3) are those who have fallen in line with tfhe masses and when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Down through history persecutions have led to a deepening of religious life. In Czecho-Slovakia the government has had little success with its efforts to promote a substitute for religious activity in the form of youth initiation ceremonies, name-giving and the like. Perhaps an old Czech adage is again proving to be right: "When the spirit is drunk, God is forgotten. Only when trouble comes do we really learn to know Him." • • • NEW STRICTURES ON BENES Karl Kem Even outside Sudeten German circles Edward Benes' political genius is gradually being recognized for tfhe mere legend that it was. Czech hisltorians, too, are beginning to contribute to the truth. Josef Korbel's report "The Communist Subversion of Czechoslovakia 1938-1945" is additional proof to that effect. The book has received much publicity. MaJlmo's leading Swedish newspa,per Arbetet has published a lengthy review of it. 'l'lhe Neue Zurcher Zeitung takes ponderous stock of some of the mistakes made by Benes, "that shrewd diplomat," at a time when judicious people clearly foresaw "where friendship with Moscow would lead him and his country." The review in Arbetet was written by the young Fm.n Jorn Donner. The author who spent some weeks in Prague SLOVAKIA 23 in spring 1959, where he ,rubbed elbows with the popufaition, was able to draw on personal observations. In evaluating the latest phase of Czech history, however, he does not rely solely on Czech sources. Being familiar, too, with Wenzel Jaksch's "Europe's Road to Potsdam," Donner knows that in 1948 the Communists merely gave the finishing touch to the Czech tragedy. It was initiated by the utterly shortsighted policy of the "shrewd diplomat" and is rooted in the events of 1918, namely, tJhe Peace Treaty of Saint Germain. This self-evident fact has long been recognized by observers genuinely conversant with Central European history. However, when historians living on the outskirts of the continent presently penetrate to the heart of the matter, such elucidation must be considered well-nigh sensational, particularly in lig'ht of Benes' hitherto spotless reputation in Scandinavia. Benes has been regarded - and still is throug1hout Norway and Denmark - as the upright standard-'bearer of European democracy until he was tricked by the contempti:ble Sudeten Germans and then by the vicious Communists. Though his policy is not usually examined, his fate is still deplored. Anyone who wants objectively to analyze recent Czech or Slovak history must study Jaksch's book. Unfortunately, when it comes to deflating the Benes legend, many historians silently circumvent certain significant events in Czech history. Jorn Donner is no exception in that respect. Yet tJhe fact is, that Czecho..:Slovakia was beyond salvage in 1948. The middle class and social democratic parties still in existence at that time were simply not equal to the task. Even had they possessed greater capa:bility, they could not have stemmed the tide. True, the mistakes made in 1948 were of a tactical nature. But no tactics, however clever, could have undone the basic failure of Benes in the wake of his trip to Moscow in May 1943 and even earlier. It is well-known that the trip resulted in the CzechSoviet alliance and in Moscow's approval to expropriate and drive out the 3,500,000 Sudeten German citizens of CzechoSlovakia. In 1919 at the Peace Conference of Saint Germain these citizens had been "allocated" to the CSR against their 24 SLOVAKIA wish; the right of self-determination , demanded by Benes and Masaryk for their own people, had rashly been refused the Sudeten Germans. Notwithstanding superficial assertions to the contrary, the truth is that during no phase of soi-disant Czecho-Slovak history did the majority of the Sudeten Germans aspire to "return home to the Reich"; they wanted self-administration , that natural right, held inalienable today even by the most primitive tribes in Africa or Asia, ( except for the Communist-domin ated areas, where such right is definitely tabu). However, the decisive conclusion is that Benes' politics quite logically had to terminate in Moscow's claws. Quite logically, for the 1918 establishment of the first Czech republic and its subsequent collapse (lies and deception being no stable foundation) were sponsored by, and were the inevitable outcome of that same Macchiavellism which later became Benes' ultimate wisdom. His pact with the Beelzebub of Moscow was therefore only a step consistent with his design for power to square accounts with t!he Devil of Sudeten Germandom "once and for all." The expulsion of 3,500,000 people from their ancient homeland, the brutal robbery perpetrated on all these unfortunates, was the final collapse of what had been left of Czech democracy. A state based upon deceit and intrigue, above all, on a denial to :three and one-half million of its citizens of the rig,ht of self-determination and se1f-administration, could not possibly be saved by means of robbery, without undermining the foundation of Czech liberty itself. • • • WHO SAID IT? "At this fatef.ul time, when the Reel. Army and the armies O'f the United States and other United Nations are figh:ting on German soiil, we can look foT1Ward with even greater confidence to the early defeat of the Nruzi aggressors and the atitruinment of our common go.al - a dUTa.ble a:nd just peace and a co:ntinuaruce of close coliaiboration between aJl the United Nations.'' - F. D. Roosevelt's oaJblegram, Noiv. 6, 1944, to the Soviet President on the occasion of the 27•th ainntversary of the foU1J1d!ing of the USSR.  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 New Strictures on Beneš Description An account of the resource Karl Kern Slovakia, Vol. 10, No. 7 (32), September-December 1960 pp. 22-24 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kern, Karl Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1960 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6db964469e40c6a82c1dc4ccd8616824.pdf 60da0c84711338aeaf96dbd2056f4382 PDF Text Text 6Z SLOVAKIA INDEPENDENT SLOVAKJA SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DFSTBOYED BLUNDERING POLICIES RESPONSIBLE FOR TERRIBLE PLIGHT OF SLOVAKS AND OTHER IRON CURTAIN COUNTRIES.... TRUE REPRESENTATIVES OF SLOVAK NATION SHOULD BE HEARD AND RECOGNIZED. (Speech of the Hon. Charles J. Kersten, Delivered at the Conference of Americans of Slovak descent sponsored by the Slovak League of Amerlca, Mal 23, 1952, Hotel Washington, Washington, D. C.) The Slovak League of America, a civte and cultural organlzatlon rounded In 1907 by Americans of Slovak descent, has made some fine contributlons to the Amerlcan way of llfe. And so have the Slovak organlzatlons afflllated with it. I am perfectly satisfied that the people in the League and the organizations affiliated with it are God· fearlng people, loyal citizens of the United States of Amerlca, who are ready and wllling to make any sacrlflce for the welfare and securlty ot our Country. I appreciate the fact that Americans or Slovak de· scent are interested in the fate of the nation from wbich they are de· s.cended, because lt is only natural that they should be. The terrible plight of the Slovak nation today - just as that or other nations of Centra! and Eastern Europe who had b een "Uber· ated" in 1945 - - is In a Jarge measure due to the blunderlng, undemocratic policies adopted and prosecuted and the secret agreements conC'luded by men of so-called democratlc governments. Our Government. or more correctly the present Admlnistratlon In Washington, cannot escape its measure of responsibillty for the inhumanlties suffered by the natlons behlnd the Iron Curtaln And slnce the present Admlnlstration in Washington bas lnltlated a campaign of truth to offset the vlcious campaign of lies of the Soviet Union, let us be- honest wltb ourselves and the rest of lhe world and admlt that it was morally wrong and contrary to every democratlc and Chrlstian pr!nc!ple to surrender the Slovaks and the other peoples of Centra! and Eastern E urope to the men of the Kremlln. Representatlves of thf' Slovak League ot Ameriťa made many trips to Washington to vlslt p_eople in the present Adminlstration· and teli them the truth about the Slovak nation. about the righteous struggle or the Slovak people for freedom and lndependence. .EMdently lt avalled them nothlng. Desplte the claim or our State Department that the Unltec\ States bas never opposed the aspiratlons of any p eople In Europe to determlne by thelr own free choice t he state or form or political organlzatlon under whlcb tbey wlsbed to live. tbe fact ls that tbe presi>nt Adminlstratlon never recognlzec\ or respected the rlght of self-<leterm!natlon fn the case of tbe Slovak peoole. If lt dld, tbf' inc\ependent Republic of Slovakia. establlsbed by tbe Slovak people tbrongh thf'ir duly elerte<l representatlves on Mar<'h 14. 1939, woulrl not bave bf'en wantonly destroyec\ in 1945 with tbe belp of our Administratlon! The Slovak Republiť was recognized by 27 variou~ government~. inclnding t he governments or Oreat Rritain Rnc\ the Soviet Union. Why wRs lt not recognized by the Government or thf' tlnitec\ Stalf's �SLOVAKIA 63 oť America? Il was not recognized, because F. D. Roosevelt and hLs Administratlon believed Dr. Edward Benes, the leader of the Czech 1\ational Soclalists and reslgned presldent o-f Czecho•Slovakía, who was violently opposed to Slovak treeJom and lndependence. And the present Administratlon stlll tavors the followers of Benes, many of wbom were members of Gottwalďs regime and, therefore, collabo• rated with the Reds in the Prague Government. Birds of a featber flock togetber! No matter what the circumstances uncler wblcb the Slovaks galned their independence, tbe Republic of Slovakia never s hould have been destroyed agalnst the will of the Slovak people. Tbe rigbt of political asylum has always been regarded as soma. lbing sacred by the people of the United States. Why was this rlght violated by our Administration in the case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, pre• s ldent of the Slovak Republic? Did our State Department do the human t hlng, did lt act in accordance wlth Christian and democratlc prln• ciples when lt ordered our Army to surrender Tiso to hls political e nemies - and certaln death? Tbe S lovak L eague of America, repres enting the overwhelmlng majority of organlzed Amerlcans of Slovak d escelllt, protested strongly against the order, but this again availed lt nothing. Then it requested tbe present occupant of the Whlte House to protes t against the banging of Tiso, but even this decent thlng he refused to do. Slnce the calamity of 1945, the present Adminlstratlon has eon• s istently ignored the just demands of Americans of Slovak descent to grant a hearing to Slovak patrjots, the true representatlves of the Hlovak natlon. But it did glve ear and ald to tbe Slovak renegades and others from Czecho-:Slovakla wbo a.lways were and stm are op· posed to Slovak freedom and independence. You can tind them in the VOICE OF AMERICA and other government agencles; and these Slovak renegades and enemles of Slovak freedom and independence, mind you. are being paid witb your money, wltb the money of Ameri• can taxpayers. It 1s hlgh tlme that people In government and the general public of the United States reallze at long last something that the Czechs and Slovaks tbemselves have known for centuries, that 1s, that the Czec hs never were. are not. and do not want to be Slovaks - and the Slovaks never were, are not, and do not want to be Czechs. Thls bas been clearly demons trated by the two natlons especlally durlng the past 34 years . that 1s slnce the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia. Why, tben, s hould t he present Adminlstratlon. or any administratlon for that matter, inslst that the Slovak n a tlon and the terrltory it has inhabited for the past 1500 years must contlnue to be explolted by another nation? Such a pollcy certainly !s not \Jl acco1d w!tb our beliefs and !s absolutely oppos ed and contrary to all Chrlstian and democ- ratic princlples. In short lt ls immoral and crlmlnal. You, my fellow•clt!zens, and your organlzatlons have been sl!ghted and !nsulted for many years by people In Government who are sup• posed to represent you. Your people In Slovakia In all their h!story have never suffered more than they have slnce thelr "llberatlon" by Benes and the Red armles In 1945. or course, it never should have happened, just as it should not have happened to the Poles, the Pkralnlans, Llthuanlans, Estonlans. Latvlans. and many others. But �64 SLOVAKlA the tact is that it did. All because ot tbe blundering polic!es ot govern ments, inctudlng our own. The Slovaks have ever opposed Commun!sm: and tbey strongly reslst lt today. Slovakia should not have been wantonly destroyed. because it could have served us in good stead today on the slde or the democratic world. It i.s in tbe interest or Amerlca tba1 all natlon!< or the earth, !nclnding the Slovak nation, bave the rigbt to setrcletermination and, it tbey so deslre, to he (ree and independent lt ls io tbe interests or justice and peace that even the Slovak natlon be rree to cboose the form of government under whlcb it shall live, so t hat tbe Slovaks, too, might enjoy t he blesslngs o! a government or tbeir own people, by their own people, and for their own people. My dear people, durlng the past two decades tbe people In Ameriran Government - and I mean speci!!cally our admlnlstratlons have wandered rar trom the straight and narrow path of rlghteousness. the road marked out by our ConstitutiÔn and the Ten Corumandments. You can help rlght the s ituation in November. For tbe sake or America and tor the sake or the nation you are descended r•·om, see to it tbat you do! • • • WHO SAI D IT? \ ' " T he -days of Soviet Ruuia's exc:lusion from Europe's affairs are w e r and, let us hope, will never return. It has not been an ea.sy task to bring tbree great powers into collaboration and to the point o! presentlng a common war front against the common German enemy. ílut In London, Washington, and Moscow. there are leaders who are hOld in enterprise, broad in thelr range of perceptlon, supported ny powerful opinion, and eager to face every change that ma.y help ,,s to banlsh the specter of war from our contlne nt. .. . We are In a :·..rtain .sense, a link between Europe and the East. We can never be ,nly western or only eastern. Nothing now will prevent the Soviet llnlon !rom playlng its part as a great oower In Europe'c. _atfa.irs. Aut this c:ertainly does mean that the Soviet t..,.,lon intends .o áom in-• ~te Europe. lt was not for such a purpose that Marahal Stalln met i>resident Rooaevelt and Churc:hill in Tehe ral' ' - (Edward Bene§, London, 2-29-44 ). • "We believe that freedom and t h e indepe,.,Je.-c. • of the Czechoslovak Republic: ar e guaranteed by the alllance w,t• t'le great U n ion of Soviet Socialist Rep ,blics and the rest of the Slovan ie natlona who, flnally, found themselves and established an a!lsoclatlon ot Slovanlc blood. This is our unalterable belier. enrooterl in ouŕ mlnd!I an d hearts; it is not t he re11ult of a temporary world cons tellatlon, but tbe result of the historic mission of the Slovanic natlons. Just as our loyalty to the Republic 1s not to be abandoned in good or bar! tima11. jusť so rto we comprehenrl also onr loyalty to our 11:reat ally. a.nd varlous idi>ologies cannot itland in the way ot that loyalty." - (Ing. ·K. Fllo, l)Pputy of Lettrlcb's Demn,..ratic Party, in the P rágue Paŕ­ ·liamen1. 'H'ťo rrling to ČAS of Deci>mber 16,. 19-47.) � 6Z SLOVAKIA INDEPENDENT SLOVAKJA SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DFSTBOYED BLUNDERING POLICIES RESPONSIBLE FOR TERRIBLE PLIGHT OF SLOVAKS AND OTHER IRON CURTAIN COUNTRIES.... TRUE REPRESENTATIVES OF SLOVAK NATION SHOULD BE HEARD AND RECOGNIZED. (Speech of the Hon. Charles J. Kersten, Delivered at the Conference of Americans of Slovak descent sponsored by the Slovak League of Amerlca, Mal 23, 1952, Hotel Washington, Washington, D. C.) The Slovak League of America, a civte and cultural organlzatlon rounded In 1907 by Americans of Slovak descent, has made some fine contributlons to the Amerlcan way of llfe. And so have the Slovak organlzatlons afflllated with it. I am perfectly satisfied that the people in the League and the organizations affiliated with it are God· fearlng people, loyal citizens of the United States of Amerlca, who are ready and wllling to make any sacrlflce for the welfare and securlty ot our Country. I appreciate the fact that Americans or Slovak de· scent are interested in the fate of the nation from wbich they are de· s.cended, because lt is only natural that they should be. The terrible plight of the Slovak nation today - just as that or other nations of Centra! and Eastern Europe who had b een "Uber· ated" in 1945 - - is In a Jarge measure due to the blunderlng, undemocratic policies adopted and prosecuted and the secret agreements conC'luded by men of so-called democratlc governments. Our Government. or more correctly the present Admlnistratlon In Washington, cannot escape its measure of responsibillty for the inhumanlties suffered by the natlons behlnd the Iron Curtaln And slnce the present Admlnlstration in Washington bas lnltlated a campaign of truth to offset the vlcious campaign of lies of the Soviet Union, let us be- honest wltb ourselves and the rest of lhe world and admlt that it was morally wrong and contrary to every democratlc and Chrlstian pr!nc!ple to surrender the Slovaks and the other peoples of Centra! and Eastern E urope to the men of the Kremlln. Representatlves of thf' Slovak League ot Ameriťa made many trips to Washington to vlslt p_eople in the present Adminlstration· and teli them the truth about the Slovak nation. about the righteous struggle or the Slovak people for freedom and lndependence. .EMdently lt avalled them nothlng. Desplte the claim or our State Department that the Unltec\ States bas never opposed the aspiratlons of any p eople In Europe to determlne by thelr own free choice t he state or form or political organlzatlon under whlcb tbey wlsbed to live. tbe fact ls that tbe presi>nt Adminlstratlon never recognlzec\ or respected the rlght of self-<leterm!natlon fn the case of tbe Slovak peoole. If lt dld, tbf' inc\ependent Republic of Slovakia. establlsbed by tbe Slovak people tbrongh thf'ir duly elerte<l representatlves on Mar<'h 14. 1939, woulrl not bave bf'en wantonly destroyec\ in 1945 with tbe belp of our Administratlon! The Slovak Republiť was recognized by 27 variou~ government~. inclnding t he governments or Oreat Rritain Rnc\ the Soviet Union. Why wRs lt not recognized by the Government or thf' tlnitec\ Stalf's �SLOVAKIA 63 oť America? Il was not recognized, because F. D. Roosevelt and hLs Administratlon believed Dr. Edward Benes, the leader of the Czech 1\ational Soclalists and reslgned presldent o-f Czecho•Slovakía, who was violently opposed to Slovak treeJom and lndependence. And the present Administratlon stlll tavors the followers of Benes, many of wbom were members of Gottwalďs regime and, therefore, collabo• rated with the Reds in the Prague Government. Birds of a featber flock togetber! No matter what the circumstances uncler wblcb the Slovaks galned their independence, tbe Republic of Slovakia never s hould have been destroyed agalnst the will of the Slovak people. Tbe rigbt of political asylum has always been regarded as soma. lbing sacred by the people of the United States. Why was this rlght violated by our Administration in the case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, pre• s ldent of the Slovak Republic? Did our State Department do the human t hlng, did lt act in accordance wlth Christian and democratlc prln• ciples when lt ordered our Army to surrender Tiso to hls political e nemies - and certaln death? Tbe S lovak L eague of America, repres enting the overwhelmlng majority of organlzed Amerlcans of Slovak d escelllt, protested strongly against the order, but this again availed lt nothing. Then it requested tbe present occupant of the Whlte House to protes t against the banging of Tiso, but even this decent thlng he refused to do. Slnce the calamity of 1945, the present Adminlstratlon has eon• s istently ignored the just demands of Americans of Slovak descent to grant a hearing to Slovak patrjots, the true representatlves of the Hlovak natlon. But it did glve ear and ald to tbe Slovak renegades and others from Czecho-:Slovakla wbo a.lways were and stm are op· posed to Slovak freedom and independence. You can tind them in the VOICE OF AMERICA and other government agencles; and these Slovak renegades and enemles of Slovak freedom and independence, mind you. are being paid witb your money, wltb the money of Ameri• can taxpayers. It 1s hlgh tlme that people In government and the general public of the United States reallze at long last something that the Czechs and Slovaks tbemselves have known for centuries, that 1s, that the Czec hs never were. are not. and do not want to be Slovaks - and the Slovaks never were, are not, and do not want to be Czechs. Thls bas been clearly demons trated by the two natlons especlally durlng the past 34 years . that 1s slnce the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia. Why, tben, s hould t he present Adminlstratlon. or any administratlon for that matter, inslst that the Slovak n a tlon and the terrltory it has inhabited for the past 1500 years must contlnue to be explolted by another nation? Such a pollcy certainly !s not \Jl acco1d w!tb our beliefs and !s absolutely oppos ed and contrary to all Chrlstian and democ- ratic princlples. In short lt ls immoral and crlmlnal. You, my fellow•clt!zens, and your organlzatlons have been sl!ghted and !nsulted for many years by people In Government who are sup• posed to represent you. Your people In Slovakia In all their h!story have never suffered more than they have slnce thelr "llberatlon" by Benes and the Red armles In 1945. or course, it never should have happened, just as it should not have happened to the Poles, the Pkralnlans, Llthuanlans, Estonlans. Latvlans. and many others. But �64 SLOVAKlA the tact is that it did. All because ot tbe blundering polic!es ot govern ments, inctudlng our own. The Slovaks have ever opposed Commun!sm: and tbey strongly reslst lt today. Slovakia should not have been wantonly destroyed. because it could have served us in good stead today on the slde or the democratic world. It i.s in tbe interest or Amerlca tba1 all natlon!< or the earth, !nclnding the Slovak nation, bave the rigbt to setrcletermination and, it tbey so deslre, to he (ree and independent lt ls io tbe interests or justice and peace that even the Slovak natlon be rree to cboose the form of government under whlcb it shall live, so t hat tbe Slovaks, too, might enjoy t he blesslngs o! a government or tbeir own people, by their own people, and for their own people. My dear people, durlng the past two decades tbe people In Ameriran Government - and I mean speci!!cally our admlnlstratlons have wandered rar trom the straight and narrow path of rlghteousness. the road marked out by our ConstitutiÔn and the Ten Corumandments. You can help rlght the s ituation in November. For tbe sake or America and tor the sake or the nation you are descended r•·om, see to it tbat you do! • • • WHO SAI D IT? \ ' " T he -days of Soviet Ruuia's exc:lusion from Europe's affairs are w e r and, let us hope, will never return. It has not been an ea.sy task to bring tbree great powers into collaboration and to the point o! presentlng a common war front against the common German enemy. ílut In London, Washington, and Moscow. there are leaders who are hOld in enterprise, broad in thelr range of perceptlon, supported ny powerful opinion, and eager to face every change that ma.y help ,,s to banlsh the specter of war from our contlne nt. .. . We are In a :·..rtain .sense, a link between Europe and the East. We can never be ,nly western or only eastern. Nothing now will prevent the Soviet llnlon !rom playlng its part as a great oower In Europe'c. _atfa.irs. Aut this c:ertainly does mean that the Soviet t..,.,lon intends .o áom in-• ~te Europe. lt was not for such a purpose that Marahal Stalln met i>resident Rooaevelt and Churc:hill in Tehe ral' ' - (Edward Bene§, London, 2-29-44 ). • "We believe that freedom and t h e indepe,.,Je.-c. • of the Czechoslovak Republic: ar e guaranteed by the alllance w,t• t'le great U n ion of Soviet Socialist Rep ,blics and the rest of the Slovan ie natlona who, flnally, found themselves and established an a!lsoclatlon ot Slovanlc blood. This is our unalterable belier. enrooterl in ouŕ mlnd!I an d hearts; it is not t he re11ult of a temporary world cons tellatlon, but tbe result of the historic mission of the Slovanic natlons. Just as our loyalty to the Republic 1s not to be abandoned in good or bar! tima11. jusť so rto we comprehenrl also onr loyalty to our 11:reat ally. a.nd varlous idi>ologies cannot itland in the way ot that loyalty." - (Ing. ·K. Fllo, l)Pputy of Lettrlcb's Demn,..ratic Party, in the P rágue Paŕ­ ·liamen1. 'H'ťo rrling to ČAS of Deci>mber 16,. 19-47.) � 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 6Z SLOVAKIA INDEPENDENT SLOVAKJA SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DFSTBOYED BLUNDERING POLICIES RESPONSIBLE FOR TERRIBLE PLIGHT OF SLOVAKS AND OTHER IRON CURTAIN COUNTRIES.... TRUE REPRESENTATIVES OF SLOVAK NATION SHOULD BE HEARD AND RECOGNIZED. (Speech of the Hon. Charles J. Kersten, Delivered at the Conference of Americans of Slovak descent sponsored by the Slovak League of Amerlca, Mal 23, 1952, Hotel Washington, Washington, D. C.) The Slovak League of America, a civte and cultural organlzatlon rounded In 1907 by Americans of Slovak descent, has made some fine contributlons to the Amerlcan way of llfe. And so have the Slovak organlzatlons afflllated with it. I am perfectly satisfied that the people in the League and the organizations affiliated with it are God· fearlng people, loyal citizens of the United States of Amerlca, who are ready and wllling to make any sacrlflce for the welfare and securlty ot our Country. I appreciate the fact that Americans or Slovak de· scent are interested in the fate of the nation from wbich they are de· s.cended, because lt is only natural that they should be. The terrible plight of the Slovak nation today - just as that or other nations of Centra! and Eastern Europe who had b een "Uber· ated" in 1945 - - is In a Jarge measure due to the blunderlng, undemocratic policies adopted and prosecuted and the secret agreements conC'luded by men of so-called democratlc governments. Our Government. or more correctly the present Admlnistratlon In Washington, cannot escape its measure of responsibillty for the inhumanlties suffered by the natlons behlnd the Iron Curtaln And slnce the present Admlnlstration in Washington bas lnltlated a campaign of truth to offset the vlcious campaign of lies of the Soviet Union, let us be- honest wltb ourselves and the rest of lhe world and admlt that it was morally wrong and contrary to every democratlc and Chrlstian pr!nc!ple to surrender the Slovaks and the other peoples of Centra! and Eastern E urope to the men of the Kremlln. Representatlves of thf' Slovak League ot Ameriťa made many trips to Washington to vlslt p_eople in the present Adminlstration· and teli them the truth about the Slovak nation. about the righteous struggle or the Slovak people for freedom and lndependence. .EMdently lt avalled them nothlng. Desplte the claim or our State Department that the Unltec\ States bas never opposed the aspiratlons of any p eople In Europe to determlne by thelr own free choice t he state or form or political organlzatlon under whlcb tbey wlsbed to live. tbe fact ls that tbe presi>nt Adminlstratlon never recognlzec\ or respected the rlght of self-<leterm!natlon fn the case of tbe Slovak peoole. If lt dld, tbf' inc\ependent Republic of Slovakia. establlsbed by tbe Slovak people tbrongh thf'ir duly elerte<l representatlves on Mar<'h 14. 1939, woulrl not bave bf'en wantonly destroyec\ in 1945 with tbe belp of our Administratlon! The Slovak Republiť was recognized by 27 variou~ government~. inclnding t he governments or Oreat Rritain Rnc\ the Soviet Union. Why wRs lt not recognized by the Government or thf' tlnitec\ Stalf's SLOVAKIA 63 oť America? Il was not recognized, because F. D. Roosevelt and hLs Administratlon believed Dr. Edward Benes, the leader of the Czech 1\ational Soclalists and reslgned presldent o-f Czecho•Slovakía, who was violently opposed to Slovak treeJom and lndependence. And the present Administratlon stlll tavors the followers of Benes, many of wbom were members of Gottwalďs regime and, therefore, collabo• rated with the Reds in the Prague Government. Birds of a featber flock togetber! No matter what the circumstances uncler wblcb the Slovaks galned their independence, tbe Republic of Slovakia never s hould have been destroyed agalnst the will of the Slovak people. Tbe rigbt of political asylum has always been regarded as soma. lbing sacred by the people of the United States. Why was this rlght violated by our Administration in the case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, pre• s ldent of the Slovak Republic? Did our State Department do the human t hlng, did lt act in accordance wlth Christian and democratlc prln• ciples when lt ordered our Army to surrender Tiso to hls political e nemies - and certaln death? Tbe S lovak L eague of America, repres enting the overwhelmlng majority of organlzed Amerlcans of Slovak d escelllt, protested strongly against the order, but this again availed lt nothing. Then it requested tbe present occupant of the Whlte House to protes t against the banging of Tiso, but even this decent thlng he refused to do. Slnce the calamity of 1945, the present Adminlstratlon has eon• s istently ignored the just demands of Americans of Slovak descent to grant a hearing to Slovak patrjots, the true representatlves of the Hlovak natlon. But it did glve ear and ald to tbe Slovak renegades and others from Czecho-:Slovakla wbo a.lways were and stm are op· posed to Slovak freedom and independence. You can tind them in the VOICE OF AMERICA and other government agencles; and these Slovak renegades and enemles of Slovak freedom and independence, mind you. are being paid witb your money, wltb the money of Ameri• can taxpayers. It 1s hlgh tlme that people In government and the general public of the United States reallze at long last something that the Czechs and Slovaks tbemselves have known for centuries, that 1s, that the Czec hs never were. are not. and do not want to be Slovaks - and the Slovaks never were, are not, and do not want to be Czechs. Thls bas been clearly demons trated by the two natlons especlally durlng the past 34 years . that 1s slnce the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia. Why, tben, s hould t he present Adminlstratlon. or any administratlon for that matter, inslst that the Slovak n a tlon and the terrltory it has inhabited for the past 1500 years must contlnue to be explolted by another nation? Such a pollcy certainly !s not \Jl acco1d w!tb our beliefs and !s absolutely oppos ed and contrary to all Chrlstian and democ- ratic princlples. In short lt ls immoral and crlmlnal. You, my fellow•clt!zens, and your organlzatlons have been sl!ghted and !nsulted for many years by people In Government who are sup• posed to represent you. Your people In Slovakia In all their h!story have never suffered more than they have slnce thelr "llberatlon" by Benes and the Red armles In 1945. or course, it never should have happened, just as it should not have happened to the Poles, the Pkralnlans, Llthuanlans, Estonlans. Latvlans. and many others. But 64 SLOVAKlA the tact is that it did. All because ot tbe blundering polic!es ot govern ments, inctudlng our own. The Slovaks have ever opposed Commun!sm: and tbey strongly reslst lt today. Slovakia should not have been wantonly destroyed. because it could have served us in good stead today on the slde or the democratic world. It i.s in tbe interest or Amerlca tba1 all natlon!< or the earth, !nclnding the Slovak nation, bave the rigbt to setrcletermination and, it tbey so deslre, to he (ree and independent lt ls io tbe interests or justice and peace that even the Slovak natlon be rree to cboose the form of government under whlcb it shall live, so t hat tbe Slovaks, too, might enjoy t he blesslngs o! a government or tbeir own people, by their own people, and for their own people. My dear people, durlng the past two decades tbe people In Ameriran Government - and I mean speci!!cally our admlnlstratlons have wandered rar trom the straight and narrow path of rlghteousness. the road marked out by our ConstitutiÔn and the Ten Corumandments. You can help rlght the s ituation in November. For tbe sake or America and tor the sake or the nation you are descended r•·om, see to it tbat you do! • • • WHO SAI D IT? \ ' " T he -days of Soviet Ruuia's exc:lusion from Europe's affairs are w e r and, let us hope, will never return. It has not been an ea.sy task to bring tbree great powers into collaboration and to the point o! presentlng a common war front against the common German enemy. ílut In London, Washington, and Moscow. there are leaders who are hOld in enterprise, broad in thelr range of perceptlon, supported ny powerful opinion, and eager to face every change that ma.y help ,,s to banlsh the specter of war from our contlne nt. .. . We are In a :·..rtain .sense, a link between Europe and the East. We can never be ,nly western or only eastern. Nothing now will prevent the Soviet llnlon !rom playlng its part as a great oower In Europe'c. _atfa.irs. Aut this c:ertainly does mean that the Soviet t..,.,lon intends .o áom in-• ~te Europe. lt was not for such a purpose that Marahal Stalln met i>resident Rooaevelt and Churc:hill in Tehe ral' ' - (Edward Bene§, London, 2-29-44 ). • "We believe that freedom and t h e indepe,.,Je.-c. • of the Czechoslovak Republic: ar e guaranteed by the alllance w,t• t'le great U n ion of Soviet Socialist Rep ,blics and the rest of the Slovan ie natlona who, flnally, found themselves and established an a!lsoclatlon ot Slovanlc blood. This is our unalterable belier. enrooterl in ouŕ mlnd!I an d hearts; it is not t he re11ult of a temporary world cons tellatlon, but tbe result of the historic mission of the Slovanic natlons. Just as our loyalty to the Republic 1s not to be abandoned in good or bar! tima11. jusť so rto we comprehenrl also onr loyalty to our 11:reat ally. a.nd varlous idi>ologies cannot itland in the way ot that loyalty." - (Ing. ·K. Fllo, l)Pputy of Lettrlcb's Demn,..ratic Party, in the P rágue Paŕ­ ·liamen1. 'H'ťo rrling to ČAS of Deci>mber 16,. 19-47.)  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 Independent Slovakia Should Not Have Been Destroyed Description An account of the resource Hon. Charles J. Kersten Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 2 (4), August 1952 pp. 62-64 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kersten, Charles J., 1902-1972 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 1952 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/fbccf65c4a7f79fdd3ea5bfe315fa952.pdf 0ebc7ab64a23699ec918ee01fdbd6556 PDF Text Text 89 SLOVAKIA A Note for Researchers The Slavic-~merican Imprint Collection Southern lllin~is University, Edwardsville STANLEY B. KIMBALL The bulk of this 2,693 title collection consists of Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene books and periodicals published in the middle Midwest since 1918, but hundreds of other items by other peoples and outside this time-space framework have been collected. The collection is revealing of Slavic-American attitudes on all kinds of subjects , the problems of Americanization, settlement patterns, political (especially radical) developments, biculturalism, and will be helpful to students and scholf1rs interested in linguistics, literature, the social sciences, ethnic studies, and American Studies. In 1972 the card catalog of this collection was published in book form; a 1977 supplement is being prepared for publication. The following table describes the collection. Books Pamphlets Bulgaro-Macedonian Croat Czech Polish Russian Serb Slovak Slovene Ukrainian Hungarian Lithuanian Rumanian Albanian Greek Latvian Totals 46 77 822 412 34 24 102 118 18 110 32 9 Almanacs 4 12 148 7 2 7 109 40 4 7 1 18 102 25 10 4 20 9 3 5 1 26 10 12 2 1 8 91 6 7 1 1 1 4 3 1,819 Periodicals Newspapers Manuscripts 1 342 192 67 109 Our earliest date is 1873. There are publications from 26 states (and Canada) and 149 cities and towns . A few related items published by East European non-Slavs are also included. �� 89 SLOVAKIA A Note for Researchers The Slavic-~merican Imprint Collection Southern lllin~is University, Edwardsville STANLEY B. KIMBALL The bulk of this 2,693 title collection consists of Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene books and periodicals published in the middle Midwest since 1918, but hundreds of other items by other peoples and outside this time-space framework have been collected. The collection is revealing of Slavic-American attitudes on all kinds of subjects , the problems of Americanization, settlement patterns, political (especially radical) developments, biculturalism, and will be helpful to students and scholf1rs interested in linguistics, literature, the social sciences, ethnic studies, and American Studies. In 1972 the card catalog of this collection was published in book form; a 1977 supplement is being prepared for publication. The following table describes the collection. Books Pamphlets Bulgaro-Macedonian Croat Czech Polish Russian Serb Slovak Slovene Ukrainian Hungarian Lithuanian Rumanian Albanian Greek Latvian Totals 46 77 822 412 34 24 102 118 18 110 32 9 Almanacs 4 12 148 7 2 7 109 40 4 7 1 18 102 25 10 4 20 9 3 5 1 26 10 12 2 1 8 91 6 7 1 1 1 4 3 1,819 Periodicals Newspapers Manuscripts 1 342 192 67 109 Our earliest date is 1873. There are publications from 26 states (and Canada) and 149 cities and towns . A few related items published by East European non-Slavs are also included. �� 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 89 SLOVAKIA A Note for Researchers The Slavic-~merican Imprint Collection Southern lllin~is University, Edwardsville STANLEY B. KIMBALL The bulk of this 2,693 title collection consists of Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene books and periodicals published in the middle Midwest since 1918, but hundreds of other items by other peoples and outside this time-space framework have been collected. The collection is revealing of Slavic-American attitudes on all kinds of subjects , the problems of Americanization, settlement patterns, political (especially radical) developments, biculturalism, and will be helpful to students and scholf1rs interested in linguistics, literature, the social sciences, ethnic studies, and American Studies. In 1972 the card catalog of this collection was published in book form; a 1977 supplement is being prepared for publication. The following table describes the collection. Books Pamphlets Bulgaro-Macedonian Croat Czech Polish Russian Serb Slovak Slovene Ukrainian Hungarian Lithuanian Rumanian Albanian Greek Latvian Totals 46 77 822 412 34 24 102 118 18 110 32 9 Almanacs 4 12 148 7 2 7 109 40 4 7 1 18 102 25 10 4 20 9 3 5 1 26 10 12 2 1 8 91 6 7 1 1 1 4 3 1,819 Periodicals Newspapers Manuscripts 1 342 192 67 109 Our earliest date is 1873. There are publications from 26 states (and Canada) and 149 cities and towns . A few related items published by East European non-Slavs are also included.  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 A Note for Researchers: The Slavic-American Imprint Collection Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville Description An account of the resource Stanley B. Kimball Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 p. 89 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kimball, Stanley Buchholz Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f43bd8cfd70fb8336671ddd436b87d4d.pdf a8df0a4e7cf4c85f4d2625e04f1db0b0 PDF Text Text INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC DR. JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Because of years of relentless propaganda by Czech emigres and the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republic by the merits of the Soviet Union, the origin of the Slovak Republic and its incorporation into the European organization is often placed in a bad light even by persons and nations who a priori do not have an unfavorable opinion of the Slovak efforts for independence. In the interest of the truth, it will not be amiss to answer the question of how European public opinion and the governments of European states received the proclamation of Slovak independence. The question is all the more significant when we consider that changes of the map of Europe are not and never were indifferent to the European nations and especially to the great powers, and that the Slovak Republic was proclaimed in a period of peace. European nations, therefore, had an unhindered opportunity of taking a stand to the newly established State and that in a two-fold manner: 1. By not recognizing the new State and refusing to establish diplomatic contacts with the Slovak Republic. 2. All States, and especially those which guaranteed the independence and integrity of the Czechoslovak Republic after Munich, had the opportunity, by peaceful means or by war, of making the existence of the Slovak State impossible and renewing the old state of affairs. What happened In the case of Slovakia? There was not a single state in Europe or elsewhere which did that in 1939. There was no protest against the origin of the State of Slovakia even from some of the great powers that were in some way obligated to Czechoslovakia. But there were protests only against the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia by the Germans. Even President Roosevelt, answering Dr. Beneš's telegram (March 16, 1939), wrote in his letter March 27, 1939, that "even though the Government of the United States is aware that the lands of Bohemia and Moravia were occupied by the German military forces and are now factually under German authority, it has not recognized this situation as a legal condition." (Beneš: Memoirs, 1947). As far as Slovakia was concerned, practically every European State recognized Slovakia and established diplomatic contacts with lt. England and Soviet Russia not excepted. Just about two months after the proclamation of Slovakia’s independence the Foreign Minister of Great Britain ordered the following note delivered to the first Foreign Minister of the Slovak Republic: Bratislava, May 4th, 1989. Your Excellency: On the instruction of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs I have the honour to Inform you that His Majesty’s Government ln the United Kingdom propose to appoint me as Consul for Slovakia with residence in Bratislava. Pending preparation of my Commission I have the honour to request provisional recognition by the Slovak Government of myself as His Majesty's Consul for Slovakia. I avail myself of this opportunity to express to your Excellency the assurance of my highest consideration. PARES, M. P., H. M. Consul. The Slovaks in turn sent Ing. Harminc as General Consul to London to represent the Slovak Republic. The exchange of diplomatic representatives between London and Bratislava was prevented only by war which broke out six months after the proclamation of Slovak independence. Soviet Russia, which did not enter the war against Germany on September 1, 1939, set up one of the largest embassies in Bratislava, and the first Russian ambassador, G. Puškin, upon presenting his credentials to the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tiso, said among other things: "Presenting to you the documents which accredit me as Extra­ordinary Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary, appointed by the Presidency of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, I can announce to you with joy that the nations of the Soviet Union have taken cognizance of the establishment of diplomatic contacts between the Soviet Union and the Slovak Republic with deep satisfaction. Because of the war in Europe the establishment of these contacts oversteps the framework of mutual interests of both our states." Before Moscow sent its ambassador to Bratislava, however, the Soviet Government had notified the diplomatic representative of the Czechoslovak Republic, Dr. Zdenek Fierlinger, that it no longer regards him as a diplomatic character. Fierlinger himself wrote about this as follows: "On December 14, I was called to the Foreign Commissariat by Mr. Barkov, the Chief of the Protocol. Barkov told me that the Soviet Government regrets that it can no longer acknowledge my diplomatic character. He added that I could remain in Moscow with my officials and their families as a private individual." Barkov, according to Fierlinger, even "refused to mediate a visit with the Commissar of Foreign Affairs" as he had also refused to send any written report for the Commissariat or any other official person. So it was only by a private letter that Fierlinger could write to the representative of Foreign Affairs: "I understand fully the stand taken by your Government and I am grateful for the permission to remain in Moscow as a private individual." (Z. Fierlinger: "Ve službách ČSR," Prague, 1947, pgs. 313-314). Pre-war France readily recognized the new State in the heart of Europe, but formal diplomatic contacts could not be established, because war had broken out. In the case of France, which recog­nized the Slovak Republic de facto on July 14. 1939, and de jure on April 25, 1942, an interesting detail bas been noted. While the French Foreign Minister, M. Dalladier, refused to see Dr. Beneš and negotiate with him, the French General Consul in Bratislava was trying to convince the Slovak Government that an exchange of ambassadors had not taken place immediately after March 14, 1939, only because of the previous relationship between France and Czechoslovakia. The reasons concerned prestige. However, he con­sidered an exchange of ambassadors in the near future as a self-evident matter. As the General Secretary of the Hlinka Slovak Peo­ple's Party, even I had acted personally as mediator between Dalladier and the Slovak Government. Beneš referred to the incident in his MEMOIRS: "Dalladier - when I asked for an audience -refused to see me and refused to discuss any political matters with me. Later he brought this matter up before the Government and supported his action with reasons for doing so." (Beneš: MEMOIRS, 1947, pg. 139). Germany and Italy also recognized Slovakia. The Slovak Republic was recognized by all great powers which were deciding the fate of Europe. It was recognized even by the Vatican. The western powers, who got into the conflict against Germany in September 1939, did not change their stand toward Slovakia even after the war began, but only several years later (1942-1943). The decision of the western powers, of course, had no influence on the actual or legal existence of the Slovak State as far as international law was concerned. For that reason the Vatican and the other neutral States did not change their relationship with Slovakia during the entire war-time period. The neighbors of Slovakia likewise did not oppose her inde­pendent status. Poland recognized Slovakia March 16, 1939, and Hungary on March 15, 1939. And this is especially significant in the light of the conditions and tendencies which appeared in centra) Europe after the break-up of Austria-Hungary. The changes effected by the proclamation of Slovak independence concerned, in the first place, the neighbors of Slovakia from the economic and strategic point of view. By its historical development, its position and natu­ral resources the central European area has its own laws, needs and demands. The individual nations of that area jealously watch so that no single nation among them might grow at the expense of the others and so disturb the natural balance of military and economic forces. The Slovak Republic, however, fitted into this area not as a disturbing element, but, conversely, as a fulfillment of conditions of balance and the removal of one of the significant causes of instability of the Centro-European organization. That is why even Yugoslavia and Rumania, which until 1938 together with the Czechoslovak Republic within the framework of the Little Entente had been the pillars of the post-war organization in the Danube basin, made regular diplomatic contacts and collaborated economically with the Slovak Republic soon after it was established. Bulgaria did likewise. Among the neutral States, besides the Vatican, which recognized the Slovak State and made diplomatic and economic contacts with it were Switzerland and Sweden. Spain, which had declared itself neutral later, recognized Slovakia on May 4, 1939, and sent its ambassador to Slovakia forthwith. Belgium accorded de facto recognition to Slovakia. Other European States, thus far not mentioned, which recognized Slovakia were: Finland, Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Croatia. And States outside of Europe: Japan, Manchuria, China (Nanking), Siam, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. Slovakia, then, was recognized by a total of 27 countries: by great powers and small powers, by neutral States and by powers of both warring camps. It is interesting to note that the majority or the States which granted recognition to Slovakia as an independent State was on the side of Anglo-Russian coalition. The claim that Slovakia was recognized only by Germany and its satellites is, therefore, a willful deception of the international public. Seventeen of the 27 States recognizing Slovakia fought against Germany or were neutral. This comparison is significant not only because it uproots the falsehoods of the propaganda which presented Slovakia to the Allies as a State recognized only by Germany and its satellites, but because it also confirms - as has been shown - that European States without exception recognized the right of the Slovaks to an inde­pendent existence, an Independent State. Furthermore, it also confirms the fact that these European States did not see anything unnatural or disturbing in the establishment of Independent Slova­kia, even though they did see it in the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. In this connection it is interesting to note how the League of Nations regarded the collapse of Czechoslovakia. In his MEMOIRS, Beneš himself complained that the General Secretary, J. Avenol, refused to place his protest before the League of Nations for official discussion with the argument that the protest was not placed before the body the regular way, but my a "private individual." (Pg. 109). The fact that no European States protested against the existence of the independent State of Slovakia is important, especially when we consider that Central Europe was the way out of two World Wars and that its organization after World War I made a powder keg out of this area, the explosion of which was feared for twenty years. From the Slovak standpoint this recognition of the Slovak Republic by such a large number of States has the significance that the Slovaks can always point to it when demanding Slovak independence. And it is important to remember, too, that the Slovak Republic was proclaimed six months before the start of World War II which at the outset divided the nations of the world into two camps. This fact and the fact that Slovakia was placed into the German-Italian sphere because of her geographical position, prevented many other nations from recognizing her diplomatically, nations which undoubtedly would have recognized her under more favorable conditions. Considering the spontaneity and speed with which the individual States responded to the notification of the proclamation of Slovak independence and arranged diplomatic or consular offices in Bratislava, it can be correctly assumed that the Slovak Republic would have been recognized universally if the war had been delayed only a year or two. Slovakia., then, was accepted into the family of independent nations not only by central European States, but also by the great European powers. European, and especially Central European interests correctly comprehended, could not, of course, permit the denial of this right to one of the oldest Central European nations, when this right today is acknowledged even to colonial nations and without the validation of which there can hardly be any sensible talk about justice or even a guaranteed peace. II The recognition of the Slovak Republic by such a large number of European and non-European States, despite the tense international situation, was in a great measure the merit of the young Slovak diplomacy. In order to have a complete picture of the international position of the Slovak Republic, it would be well to list not only the States which recognized Slovakia and established regular diplomatic relations with her, but also the individuals who represented the Slovak nation in the international forum and point out the tendencies represented by the first Slovak diplomats. And, of course, it is also necessary to mention the countries which did not recognize the Slovak State. As a result of the international recognition of the Slovak Republic, the Slovak flag - so ignored and trampled upon previously - for the first time in Slovak history waved proudly over the Slovak diplomatic and consular offices In the capitols of almost every European State. In eternal Rome, as well as in Moscow; in the proud city of Albion, as well as in Berlin; in Warsaw, Belgrade, Sophia, Bucharest, Budapest, Berne, and Stockholm; in Helsinki, Vienna and even over the general consulate in Prague. And in all these places, the Slovak emblem hung independently for the first time: it was not attached to the emblem of St. Stephen's Crown, nor to the Czech Lion. For those who harbor a respect for the symbols of nations, this reality can hardly be a sentimental one only. It has its own deep political and moral meaning. We can evidence this fact best from the time that the Slovak flag had to be hauled down temporarily. As far as the diplomatic representatives of the Slovak Republic are concerned, not all were trained for the task, because in the Czechoslovak Republic out of 1246 officials in the Foreign Service only 33 were Slovak, and only a few of these were diplomats. However, in the Slovak nature there are certain talents for this kind of service, so that even in this field much of what the past did not allow to be done was caught up with shortly. Altogether there were three categories among Slovak diplomatic representatives in leading positions: Six former officials from Prague (Dr. Ivan Milecz, Dr. Joseph Cleker, Dr. Joseph Mlkuš, Dr. Plssko, Dr. Radlinský and Dr. Szatmáry); three from internal politics (Karol Sidor, Matthew Černak and Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum); and the others came from various professions (Francis Tiso. Dr. Spišiak, Dr. J. Šimko, Dr. Zvrškovec, Tido J. Gašpar, Dr. Galvánek, Dr. Becko, etc). The majority of these, therefore were men who had prepared for other tasks in life. But even large states, which have a sufficient number of diplomatic personnel, place persona of other professions in leading diplomatic positions. Keeping in mind the tense situation of the world at that Ume and the reality that Slovakia was practically unknown in foreign lands and was consistently being presented in a bad light by anti=Slovak propaganda, we must admit that the tasks facing the diplomatic representatives of the newly established Slovak Republic were by no means easy. And yet, the Slovak diplomatic representatives -excepting Dr. Szatmáry - defended the right of the Slovak nation to its own State to the end and performed their tasks well in the diplomatic, cultural and propaganda fields. There was one task they had, however, failed to do, and that one was probably the most important one: they did not prepare for the transfer of Slovakia to the side of the Allies at the right time. However, it is a bit premature to pass judgment in this matter ln view of the world situation and the present position of Slovakia, and especially in view of the fact that all Slovak diplomatic representatives in neutral countries, upon whom this task fell, have not as yet been heard from. For the present we can make several general remarks and logical conclusions which emanate from the over-all situation existing at the end of the war and from the tendencies that made themselves apparent with the Allies in general, and in the relation to Slovakia in particular. And from this, then, we can learn what alternatives presented themselves to the Slovaks. After considering all the circumstances under which the war was waged and those under which the so-called "National Uprising" in Slovakia was organized later, this problem looks decidedly different than it appeared to be at first sight. But aside from the fact that diplomacy always only prepares the way for the policies of a government and is in itself only an executive organ, no other nation had to contend with such impediments as the Slovak nation in the matter of transferring to the Allies. Let us consider only one: When the Anglo-Saxon Allies (in 1941-1942) and the Soviet Union (1943) came out for the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republic and even concluded agreements with the Government of Dr. Beneš, the joining of the Slovak Government and the Slovak diplomats with the Allies would have meant the acceptance of Czechoslovakia - already recognized by the Allies - and the renouncing of independence. Slovak political leaders at home and Slovak diplomats abroad had to decide the dilemma: Either to remain loyal to the right to independence and defend it to the end even at the cost of great personal sacrifices, or to join those who did not recognize the right of the Slovak nation to its own State and thus secure tor themselves definite personal interests. That is how the problem looked when the "Slovak Revolt" broke out in August 1944. While the Italians, Rumanians, Magyars and Bulgarians joined the Allies to safeguard their independence, the leaders of the rebellion in Slovakia were proclaiming the annexation of Slovakia to the Czech lands, renewing the Czechoslovak Republic and ridding their own nation of its independent State. The position of Slovakia in the war and, therefore, even the actions of Slovak diplomats, were determined in the over-all framework by the policy of the Allies themselves and in the narrower framework by the alms of the "rebellion" in Slovakia. If it were not for this situation, there would have been among the Slovak politicians, as well as among the Slovak diplomats. representatives in the individual states of Europe who would have had the political and moral Legitimacy to speak in the name of the Slovak nation. In the Vatican, one of the most important centers of world diplomacy, Slovakia was represented by Karol Sidor, whose anti-German stand cannot be disputed. The General Secretary of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party, ousted from his office by Nazi pressure, was sent to Switzerland to represent Slovakia. In Sweden Slovakia had the career diplomat, Dr. Pissko, and in Spain Dr. Mikuš and Dr. Cieker, both of whom were not only first-class diplomats, but were outstanding in their generation. It is evident, then, that the Slovak Republic did have people in important places abroad who were predetermined to prepare the transfer of the Slovaks to the victorious camp. And undoubtedly it shall once become known that these Slovak representatives did not lack the initiative, either. But there were no real possibilities for such a policy, if the Slovaks themselves were not to surrender their right to independence. This they could not do, because they knew that the rights which were taken away by force could always be regained, but the rights which a nation once surrendered could never be regained. A policy that redeems apparent, temporary advantages by surrendering natural rights never did end up well. And conversely, history was wont to reward with victory the fight which had an upright aim. Whether the Slovak Government and the Slovak diplomats did right by consistently holding to their anti-communist stand and defending the inalienable rights of their nation, history and probably even the near future shall render a definite verdict. That they acted honorably and did not pursue their personal interests is already clear today. III Dr. Edward Beneš and his followers always denied the individuality of the Slovak nation and were always opposed to Slovak autonomy. This group of Czech politicians and several individuals of Slovak origin, who subscribed to the ideology of a "Czechoslovak nation," stubbornly refused to recognize the right of the Slovaks to their own State and the acceptance of the Slovak Republic into the international community. They used all means at their disposal to misrepresent the Slovak question before the Allies to effect the destruction of the Slovak Republic and force its annexation to the Czech lands. Dr. Edward Beneš even attempted to deceive the Vatican, but did not fare so well. In a Memorandum, sent to the Holy See on May 12, 1943, through President Roosevelt, Dr. Edward Beneš stated among other things: "The Slovak people, in its great majority, today stands without any reservations behind the present Czechoslovak Government. In Slovakia political, social, economical and moral conditions are extremely sad. The majority of the Slovak people considers the present regime in Bratislava responsible for this situation and as a traitor of the Slovak people and the Czechoslovak Republic. Former governmental Slovak parties (the Agrarians, Liberals, Socialists) are almost completely behind the Czechoslovak Government and against the present regime in Slovakia, while the former Catholic People's Party, which took over the rule of Slovak affairs from the hands of the Germans in 1939, today stands - according to our reports - at least 60 per cent against the present regime." (Beneš: MEMOIRS, Documents). Of course, the Vatican knew what the actual situation in Slovakia was. The Slovak Government was represented at the Vatican, and the Holy See had its representative in Bratislava. Beneš was fully aware of that fact, but he thought he might persuade the Holy See to see things his way, since it was pretty evident at that time that he would be back in the driver's seat when the war ended. The Vatican’s refusal to recognize him and his London Government made Beneš furious. Because of the war situation and the fact that Slovakia fell into the Axis bloc because of its geographical position, the actions of Dr. Beneš and the Czech Slovaks (Czechoslovaks) was more successful than that of the Magyars after World War I who also tried to mobilize world opinion for the return of Slovakia to the Magyar State. The Magyar action was also supported by several renegade politicians of Slovak descent and yet it failed because the Slovak nation was determined to live its own life. History itself tells us that it is only logical for every nation to strive for an independent State. The temporary victory of Dr. Beneš will not reverse the logic of history. The Slovaks firmly believe that in the end their natural rights to an independent State shall be recognized, as they have been recognized in the case of other nations. It is only a question of time and an appropriate international situation. If the revisionist efforts of Dr. Beneš seem to have found a greater response in Slovakia than Magyar revision, that certainly cannot be considered as proof that the Slovak nation in its entirety, or even in its greater part, has renounced its right to an independent State. The Slovak nation was not given the opportunity to say whether it wants to live in its own State or in a comon State with the Czechs. The Slovaks who accepted the Czechoslovak solution did so out of fear emanating from the fate of a vanquished State, under the pressure of military events, and in the endeavor to assure themselves of an advantageous position to rule over Slovakia with the help of the Czechs, because they had no chance of getting into leading positions any other way. That this solution was accepted even by the small group only out of opportunism is attested to by the fact that already toward the end of 1943, when the outcome of the war was known, this group went into action for the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republic, stressing at the same time that the renewed State would be a federation and the question of the individuality of the Slovak nation was a reality which would not be debated. The Czechoslovak Republic, therefore, was forced on the Slovak nation not only by the opportunism of a negligible minority of the Slovak nation which followed its own egotistic aims and served Czech imperialism, but also by the international situation. On such foundations, however, no State can exist permanently and must perish unconditionally when the causes and circumstances responsible for its existence disappear. And so, just as the recognition of the conception of Dr. Beneš by the western powers had a fatal influence on the politics of the Slovak Republic during the war, just so the fact that the Slovak Republic was Incorporated in the Czechoslovak Republic without regard for the will of the Slovak nation and without regard for the proclamation of the Atlantic Charter and the Charter of the United Nations has its influence on the stand of the Slovaks in the con­temporary world struggle. If the Allies would have promised to preserve Slovak independ­ence, as they did in the case of the Italians, Magyars, Rumanians, Bulgarians, Finns and Australians - who also fought on the side of the Axis - then it would have been possible to expect that the Slovaks, too, would have found their place at the right time on their side. None of the aforementioned peoples lost their independent States or were forced to become members of other States, but the Slovak State was annexed to Bohemia-Moravia. It is, therefore, self-evident that the Slovak nation considers the present condition as an occupation and together with its emigration is fighting simultaneously for the victory of democracy over communism and the liberation of the Slovak Republic from Soviet-Czech occupation. WHO SAID IT? "We shall be eternally grateful to those who helped us, above all our great Slav brother, the SOVIET UNION. This gratitude, however, must not permit us into believing all is won because we have so powerful an ally. We must arrange our lives in such a way that we may never become a burden to those who are bound to us by alliance or friendship. On the contrary our friends must be made to feel that they have gained a loyal and effective ally worthy or such an alliance." - (Jaroslav Stránsky, Minister of Justice, Mass meeting in Most, June 19, 1945). • "Personally I trust the Russians; they think as they speak. I believe that they will cooperate fully with England and America. They will hold strictly to the decisions of the Teheran Conference to guarantee the peace for several generations. I do not believe that Russia will interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors. I assure you that Stalin is willing to confirm his statement that he is completely against all efforts to force communistic principles on the Danubian countries." - (Dr. Beneš, Interview with Charles Goley, London "DAILY EXPRIDSS," 3-13-44). • "Our position in Europe is different from that in 1918. Today we are approaching far-reaching revolution. Our whole world is changing. This war has formed a solid and impregnable bloc of Slav nations and states. Today there is the RED ARMY, the army of Marshall TITO, brave Polish divisions and the Czechoslovak PEOPLE'S army, and if all those forces are put together we shall have SOME SAY in Europe." - (Zdenek Nejedlý Minister of Education, Address to Physical Training Societies, Prague, May 31, 1945). • The belief that Czechoslovakia is a part of Russia or that the Russians are DICTATING to us is not true. And you don't find a Russian soldier in our whole country." - Stanislav Novak, Czech Consul, CLEVELAND PRESS, 8-19-46). SLOVAKIA 23 INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC DR. JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Because of years of relentless propaganda by Czech emigrés and the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republic by the merlts of the Soviet Union, the orlgln of the Slovak Republlc and lts lncorporation lnto the European organizatlon ls often placed In a bad llght even by persons and nations who a priori do not have an unfavorable oplnlon of the Slovak efforts for lndependence. In the interest of the truth, lt wllJ not be amlss to answer the questlon of how European public oplnlon and the governments of European states recelved the proclamatlon of Slovak lndependence. The questlon !s au the more slgnlflcant when we conslder that changes of the map of Europe are not and never were in· different to the European natlons and especla11y to the great powers, and that the Slovak Republlc was proclalmed In a period of peace. European natlons, therefore, had an unhlndered opportunlty of tak• Ing a stand to the newly establlshed State and that In a two-fold manner: 1. By not recognlzlng the new State and refuslng to establlsh diplomatlc contacts w!th the Slovak Republlc. 2. AU States, and especlally those whlch guaranteed the lndependence and integrity of the Czechoslovak Republlc after Munich, had the opportunlty, by peaceful means or by war, of maklng the exlstence of the Slovak State lmposslble and renewlng the old state of affalrs. What happened In the case of Slovakla? There was not a slngle state in Europe or elsewhere which dld that in 1939. There was no protest agalnst the orlgln of the State of Slovakla even from some of the great powers that were in some way obllgated to Czechoslovakla. But there were protests only agalnat the occupation of Bohemia and Moravla by the Germans. Even Presldent Roosevelt, answerlng Dr. Beneš's telegram (March 16, 1939), wrote In his letter March 27, 1939, that "even though the Government of the United States is aware that the lands of Bohemla and Moravia were eccupled by the German milltary forces and are now factually under German authorlty, lt has not recognlzed thls situatlon a.s a legal condltlon." (Beneš: Memolrs, 1947). As far as Slovakla was concerned, practlcally every European State recognized Slovakia and establlshed dlplomatlc contacts wlth lt. England and Soviet Russla not excepted. Just about two montbs after the proclamatlon of Slovakla's independence the Forelgn Minister of Great Brltain ordered the fo11owlng note dellvered to the flrst Forelgn Minister ot the Slovak Republlc: Bratislava, May 4th, 1989. Your Excellency: On the lnstructlon of the Secretary of State for Forelgn Affalrs I have the honour to Inform you that Hls Majesfy's Government ln �24 SLOVAKIA the United Kingdom propose to appoint me as Consul for Slovak.ia with residence in Bratis lava. Pendlng preparation of my Commlssion I have the honour to request provlsional recognitlon by the Slovak Government of myself as His Majesty's Consul for Slovakia. I avail myself of this opportunlty to express to your Excellency the assurance of my hlghest consideration. PARES, M. P., H. M. Consul. The Slovaks in turn sent Ing. Harminc as General Consul to London to represent the Slovak Republic. The exchange of dlplomatic representatives between London and Bratislava was prevented only by war which b roke out six months after the proclamatlon of Slovak independence. Soviet Russia, wbich did not enter the war against Germany on September 1, 1939, set u p one of tbe largest embassies in Bratislava, and the flrst Russlan ambassador, G. Puškin, upon presentlng his credentials to the Presldent of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tlso, sald among other thlngs: "Presentlng to you the documents which accredit me as Extraordinary Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary, appointed by the Presidency of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, I can announce to you with joy that the nations of the Soviet Union have taken cognizance of the establishment of dlplomatic contac:ts between the Soviet Union and the Slovak Republic with deep satlsfaction. Because of the war in Europe the establishment of these contacts oversteps the framework of mutual interests of both our states." Before Moscow sent lts ambassador to Bratislava, however, the Soviet Government had notified the dlplomatic representatlve of the Czechoslovak Republic, Dr. Zdenek Fierlinger, that lt no longer regards him as a dlplomatic character. Fierlinger bimselt wrote about this as follows: "On December 14, I was called to the Forelgn Commissariat by Mr. Barkov, the Chief of the Protocol. Barkov told me that the Soviet Government regrets that it can no longer acknowledge my dlplomatic character. He added that I could remain in Moscow with my officials and their families as a private indivldual." Barkov, accor dlng to Flerlinger, even "refused to mediate a visit wlth the Commissar of Foreign Affairs" as he had also refused to send any written report for the Commissariat or any other offlcial person. So it was only by a prlvate Jetter that Fierllnger could write to the representative of Forelgn Affairs: "1 understand fully the stand taken by your Government and I am grateful for the permlssion to remaln in Moscow as a prlvate individual." (Z. Fierlinger: "Ve službách ČSR," Prague, 1947, pgs. 313-314). Pre-war France readlly recognlzed the new State in the heart of Europe, but forma! diplomatic contacts could not be established, because war had broken out. In the case or France, which recognized the Slovak Republic de facto on July 14. 1939, and de jure on April 25, 1942, an interesting detail bas been noted. Whlle the French Foreign Minister, M. Dalladler, refused to see Dr. Bene§ and negotlate wlth bim, the French General Consul in Bratislava �SLOVAKIA 25 was trying to convince the Slovak Government that an exchange of ambassadors had not taken place immediately after March 14, 1939, only because of the previous relationship between France and Czechoslovakia. The reasons concerned prestige. However, he considered an exchange of ambassadors in the near future as a selfevident matter. As the General Secretary of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party, even I had acted personally as mediator between Dalladier and the Slovak Government. Beneš referred to the incident in his MEMOIRS: • " Dalladier - when I asked for an audience - refused to see me and refused to discuss any polltical matters with me. Later he brought this matter up before the Government and supported his action with reasons for doing so." (Beneš: MEMOIRS, 1947, pg. 139). Germany and Italy also recognized Slovak.ia. The Slovak Republic was recognized by all great powers which were deciding the fate of Europe. It was recognized even by the Vatican. The western powers, who got into the conflict against Germany in September 1939, did not change thelr s tand toward Slovakia even after the war began, but only several years later (1942-1943). The decision of the western powers, of course, had no influence on the actual or legal existence of the Slovak State as far as lnternational law was concerned. For that reason the Vatican and the other neutral States did not change their relationship with Slovakia during the ent!re war-t!me perlod. The neighbors of Slovak.ia likewise did not oppose her independent status. Poland recognlzed Slovakia March 16, 1939, and Hungary on March 15, 1939. And this is espec!ally significant in the light of the conditions and tendenc!es which appeared in centra) Europe after the break-up of Austr!a-Hungary. The changes effected by the proclamation of Slovak independence concerued, in the first place, the neighbors of Slovakia from the econom!c and strategic point of view. By its hlstorical development, its position and natural resources the central European area has its own laws, needs and demands. The lndividual nat!ons of that area jealously watch so that no single nation among them might grow at the expense of the others and so disturb the natural balanc e of mllitary and economic forces. The Slovak Republic, however, f!tted into this area not as a disturbing element, but, conversely, as a fulfillment of conditions of balance and the removal of one of the s!gniflcant causes of lnstabllity of the Centro-European organizatlon. That is why even Yugoslavla and Rumania, which untll 1938 together with the Czechoslovak Republic within the framework of the Little Entente had been the pillars of the post-war organization in the Danube basin, made regular diplomatic contacts and collaborated economically with the Slovak Republic soon after it was establlshed. Bulgaria did likewlse. Among the neutra) States, besides the Vatican, which recognized the Slovak State and made diplomatlc and economlc contacts with it were Sw!tzerland and Sweden. Spaln, whlch had declared itself neutra) later, recognlzed Slovakia on May 4, 1939, and sent lts ambassador to Slovakia forthwith. Belgium accorded de facto recognition to Slovakla. �26 SLOVAKIA Other European States, thus far not mentioned, whlch recog• nlzed Slovakla were: Flnland, Denmark, Latvia, Estonla, Lithuanla, and Croatia. And States outslde of Europe: Japan, Manchuria, Chlna (Nankfag), Siam, Costa Rlca, and Ecuador. Slovakia, then, was recogn!zed by a total of 27 countries: by great powers and small powers, by neutra! States and by powers of both warrlng camps. It !s lnteresting to note that the majority or the States which granted recognitlon to Slovak!a as an inde• pendent State was on the s!de of Anglo•Russian coalltlon. The clalm that Slovakia was recognized only by Germany and its satel• lites !s, therefore, a w!llful deceptlon o! the lnternat!onal public. Seventeen of the 27 States recognizlng Slovakia fought against Germany or were neutra!. Th!s comparison is slgnlflcant not only because it uproots the falsehoods of the propaganda which presented Slovakla to the Allles as a State recognlzed only by Germany and lts satellites, but because it also conflrms - as has been shown - that F,uropean States w!thout exceptlon recognized the right of the Slovaks to an Independent existence, an Independent State. Furthermore, lt also confirms the fact that these European States did not see anything unnatural or dlsturblng in the establishment of Independent Slovakia, even though they dld see lt in the occupation of Bohemla and Moravla. In this connectlon lt !s lnterestlng to note how the League of Nat!ons regarded the collapse of Czechoslovakia. In h!s MEMOIRS, Beneš himself complalned that the General Secretary, J. Avenol, refused to 11Jace h!s protest before the League of Natlons for ortlc!al dlscusslon wlth the argument that the protest was not placed before the body the regular way, but my a "prlvate !ndlvldual." (Pg. 109). The fact that no European States protested against the existence of the independent State of Slovakia 1s lmportant, especlally when we consider that Centra! Europe was the way out of two World Wars and that its organizat!on after World War I made a powder keg out of this area, the explosl~n of which was feared for twenty years. From the Slovak standpolnt thls recognit!on of the Slovak Republic by such a Jarge number of States has the significance that the Slovaks can always point to it when demanding Slovak independence. And it 1s lmportant to remember, too, that the Slovak Republlc was proclaimed six months before the start of World War II which at the outset dlvlded the natlons of the world lnto two camps. This fact and the fact that Slovakia was placed lnto the German-Itallan sphere because of her geographlcal posltlon, prevented many other natlons from recognlzlng her dlplomatlcally, natlons which undoubtedly would have recognlzed her under more favorable condltlons. Conslderlng the spontaneity and speed wlth whlch the lndividual States re• sponded to the notlflcatlon of the proclamatlon ot Slovak lndependence and arranged d!plomatlc or consular offlces in Bratislava, tt can be correctly assumed that the Slovak Republlc would have been recognized unlversally lf the war had been delayed only a yea.r or two. Slovakia., then, was a.ccepted into the fa.mlly ot independent na• tions not only by centra! European States, but also by the great European powers. European, and especlaJJy Centra! European lnterests, correctly comprehended, could not, ot course, permit the denlal �SLOVAKIA 27 or thls rlght to one or the oldest Centra! European natlons, when thls rlght today is acknowledged even to colonlal nations and without the valldation or whlch there can hardly be any sensible talk about justlce or even a guaranteed peace. II The recognltlon ot the Slovak Republlc by such a large number of European and non-European States, desplte the tense international sltuation, was in a great measure the merit of the young Slovak dlplomacy. In order to have a complete plcture ot the internatlonal posltion ot the Slovak Republlc, lt would be well to list not only the States whlch recognlzed Slovakia and established regular diplomatlc relatlons wlth her, but also the lndlviduals who represented the Slovak natlon in the lnternatlonal forum and point out the tendencles represented by the flrst Slovak diplomata. And, of course, it ls also necessary to mention the countrles whlch did not recognize the Slovak State. As a result ot the internatlonal recognitlon of the Slovak Republic, the Slovak nag - so lgnored and trampled upon previously - for the flrst tlme in Slovak hlstory waved proudly over the Slovak dlplomatlc and consular offlces In the capltols ot almost every European State. In eternal Rome, as well as in Moscow; in the proud city of Albion, as well as In Berlin; In Warsaw, Belgrade, Sophia, Bucharest, Budapest, Berne, and Stockholm; In Helsinki, Vlenna and even over the general consulate in Prague. And in all these places, the Slovak emblem hung lndependently for the flrst tlme: lt was not attached to the emblem of St. Stephen's Crown, nor to the Czech Llon. For those who harbor a respect for the symbols of nations, thls reallty can hardly be a sentlmental one only. It has lts own deep polltlcal and moral meantng. We can evldence th!s fact best from the tlme that the Slovak flag had to be hauled down temporarily. As far as the dlplomatic representatives of the Slovak Republlc are concerned, not all were tralned for the task, because in the Czecboslovak Republlc out of 1246 offlclals In the Forelgn Service only 33 were Slovak, and only a few ot these were diplomata. HowP.ver, In the Slovak nature there are certa!n talents for th!s kind of servlce, so that even in thls fleld much ot what the past dld not allow to be done was caught up with shortly. Altogether there were three categories among Slovak dlplomatlc representatlves In leadlng posltlons: Slx former otflclals from Prague (Dr. Ivan Milecz, Dr. Joseph Cleker, Dr. Joseph Mlku!í, Dr. Plssko, Dr. Radllnský and Dr. Szatmáry); three !rom interna! polltics (Karol Sldor, Matthew Cernák and Dr. Joseph Klrschbaum); and the others came from varlous protesslons (l<'rancls Tlso. Dr. Spišiak, Dr. J. Šlmko, Dr. Zvrškovec, Tldo J . Gašpar, Dr. Galvánek, Dr. Bečko, etc). The majority ot these, therefore were men who had prepared for other tasks in llfe. But even large states, wh!ch bave a sufrlclent number of dlplomatic personnel, place persona ot other protesslons In leadlng dlplomatlc posltlons. Keeplng In mlnd the tense sltuatlon of the world at that Ume and the reality that Slovakla was practically unknown In forelgn lands and was conslstently belng presented in a bad light by anti• �28 SLOVAKIA Slovak propaganda, we must admlt that the tasks faclng the dlplomatlc representatlves of the newly establlsbed Slovak Republic were by no means easy. And yet, the Slovak diplomatic representatives - exceptlng Dr. Szatmáry - defended the rlgbt of tbe Slovak nation to its own State to the end and performed thelr tasks well in the dlplomatlc, cultural and propaganda flelds. There was one task tbey had, bowever, failed to do, and that one was probably the most lmportant one: they dld not prepare for the transfer of Slovakla to the slde of the Allles at the right time. However, lt is a bit premature to pass judgment In this matter ln view of the world sltuatlon and the present posltion of Slovakia, and especlally In view of the fact that all Slovak dlplomatlc representatives In neutra! countries, upon whom thls task fell, have not as yet been heard from. For the present we can make several general remarks and loglcal conclusions whlch emanate !rom the over-al! situation exlstlng at the end of the war and trom the tendencles that made themselves apparent wlth the All!es In general, and In the rela• tlon to Slovakla in partlcular. And from this, then, we can learn what alternatlves presented themselves to the Slovaks. After considerlng all the clrcumstances under whlch the war was waged and those under which the so•called "Natlonal Uprlslng" In Slovakia was organized Jater, thls problem looks decldedly dlfferent than lt appeared to be at flrst slght. But aslde trom tbe fact that diplomacy always only prepares the way for the pollcles of a government and is in ltself only an execut!ve organ, no other natlon had to contend with such impedlments as the Slovak natlon in the matter of transferrlng to the Allles. Let us conslder only one: When the Anglo-Saxon Allies (in 1941-1942) and the Soviet Union (1943) came out for the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republic and even concluded agreements wlth the Government of Dr. Beneš, the jolnlng of the Slovak Government and the Slovak diplomata wlth the Allles would have meant the acceptance ot Czechoslovakia - already recognized by the Allles - and the renouncing of independence. Slovak political leaders at horne and Slovak dlplomats abroad had to declde the dllemma: Elther to remain loyal to the rlght to lndependence and defend lt to the end even at the cost of great persona) sacrlflces, or to joln those who dld not recogn!ze the right of the Slovak nation to lts own State and thus secure tor themselves definlte persona! lnterests. That ls how the problem Jooked when the "Slovak Revolt" broke out in August 1944. Whlle the Itallans, Rumanians, Magyars and Bulgarlans jolned the Allles to safeguard thelr lndependence, the Jeaders of the rebelllon In Slovakla were proclalmlng the annexation of Slovakla to the Czech lands, renewlng the Czechoslovak Republic and riddlng thelr own nation of lts Independent State. The posltion of Slovakla In the war and, therefore, even the actions of Slovak dlplomats, were determlned In the over-all framework by the pollcy of the Allles themselves and in the narrower framework by the alms of the "rebelllon" In Slovakla. If it were not for thls situatlon, there would have been among the Slovak polltlcians, as well as among the Slovak dlplomats. rep• resentatlves In the lndlvldual states of Europe who would have had the polltlcal and moral Iegltimacy to speak In the name of the Slo- �SLOVAKIA 29 vak natlon. In the Vatican, one of the most important centers of world diplomacy, Slovakia was represented by Karol Sidor, whose antl-German stand cannot be disputed. The General Secretary ot the Hlinka Slovak People's Party, ousted from his off!ce by Nazl pressure, was sent to Swltzerland to represent Slovakia. In Sweden Slovakla had the career diplomat, Dr. Pissko, and In Spaln Dr. Mikuš and Dr. Cieker, both of whom were not only first-class dlplomats, but were outstandlng In their generation. It 1s evident, then, that the Slovak Republic did have people in important places abroad who were predetermined to prepare the transfer of the Slovaks to the vlctorlous camp. And undoubtedly it shall once become known that these Slovak representatlves did not lack the initlatlve, either. But there were no real possibllit!es for such a policy, if the Slovaks themselves were not to surrender their right to independence. This they could not do, because they knew that the rlghts whlch were taken away by force could always be regained, but the r!ghts which a nat!on once surrendered could never be regained. A policy that redeems apparent, temporary advantages by surrendering natural rights never did end up well. And conversely, history was wont to reward with victory the fight whlch had an upright alm. Whether the Slovak Government and the Slovak dlplomats did right by conslstently holding to their ant!-communist stand and defend!ng the lnal!enable rights of their nation, history and probably even the near future shall render a deflnite verdict. That they acted honorably and did not pursue their persona! lnterests !s already clear today. III Dr. Edward Beneš and his fo\lowers always denied the individuality of the Slovak natlon and were always opposed to Slovak autonomy. This group of Czech pol!t!clans and several indlvlduals of Slovak orlgin, who subscrlbed to the ideology of a "Czechoslovak natlon," stubbornly refused to recognize the right of the Slovaks to thelr own State and the acceptance of the Slovak Republ!c into the internat!onal commu11ity. They used all means at their disposal to misrepresent the Slovak questlon before the Allies to effect the destniction of the Slovak Republ!c and force its annexatlon to the Czech lands. Dr. Edward Beneš even attempted to deceive the Vatlcan, but did not fare s o well. In a Memorandum, sent to the Holy See on May 12, 1943, through President Roosevelt, Dr. Edward Beneš stated among other things: "The Slovak people, in its great majority, today stands without any reservations behlnd the present Czecho· slovak Government. In Slovakia pol!tical, social, economlcal and moral condlt!ons are extremely sad. The majority of the Slovak people considers the present reglme In Bratislava responsible for thls sltuatlon and as a traltor of the Slovak people and the Czechoslovak Republ!c. Former governmental Slovak parties (the Agrarians, Llberals, Soclalists) are almost completely behlnd the Czechoslovak Government and agalnst the present reglme in Slovakia, whlle the former Cathollc People's Party, which took over the rule of Slovak affalrs from the hands of the Germans In 1939, today stands - according to our reports - at least 60 per cent agalnst the present regime." (Beneš: MEMOIRS, Documents). �30 SLOVAKIA Of course, the Vatlcan knew what the actual situatlon in Slovakia was. The Slovak Government was represented at the Vatlcan, and the Holy See had its representatlve In Bratislava. Benelí was fully aware of that fact, but he thought he mlght persuade the Holy See to see things bis way, slnce lt was pretty evident at t hat tlme that he would be back in the driver's seat when the war ended. The Vatlcan's refusal to recognize bim and bis London Government made Beneš furlous. Because of the war sltuation and the fact that Slovakia fell into the Axis bloc because of its geographical posltion, the actlons of Dr. Beneš and the Czech Slovaks (Czechoslovaks l was more suc• cessful than that of the Magyars a!ter World War I who also tried to mobllize world oplnion for the return ot SlovakJa to the Magyar State. The Magyar actlon was also supported by several renegade politlcians of Slovak descent and yet it falled because the Slovak natlon was determined to live its own life. History ltself tells us that lt is only loglcal for every natlon to strive for an Independent State. The temporary victory of Dr. Beneš will not reverse the loglc of blstory. The Slovaks firmly belleve that in the end their natural rights to an independent State shall be recognlzed, as they have been recognlzed In the case of other nations. It ls only a question ot tlme and an approprlate internatlonal situatlon. If the revlslonlstlc efforts of Dr. Beneš seem to have found a greater response In Slovakla than Magyar revlsion, that certainly cannot be consldered as proof that the Slovak natlon in lts entirety, or even In lts greater part, has renounced lts right to an Independent State. The Slovak natlon was not glven the opportunlty to say whether it wants to live in lts own State or In a comon State wlth the Czechs. The Slovaks who accepted the Czechoslovak solutlon dld so out of fear emanatlng from the fate of a vanqulshed State, under the pressure of mllltary events, and In the endeavor to assure them• selves of an advantageous positlon to rule over Slovakla wlth the help of the Czechs, because they had no chance of gettlng lnto leading posltlons any other way. That thls solutlou was accepted even by the small group only out of opportunlsm !s attested to by the fact that already toward the end of 1943, when the outcome of the war was known, thls group went lnto actlon for the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republlc, stresslng at the same Ume that the renewed State would be a federatlon and the questlon of the lndl· vlduality of the Slovak nation was a reality whlch would not be debated. The Czechoslovak Republlc, therefore, was forced on the Slovak nation not only by the opportunlsm of a negliglble minority ot the· Slovak natlon whlch followed lts own egotlstlc aims and served Czech imperlallsm, but also by the lnternatlonal sltuatlon. On such foun• datlons, however, no State can exlst permanently and must perlsh uncondltlonally when the causes and clrcumstances responslble for lts exlstence dlsappear. And so, just as the recognltlon of the conception of Dr. Beneš by the western powers had a fatal lnfluence on the polltlcs of the Slovak Republ!c durlng the war, just so the fact that the Slovak Republlc was Incorporated In the Czechoslovak Republlc without �SLOVAKIA 31 regard for the will of the Slovak nation and without regard for the proclamation of the Atlantic Charter and the Charter of the United Nations has its influence on the stand of the Slovaks in the contemporary world struggle. If the Allies would have promlsed to preserve Slovak independence, as they did In the case of the Itallans, Magyars, Rumanians, Bulgarians, Finns and Austrlans - who also fought on the side of the Axis - then it would have been possible to expect that the Slovaks, too, would have found their place at the rlght time on their side. None of the aforementioned peoples lost their independent States or were forced to become members of other States, but the Slovak State was annexed to Bohemla-Moravla. It ls, therefore, self-evident that the Slovak natlon conslders the present condition as an occupation and together with lts emlgration is fighting slmultaneously for the victory of democracy over communism and the libe'ration of the Slovak Republic from SovietCzech occupation. • • • WHO SAID IT? "We shaU be eternally gra,teful to those who helped us, above all our great Slav brother, the SOVIET UNION. This gra,titude, bow• ever, must not permit us mto belleving all ls won because we have so powerful an ally. We must arrange our lives in such a way that we may never become a burden to those who are bound to us by alliance or friend&hlp. On the contrary our frien ds must be ma'de to feel that they have galned a loyal and effectíve ally worthy or sucb an alllance." - (Jaroslav Stränsky, Minister ot J ustlce, Mass meeting In Most, June 19, 1945). • • "Personally I trust the Russdans; they thin k as they apeak. I oelieve that they wiH cooperate fully wlth England and Amerlca. They will hold strlctly to the declsions of the Teheran Conference to guarant&e the peace for several genera,tions. I do not bel!eve that Russia wili lnterfere in the interna! aftail'S of tts neighbors. 1 a ssure you that Stalin ia w illing to confirm his statement t hat he ia completely against all efforts t o force communistic pri nci ples on the Danublan countri es." (Dr. Benes, Interview with Charles Goley, London "DAIL Y EXPRIDSS," 3-13-44). • "Our pos!tion in Europe 1s ditferent from that m 1918. Today we are approaching far-reaching revolution. Our whole world is changlng. This war has formed a solid and impregnable bloc of Slav nations and states. T oday there ia t he RED A RM Y, the a rm y of Marahall TITO, b rave Pollsh dlvlalons a nd the Czechoslovak P EOP L E'S a rmy, a nd lf all t hoae forcea a re put t ogethe r we s ha ll ha ve SOM E SAY in Europe." - (2ldenek Nejedlý, Minister of Educ811.ion, Address to Physlcal Trainlng Soclet!es, Prague, May 31, 1945) . • The bellef that Czechoslovakla la a part of Russla or t hat t he Russiana a re DICTATING t o ua la not t rue. And you do n't flnd a Rua. sian soldier In our whole c ountry." - Stanislav Novak, Czech Consul, CLEVELAND PRESS, 8-19-46). � 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 INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC DR. JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Because of years of relentless propaganda by Czech emigres and the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republic by the merits of the Soviet Union, the origin of the Slovak Republic and its incorporation into the European organization is often placed in a bad light even by persons and nations who a priori do not have an unfavorable opinion of the Slovak efforts for independence. In the interest of the truth, it will not be amiss to answer the question of how European public opinion and the governments of European states received the proclamation of Slovak independence. The question is all the more significant when we consider that changes of the map of Europe are not and never were indifferent to the European nations and especially to the great powers, and that the Slovak Republic was proclaimed in a period of peace. European nations, therefore, had an unhindered opportunity of taking a stand to the newly established State and that in a two-fold manner: 1. By not recognizing the new State and refusing to establish diplomatic contacts with the Slovak Republic. 2. All States, and especially those which guaranteed the independence and integrity of the Czechoslovak Republic after Munich, had the opportunity, by peaceful means or by war, of making the existence of the Slovak State impossible and renewing the old state of affairs. What happened In the case of Slovakia? There was not a single state in Europe or elsewhere which did that in 1939. There was no protest against the origin of the State of Slovakia even from some of the great powers that were in some way obligated to Czechoslovakia. But there were protests only against the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia by the Germans. Even President Roosevelt, answering Dr. Beneš's telegram (March 16, 1939), wrote in his letter March 27, 1939, that "even though the Government of the United States is aware that the lands of Bohemia and Moravia were occupied by the German military forces and are now factually under German authority, it has not recognized this situation as a legal condition." (Beneš: Memoirs, 1947). As far as Slovakia was concerned, practically every European State recognized Slovakia and established diplomatic contacts with lt. England and Soviet Russia not excepted. Just about two months after the proclamation of Slovakia’s independence the Foreign Minister of Great Britain ordered the following note delivered to the first Foreign Minister of the Slovak Republic: Bratislava, May 4th, 1989. Your Excellency: On the instruction of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs I have the honour to Inform you that His Majesty’s Government ln the United Kingdom propose to appoint me as Consul for Slovakia with residence in Bratislava. Pending preparation of my Commission I have the honour to request provisional recognition by the Slovak Government of myself as His Majesty's Consul for Slovakia. I avail myself of this opportunity to express to your Excellency the assurance of my highest consideration. PARES, M. P., H. M. Consul. The Slovaks in turn sent Ing. Harminc as General Consul to London to represent the Slovak Republic. The exchange of diplomatic representatives between London and Bratislava was prevented only by war which broke out six months after the proclamation of Slovak independence. Soviet Russia, which did not enter the war against Germany on September 1, 1939, set up one of the largest embassies in Bratislava, and the first Russian ambassador, G. Puškin, upon presenting his credentials to the President of the Slovak Republic, Dr. Joseph Tiso, said among other things: "Presenting to you the documents which accredit me as Extra­ordinary Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary, appointed by the Presidency of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, I can announce to you with joy that the nations of the Soviet Union have taken cognizance of the establishment of diplomatic contacts between the Soviet Union and the Slovak Republic with deep satisfaction. Because of the war in Europe the establishment of these contacts oversteps the framework of mutual interests of both our states." Before Moscow sent its ambassador to Bratislava, however, the Soviet Government had notified the diplomatic representative of the Czechoslovak Republic, Dr. Zdenek Fierlinger, that it no longer regards him as a diplomatic character. Fierlinger himself wrote about this as follows: "On December 14, I was called to the Foreign Commissariat by Mr. Barkov, the Chief of the Protocol. Barkov told me that the Soviet Government regrets that it can no longer acknowledge my diplomatic character. He added that I could remain in Moscow with my officials and their families as a private individual." Barkov, according to Fierlinger, even "refused to mediate a visit with the Commissar of Foreign Affairs" as he had also refused to send any written report for the Commissariat or any other official person. So it was only by a private letter that Fierlinger could write to the representative of Foreign Affairs: "I understand fully the stand taken by your Government and I am grateful for the permission to remain in Moscow as a private individual." (Z. Fierlinger: "Ve službách ČSR," Prague, 1947, pgs. 313-314). Pre-war France readily recognized the new State in the heart of Europe, but formal diplomatic contacts could not be established, because war had broken out. In the case of France, which recog­nized the Slovak Republic de facto on July 14. 1939, and de jure on April 25, 1942, an interesting detail bas been noted. While the French Foreign Minister, M. Dalladier, refused to see Dr. Beneš and negotiate with him, the French General Consul in Bratislava was trying to convince the Slovak Government that an exchange of ambassadors had not taken place immediately after March 14, 1939, only because of the previous relationship between France and Czechoslovakia. The reasons concerned prestige. However, he con­sidered an exchange of ambassadors in the near future as a self-evident matter. As the General Secretary of the Hlinka Slovak Peo­ple's Party, even I had acted personally as mediator between Dalladier and the Slovak Government. Beneš referred to the incident in his MEMOIRS: "Dalladier - when I asked for an audience -refused to see me and refused to discuss any political matters with me. Later he brought this matter up before the Government and supported his action with reasons for doing so." (Beneš: MEMOIRS, 1947, pg. 139). Germany and Italy also recognized Slovakia. The Slovak Republic was recognized by all great powers which were deciding the fate of Europe. It was recognized even by the Vatican. The western powers, who got into the conflict against Germany in September 1939, did not change their stand toward Slovakia even after the war began, but only several years later (1942-1943). The decision of the western powers, of course, had no influence on the actual or legal existence of the Slovak State as far as international law was concerned. For that reason the Vatican and the other neutral States did not change their relationship with Slovakia during the entire war-time period. The neighbors of Slovakia likewise did not oppose her inde­pendent status. Poland recognized Slovakia March 16, 1939, and Hungary on March 15, 1939. And this is especially significant in the light of the conditions and tendencies which appeared in centra) Europe after the break-up of Austria-Hungary. The changes effected by the proclamation of Slovak independence concerned, in the first place, the neighbors of Slovakia from the economic and strategic point of view. By its historical development, its position and natu­ral resources the central European area has its own laws, needs and demands. The individual nations of that area jealously watch so that no single nation among them might grow at the expense of the others and so disturb the natural balance of military and economic forces. The Slovak Republic, however, fitted into this area not as a disturbing element, but, conversely, as a fulfillment of conditions of balance and the removal of one of the significant causes of instability of the Centro-European organization. That is why even Yugoslavia and Rumania, which until 1938 together with the Czechoslovak Republic within the framework of the Little Entente had been the pillars of the post-war organization in the Danube basin, made regular diplomatic contacts and collaborated economically with the Slovak Republic soon after it was established. Bulgaria did likewise. Among the neutral States, besides the Vatican, which recognized the Slovak State and made diplomatic and economic contacts with it were Switzerland and Sweden. Spain, which had declared itself neutral later, recognized Slovakia on May 4, 1939, and sent its ambassador to Slovakia forthwith. Belgium accorded de facto recognition to Slovakia. Other European States, thus far not mentioned, which recognized Slovakia were: Finland, Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Croatia. And States outside of Europe: Japan, Manchuria, China (Nanking), Siam, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. Slovakia, then, was recognized by a total of 27 countries: by great powers and small powers, by neutral States and by powers of both warring camps. It is interesting to note that the majority or the States which granted recognition to Slovakia as an independent State was on the side of Anglo-Russian coalition. The claim that Slovakia was recognized only by Germany and its satellites is, therefore, a willful deception of the international public. Seventeen of the 27 States recognizing Slovakia fought against Germany or were neutral. This comparison is significant not only because it uproots the falsehoods of the propaganda which presented Slovakia to the Allies as a State recognized only by Germany and its satellites, but because it also confirms - as has been shown - that European States without exception recognized the right of the Slovaks to an inde­pendent existence, an Independent State. Furthermore, it also confirms the fact that these European States did not see anything unnatural or disturbing in the establishment of Independent Slova­kia, even though they did see it in the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. In this connection it is interesting to note how the League of Nations regarded the collapse of Czechoslovakia. In his MEMOIRS, Beneš himself complained that the General Secretary, J. Avenol, refused to place his protest before the League of Nations for official discussion with the argument that the protest was not placed before the body the regular way, but my a "private individual." (Pg. 109). The fact that no European States protested against the existence of the independent State of Slovakia is important, especially when we consider that Central Europe was the way out of two World Wars and that its organization after World War I made a powder keg out of this area, the explosion of which was feared for twenty years. From the Slovak standpoint this recognition of the Slovak Republic by such a large number of States has the significance that the Slovaks can always point to it when demanding Slovak independence. And it is important to remember, too, that the Slovak Republic was proclaimed six months before the start of World War II which at the outset divided the nations of the world into two camps. This fact and the fact that Slovakia was placed into the German-Italian sphere because of her geographical position, prevented many other nations from recognizing her diplomatically, nations which undoubtedly would have recognized her under more favorable conditions. Considering the spontaneity and speed with which the individual States responded to the notification of the proclamation of Slovak independence and arranged diplomatic or consular offices in Bratislava, it can be correctly assumed that the Slovak Republic would have been recognized universally if the war had been delayed only a year or two. Slovakia., then, was accepted into the family of independent nations not only by central European States, but also by the great European powers. European, and especially Central European interests correctly comprehended, could not, of course, permit the denial of this right to one of the oldest Central European nations, when this right today is acknowledged even to colonial nations and without the validation of which there can hardly be any sensible talk about justice or even a guaranteed peace. II The recognition of the Slovak Republic by such a large number of European and non-European States, despite the tense international situation, was in a great measure the merit of the young Slovak diplomacy. In order to have a complete picture of the international position of the Slovak Republic, it would be well to list not only the States which recognized Slovakia and established regular diplomatic relations with her, but also the individuals who represented the Slovak nation in the international forum and point out the tendencies represented by the first Slovak diplomats. And, of course, it is also necessary to mention the countries which did not recognize the Slovak State. As a result of the international recognition of the Slovak Republic, the Slovak flag - so ignored and trampled upon previously - for the first time in Slovak history waved proudly over the Slovak diplomatic and consular offices In the capitols of almost every European State. In eternal Rome, as well as in Moscow; in the proud city of Albion, as well as in Berlin; in Warsaw, Belgrade, Sophia, Bucharest, Budapest, Berne, and Stockholm; in Helsinki, Vienna and even over the general consulate in Prague. And in all these places, the Slovak emblem hung independently for the first time: it was not attached to the emblem of St. Stephen's Crown, nor to the Czech Lion. For those who harbor a respect for the symbols of nations, this reality can hardly be a sentimental one only. It has its own deep political and moral meaning. We can evidence this fact best from the time that the Slovak flag had to be hauled down temporarily. As far as the diplomatic representatives of the Slovak Republic are concerned, not all were trained for the task, because in the Czechoslovak Republic out of 1246 officials in the Foreign Service only 33 were Slovak, and only a few of these were diplomats. However, in the Slovak nature there are certain talents for this kind of service, so that even in this field much of what the past did not allow to be done was caught up with shortly. Altogether there were three categories among Slovak diplomatic representatives in leading positions: Six former officials from Prague (Dr. Ivan Milecz, Dr. Joseph Cleker, Dr. Joseph Mlkuš, Dr. Plssko, Dr. Radlinský and Dr. Szatmáry); three from internal politics (Karol Sidor, Matthew Černak and Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum); and the others came from various professions (Francis Tiso. Dr. Spišiak, Dr. J. Šimko, Dr. Zvrškovec, Tido J. Gašpar, Dr. Galvánek, Dr. Becko, etc). The majority of these, therefore were men who had prepared for other tasks in life. But even large states, which have a sufficient number of diplomatic personnel, place persona of other professions in leading diplomatic positions. Keeping in mind the tense situation of the world at that Ume and the reality that Slovakia was practically unknown in foreign lands and was consistently being presented in a bad light by anti=Slovak propaganda, we must admit that the tasks facing the diplomatic representatives of the newly established Slovak Republic were by no means easy. And yet, the Slovak diplomatic representatives -excepting Dr. Szatmáry - defended the right of the Slovak nation to its own State to the end and performed their tasks well in the diplomatic, cultural and propaganda fields. There was one task they had, however, failed to do, and that one was probably the most important one: they did not prepare for the transfer of Slovakia to the side of the Allies at the right time. However, it is a bit premature to pass judgment in this matter ln view of the world situation and the present position of Slovakia, and especially in view of the fact that all Slovak diplomatic representatives in neutral countries, upon whom this task fell, have not as yet been heard from. For the present we can make several general remarks and logical conclusions which emanate from the over-all situation existing at the end of the war and from the tendencies that made themselves apparent with the Allies in general, and in the relation to Slovakia in particular. And from this, then, we can learn what alternatives presented themselves to the Slovaks. After considering all the circumstances under which the war was waged and those under which the so-called "National Uprising" in Slovakia was organized later, this problem looks decidedly different than it appeared to be at first sight. But aside from the fact that diplomacy always only prepares the way for the policies of a government and is in itself only an executive organ, no other nation had to contend with such impediments as the Slovak nation in the matter of transferring to the Allies. Let us consider only one: When the Anglo-Saxon Allies (in 1941-1942) and the Soviet Union (1943) came out for the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republic and even concluded agreements with the Government of Dr. Beneš, the joining of the Slovak Government and the Slovak diplomats with the Allies would have meant the acceptance of Czechoslovakia - already recognized by the Allies - and the renouncing of independence. Slovak political leaders at home and Slovak diplomats abroad had to decide the dilemma: Either to remain loyal to the right to independence and defend it to the end even at the cost of great personal sacrifices, or to join those who did not recognize the right of the Slovak nation to its own State and thus secure tor themselves definite personal interests. That is how the problem looked when the "Slovak Revolt" broke out in August 1944. While the Italians, Rumanians, Magyars and Bulgarians joined the Allies to safeguard their independence, the leaders of the rebellion in Slovakia were proclaiming the annexation of Slovakia to the Czech lands, renewing the Czechoslovak Republic and ridding their own nation of its independent State. The position of Slovakia in the war and, therefore, even the actions of Slovak diplomats, were determined in the over-all framework by the policy of the Allies themselves and in the narrower framework by the alms of the "rebellion" in Slovakia. If it were not for this situation, there would have been among the Slovak politicians, as well as among the Slovak diplomats. representatives in the individual states of Europe who would have had the political and moral Legitimacy to speak in the name of the Slovak nation. In the Vatican, one of the most important centers of world diplomacy, Slovakia was represented by Karol Sidor, whose anti-German stand cannot be disputed. The General Secretary of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party, ousted from his office by Nazi pressure, was sent to Switzerland to represent Slovakia. In Sweden Slovakia had the career diplomat, Dr. Pissko, and in Spain Dr. Mikuš and Dr. Cieker, both of whom were not only first-class diplomats, but were outstanding in their generation. It is evident, then, that the Slovak Republic did have people in important places abroad who were predetermined to prepare the transfer of the Slovaks to the victorious camp. And undoubtedly it shall once become known that these Slovak representatives did not lack the initiative, either. But there were no real possibilities for such a policy, if the Slovaks themselves were not to surrender their right to independence. This they could not do, because they knew that the rights which were taken away by force could always be regained, but the rights which a nation once surrendered could never be regained. A policy that redeems apparent, temporary advantages by surrendering natural rights never did end up well. And conversely, history was wont to reward with victory the fight which had an upright aim. Whether the Slovak Government and the Slovak diplomats did right by consistently holding to their anti-communist stand and defending the inalienable rights of their nation, history and probably even the near future shall render a definite verdict. That they acted honorably and did not pursue their personal interests is already clear today. III Dr. Edward Beneš and his followers always denied the individuality of the Slovak nation and were always opposed to Slovak autonomy. This group of Czech politicians and several individuals of Slovak origin, who subscribed to the ideology of a "Czechoslovak nation," stubbornly refused to recognize the right of the Slovaks to their own State and the acceptance of the Slovak Republic into the international community. They used all means at their disposal to misrepresent the Slovak question before the Allies to effect the destruction of the Slovak Republic and force its annexation to the Czech lands. Dr. Edward Beneš even attempted to deceive the Vatican, but did not fare so well. In a Memorandum, sent to the Holy See on May 12, 1943, through President Roosevelt, Dr. Edward Beneš stated among other things: "The Slovak people, in its great majority, today stands without any reservations behind the present Czechoslovak Government. In Slovakia political, social, economical and moral conditions are extremely sad. The majority of the Slovak people considers the present regime in Bratislava responsible for this situation and as a traitor of the Slovak people and the Czechoslovak Republic. Former governmental Slovak parties (the Agrarians, Liberals, Socialists) are almost completely behind the Czechoslovak Government and against the present regime in Slovakia, while the former Catholic People's Party, which took over the rule of Slovak affairs from the hands of the Germans in 1939, today stands - according to our reports - at least 60 per cent against the present regime." (Beneš: MEMOIRS, Documents). Of course, the Vatican knew what the actual situation in Slovakia was. The Slovak Government was represented at the Vatican, and the Holy See had its representative in Bratislava. Beneš was fully aware of that fact, but he thought he might persuade the Holy See to see things his way, since it was pretty evident at that time that he would be back in the driver's seat when the war ended. The Vatican’s refusal to recognize him and his London Government made Beneš furious. Because of the war situation and the fact that Slovakia fell into the Axis bloc because of its geographical position, the actions of Dr. Beneš and the Czech Slovaks (Czechoslovaks) was more successful than that of the Magyars after World War I who also tried to mobilize world opinion for the return of Slovakia to the Magyar State. The Magyar action was also supported by several renegade politicians of Slovak descent and yet it failed because the Slovak nation was determined to live its own life. History itself tells us that it is only logical for every nation to strive for an independent State. The temporary victory of Dr. Beneš will not reverse the logic of history. The Slovaks firmly believe that in the end their natural rights to an independent State shall be recognized, as they have been recognized in the case of other nations. It is only a question of time and an appropriate international situation. If the revisionist efforts of Dr. Beneš seem to have found a greater response in Slovakia than Magyar revision, that certainly cannot be considered as proof that the Slovak nation in its entirety, or even in its greater part, has renounced its right to an independent State. The Slovak nation was not given the opportunity to say whether it wants to live in its own State or in a comon State with the Czechs. The Slovaks who accepted the Czechoslovak solution did so out of fear emanating from the fate of a vanquished State, under the pressure of military events, and in the endeavor to assure themselves of an advantageous position to rule over Slovakia with the help of the Czechs, because they had no chance of getting into leading positions any other way. That this solution was accepted even by the small group only out of opportunism is attested to by the fact that already toward the end of 1943, when the outcome of the war was known, this group went into action for the renewal of the Czechoslovak Republic, stressing at the same time that the renewed State would be a federation and the question of the individuality of the Slovak nation was a reality which would not be debated. The Czechoslovak Republic, therefore, was forced on the Slovak nation not only by the opportunism of a negligible minority of the Slovak nation which followed its own egotistic aims and served Czech imperialism, but also by the international situation. On such foundations, however, no State can exist permanently and must perish unconditionally when the causes and circumstances responsible for its existence disappear. And so, just as the recognition of the conception of Dr. Beneš by the western powers had a fatal influence on the politics of the Slovak Republic during the war, just so the fact that the Slovak Republic was Incorporated in the Czechoslovak Republic without regard for the will of the Slovak nation and without regard for the proclamation of the Atlantic Charter and the Charter of the United Nations has its influence on the stand of the Slovaks in the con­temporary world struggle. If the Allies would have promised to preserve Slovak independ­ence, as they did in the case of the Italians, Magyars, Rumanians, Bulgarians, Finns and Australians - who also fought on the side of the Axis - then it would have been possible to expect that the Slovaks, too, would have found their place at the right time on their side. None of the aforementioned peoples lost their independent States or were forced to become members of other States, but the Slovak State was annexed to Bohemia-Moravia. It is, therefore, self-evident that the Slovak nation considers the present condition as an occupation and together with its emigration is fighting simultaneously for the victory of democracy over communism and the liberation of the Slovak Republic from Soviet-Czech occupation. WHO SAID IT? "We shall be eternally grateful to those who helped us, above all our great Slav brother, the SOVIET UNION. This gratitude, however, must not permit us into believing all is won because we have so powerful an ally. We must arrange our lives in such a way that we may never become a burden to those who are bound to us by alliance or friendship. On the contrary our friends must be made to feel that they have gained a loyal and effective ally worthy or such an alliance." - (Jaroslav Stránsky, Minister of Justice, Mass meeting in Most, June 19, 1945). • "Personally I trust the Russians; they think as they speak. I believe that they will cooperate fully with England and America. They will hold strictly to the decisions of the Teheran Conference to guarantee the peace for several generations. I do not believe that Russia will interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors. I assure you that Stalin is willing to confirm his statement that he is completely against all efforts to force communistic principles on the Danubian countries." - (Dr. Beneš, Interview with Charles Goley, London "DAILY EXPRIDSS," 3-13-44). • "Our position in Europe is different from that in 1918. Today we are approaching far-reaching revolution. Our whole world is changing. This war has formed a solid and impregnable bloc of Slav nations and states. Today there is the RED ARMY, the army of Marshall TITO, brave Polish divisions and the Czechoslovak PEOPLE'S army, and if all those forces are put together we shall have SOME SAY in Europe." - (Zdenek Nejedlý Minister of Education, Address to Physical Training Societies, Prague, May 31, 1945). • The belief that Czechoslovakia is a part of Russia or that the Russians are DICTATING to us is not true. And you don't find a Russian soldier in our whole country." - Stanislav Novak, Czech Consul, CLEVELAND PRESS, 8-19-46). 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 International Recognition of the Slovak Republic Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1), May 1951 pp. 23-31 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 1951 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0e288919931653c213b5dfb2bc8b66b7.pdf 5ecf60cf00d39a547b0345c02ae54c5a PDF Text Text 56 SLOVAKIA must ever oppose the creatlon ot a free and independent Slovakla. Well, the Slovaks flgure they shall have somethlng to say about the matter, as rightly they should have. And no one can blame them for wantlng to live thelr own 11ves and belng masters of thelr destlny. The Slovaks know, too, that the "Czech Slovaks" - the Slovak traltors - are no less dangerous than the lmperlalistlc Beneli C:techs. They are the Janlssarles. The Slovaks do not underestlmate the Czechs, who have been and stm are pJytng a systematlc politlco· dlplomatlc game, the goal ot whJch 1s the denlal and suppresslon of the natural and fundamental rlghts of the Slovak natlon. One day world CÔmmunlsm shall be llquldated. And Czechoslovaklsm, the handmald or Communlsm, must be llquldated also. The fiction of an ethnlcal "Czechoslovak natlon" must be dlscarded for all tlmes. Czechoslovakla was a mlstake, an llluslon, politlcally and mo• rally an unprofltable creatlon, but for the Czechs lt stm ls a reality and an Idea!. The Slovaks are aware of thls and are just as determlned that they shall never again be subject to the rule of the Czechs when the plague or Communlsm ls vanquished. • • • OUR FIGHT FOR DEMOORACY AND INDEPENDENCE DR. JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Slnce 1945 Slovaks In emlgratlon have frequently stated that the goal of thelr struggle ls a democratlc and Independent Slovakla. The leaders of Slovak exlles can support thelr declaratlons not only by thelr IJfetlme flght agalnst communlsm, but also by thelr reslstance to eftorts to lntroduce the nazl system in Slovakla. The group whlch later collaborated wlth the communlsts - the so-called "Czechoslovaks" (Czech Slovaks ! ) - cannot and should not be counted among t.he patrlotlc Slovaks who opposed the nazl avalanche from 194Q. Hllnka's Slovak Peoples Party, headed by Presldent Joseph Tlso, fought agalnst nazlsm and communlsm then, and today the members of that party in exile form the flrst flghting line agalnst communlsm. lt ls a fact that after the meeting ln Salzburg In 1940, when the group around Prof. Tuka attempted to force Natlonal Soclallsm on the Slovaks In the attempt to prevent drastlc interventlon by the Cermans In Slovak public llfe, lt was not the present adherents ot Czechoslavakla (the so-called "Czechoslovaks") - later the self-styled "antl-fasclst warrlors" - who lost thelr hlgh posltlons, but the leaders ot Slovak natlonal emigratlon. That the attempt to force Natlonal Soclallsm on the Slovaks falled, that, too, cannot be credlted to those who today denounce Slovaks In exlle as fasclsts and nazls. At that Ume most ot the "Czech Slovaks" were busy gettlng fat jobs, waxing rich and llving In luxury. Thelr maln worry was not to !ose the favor ot the reglme. Thelr tlrst attempts to "revolt" dld not happen In 1939 or 1940, but only In 1944, when the outcome of the war was pretty clear. But even then they were not lnterested In flghtlng tor democracy, but rather In flghtlng to retaln the rlches and the high functlons they had attalned In the Slovak State. The few persons among them who fought for democracy and Slovak lnterests are even today flghtlng, at home and abroad, for an Independent, democratlc Slovak republlc. �SLOVAKIA 57 Many Slovaks In varlous Iands may be tempted to ask: How, then, 1s lt posslble to explaln thls relentless campalgn agalnst Slovak na· tlonals In emlgratlon, the attempts to smear and dlscredlt them In the eyes of the world? The answer 1s slmple. Thls whole undemocratlc assault agalnst patrlotlc Slovaks, flght• Ing In exile for an Independent Slovak State, emanates baslcally from two causes: 1. The "Czechoslovaks," servlng Czech imperlal lnterests by be• traylng the highest lnterests of thelr own people, wlsh to divert attention from thelr collaboratlon wlth communlsm by smearlng and vllifylng patrlotlc Slovaks. 2. By accuslng patrlotlc Slovaks In democratlc countrles of nazlsm and fascism, a part of the Czech emlgrants and the Slovak renegades collaboratlng wlth them, flgure that they can neutralize thelr flght for an Independent Slovak State and force the Slovaks agaln under Czech rule. Those Czech and Slovak emlgrants who clalm that Slovak na• tionals want a fasclst or nazl state know very well that 1s not true. They propagate thls Ile lntentlonally and systematlcally In the hope that by repeatlng lt thousands of tlmes they shall agaln succeed In convlnclng the world that the Slovak natlon does not want to live in a state of lts own, but only In thelr Czecho-Slovakia. They are '4etermined that the Slovaks shall be vlctlms of Czech lmperiallstic efforts and Slovakla shall be a colony of Bohemla. In short: al! Slovaks who belleve that Slovakla has a rlght to be free and Independent and seek to bave that rlght recognlzed and respected by all clvillzed natlons of the earth are, according to the Beneš Czechs and Czech Slovaks, "nazis, traltors, fasclsts, enemles or democracy," etc. In 1946, Dr. Edward Beneš frankly told a Slovak delegatlon why the Czechs are fightlng agalnst Slovak lndependence, when he sald: "The Czechs cannot accept under any circum1tance1 an independent Slovakla in the future . . . . The Czechs, having on the one side 70 million Germans, must on the other aide have Ru11ia as their neighbor. Therefore, they could not accept an independent Slovakia. Thia ia a vital problem for the exiatence of the Czechs as a nation and a state and that ia also the le11on of Munich..•." Czech emlgratlon, holding to thls polltlcal legacy of Beneš, reallzes that the greatest lmpedlment to lts efforts are patrlotlc Slo· vaks In exile. Slovaks can appreciate Benei's concern for the Czecha, but they, too, are concerned about thelr own national existence. The statement made by Beneš certalnly has nothlng In common with democracy. It remlnds us of Adolph Hitler who thought that all natlons of centra) and eastern Europe should be deprlved of freedom and In• dependence and forced to serve the lnterests of the German natlon. It also remlnds us of Stalln who would enslave the whole world and force all natlons to serve the lnterests of godless communlsm. Slovak patrlots stand In the way of thls Czech lmperlallst dream. so the followers or Beneš are determlned to annlhllate them at all costs. That explalns why they accuse the Slovaks of belng nazls and fasclsts. That also explains thelr rldlculous accus atlon that the Slo- �58 SLOVA:KIA vaks in exile are not fighting for democracy, but for the renewal ot fasclsm In centra! Europe. Undoubtedly it is not necessary to stress that thls flght agalnst Slovak emigrants 1s immoral and undemocratlc, because lts goal is immoral and undemocratlc. To want to deprive the S lovak nation of the right to freedom and independence because the interests of the Czechs "as a nation and a state" demand it, that is a manifestatlon of the most brutal lmperialism - such as even the Germans did not perpetrate against the Slovaks. Can anyone of sane mind expect the Slovaks In exile to agree to commit national sulclde? It !s not so much the past that separates the Slovaks and Czechs in emigration as the fact that while the Slovak exiles are fighting for freedom and democracy In centra! Europe, the Czech exlles headed by Zenkl, Ripka and Papánek are fighting, in the first place, to prevent the Slovaks from attaining freedom and independence. The main task of the Czech exiles is not the fight against Communism, but the fight against the Slovaks, who want the Slovak natlon to be fully free and happy in lts own democratic state. • • • WHO SAID IT ? "Slmul<taneously we accepted the principle tha,t only our people e.t home have the righit to dedde the maln problems o! our Interne.! policy, and Lhat also the relation between the Cechs and Slovaks be decided in the future state only a,t home, based on the princíple of C.OMPLETE EQUALITY Of both Czechs and Slove.ka and that it be done in a free, democratic way and In complete brotherly agreement. These were the maln prlnciples on whlch we have bullt our movement for liberation. This ideology of our struggle !or Jiberat!on, CONNECTED WITH OUR COMPLETE PRO-SOVIET ORIENTATION, and our ideology or the second World War In general was one of the main causes !or the success or the entire 81.ruggle." - (Dr. Beneš, Broadcaat to the Czechoslovak people, Prague, May 16, 1946) . • There 1s no Russian "iron curtain" in Czechoslovakia. . . . Every. one is free to enter Czechoslovakia and to come and go as he pleases, to see what he wants to see and hear what he wants to hear. Further. more Czechs and Slovaks are MAST ERS in their own country. T here is no Russlan army on Czechoslovak soil and Moscow IS NOT INTERFERING with Czechoslovak interna! affairs. . . . The press, radio, the school and the church are FREE to carry on their activities AS BEFORE." - (Dr. Kenneth D. Milier, president o! the New Yvrk City Mlsslon Society, In an address at the weekly church nlght dinner at the First Presb)"tertan Church, 124 Henry Street, New York City, published In tihe BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, Nov. 12, 1947) . • "I agree wlth you rully that our alllance with the SOVIET UNION will belp us to a better secur ity or FREEDOM in t he future, and I am happy to have seen our politlcal orlentatir FROM THE BEGINNING OF THIS WAR and to have acted accordlngly." - (Dr. Beneš, Reply to a message from the Slov-ak Natlonal Council In Košice, London, March 2, 1946). � 56 SLOVAKIA must ever oppose the creatlon ot a free and independent Slovakla. Well, the Slovaks flgure they shall have somethlng to say about the matter, as rightly they should have. And no one can blame them for wantlng to live thelr own 11ves and belng masters of thelr destlny. The Slovaks know, too, that the "Czech Slovaks" - the Slovak traltors - are no less dangerous than the lmperlalistlc Beneli C:techs. They are the Janlssarles. The Slovaks do not underestlmate the Czechs, who have been and stm are pJytng a systematlc politlco· dlplomatlc game, the goal ot whJch 1s the denlal and suppresslon of the natural and fundamental rlghts of the Slovak natlon. One day world CÔmmunlsm shall be llquldated. And Czechoslovaklsm, the handmald or Communlsm, must be llquldated also. The fiction of an ethnlcal "Czechoslovak natlon" must be dlscarded for all tlmes. Czechoslovakla was a mlstake, an llluslon, politlcally and mo• rally an unprofltable creatlon, but for the Czechs lt stm ls a reality and an Idea!. The Slovaks are aware of thls and are just as determlned that they shall never again be subject to the rule of the Czechs when the plague or Communlsm ls vanquished. • • • OUR FIGHT FOR DEMOORACY AND INDEPENDENCE DR. JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Slnce 1945 Slovaks In emlgratlon have frequently stated that the goal of thelr struggle ls a democratlc and Independent Slovakla. The leaders of Slovak exlles can support thelr declaratlons not only by thelr IJfetlme flght agalnst communlsm, but also by thelr reslstance to eftorts to lntroduce the nazl system in Slovakla. The group whlch later collaborated wlth the communlsts - the so-called "Czechoslovaks" (Czech Slovaks ! ) - cannot and should not be counted among t.he patrlotlc Slovaks who opposed the nazl avalanche from 194Q. Hllnka's Slovak Peoples Party, headed by Presldent Joseph Tlso, fought agalnst nazlsm and communlsm then, and today the members of that party in exile form the flrst flghting line agalnst communlsm. lt ls a fact that after the meeting ln Salzburg In 1940, when the group around Prof. Tuka attempted to force Natlonal Soclallsm on the Slovaks In the attempt to prevent drastlc interventlon by the Cermans In Slovak public llfe, lt was not the present adherents ot Czechoslavakla (the so-called "Czechoslovaks") - later the self-styled "antl-fasclst warrlors" - who lost thelr hlgh posltlons, but the leaders ot Slovak natlonal emigratlon. That the attempt to force Natlonal Soclallsm on the Slovaks falled, that, too, cannot be credlted to those who today denounce Slovaks In exlle as fasclsts and nazls. At that Ume most ot the "Czech Slovaks" were busy gettlng fat jobs, waxing rich and llving In luxury. Thelr maln worry was not to !ose the favor ot the reglme. Thelr tlrst attempts to "revolt" dld not happen In 1939 or 1940, but only In 1944, when the outcome of the war was pretty clear. But even then they were not lnterested In flghtlng tor democracy, but rather In flghtlng to retaln the rlches and the high functlons they had attalned In the Slovak State. The few persons among them who fought for democracy and Slovak lnterests are even today flghtlng, at home and abroad, for an Independent, democratlc Slovak republlc. �SLOVAKIA 57 Many Slovaks In varlous Iands may be tempted to ask: How, then, 1s lt posslble to explaln thls relentless campalgn agalnst Slovak na· tlonals In emlgratlon, the attempts to smear and dlscredlt them In the eyes of the world? The answer 1s slmple. Thls whole undemocratlc assault agalnst patrlotlc Slovaks, flght• Ing In exile for an Independent Slovak State, emanates baslcally from two causes: 1. The "Czechoslovaks," servlng Czech imperlal lnterests by be• traylng the highest lnterests of thelr own people, wlsh to divert attention from thelr collaboratlon wlth communlsm by smearlng and vllifylng patrlotlc Slovaks. 2. By accuslng patrlotlc Slovaks In democratlc countrles of nazlsm and fascism, a part of the Czech emlgrants and the Slovak renegades collaboratlng wlth them, flgure that they can neutralize thelr flght for an Independent Slovak State and force the Slovaks agaln under Czech rule. Those Czech and Slovak emlgrants who clalm that Slovak na• tionals want a fasclst or nazl state know very well that 1s not true. They propagate thls Ile lntentlonally and systematlcally In the hope that by repeatlng lt thousands of tlmes they shall agaln succeed In convlnclng the world that the Slovak natlon does not want to live in a state of lts own, but only In thelr Czecho-Slovakia. They are '4etermined that the Slovaks shall be vlctlms of Czech lmperiallstic efforts and Slovakla shall be a colony of Bohemla. In short: al! Slovaks who belleve that Slovakla has a rlght to be free and Independent and seek to bave that rlght recognlzed and respected by all clvillzed natlons of the earth are, according to the Beneš Czechs and Czech Slovaks, "nazis, traltors, fasclsts, enemles or democracy," etc. In 1946, Dr. Edward Beneš frankly told a Slovak delegatlon why the Czechs are fightlng agalnst Slovak lndependence, when he sald: "The Czechs cannot accept under any circum1tance1 an independent Slovakla in the future . . . . The Czechs, having on the one side 70 million Germans, must on the other aide have Ru11ia as their neighbor. Therefore, they could not accept an independent Slovakia. Thia ia a vital problem for the exiatence of the Czechs as a nation and a state and that ia also the le11on of Munich..•." Czech emlgratlon, holding to thls polltlcal legacy of Beneš, reallzes that the greatest lmpedlment to lts efforts are patrlotlc Slo· vaks In exile. Slovaks can appreciate Benei's concern for the Czecha, but they, too, are concerned about thelr own national existence. The statement made by Beneš certalnly has nothlng In common with democracy. It remlnds us of Adolph Hitler who thought that all natlons of centra) and eastern Europe should be deprlved of freedom and In• dependence and forced to serve the lnterests of the German natlon. It also remlnds us of Stalln who would enslave the whole world and force all natlons to serve the lnterests of godless communlsm. Slovak patrlots stand In the way of thls Czech lmperlallst dream. so the followers or Beneš are determlned to annlhllate them at all costs. That explalns why they accuse the Slovaks of belng nazls and fasclsts. That also explains thelr rldlculous accus atlon that the Slo- �58 SLOVA:KIA vaks in exile are not fighting for democracy, but for the renewal ot fasclsm In centra! Europe. Undoubtedly it is not necessary to stress that thls flght agalnst Slovak emigrants 1s immoral and undemocratlc, because lts goal is immoral and undemocratlc. To want to deprive the S lovak nation of the right to freedom and independence because the interests of the Czechs "as a nation and a state" demand it, that is a manifestatlon of the most brutal lmperialism - such as even the Germans did not perpetrate against the Slovaks. Can anyone of sane mind expect the Slovaks In exile to agree to commit national sulclde? It !s not so much the past that separates the Slovaks and Czechs in emigration as the fact that while the Slovak exiles are fighting for freedom and democracy In centra! Europe, the Czech exlles headed by Zenkl, Ripka and Papánek are fighting, in the first place, to prevent the Slovaks from attaining freedom and independence. The main task of the Czech exiles is not the fight against Communism, but the fight against the Slovaks, who want the Slovak natlon to be fully free and happy in lts own democratic state. • • • WHO SAID IT ? "Slmul<taneously we accepted the principle tha,t only our people e.t home have the righit to dedde the maln problems o! our Interne.! policy, and Lhat also the relation between the Cechs and Slovaks be decided in the future state only a,t home, based on the princíple of C.OMPLETE EQUALITY Of both Czechs and Slove.ka and that it be done in a free, democratic way and In complete brotherly agreement. These were the maln prlnciples on whlch we have bullt our movement for liberation. This ideology of our struggle !or Jiberat!on, CONNECTED WITH OUR COMPLETE PRO-SOVIET ORIENTATION, and our ideology or the second World War In general was one of the main causes !or the success or the entire 81.ruggle." - (Dr. Beneš, Broadcaat to the Czechoslovak people, Prague, May 16, 1946) . • There 1s no Russian "iron curtain" in Czechoslovakia. . . . Every. one is free to enter Czechoslovakia and to come and go as he pleases, to see what he wants to see and hear what he wants to hear. Further. more Czechs and Slovaks are MAST ERS in their own country. T here is no Russlan army on Czechoslovak soil and Moscow IS NOT INTERFERING with Czechoslovak interna! affairs. . . . The press, radio, the school and the church are FREE to carry on their activities AS BEFORE." - (Dr. Kenneth D. Milier, president o! the New Yvrk City Mlsslon Society, In an address at the weekly church nlght dinner at the First Presb)"tertan Church, 124 Henry Street, New York City, published In tihe BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, Nov. 12, 1947) . • "I agree wlth you rully that our alllance with the SOVIET UNION will belp us to a better secur ity or FREEDOM in t he future, and I am happy to have seen our politlcal orlentatir FROM THE BEGINNING OF THIS WAR and to have acted accordlngly." - (Dr. Beneš, Reply to a message from the Slov-ak Natlonal Council In Košice, London, March 2, 1946). � 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 56 SLOVAKIA must ever oppose the creatlon ot a free and independent Slovakla. Well, the Slovaks flgure they shall have somethlng to say about the matter, as rightly they should have. And no one can blame them for wantlng to live thelr own 11ves and belng masters of thelr destlny. The Slovaks know, too, that the "Czech Slovaks" - the Slovak traltors - are no less dangerous than the lmperlalistlc Beneli C:techs. They are the Janlssarles. The Slovaks do not underestlmate the Czechs, who have been and stm are pJytng a systematlc politlco· dlplomatlc game, the goal ot whJch 1s the denlal and suppresslon of the natural and fundamental rlghts of the Slovak natlon. One day world CÔmmunlsm shall be llquldated. And Czechoslovaklsm, the handmald or Communlsm, must be llquldated also. The fiction of an ethnlcal "Czechoslovak natlon" must be dlscarded for all tlmes. Czechoslovakla was a mlstake, an llluslon, politlcally and mo• rally an unprofltable creatlon, but for the Czechs lt stm ls a reality and an Idea!. The Slovaks are aware of thls and are just as determlned that they shall never again be subject to the rule of the Czechs when the plague or Communlsm ls vanquished. • • • OUR FIGHT FOR DEMOORACY AND INDEPENDENCE DR. JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Slnce 1945 Slovaks In emlgratlon have frequently stated that the goal of thelr struggle ls a democratlc and Independent Slovakla. The leaders of Slovak exlles can support thelr declaratlons not only by thelr IJfetlme flght agalnst communlsm, but also by thelr reslstance to eftorts to lntroduce the nazl system in Slovakla. The group whlch later collaborated wlth the communlsts - the so-called "Czechoslovaks" (Czech Slovaks ! ) - cannot and should not be counted among t.he patrlotlc Slovaks who opposed the nazl avalanche from 194Q. Hllnka's Slovak Peoples Party, headed by Presldent Joseph Tlso, fought agalnst nazlsm and communlsm then, and today the members of that party in exile form the flrst flghting line agalnst communlsm. lt ls a fact that after the meeting ln Salzburg In 1940, when the group around Prof. Tuka attempted to force Natlonal Soclallsm on the Slovaks In the attempt to prevent drastlc interventlon by the Cermans In Slovak public llfe, lt was not the present adherents ot Czechoslavakla (the so-called "Czechoslovaks") - later the self-styled "antl-fasclst warrlors" - who lost thelr hlgh posltlons, but the leaders ot Slovak natlonal emigratlon. That the attempt to force Natlonal Soclallsm on the Slovaks falled, that, too, cannot be credlted to those who today denounce Slovaks In exlle as fasclsts and nazls. At that Ume most ot the "Czech Slovaks" were busy gettlng fat jobs, waxing rich and llving In luxury. Thelr maln worry was not to !ose the favor ot the reglme. Thelr tlrst attempts to "revolt" dld not happen In 1939 or 1940, but only In 1944, when the outcome of the war was pretty clear. But even then they were not lnterested In flghtlng tor democracy, but rather In flghtlng to retaln the rlches and the high functlons they had attalned In the Slovak State. The few persons among them who fought for democracy and Slovak lnterests are even today flghtlng, at home and abroad, for an Independent, democratlc Slovak republlc. SLOVAKIA 57 Many Slovaks In varlous Iands may be tempted to ask: How, then, 1s lt posslble to explaln thls relentless campalgn agalnst Slovak na· tlonals In emlgratlon, the attempts to smear and dlscredlt them In the eyes of the world? The answer 1s slmple. Thls whole undemocratlc assault agalnst patrlotlc Slovaks, flght• Ing In exile for an Independent Slovak State, emanates baslcally from two causes: 1. The "Czechoslovaks," servlng Czech imperlal lnterests by be• traylng the highest lnterests of thelr own people, wlsh to divert attention from thelr collaboratlon wlth communlsm by smearlng and vllifylng patrlotlc Slovaks. 2. By accuslng patrlotlc Slovaks In democratlc countrles of nazlsm and fascism, a part of the Czech emlgrants and the Slovak renegades collaboratlng wlth them, flgure that they can neutralize thelr flght for an Independent Slovak State and force the Slovaks agaln under Czech rule. Those Czech and Slovak emlgrants who clalm that Slovak na• tionals want a fasclst or nazl state know very well that 1s not true. They propagate thls Ile lntentlonally and systematlcally In the hope that by repeatlng lt thousands of tlmes they shall agaln succeed In convlnclng the world that the Slovak natlon does not want to live in a state of lts own, but only In thelr Czecho-Slovakia. They are '4etermined that the Slovaks shall be vlctlms of Czech lmperiallstic efforts and Slovakla shall be a colony of Bohemla. In short: al! Slovaks who belleve that Slovakla has a rlght to be free and Independent and seek to bave that rlght recognlzed and respected by all clvillzed natlons of the earth are, according to the Beneš Czechs and Czech Slovaks, "nazis, traltors, fasclsts, enemles or democracy," etc. In 1946, Dr. Edward Beneš frankly told a Slovak delegatlon why the Czechs are fightlng agalnst Slovak lndependence, when he sald: "The Czechs cannot accept under any circum1tance1 an independent Slovakla in the future . . . . The Czechs, having on the one side 70 million Germans, must on the other aide have Ru11ia as their neighbor. Therefore, they could not accept an independent Slovakia. Thia ia a vital problem for the exiatence of the Czechs as a nation and a state and that ia also the le11on of Munich..•." Czech emlgratlon, holding to thls polltlcal legacy of Beneš, reallzes that the greatest lmpedlment to lts efforts are patrlotlc Slo· vaks In exile. Slovaks can appreciate Benei's concern for the Czecha, but they, too, are concerned about thelr own national existence. The statement made by Beneš certalnly has nothlng In common with democracy. It remlnds us of Adolph Hitler who thought that all natlons of centra) and eastern Europe should be deprlved of freedom and In• dependence and forced to serve the lnterests of the German natlon. It also remlnds us of Stalln who would enslave the whole world and force all natlons to serve the lnterests of godless communlsm. Slovak patrlots stand In the way of thls Czech lmperlallst dream. so the followers or Beneš are determlned to annlhllate them at all costs. That explalns why they accuse the Slovaks of belng nazls and fasclsts. That also explains thelr rldlculous accus atlon that the Slo- 58 SLOVA:KIA vaks in exile are not fighting for democracy, but for the renewal ot fasclsm In centra! Europe. Undoubtedly it is not necessary to stress that thls flght agalnst Slovak emigrants 1s immoral and undemocratlc, because lts goal is immoral and undemocratlc. To want to deprive the S lovak nation of the right to freedom and independence because the interests of the Czechs "as a nation and a state" demand it, that is a manifestatlon of the most brutal lmperialism - such as even the Germans did not perpetrate against the Slovaks. Can anyone of sane mind expect the Slovaks In exile to agree to commit national sulclde? It !s not so much the past that separates the Slovaks and Czechs in emigration as the fact that while the Slovak exiles are fighting for freedom and democracy In centra! Europe, the Czech exlles headed by Zenkl, Ripka and Papánek are fighting, in the first place, to prevent the Slovaks from attaining freedom and independence. The main task of the Czech exiles is not the fight against Communism, but the fight against the Slovaks, who want the Slovak natlon to be fully free and happy in lts own democratic state. • • • WHO SAID IT ? "Slmul<taneously we accepted the principle tha,t only our people e.t home have the righit to dedde the maln problems o! our Interne.! policy, and Lhat also the relation between the Cechs and Slovaks be decided in the future state only a,t home, based on the princíple of C.OMPLETE EQUALITY Of both Czechs and Slove.ka and that it be done in a free, democratic way and In complete brotherly agreement. These were the maln prlnciples on whlch we have bullt our movement for liberation. This ideology of our struggle !or Jiberat!on, CONNECTED WITH OUR COMPLETE PRO-SOVIET ORIENTATION, and our ideology or the second World War In general was one of the main causes !or the success or the entire 81.ruggle." - (Dr. Beneš, Broadcaat to the Czechoslovak people, Prague, May 16, 1946) . • There 1s no Russian "iron curtain" in Czechoslovakia. . . . Every. one is free to enter Czechoslovakia and to come and go as he pleases, to see what he wants to see and hear what he wants to hear. Further. more Czechs and Slovaks are MAST ERS in their own country. T here is no Russlan army on Czechoslovak soil and Moscow IS NOT INTERFERING with Czechoslovak interna! affairs. . . . The press, radio, the school and the church are FREE to carry on their activities AS BEFORE." - (Dr. Kenneth D. Milier, president o! the New Yvrk City Mlsslon Society, In an address at the weekly church nlght dinner at the First Presb)"tertan Church, 124 Henry Street, New York City, published In tihe BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, Nov. 12, 1947) . • "I agree wlth you rully that our alllance with the SOVIET UNION will belp us to a better secur ity or FREEDOM in t he future, and I am happy to have seen our politlcal orlentatir FROM THE BEGINNING OF THIS WAR and to have acted accordlngly." - (Dr. Beneš, Reply to a message from the Slov-ak Natlonal Council In Košice, London, March 2, 1946).  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 Our Fight for Democracy and Independence Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1), May 1951 pp. 56-58 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 1951 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5e5e2567ea318500d36591c95c2961fb.pdf 1955ec5ec45e0530005398f324b39d77 PDF Text Text 16 SLOVAKIA WHY NO MORE CZEOHOSLOVAKIA ? DR. JOSEPH K I RSCHBAUM After the communist reglme Jn Bohemla and Slovakia came to power in February 1948, there appeared ln Europe, the Unlted States and In other non-European countrles a new "Czechoslovak" emlgration, conststlng of dlsmlssed diplomats and escaped politlcal leaders of the varlous Czech and Slovak civil partles. This emlgration, lf we are to appraise it by lts actlvlty, contlnues in the pollcles of Dr. Eward Beneš and hls followers, whlch means a contlnuatlon in the same mistakes and blunders whlch have evoked two dangerous crises in Europe durlng the past thlrty years. As a result of thls blundering policy more than half the population of the Czecboslovak Republic (Slovaks, Germans, Magyars, Poles, Ukralnlans and Carpatho-Russlans) was elther deprlved of the most fundamental human and civil rlghts, or deslgnedly lmpeded In lts polltlcal and economical development. Prince Adolf zu Schwarzenberg, head of one of tbe oldest families in Bohemia, had thls to say about Czech policy: "Even In norma! tlmes the double game of Czecb policy can be seen Quite clearly. As long as Czecboslovakia adopted the role of dependence on the West, Benes was at the helm and from 1945 onward prepared the dellvery of hls country to the Communists. Al! the mlndste-rs in hls Cablnet {there were about two dozen of them) worked with thelr ldollzed Presldent, and in a most masterly fashion steered thelr country lnto Communlsm, always hop!ng for a good job as a reward for thelr laudable work In the Bolshevist interest." NEW ENGLISH REVIEW MAGAZINE, 1949, Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 20-22). It is a fact that Czechoslovakia was re-establlshed at the end of World War II agalnst the w111 of the absolute majori ty of the Slovaks and the many mlll!ons of national minorltles by the polllical actlv!ty of a small group of Czech exiles, who were not concerned "·lth the lnterests of the Czech and Slovak nations, or the interests of the ,vbole of Europe, but were rather Jed by imperlallsm, their persona! amblt!ons and a des!re for revenge. And it ls a historical fact that the Czecboslovak State was surrendered, without res!stance, to the power of Mosoow by these pollticlans just as in 1938-1939, w!thout the least resistance, they surrendered it to Berlin. In tbe llgbt of these faots and In the interest of better organ!· zation and cooperatlon or the Centra! European natlons, as well as In the interest of trutb and justlce, lt appea:-s necessary to point out the arguments whlch speak agalnst the exlstence or the Czechoslovak Republlc. An analysis, lssuing from European and Centro-European points of vlew and not only from the lnterests of natlons and mlnorlt!es whlch were forced tnto the Czecboslovak Republ!c agalnst their wlll, is demanded In this connectlon by our slde, because !t !s based on the motlve contained In the Declaratlon o! Independence of the Unlted ~tates, In whlcb we read: " W hen in t he course of human events, it becomes necessary for �SLOVAKIA 17 one people to dissolve the political banda which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separated and equal station to whi ch the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opíníons of mankind requ ires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." What are the causes which led the Slovaks and the minorities to demand the dlssolution of political ties with the Czech nation in t he Czechoslovak Republic? Generally speaking, we can mention, first of all, the following: 1. Tendencies for the preservatlon or restoration of the Czechos lovak Republic do not meet with the approval of the majority of lts inhabitants and the principle of democracy and the principles ex· pressed in the Atlantic Charter. 2. The Czechoslovak Republic has no cause to exist in a just arrangement of Europe even from the standpoint of European in· terests. 3. The Czechoslovak Republic has no place in a federated Europe or a federated Centra! Europe. More than thirty years of clever Czech propaganda migh t, at a first glance, contradict these allegations. There Js no argument ahout that. In the mirror of our experience with the propaganda of Goebels, and, today, that of Moscow, we see, however, that even a propaganda of falsehoods can be successful for a time, deceiving and convinclng many people. But the force of truth is eternal. By resorting to lies we may enjoy successes temporarily, but the truth shall prevail in the end. In the case of the Czechoslovak Republic, we are concerned witili nothing more than the truth. Tbat is why we are analyzing the above-mentioned arguments at least in their main outlines. And in dolng this, we pu.rposely refer to the testimonies of· objective, politlcal European observers, so that no one rnight say that the Slovak s truggle for freedom and independence issues from an exaggerated nationalism or natlonal intolerenace, as Cz&eh propaganda designedly claims that it does. The Slovaks were co-founders of the Czechoslovak Republic and would have wished its preservation, if the Czechoslovak State would bave had possessed the prerequisites to fulfill the task that falls to a state in the sense of a modem, sociologlcal conception, on the one hand, and, on the other, from the standpolnt of European interests. The Czechoslovak Repu blic, however, diel not. The Slovaks, therefore, in the lntent of democracy, the Atlantic Charter, and the Charter of the United Nations Organization, are demanding a new order of Centro-Eu.ropean relationships. to which the Czechoslovak Republic definitely 1s an obstacle, as shall be made clear in the arguments that follow. Are the tendenciea to preserve or restore the Czechoslovak Republic in harmony with the will of the majority of ita inhabítanta and the princ iples upon which a modern state ia founded ? �18 SLOVAKIA This question was already asked at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, at whlch the Czechoslovak Republlc was born, as Lloyd George tells us in bis book "The Truth About the Peace Treaties": "Czechs, Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, Poles, Ukrainians - is this not a new Austria which will thus arise under the Czech ban• ner, a new polyglot state in which six nations will be packed together, all filled with hatred of one against the other, arrested in their whole economic and social development and in the progress of their civilization by hate and national strife, nourished by tyranny and poisoning their whole public llfe? - How can the new polyglot State, the artificial work of an imperialist diplomacy, exist without any economic community, geographical unity, or common history?" - {pp. 944, 946). Lloyd George evldently wa.s troubled wlth the prOl)osltion of setting up Czechoslovakia and stated bluntly: "The Czechs were specially favored by the Allies. The result was the recognition of the polyglot and incoherent state of Czechoslovakia." - (p. 948). We see, then, at the very beglnning of the Czechoslovak RepubJic, that nelther the lnterests o( the lnhabitants ot the newly-rlsing s tate, nor tbe prlnclple or the rlght of self-determlnation and of democratlc freedoms were tbe decldlng factors, but only the "special favor of tbe Allles." It was, tberefore, only natural tbat the Czecbo• slovak Republlc durlng al! lts 20 years was troubled with interna! controversles - cleverly masked abroad by a great propaganda apparatu.s - and that lt collapsed wltbout the least resistance of its populatlon with tbe flrst lmpact from outslde in 1938-1939. What is more, we can show that ,tbe majority of the inhabitants even deslred the collapse of the Czechoslovak Republic by quotlng statements of Czech polltlclans themselves and recalllng those made durlng the polltlcal trlals of the "people's" democracy of Czechoslovakla versus the Slovaks, Germans and Magyars - the trials staged by the Czech Government after 1945. Why dld they deslre lts dlssolutlon? Indisputably because the Czechoslovak Republi c dld not satisfy the polltlcal and economlc !nterests and aspirations of its inhabitants, except those of the Czech minority which managed tbe State. Al the Par!s Peace Conference (1919), Dr. Edward Beneš declared that: "lt is the intention of the Czechoslovak Government to create the organlzatlon of tbe State by accepting as a basis of natural rights tbe prlnclples applled in the Constitutlon of tbe Swlss Republlc, tbat !s, to make the Czechoslovak Republlc a sor-t of Swltzerland . . ." Tbe Czecb governments, bowever, did not manage tbe Czechoslovak Republlc as Beneš had promlsed, but In sucb manner as Jf only an exclusive Czecb State was concerned, whose mission apparently wa,s to asslmilate the non-Czech populat!on, and espec!ally the Slovaks, and hold them in cbeck economlcally and soc!ally. Tbe resistance of the other lnhabltants and the support of tbe efforts whlch almed at the dlssolutlon of tbe Czechoslovak Republlc, therefore, became an entlrely logical r~ult of the sltuation in whlcb tbe non-Czech inha.b!tants llved. Tbi.s was abundantly clear to objectlve observers already in 1938. Lloyd George said: "Had the Czech leaders, in tíme and without �SLOVAKIA 19 waiting for the menacing preasure of Germany, redeemed their promise to grant local autonomy to the various races in their Republic on the llnes of the Swiu Confederation, the present troubles would (p. 952). Long before 1938, but especlally in the stlrr!ng months before MuniC'h and in the Sprlng of 1939, many dlscern!ng representatlves of the Czech and Slovak natlons were certaln that the Czechoslovak Republlc dld not develop into a forma,tion whlch could more lastlngly assure the secur!ty and the vltal !nterests of both these natlons wh!ch were the ethnlcal foundatlon of the Republlc. Ir the Czech natlon for a Ume enjoyed certa!n advantages because of the exlstence ot Czechoslovak!a, lt was only at the expense of the rest of the inhabitants. But the Czechs later had to pay dearly for those advantages and also had to become aware o[ the fact that the Czechoslovak State could not guarantee the securRy even or the Czech natlon agalnst a slngle nelghbor. As far as the S lovaks are conceTned, they could not resolve tbe ma,tter any other way, because the Slovak natlon In the Czechoslovak State - actually, however, in a CZECH State -· was In a posltlon altogether unbecomlng a cultured natlon, belng exposed to planned ass:lmllatlon and economical exploltatlon by the Czechs, wbom the whole state apparatus served. Here we are not even mentlon!ng th e status of the mlnorities as a problem, which occup!ed the League or Na.Uons for twenty years and, later, was an opportune alibi for the liquldation of the Cz-echoslovak Republ!c. Th!s problem, as well as t hat of the Slovak.s, was dealt with by such personallties as Lord Run• clman and C. A. Macartney. Rererrlng to Czechoslovak!a, the latter wrote: have been averted" - "The fact remains that the Government has been obliged more often than not to rule Slovakia against the wishes of most of its inhabltants, maintaining itself only by the expedienta of restrictlng the power, of the self-governing bodies to within the narrowest posslble limita, of filling the seats designated for 'experu' with its own nominees, and utilizing freely weapons of censorship and police supervision" (H UNGAIRY AND HER SUCCESSORS, p. 145). After completlng bis miss!on In 1938, Lord Runciman made even more unfavorable statements In reportlng on the status or the more than three and a half mlll!on German minority in the Republ!c. He said: " I have been left with the impreaaion that Czechoslovak rule in the Sudeten areas for the last twenty years ... has been marked by tactlessness, lack of understanding, petty intolerance and discriminatio n, to a point where the resentment of the German populatlon was inevitably moving in the d irection of revolt. The Sudeten Germans fel>t, too, that in the past they had been given many promises by the Czechoslovak Government, but that llttle or no action had fol lowed these promises...." (Britlsh White Paper, Cmd. 5847). That is why the Republlc was not derended when Its in tegrity was threatened and, la,ter, not even when lts very exlstence was In danger. Not by a single nation of Czechoslovakia, not even the Czech natlon! �20 S LOVAKIA On the contrary, its dlssolutlon was made possible by its own inha.bitan,ts, the majority of whom could realize their natural right to freedom and their o wn State only by the destruction of Czechos lovakia. So it happened in the case of the Slovaks. W ri ting about the S lovaks in 1942, Macartney said: " ... most of them found themselves unable to accept the Peace Confe rence thesis of a unitary Czechoslovak nation. Some of them fe lt this to mean, in practice, domination by the economically and socially atronger Czecha, and they reacted in the form of a flamboyant Slovak nationalism which was the main reason for the absence of revolt with which they accepted the dissolution of the Czechos lovak State" (PRO BLEMS OF T HE DANUBE BASIN, p. 122). Dur ing the Second World War, a group of Czech exiles in London (The Czech Natio nal Commiltee) and Slovak exiles (The S lovak Na• tional Council in London), both fighting on the sid e of the Allies, tried to find a diťferent solutlon to the Czech and S lovak pr oblem than that which the fľamework of Czechoslovakia offered. Representatives of the Czech and Slovak natlons, in accord w ith the prlnciple of the right of self-determlnation and the r ight of every nation to independence, proposed ,the organlzing of a separate Slovak State and a separate Czech State within the framewo rk of a larger federalive Centro-European unit. Their efforts were prompted not only by t he interests of their own nations, but also by the interests of Eu ropean peace and prosperity, as well as by a sense for justice and the righ t. A g roup of Czech poli ticians headed by Ben eš, however, motivated by persona! prestige, by a desfre for revenge a nd the re newal of Czech i mperia'lism more than by t he interests of its own nation, did not hes.ltate to surrender the destiny of the Czech and Slovak natlons to the "tender" mercies of th~ Soviet Un ion. Unfortunately for the nations concerned, for Europe and the democratic world, this group of political madmen realized tbeir program. The Czechoslovak Republlc was restored by the grace of Moscow. Of course, no t in the interests of the Czecbs and the Slovaks, but, as it is abundantly clear today, in the interests of Moscow. Robert Ingrim, forelgn correspondent of leading European newspapers, wrote in 1946: " Russia's aim, when signing that t reaty against the wishes of Ame rica and Britain, was, of course, not to sec ure Czechia as an a ll y. They made use of Benes' fea r of a frontier revision in order to get a strong foothold in the he art of th e Continent" - (AFTER HITLER STALIN? - P. 180). What develo ped in the Czechoslovak Republic after 1945, and es pecially th e events of Feb ruary 1948, definitely prove that point. flut we must a lso state tbat restored Czechoslovakia realized it could exist only by having a Czecb majority assured. Beneš and his group were only too well aware of that and, therefore, promoted tbeir pian for ousting the Germans and Magyars trom Czechoslovakia. Because they were successful, over three million Germans and almost a half m illlon Magya rs were expelled from the ·Republic. Tbe consequences of thls " hum ane and orderly " expulsion by Beneš and bis regime will be feLt for a long time to the detriment of cooperation between the natlons of Centra! Europe. �SLOVAKIA 21 The majority of the Slovaks was definitely against the restoration of Czechoslovakla. Because the Slovak nation was not given an opportunity to express itself about i.ts own destlny, it felt and even today feels that lt was wrong, morally and otherwise, to destroy the independent State o! Slovakla, and that it was deprived of its rlght to ind ependence illegally and by vlolence. What happened in Slovakia s ince the restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic has only steeled the Slovaks In thelr determination to revolt agains.t the Czech lmperialistic St.rute at the fil'st opportnne moment and 1-.estore their own S lovak State. F. A. VoigU had this to say a bout the Czech-Slovak relat!onship: "The conflict between the Czechs and Slovaks appears to be irreconcilable. lt would seem that the Czechoslovak State is, today, a fiction and that it will never again be a reality, for if RuHian overlordahip were removed, the Czechs could only reaHert their authority over the Slovaks by force of arms - and in this they would surely fail, for they have not one friend in Central Europe, whereas the Slovaks have many" (THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER, Nov. 1945). As a result of the sltuation prevailing today, thousands of Slovak exiles in Europe, a million and a half Americans of Slovak descent, and many thousands of Slovaks in Canada, England, Argentína, Belgium, Spain, France, I,taly, Austria and Swltzerland, as well as an overwhelming majority of the Slovak nation at horne, are fighting for an Independent Slovak State, the only pol!tlcal formation which can guarantee their national existence and happlness According to the repo11t of the Prague Ministry of the Interi01•, there were uncovered 36 conspiracies in Slovakia against the Republic in Jess than two years. Thls reslstance against the State of the Czechs and Slovaks continues despite the fact that a large percentage of Slovak intellectuals has been cast into jall, tortured and exiled. and despite the fact that about 300,000 Slovaks have been transferred to the Czech-German border to weaken resistancP. in Slovakia. The logical concluslon to be drawn from all this is that from 1945 restored Czechoslovakia is belng preserved only by brute force and suppression of the most fundamental natlonal and indivldual rights, and that Czechoslovakla is a negation of all the rlghts which modern society has des igna.ted to a state for the purpose and lntent of its existence: to guarantee a free political and economical development of its people. II The Czechoslovak Republic has no reason to exist in a righteous arrangement of Europe from the viewpoint of European interests. While the Czechoslovak Republic, in the democratic sense, did not and does not fulfill the functlons of a state in relation to the majority of lts inhabitants, it is not difficult to find proofs that there ls no reason for this State to exist even as far as the interests of Europe are concerned, and much less so as far as the interests of Centra! Europe are concerned. At the end of World War I, Czechoslovakia was formed with the intention that lt would perform the function of a defensive barrier �22 SLOVAKIA agalnst Germany and that it would be a part of the cordon sanitaire against Russla. Lloyd George wrote that Beneš assured the Peace Conference that "the Czecha were protectors of democracy against Germaniam" and that "it was their duty at all timea to fi ght the Germans" - (p. 932). Czechoslovakia, however, did not fulflll a slngle functlon it was supposed to, but conversely, wlth lts senseless policy towards the non-Czech majority of its lnhabitant.s, lt flrst weakened the proposed system of defense against Germany and then was the alibi and the cause for the collapse of thls system and, therefore, helped German aggression In Centra! Europe. Durlng all twenty years of its existence, the Czecbóslovak Repub• lic could not find a posltlve relationship toward even a slngle one ot its nelghbors. With its Interna! and forelgn policles, it actually prevented the consoUdat!on of the Oentro-European area and indirectly prepared the ground for the s uccess of the policy of Natlonal Sociallsm of Germany whlch, on the other hand, galned not only the mlnorlties of Czechoslovakia, but also the na.tions to which these mlnorltles belonged, by promislng to apply and abide by the natlonality prlnclple. And so, instead of becoming a barrler agalnst Germany, Czechoslovakia actually became the gate whereby Germany passed into the Danube area and southeastern Europe without any opposltion whatsoever. Instead of stopping German aggression and German im periallsm, Czechoslovakla substaf\tially facilitated the German "Drang nach Osten." And looktng from that va.ntage point, what is the situation slnce 1945? After 1-ts restoration in 1945, did the Czechoslovak State become a "bastlon o! democracy" as promis'E!d by the Czech pol!ticlans who requested the Allies to restore lt? Of course, we kno1~ that it did not. The fact 1s that it did not even become a brldge between the East and the West In the posltive sense, but only a brldge for the trafflc of the Soviet Union and lts satellltes. Over this brldge the Soviet Union went unlmpedéd into the heart of Europe. At the same Ume Czechoslovakla became the gate through which the Soviet Union and communlsm will attack the democratlc world. And who is to blame for that? In a large mea.sure all those who worked so energetioally for the restoration of Czechoslovakia In order to assure their "trlumphant" return home, the restoratlon of the Czechoslovak State w.hich collapsed so utterly in 1939, and also the assent of the Allles to expel the German and Magyar mlnorities, the Czech polltlcians, headed by Beneš, not only concluded an agreement wlth Moscow, whereby the Soviet Union w.as enabled to interfere In the affairs of Czechoslovakia, but also allowed the Soviet Union to take Ruthenia wlthout any regard for the will of the inhabltanta thereof and in violatlon of ~he Czechoslovak Con.stitutlon. Thus, Russla for the flrst tlme in its hlstory got a foothold in the Danube Basin only a few kllometers from Bu<lapest and Vlenna. The transfer of Ruthenla to the Soviet Union took place In the Sprlng of 19!l5--as compensatlon for the Sovleťs assent to expel the G-ermana .and -•Magyars from Czechoslovakla. From a polltlcal· and �SLOVAK.IA 23 strategic viewpoint, this was a great victory for the Soviet Union. Robert l ngrim had this to say about the matter: "The alliance with the Czechs who, wlthout Aussian aupport, would have been unable to re-establish their rule over a non-Czech majority of Germans, Slovaks, Magyars, Poles, and Authenians, is one prong of Stalin's great hayfork.... A look at the map of Europe showa the meaning of that hayfork. By including the eaatern part of formerly Auatrian Galícia in her Poliah booty, Ruaaia establishes territori al contact with the Czech satellite. The westernmoat tip of Bohernia is but 200 miles off the French border" (Op. cit. p. 181-182). Furthermore, Czech polltlclans under the leadershlp of Beneš not only prevented the possiblllty of harmonious cooperatlon of the nations of Centra! Europe, but wf.th the!r deportatlons evoked s-uch a fear of German retrlbution that they themselves see a guarantee of the exlstence of Czechoslovakia only In the politlcal and mil!tary support of the Soviet Union. In thls respect, note,.vorthy is the statement of Dr. Beneš hlmself, addressed In 1947 to a Slovak delegatlon headed by Dr. Joseph Lettrich: " T he Czechs cannot accept under any circumstances an independent Slovakia i n the future •.• The Czechs, having on the one side 70 million Germans, must on the other side have Aussia as their neighbor. Therefore, they could not accept an independent Slovakia. This is a vítal problem for the existence of the Czechs as a nation and as a State" (Feb. 16, 1947). Consequently the inhabltants of Czechoslovak\a are forced to support the pollcles of the Soviet Union In the interest of the exlstence of Czechoslovakia, even though thelr polltlcal convictlons and sympathies are In dlametrical confllct wlth those pol!cles. On the otber hand, however, lt follow-s that the Czecboslovak State bases 1s exlstence only on the mllltary and pol!tlcal m1ght of a forelgn power; consequently lt has become a tool of that power and does not possess abll!ty and vítal force of !ts own to exlst as a sovereign state. T.bereln we must also seek the reason why the communist putsch of February 1948 dld not meet witb any reslstance even from the Czech nation. The very exdstence of the Czechoslovak State, whlch was not capable of exlstlng by ltself and was founded on the suppresslon of freedoms of other nat!ons, demanded the subjugat!on not only of the Czech people, hut also the Slovak natlon, w,h lch was over 70 per cent antl-communlst, by the commun!st totalltarian dlctatorshlp. The consequences of thla pollcy, whereby the so-called "raJson d'Etat" was placed before the interest of the freedom and the llfe of the lnhabltants, are lll-fated not only for the Czech and Slovak na• tions, but the Soviet Union, by means of th!s pollcy, got lnto the very heart of the E uropean contlnent and communlsm galned an important gateway through whi-ch lt can attack western Europe. Thus Czechoslovakla, twlce wlthln a slngle decade, made it posslble or substantlally easler for lmperlallsm to enter Europe and thréaten the freedoms of lts natlons: In 1938 the lmperlal!sm ot natlonally soclalistlc Germany and, In 1946-48, the lmper!allsm of communlst Russla. So, the functlon given the Czechoslovak Republlc, or that whlch !ts creators promlsed lt would perform. was not only not fulfllled, but, conversely, th!s State - besldes preventlng the coop- �24 SLOVAKIA eration of the nations of Centra! Europe and oppressing the majority of lts inhabitants - has cast Europe into dangerou.s crises twlce within a single decade and facilitated the victory of those forces, against wh1ch lt was supposed to serve, directly or indirectly, as a barrler. Therefore, it appears evldent that the exlstence of this State uot only does not have motivatlon, but that it is in the interest of Europe and its healthy organlzation that this synthetlc formatien. founded on violence and the suppression of the most fundamental freedoms of millions of human beings and existing only with the help oľ a foreign power, definitely disappear from the map of Europe. Such is the conviction not only of the absolute majoľ'ity of the S lovak nation and its true representatives, who never agreed with the restoration of the Czechoslovak Republlc, but also the convictlon of many upright and freedom-Jovlng Czechs, who fought on the side of the Allies during the past war for the creation of a separate Czech State and a separate Slovak State within a framework of a federated Centra) Europe. These Czechs have refused to return to the synthetic political creation which does not reflect the will of the majority or its !nha'bitants, but is in fact the tool of the policy and aims of the Soviet Union. 111 The Czechoslovak Republic has no place in a federated Europe or a federated C entral Europe. If the Czechoslovak Republic has no raison ďetre in a system of sovereign states fľom a standpoint of European interests - the securlty of Central Europe and a harmonious relationship of lts na• tions - then the existence of this unnatura! formation appears to be utterly useless and unjust in the case of federating Europe, or at least Central Europe. There are several logical and objective argu• ip.ents in support of this statement. The Czechoslovak Republic, as we have seen, was created wíth the intent of forming a barrier against German expansion, and in 1945 it was restored so it could be a bastion of democracy and a bridge be· tween the East and the West. In these functions !t falled miserably. And these motlves do not hold in the case of a federation of Europe, or at least Centra! Europe. Indivldual states, whlch could not stop aggression in Europe even with a system of alliances, certainly wlll not play the role, in a federated Europe, of preventlng a repetition of a German attack or Russlan hegemony; that wlll be the role of the federation of the Continent, or that of Centra! Europe. The argument that Czechoslovakia should be retained, because it is a larger unit than would ·be either a Czech or Slovak unit, cannot play a part in the case of a European or Centro-European federation. Strategic and economic arguments, which give priority to larger for· mations, have not proved themselves in the case of Czechoslovak!a even wlth a system of soverelgn states, because factually it could not defend ltself against any one of its neighbors. The lnclusion of the minorities and the creation of a Czechoslovakia wlth some 15 mill!on inhabitants would conmct w!th the basic principle of federalism and the expressed right of nations to self-determination. �SLOVAKIA 25 Furtherm ore the Czech nation, which has gone over to the cam p of the satelltes of the Soviet Union more or less wlllingly, cannot h31Ve any claims w hich would give it preference over all its other neighbors and allow the Czechs to annex territories occupied by nonCzech inh ab itants. After 1945, when Hungary and Germany were defeated States, and Cz~ hoslovakia - whether deservingly or not - was included a mong the victorious Allles, it was possible to restore Czechoslovakia with lts old borders, especially when Slovakia was to be punished for not being on the border of P ortugal, but on t he border of Germany, and, therefore, was included in the camp of the defeated. In a E urope liberated from t he hegemony of Moscow, not a single argument used to validate the orlgin or the restoration of -the Czechos lovak Re public wlll be aible to be used in the future, especially no t in the case of federalization of Europe or Centra! Europe. The feder• ative principle excludes hegemony of one nation over another. In the case of Slovakia, then, what logical argument can there be against the Slovak natlon h aving its own independen t State? 1s lt logical and just to say that every nation, no matter how small, EXCEPT THE SLOVAK NA'l'ION, has an inherent right to fr~dom and independence? What lnterest of the United States, England or France - or t hat of the Cent ro-European nations, wh o do not wlsh the exist· ence of the Czechoslovak Republic and already in 1939 r ecognized the righ t of th e Slov.aks to independence - could be served by such an arg ument? What loglcal arguments can there be against the just dem and of the Slovaks to be recognized legally as equal wHh other nations? In 1918 the Slovak nation was included in Czechoslovakia, by the great powers, because Dr. Edward Beneš, T. G. Masaryk and Czech propaganda claimed t hat Slovaks were Czechs who spoke a dialect o f the Czech language and, therefore, the principle of self-determination did no t a pply to them. W hen Andrew Hlinka wanted to expose this fah,e claim, he was expelled from P aris at the request of Dr. Beneš u nder th e pr etext that he was an agent of the Vatican and the Habsbu rgs. And Dr. Beneš was successful with bis "big lie" a bout the non-existence of the Slovak nation. The distinguished Eng lish historian, C. A. Macartney has this to say on the matt&r: "The story of the gradual adoption by the Allies of the theses of Masaryk and his group cannot and need not be reto ld here. By patient and indefatigable propaganda, they implanted their major postulatea - the existence of a "Czechoslovak nation" and the desire of the Slovak branch of it to form a part of Czechoslovak State- so firm ly in the minds of the Allies that they were never serious ly questioned at the Peace Conference. The "Czecho-Slovak" Govern ment had been recognized by a ll the princ ipal Allied and Assoc iated Powers even before the peace negotiations began -- an act whic h implied that the Slovak queation waa in principle already s ettled - while when t he moment arrived for settling a ll questions of detai l, including the drafting of a frontier, it found the Czecho-Slovak Government firmly establiahed as a negotiating party; indeed, in something like a priv ileged position" (HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS, p. 98). �26 SLOVAKIA Can the arguments of Masaryk and Beneš be appl!ed today or Iu the future? The fabrlcator ot that falsebood hlmself "had to" capltulate and recognlze the exlstence ot the Independent Slovak natlon. In the end Beneš was opposed to only "the proclalmlng and a manifestatlonal recognitlon of the Slovaks a.s a natlon wholly soverelgn," because, accordlng to bim, "any klnd of proclamation and manitestatlonal recognltlon of the Slovaks as a natlon totally soverelgn, not dependent on the Czechs, must lead firat to the deaire and then even to the realization of Slovak atatehood ltaelf" - (ÚVAHY O SLOVAN• STv1, p. 353). Beneš was not the only one who capltulated on that score. Other Czeohs and many Slovak adherents of the thesls o! a "unita.ry Czecboslova.k nation" - wbo made a good llvlng out of lt at the expense o! -the Slovak uation - also caplitulated. Is lt still posslble to prevent the Slovak natlon from passlng from the deslre to the "realizatlon of thelr own Slovak statehood"? What arguments are there to pre• vent thls? The argument that the Slovaks are not sufficiently mature to manage thelr own affalrs certalnly does not hold today. Even sucb a Cze-0hophlle as Dr. Mllan Hodža admltted tbat "Slovaki;i has reached if not paased the Central European's civilization level ... Some political writers in thia country used to be rather skeptical about Slova. kla and her position and even about her political ability to live. Today it is evidently proved that these doubts were unfounded" - (FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, Jarolds, London, 1942, p. 94). The Engllsh expert on Centro-European questlons, C. A. Macartney, stated that In Slovakia there exlsts "a distinctive Slovak nationalism as a factor of the Danubian situation" (PROBLEMS OF THE DANUBE BASIN, London, 1942, p. 122). And let us ask a further question: Wlll lt be loglcally possible to use the argument that the Slovaks, whether in emlgratlon or at home, would not flght for thelr independence on the slde of the democracles? The Slovaks, who are dedlcated to an Independent Slovakla, are In thls !lght, wblch 1s being waged agalnst communist aggresslon, tor over a hundred years as a natlon and their past 1s not sullled by collaboratlon with communlsm. Could the western democracles, therefore, belleve the propaganda of a few Beneš Slovaks (Czechoslovaks) who collaborated with communls m and helped lt to power and then escaped abroad only when they could no Jonger hold government posltlons to enrich themselves - and dlsregard the will of the overwhelmlng majority of the Slovak natlon and lts representatlves In E>migratlon wbo stand for a separate, democratlc Slovak State witbln the framework of a federated Europe or Centra! EurQpe? ·. 1For what reasons? By an objectlve analysls, we can come to only one concluslon: in a federated Europe or Centra! Europe, the Czechoslovak Repub11c bas no rea:son to exlst and can exlst only by tbe grace of some greá.t power, just as lt dld up to 1938 by the grace of France and England, and just as lt does today by tbe grace of tbe Soviet Union. But outslde tbe Soviet Union, there ls no sucb great power whlch In tbe future would need a heterogenous Czechoslovak State founded on �BLOVAKIA 27 violence and preventing the cooperatlon of the European natlons. Centra! Europe wlll need peace and a harmonlous cohabltatlon of natlons to recover from the wounds infllcted by the war and the Russlan occupation. Czech-oslovakla has definltely shown - as up to 1938, so even after 1945 - that it cannot flnd a positlve relatlonshlp toward lts neighbors, that lts exlstence evokes an atmosphere of dlstrust and revlslonism and violates the natural order of the Central-European area. Therefore, there can be no place for the Czechoslovak State In that area. • • • MUSEUMS OF SLOVAKIA The three Jeading museums of Slovakia are in Bratislava, TurSvätý Martin, and Košice. The Agrlcultural Museum In Bratislava, seriously damaged by bombs in 1944, 1s devoted principally to geology, soil, t he cultlvatlon or plants, lncluding frult trees and vegetables, animal husbandry, forestry, and zoology_ The museum iu the capital or Slovakia has In its program to present as complete a plcture as possible of the archaeology, of the creatlve arts, and of the Natural Hlstory of the land, with spe<:ial emphasls on Western Slovak1a. Its ethnographic collect!ons are not as extensive as those at Turčiansky Svätý Martin whlch was establlshed iJl 1896 by local patrlots and was maintalned by them. Ln a.ddltion to the aforemeniioned unu-sually rich e thnogra,phic materlal, the museum possesses a noteworthy collectlon o! models of typical Slovak wooden bulldings. Slnce the city was the prlnclpal headquarters of Slovak natlonal and cultural actlvity, there is assembled here also invaluable source material concernlng the literary progress of the !and. The Eastern Slovakla Museum at Košice possesses a valuable library of over thirty thousand volumes and interestlng collectlons of archeologloal and Natural History Qlbjects. The paintings, whlcb the museum had, were taken to Budapest In 1918. Local museums are organlzed territorlally elther as regional or city lnstltutions. To the former group belong the museums at Trenčín, Nitra, Banská Štiavnica, Komarno, Banská Bystrica, Ružomberok, Bardlov, Levoča, and Rimavská Sobota. The leadlng city museums are at Bratislava and at Kremnica. Speclalized museums are the Agricultural Museum at Bratislava, the Tatra Museums at Poprad and Veľká, and the Jewlsh Museum at Prešov. čiansky • • • WHO SAID IT?: - "Durlng my stay in the Unlted States, I spoke with almost all the leaders of Amerlcan democracy, and, as I expected. l found they all had a full understandlng of our just cause. Dr. Benei'a journey to Moacow and ita hiatorical aignificance la a pproved and recognized in Amerlca. Of course, there are a few reactlonarles there who nurse thelr selfish lnterests with exaggerated fear 'of Bolshevism. I dld not even try to convlnce them." -- (Jan Masaryk: l :.ondon Broadcast, February 16, 1944). � 16 SLOVAKIA WHY NO MORE CZEOHOSLOVAKIA ? DR. JOSEPH K I RSCHBAUM After the communist reglme Jn Bohemla and Slovakia came to power in February 1948, there appeared ln Europe, the Unlted States and In other non-European countrles a new "Czechoslovak" emlgration, conststlng of dlsmlssed diplomats and escaped politlcal leaders of the varlous Czech and Slovak civil partles. This emlgration, lf we are to appraise it by lts actlvlty, contlnues in the pollcles of Dr. Eward Beneš and hls followers, whlch means a contlnuatlon in the same mistakes and blunders whlch have evoked two dangerous crises in Europe durlng the past thlrty years. As a result of thls blundering policy more than half the population of the Czecboslovak Republic (Slovaks, Germans, Magyars, Poles, Ukralnlans and Carpatho-Russlans) was elther deprlved of the most fundamental human and civil rlghts, or deslgnedly lmpeded In lts polltlcal and economical development. Prince Adolf zu Schwarzenberg, head of one of tbe oldest families in Bohemia, had thls to say about Czech policy: "Even In norma! tlmes the double game of Czecb policy can be seen Quite clearly. As long as Czecboslovakia adopted the role of dependence on the West, Benes was at the helm and from 1945 onward prepared the dellvery of hls country to the Communists. Al! the mlndste-rs in hls Cablnet {there were about two dozen of them) worked with thelr ldollzed Presldent, and in a most masterly fashion steered thelr country lnto Communlsm, always hop!ng for a good job as a reward for thelr laudable work In the Bolshevist interest." NEW ENGLISH REVIEW MAGAZINE, 1949, Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 20-22). It is a fact that Czechoslovakia was re-establlshed at the end of World War II agalnst the w111 of the absolute majori ty of the Slovaks and the many mlll!ons of national minorltles by the polllical actlv!ty of a small group of Czech exiles, who were not concerned "·lth the lnterests of the Czech and Slovak nations, or the interests of the ,vbole of Europe, but were rather Jed by imperlallsm, their persona! amblt!ons and a des!re for revenge. And it ls a historical fact that the Czecboslovak State was surrendered, without res!stance, to the power of Mosoow by these pollticlans just as in 1938-1939, w!thout the least resistance, they surrendered it to Berlin. In tbe llgbt of these faots and In the interest of better organ!· zation and cooperatlon or the Centra! European natlons, as well as In the interest of trutb and justlce, lt appea:-s necessary to point out the arguments whlch speak agalnst the exlstence or the Czechoslovak Republlc. An analysis, lssuing from European and Centro-European points of vlew and not only from the lnterests of natlons and mlnorlt!es whlch were forced tnto the Czecboslovak Republ!c agalnst their wlll, is demanded In this connectlon by our slde, because !t !s based on the motlve contained In the Declaratlon o! Independence of the Unlted ~tates, In whlcb we read: " W hen in t he course of human events, it becomes necessary for �SLOVAKIA 17 one people to dissolve the political banda which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separated and equal station to whi ch the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opíníons of mankind requ ires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." What are the causes which led the Slovaks and the minorities to demand the dlssolution of political ties with the Czech nation in t he Czechoslovak Republic? Generally speaking, we can mention, first of all, the following: 1. Tendencies for the preservatlon or restoration of the Czechos lovak Republic do not meet with the approval of the majority of lts inhabitants and the principle of democracy and the principles ex· pressed in the Atlantic Charter. 2. The Czechoslovak Republic has no cause to exist in a just arrangement of Europe even from the standpoint of European in· terests. 3. The Czechoslovak Republic has no place in a federated Europe or a federated Centra! Europe. More than thirty years of clever Czech propaganda migh t, at a first glance, contradict these allegations. There Js no argument ahout that. In the mirror of our experience with the propaganda of Goebels, and, today, that of Moscow, we see, however, that even a propaganda of falsehoods can be successful for a time, deceiving and convinclng many people. But the force of truth is eternal. By resorting to lies we may enjoy successes temporarily, but the truth shall prevail in the end. In the case of the Czechoslovak Republic, we are concerned witili nothing more than the truth. Tbat is why we are analyzing the above-mentioned arguments at least in their main outlines. And in dolng this, we pu.rposely refer to the testimonies of· objective, politlcal European observers, so that no one rnight say that the Slovak s truggle for freedom and independence issues from an exaggerated nationalism or natlonal intolerenace, as Cz&eh propaganda designedly claims that it does. The Slovaks were co-founders of the Czechoslovak Republic and would have wished its preservation, if the Czechoslovak State would bave had possessed the prerequisites to fulfill the task that falls to a state in the sense of a modem, sociologlcal conception, on the one hand, and, on the other, from the standpolnt of European interests. The Czechoslovak Repu blic, however, diel not. The Slovaks, therefore, in the lntent of democracy, the Atlantic Charter, and the Charter of the United Nations Organization, are demanding a new order of Centro-Eu.ropean relationships. to which the Czechoslovak Republic definitely 1s an obstacle, as shall be made clear in the arguments that follow. Are the tendenciea to preserve or restore the Czechoslovak Republic in harmony with the will of the majority of ita inhabítanta and the princ iples upon which a modern state ia founded ? �18 SLOVAKIA This question was already asked at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, at whlch the Czechoslovak Republlc was born, as Lloyd George tells us in bis book "The Truth About the Peace Treaties": "Czechs, Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, Poles, Ukrainians - is this not a new Austria which will thus arise under the Czech ban• ner, a new polyglot state in which six nations will be packed together, all filled with hatred of one against the other, arrested in their whole economic and social development and in the progress of their civilization by hate and national strife, nourished by tyranny and poisoning their whole public llfe? - How can the new polyglot State, the artificial work of an imperialist diplomacy, exist without any economic community, geographical unity, or common history?" - {pp. 944, 946). Lloyd George evldently wa.s troubled wlth the prOl)osltion of setting up Czechoslovakia and stated bluntly: "The Czechs were specially favored by the Allies. The result was the recognition of the polyglot and incoherent state of Czechoslovakia." - (p. 948). We see, then, at the very beglnning of the Czechoslovak RepubJic, that nelther the lnterests o( the lnhabitants ot the newly-rlsing s tate, nor tbe prlnclple or the rlght of self-determlnation and of democratlc freedoms were tbe decldlng factors, but only the "special favor of tbe Allles." It was, tberefore, only natural tbat the Czecbo• slovak Republlc durlng al! lts 20 years was troubled with interna! controversles - cleverly masked abroad by a great propaganda apparatu.s - and that lt collapsed wltbout the least resistance of its populatlon with tbe flrst lmpact from outslde in 1938-1939. What is more, we can show that ,tbe majority of the inhabitants even deslred the collapse of the Czechoslovak Republic by quotlng statements of Czech polltlclans themselves and recalllng those made durlng the polltlcal trlals of the "people's" democracy of Czechoslovakla versus the Slovaks, Germans and Magyars - the trials staged by the Czech Government after 1945. Why dld they deslre lts dlssolutlon? Indisputably because the Czechoslovak Republi c dld not satisfy the polltlcal and economlc !nterests and aspirations of its inhabitants, except those of the Czech minority which managed tbe State. Al the Par!s Peace Conference (1919), Dr. Edward Beneš declared that: "lt is the intention of the Czechoslovak Government to create the organlzatlon of tbe State by accepting as a basis of natural rights tbe prlnclples applled in the Constitutlon of tbe Swlss Republlc, tbat !s, to make the Czechoslovak Republlc a sor-t of Swltzerland . . ." Tbe Czecb governments, bowever, did not manage tbe Czechoslovak Republlc as Beneš had promlsed, but In sucb manner as Jf only an exclusive Czecb State was concerned, whose mission apparently wa,s to asslmilate the non-Czech populat!on, and espec!ally the Slovaks, and hold them in cbeck economlcally and soc!ally. Tbe resistance of the other lnhabltants and the support of tbe efforts whlch almed at the dlssolutlon of tbe Czechoslovak Republlc, therefore, became an entlrely logical r~ult of the sltuation in whlcb tbe non-Czech inha.b!tants llved. Tbi.s was abundantly clear to objectlve observers already in 1938. Lloyd George said: "Had the Czech leaders, in tíme and without �SLOVAKIA 19 waiting for the menacing preasure of Germany, redeemed their promise to grant local autonomy to the various races in their Republic on the llnes of the Swiu Confederation, the present troubles would (p. 952). Long before 1938, but especlally in the stlrr!ng months before MuniC'h and in the Sprlng of 1939, many dlscern!ng representatlves of the Czech and Slovak natlons were certaln that the Czechoslovak Republlc dld not develop into a forma,tion whlch could more lastlngly assure the secur!ty and the vltal !nterests of both these natlons wh!ch were the ethnlcal foundatlon of the Republlc. Ir the Czech natlon for a Ume enjoyed certa!n advantages because of the exlstence ot Czechoslovak!a, lt was only at the expense of the rest of the inhabitants. But the Czechs later had to pay dearly for those advantages and also had to become aware o[ the fact that the Czechoslovak State could not guarantee the securRy even or the Czech natlon agalnst a slngle nelghbor. As far as the S lovaks are conceTned, they could not resolve tbe ma,tter any other way, because the Slovak natlon In the Czechoslovak State - actually, however, in a CZECH State -· was In a posltlon altogether unbecomlng a cultured natlon, belng exposed to planned ass:lmllatlon and economical exploltatlon by the Czechs, wbom the whole state apparatus served. Here we are not even mentlon!ng th e status of the mlnorities as a problem, which occup!ed the League or Na.Uons for twenty years and, later, was an opportune alibi for the liquldation of the Cz-echoslovak Republ!c. Th!s problem, as well as t hat of the Slovak.s, was dealt with by such personallties as Lord Run• clman and C. A. Macartney. Rererrlng to Czechoslovak!a, the latter wrote: have been averted" - "The fact remains that the Government has been obliged more often than not to rule Slovakia against the wishes of most of its inhabltants, maintaining itself only by the expedienta of restrictlng the power, of the self-governing bodies to within the narrowest posslble limita, of filling the seats designated for 'experu' with its own nominees, and utilizing freely weapons of censorship and police supervision" (H UNGAIRY AND HER SUCCESSORS, p. 145). After completlng bis miss!on In 1938, Lord Runciman made even more unfavorable statements In reportlng on the status or the more than three and a half mlll!on German minority in the Republ!c. He said: " I have been left with the impreaaion that Czechoslovak rule in the Sudeten areas for the last twenty years ... has been marked by tactlessness, lack of understanding, petty intolerance and discriminatio n, to a point where the resentment of the German populatlon was inevitably moving in the d irection of revolt. The Sudeten Germans fel>t, too, that in the past they had been given many promises by the Czechoslovak Government, but that llttle or no action had fol lowed these promises...." (Britlsh White Paper, Cmd. 5847). That is why the Republlc was not derended when Its in tegrity was threatened and, la,ter, not even when lts very exlstence was In danger. Not by a single nation of Czechoslovakia, not even the Czech natlon! �20 S LOVAKIA On the contrary, its dlssolutlon was made possible by its own inha.bitan,ts, the majority of whom could realize their natural right to freedom and their o wn State only by the destruction of Czechos lovakia. So it happened in the case of the Slovaks. W ri ting about the S lovaks in 1942, Macartney said: " ... most of them found themselves unable to accept the Peace Confe rence thesis of a unitary Czechoslovak nation. Some of them fe lt this to mean, in practice, domination by the economically and socially atronger Czecha, and they reacted in the form of a flamboyant Slovak nationalism which was the main reason for the absence of revolt with which they accepted the dissolution of the Czechos lovak State" (PRO BLEMS OF T HE DANUBE BASIN, p. 122). Dur ing the Second World War, a group of Czech exiles in London (The Czech Natio nal Commiltee) and Slovak exiles (The S lovak Na• tional Council in London), both fighting on the sid e of the Allies, tried to find a diťferent solutlon to the Czech and S lovak pr oblem than that which the fľamework of Czechoslovakia offered. Representatives of the Czech and Slovak natlons, in accord w ith the prlnciple of the right of self-determlnation and the r ight of every nation to independence, proposed ,the organlzing of a separate Slovak State and a separate Czech State within the framewo rk of a larger federalive Centro-European unit. Their efforts were prompted not only by t he interests of their own nations, but also by the interests of Eu ropean peace and prosperity, as well as by a sense for justice and the righ t. A g roup of Czech poli ticians headed by Ben eš, however, motivated by persona! prestige, by a desfre for revenge a nd the re newal of Czech i mperia'lism more than by t he interests of its own nation, did not hes.ltate to surrender the destiny of the Czech and Slovak natlons to the "tender" mercies of th~ Soviet Un ion. Unfortunately for the nations concerned, for Europe and the democratic world, this group of political madmen realized tbeir program. The Czechoslovak Republlc was restored by the grace of Moscow. Of course, no t in the interests of the Czecbs and the Slovaks, but, as it is abundantly clear today, in the interests of Moscow. Robert Ingrim, forelgn correspondent of leading European newspapers, wrote in 1946: " Russia's aim, when signing that t reaty against the wishes of Ame rica and Britain, was, of course, not to sec ure Czechia as an a ll y. They made use of Benes' fea r of a frontier revision in order to get a strong foothold in the he art of th e Continent" - (AFTER HITLER STALIN? - P. 180). What develo ped in the Czechoslovak Republic after 1945, and es pecially th e events of Feb ruary 1948, definitely prove that point. flut we must a lso state tbat restored Czechoslovakia realized it could exist only by having a Czecb majority assured. Beneš and his group were only too well aware of that and, therefore, promoted tbeir pian for ousting the Germans and Magyars trom Czechoslovakia. Because they were successful, over three million Germans and almost a half m illlon Magya rs were expelled from the ·Republic. Tbe consequences of thls " hum ane and orderly " expulsion by Beneš and bis regime will be feLt for a long time to the detriment of cooperation between the natlons of Centra! Europe. �SLOVAKIA 21 The majority of the Slovaks was definitely against the restoration of Czechoslovakla. Because the Slovak nation was not given an opportunity to express itself about i.ts own destlny, it felt and even today feels that lt was wrong, morally and otherwise, to destroy the independent State o! Slovakla, and that it was deprived of its rlght to ind ependence illegally and by vlolence. What happened in Slovakia s ince the restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic has only steeled the Slovaks In thelr determination to revolt agains.t the Czech lmperialistic St.rute at the fil'st opportnne moment and 1-.estore their own S lovak State. F. A. VoigU had this to say a bout the Czech-Slovak relat!onship: "The conflict between the Czechs and Slovaks appears to be irreconcilable. lt would seem that the Czechoslovak State is, today, a fiction and that it will never again be a reality, for if RuHian overlordahip were removed, the Czechs could only reaHert their authority over the Slovaks by force of arms - and in this they would surely fail, for they have not one friend in Central Europe, whereas the Slovaks have many" (THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER, Nov. 1945). As a result of the sltuation prevailing today, thousands of Slovak exiles in Europe, a million and a half Americans of Slovak descent, and many thousands of Slovaks in Canada, England, Argentína, Belgium, Spain, France, I,taly, Austria and Swltzerland, as well as an overwhelming majority of the Slovak nation at horne, are fighting for an Independent Slovak State, the only pol!tlcal formation which can guarantee their national existence and happlness According to the repo11t of the Prague Ministry of the Interi01•, there were uncovered 36 conspiracies in Slovakia against the Republic in Jess than two years. Thls reslstance against the State of the Czechs and Slovaks continues despite the fact that a large percentage of Slovak intellectuals has been cast into jall, tortured and exiled. and despite the fact that about 300,000 Slovaks have been transferred to the Czech-German border to weaken resistancP. in Slovakia. The logical concluslon to be drawn from all this is that from 1945 restored Czechoslovakia is belng preserved only by brute force and suppression of the most fundamental natlonal and indivldual rights, and that Czechoslovakla is a negation of all the rlghts which modern society has des igna.ted to a state for the purpose and lntent of its existence: to guarantee a free political and economical development of its people. II The Czechoslovak Republic has no reason to exist in a righteous arrangement of Europe from the viewpoint of European interests. While the Czechoslovak Republic, in the democratic sense, did not and does not fulfill the functlons of a state in relation to the majority of lts inhabitants, it is not difficult to find proofs that there ls no reason for this State to exist even as far as the interests of Europe are concerned, and much less so as far as the interests of Centra! Europe are concerned. At the end of World War I, Czechoslovakia was formed with the intention that lt would perform the function of a defensive barrier �22 SLOVAKIA agalnst Germany and that it would be a part of the cordon sanitaire against Russla. Lloyd George wrote that Beneš assured the Peace Conference that "the Czecha were protectors of democracy against Germaniam" and that "it was their duty at all timea to fi ght the Germans" - (p. 932). Czechoslovakia, however, did not fulflll a slngle functlon it was supposed to, but conversely, wlth lts senseless policy towards the non-Czech majority of its lnhabitant.s, lt flrst weakened the proposed system of defense against Germany and then was the alibi and the cause for the collapse of thls system and, therefore, helped German aggression In Centra! Europe. Durlng all twenty years of its existence, the Czecbóslovak Repub• lic could not find a posltlve relationship toward even a slngle one ot its nelghbors. With its Interna! and forelgn policles, it actually prevented the consoUdat!on of the Oentro-European area and indirectly prepared the ground for the s uccess of the policy of Natlonal Sociallsm of Germany whlch, on the other hand, galned not only the mlnorlties of Czechoslovakia, but also the na.tions to which these mlnorltles belonged, by promislng to apply and abide by the natlonality prlnclple. And so, instead of becoming a barrler agalnst Germany, Czechoslovakia actually became the gate whereby Germany passed into the Danube area and southeastern Europe without any opposltion whatsoever. Instead of stopping German aggression and German im periallsm, Czechoslovakla substaf\tially facilitated the German "Drang nach Osten." And looktng from that va.ntage point, what is the situation slnce 1945? After 1-ts restoration in 1945, did the Czechoslovak State become a "bastlon o! democracy" as promis'E!d by the Czech pol!ticlans who requested the Allies to restore lt? Of course, we kno1~ that it did not. The fact 1s that it did not even become a brldge between the East and the West In the posltive sense, but only a brldge for the trafflc of the Soviet Union and lts satellltes. Over this brldge the Soviet Union went unlmpedéd into the heart of Europe. At the same Ume Czechoslovakla became the gate through which the Soviet Union and communlsm will attack the democratlc world. And who is to blame for that? In a large mea.sure all those who worked so energetioally for the restoration of Czechoslovakia In order to assure their "trlumphant" return home, the restoratlon of the Czechoslovak State w.hich collapsed so utterly in 1939, and also the assent of the Allles to expel the German and Magyar mlnorities, the Czech polltlcians, headed by Beneš, not only concluded an agreement wlth Moscow, whereby the Soviet Union w.as enabled to interfere In the affairs of Czechoslovakia, but also allowed the Soviet Union to take Ruthenia wlthout any regard for the will of the inhabltanta thereof and in violatlon of ~he Czechoslovak Con.stitutlon. Thus, Russla for the flrst tlme in its hlstory got a foothold in the Danube Basin only a few kllometers from Bu<lapest and Vlenna. The transfer of Ruthenla to the Soviet Union took place In the Sprlng of 19!l5--as compensatlon for the Sovleťs assent to expel the G-ermana .and -•Magyars from Czechoslovakla. From a polltlcal· and �SLOVAK.IA 23 strategic viewpoint, this was a great victory for the Soviet Union. Robert l ngrim had this to say about the matter: "The alliance with the Czechs who, wlthout Aussian aupport, would have been unable to re-establish their rule over a non-Czech majority of Germans, Slovaks, Magyars, Poles, and Authenians, is one prong of Stalin's great hayfork.... A look at the map of Europe showa the meaning of that hayfork. By including the eaatern part of formerly Auatrian Galícia in her Poliah booty, Ruaaia establishes territori al contact with the Czech satellite. The westernmoat tip of Bohernia is but 200 miles off the French border" (Op. cit. p. 181-182). Furthermore, Czech polltlclans under the leadershlp of Beneš not only prevented the possiblllty of harmonious cooperatlon of the nations of Centra! Europe, but wf.th the!r deportatlons evoked s-uch a fear of German retrlbution that they themselves see a guarantee of the exlstence of Czechoslovakia only In the politlcal and mil!tary support of the Soviet Union. In thls respect, note,.vorthy is the statement of Dr. Beneš hlmself, addressed In 1947 to a Slovak delegatlon headed by Dr. Joseph Lettrich: " T he Czechs cannot accept under any circumstances an independent Slovakia i n the future •.• The Czechs, having on the one side 70 million Germans, must on the other side have Aussia as their neighbor. Therefore, they could not accept an independent Slovakia. This is a vítal problem for the existence of the Czechs as a nation and as a State" (Feb. 16, 1947). Consequently the inhabltants of Czechoslovak\a are forced to support the pollcles of the Soviet Union In the interest of the exlstence of Czechoslovakia, even though thelr polltlcal convictlons and sympathies are In dlametrical confllct wlth those pol!cles. On the otber hand, however, lt follow-s that the Czecboslovak State bases 1s exlstence only on the mllltary and pol!tlcal m1ght of a forelgn power; consequently lt has become a tool of that power and does not possess abll!ty and vítal force of !ts own to exlst as a sovereign state. T.bereln we must also seek the reason why the communist putsch of February 1948 dld not meet witb any reslstance even from the Czech nation. The very exdstence of the Czechoslovak State, whlch was not capable of exlstlng by ltself and was founded on the suppresslon of freedoms of other nat!ons, demanded the subjugat!on not only of the Czech people, hut also the Slovak natlon, w,h lch was over 70 per cent antl-communlst, by the commun!st totalltarian dlctatorshlp. The consequences of thla pollcy, whereby the so-called "raJson d'Etat" was placed before the interest of the freedom and the llfe of the lnhabltants, are lll-fated not only for the Czech and Slovak na• tions, but the Soviet Union, by means of th!s pollcy, got lnto the very heart of the E uropean contlnent and communlsm galned an important gateway through whi-ch lt can attack western Europe. Thus Czechoslovakla, twlce wlthln a slngle decade, made it posslble or substantlally easler for lmperlallsm to enter Europe and thréaten the freedoms of lts natlons: In 1938 the lmperlal!sm ot natlonally soclalistlc Germany and, In 1946-48, the lmper!allsm of communlst Russla. So, the functlon given the Czechoslovak Republlc, or that whlch !ts creators promlsed lt would perform. was not only not fulfllled, but, conversely, th!s State - besldes preventlng the coop- �24 SLOVAKIA eration of the nations of Centra! Europe and oppressing the majority of lts inhabitants - has cast Europe into dangerou.s crises twlce within a single decade and facilitated the victory of those forces, against wh1ch lt was supposed to serve, directly or indirectly, as a barrler. Therefore, it appears evldent that the exlstence of this State uot only does not have motivatlon, but that it is in the interest of Europe and its healthy organlzation that this synthetlc formatien. founded on violence and the suppression of the most fundamental freedoms of millions of human beings and existing only with the help oľ a foreign power, definitely disappear from the map of Europe. Such is the conviction not only of the absolute majoľ'ity of the S lovak nation and its true representatives, who never agreed with the restoration of the Czechoslovak Republlc, but also the convictlon of many upright and freedom-Jovlng Czechs, who fought on the side of the Allies during the past war for the creation of a separate Czech State and a separate Slovak State within a framework of a federated Centra) Europe. These Czechs have refused to return to the synthetic political creation which does not reflect the will of the majority or its !nha'bitants, but is in fact the tool of the policy and aims of the Soviet Union. 111 The Czechoslovak Republic has no place in a federated Europe or a federated C entral Europe. If the Czechoslovak Republic has no raison ďetre in a system of sovereign states fľom a standpoint of European interests - the securlty of Central Europe and a harmonious relationship of lts na• tions - then the existence of this unnatura! formation appears to be utterly useless and unjust in the case of federating Europe, or at least Central Europe. There are several logical and objective argu• ip.ents in support of this statement. The Czechoslovak Republic, as we have seen, was created wíth the intent of forming a barrier against German expansion, and in 1945 it was restored so it could be a bastion of democracy and a bridge be· tween the East and the West. In these functions !t falled miserably. And these motlves do not hold in the case of a federation of Europe, or at least Centra! Europe. Indivldual states, whlch could not stop aggression in Europe even with a system of alliances, certainly wlll not play the role, in a federated Europe, of preventlng a repetition of a German attack or Russlan hegemony; that wlll be the role of the federation of the Continent, or that of Centra! Europe. The argument that Czechoslovakia should be retained, because it is a larger unit than would ·be either a Czech or Slovak unit, cannot play a part in the case of a European or Centro-European federation. Strategic and economic arguments, which give priority to larger for· mations, have not proved themselves in the case of Czechoslovak!a even wlth a system of soverelgn states, because factually it could not defend ltself against any one of its neighbors. The lnclusion of the minorities and the creation of a Czechoslovakia wlth some 15 mill!on inhabitants would conmct w!th the basic principle of federalism and the expressed right of nations to self-determination. �SLOVAKIA 25 Furtherm ore the Czech nation, which has gone over to the cam p of the satelltes of the Soviet Union more or less wlllingly, cannot h31Ve any claims w hich would give it preference over all its other neighbors and allow the Czechs to annex territories occupied by nonCzech inh ab itants. After 1945, when Hungary and Germany were defeated States, and Cz~ hoslovakia - whether deservingly or not - was included a mong the victorious Allles, it was possible to restore Czechoslovakia with lts old borders, especially when Slovakia was to be punished for not being on the border of P ortugal, but on t he border of Germany, and, therefore, was included in the camp of the defeated. In a E urope liberated from t he hegemony of Moscow, not a single argument used to validate the orlgin or the restoration of -the Czechos lovak Re public wlll be aible to be used in the future, especially no t in the case of federalization of Europe or Centra! Europe. The feder• ative principle excludes hegemony of one nation over another. In the case of Slovakia, then, what logical argument can there be against the Slovak natlon h aving its own independen t State? 1s lt logical and just to say that every nation, no matter how small, EXCEPT THE SLOVAK NA'l'ION, has an inherent right to fr~dom and independence? What lnterest of the United States, England or France - or t hat of the Cent ro-European nations, wh o do not wlsh the exist· ence of the Czechoslovak Republic and already in 1939 r ecognized the righ t of th e Slov.aks to independence - could be served by such an arg ument? What loglcal arguments can there be against the just dem and of the Slovaks to be recognized legally as equal wHh other nations? In 1918 the Slovak nation was included in Czechoslovakia, by the great powers, because Dr. Edward Beneš, T. G. Masaryk and Czech propaganda claimed t hat Slovaks were Czechs who spoke a dialect o f the Czech language and, therefore, the principle of self-determination did no t a pply to them. W hen Andrew Hlinka wanted to expose this fah,e claim, he was expelled from P aris at the request of Dr. Beneš u nder th e pr etext that he was an agent of the Vatican and the Habsbu rgs. And Dr. Beneš was successful with bis "big lie" a bout the non-existence of the Slovak nation. The distinguished Eng lish historian, C. A. Macartney has this to say on the matt&r: "The story of the gradual adoption by the Allies of the theses of Masaryk and his group cannot and need not be reto ld here. By patient and indefatigable propaganda, they implanted their major postulatea - the existence of a "Czechoslovak nation" and the desire of the Slovak branch of it to form a part of Czechoslovak State- so firm ly in the minds of the Allies that they were never serious ly questioned at the Peace Conference. The "Czecho-Slovak" Govern ment had been recognized by a ll the princ ipal Allied and Assoc iated Powers even before the peace negotiations began -- an act whic h implied that the Slovak queation waa in principle already s ettled - while when t he moment arrived for settling a ll questions of detai l, including the drafting of a frontier, it found the Czecho-Slovak Government firmly establiahed as a negotiating party; indeed, in something like a priv ileged position" (HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS, p. 98). �26 SLOVAKIA Can the arguments of Masaryk and Beneš be appl!ed today or Iu the future? The fabrlcator ot that falsebood hlmself "had to" capltulate and recognlze the exlstence ot the Independent Slovak natlon. In the end Beneš was opposed to only "the proclalmlng and a manifestatlonal recognitlon of the Slovaks a.s a natlon wholly soverelgn," because, accordlng to bim, "any klnd of proclamation and manitestatlonal recognltlon of the Slovaks as a natlon totally soverelgn, not dependent on the Czechs, must lead firat to the deaire and then even to the realization of Slovak atatehood ltaelf" - (ÚVAHY O SLOVAN• STv1, p. 353). Beneš was not the only one who capltulated on that score. Other Czeohs and many Slovak adherents of the thesls o! a "unita.ry Czecboslova.k nation" - wbo made a good llvlng out of lt at the expense o! -the Slovak uation - also caplitulated. Is lt still posslble to prevent the Slovak natlon from passlng from the deslre to the "realizatlon of thelr own Slovak statehood"? What arguments are there to pre• vent thls? The argument that the Slovaks are not sufficiently mature to manage thelr own affalrs certalnly does not hold today. Even sucb a Cze-0hophlle as Dr. Mllan Hodža admltted tbat "Slovaki;i has reached if not paased the Central European's civilization level ... Some political writers in thia country used to be rather skeptical about Slova. kla and her position and even about her political ability to live. Today it is evidently proved that these doubts were unfounded" - (FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, Jarolds, London, 1942, p. 94). The Engllsh expert on Centro-European questlons, C. A. Macartney, stated that In Slovakia there exlsts "a distinctive Slovak nationalism as a factor of the Danubian situation" (PROBLEMS OF THE DANUBE BASIN, London, 1942, p. 122). And let us ask a further question: Wlll lt be loglcally possible to use the argument that the Slovaks, whether in emlgratlon or at home, would not flght for thelr independence on the slde of the democracles? The Slovaks, who are dedlcated to an Independent Slovakla, are In thls !lght, wblch 1s being waged agalnst communist aggresslon, tor over a hundred years as a natlon and their past 1s not sullled by collaboratlon with communlsm. Could the western democracles, therefore, belleve the propaganda of a few Beneš Slovaks (Czechoslovaks) who collaborated with communls m and helped lt to power and then escaped abroad only when they could no Jonger hold government posltlons to enrich themselves - and dlsregard the will of the overwhelmlng majority of the Slovak natlon and lts representatlves In E>migratlon wbo stand for a separate, democratlc Slovak State witbln the framework of a federated Europe or Centra! EurQpe? ·. 1For what reasons? By an objectlve analysls, we can come to only one concluslon: in a federated Europe or Centra! Europe, the Czechoslovak Repub11c bas no rea:son to exlst and can exlst only by tbe grace of some greá.t power, just as lt dld up to 1938 by the grace of France and England, and just as lt does today by tbe grace of tbe Soviet Union. But outslde tbe Soviet Union, there ls no sucb great power whlch In tbe future would need a heterogenous Czechoslovak State founded on �BLOVAKIA 27 violence and preventing the cooperatlon of the European natlons. Centra! Europe wlll need peace and a harmonlous cohabltatlon of natlons to recover from the wounds infllcted by the war and the Russlan occupation. Czech-oslovakla has definltely shown - as up to 1938, so even after 1945 - that it cannot flnd a positlve relatlonshlp toward lts neighbors, that lts exlstence evokes an atmosphere of dlstrust and revlslonism and violates the natural order of the Central-European area. Therefore, there can be no place for the Czechoslovak State In that area. • • • MUSEUMS OF SLOVAKIA The three Jeading museums of Slovakia are in Bratislava, TurSvätý Martin, and Košice. The Agrlcultural Museum In Bratislava, seriously damaged by bombs in 1944, 1s devoted principally to geology, soil, t he cultlvatlon or plants, lncluding frult trees and vegetables, animal husbandry, forestry, and zoology_ The museum iu the capital or Slovakia has In its program to present as complete a plcture as possible of the archaeology, of the creatlve arts, and of the Natural Hlstory of the land, with spe<:ial emphasls on Western Slovak1a. Its ethnographic collect!ons are not as extensive as those at Turčiansky Svätý Martin whlch was establlshed iJl 1896 by local patrlots and was maintalned by them. Ln a.ddltion to the aforemeniioned unu-sually rich e thnogra,phic materlal, the museum possesses a noteworthy collectlon o! models of typical Slovak wooden bulldings. Slnce the city was the prlnclpal headquarters of Slovak natlonal and cultural actlvity, there is assembled here also invaluable source material concernlng the literary progress of the !and. The Eastern Slovakla Museum at Košice possesses a valuable library of over thirty thousand volumes and interestlng collectlons of archeologloal and Natural History Qlbjects. The paintings, whlcb the museum had, were taken to Budapest In 1918. Local museums are organlzed territorlally elther as regional or city lnstltutions. To the former group belong the museums at Trenčín, Nitra, Banská Štiavnica, Komarno, Banská Bystrica, Ružomberok, Bardlov, Levoča, and Rimavská Sobota. The leadlng city museums are at Bratislava and at Kremnica. Speclalized museums are the Agricultural Museum at Bratislava, the Tatra Museums at Poprad and Veľká, and the Jewlsh Museum at Prešov. čiansky • • • WHO SAID IT?: - "Durlng my stay in the Unlted States, I spoke with almost all the leaders of Amerlcan democracy, and, as I expected. l found they all had a full understandlng of our just cause. Dr. Benei'a journey to Moacow and ita hiatorical aignificance la a pproved and recognized in Amerlca. Of course, there are a few reactlonarles there who nurse thelr selfish lnterests with exaggerated fear 'of Bolshevism. I dld not even try to convlnce them." -- (Jan Masaryk: l :.ondon Broadcast, February 16, 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 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 16 SLOVAKIA WHY NO MORE CZEOHOSLOVAKIA ? DR. JOSEPH K I RSCHBAUM After the communist reglme Jn Bohemla and Slovakia came to power in February 1948, there appeared ln Europe, the Unlted States and In other non-European countrles a new "Czechoslovak" emlgration, conststlng of dlsmlssed diplomats and escaped politlcal leaders of the varlous Czech and Slovak civil partles. This emlgration, lf we are to appraise it by lts actlvlty, contlnues in the pollcles of Dr. Eward Beneš and hls followers, whlch means a contlnuatlon in the same mistakes and blunders whlch have evoked two dangerous crises in Europe durlng the past thlrty years. As a result of thls blundering policy more than half the population of the Czecboslovak Republic (Slovaks, Germans, Magyars, Poles, Ukralnlans and Carpatho-Russlans) was elther deprlved of the most fundamental human and civil rlghts, or deslgnedly lmpeded In lts polltlcal and economical development. Prince Adolf zu Schwarzenberg, head of one of tbe oldest families in Bohemia, had thls to say about Czech policy: "Even In norma! tlmes the double game of Czecb policy can be seen Quite clearly. As long as Czecboslovakia adopted the role of dependence on the West, Benes was at the helm and from 1945 onward prepared the dellvery of hls country to the Communists. Al! the mlndste-rs in hls Cablnet {there were about two dozen of them) worked with thelr ldollzed Presldent, and in a most masterly fashion steered thelr country lnto Communlsm, always hop!ng for a good job as a reward for thelr laudable work In the Bolshevist interest." NEW ENGLISH REVIEW MAGAZINE, 1949, Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 20-22). It is a fact that Czechoslovakia was re-establlshed at the end of World War II agalnst the w111 of the absolute majori ty of the Slovaks and the many mlll!ons of national minorltles by the polllical actlv!ty of a small group of Czech exiles, who were not concerned "·lth the lnterests of the Czech and Slovak nations, or the interests of the ,vbole of Europe, but were rather Jed by imperlallsm, their persona! amblt!ons and a des!re for revenge. And it ls a historical fact that the Czecboslovak State was surrendered, without res!stance, to the power of Mosoow by these pollticlans just as in 1938-1939, w!thout the least resistance, they surrendered it to Berlin. In tbe llgbt of these faots and In the interest of better organ!· zation and cooperatlon or the Centra! European natlons, as well as In the interest of trutb and justlce, lt appea:-s necessary to point out the arguments whlch speak agalnst the exlstence or the Czechoslovak Republlc. An analysis, lssuing from European and Centro-European points of vlew and not only from the lnterests of natlons and mlnorlt!es whlch were forced tnto the Czecboslovak Republ!c agalnst their wlll, is demanded In this connectlon by our slde, because !t !s based on the motlve contained In the Declaratlon o! Independence of the Unlted ~tates, In whlcb we read: " W hen in t he course of human events, it becomes necessary for SLOVAKIA 17 one people to dissolve the political banda which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separated and equal station to whi ch the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opíníons of mankind requ ires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." What are the causes which led the Slovaks and the minorities to demand the dlssolution of political ties with the Czech nation in t he Czechoslovak Republic? Generally speaking, we can mention, first of all, the following: 1. Tendencies for the preservatlon or restoration of the Czechos lovak Republic do not meet with the approval of the majority of lts inhabitants and the principle of democracy and the principles ex· pressed in the Atlantic Charter. 2. The Czechoslovak Republic has no cause to exist in a just arrangement of Europe even from the standpoint of European in· terests. 3. The Czechoslovak Republic has no place in a federated Europe or a federated Centra! Europe. More than thirty years of clever Czech propaganda migh t, at a first glance, contradict these allegations. There Js no argument ahout that. In the mirror of our experience with the propaganda of Goebels, and, today, that of Moscow, we see, however, that even a propaganda of falsehoods can be successful for a time, deceiving and convinclng many people. But the force of truth is eternal. By resorting to lies we may enjoy successes temporarily, but the truth shall prevail in the end. In the case of the Czechoslovak Republic, we are concerned witili nothing more than the truth. Tbat is why we are analyzing the above-mentioned arguments at least in their main outlines. And in dolng this, we pu.rposely refer to the testimonies of· objective, politlcal European observers, so that no one rnight say that the Slovak s truggle for freedom and independence issues from an exaggerated nationalism or natlonal intolerenace, as Cz&eh propaganda designedly claims that it does. The Slovaks were co-founders of the Czechoslovak Republic and would have wished its preservation, if the Czechoslovak State would bave had possessed the prerequisites to fulfill the task that falls to a state in the sense of a modem, sociologlcal conception, on the one hand, and, on the other, from the standpolnt of European interests. The Czechoslovak Repu blic, however, diel not. The Slovaks, therefore, in the lntent of democracy, the Atlantic Charter, and the Charter of the United Nations Organization, are demanding a new order of Centro-Eu.ropean relationships. to which the Czechoslovak Republic definitely 1s an obstacle, as shall be made clear in the arguments that follow. Are the tendenciea to preserve or restore the Czechoslovak Republic in harmony with the will of the majority of ita inhabítanta and the princ iples upon which a modern state ia founded ? 18 SLOVAKIA This question was already asked at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, at whlch the Czechoslovak Republlc was born, as Lloyd George tells us in bis book "The Truth About the Peace Treaties": "Czechs, Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, Poles, Ukrainians - is this not a new Austria which will thus arise under the Czech ban• ner, a new polyglot state in which six nations will be packed together, all filled with hatred of one against the other, arrested in their whole economic and social development and in the progress of their civilization by hate and national strife, nourished by tyranny and poisoning their whole public llfe? - How can the new polyglot State, the artificial work of an imperialist diplomacy, exist without any economic community, geographical unity, or common history?" - {pp. 944, 946). Lloyd George evldently wa.s troubled wlth the prOl)osltion of setting up Czechoslovakia and stated bluntly: "The Czechs were specially favored by the Allies. The result was the recognition of the polyglot and incoherent state of Czechoslovakia." - (p. 948). We see, then, at the very beglnning of the Czechoslovak RepubJic, that nelther the lnterests o( the lnhabitants ot the newly-rlsing s tate, nor tbe prlnclple or the rlght of self-determlnation and of democratlc freedoms were tbe decldlng factors, but only the "special favor of tbe Allles." It was, tberefore, only natural tbat the Czecbo• slovak Republlc durlng al! lts 20 years was troubled with interna! controversles - cleverly masked abroad by a great propaganda apparatu.s - and that lt collapsed wltbout the least resistance of its populatlon with tbe flrst lmpact from outslde in 1938-1939. What is more, we can show that ,tbe majority of the inhabitants even deslred the collapse of the Czechoslovak Republic by quotlng statements of Czech polltlclans themselves and recalllng those made durlng the polltlcal trlals of the "people's" democracy of Czechoslovakla versus the Slovaks, Germans and Magyars - the trials staged by the Czech Government after 1945. Why dld they deslre lts dlssolutlon? Indisputably because the Czechoslovak Republi c dld not satisfy the polltlcal and economlc !nterests and aspirations of its inhabitants, except those of the Czech minority which managed tbe State. Al the Par!s Peace Conference (1919), Dr. Edward Beneš declared that: "lt is the intention of the Czechoslovak Government to create the organlzatlon of tbe State by accepting as a basis of natural rights tbe prlnclples applled in the Constitutlon of tbe Swlss Republlc, tbat !s, to make the Czechoslovak Republlc a sor-t of Swltzerland . . ." Tbe Czecb governments, bowever, did not manage tbe Czechoslovak Republlc as Beneš had promlsed, but In sucb manner as Jf only an exclusive Czecb State was concerned, whose mission apparently wa,s to asslmilate the non-Czech populat!on, and espec!ally the Slovaks, and hold them in cbeck economlcally and soc!ally. Tbe resistance of the other lnhabltants and the support of tbe efforts whlch almed at the dlssolutlon of tbe Czechoslovak Republlc, therefore, became an entlrely logical r~ult of the sltuation in whlcb tbe non-Czech inha.b!tants llved. Tbi.s was abundantly clear to objectlve observers already in 1938. Lloyd George said: "Had the Czech leaders, in tíme and without SLOVAKIA 19 waiting for the menacing preasure of Germany, redeemed their promise to grant local autonomy to the various races in their Republic on the llnes of the Swiu Confederation, the present troubles would (p. 952). Long before 1938, but especlally in the stlrr!ng months before MuniC'h and in the Sprlng of 1939, many dlscern!ng representatlves of the Czech and Slovak natlons were certaln that the Czechoslovak Republlc dld not develop into a forma,tion whlch could more lastlngly assure the secur!ty and the vltal !nterests of both these natlons wh!ch were the ethnlcal foundatlon of the Republlc. Ir the Czech natlon for a Ume enjoyed certa!n advantages because of the exlstence ot Czechoslovak!a, lt was only at the expense of the rest of the inhabitants. But the Czechs later had to pay dearly for those advantages and also had to become aware o[ the fact that the Czechoslovak State could not guarantee the securRy even or the Czech natlon agalnst a slngle nelghbor. As far as the S lovaks are conceTned, they could not resolve tbe ma,tter any other way, because the Slovak natlon In the Czechoslovak State - actually, however, in a CZECH State -· was In a posltlon altogether unbecomlng a cultured natlon, belng exposed to planned ass:lmllatlon and economical exploltatlon by the Czechs, wbom the whole state apparatus served. Here we are not even mentlon!ng th e status of the mlnorities as a problem, which occup!ed the League or Na.Uons for twenty years and, later, was an opportune alibi for the liquldation of the Cz-echoslovak Republ!c. Th!s problem, as well as t hat of the Slovak.s, was dealt with by such personallties as Lord Run• clman and C. A. Macartney. Rererrlng to Czechoslovak!a, the latter wrote: have been averted" - "The fact remains that the Government has been obliged more often than not to rule Slovakia against the wishes of most of its inhabltants, maintaining itself only by the expedienta of restrictlng the power, of the self-governing bodies to within the narrowest posslble limita, of filling the seats designated for 'experu' with its own nominees, and utilizing freely weapons of censorship and police supervision" (H UNGAIRY AND HER SUCCESSORS, p. 145). After completlng bis miss!on In 1938, Lord Runciman made even more unfavorable statements In reportlng on the status or the more than three and a half mlll!on German minority in the Republ!c. He said: " I have been left with the impreaaion that Czechoslovak rule in the Sudeten areas for the last twenty years ... has been marked by tactlessness, lack of understanding, petty intolerance and discriminatio n, to a point where the resentment of the German populatlon was inevitably moving in the d irection of revolt. The Sudeten Germans fel>t, too, that in the past they had been given many promises by the Czechoslovak Government, but that llttle or no action had fol lowed these promises...." (Britlsh White Paper, Cmd. 5847). That is why the Republlc was not derended when Its in tegrity was threatened and, la,ter, not even when lts very exlstence was In danger. Not by a single nation of Czechoslovakia, not even the Czech natlon! 20 S LOVAKIA On the contrary, its dlssolutlon was made possible by its own inha.bitan,ts, the majority of whom could realize their natural right to freedom and their o wn State only by the destruction of Czechos lovakia. So it happened in the case of the Slovaks. W ri ting about the S lovaks in 1942, Macartney said: " ... most of them found themselves unable to accept the Peace Confe rence thesis of a unitary Czechoslovak nation. Some of them fe lt this to mean, in practice, domination by the economically and socially atronger Czecha, and they reacted in the form of a flamboyant Slovak nationalism which was the main reason for the absence of revolt with which they accepted the dissolution of the Czechos lovak State" (PRO BLEMS OF T HE DANUBE BASIN, p. 122). Dur ing the Second World War, a group of Czech exiles in London (The Czech Natio nal Commiltee) and Slovak exiles (The S lovak Na• tional Council in London), both fighting on the sid e of the Allies, tried to find a diťferent solutlon to the Czech and S lovak pr oblem than that which the fľamework of Czechoslovakia offered. Representatives of the Czech and Slovak natlons, in accord w ith the prlnciple of the right of self-determlnation and the r ight of every nation to independence, proposed ,the organlzing of a separate Slovak State and a separate Czech State within the framewo rk of a larger federalive Centro-European unit. Their efforts were prompted not only by t he interests of their own nations, but also by the interests of Eu ropean peace and prosperity, as well as by a sense for justice and the righ t. A g roup of Czech poli ticians headed by Ben eš, however, motivated by persona! prestige, by a desfre for revenge a nd the re newal of Czech i mperia'lism more than by t he interests of its own nation, did not hes.ltate to surrender the destiny of the Czech and Slovak natlons to the "tender" mercies of th~ Soviet Un ion. Unfortunately for the nations concerned, for Europe and the democratic world, this group of political madmen realized tbeir program. The Czechoslovak Republlc was restored by the grace of Moscow. Of course, no t in the interests of the Czecbs and the Slovaks, but, as it is abundantly clear today, in the interests of Moscow. Robert Ingrim, forelgn correspondent of leading European newspapers, wrote in 1946: " Russia's aim, when signing that t reaty against the wishes of Ame rica and Britain, was, of course, not to sec ure Czechia as an a ll y. They made use of Benes' fea r of a frontier revision in order to get a strong foothold in the he art of th e Continent" - (AFTER HITLER STALIN? - P. 180). What develo ped in the Czechoslovak Republic after 1945, and es pecially th e events of Feb ruary 1948, definitely prove that point. flut we must a lso state tbat restored Czechoslovakia realized it could exist only by having a Czecb majority assured. Beneš and his group were only too well aware of that and, therefore, promoted tbeir pian for ousting the Germans and Magyars trom Czechoslovakia. Because they were successful, over three million Germans and almost a half m illlon Magya rs were expelled from the ·Republic. Tbe consequences of thls " hum ane and orderly " expulsion by Beneš and bis regime will be feLt for a long time to the detriment of cooperation between the natlons of Centra! Europe. SLOVAKIA 21 The majority of the Slovaks was definitely against the restoration of Czechoslovakla. Because the Slovak nation was not given an opportunity to express itself about i.ts own destlny, it felt and even today feels that lt was wrong, morally and otherwise, to destroy the independent State o! Slovakla, and that it was deprived of its rlght to ind ependence illegally and by vlolence. What happened in Slovakia s ince the restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic has only steeled the Slovaks In thelr determination to revolt agains.t the Czech lmperialistic St.rute at the fil'st opportnne moment and 1-.estore their own S lovak State. F. A. VoigU had this to say a bout the Czech-Slovak relat!onship: "The conflict between the Czechs and Slovaks appears to be irreconcilable. lt would seem that the Czechoslovak State is, today, a fiction and that it will never again be a reality, for if RuHian overlordahip were removed, the Czechs could only reaHert their authority over the Slovaks by force of arms - and in this they would surely fail, for they have not one friend in Central Europe, whereas the Slovaks have many" (THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER, Nov. 1945). As a result of the sltuation prevailing today, thousands of Slovak exiles in Europe, a million and a half Americans of Slovak descent, and many thousands of Slovaks in Canada, England, Argentína, Belgium, Spain, France, I,taly, Austria and Swltzerland, as well as an overwhelming majority of the Slovak nation at horne, are fighting for an Independent Slovak State, the only pol!tlcal formation which can guarantee their national existence and happlness According to the repo11t of the Prague Ministry of the Interi01•, there were uncovered 36 conspiracies in Slovakia against the Republic in Jess than two years. Thls reslstance against the State of the Czechs and Slovaks continues despite the fact that a large percentage of Slovak intellectuals has been cast into jall, tortured and exiled. and despite the fact that about 300,000 Slovaks have been transferred to the Czech-German border to weaken resistancP. in Slovakia. The logical concluslon to be drawn from all this is that from 1945 restored Czechoslovakia is belng preserved only by brute force and suppression of the most fundamental natlonal and indivldual rights, and that Czechoslovakla is a negation of all the rlghts which modern society has des igna.ted to a state for the purpose and lntent of its existence: to guarantee a free political and economical development of its people. II The Czechoslovak Republic has no reason to exist in a righteous arrangement of Europe from the viewpoint of European interests. While the Czechoslovak Republic, in the democratic sense, did not and does not fulfill the functlons of a state in relation to the majority of lts inhabitants, it is not difficult to find proofs that there ls no reason for this State to exist even as far as the interests of Europe are concerned, and much less so as far as the interests of Centra! Europe are concerned. At the end of World War I, Czechoslovakia was formed with the intention that lt would perform the function of a defensive barrier 22 SLOVAKIA agalnst Germany and that it would be a part of the cordon sanitaire against Russla. Lloyd George wrote that Beneš assured the Peace Conference that "the Czecha were protectors of democracy against Germaniam" and that "it was their duty at all timea to fi ght the Germans" - (p. 932). Czechoslovakia, however, did not fulflll a slngle functlon it was supposed to, but conversely, wlth lts senseless policy towards the non-Czech majority of its lnhabitant.s, lt flrst weakened the proposed system of defense against Germany and then was the alibi and the cause for the collapse of thls system and, therefore, helped German aggression In Centra! Europe. Durlng all twenty years of its existence, the Czecbóslovak Repub• lic could not find a posltlve relationship toward even a slngle one ot its nelghbors. With its Interna! and forelgn policles, it actually prevented the consoUdat!on of the Oentro-European area and indirectly prepared the ground for the s uccess of the policy of Natlonal Sociallsm of Germany whlch, on the other hand, galned not only the mlnorlties of Czechoslovakia, but also the na.tions to which these mlnorltles belonged, by promislng to apply and abide by the natlonality prlnclple. And so, instead of becoming a barrler agalnst Germany, Czechoslovakia actually became the gate whereby Germany passed into the Danube area and southeastern Europe without any opposltion whatsoever. Instead of stopping German aggression and German im periallsm, Czechoslovakla substaf\tially facilitated the German "Drang nach Osten." And looktng from that va.ntage point, what is the situation slnce 1945? After 1-ts restoration in 1945, did the Czechoslovak State become a "bastlon o! democracy" as promis'E!d by the Czech pol!ticlans who requested the Allies to restore lt? Of course, we kno1~ that it did not. The fact 1s that it did not even become a brldge between the East and the West In the posltive sense, but only a brldge for the trafflc of the Soviet Union and lts satellltes. Over this brldge the Soviet Union went unlmpedéd into the heart of Europe. At the same Ume Czechoslovakla became the gate through which the Soviet Union and communlsm will attack the democratlc world. And who is to blame for that? In a large mea.sure all those who worked so energetioally for the restoration of Czechoslovakia In order to assure their "trlumphant" return home, the restoratlon of the Czechoslovak State w.hich collapsed so utterly in 1939, and also the assent of the Allles to expel the German and Magyar mlnorities, the Czech polltlcians, headed by Beneš, not only concluded an agreement wlth Moscow, whereby the Soviet Union w.as enabled to interfere In the affairs of Czechoslovakia, but also allowed the Soviet Union to take Ruthenia wlthout any regard for the will of the inhabltanta thereof and in violatlon of ~he Czechoslovak Con.stitutlon. Thus, Russla for the flrst tlme in its hlstory got a foothold in the Danube Basin only a few kllometers from Bu<lapest and Vlenna. The transfer of Ruthenla to the Soviet Union took place In the Sprlng of 19!l5--as compensatlon for the Sovleťs assent to expel the G-ermana .and -•Magyars from Czechoslovakla. From a polltlcal· and SLOVAK.IA 23 strategic viewpoint, this was a great victory for the Soviet Union. Robert l ngrim had this to say about the matter: "The alliance with the Czechs who, wlthout Aussian aupport, would have been unable to re-establish their rule over a non-Czech majority of Germans, Slovaks, Magyars, Poles, and Authenians, is one prong of Stalin's great hayfork.... A look at the map of Europe showa the meaning of that hayfork. By including the eaatern part of formerly Auatrian Galícia in her Poliah booty, Ruaaia establishes territori al contact with the Czech satellite. The westernmoat tip of Bohernia is but 200 miles off the French border" (Op. cit. p. 181-182). Furthermore, Czech polltlclans under the leadershlp of Beneš not only prevented the possiblllty of harmonious cooperatlon of the nations of Centra! Europe, but wf.th the!r deportatlons evoked s-uch a fear of German retrlbution that they themselves see a guarantee of the exlstence of Czechoslovakia only In the politlcal and mil!tary support of the Soviet Union. In thls respect, note,.vorthy is the statement of Dr. Beneš hlmself, addressed In 1947 to a Slovak delegatlon headed by Dr. Joseph Lettrich: " T he Czechs cannot accept under any circumstances an independent Slovakia i n the future •.• The Czechs, having on the one side 70 million Germans, must on the other side have Aussia as their neighbor. Therefore, they could not accept an independent Slovakia. This is a vítal problem for the existence of the Czechs as a nation and as a State" (Feb. 16, 1947). Consequently the inhabltants of Czechoslovak\a are forced to support the pollcles of the Soviet Union In the interest of the exlstence of Czechoslovakia, even though thelr polltlcal convictlons and sympathies are In dlametrical confllct wlth those pol!cles. On the otber hand, however, lt follow-s that the Czecboslovak State bases 1s exlstence only on the mllltary and pol!tlcal m1ght of a forelgn power; consequently lt has become a tool of that power and does not possess abll!ty and vítal force of !ts own to exlst as a sovereign state. T.bereln we must also seek the reason why the communist putsch of February 1948 dld not meet witb any reslstance even from the Czech nation. The very exdstence of the Czechoslovak State, whlch was not capable of exlstlng by ltself and was founded on the suppresslon of freedoms of other nat!ons, demanded the subjugat!on not only of the Czech people, hut also the Slovak natlon, w,h lch was over 70 per cent antl-communlst, by the commun!st totalltarian dlctatorshlp. The consequences of thla pollcy, whereby the so-called "raJson d'Etat" was placed before the interest of the freedom and the llfe of the lnhabltants, are lll-fated not only for the Czech and Slovak na• tions, but the Soviet Union, by means of th!s pollcy, got lnto the very heart of the E uropean contlnent and communlsm galned an important gateway through whi-ch lt can attack western Europe. Thus Czechoslovakla, twlce wlthln a slngle decade, made it posslble or substantlally easler for lmperlallsm to enter Europe and thréaten the freedoms of lts natlons: In 1938 the lmperlal!sm ot natlonally soclalistlc Germany and, In 1946-48, the lmper!allsm of communlst Russla. So, the functlon given the Czechoslovak Republlc, or that whlch !ts creators promlsed lt would perform. was not only not fulfllled, but, conversely, th!s State - besldes preventlng the coop- 24 SLOVAKIA eration of the nations of Centra! Europe and oppressing the majority of lts inhabitants - has cast Europe into dangerou.s crises twlce within a single decade and facilitated the victory of those forces, against wh1ch lt was supposed to serve, directly or indirectly, as a barrler. Therefore, it appears evldent that the exlstence of this State uot only does not have motivatlon, but that it is in the interest of Europe and its healthy organlzation that this synthetlc formatien. founded on violence and the suppression of the most fundamental freedoms of millions of human beings and existing only with the help oľ a foreign power, definitely disappear from the map of Europe. Such is the conviction not only of the absolute majoľ'ity of the S lovak nation and its true representatives, who never agreed with the restoration of the Czechoslovak Republlc, but also the convictlon of many upright and freedom-Jovlng Czechs, who fought on the side of the Allies during the past war for the creation of a separate Czech State and a separate Slovak State within a framework of a federated Centra) Europe. These Czechs have refused to return to the synthetic political creation which does not reflect the will of the majority or its !nha'bitants, but is in fact the tool of the policy and aims of the Soviet Union. 111 The Czechoslovak Republic has no place in a federated Europe or a federated C entral Europe. If the Czechoslovak Republic has no raison ďetre in a system of sovereign states fľom a standpoint of European interests - the securlty of Central Europe and a harmonious relationship of lts na• tions - then the existence of this unnatura! formation appears to be utterly useless and unjust in the case of federating Europe, or at least Central Europe. There are several logical and objective argu• ip.ents in support of this statement. The Czechoslovak Republic, as we have seen, was created wíth the intent of forming a barrier against German expansion, and in 1945 it was restored so it could be a bastion of democracy and a bridge be· tween the East and the West. In these functions !t falled miserably. And these motlves do not hold in the case of a federation of Europe, or at least Centra! Europe. Indivldual states, whlch could not stop aggression in Europe even with a system of alliances, certainly wlll not play the role, in a federated Europe, of preventlng a repetition of a German attack or Russlan hegemony; that wlll be the role of the federation of the Continent, or that of Centra! Europe. The argument that Czechoslovakia should be retained, because it is a larger unit than would ·be either a Czech or Slovak unit, cannot play a part in the case of a European or Centro-European federation. Strategic and economic arguments, which give priority to larger for· mations, have not proved themselves in the case of Czechoslovak!a even wlth a system of soverelgn states, because factually it could not defend ltself against any one of its neighbors. The lnclusion of the minorities and the creation of a Czechoslovakia wlth some 15 mill!on inhabitants would conmct w!th the basic principle of federalism and the expressed right of nations to self-determination. SLOVAKIA 25 Furtherm ore the Czech nation, which has gone over to the cam p of the satelltes of the Soviet Union more or less wlllingly, cannot h31Ve any claims w hich would give it preference over all its other neighbors and allow the Czechs to annex territories occupied by nonCzech inh ab itants. After 1945, when Hungary and Germany were defeated States, and Cz~ hoslovakia - whether deservingly or not - was included a mong the victorious Allles, it was possible to restore Czechoslovakia with lts old borders, especially when Slovakia was to be punished for not being on the border of P ortugal, but on t he border of Germany, and, therefore, was included in the camp of the defeated. In a E urope liberated from t he hegemony of Moscow, not a single argument used to validate the orlgin or the restoration of -the Czechos lovak Re public wlll be aible to be used in the future, especially no t in the case of federalization of Europe or Centra! Europe. The feder• ative principle excludes hegemony of one nation over another. In the case of Slovakia, then, what logical argument can there be against the Slovak natlon h aving its own independen t State? 1s lt logical and just to say that every nation, no matter how small, EXCEPT THE SLOVAK NA'l'ION, has an inherent right to fr~dom and independence? What lnterest of the United States, England or France - or t hat of the Cent ro-European nations, wh o do not wlsh the exist· ence of the Czechoslovak Republic and already in 1939 r ecognized the righ t of th e Slov.aks to independence - could be served by such an arg ument? What loglcal arguments can there be against the just dem and of the Slovaks to be recognized legally as equal wHh other nations? In 1918 the Slovak nation was included in Czechoslovakia, by the great powers, because Dr. Edward Beneš, T. G. Masaryk and Czech propaganda claimed t hat Slovaks were Czechs who spoke a dialect o f the Czech language and, therefore, the principle of self-determination did no t a pply to them. W hen Andrew Hlinka wanted to expose this fah,e claim, he was expelled from P aris at the request of Dr. Beneš u nder th e pr etext that he was an agent of the Vatican and the Habsbu rgs. And Dr. Beneš was successful with bis "big lie" a bout the non-existence of the Slovak nation. The distinguished Eng lish historian, C. A. Macartney has this to say on the matt&r: "The story of the gradual adoption by the Allies of the theses of Masaryk and his group cannot and need not be reto ld here. By patient and indefatigable propaganda, they implanted their major postulatea - the existence of a "Czechoslovak nation" and the desire of the Slovak branch of it to form a part of Czechoslovak State- so firm ly in the minds of the Allies that they were never serious ly questioned at the Peace Conference. The "Czecho-Slovak" Govern ment had been recognized by a ll the princ ipal Allied and Assoc iated Powers even before the peace negotiations began -- an act whic h implied that the Slovak queation waa in principle already s ettled - while when t he moment arrived for settling a ll questions of detai l, including the drafting of a frontier, it found the Czecho-Slovak Government firmly establiahed as a negotiating party; indeed, in something like a priv ileged position" (HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS, p. 98). 26 SLOVAKIA Can the arguments of Masaryk and Beneš be appl!ed today or Iu the future? The fabrlcator ot that falsebood hlmself "had to" capltulate and recognlze the exlstence ot the Independent Slovak natlon. In the end Beneš was opposed to only "the proclalmlng and a manifestatlonal recognitlon of the Slovaks a.s a natlon wholly soverelgn," because, accordlng to bim, "any klnd of proclamation and manitestatlonal recognltlon of the Slovaks as a natlon totally soverelgn, not dependent on the Czechs, must lead firat to the deaire and then even to the realization of Slovak atatehood ltaelf" - (ÚVAHY O SLOVAN• STv1, p. 353). Beneš was not the only one who capltulated on that score. Other Czeohs and many Slovak adherents of the thesls o! a "unita.ry Czecboslova.k nation" - wbo made a good llvlng out of lt at the expense o! -the Slovak uation - also caplitulated. Is lt still posslble to prevent the Slovak natlon from passlng from the deslre to the "realizatlon of thelr own Slovak statehood"? What arguments are there to pre• vent thls? The argument that the Slovaks are not sufficiently mature to manage thelr own affalrs certalnly does not hold today. Even sucb a Cze-0hophlle as Dr. Mllan Hodža admltted tbat "Slovaki;i has reached if not paased the Central European's civilization level ... Some political writers in thia country used to be rather skeptical about Slova. kla and her position and even about her political ability to live. Today it is evidently proved that these doubts were unfounded" - (FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, Jarolds, London, 1942, p. 94). The Engllsh expert on Centro-European questlons, C. A. Macartney, stated that In Slovakia there exlsts "a distinctive Slovak nationalism as a factor of the Danubian situation" (PROBLEMS OF THE DANUBE BASIN, London, 1942, p. 122). And let us ask a further question: Wlll lt be loglcally possible to use the argument that the Slovaks, whether in emlgratlon or at home, would not flght for thelr independence on the slde of the democracles? The Slovaks, who are dedlcated to an Independent Slovakla, are In thls !lght, wblch 1s being waged agalnst communist aggresslon, tor over a hundred years as a natlon and their past 1s not sullled by collaboratlon with communlsm. Could the western democracles, therefore, belleve the propaganda of a few Beneš Slovaks (Czechoslovaks) who collaborated with communls m and helped lt to power and then escaped abroad only when they could no Jonger hold government posltlons to enrich themselves - and dlsregard the will of the overwhelmlng majority of the Slovak natlon and lts representatlves In E>migratlon wbo stand for a separate, democratlc Slovak State witbln the framework of a federated Europe or Centra! EurQpe? ·. 1For what reasons? By an objectlve analysls, we can come to only one concluslon: in a federated Europe or Centra! Europe, the Czechoslovak Repub11c bas no rea:son to exlst and can exlst only by tbe grace of some greá.t power, just as lt dld up to 1938 by the grace of France and England, and just as lt does today by tbe grace of tbe Soviet Union. But outslde tbe Soviet Union, there ls no sucb great power whlch In tbe future would need a heterogenous Czechoslovak State founded on BLOVAKIA 27 violence and preventing the cooperatlon of the European natlons. Centra! Europe wlll need peace and a harmonlous cohabltatlon of natlons to recover from the wounds infllcted by the war and the Russlan occupation. Czech-oslovakla has definltely shown - as up to 1938, so even after 1945 - that it cannot flnd a positlve relatlonshlp toward lts neighbors, that lts exlstence evokes an atmosphere of dlstrust and revlslonism and violates the natural order of the Central-European area. Therefore, there can be no place for the Czechoslovak State In that area. • • • MUSEUMS OF SLOVAKIA The three Jeading museums of Slovakia are in Bratislava, TurSvätý Martin, and Košice. The Agrlcultural Museum In Bratislava, seriously damaged by bombs in 1944, 1s devoted principally to geology, soil, t he cultlvatlon or plants, lncluding frult trees and vegetables, animal husbandry, forestry, and zoology_ The museum iu the capital or Slovakia has In its program to present as complete a plcture as possible of the archaeology, of the creatlve arts, and of the Natural Hlstory of the land, with spe<:ial emphasls on Western Slovak1a. Its ethnographic collect!ons are not as extensive as those at Turčiansky Svätý Martin whlch was establlshed iJl 1896 by local patrlots and was maintalned by them. Ln a.ddltion to the aforemeniioned unu-sually rich e thnogra,phic materlal, the museum possesses a noteworthy collectlon o! models of typical Slovak wooden bulldings. Slnce the city was the prlnclpal headquarters of Slovak natlonal and cultural actlvity, there is assembled here also invaluable source material concernlng the literary progress of the !and. The Eastern Slovakla Museum at Košice possesses a valuable library of over thirty thousand volumes and interestlng collectlons of archeologloal and Natural History Qlbjects. The paintings, whlcb the museum had, were taken to Budapest In 1918. Local museums are organlzed territorlally elther as regional or city lnstltutions. To the former group belong the museums at Trenčín, Nitra, Banská Štiavnica, Komarno, Banská Bystrica, Ružomberok, Bardlov, Levoča, and Rimavská Sobota. The leadlng city museums are at Bratislava and at Kremnica. Speclalized museums are the Agricultural Museum at Bratislava, the Tatra Museums at Poprad and Veľká, and the Jewlsh Museum at Prešov. čiansky • • • WHO SAID IT?: - "Durlng my stay in the Unlted States, I spoke with almost all the leaders of Amerlcan democracy, and, as I expected. l found they all had a full understandlng of our just cause. Dr. Benei'a journey to Moacow and ita hiatorical aignificance la a pproved and recognized in Amerlca. Of course, there are a few reactlonarles there who nurse thelr selfish lnterests with exaggerated fear 'of Bolshevism. I dld not even try to convlnce them." -- (Jan Masaryk: l :.ondon Broadcast, February 16, 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 Why No More Czechoslovakia? Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2), December 1951 pp. 16-27 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 1951 SNK 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/445e73f92086848920fa0e59b230ac7f.pdf 95ca621af0286949d3bcf9d53f14cadb PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 49 NO AGRE EMENT WJTH 'rHE CZECHS D R. JO SEPH KIR SCHBAU M 'ťhe group of Czech emlgres, which still has on its program the -ene wal of the Versailles organlzation of Centra! Europe and thereby .ilso holdiag its overrule over Slovakia, recently declared to the lnternatlonal public that the Czechs have come to an agreement wlth the -Slovaks on a joint polltlcal program. AU such statements are in conflict wlth the truth. To make it ring true, the statement was made to tbe American press by a Czech politlcian of Slovak orlgin, Dr. Juraj Slá.vlk, and In other lands tbe same announcement was made by persona who date their political careers from 1945 - when they were unexpectedly pusbed to the top by a wave of collaboration wlth the Communists and then in 1948 under suspicious circumstances came to tbe western world. In the ínterest of truth and decency, it ls necessary that this willful and consclous deceptlon of the interuational public be exposed, because in polillcs the princi ple "do not resist evil" does not hold and sllence does not remove responsibility. W HO CA M E T O AN A GREE M E N T ? From in[orme.:1 places reports have become public that an agreemen t ot a fraction of Czech emigres, beaded by Dr. Peter Zenkl. was reached with a still sma11er and politlca11y more insignificant group ot Slovak emigres, headed by Dr. Joseph Letlrich and Dr. John Pa-pá.nek. This was painted up as an "agreement ot the Ctechs a•1:1 Slovaks." Actually such an agreement does not exist. The statement that such au egreement was concluded had w other purpose, according to informed persons, than lo get furt.ber financial aid from The Natlonal Committee for a Free Europe and tbtc prorongatlon of visitors' vlza from American authorlties. Tbis was polnted out very clearly by a former deputy of the Slovak Democratic Party, Dr. Michael Zibrin, who is very well acquainted with the persons and the condltions in the camp of the so-called "CZECHO· SLOVAK" emlgratlon because of his long collaboratlon wlth thestpeople In the Prague parliament and also in exile. But even if tbese tractions of Czech and Slovak emigres did conclude an agreement ancl succeecled in getting Dr. Stephen Osu,iky to head the Centra) Committee, to designate this as an "agreement ol the Czechs and Slovaks" with a claim to speak ln the name of the Czech and Slovak nations, is at best an attempt to deceive the international public. After an, the right to conclude polltical agreements, whlch would be. binding on Czechs and Slovaks a.l!ke, is not had by Dr. Zenkľs g:roup and is not Pven had by the several S lovak emigres. who are wandering about the western world defending the idea of ::i Czeehoslovak state, because they do not represent the free will or the Slovak nation, but only themselves, or as Colonel Miksche so aptly put it la.st November in the World Review: "The few Slovak „:nigrants wanderlng about tbe West and advocatlng the Idea of a ;r;echoslovak State do not represent the free wlll of the Slovak people; · hey do not represent anythlng but thernselves," �óO SLOVAKIA. Tbere are several thousands of each group of emlgres - Slovak and Ozecb - whicb are represented by varlous politlcal partles and polltical tendencies of the Czech and Slovak natlons. Without error and deceptlon lt 1s imposslble to prove by any mathema.tlcal rules that the Zenkl and the Lettrlch groups really represent the ma,Jority of polltlcal representa.tlves in the Czech and the ,Slovak emlgratlon, and so much the less such a politlca.l representa.tion whlch would reflect at least to a marked degree the polltica.l efforts and interests of the Slovaks. At the same tlme the adherents of these groups are without exceptlon morally and politlcally disquallfled not only In the eyes of the Slova.ks, but even in the eyes of the Czechs. They are "the men who brought Communism to Czechoalovakia, who are responaible for the plight of the Czec h and S lovak natlons" and, there. fore, "people are very annoyed whe n they hear of emigré pollciea and the Czech Rada ( Counci l) in America" (Intelllgence Digest, May, 1952). TH E PROBLEM OF THE EXISTENCE OF CZECHO-SLOVAKIA At the quest1on of any kind of agreement of Czech and Slovak emigrant groups regarding the contlnued exlstence of Czecho,Siova.kia after the liberation of Centra! Europe we must, however, Jook !rom another angle. Does the exlstence of the State, which was "an art!• !lcial product of a peace conference - a child of propaganda - and 50 per cent of whose inhabitants was In oppositlon against its existence" (World Review), have any polltlcal motivatlon? Over 80 per cent of the Slovak emigratlon, and certainly no less of the inhabitants of Slovakia, wlll answer in the negatlve under any and all condltlons. "The Slovak people are today at least to the extent of 80 per cent fanatlcally antt-<:zech," states Colonel Miksche. And even on the Czech side today, lt 1s not only the group around General Lev P rchala, but even Prof. Bohdan Chudoba, C-01. Miksche and - lf we can belleve the NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÍK, which ls the most fana.tlcal supporter of the renewal of Czecho-Slovakla - even many members of the Councll of F\ree Czechoslovakla place a question mark after the problem ot the future of the Czecho-.Slovak Republic. Not so long ago nelther Dr. Stephen Osuský, nor Dr. Stránsky did not deny In their wrltten ma.ni· festatlons that Centra! Europe needs a dlfferent organlzation than that given it by the Versailles statute. Wlth the Versallles statute, however, loglcally must fall also the Czecho-Slovak State, whlch was the creation and piliar of the Versallles organlzatlon In the Danuhe Basin. THE SLOVAK CONCEPTION OF DANUBE COOPERATION No matter hpw much Czecb or other groups mlght deslre it, there can be no talk a.bout any klnd of an agreement between the Czechs and the Slova.ks In regard to the future of both natlons In the Czecho-Slovak State. For the overwhelml_ng majority ot the Slovak natlon, the Czechoslovak State was a definlte evolutionary station, after whlch the present Slovak generatlon has deflnltely pla.ced a perlod. It ls flnlshed buslness. And that not only because Czech polltlcs was unjust and shortslgbted towa.rd the Slova.ks In ma.ny respects, but above all else because the Slovaks know that the Czecbs ťannot guarantee thelr future. The contemporary Slovak generatlon �SLOVAKIA 61 belleves that economic prosperity and national security can better be sa;fei uarded only in t he broader framework of a Centro-E uropean confederatlon composed of eth nic member States and by Slovak lndepende nce. This conceptlon has already been presented in detail on dlfferent occasions -b y Slovak polltlcal represenetatlves; 1t was prompted not on ly by Slovak lnterests, but also by the hlstorical development or t he Danub e Basin, lts natural geopolltical Jaws an d European lnterests. lf the Czech emigratlon accepts t his basis, certalnly t here shall be no opposition trom the Slovaks to conclude a federal agreement even wlth the Czech natlon, e ven though tbe Slovaks bave thus far a sad experience with three political agreements, concluded with Czech politlclans in -the past 35 years. "Pacta sunt servanda" !s somethlng unkn5>wn In Czech polltics as far as the Slovaks are concerned. Any other solution of t he Slovak question than that noted here would have to be forc ed on the Slovak nation. How Jong would 1t last, however, in the nelghborhood of Germany and Russla, an d in face of th'e oppositlon of not only th e Slovaks, but also tbe rest of the nat ions of t he Danube Basin of which not a single one deslres a renewal of the Versal))es order? In accord with the truth, therefore, it can be said in regard to the n ew attempt of the Czec h amigration to decelve t he lnternatlona l public with pronouncements about an agreemen t between the Czechs and the Slovaks, that "to t a lk about the reatoration of Czec hoelovakia ·n·owadays ia p lai n nonsense" {World Review) . • • • DR. BENES SOLD OUT TO TIIE KREMLJN R. UMIASTOWSKI (The following is an extract from the book " POLANiD, RUSSIA \ ND OREAT BRITAIN 1941- 1945" - a study of evidence - by R Umiastowski, which was published in November 1946 by Hollls and Carter, London. The author shows that Benes coJlaborated wlth tbe Stalinmen even against P oland.) • * • * T he results of the Moscow and Teheran Conferences and the s ubs'equent resolutions concerning the territorial changes about to be e ffected, were not pub llshed and only filtered slowly through the Press. It was a few months before it became generaJly known for 1nstance, that after the war Europe - not only Germany, but a\1 Europe (except, perhaps, the few neutrals on ber outskirts) - was to come under the occupation of the three Great Powers The Russians were to stay in Poland, Rumania, Hungary, Czecho-Slovakia and In Germany as far as the rlver Oder, or perhaps the Elbe; the Americans would occupy navaria, Wurtemburg and Saxony and the British the remalnder of Germany. It could not be clearer -· Poland after the war was to be in the hands of the Kremlin. The secret agreements at Moscow a1td Teheran were explained by the subsequent policy of the Powers, or rather by tbe policy of t he .SO;v,iets, As prevlously mentioned, the details o! the dec•is ions were still � SLOVAKIA 49 NO AGRE EMENT WJTH 'rHE CZECHS D R. JO SEPH KIR SCHBAU M 'ťhe group of Czech emlgres, which still has on its program the -ene wal of the Versailles organlzation of Centra! Europe and thereby .ilso holdiag its overrule over Slovakia, recently declared to the lnternatlonal public that the Czechs have come to an agreement wlth the -Slovaks on a joint polltlcal program. AU such statements are in conflict wlth the truth. To make it ring true, the statement was made to tbe American press by a Czech politlcian of Slovak orlgin, Dr. Juraj Slá.vlk, and In other lands tbe same announcement was made by persona who date their political careers from 1945 - when they were unexpectedly pusbed to the top by a wave of collaboration wlth the Communists and then in 1948 under suspicious circumstances came to tbe western world. In the ínterest of truth and decency, it ls necessary that this willful and consclous deceptlon of the interuational public be exposed, because in polillcs the princi ple "do not resist evil" does not hold and sllence does not remove responsibility. W HO CA M E T O AN A GREE M E N T ? From in[orme.:1 places reports have become public that an agreemen t ot a fraction of Czech emigres, beaded by Dr. Peter Zenkl. was reached with a still sma11er and politlca11y more insignificant group ot Slovak emigres, headed by Dr. Joseph Letlrich and Dr. John Pa-pá.nek. This was painted up as an "agreement ot the Ctechs a•1:1 Slovaks." Actually such an agreement does not exist. The statement that such au egreement was concluded had w other purpose, according to informed persons, than lo get furt.ber financial aid from The Natlonal Committee for a Free Europe and tbtc prorongatlon of visitors' vlza from American authorlties. Tbis was polnted out very clearly by a former deputy of the Slovak Democratic Party, Dr. Michael Zibrin, who is very well acquainted with the persons and the condltions in the camp of the so-called "CZECHO· SLOVAK" emlgratlon because of his long collaboratlon wlth thestpeople In the Prague parliament and also in exile. But even if tbese tractions of Czech and Slovak emigres did conclude an agreement ancl succeecled in getting Dr. Stephen Osu,iky to head the Centra) Committee, to designate this as an "agreement ol the Czechs and Slovaks" with a claim to speak ln the name of the Czech and Slovak nations, is at best an attempt to deceive the international public. After an, the right to conclude polltical agreements, whlch would be. binding on Czechs and Slovaks a.l!ke, is not had by Dr. Zenkľs g:roup and is not Pven had by the several S lovak emigres. who are wandering about the western world defending the idea of ::i Czeehoslovak state, because they do not represent the free will or the Slovak nation, but only themselves, or as Colonel Miksche so aptly put it la.st November in the World Review: "The few Slovak „:nigrants wanderlng about tbe West and advocatlng the Idea of a ;r;echoslovak State do not represent the free wlll of the Slovak people; · hey do not represent anythlng but thernselves," �óO SLOVAKIA. Tbere are several thousands of each group of emlgres - Slovak and Ozecb - whicb are represented by varlous politlcal partles and polltical tendencies of the Czech and Slovak natlons. Without error and deceptlon lt 1s imposslble to prove by any mathema.tlcal rules that the Zenkl and the Lettrlch groups really represent the ma,Jority of polltlcal representa.tlves in the Czech and the ,Slovak emlgratlon, and so much the less such a politlca.l representa.tion whlch would reflect at least to a marked degree the polltica.l efforts and interests of the Slovaks. At the same tlme the adherents of these groups are without exceptlon morally and politlcally disquallfled not only In the eyes of the Slova.ks, but even in the eyes of the Czechs. They are "the men who brought Communism to Czechoalovakia, who are responaible for the plight of the Czec h and S lovak natlons" and, there. fore, "people are very annoyed whe n they hear of emigré pollciea and the Czech Rada ( Counci l) in America" (Intelllgence Digest, May, 1952). TH E PROBLEM OF THE EXISTENCE OF CZECHO-SLOVAKIA At the quest1on of any kind of agreement of Czech and Slovak emigrant groups regarding the contlnued exlstence of Czecho,Siova.kia after the liberation of Centra! Europe we must, however, Jook !rom another angle. Does the exlstence of the State, which was "an art!• !lcial product of a peace conference - a child of propaganda - and 50 per cent of whose inhabitants was In oppositlon against its existence" (World Review), have any polltlcal motivatlon? Over 80 per cent of the Slovak emigratlon, and certainly no less of the inhabitants of Slovakia, wlll answer in the negatlve under any and all condltlons. "The Slovak people are today at least to the extent of 80 per cent fanatlcally antt-<:zech," states Colonel Miksche. And even on the Czech side today, lt 1s not only the group around General Lev P rchala, but even Prof. Bohdan Chudoba, C-01. Miksche and - lf we can belleve the NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÍK, which ls the most fana.tlcal supporter of the renewal of Czecho-Slovakla - even many members of the Councll of F\ree Czechoslovakla place a question mark after the problem ot the future of the Czecho-.Slovak Republic. Not so long ago nelther Dr. Stephen Osuský, nor Dr. Stránsky did not deny In their wrltten ma.ni· festatlons that Centra! Europe needs a dlfferent organlzation than that given it by the Versailles statute. Wlth the Versallles statute, however, loglcally must fall also the Czecho-Slovak State, whlch was the creation and piliar of the Versallles organlzatlon In the Danuhe Basin. THE SLOVAK CONCEPTION OF DANUBE COOPERATION No matter hpw much Czecb or other groups mlght deslre it, there can be no talk a.bout any klnd of an agreement between the Czechs and the Slova.ks In regard to the future of both natlons In the Czecho-Slovak State. For the overwhelml_ng majority ot the Slovak natlon, the Czechoslovak State was a definlte evolutionary station, after whlch the present Slovak generatlon has deflnltely pla.ced a perlod. It ls flnlshed buslness. And that not only because Czech polltlcs was unjust and shortslgbted towa.rd the Slova.ks In ma.ny respects, but above all else because the Slovaks know that the Czecbs ťannot guarantee thelr future. The contemporary Slovak generatlon �SLOVAKIA 61 belleves that economic prosperity and national security can better be sa;fei uarded only in t he broader framework of a Centro-E uropean confederatlon composed of eth nic member States and by Slovak lndepende nce. This conceptlon has already been presented in detail on dlfferent occasions -b y Slovak polltlcal represenetatlves; 1t was prompted not on ly by Slovak lnterests, but also by the hlstorical development or t he Danub e Basin, lts natural geopolltical Jaws an d European lnterests. lf the Czech emigratlon accepts t his basis, certalnly t here shall be no opposition trom the Slovaks to conclude a federal agreement even wlth the Czech natlon, e ven though tbe Slovaks bave thus far a sad experience with three political agreements, concluded with Czech politlclans in -the past 35 years. "Pacta sunt servanda" !s somethlng unkn5>wn In Czech polltics as far as the Slovaks are concerned. Any other solution of t he Slovak question than that noted here would have to be forc ed on the Slovak nation. How Jong would 1t last, however, in the nelghborhood of Germany and Russla, an d in face of th'e oppositlon of not only th e Slovaks, but also tbe rest of the nat ions of t he Danube Basin of which not a single one deslres a renewal of the Versal))es order? In accord with the truth, therefore, it can be said in regard to the n ew attempt of the Czec h amigration to decelve t he lnternatlona l public with pronouncements about an agreemen t between the Czechs and the Slovaks, that "to t a lk about the reatoration of Czec hoelovakia ·n·owadays ia p lai n nonsense" {World Review) . • • • DR. BENES SOLD OUT TO TIIE KREMLJN R. UMIASTOWSKI (The following is an extract from the book " POLANiD, RUSSIA \ ND OREAT BRITAIN 1941- 1945" - a study of evidence - by R Umiastowski, which was published in November 1946 by Hollls and Carter, London. The author shows that Benes coJlaborated wlth tbe Stalinmen even against P oland.) • * • * T he results of the Moscow and Teheran Conferences and the s ubs'equent resolutions concerning the territorial changes about to be e ffected, were not pub llshed and only filtered slowly through the Press. It was a few months before it became generaJly known for 1nstance, that after the war Europe - not only Germany, but a\1 Europe (except, perhaps, the few neutrals on ber outskirts) - was to come under the occupation of the three Great Powers The Russians were to stay in Poland, Rumania, Hungary, Czecho-Slovakia and In Germany as far as the rlver Oder, or perhaps the Elbe; the Americans would occupy navaria, Wurtemburg and Saxony and the British the remalnder of Germany. It could not be clearer -· Poland after the war was to be in the hands of the Kremlin. The secret agreements at Moscow a1td Teheran were explained by the subsequent policy of the Powers, or rather by tbe policy of t he .SO;v,iets, As prevlously mentioned, the details o! the dec•is ions were still � 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 49 NO AGRE EMENT WJTH 'rHE CZECHS D R. JO SEPH KIR SCHBAU M 'ťhe group of Czech emlgres, which still has on its program the -ene wal of the Versailles organlzation of Centra! Europe and thereby .ilso holdiag its overrule over Slovakia, recently declared to the lnternatlonal public that the Czechs have come to an agreement wlth the -Slovaks on a joint polltlcal program. AU such statements are in conflict wlth the truth. To make it ring true, the statement was made to tbe American press by a Czech politlcian of Slovak orlgin, Dr. Juraj Slá.vlk, and In other lands tbe same announcement was made by persona who date their political careers from 1945 - when they were unexpectedly pusbed to the top by a wave of collaboration wlth the Communists and then in 1948 under suspicious circumstances came to tbe western world. In the ínterest of truth and decency, it ls necessary that this willful and consclous deceptlon of the interuational public be exposed, because in polillcs the princi ple "do not resist evil" does not hold and sllence does not remove responsibility. W HO CA M E T O AN A GREE M E N T ? From in[orme.:1 places reports have become public that an agreemen t ot a fraction of Czech emigres, beaded by Dr. Peter Zenkl. was reached with a still sma11er and politlca11y more insignificant group ot Slovak emigres, headed by Dr. Joseph Letlrich and Dr. John Pa-pá.nek. This was painted up as an "agreement ot the Ctechs a•1:1 Slovaks." Actually such an agreement does not exist. The statement that such au egreement was concluded had w other purpose, according to informed persons, than lo get furt.ber financial aid from The Natlonal Committee for a Free Europe and tbtc prorongatlon of visitors' vlza from American authorlties. Tbis was polnted out very clearly by a former deputy of the Slovak Democratic Party, Dr. Michael Zibrin, who is very well acquainted with the persons and the condltions in the camp of the so-called "CZECHO· SLOVAK" emlgratlon because of his long collaboratlon wlth thestpeople In the Prague parliament and also in exile. But even if tbese tractions of Czech and Slovak emigres did conclude an agreement ancl succeecled in getting Dr. Stephen Osu,iky to head the Centra) Committee, to designate this as an "agreement ol the Czechs and Slovaks" with a claim to speak ln the name of the Czech and Slovak nations, is at best an attempt to deceive the international public. After an, the right to conclude polltical agreements, whlch would be. binding on Czechs and Slovaks a.l!ke, is not had by Dr. Zenkľs g:roup and is not Pven had by the several S lovak emigres. who are wandering about the western world defending the idea of ::i Czeehoslovak state, because they do not represent the free will or the Slovak nation, but only themselves, or as Colonel Miksche so aptly put it la.st November in the World Review: "The few Slovak „:nigrants wanderlng about tbe West and advocatlng the Idea of a ;r;echoslovak State do not represent the free wlll of the Slovak people; · hey do not represent anythlng but thernselves," óO SLOVAKIA. Tbere are several thousands of each group of emlgres - Slovak and Ozecb - whicb are represented by varlous politlcal partles and polltical tendencies of the Czech and Slovak natlons. Without error and deceptlon lt 1s imposslble to prove by any mathema.tlcal rules that the Zenkl and the Lettrlch groups really represent the ma,Jority of polltlcal representa.tlves in the Czech and the ,Slovak emlgratlon, and so much the less such a politlca.l representa.tion whlch would reflect at least to a marked degree the polltica.l efforts and interests of the Slovaks. At the same tlme the adherents of these groups are without exceptlon morally and politlcally disquallfled not only In the eyes of the Slova.ks, but even in the eyes of the Czechs. They are "the men who brought Communism to Czechoalovakia, who are responaible for the plight of the Czec h and S lovak natlons" and, there. fore, "people are very annoyed whe n they hear of emigré pollciea and the Czech Rada ( Counci l) in America" (Intelllgence Digest, May, 1952). TH E PROBLEM OF THE EXISTENCE OF CZECHO-SLOVAKIA At the quest1on of any kind of agreement of Czech and Slovak emigrant groups regarding the contlnued exlstence of Czecho,Siova.kia after the liberation of Centra! Europe we must, however, Jook !rom another angle. Does the exlstence of the State, which was "an art!• !lcial product of a peace conference - a child of propaganda - and 50 per cent of whose inhabitants was In oppositlon against its existence" (World Review), have any polltlcal motivatlon? Over 80 per cent of the Slovak emigratlon, and certainly no less of the inhabitants of Slovakia, wlll answer in the negatlve under any and all condltlons. "The Slovak people are today at least to the extent of 80 per cent fanatlcally antt-<:zech," states Colonel Miksche. And even on the Czech side today, lt 1s not only the group around General Lev P rchala, but even Prof. Bohdan Chudoba, C-01. Miksche and - lf we can belleve the NEW YORKSKÝ DENNÍK, which ls the most fana.tlcal supporter of the renewal of Czecho-Slovakla - even many members of the Councll of F\ree Czechoslovakla place a question mark after the problem ot the future of the Czecho-.Slovak Republic. Not so long ago nelther Dr. Stephen Osuský, nor Dr. Stránsky did not deny In their wrltten ma.ni· festatlons that Centra! Europe needs a dlfferent organlzation than that given it by the Versailles statute. Wlth the Versallles statute, however, loglcally must fall also the Czecho-Slovak State, whlch was the creation and piliar of the Versallles organlzatlon In the Danuhe Basin. THE SLOVAK CONCEPTION OF DANUBE COOPERATION No matter hpw much Czecb or other groups mlght deslre it, there can be no talk a.bout any klnd of an agreement between the Czechs and the Slova.ks In regard to the future of both natlons In the Czecho-Slovak State. For the overwhelml_ng majority ot the Slovak natlon, the Czechoslovak State was a definlte evolutionary station, after whlch the present Slovak generatlon has deflnltely pla.ced a perlod. It ls flnlshed buslness. And that not only because Czech polltlcs was unjust and shortslgbted towa.rd the Slova.ks In ma.ny respects, but above all else because the Slovaks know that the Czecbs ťannot guarantee thelr future. The contemporary Slovak generatlon SLOVAKIA 61 belleves that economic prosperity and national security can better be sa;fei uarded only in t he broader framework of a Centro-E uropean confederatlon composed of eth nic member States and by Slovak lndepende nce. This conceptlon has already been presented in detail on dlfferent occasions -b y Slovak polltlcal represenetatlves; 1t was prompted not on ly by Slovak lnterests, but also by the hlstorical development or t he Danub e Basin, lts natural geopolltical Jaws an d European lnterests. lf the Czech emigratlon accepts t his basis, certalnly t here shall be no opposition trom the Slovaks to conclude a federal agreement even wlth the Czech natlon, e ven though tbe Slovaks bave thus far a sad experience with three political agreements, concluded with Czech politlclans in -the past 35 years. "Pacta sunt servanda" !s somethlng unkn5>wn In Czech polltics as far as the Slovaks are concerned. Any other solution of t he Slovak question than that noted here would have to be forc ed on the Slovak nation. How Jong would 1t last, however, in the nelghborhood of Germany and Russla, an d in face of th'e oppositlon of not only th e Slovaks, but also tbe rest of the nat ions of t he Danube Basin of which not a single one deslres a renewal of the Versal))es order? In accord with the truth, therefore, it can be said in regard to the n ew attempt of the Czec h amigration to decelve t he lnternatlona l public with pronouncements about an agreemen t between the Czechs and the Slovaks, that "to t a lk about the reatoration of Czec hoelovakia ·n·owadays ia p lai n nonsense" {World Review) . • • • DR. BENES SOLD OUT TO TIIE KREMLJN R. UMIASTOWSKI (The following is an extract from the book " POLANiD, RUSSIA \ ND OREAT BRITAIN 1941- 1945" - a study of evidence - by R Umiastowski, which was published in November 1946 by Hollls and Carter, London. The author shows that Benes coJlaborated wlth tbe Stalinmen even against P oland.) • * • * T he results of the Moscow and Teheran Conferences and the s ubs'equent resolutions concerning the territorial changes about to be e ffected, were not pub llshed and only filtered slowly through the Press. It was a few months before it became generaJly known for 1nstance, that after the war Europe - not only Germany, but a\1 Europe (except, perhaps, the few neutrals on ber outskirts) - was to come under the occupation of the three Great Powers The Russians were to stay in Poland, Rumania, Hungary, Czecho-Slovakia and In Germany as far as the rlver Oder, or perhaps the Elbe; the Americans would occupy navaria, Wurtemburg and Saxony and the British the remalnder of Germany. It could not be clearer -· Poland after the war was to be in the hands of the Kremlin. The secret agreements at Moscow a1td Teheran were explained by the subsequent policy of the Powers, or rather by tbe policy of t he .SO;v,iets, As prevlously mentioned, the details o! the dec•is ions were still  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 No Agreement with the Czechs Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 2, No. 2 (4), August 1952 pp. 49-51 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/5740bcb2c8466cf7731faeb73a771caf.pdf 0861438e95b1cf0142c007040c57cb37 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 41 and East :mu.rope wi'hl .r equire all the wisdom, courage, and persist.eillCe we can commaind. Lt will mean further suffering and blood saic:riifice on the part of the peoples of that area, possilbly on OUT own part. But in the end right wm t.:r,iumiph over might. The signs ,t hat the tide is at last b,eginnin.g to turn in Riight's fawor a.re ruppearing on the horizon, and we will :liive to see the task to whlch we haive set ourselves accomplished. ,SlolV'alkia, too, shall lbe free! • • • SLOVA.KIA AND INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN 1938 Joseph Kirschbaum From the very beginning of Czecho-Slovakia, for twenty entire years, Czech policy and diplomacy succeeded in presenting the Slovak question as an internal problem, about which the outside world could say nothing without disturbing the sovereignty of the Czecho..Slovak State. Even professor Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne in Paris, who was quite partial to the Czech nation, wrote as early as 1917 that "the Slovak question is of European importance" (1), but for Czech politicians it was only an insignificant administrative problem. They refused to admit the existence of any Slovak problem. Thus it happened that Slovakia and Slovak politicians were not mentioned in international official documents until the fall of 1938. The storm, which broke loose over CzechoSlovakia, tore the cloak of Czech propaganda to shreds, and Slovakia, together with other problems of the Czecho-Slovak State, came to the forefront of European interests. This happened primarily through the neighbors of Czecho-Slovakia, each of whom wished to solve the Slovak question according to their own interests. Since these were not always in accord with the interests of the Slovaks, the representatives of the Slovak nation undertook everything possible to save Slovakia from the catastrophe into which the Czecho..Slovak Republic was led lby the policy of Prague. And so, almost simultaneously, we find documents which tell us, on the one hand, of the efforts to annex Slovakia to Hungary or �42 SLOVAKIA Poland, and, on the other hand, of the valiant struggle ef Slovak politicians, especially of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Karol Sidor, Dr. Ferdinand Durcansky and Dr. Vojtech Tuka, who fought for every inch of Slovak territory and !Slovak freedom. Four solutions of the Slovak question are dealt with in diplomatic documents of 1938; these were publish_ed by the British and American governments under the title "Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945" (Vol. IV, Series D). The solutions considered were: 1. Independence of Slovakia; 2. autonomy of Slovakia within the framework of the Czecho-Slovak _RElpublic; 3. autonomous Slovakia orientated to Hungary; and, 4. autonomous Slovakia orientated to Poland (2). Magyar diplomacy did everything possible to gain Slovakia for itself. And s1nce, after Munich, Germany practically had a "free hand" in Central Europe, !Magyar demands were addressed to Berlin, either directly or through Rome. German diplomacy and the German General Staff, however, did not favor either the Magyar or the Polish solution. Iri 1938, Germany persistently and consistently held the position that Slovakia should remain within the framework of the Czecho-Slovak Republic ; Germany even in the least did not want an independent· .Slovakia. This is proved clearly and authoritatively by many documents, of which the most important are: a) The Memorandum bf ;the General Staff of the Wehrmacht of October 6, 1938, wherein we find this statenrent: "Consequently, it is in our military interest that Slovakia should not be separated from the Czecho-Slovak union, but should remain with Czecho-Slovakia under strong German influence" (3). b) The Memorandum for the Flihrer of October 7, 1938, prepared by the German Foreign Ministry, which tells about the changes that took place in Czecho-Slovakia after the Zilina Agreement, according to which the Czecho-'Slovak Republic took on a federative form. The !Memorandum stresses that this solution "even presents certain advantages compared with an independent Slovakia." It then continues that "from the point of view of (German) foreign policy, the �SLOVAKIA 43 solution of Slovakia united with Czechia is the easiest of achievement" ( 4). c) The note of Erich Kordt, an official of the Foreign Ministry, of October 8, 1938, which says that "with regard to :Slovakia, the Ftihrer thinks it opportune to support the Sillein resolutions (autonomy and orientation toward Prague)" (5). This struggle over the fate of Slovakia took place, of course, without the knowledge and participation of :Slovak political factors, 'behind the scenes of European diplomacy. It happened just as Andrew Hlinka would have expressed it: "De nobis sine nobis." We mention these facts so that the development that took place in Slovakia later might better be understood - that the Slovaks worked to attain independence already at the time that Germany, from Hitler through the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, wished to see Slovakia united with Prague. In this period we meet with the names of the Slovak representatives during the fight for the integrity of Slovakia, in the defense of Slovak territories in the south and north. And it may be interesting to note that the first official meeting of the Slovaks with German representatives was arranged by Minister Chvalkovsky of the Prague regime. In the negotiations about the fate of Bratislava, Nitra and Kosice, which the Magyars made a claim to with the aid of Italy, the Czech factors were so yielding that the Slovak autonomous government considered it its bounden puty not to rely on Prague, but to seek out every possible means to prevent those Slovak cities from falling into the hands of the Magyars. At , that time the Slovaks harbored no illusions about the fact that Germany really had a free hand in Europe and was determined to use it forcefully. Willy-nilly they had to accept the fact that only Berlin could possibly prevent the grab of Slovak territory and, in fact, a total invasion of Slovakia by the Magyars. Thus it was that on October 19, 1938, the first meeting of :Slovak political leaders took place with the Germans: Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso, president of the autonomous government of Slovakia, and Dr. F~rdinand :Durcansky, Minister of Justice, met with the · Foreign Minister of the Third Reich, Dr. Ribbentrop (6). ' 1 �44 SLOVAKIA According to the record of ·this meeting, Dr. Tiso told Ribbentrop that the Slovaks were a peace-loving nation and wanted to live independently. "The !Slovaks had followed," said Dr. Tiso, "the principle of nationality since 1918, when Hlinka went to Versailles, although this had been unsuccessful. !Slovakia was ethnologically, as well as in her language and literature, an independent territory. On June 5 the draft law had been introduced providing for autonomy for Slovakia under Prague, in which she had only foreign affairs, the army and finance in common with Czechia. On October 6 all Slovaks 1had united at Sillein and had taken power into their own hands." After this introduction, Dr. Tiso went on to the question of Komarno and Kosice and the efforts of the Magyars to use the statistics of 1910 to determine what cities of southern Slovakia should fall to the Magyars. Dr. Tiso stated that the Slovaks can prove that the statistics of 1910 were incorrect, nay, even falsified, to enhance the Magyar claims ; furthermore, if the Magyar demands were accepted, 300,000 more Slovaks would ·b e forced under Hungary- this in addition to the 300,000 already living there. Dr. Tiso and Dr. 1'.>urcansky, therefore, asked the German Reich to support their claims in the interest of the Slovak nation, but especially for economic and co mmunicationa:l reasons. Ribbentrop answered Dr. Tiso diplomatically. He said that "Germany had great understanding for the Slovak problems and felt the warmest sympathy for the Slovak people. Our attitude toward the Slovak problems was very simple: we would welcome the greatest possible measure of independence, which in the end was the prerequisite for peace in this part of Europe." But Ribbentrop immediately added: "If Slovakia placed great value on national necessities, she must also respect the national aspirations of the Hungarians." It was only after Dr. Tiso presented further arguments that Ribbentrop promised to instruct the German ambassador in Budapest, Erdmansdorf, to tell the Magyars that "they should renounce their claims to Pressburg, Nitra, Kaschau, Munkatsch and Ungvar, as these towns were vital �SLOVAKIA 45 for Slovakia. He further expressed the hope that the negotiations would ibe resumed in one or two days." That same day, October 19, 1938, Ribbentrop again re-ceived the Slovak representatives. He himself called them for an unofficial 'Visit, during which conversation took place not only about the southern territory of Slovakia, but involved the whole Slovak problem as well. The record of this meeting is so important for the understanding of ensuing -events in Slovakia, that we feel it should he quoted in its -entirety. Published as Document No. 73, the record is dated in Munich, October 19, 1938, and its text is as follows: "MEMORANDUM BY AN OFFlICIAL OF THE FOREIGN MINISTER'S .PERSONAL STAFF Munich, October 19, 1938 At about 7 P. M. the Reich Foreign Minister again received at his hotel Tiso, the Slovak Prime Minister, and ,M inister Durcansky. He told these gentlemen that he had invited them quite unofficially and privately in order to ask them what they thought of their relations with Prague. Whereas Tiso elaborated at length his aim of an autonomous Slovakia collaborating with an autonomous Carpatho-Ukraine under Prague, :Durcansky seemed to be striving rather for the complete independence of Slovakia, perhaps in union with Carpatho-Ukraine. Tiso thought that he would have to steer developments slowly and methodically. At Sillein he had not wished to make any sudden move. If Prague did not adhere to the agreements which had been made regarding complete autonomy, with the exception of a common foreign policy and common army and common State finances, complete separation would soon follow. As a matter of fact, the administrative side of finance had already been taken over, so that joint control remained only in the State finances. In the army, too, agreement had been reached in theory to form purely Slovak regiments, but this had not yet been put into practice. �46 SLOVAKIA In reply to a question by the Foreign Minister, Tiso said that Slovakia could maintain her independence and economy as long as she was helped militarily ·b y guarantees from the Great Powers. It was, of course, impossible for her to form a modern army for the defense of her frontiers. There were three possible orientations in the event of Slovakia's becoming independent. The first was orientation toward Czechia, which in the end was probably nearest to the Slovaks' hearts, as ·Prague had been politically weakened and as Slovakia, because of her large raw material resources, was also economically the equal of the Czech 'State. The second possibility was orientation toward Hungary, for which the Hungarians were making great efforts; and the third was orienta.t ion toward Poland. He could not foresee which of these tendencies was strongest in the Slovak people at present. If the Hungarians persisted in their stiff demands, he did not think that there would be much sympathy left among the Slovak people for throwing in their lot with the Magyars. In conclusion, the Minister told his visitors that he was naturally interested in the development of their country, and he asked them to apply directly to him if they ever · had any particular or economic Hewel." (7) problems. After this visit, excepting the visit of Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky in the middle of November 1938, official Slovak factors did not have any contacts with representatives of the German Reich, neither according to documents, nor reality, until March 13, 1939. The visit of Dr. :Durcansky to Goering, according to the official record, but also according to the knowledge of the writer of these lines who accompanied Dr. :Durcansky to Berlin, was forced by two circumstances: 1. the Germans demanded the annexation of Devin to the German Reich, and, 2. the Czechs were endeavoring to prove that Slovak autonomy could not be upheld economically and so forced the Slovaks to. seek economic contacts with Germany directly. �SI.;OVAKIA 47 The talk with Goering was mainly about Devin; in this matter we were effectively aided by Ing. Karmasin, the representative of the Reich in Slovakia, who emphasized the point that "the castle of Theben on the rock at the confluence of the ,Morava and Danube was Slovakia's sole historic monument and that all Slovak history books would have to be burned if the castle were lost." Goering, however, also felt that politically Slovakia should remain united with Prague. According to the record, "the Field Marshall explained that at the moment the Slovak and the Ukrainian questions could ,b e dealt with only within the framework of the Czecho.,Slovak State" (8). Germany, therefore, did not allow the annexation of Slovakia to Hungary, nor an autonomous Slovakia orientated toward Poland and thus ena:bled !S lovakia tb escape the catastrophe which threatened it in 1938. · How did Prague appraise the situation in Slovakia? In the fall of 1938, according to the diplomatic report of the German Charge d'Affaires in Prague, Hencke, the situation was described as follows: "According to reports here" - says Mr. Hencke's telegram - · "independence movement in Slovakia is gaining ground steadily. Far-reaching autonomy is now demanded by political circles in Slovakia formerly loyal to Prague. A tendency is evident toward declaration of complete independence. "Hungarian Minister here stated that Budapest would regard voluntary union of :Slovakia, including CarpathoUkraine, with Hungary as the most practical solution of the Slovak question. "Polish Legation in Prague is more inclined to the idea of an independent Slovak State which would leave open the possibility of protectorate under Poland or Hungary" (9). References: 1. Ernest Denis, LES .SLOVAQUJDS, Ltbrairie Delagrave, Paris, 1917; 2. Memorandum for the Fiihrer, p. 46; 3. 1See p. 40; 4. .See ,p. 47; 5. .See p. 49; 6. Memorandum ,b y an of:ficial of the Foreign Minister's Personal Stailf, pp. 8·6-92; 7. See pp, 92-93; 8. Note 'by the Director of the Political Department, p. 142; 9. Telegram of Charge d'Affaires Hencke, p. 32. � SLOVAKIA 41 and East :mu.rope wi'hl .r equire all the wisdom, courage, and persist.eillCe we can commaind. Lt will mean further suffering and blood saic:riifice on the part of the peoples of that area, possilbly on OUT own part. But in the end right wm t.:r,iumiph over might. The signs ,t hat the tide is at last b,eginnin.g to turn in Riight's fawor a.re ruppearing on the horizon, and we will :liive to see the task to whlch we haive set ourselves accomplished. ,SlolV'alkia, too, shall lbe free! • • • SLOVA.KIA AND INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN 1938 Joseph Kirschbaum From the very beginning of Czecho-Slovakia, for twenty entire years, Czech policy and diplomacy succeeded in presenting the Slovak question as an internal problem, about which the outside world could say nothing without disturbing the sovereignty of the Czecho..Slovak State. Even professor Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne in Paris, who was quite partial to the Czech nation, wrote as early as 1917 that "the Slovak question is of European importance" (1), but for Czech politicians it was only an insignificant administrative problem. They refused to admit the existence of any Slovak problem. Thus it happened that Slovakia and Slovak politicians were not mentioned in international official documents until the fall of 1938. The storm, which broke loose over CzechoSlovakia, tore the cloak of Czech propaganda to shreds, and Slovakia, together with other problems of the Czecho-Slovak State, came to the forefront of European interests. This happened primarily through the neighbors of Czecho-Slovakia, each of whom wished to solve the Slovak question according to their own interests. Since these were not always in accord with the interests of the Slovaks, the representatives of the Slovak nation undertook everything possible to save Slovakia from the catastrophe into which the Czecho..Slovak Republic was led lby the policy of Prague. And so, almost simultaneously, we find documents which tell us, on the one hand, of the efforts to annex Slovakia to Hungary or �42 SLOVAKIA Poland, and, on the other hand, of the valiant struggle ef Slovak politicians, especially of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Karol Sidor, Dr. Ferdinand Durcansky and Dr. Vojtech Tuka, who fought for every inch of Slovak territory and !Slovak freedom. Four solutions of the Slovak question are dealt with in diplomatic documents of 1938; these were publish_ed by the British and American governments under the title "Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945" (Vol. IV, Series D). The solutions considered were: 1. Independence of Slovakia; 2. autonomy of Slovakia within the framework of the Czecho-Slovak _RElpublic; 3. autonomous Slovakia orientated to Hungary; and, 4. autonomous Slovakia orientated to Poland (2). Magyar diplomacy did everything possible to gain Slovakia for itself. And s1nce, after Munich, Germany practically had a "free hand" in Central Europe, !Magyar demands were addressed to Berlin, either directly or through Rome. German diplomacy and the German General Staff, however, did not favor either the Magyar or the Polish solution. Iri 1938, Germany persistently and consistently held the position that Slovakia should remain within the framework of the Czecho-Slovak Republic ; Germany even in the least did not want an independent· .Slovakia. This is proved clearly and authoritatively by many documents, of which the most important are: a) The Memorandum bf ;the General Staff of the Wehrmacht of October 6, 1938, wherein we find this statenrent: "Consequently, it is in our military interest that Slovakia should not be separated from the Czecho-Slovak union, but should remain with Czecho-Slovakia under strong German influence" (3). b) The Memorandum for the Flihrer of October 7, 1938, prepared by the German Foreign Ministry, which tells about the changes that took place in Czecho-Slovakia after the Zilina Agreement, according to which the Czecho-'Slovak Republic took on a federative form. The !Memorandum stresses that this solution "even presents certain advantages compared with an independent Slovakia." It then continues that "from the point of view of (German) foreign policy, the �SLOVAKIA 43 solution of Slovakia united with Czechia is the easiest of achievement" ( 4). c) The note of Erich Kordt, an official of the Foreign Ministry, of October 8, 1938, which says that "with regard to :Slovakia, the Ftihrer thinks it opportune to support the Sillein resolutions (autonomy and orientation toward Prague)" (5). This struggle over the fate of Slovakia took place, of course, without the knowledge and participation of :Slovak political factors, 'behind the scenes of European diplomacy. It happened just as Andrew Hlinka would have expressed it: "De nobis sine nobis." We mention these facts so that the development that took place in Slovakia later might better be understood - that the Slovaks worked to attain independence already at the time that Germany, from Hitler through the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, wished to see Slovakia united with Prague. In this period we meet with the names of the Slovak representatives during the fight for the integrity of Slovakia, in the defense of Slovak territories in the south and north. And it may be interesting to note that the first official meeting of the Slovaks with German representatives was arranged by Minister Chvalkovsky of the Prague regime. In the negotiations about the fate of Bratislava, Nitra and Kosice, which the Magyars made a claim to with the aid of Italy, the Czech factors were so yielding that the Slovak autonomous government considered it its bounden puty not to rely on Prague, but to seek out every possible means to prevent those Slovak cities from falling into the hands of the Magyars. At , that time the Slovaks harbored no illusions about the fact that Germany really had a free hand in Europe and was determined to use it forcefully. Willy-nilly they had to accept the fact that only Berlin could possibly prevent the grab of Slovak territory and, in fact, a total invasion of Slovakia by the Magyars. Thus it was that on October 19, 1938, the first meeting of :Slovak political leaders took place with the Germans: Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso, president of the autonomous government of Slovakia, and Dr. F~rdinand :Durcansky, Minister of Justice, met with the · Foreign Minister of the Third Reich, Dr. Ribbentrop (6). ' 1 �44 SLOVAKIA According to the record of ·this meeting, Dr. Tiso told Ribbentrop that the Slovaks were a peace-loving nation and wanted to live independently. "The !Slovaks had followed," said Dr. Tiso, "the principle of nationality since 1918, when Hlinka went to Versailles, although this had been unsuccessful. !Slovakia was ethnologically, as well as in her language and literature, an independent territory. On June 5 the draft law had been introduced providing for autonomy for Slovakia under Prague, in which she had only foreign affairs, the army and finance in common with Czechia. On October 6 all Slovaks 1had united at Sillein and had taken power into their own hands." After this introduction, Dr. Tiso went on to the question of Komarno and Kosice and the efforts of the Magyars to use the statistics of 1910 to determine what cities of southern Slovakia should fall to the Magyars. Dr. Tiso stated that the Slovaks can prove that the statistics of 1910 were incorrect, nay, even falsified, to enhance the Magyar claims ; furthermore, if the Magyar demands were accepted, 300,000 more Slovaks would ·b e forced under Hungary- this in addition to the 300,000 already living there. Dr. Tiso and Dr. 1'.>urcansky, therefore, asked the German Reich to support their claims in the interest of the Slovak nation, but especially for economic and co mmunicationa:l reasons. Ribbentrop answered Dr. Tiso diplomatically. He said that "Germany had great understanding for the Slovak problems and felt the warmest sympathy for the Slovak people. Our attitude toward the Slovak problems was very simple: we would welcome the greatest possible measure of independence, which in the end was the prerequisite for peace in this part of Europe." But Ribbentrop immediately added: "If Slovakia placed great value on national necessities, she must also respect the national aspirations of the Hungarians." It was only after Dr. Tiso presented further arguments that Ribbentrop promised to instruct the German ambassador in Budapest, Erdmansdorf, to tell the Magyars that "they should renounce their claims to Pressburg, Nitra, Kaschau, Munkatsch and Ungvar, as these towns were vital �SLOVAKIA 45 for Slovakia. He further expressed the hope that the negotiations would ibe resumed in one or two days." That same day, October 19, 1938, Ribbentrop again re-ceived the Slovak representatives. He himself called them for an unofficial 'Visit, during which conversation took place not only about the southern territory of Slovakia, but involved the whole Slovak problem as well. The record of this meeting is so important for the understanding of ensuing -events in Slovakia, that we feel it should he quoted in its -entirety. Published as Document No. 73, the record is dated in Munich, October 19, 1938, and its text is as follows: "MEMORANDUM BY AN OFFlICIAL OF THE FOREIGN MINISTER'S .PERSONAL STAFF Munich, October 19, 1938 At about 7 P. M. the Reich Foreign Minister again received at his hotel Tiso, the Slovak Prime Minister, and ,M inister Durcansky. He told these gentlemen that he had invited them quite unofficially and privately in order to ask them what they thought of their relations with Prague. Whereas Tiso elaborated at length his aim of an autonomous Slovakia collaborating with an autonomous Carpatho-Ukraine under Prague, :Durcansky seemed to be striving rather for the complete independence of Slovakia, perhaps in union with Carpatho-Ukraine. Tiso thought that he would have to steer developments slowly and methodically. At Sillein he had not wished to make any sudden move. If Prague did not adhere to the agreements which had been made regarding complete autonomy, with the exception of a common foreign policy and common army and common State finances, complete separation would soon follow. As a matter of fact, the administrative side of finance had already been taken over, so that joint control remained only in the State finances. In the army, too, agreement had been reached in theory to form purely Slovak regiments, but this had not yet been put into practice. �46 SLOVAKIA In reply to a question by the Foreign Minister, Tiso said that Slovakia could maintain her independence and economy as long as she was helped militarily ·b y guarantees from the Great Powers. It was, of course, impossible for her to form a modern army for the defense of her frontiers. There were three possible orientations in the event of Slovakia's becoming independent. The first was orientation toward Czechia, which in the end was probably nearest to the Slovaks' hearts, as ·Prague had been politically weakened and as Slovakia, because of her large raw material resources, was also economically the equal of the Czech 'State. The second possibility was orientation toward Hungary, for which the Hungarians were making great efforts; and the third was orienta.t ion toward Poland. He could not foresee which of these tendencies was strongest in the Slovak people at present. If the Hungarians persisted in their stiff demands, he did not think that there would be much sympathy left among the Slovak people for throwing in their lot with the Magyars. In conclusion, the Minister told his visitors that he was naturally interested in the development of their country, and he asked them to apply directly to him if they ever · had any particular or economic Hewel." (7) problems. After this visit, excepting the visit of Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky in the middle of November 1938, official Slovak factors did not have any contacts with representatives of the German Reich, neither according to documents, nor reality, until March 13, 1939. The visit of Dr. :Durcansky to Goering, according to the official record, but also according to the knowledge of the writer of these lines who accompanied Dr. :Durcansky to Berlin, was forced by two circumstances: 1. the Germans demanded the annexation of Devin to the German Reich, and, 2. the Czechs were endeavoring to prove that Slovak autonomy could not be upheld economically and so forced the Slovaks to. seek economic contacts with Germany directly. �SI.;OVAKIA 47 The talk with Goering was mainly about Devin; in this matter we were effectively aided by Ing. Karmasin, the representative of the Reich in Slovakia, who emphasized the point that "the castle of Theben on the rock at the confluence of the ,Morava and Danube was Slovakia's sole historic monument and that all Slovak history books would have to be burned if the castle were lost." Goering, however, also felt that politically Slovakia should remain united with Prague. According to the record, "the Field Marshall explained that at the moment the Slovak and the Ukrainian questions could ,b e dealt with only within the framework of the Czecho.,Slovak State" (8). Germany, therefore, did not allow the annexation of Slovakia to Hungary, nor an autonomous Slovakia orientated toward Poland and thus ena:bled !S lovakia tb escape the catastrophe which threatened it in 1938. · How did Prague appraise the situation in Slovakia? In the fall of 1938, according to the diplomatic report of the German Charge d'Affaires in Prague, Hencke, the situation was described as follows: "According to reports here" - says Mr. Hencke's telegram - · "independence movement in Slovakia is gaining ground steadily. Far-reaching autonomy is now demanded by political circles in Slovakia formerly loyal to Prague. A tendency is evident toward declaration of complete independence. "Hungarian Minister here stated that Budapest would regard voluntary union of :Slovakia, including CarpathoUkraine, with Hungary as the most practical solution of the Slovak question. "Polish Legation in Prague is more inclined to the idea of an independent Slovak State which would leave open the possibility of protectorate under Poland or Hungary" (9). References: 1. Ernest Denis, LES .SLOVAQUJDS, Ltbrairie Delagrave, Paris, 1917; 2. Memorandum for the Fiihrer, p. 46; 3. 1See p. 40; 4. .See ,p. 47; 5. .See p. 49; 6. Memorandum ,b y an of:ficial of the Foreign Minister's Personal Stailf, pp. 8·6-92; 7. See pp, 92-93; 8. Note 'by the Director of the Political Department, p. 142; 9. Telegram of Charge d'Affaires Hencke, p. 32. � 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 41 and East :mu.rope wi'hl .r equire all the wisdom, courage, and persist.eillCe we can commaind. Lt will mean further suffering and blood saic:riifice on the part of the peoples of that area, possilbly on OUT own part. But in the end right wm t.:r,iumiph over might. The signs ,t hat the tide is at last b,eginnin.g to turn in Riight's fawor a.re ruppearing on the horizon, and we will :liive to see the task to whlch we haive set ourselves accomplished. ,SlolV'alkia, too, shall lbe free! • • • SLOVA.KIA AND INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN 1938 Joseph Kirschbaum From the very beginning of Czecho-Slovakia, for twenty entire years, Czech policy and diplomacy succeeded in presenting the Slovak question as an internal problem, about which the outside world could say nothing without disturbing the sovereignty of the Czecho..Slovak State. Even professor Ernest Denis of the Sorbonne in Paris, who was quite partial to the Czech nation, wrote as early as 1917 that "the Slovak question is of European importance" (1), but for Czech politicians it was only an insignificant administrative problem. They refused to admit the existence of any Slovak problem. Thus it happened that Slovakia and Slovak politicians were not mentioned in international official documents until the fall of 1938. The storm, which broke loose over CzechoSlovakia, tore the cloak of Czech propaganda to shreds, and Slovakia, together with other problems of the Czecho-Slovak State, came to the forefront of European interests. This happened primarily through the neighbors of Czecho-Slovakia, each of whom wished to solve the Slovak question according to their own interests. Since these were not always in accord with the interests of the Slovaks, the representatives of the Slovak nation undertook everything possible to save Slovakia from the catastrophe into which the Czecho..Slovak Republic was led lby the policy of Prague. And so, almost simultaneously, we find documents which tell us, on the one hand, of the efforts to annex Slovakia to Hungary or 42 SLOVAKIA Poland, and, on the other hand, of the valiant struggle ef Slovak politicians, especially of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Karol Sidor, Dr. Ferdinand Durcansky and Dr. Vojtech Tuka, who fought for every inch of Slovak territory and !Slovak freedom. Four solutions of the Slovak question are dealt with in diplomatic documents of 1938; these were publish_ed by the British and American governments under the title "Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945" (Vol. IV, Series D). The solutions considered were: 1. Independence of Slovakia; 2. autonomy of Slovakia within the framework of the Czecho-Slovak _RElpublic; 3. autonomous Slovakia orientated to Hungary; and, 4. autonomous Slovakia orientated to Poland (2). Magyar diplomacy did everything possible to gain Slovakia for itself. And s1nce, after Munich, Germany practically had a "free hand" in Central Europe, !Magyar demands were addressed to Berlin, either directly or through Rome. German diplomacy and the German General Staff, however, did not favor either the Magyar or the Polish solution. Iri 1938, Germany persistently and consistently held the position that Slovakia should remain within the framework of the Czecho-Slovak Republic ; Germany even in the least did not want an independent· .Slovakia. This is proved clearly and authoritatively by many documents, of which the most important are: a) The Memorandum bf ;the General Staff of the Wehrmacht of October 6, 1938, wherein we find this statenrent: "Consequently, it is in our military interest that Slovakia should not be separated from the Czecho-Slovak union, but should remain with Czecho-Slovakia under strong German influence" (3). b) The Memorandum for the Flihrer of October 7, 1938, prepared by the German Foreign Ministry, which tells about the changes that took place in Czecho-Slovakia after the Zilina Agreement, according to which the Czecho-'Slovak Republic took on a federative form. The !Memorandum stresses that this solution "even presents certain advantages compared with an independent Slovakia." It then continues that "from the point of view of (German) foreign policy, the SLOVAKIA 43 solution of Slovakia united with Czechia is the easiest of achievement" ( 4). c) The note of Erich Kordt, an official of the Foreign Ministry, of October 8, 1938, which says that "with regard to :Slovakia, the Ftihrer thinks it opportune to support the Sillein resolutions (autonomy and orientation toward Prague)" (5). This struggle over the fate of Slovakia took place, of course, without the knowledge and participation of :Slovak political factors, 'behind the scenes of European diplomacy. It happened just as Andrew Hlinka would have expressed it: "De nobis sine nobis." We mention these facts so that the development that took place in Slovakia later might better be understood - that the Slovaks worked to attain independence already at the time that Germany, from Hitler through the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, wished to see Slovakia united with Prague. In this period we meet with the names of the Slovak representatives during the fight for the integrity of Slovakia, in the defense of Slovak territories in the south and north. And it may be interesting to note that the first official meeting of the Slovaks with German representatives was arranged by Minister Chvalkovsky of the Prague regime. In the negotiations about the fate of Bratislava, Nitra and Kosice, which the Magyars made a claim to with the aid of Italy, the Czech factors were so yielding that the Slovak autonomous government considered it its bounden puty not to rely on Prague, but to seek out every possible means to prevent those Slovak cities from falling into the hands of the Magyars. At , that time the Slovaks harbored no illusions about the fact that Germany really had a free hand in Europe and was determined to use it forcefully. Willy-nilly they had to accept the fact that only Berlin could possibly prevent the grab of Slovak territory and, in fact, a total invasion of Slovakia by the Magyars. Thus it was that on October 19, 1938, the first meeting of :Slovak political leaders took place with the Germans: Msgr. Dr. Joseph Tiso, president of the autonomous government of Slovakia, and Dr. F~rdinand :Durcansky, Minister of Justice, met with the · Foreign Minister of the Third Reich, Dr. Ribbentrop (6). ' 1 44 SLOVAKIA According to the record of ·this meeting, Dr. Tiso told Ribbentrop that the Slovaks were a peace-loving nation and wanted to live independently. "The !Slovaks had followed," said Dr. Tiso, "the principle of nationality since 1918, when Hlinka went to Versailles, although this had been unsuccessful. !Slovakia was ethnologically, as well as in her language and literature, an independent territory. On June 5 the draft law had been introduced providing for autonomy for Slovakia under Prague, in which she had only foreign affairs, the army and finance in common with Czechia. On October 6 all Slovaks 1had united at Sillein and had taken power into their own hands." After this introduction, Dr. Tiso went on to the question of Komarno and Kosice and the efforts of the Magyars to use the statistics of 1910 to determine what cities of southern Slovakia should fall to the Magyars. Dr. Tiso stated that the Slovaks can prove that the statistics of 1910 were incorrect, nay, even falsified, to enhance the Magyar claims ; furthermore, if the Magyar demands were accepted, 300,000 more Slovaks would ·b e forced under Hungary- this in addition to the 300,000 already living there. Dr. Tiso and Dr. 1'.>urcansky, therefore, asked the German Reich to support their claims in the interest of the Slovak nation, but especially for economic and co mmunicationa:l reasons. Ribbentrop answered Dr. Tiso diplomatically. He said that "Germany had great understanding for the Slovak problems and felt the warmest sympathy for the Slovak people. Our attitude toward the Slovak problems was very simple: we would welcome the greatest possible measure of independence, which in the end was the prerequisite for peace in this part of Europe." But Ribbentrop immediately added: "If Slovakia placed great value on national necessities, she must also respect the national aspirations of the Hungarians." It was only after Dr. Tiso presented further arguments that Ribbentrop promised to instruct the German ambassador in Budapest, Erdmansdorf, to tell the Magyars that "they should renounce their claims to Pressburg, Nitra, Kaschau, Munkatsch and Ungvar, as these towns were vital SLOVAKIA 45 for Slovakia. He further expressed the hope that the negotiations would ibe resumed in one or two days." That same day, October 19, 1938, Ribbentrop again re-ceived the Slovak representatives. He himself called them for an unofficial 'Visit, during which conversation took place not only about the southern territory of Slovakia, but involved the whole Slovak problem as well. The record of this meeting is so important for the understanding of ensuing -events in Slovakia, that we feel it should he quoted in its -entirety. Published as Document No. 73, the record is dated in Munich, October 19, 1938, and its text is as follows: "MEMORANDUM BY AN OFFlICIAL OF THE FOREIGN MINISTER'S .PERSONAL STAFF Munich, October 19, 1938 At about 7 P. M. the Reich Foreign Minister again received at his hotel Tiso, the Slovak Prime Minister, and ,M inister Durcansky. He told these gentlemen that he had invited them quite unofficially and privately in order to ask them what they thought of their relations with Prague. Whereas Tiso elaborated at length his aim of an autonomous Slovakia collaborating with an autonomous Carpatho-Ukraine under Prague, :Durcansky seemed to be striving rather for the complete independence of Slovakia, perhaps in union with Carpatho-Ukraine. Tiso thought that he would have to steer developments slowly and methodically. At Sillein he had not wished to make any sudden move. If Prague did not adhere to the agreements which had been made regarding complete autonomy, with the exception of a common foreign policy and common army and common State finances, complete separation would soon follow. As a matter of fact, the administrative side of finance had already been taken over, so that joint control remained only in the State finances. In the army, too, agreement had been reached in theory to form purely Slovak regiments, but this had not yet been put into practice. 46 SLOVAKIA In reply to a question by the Foreign Minister, Tiso said that Slovakia could maintain her independence and economy as long as she was helped militarily ·b y guarantees from the Great Powers. It was, of course, impossible for her to form a modern army for the defense of her frontiers. There were three possible orientations in the event of Slovakia's becoming independent. The first was orientation toward Czechia, which in the end was probably nearest to the Slovaks' hearts, as ·Prague had been politically weakened and as Slovakia, because of her large raw material resources, was also economically the equal of the Czech 'State. The second possibility was orientation toward Hungary, for which the Hungarians were making great efforts; and the third was orienta.t ion toward Poland. He could not foresee which of these tendencies was strongest in the Slovak people at present. If the Hungarians persisted in their stiff demands, he did not think that there would be much sympathy left among the Slovak people for throwing in their lot with the Magyars. In conclusion, the Minister told his visitors that he was naturally interested in the development of their country, and he asked them to apply directly to him if they ever · had any particular or economic Hewel." (7) problems. After this visit, excepting the visit of Dr. Ferdinand :Durcansky in the middle of November 1938, official Slovak factors did not have any contacts with representatives of the German Reich, neither according to documents, nor reality, until March 13, 1939. The visit of Dr. :Durcansky to Goering, according to the official record, but also according to the knowledge of the writer of these lines who accompanied Dr. :Durcansky to Berlin, was forced by two circumstances: 1. the Germans demanded the annexation of Devin to the German Reich, and, 2. the Czechs were endeavoring to prove that Slovak autonomy could not be upheld economically and so forced the Slovaks to. seek economic contacts with Germany directly. SI.;OVAKIA 47 The talk with Goering was mainly about Devin; in this matter we were effectively aided by Ing. Karmasin, the representative of the Reich in Slovakia, who emphasized the point that "the castle of Theben on the rock at the confluence of the ,Morava and Danube was Slovakia's sole historic monument and that all Slovak history books would have to be burned if the castle were lost." Goering, however, also felt that politically Slovakia should remain united with Prague. According to the record, "the Field Marshall explained that at the moment the Slovak and the Ukrainian questions could ,b e dealt with only within the framework of the Czecho.,Slovak State" (8). Germany, therefore, did not allow the annexation of Slovakia to Hungary, nor an autonomous Slovakia orientated toward Poland and thus ena:bled !S lovakia tb escape the catastrophe which threatened it in 1938. · How did Prague appraise the situation in Slovakia? In the fall of 1938, according to the diplomatic report of the German Charge d'Affaires in Prague, Hencke, the situation was described as follows: "According to reports here" - says Mr. Hencke's telegram - · "independence movement in Slovakia is gaining ground steadily. Far-reaching autonomy is now demanded by political circles in Slovakia formerly loyal to Prague. A tendency is evident toward declaration of complete independence. "Hungarian Minister here stated that Budapest would regard voluntary union of :Slovakia, including CarpathoUkraine, with Hungary as the most practical solution of the Slovak question. "Polish Legation in Prague is more inclined to the idea of an independent Slovak State which would leave open the possibility of protectorate under Poland or Hungary" (9). References: 1. Ernest Denis, LES .SLOVAQUJDS, Ltbrairie Delagrave, Paris, 1917; 2. Memorandum for the Fiihrer, p. 46; 3. 1See p. 40; 4. .See ,p. 47; 5. .See p. 49; 6. Memorandum ,b y an of:ficial of the Foreign Minister's Personal Stailf, pp. 8·6-92; 7. See pp, 92-93; 8. Note 'by the Director of the Political Department, p. 142; 9. Telegram of Charge d'Affaires Hencke, p. 32.  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 Slovakia and International Interests in 1938 Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 4 (9), December 1953 pp. 41-47 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/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/044357522c52853da1a344e606669d95.pdf 69c2b082e074d0f90f76f0df0cc936cd PDF Text Text JULY, 1953 SLOV.AKI.A 1 THE TRUE FACE OF SLOVAK.IA Joseph M. Kirschbaum, M.A., LL.D. There is a peculiar phenomenon in the political and historical works of American or English scholars about Slovakia. With the exception of the British author C. A. Macartney, followed to a certain extent by A. J. D. Taylor and professor Seton-Watson, the Anglo-Saxon history writers an:d -p ublicists show not only a considerable lack of knowledge of historical facts concerning Slovakia, but they serve, probably unconsciously, the aims of imperialistic tendencies of some Central-European ,peoples. For many of them "Slovak is the name given to the easternmost division of the Czech speaking people" (1) and they seem to know nothing about the fact that the Slovaks were among the first Slovanic peoples converted to Christianity and that as early as the ninth century they founded the first Slovanic state, known in history under the name of the Great Moravian Empire (2); they also persistently present Slovakia as a backward agrarian country marked by illiteracy and poverty. This misrepresentation happens especially when comparison is made between Slovaks and, in the Anglo-Saxon world, the very favored Czechs who are, from the linguistic point of view, quite close to the Slovaks, from the cultural and historical standpoint, however, quite different. Or as Wm. Diamond writes: "Slovakia and the Czech lands are two areas speaking quite similar languages but having different histories and political traditions. They have a deep-rooted and intense distrust, sometimes amounting to antipathy, for each other. A thousand years of separat~on, during which ,p olitical and economic development went off on different tracks, were neither forgotten nor overcome after the establishment of the (Czecho-'Slovak) Republic." The line followed by Anglo-Saxon writers when speaking about Slovakia is nearly the same as that expressed in the books of J. S. Roucek (Eastern-Central Europe, crucible of world wars, and Slavonic Encyclopedia) and R. J. Kerner (Czechoslovakia), who as late as 1946-1949 presented Slovakia as follows: �SLOVAKIA 1. "In the Slovak province of Czechoslovakia, for instance, as many as 57 per cent could not read and write. The (Czechoslovak) Republic esta:blished middleschool and university education in Slovakia, where it was practically non-existent ,b efore 1918." - J. S. Roucek (3). 2. "Wherea'S 1:Jhe standard of ,] iteracy among the Czechs was high, the •p ercentage of Slovaks who could read and write was very low in 1919. For that reason, many officials, teachers and intellectuals from the Czech regions had to be sent to Slovakia" - Kerner <4). 1 3. The Slovaks are according to Mr. Roucek "simple and pastoral" and in the opinion of Mr. Kerner "the Slovaks remained agriculturists and under a Magyar (that is, Eastern) type of culture." This portrayal of Slovakia i,s so general in the American and English ,p ress that to many people, who are not acquainted with the Slovak past and the actual circm;nstances, it may appear not only probruble ,b ut true. Slovakia has been presented in this light for about 35 years. The world is supposed to 'believe that culture, literacy and civilization were brought into Slovakia only by the Czechs in 1918-19, according to these "scientific revelations", and that Slovakia remained even during the last 30 years predominantly agrarian, pastoral and illiterate. What is the truth? Now, the truth is quite different. After having lost their political independence in the tenth and definitely in the 13th century in favor of the· Hungarians, the Slovaks did not appear in European history as a political factor for many centuries. Germans, Hungarians and Czechs, who in a common effort succeeded to disintegrate the first Slovak State, could not, however, destroy the civilization which had already existed in that country. As a result Slovakia became even under the Hungarian rule a first-rate cultural centre in Ce11tral Europe with a university at Bratislava as early as the 1'5th century and a Catholic university in the 17th century at Trnava (5). �SLOVAKIA 3 The culture spread from these universities developed, naturally, not in the 'Slovak, but in the Latin language, a general phenomenon at that time in Central Europe. Nevertheless, it was a culture of the •p opulation of Slovakia which at all times has been predominantly of Slovak origin, and the archives prove that the majority of professors and students was Slovak also. The same rule can be applied to the epoch when, under the influence of nationalism, the Hungarians began to demand the use of the Magyar language instead of the Latin and when expressions of growing national consciousness of the non~Magyar nationalities were answered by an increased attempt at Magyarization. It is true that .Slovak schools were closed by the Hungarian regime in the last decades of the 19th century, and nobody can deny the tendency of Budapest to assimilate the Slovak population. On the other hand, it is false and tendencious to say that Slova:kia before 1918 was a .b ackward and illiterate country and that culture was brought into Slovakia by Czech teachers and intellectuals. If we can measure the cultural level of any country by the number of schools, as it is generally done, then the statistics regarding the number of schools in Slovakia at the end of the Hungarian rule (1918) and at the end of the Czech rule (1939) obviously deny the Czech .propaganda about the illiteracy and the Czech cultural mission in Slovakia. The data pU!blished in this regard by a former member of the Prague government, Prof. A. Stefanek (6) give us the following picture: A) Number of public schools in Slovakia 1917-18 1937-38 Schools administered by church ____ 2723 2487 Schools administered by state _____ 797 1104 Total ________________ 3520 3591 B) Number of high schools in Slovakia 1918-19 1936-37 High schools ____________________ _ 44 46 Teachers' schools ________________ _ 15 16 Tot~ _________________ _ 61 63 �4 SLOVAKIA The number of students at the above schools in 1918 was 15,354; and in 1939 - 23,937; but only 20,018 of them were of Slovak origin. As far as the percentage of Slovaks who could not read and write is concerned, the above quoted statement of Prof. Roucek is obviously at odds with the truth. Unfortunately, there are in exile no statistics available aJbout the situation in this regard in Slovakia at the end of the Hungarian rule. But if we take into consideration the fact that according to the official Czech statistics there were in 1930 only 6.8 % inhabitants of Slovak origin who could not read and write and the number of schools was as shown above, it may be safely assumed that in 1919, when the number of schools was nearly the same, the percentage of analphabets could hardly be much different. Logic does not admit any doubt in this regard. At present about 3 % of the inhabitants of Slovakia cannot read and write, which means that Slovakia comes not only before many Central-European countries, but is much ahead of countries like Italy, Spain, etc. II As false at the presentation of Slovakia in the light of illiteracy is also any talk about Slovakia's economic backwardness. After the first World War when the Slovaks and Czechs came together, it was decided ,b y the Czech government that Slovakia must remain an agricultural complement of the Czech lands. Consequently, the rise in the industrial population of Slovakia which 1b egan in the 19th century, when the industrial revolution took hold in Hungary, not only began to slow down, but, according to Macartney, one third of Slovakia's industry was dismantled and destroyed by the Czech banks and industrialists who did not wish to have any competition in Slovakia (7). 1 Despite these anti-Slovak economic measures of the Prague government and Czech industrialists, the majority of Slovakia's population was neither ",pastoral" nor agrarian. According to Czech official statistics the percentage of Slovakia's population which gave their occupation as agriculture was as follows (8) : �SLOVAKIA Year 1900 1921 1930 5 % 63.0 60.6 56.8 Measured by Central-European standards, Slovakia in 1930 was one of the well industrialized countries, since in Poland, ,Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Yugoslavia the percentage of agrarian population at that time was much higher (Poland 69 % , Bulgaria 80 % , Romania 80% , etc.) even according Mr. Roucek's "Central Eastern Europe". Since 1930 the above percentage changed in Slovakia to a considera'ble extent, especially during the years 19391945. Wm. Dia:mond in his book "Czechoslovakia between East and West" - very favorable to the post-war Czechoslovakia and to Czechs writes in this regard: "Slovakia's brief experience as an independent state had a salutary effect on its industry, which expanded in an effort to replace products once obtained from the factories of the Czech lands and, under German pressure, to increase the output of armaments. The esta'blishment of new enteq,rises and the increase in the number of industrial workers raised the importance of Slovak industry in the country as a whole. The industrial ca:pacity of Slovakia increased particularly in metal- and wood-working, mining, textiles, footwear, and food processing" (9). The Czech Minister on Industry described the situation as follows: •~on the whole, it may ,b e said of Slovak industry that its development in the last few years, with the exception of armament production, was, comparatively speaking, quick and sound. It is true that not many new factories have been built, but many of the existing ones have been enlarged and modernized. The most important structural change 'has :b een an increased emphasis on metallurgy, textiles and, to a certain extent, on mining" (10). �6 SLOVAKIA The Communist regime in Slovakia did not stop this development. On the contrary, if we can trust Communist statistics, many new industries have been built in Slovakia and the percentage of the population working in agriculture should be only a,bout 35 % at the .present time. The regime is inhuman, tyrannic and cruel, but it changes the social structure of Slovakia in favor of the industrial "proletariat" not only in order to furnish Russia industrial products, ibut also because of political reasons: a peasant is considered an enemy of Communism. III · While, consciously or unconsciously, American authors present, under the cover of "scientific" works, the Slovak people as a part of the Czech nation and Slovakia as a backward country in order to support the Czech claim to rule over Slovakia, life marks quite different tracks of evolution in the relations between Czechs and Slovaks. "Slovak tradition and economy stand as a barrier between Czechs and Slovaks," writes Wm. Diamond and continues: "So important was the Slovak problem in the minds of both Czech and Slovak leaders, that it was a major subject of study and debate during the war and has continued to be ever since. An effort was made to solve the problem in 194'5 in the Kosice .Programme, in which Czechs and Slovaks are defined as two distinct nations united by common interest in a single state. This is in itself a complete reversal of the ethni~ theory on which the first Repubilc was built: the belief that Czechs and Slovaks constituted a single nation. The Kosice Program further provided that "the Slovaks should :be the masters in their Slovak lands, just as the Czechs in their Czech homeland" and that the government "will regard the Slovak National Council not only as the rightful representative of the individual Slovak nation, but also as the bearer of sovereign right on Slovak territory" (11). The same change as in the political relations between Czechs and Slovaks was ,b rought a;bout in regard to the �S LOVAKIA 7 general level of civilization in Slovakia. Already during the Second World War there was no lack of trained and educateq. officials, professors, lawyers, physicians, etc., but a constderable surplus. When the "Czechoslovak Republic" had been restored against the wishes of the majority of Slovakia's population in 1945 and a bout 5 thousand Slovak intellectuals left the country and other thousands were jailed, deported to Siberia, and confined in concentration camps for alleged collaboration with Nazis, but in fact for their anti-Communism, there was no difficulty to replace them, ·b ecause the trend of civilization and development, which, since the First World War, brought to maturity and self-government about 30 former colonies and mandatory territories, did not stop in Slovakia in order to fulfill the wishes of some Czech politicians who desired to see Slovakia as a backward country and the Slovaks as a part of the Czech nation. Slovakia developed considerably not only economically during its short separation from the Czech lands, but also from the point of view of culture and civilization. This can be seen again in the light of statistics concerning the number of university students during the Czech rule (1918--38) and during the Slovakia's independence (1939-415) ,published by Prof. Stefanek. 1 After 20 years of Czech rule in Slovakia, there were at the University in Bratislava in the schoolyear 1938--39 only 153'5 students of Slovak origin, but this number increased to 4485 in the third year of Slovakia's independence (1942-43), while aibout 500 others studied abroad. Altogether, during the five years of Slovakia's separation from Czechs, 14,965 students studied at the University of Bratislava, which also became an attractive center for foreign students. In the year 1941-42, for instance, there were 518 students from Bulgaria, 120 Czech students, 154 Germans, 106 Russians, 171 Hungarians and many others. As far as the professors were concerned, out of a total of 107 professors, 78 were of Slovak origin, 20 Czechs, 7 Russians, one German, one Italian; the 1'59 assistants and lecturers were all of Slovak origin (12). This is the true face of Slovakia, ,p resented by some 1 �SLOVAKIA 8 American writers and university professors as a backward country of illiteracy and poverty. Do not American students deserve professors and lecturers who respect facts and the truth more objectively and more consistently? (1) J. S. Roucek, Central Eastern Europe, New York, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1946, p. 353; 2) Dr. Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe, London, Jarolds, 1942, pp. 85-94, 104, 131, etc.; 3) Lbidem, p. 354; 4) "Czechoslovakia" edited by R. J. Kerner, University of California Press, Berkeley, Cal. 1949, pp. 184-185; 5) Dr. M. Hodza, op. cit.; 6) Anton Stefanek, Zur Sociographie Der Geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Academia Scientiarum et Artiurn Slovaca, Bratislava, 1944, pp. 40'4-405; 7) C. A. Macartney, Hungary and Her Successors, London, 19·3 7; 8) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tcheco,Slovaque, 1938, p. 15; 9) William Diamond, Czechoslovakia between East and West, London, Stevens and Sons Ltd., 1947, p. 172; 10) Prumyslovy Vestnik, March 10, 1947, p. 180-1; 11) Ibidem, p. 50; 12) A. Stefanek, op. cit., ·p. 413-15. WHO SAID IT? - "Basically our political program, our political llne, completely agrees with the line and the program of the Slovak Communist Party. Up to the rebellion there really was no difference between an adherent of the Slovak Communist Party and an adherent of the Democratic Party. When did this relationship deteriorate? I t.hink it was after our complete liberation. Well, in general, there can be no taJk about any great deterioration. But I think that if we let ourselves get drunk by our present victory in the elections and if, incidentally, even the effectiveness of the Slovak Communist Party should decrease because of the factual failure in the elections, then we would fall and the communists also would fail. I emphasize that we must mutually help each other and th 'l-t all of us mu.st solve common problems together, because onoe and for all time we must realize that there is no fundamental difference between the Slovak Communist Party and the Democratic Party. Differences have appeared a.nd are appearing, but only In methods." (Dr. Joseph Lettrich, former Chairman of the Slovak Democratic Party and President of the Slovak National Council and now Y.ice-Preeident of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia: "My 46" - No. 23, June 8, 1946 - Prague) . WHO SAID IT? - • • • "The religious cleft (between the Slovaks ana the Czechs) is deep. For the Czechs, Master John Hus was and is not only a religious but essentially a national figure; and, if the nation returned to Catholicism under the pressure of the Counter-Reformation, it is a truism that every Czech is a H ussite at heart - a Hussfte in the wider sense of the term, denoting a blend of somewhat selfassertive nationalism with a "Protestant" attitude towards all authority, social, national, or religious, which is felt to be in any way alien. For the Slovaks, Hussitism was the alien doctrine, Catholicism the natural faith." (C. A. Macartney: HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS - London, 1937). � JULY, 1953 SLOV.AKI.A 1 THE TRUE FACE OF SLOVAK.IA Joseph M. Kirschbaum, M.A., LL.D. There is a peculiar phenomenon in the political and historical works of American or English scholars about Slovakia. With the exception of the British author C. A. Macartney, followed to a certain extent by A. J. D. Taylor and professor Seton-Watson, the Anglo-Saxon history writers an:d -p ublicists show not only a considerable lack of knowledge of historical facts concerning Slovakia, but they serve, probably unconsciously, the aims of imperialistic tendencies of some Central-European ,peoples. For many of them "Slovak is the name given to the easternmost division of the Czech speaking people" (1) and they seem to know nothing about the fact that the Slovaks were among the first Slovanic peoples converted to Christianity and that as early as the ninth century they founded the first Slovanic state, known in history under the name of the Great Moravian Empire (2); they also persistently present Slovakia as a backward agrarian country marked by illiteracy and poverty. This misrepresentation happens especially when comparison is made between Slovaks and, in the Anglo-Saxon world, the very favored Czechs who are, from the linguistic point of view, quite close to the Slovaks, from the cultural and historical standpoint, however, quite different. Or as Wm. Diamond writes: "Slovakia and the Czech lands are two areas speaking quite similar languages but having different histories and political traditions. They have a deep-rooted and intense distrust, sometimes amounting to antipathy, for each other. A thousand years of separat~on, during which ,p olitical and economic development went off on different tracks, were neither forgotten nor overcome after the establishment of the (Czecho-'Slovak) Republic." The line followed by Anglo-Saxon writers when speaking about Slovakia is nearly the same as that expressed in the books of J. S. Roucek (Eastern-Central Europe, crucible of world wars, and Slavonic Encyclopedia) and R. J. Kerner (Czechoslovakia), who as late as 1946-1949 presented Slovakia as follows: �SLOVAKIA 1. "In the Slovak province of Czechoslovakia, for instance, as many as 57 per cent could not read and write. The (Czechoslovak) Republic esta:blished middleschool and university education in Slovakia, where it was practically non-existent ,b efore 1918." - J. S. Roucek (3). 2. "Wherea'S 1:Jhe standard of ,] iteracy among the Czechs was high, the •p ercentage of Slovaks who could read and write was very low in 1919. For that reason, many officials, teachers and intellectuals from the Czech regions had to be sent to Slovakia" - Kerner <4). 1 3. The Slovaks are according to Mr. Roucek "simple and pastoral" and in the opinion of Mr. Kerner "the Slovaks remained agriculturists and under a Magyar (that is, Eastern) type of culture." This portrayal of Slovakia i,s so general in the American and English ,p ress that to many people, who are not acquainted with the Slovak past and the actual circm;nstances, it may appear not only probruble ,b ut true. Slovakia has been presented in this light for about 35 years. The world is supposed to 'believe that culture, literacy and civilization were brought into Slovakia only by the Czechs in 1918-19, according to these "scientific revelations", and that Slovakia remained even during the last 30 years predominantly agrarian, pastoral and illiterate. What is the truth? Now, the truth is quite different. After having lost their political independence in the tenth and definitely in the 13th century in favor of the· Hungarians, the Slovaks did not appear in European history as a political factor for many centuries. Germans, Hungarians and Czechs, who in a common effort succeeded to disintegrate the first Slovak State, could not, however, destroy the civilization which had already existed in that country. As a result Slovakia became even under the Hungarian rule a first-rate cultural centre in Ce11tral Europe with a university at Bratislava as early as the 1'5th century and a Catholic university in the 17th century at Trnava (5). �SLOVAKIA 3 The culture spread from these universities developed, naturally, not in the 'Slovak, but in the Latin language, a general phenomenon at that time in Central Europe. Nevertheless, it was a culture of the •p opulation of Slovakia which at all times has been predominantly of Slovak origin, and the archives prove that the majority of professors and students was Slovak also. The same rule can be applied to the epoch when, under the influence of nationalism, the Hungarians began to demand the use of the Magyar language instead of the Latin and when expressions of growing national consciousness of the non~Magyar nationalities were answered by an increased attempt at Magyarization. It is true that .Slovak schools were closed by the Hungarian regime in the last decades of the 19th century, and nobody can deny the tendency of Budapest to assimilate the Slovak population. On the other hand, it is false and tendencious to say that Slova:kia before 1918 was a .b ackward and illiterate country and that culture was brought into Slovakia by Czech teachers and intellectuals. If we can measure the cultural level of any country by the number of schools, as it is generally done, then the statistics regarding the number of schools in Slovakia at the end of the Hungarian rule (1918) and at the end of the Czech rule (1939) obviously deny the Czech .propaganda about the illiteracy and the Czech cultural mission in Slovakia. The data pU!blished in this regard by a former member of the Prague government, Prof. A. Stefanek (6) give us the following picture: A) Number of public schools in Slovakia 1917-18 1937-38 Schools administered by church ____ 2723 2487 Schools administered by state _____ 797 1104 Total ________________ 3520 3591 B) Number of high schools in Slovakia 1918-19 1936-37 High schools ____________________ _ 44 46 Teachers' schools ________________ _ 15 16 Tot~ _________________ _ 61 63 �4 SLOVAKIA The number of students at the above schools in 1918 was 15,354; and in 1939 - 23,937; but only 20,018 of them were of Slovak origin. As far as the percentage of Slovaks who could not read and write is concerned, the above quoted statement of Prof. Roucek is obviously at odds with the truth. Unfortunately, there are in exile no statistics available aJbout the situation in this regard in Slovakia at the end of the Hungarian rule. But if we take into consideration the fact that according to the official Czech statistics there were in 1930 only 6.8 % inhabitants of Slovak origin who could not read and write and the number of schools was as shown above, it may be safely assumed that in 1919, when the number of schools was nearly the same, the percentage of analphabets could hardly be much different. Logic does not admit any doubt in this regard. At present about 3 % of the inhabitants of Slovakia cannot read and write, which means that Slovakia comes not only before many Central-European countries, but is much ahead of countries like Italy, Spain, etc. II As false at the presentation of Slovakia in the light of illiteracy is also any talk about Slovakia's economic backwardness. After the first World War when the Slovaks and Czechs came together, it was decided ,b y the Czech government that Slovakia must remain an agricultural complement of the Czech lands. Consequently, the rise in the industrial population of Slovakia which 1b egan in the 19th century, when the industrial revolution took hold in Hungary, not only began to slow down, but, according to Macartney, one third of Slovakia's industry was dismantled and destroyed by the Czech banks and industrialists who did not wish to have any competition in Slovakia (7). 1 Despite these anti-Slovak economic measures of the Prague government and Czech industrialists, the majority of Slovakia's population was neither ",pastoral" nor agrarian. According to Czech official statistics the percentage of Slovakia's population which gave their occupation as agriculture was as follows (8) : �SLOVAKIA Year 1900 1921 1930 5 % 63.0 60.6 56.8 Measured by Central-European standards, Slovakia in 1930 was one of the well industrialized countries, since in Poland, ,Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Yugoslavia the percentage of agrarian population at that time was much higher (Poland 69 % , Bulgaria 80 % , Romania 80% , etc.) even according Mr. Roucek's "Central Eastern Europe". Since 1930 the above percentage changed in Slovakia to a considera'ble extent, especially during the years 19391945. Wm. Dia:mond in his book "Czechoslovakia between East and West" - very favorable to the post-war Czechoslovakia and to Czechs writes in this regard: "Slovakia's brief experience as an independent state had a salutary effect on its industry, which expanded in an effort to replace products once obtained from the factories of the Czech lands and, under German pressure, to increase the output of armaments. The esta'blishment of new enteq,rises and the increase in the number of industrial workers raised the importance of Slovak industry in the country as a whole. The industrial ca:pacity of Slovakia increased particularly in metal- and wood-working, mining, textiles, footwear, and food processing" (9). The Czech Minister on Industry described the situation as follows: •~on the whole, it may ,b e said of Slovak industry that its development in the last few years, with the exception of armament production, was, comparatively speaking, quick and sound. It is true that not many new factories have been built, but many of the existing ones have been enlarged and modernized. The most important structural change 'has :b een an increased emphasis on metallurgy, textiles and, to a certain extent, on mining" (10). �6 SLOVAKIA The Communist regime in Slovakia did not stop this development. On the contrary, if we can trust Communist statistics, many new industries have been built in Slovakia and the percentage of the population working in agriculture should be only a,bout 35 % at the .present time. The regime is inhuman, tyrannic and cruel, but it changes the social structure of Slovakia in favor of the industrial "proletariat" not only in order to furnish Russia industrial products, ibut also because of political reasons: a peasant is considered an enemy of Communism. III · While, consciously or unconsciously, American authors present, under the cover of "scientific" works, the Slovak people as a part of the Czech nation and Slovakia as a backward country in order to support the Czech claim to rule over Slovakia, life marks quite different tracks of evolution in the relations between Czechs and Slovaks. "Slovak tradition and economy stand as a barrier between Czechs and Slovaks," writes Wm. Diamond and continues: "So important was the Slovak problem in the minds of both Czech and Slovak leaders, that it was a major subject of study and debate during the war and has continued to be ever since. An effort was made to solve the problem in 194'5 in the Kosice .Programme, in which Czechs and Slovaks are defined as two distinct nations united by common interest in a single state. This is in itself a complete reversal of the ethni~ theory on which the first Repubilc was built: the belief that Czechs and Slovaks constituted a single nation. The Kosice Program further provided that "the Slovaks should :be the masters in their Slovak lands, just as the Czechs in their Czech homeland" and that the government "will regard the Slovak National Council not only as the rightful representative of the individual Slovak nation, but also as the bearer of sovereign right on Slovak territory" (11). The same change as in the political relations between Czechs and Slovaks was ,b rought a;bout in regard to the �S LOVAKIA 7 general level of civilization in Slovakia. Already during the Second World War there was no lack of trained and educateq. officials, professors, lawyers, physicians, etc., but a constderable surplus. When the "Czechoslovak Republic" had been restored against the wishes of the majority of Slovakia's population in 1945 and a bout 5 thousand Slovak intellectuals left the country and other thousands were jailed, deported to Siberia, and confined in concentration camps for alleged collaboration with Nazis, but in fact for their anti-Communism, there was no difficulty to replace them, ·b ecause the trend of civilization and development, which, since the First World War, brought to maturity and self-government about 30 former colonies and mandatory territories, did not stop in Slovakia in order to fulfill the wishes of some Czech politicians who desired to see Slovakia as a backward country and the Slovaks as a part of the Czech nation. Slovakia developed considerably not only economically during its short separation from the Czech lands, but also from the point of view of culture and civilization. This can be seen again in the light of statistics concerning the number of university students during the Czech rule (1918--38) and during the Slovakia's independence (1939-415) ,published by Prof. Stefanek. 1 After 20 years of Czech rule in Slovakia, there were at the University in Bratislava in the schoolyear 1938--39 only 153'5 students of Slovak origin, but this number increased to 4485 in the third year of Slovakia's independence (1942-43), while aibout 500 others studied abroad. Altogether, during the five years of Slovakia's separation from Czechs, 14,965 students studied at the University of Bratislava, which also became an attractive center for foreign students. In the year 1941-42, for instance, there were 518 students from Bulgaria, 120 Czech students, 154 Germans, 106 Russians, 171 Hungarians and many others. As far as the professors were concerned, out of a total of 107 professors, 78 were of Slovak origin, 20 Czechs, 7 Russians, one German, one Italian; the 1'59 assistants and lecturers were all of Slovak origin (12). This is the true face of Slovakia, ,p resented by some 1 �SLOVAKIA 8 American writers and university professors as a backward country of illiteracy and poverty. Do not American students deserve professors and lecturers who respect facts and the truth more objectively and more consistently? (1) J. S. Roucek, Central Eastern Europe, New York, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1946, p. 353; 2) Dr. Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe, London, Jarolds, 1942, pp. 85-94, 104, 131, etc.; 3) Lbidem, p. 354; 4) "Czechoslovakia" edited by R. J. Kerner, University of California Press, Berkeley, Cal. 1949, pp. 184-185; 5) Dr. M. Hodza, op. cit.; 6) Anton Stefanek, Zur Sociographie Der Geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Academia Scientiarum et Artiurn Slovaca, Bratislava, 1944, pp. 40'4-405; 7) C. A. Macartney, Hungary and Her Successors, London, 19·3 7; 8) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tcheco,Slovaque, 1938, p. 15; 9) William Diamond, Czechoslovakia between East and West, London, Stevens and Sons Ltd., 1947, p. 172; 10) Prumyslovy Vestnik, March 10, 1947, p. 180-1; 11) Ibidem, p. 50; 12) A. Stefanek, op. cit., ·p. 413-15. WHO SAID IT? - "Basically our political program, our political llne, completely agrees with the line and the program of the Slovak Communist Party. Up to the rebellion there really was no difference between an adherent of the Slovak Communist Party and an adherent of the Democratic Party. When did this relationship deteriorate? I t.hink it was after our complete liberation. Well, in general, there can be no taJk about any great deterioration. But I think that if we let ourselves get drunk by our present victory in the elections and if, incidentally, even the effectiveness of the Slovak Communist Party should decrease because of the factual failure in the elections, then we would fall and the communists also would fail. I emphasize that we must mutually help each other and th 'l-t all of us mu.st solve common problems together, because onoe and for all time we must realize that there is no fundamental difference between the Slovak Communist Party and the Democratic Party. Differences have appeared a.nd are appearing, but only In methods." (Dr. Joseph Lettrich, former Chairman of the Slovak Democratic Party and President of the Slovak National Council and now Y.ice-Preeident of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia: "My 46" - No. 23, June 8, 1946 - Prague) . WHO SAID IT? - • • • "The religious cleft (between the Slovaks ana the Czechs) is deep. For the Czechs, Master John Hus was and is not only a religious but essentially a national figure; and, if the nation returned to Catholicism under the pressure of the Counter-Reformation, it is a truism that every Czech is a H ussite at heart - a Hussfte in the wider sense of the term, denoting a blend of somewhat selfassertive nationalism with a "Protestant" attitude towards all authority, social, national, or religious, which is felt to be in any way alien. For the Slovaks, Hussitism was the alien doctrine, Catholicism the natural faith." (C. A. Macartney: HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS - London, 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 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 JULY, 1953 SLOV.AKI.A 1 THE TRUE FACE OF SLOVAK.IA Joseph M. Kirschbaum, M.A., LL.D. There is a peculiar phenomenon in the political and historical works of American or English scholars about Slovakia. With the exception of the British author C. A. Macartney, followed to a certain extent by A. J. D. Taylor and professor Seton-Watson, the Anglo-Saxon history writers an:d -p ublicists show not only a considerable lack of knowledge of historical facts concerning Slovakia, but they serve, probably unconsciously, the aims of imperialistic tendencies of some Central-European ,peoples. For many of them "Slovak is the name given to the easternmost division of the Czech speaking people" (1) and they seem to know nothing about the fact that the Slovaks were among the first Slovanic peoples converted to Christianity and that as early as the ninth century they founded the first Slovanic state, known in history under the name of the Great Moravian Empire (2); they also persistently present Slovakia as a backward agrarian country marked by illiteracy and poverty. This misrepresentation happens especially when comparison is made between Slovaks and, in the Anglo-Saxon world, the very favored Czechs who are, from the linguistic point of view, quite close to the Slovaks, from the cultural and historical standpoint, however, quite different. Or as Wm. Diamond writes: "Slovakia and the Czech lands are two areas speaking quite similar languages but having different histories and political traditions. They have a deep-rooted and intense distrust, sometimes amounting to antipathy, for each other. A thousand years of separat~on, during which ,p olitical and economic development went off on different tracks, were neither forgotten nor overcome after the establishment of the (Czecho-'Slovak) Republic." The line followed by Anglo-Saxon writers when speaking about Slovakia is nearly the same as that expressed in the books of J. S. Roucek (Eastern-Central Europe, crucible of world wars, and Slavonic Encyclopedia) and R. J. Kerner (Czechoslovakia), who as late as 1946-1949 presented Slovakia as follows: SLOVAKIA 1. "In the Slovak province of Czechoslovakia, for instance, as many as 57 per cent could not read and write. The (Czechoslovak) Republic esta:blished middleschool and university education in Slovakia, where it was practically non-existent ,b efore 1918." - J. S. Roucek (3). 2. "Wherea'S 1:Jhe standard of ,] iteracy among the Czechs was high, the •p ercentage of Slovaks who could read and write was very low in 1919. For that reason, many officials, teachers and intellectuals from the Czech regions had to be sent to Slovakia" - Kerner <4). 1 3. The Slovaks are according to Mr. Roucek "simple and pastoral" and in the opinion of Mr. Kerner "the Slovaks remained agriculturists and under a Magyar (that is, Eastern) type of culture." This portrayal of Slovakia i,s so general in the American and English ,p ress that to many people, who are not acquainted with the Slovak past and the actual circm;nstances, it may appear not only probruble ,b ut true. Slovakia has been presented in this light for about 35 years. The world is supposed to 'believe that culture, literacy and civilization were brought into Slovakia only by the Czechs in 1918-19, according to these "scientific revelations", and that Slovakia remained even during the last 30 years predominantly agrarian, pastoral and illiterate. What is the truth? Now, the truth is quite different. After having lost their political independence in the tenth and definitely in the 13th century in favor of the· Hungarians, the Slovaks did not appear in European history as a political factor for many centuries. Germans, Hungarians and Czechs, who in a common effort succeeded to disintegrate the first Slovak State, could not, however, destroy the civilization which had already existed in that country. As a result Slovakia became even under the Hungarian rule a first-rate cultural centre in Ce11tral Europe with a university at Bratislava as early as the 1'5th century and a Catholic university in the 17th century at Trnava (5). SLOVAKIA 3 The culture spread from these universities developed, naturally, not in the 'Slovak, but in the Latin language, a general phenomenon at that time in Central Europe. Nevertheless, it was a culture of the •p opulation of Slovakia which at all times has been predominantly of Slovak origin, and the archives prove that the majority of professors and students was Slovak also. The same rule can be applied to the epoch when, under the influence of nationalism, the Hungarians began to demand the use of the Magyar language instead of the Latin and when expressions of growing national consciousness of the non~Magyar nationalities were answered by an increased attempt at Magyarization. It is true that .Slovak schools were closed by the Hungarian regime in the last decades of the 19th century, and nobody can deny the tendency of Budapest to assimilate the Slovak population. On the other hand, it is false and tendencious to say that Slova:kia before 1918 was a .b ackward and illiterate country and that culture was brought into Slovakia by Czech teachers and intellectuals. If we can measure the cultural level of any country by the number of schools, as it is generally done, then the statistics regarding the number of schools in Slovakia at the end of the Hungarian rule (1918) and at the end of the Czech rule (1939) obviously deny the Czech .propaganda about the illiteracy and the Czech cultural mission in Slovakia. The data pU!blished in this regard by a former member of the Prague government, Prof. A. Stefanek (6) give us the following picture: A) Number of public schools in Slovakia 1917-18 1937-38 Schools administered by church ____ 2723 2487 Schools administered by state _____ 797 1104 Total ________________ 3520 3591 B) Number of high schools in Slovakia 1918-19 1936-37 High schools ____________________ _ 44 46 Teachers' schools ________________ _ 15 16 Tot~ _________________ _ 61 63 4 SLOVAKIA The number of students at the above schools in 1918 was 15,354; and in 1939 - 23,937; but only 20,018 of them were of Slovak origin. As far as the percentage of Slovaks who could not read and write is concerned, the above quoted statement of Prof. Roucek is obviously at odds with the truth. Unfortunately, there are in exile no statistics available aJbout the situation in this regard in Slovakia at the end of the Hungarian rule. But if we take into consideration the fact that according to the official Czech statistics there were in 1930 only 6.8 % inhabitants of Slovak origin who could not read and write and the number of schools was as shown above, it may be safely assumed that in 1919, when the number of schools was nearly the same, the percentage of analphabets could hardly be much different. Logic does not admit any doubt in this regard. At present about 3 % of the inhabitants of Slovakia cannot read and write, which means that Slovakia comes not only before many Central-European countries, but is much ahead of countries like Italy, Spain, etc. II As false at the presentation of Slovakia in the light of illiteracy is also any talk about Slovakia's economic backwardness. After the first World War when the Slovaks and Czechs came together, it was decided ,b y the Czech government that Slovakia must remain an agricultural complement of the Czech lands. Consequently, the rise in the industrial population of Slovakia which 1b egan in the 19th century, when the industrial revolution took hold in Hungary, not only began to slow down, but, according to Macartney, one third of Slovakia's industry was dismantled and destroyed by the Czech banks and industrialists who did not wish to have any competition in Slovakia (7). 1 Despite these anti-Slovak economic measures of the Prague government and Czech industrialists, the majority of Slovakia's population was neither ",pastoral" nor agrarian. According to Czech official statistics the percentage of Slovakia's population which gave their occupation as agriculture was as follows (8) : SLOVAKIA Year 1900 1921 1930 5 % 63.0 60.6 56.8 Measured by Central-European standards, Slovakia in 1930 was one of the well industrialized countries, since in Poland, ,Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Yugoslavia the percentage of agrarian population at that time was much higher (Poland 69 % , Bulgaria 80 % , Romania 80% , etc.) even according Mr. Roucek's "Central Eastern Europe". Since 1930 the above percentage changed in Slovakia to a considera'ble extent, especially during the years 19391945. Wm. Dia:mond in his book "Czechoslovakia between East and West" - very favorable to the post-war Czechoslovakia and to Czechs writes in this regard: "Slovakia's brief experience as an independent state had a salutary effect on its industry, which expanded in an effort to replace products once obtained from the factories of the Czech lands and, under German pressure, to increase the output of armaments. The esta'blishment of new enteq,rises and the increase in the number of industrial workers raised the importance of Slovak industry in the country as a whole. The industrial ca:pacity of Slovakia increased particularly in metal- and wood-working, mining, textiles, footwear, and food processing" (9). The Czech Minister on Industry described the situation as follows: •~on the whole, it may ,b e said of Slovak industry that its development in the last few years, with the exception of armament production, was, comparatively speaking, quick and sound. It is true that not many new factories have been built, but many of the existing ones have been enlarged and modernized. The most important structural change 'has :b een an increased emphasis on metallurgy, textiles and, to a certain extent, on mining" (10). 6 SLOVAKIA The Communist regime in Slovakia did not stop this development. On the contrary, if we can trust Communist statistics, many new industries have been built in Slovakia and the percentage of the population working in agriculture should be only a,bout 35 % at the .present time. The regime is inhuman, tyrannic and cruel, but it changes the social structure of Slovakia in favor of the industrial "proletariat" not only in order to furnish Russia industrial products, ibut also because of political reasons: a peasant is considered an enemy of Communism. III · While, consciously or unconsciously, American authors present, under the cover of "scientific" works, the Slovak people as a part of the Czech nation and Slovakia as a backward country in order to support the Czech claim to rule over Slovakia, life marks quite different tracks of evolution in the relations between Czechs and Slovaks. "Slovak tradition and economy stand as a barrier between Czechs and Slovaks," writes Wm. Diamond and continues: "So important was the Slovak problem in the minds of both Czech and Slovak leaders, that it was a major subject of study and debate during the war and has continued to be ever since. An effort was made to solve the problem in 194'5 in the Kosice .Programme, in which Czechs and Slovaks are defined as two distinct nations united by common interest in a single state. This is in itself a complete reversal of the ethni~ theory on which the first Repubilc was built: the belief that Czechs and Slovaks constituted a single nation. The Kosice Program further provided that "the Slovaks should :be the masters in their Slovak lands, just as the Czechs in their Czech homeland" and that the government "will regard the Slovak National Council not only as the rightful representative of the individual Slovak nation, but also as the bearer of sovereign right on Slovak territory" (11). The same change as in the political relations between Czechs and Slovaks was ,b rought a;bout in regard to the S LOVAKIA 7 general level of civilization in Slovakia. Already during the Second World War there was no lack of trained and educateq. officials, professors, lawyers, physicians, etc., but a constderable surplus. When the "Czechoslovak Republic" had been restored against the wishes of the majority of Slovakia's population in 1945 and a bout 5 thousand Slovak intellectuals left the country and other thousands were jailed, deported to Siberia, and confined in concentration camps for alleged collaboration with Nazis, but in fact for their anti-Communism, there was no difficulty to replace them, ·b ecause the trend of civilization and development, which, since the First World War, brought to maturity and self-government about 30 former colonies and mandatory territories, did not stop in Slovakia in order to fulfill the wishes of some Czech politicians who desired to see Slovakia as a backward country and the Slovaks as a part of the Czech nation. Slovakia developed considerably not only economically during its short separation from the Czech lands, but also from the point of view of culture and civilization. This can be seen again in the light of statistics concerning the number of university students during the Czech rule (1918--38) and during the Slovakia's independence (1939-415) ,published by Prof. Stefanek. 1 After 20 years of Czech rule in Slovakia, there were at the University in Bratislava in the schoolyear 1938--39 only 153'5 students of Slovak origin, but this number increased to 4485 in the third year of Slovakia's independence (1942-43), while aibout 500 others studied abroad. Altogether, during the five years of Slovakia's separation from Czechs, 14,965 students studied at the University of Bratislava, which also became an attractive center for foreign students. In the year 1941-42, for instance, there were 518 students from Bulgaria, 120 Czech students, 154 Germans, 106 Russians, 171 Hungarians and many others. As far as the professors were concerned, out of a total of 107 professors, 78 were of Slovak origin, 20 Czechs, 7 Russians, one German, one Italian; the 1'59 assistants and lecturers were all of Slovak origin (12). This is the true face of Slovakia, ,p resented by some 1 SLOVAKIA 8 American writers and university professors as a backward country of illiteracy and poverty. Do not American students deserve professors and lecturers who respect facts and the truth more objectively and more consistently? (1) J. S. Roucek, Central Eastern Europe, New York, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1946, p. 353; 2) Dr. Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe, London, Jarolds, 1942, pp. 85-94, 104, 131, etc.; 3) Lbidem, p. 354; 4) "Czechoslovakia" edited by R. J. Kerner, University of California Press, Berkeley, Cal. 1949, pp. 184-185; 5) Dr. M. Hodza, op. cit.; 6) Anton Stefanek, Zur Sociographie Der Geistigen Kultur in der Slowakei, Academia Scientiarum et Artiurn Slovaca, Bratislava, 1944, pp. 40'4-405; 7) C. A. Macartney, Hungary and Her Successors, London, 19·3 7; 8) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tcheco,Slovaque, 1938, p. 15; 9) William Diamond, Czechoslovakia between East and West, London, Stevens and Sons Ltd., 1947, p. 172; 10) Prumyslovy Vestnik, March 10, 1947, p. 180-1; 11) Ibidem, p. 50; 12) A. Stefanek, op. cit., ·p. 413-15. WHO SAID IT? - "Basically our political program, our political llne, completely agrees with the line and the program of the Slovak Communist Party. Up to the rebellion there really was no difference between an adherent of the Slovak Communist Party and an adherent of the Democratic Party. When did this relationship deteriorate? I t.hink it was after our complete liberation. Well, in general, there can be no taJk about any great deterioration. But I think that if we let ourselves get drunk by our present victory in the elections and if, incidentally, even the effectiveness of the Slovak Communist Party should decrease because of the factual failure in the elections, then we would fall and the communists also would fail. I emphasize that we must mutually help each other and th 'l-t all of us mu.st solve common problems together, because onoe and for all time we must realize that there is no fundamental difference between the Slovak Communist Party and the Democratic Party. Differences have appeared a.nd are appearing, but only In methods." (Dr. Joseph Lettrich, former Chairman of the Slovak Democratic Party and President of the Slovak National Council and now Y.ice-Preeident of the Council of Free Czechoslovakia: "My 46" - No. 23, June 8, 1946 - Prague) . WHO SAID IT? - • • • "The religious cleft (between the Slovaks ana the Czechs) is deep. For the Czechs, Master John Hus was and is not only a religious but essentially a national figure; and, if the nation returned to Catholicism under the pressure of the Counter-Reformation, it is a truism that every Czech is a H ussite at heart - a Hussfte in the wider sense of the term, denoting a blend of somewhat selfassertive nationalism with a "Protestant" attitude towards all authority, social, national, or religious, which is felt to be in any way alien. For the Slovaks, Hussitism was the alien doctrine, Catholicism the natural faith." (C. A. Macartney: HUNGARY AND HER SUCCESSORS - London, 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 True Face of Slovakia Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum, M. A., LL. D. Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 2 (7), July 1953 pp. 1-8 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 July 1953 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4de0f9b3f07a1d48924005bb08767f0b.pdf 3fb70797b3aaf1a050b830587ab19be9 PDF Text Text 46 SLOVAKIA COULD CZECHS AND SLOVAKS AGREE? Joseph Kirschbaum, M. A., LL. D. In his schol,a rly work "The HaJbsburrg Monare'hy," the emment English historian A. J. P. Taylor, writing in regard to O.rech tenden:cies to assimilate the SIJ.ovak people and to dommate 'Slovakia, stated that the Ozechs overlooked the fact that the age of national amal gama<tion was over and, therefore, ".the Czech could outplay the Slovaks; .they could not satisfy them." According to Mr. Ta:yJor: "Masaryk revived the radical idea of 1848 and · proposed to create a sing;le 'Oreclloslovak' nation 1by will power. Masaryk knew little of ·t he Slovaks; others knew even less This was his strength in dealing 'with the al1ied leaders; it ,c ould not solve the Slovak rproiblem. Masaryk had hoped thaJt the Czechs ,amd the Slovaks would come together as the English and the Scotch had done ; the Slovaks tUTned out to lbe the Irish." 1 Just recenUy I quoted this statement of Mr. Taylor's whi:le converaing with a representative of American politics. My interilocutor said nothing a/bout 1t, but asked whether the Czechs ·t hemselves ,t hought along .those lines. "Not all Czechs," I replied; "however, I do not think that would or could alter the fact ,s tated by Taylor." In reality, even though Taylor notes olbjectively the development of the relationship between the Czechs and the Slova,ks, the leadershi1p of the Czech exile obstinately refuses to see this historic aotuality and dr.aw from i,t the logical ·c onclusion. Still imbued with imperialistic ideas, certain Ozeoh exiles continue to foHow the illusions of the hrupless past which can never return. IDven today they are ,n ot interested in a federated Ozecho-Slova'kia, but are dreaJining of forcing the Slovaks once a,gain into a political system which came into .b eing with the Constitution orf 1920, the 1preamlble of which begins wiith the words "We the Ozechoslcwak nation." That Constitution was �46 SLOV.AKJA authored. iby the Czechs without Slovak participation. Of course, the P•r ague Government, headed by T. G. Masaryik, saw to it that the Slovaks had a voice in it: it 8JPpointed. such genuine S1oivaks Hke Dr. Edward Benes and Alice Masaryk (lboth Ozechs ! ) to represent the Slovak nation on the committee on the constitution! On the other ,hand, these Ozech emigrants forget the "imponderalbilia," such as the faict that their names inevita'bly evoke in the Slovaks not only bjtter reminiscences of the twenty-yeaT-o ld centralism, but aJso the phantom orf the galllQlws, concenJtration ca:mps, deportations, murders and the destruction of properties of thousands of Slovak families after the re-establishm ent of Crecho-Slova1kia in 1945. Ail this is connected with the names of Rvpka, Peroutka, Zen1kl, Prochazka and the political parties which the Czech emigrants in the "Ootmcil of Free Czeichoslovalkia" represent. For every selt--consoious Slovaik, therefore, it i:s an insult when these Ozech emigraints thinik that the Slovak nation could agree wiith their political conceptions, or thaJt it could recognruze a representati'On of people with an antliS1ovaik record such as has practically every representative of the "Council of Free Czechoslovak ia." They definitely do 111ot represent the will of the Sllovak nation, and when the representative s of the "Council orf Free Ozechoslova:kia" pretend ,t hat they do, they are only deceiving the international pUlblic. 'Dhe mandate given them in the shadow of the gallows and under the threat of Russian bayonets for services rendered to CommUiliist expansion has long lost its validity. Does this mean that every understanding and cooperation between the Czechs and Slovaks in exile and between the Czeicih nation and the Slovak nation is excluded a priori after liberation? It does not. The Slovaik nation and its representa•ti<ves in exile are suffi•cient:Jly aware of the fact that the fig,ht against Communism and, later, the destiny of Central Eu.Tope require the understanding and cooperation of all the Central- �47 European nations. That is why the Slovaks are for an understand ing in Cent:r,al Europe. At the same time, however, it is clear to the Sfovruks that a new organizatio n of Central Europe must lbe built on realities whi'ch respect historical rea,litJies and geopolitica l laws, and !Ilot on the im1perialisti'c dreams of the emigrants in the "Council of Free Ozechoslov iakia." Therefore, the Slovaks are conrvinced tha;t cooperation with the Czech emigrants of the Council cannat be considered in the interest of a better future of Central Europe. This has already become dear even to severaJl individuals of the Czech exile. Unfortll!Ilat ely, their numlber is small, but they are pohtically sober and in.Jt:ella!tually strong. Professor Dr. Bohdian Ohuddba is the foremost among them. He has ithe oourage not only to see the problems of Europe in their right perspective , 'b ut also to •p ersistently propa;gate a;nd defend his truth against all the hatred of his own countryme n in exile. lt is self-eviden t to Dr. Chudoba that "just as a hundred years ago, so even today aH Central-IDu,r opean nations, including the Sudeten Geimans, want to have their own properties and their own administrat ions." Therefore, says Chudolba altogetiher correctly, Czech politics will either "concur with this reality and so also have chance to say somet!hing alb.o ut it, or ~lse it will continue in the captivity of imperialisti c dreams, which can be nothing else ,b ut an ephemeral chapter in Czech ,h istory, and then reality will develop without the Czechs exactly as it did during MUilli.ch" (ROZPRAV Y, Rome, Vol. IV, No. 1). In practical ,politics, for Dr. Chuddba this means: 1. A new Central European order must have the full assent of Germany right from the beginning, because otherwise it would not be real ; 2. the Czechs must resolrve the question of the Sudeten Germans as quickly as ;possible; 3. the Czechs must come to an agreement, just as quiokly a,s possible, with the Slovaks so that they could have at least one friend in Central . Europe. Undoll!bted ly no one will object to Chudoba's views, a t least no one who is realJy interested in estaiblishin g a �SLOVAKIA 48 reaJ, permanent peace in Central Europe, and not a new, dangerous, provisional condition. Conversei,y, such an outlook on CentraJ-Eu:rop ean problems must be truken as an indication that not onlry sensilble talks •w ould be possible with the younger Czech generation, but even a sober cooperatio1I1 couft.d be ef.fected with it on the ibasi.s of "suum cuique." Of course, in ,p ractical politics further development will depend on how mainy Czooh ipo1iticians will haive :bhe ooura;ge to fiace realities and also adrupt political acts to reality. Im the last amailysis, whether Ozecih politics will be governed by the spirit of mpka and Zen'kl, or by the spirit of the views fomrnfated lby Chudo!ba, on this will depend the relationship 1between the Ozechs amd ,t he Slov,a ks. Today, ail.ong with Communiism, the Czech exihle amd espedaUy the "Council oif Free Cze~hoslovaki,a" is the greatest enemy of the SlovaJks. The incontrover:t~ble fact is the Ozechs are the only nation on earth fighting a:gainst the freedom and ,independenice of Slovaks. • • • WHO SAID IT? "WE ARE THE ALLIES OF THE SOVIET UNION A.ND SHALL REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THAT ALLIANCE. We are friends of the Western Allies, we shall maintain our friendship towards them and will do our loyal best to retain their friendship and we shall sincerely (Dr. Bene!, Message to the pursue A NEW SLAVONIC Policy." Provisional N'a.tional Assembly, Prague, Oct. 28. 1945) . • • • • • • "There are some individuals who assert that we are in the hands of the Soviets, yet the governments look upon us In a different way. WE ARE ALLIES OF THE SOVIET UNION AND WE SHALL ALWAYS REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THE SOVIETS. We are friends of the west, and we shall remain SUCH friends. In the form of our alliance with the Soviet Union we proceed and we shall proceed IN OUR OWN WAY." - (Dr. Bene!§ Statement to the Praesidium of the Slovak National Council, Prague, 0-ot. 9. 1945) . "But I say quite openly that the path which Soviet Russia took after the last war Is not the one which will be followed in Czechoslovakia. Our conditions are completely different from every point of view, and we shall not abandon our old method of evolutionary adaptation and our old policy of ba.Jance between the east and the west. Our geographical position does not permit us to change thl1 (Dr. Benes , Foreign Affairs, New century-old policy violently." York , Oct. 1944). � 46 SLOVAKIA COULD CZECHS AND SLOVAKS AGREE? Joseph Kirschbaum, M. A., LL. D. In his schol,a rly work "The HaJbsburrg Monare'hy," the emment English historian A. J. P. Taylor, writing in regard to O.rech tenden:cies to assimilate the SIJ.ovak people and to dommate 'Slovakia, stated that the Ozechs overlooked the fact that the age of national amal gama<tion was over and, therefore, ".the Czech could outplay the Slovaks; .they could not satisfy them." According to Mr. Ta:yJor: "Masaryk revived the radical idea of 1848 and · proposed to create a sing;le 'Oreclloslovak' nation 1by will power. Masaryk knew little of ·t he Slovaks; others knew even less This was his strength in dealing 'with the al1ied leaders; it ,c ould not solve the Slovak rproiblem. Masaryk had hoped thaJt the Czechs ,amd the Slovaks would come together as the English and the Scotch had done ; the Slovaks tUTned out to lbe the Irish." 1 Just recenUy I quoted this statement of Mr. Taylor's whi:le converaing with a representative of American politics. My interilocutor said nothing a/bout 1t, but asked whether the Czechs ·t hemselves ,t hought along .those lines. "Not all Czechs," I replied; "however, I do not think that would or could alter the fact ,s tated by Taylor." In reality, even though Taylor notes olbjectively the development of the relationship between the Czechs and the Slova,ks, the leadershi1p of the Czech exile obstinately refuses to see this historic aotuality and dr.aw from i,t the logical ·c onclusion. Still imbued with imperialistic ideas, certain Ozeoh exiles continue to foHow the illusions of the hrupless past which can never return. IDven today they are ,n ot interested in a federated Ozecho-Slova'kia, but are dreaJining of forcing the Slovaks once a,gain into a political system which came into .b eing with the Constitution orf 1920, the 1preamlble of which begins wiith the words "We the Ozechoslcwak nation." That Constitution was �46 SLOV.AKJA authored. iby the Czechs without Slovak participation. Of course, the P•r ague Government, headed by T. G. Masaryik, saw to it that the Slovaks had a voice in it: it 8JPpointed. such genuine S1oivaks Hke Dr. Edward Benes and Alice Masaryk (lboth Ozechs ! ) to represent the Slovak nation on the committee on the constitution! On the other ,hand, these Ozech emigrants forget the "imponderalbilia," such as the faict that their names inevita'bly evoke in the Slovaks not only bjtter reminiscences of the twenty-yeaT-o ld centralism, but aJso the phantom orf the galllQlws, concenJtration ca:mps, deportations, murders and the destruction of properties of thousands of Slovak families after the re-establishm ent of Crecho-Slova1kia in 1945. Ail this is connected with the names of Rvpka, Peroutka, Zen1kl, Prochazka and the political parties which the Czech emigrants in the "Ootmcil of Free Czeichoslovalkia" represent. For every selt--consoious Slovaik, therefore, it i:s an insult when these Ozech emigraints thinik that the Slovak nation could agree wiith their political conceptions, or thaJt it could recognruze a representati'On of people with an antliS1ovaik record such as has practically every representative of the "Council of Free Czechoslovak ia." They definitely do 111ot represent the will of the Sllovak nation, and when the representative s of the "Council orf Free Ozechoslova:kia" pretend ,t hat they do, they are only deceiving the international pUlblic. 'Dhe mandate given them in the shadow of the gallows and under the threat of Russian bayonets for services rendered to CommUiliist expansion has long lost its validity. Does this mean that every understanding and cooperation between the Czechs and Slovaks in exile and between the Czeicih nation and the Slovak nation is excluded a priori after liberation? It does not. The Slovaik nation and its representa•ti<ves in exile are suffi•cient:Jly aware of the fact that the fig,ht against Communism and, later, the destiny of Central Eu.Tope require the understanding and cooperation of all the Central- �47 European nations. That is why the Slovaks are for an understand ing in Cent:r,al Europe. At the same time, however, it is clear to the Sfovruks that a new organizatio n of Central Europe must lbe built on realities whi'ch respect historical rea,litJies and geopolitica l laws, and !Ilot on the im1perialisti'c dreams of the emigrants in the "Council of Free Ozechoslov iakia." Therefore, the Slovaks are conrvinced tha;t cooperation with the Czech emigrants of the Council cannat be considered in the interest of a better future of Central Europe. This has already become dear even to severaJl individuals of the Czech exile. Unfortll!Ilat ely, their numlber is small, but they are pohtically sober and in.Jt:ella!tually strong. Professor Dr. Bohdian Ohuddba is the foremost among them. He has ithe oourage not only to see the problems of Europe in their right perspective , 'b ut also to •p ersistently propa;gate a;nd defend his truth against all the hatred of his own countryme n in exile. lt is self-eviden t to Dr. Chudoba that "just as a hundred years ago, so even today aH Central-IDu,r opean nations, including the Sudeten Geimans, want to have their own properties and their own administrat ions." Therefore, says Chudolba altogetiher correctly, Czech politics will either "concur with this reality and so also have chance to say somet!hing alb.o ut it, or ~lse it will continue in the captivity of imperialisti c dreams, which can be nothing else ,b ut an ephemeral chapter in Czech ,h istory, and then reality will develop without the Czechs exactly as it did during MUilli.ch" (ROZPRAV Y, Rome, Vol. IV, No. 1). In practical ,politics, for Dr. Chuddba this means: 1. A new Central European order must have the full assent of Germany right from the beginning, because otherwise it would not be real ; 2. the Czechs must resolrve the question of the Sudeten Germans as quickly as ;possible; 3. the Czechs must come to an agreement, just as quiokly a,s possible, with the Slovaks so that they could have at least one friend in Central . Europe. Undoll!bted ly no one will object to Chudoba's views, a t least no one who is realJy interested in estaiblishin g a �SLOVAKIA 48 reaJ, permanent peace in Central Europe, and not a new, dangerous, provisional condition. Conversei,y, such an outlook on CentraJ-Eu:rop ean problems must be truken as an indication that not onlry sensilble talks •w ould be possible with the younger Czech generation, but even a sober cooperatio1I1 couft.d be ef.fected with it on the ibasi.s of "suum cuique." Of course, in ,p ractical politics further development will depend on how mainy Czooh ipo1iticians will haive :bhe ooura;ge to fiace realities and also adrupt political acts to reality. Im the last amailysis, whether Ozecih politics will be governed by the spirit of mpka and Zen'kl, or by the spirit of the views fomrnfated lby Chudo!ba, on this will depend the relationship 1between the Ozechs amd ,t he Slov,a ks. Today, ail.ong with Communiism, the Czech exihle amd espedaUy the "Council oif Free Cze~hoslovaki,a" is the greatest enemy of the SlovaJks. The incontrover:t~ble fact is the Ozechs are the only nation on earth fighting a:gainst the freedom and ,independenice of Slovaks. • • • WHO SAID IT? "WE ARE THE ALLIES OF THE SOVIET UNION A.ND SHALL REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THAT ALLIANCE. We are friends of the Western Allies, we shall maintain our friendship towards them and will do our loyal best to retain their friendship and we shall sincerely (Dr. Bene!, Message to the pursue A NEW SLAVONIC Policy." Provisional N'a.tional Assembly, Prague, Oct. 28. 1945) . • • • • • • "There are some individuals who assert that we are in the hands of the Soviets, yet the governments look upon us In a different way. WE ARE ALLIES OF THE SOVIET UNION AND WE SHALL ALWAYS REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THE SOVIETS. We are friends of the west, and we shall remain SUCH friends. In the form of our alliance with the Soviet Union we proceed and we shall proceed IN OUR OWN WAY." - (Dr. Bene!§ Statement to the Praesidium of the Slovak National Council, Prague, 0-ot. 9. 1945) . "But I say quite openly that the path which Soviet Russia took after the last war Is not the one which will be followed in Czechoslovakia. Our conditions are completely different from every point of view, and we shall not abandon our old method of evolutionary adaptation and our old policy of ba.Jance between the east and the west. Our geographical position does not permit us to change thl1 (Dr. Benes , Foreign Affairs, New century-old policy violently." York , Oct. 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 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 45 SLOVAKIA COULD CZECHS AND SLOVAKS AGREE? Joseph Kirschbaum, M. A., LL. D. In his schol,a rly work "The HaJbsburrg Monare'hy," the emment English historian A. J. P. Taylor, writing in regard to O.rech tenden:cies to assimilate the SIJ.ovak people and to dommate 'Slovakia, stated that the Ozechs overlooked the fact that the age of national amal gama<tion was over and, therefore, ".the Czech could outplay the Slovaks; .they could not satisfy them." According to Mr. Ta:yJor: "Masaryk revived the radical idea of 1848 and · proposed to create a sing;le 'Oreclloslovak' nation 1by will power. Masaryk knew little of ·t he Slovaks; others knew even less This was his strength in dealing 'with the al1ied leaders; it ,c ould not solve the Slovak rproiblem. Masaryk had hoped thaJt the Czechs ,amd the Slovaks would come together as the English and the Scotch had done ; the Slovaks tUTned out to lbe the Irish." 1 Just recenUy I quoted this statement of Mr. Taylor's whi:le converaing with a representative of American politics. My interilocutor said nothing a/bout 1t, but asked whether the Czechs ·t hemselves ,t hought along .those lines. "Not all Czechs," I replied; "however, I do not think that would or could alter the fact ,s tated by Taylor." In reality, even though Taylor notes olbjectively the development of the relationship between the Czechs and the Slova,ks, the leadershi1p of the Czech exile obstinately refuses to see this historic aotuality and dr.aw from i,t the logical ·c onclusion. Still imbued with imperialistic ideas, certain Ozeoh exiles continue to foHow the illusions of the hrupless past which can never return. IDven today they are ,n ot interested in a federated Ozecho-Slova'kia, but are dreaJining of forcing the Slovaks once a,gain into a political system which came into .b eing with the Constitution orf 1920, the 1preamlble of which begins wiith the words "We the Ozechoslcwak nation." That Constitution was 46 SLOV.AKJA authored. iby the Czechs without Slovak participation. Of course, the P•r ague Government, headed by T. G. Masaryik, saw to it that the Slovaks had a voice in it: it 8JPpointed. such genuine S1oivaks Hke Dr. Edward Benes and Alice Masaryk (lboth Ozechs ! ) to represent the Slovak nation on the committee on the constitution! On the other ,hand, these Ozech emigrants forget the "imponderalbilia," such as the faict that their names inevita'bly evoke in the Slovaks not only bjtter reminiscences of the twenty-yeaT-o ld centralism, but aJso the phantom orf the galllQlws, concenJtration ca:mps, deportations, murders and the destruction of properties of thousands of Slovak families after the re-establishm ent of Crecho-Slova1kia in 1945. Ail this is connected with the names of Rvpka, Peroutka, Zen1kl, Prochazka and the political parties which the Czech emigrants in the "Ootmcil of Free Czeichoslovalkia" represent. For every selt--consoious Slovaik, therefore, it i:s an insult when these Ozech emigraints thinik that the Slovak nation could agree wiith their political conceptions, or thaJt it could recognruze a representati'On of people with an antliS1ovaik record such as has practically every representative of the "Council of Free Czechoslovak ia." They definitely do 111ot represent the will of the Sllovak nation, and when the representative s of the "Council orf Free Ozechoslova:kia" pretend ,t hat they do, they are only deceiving the international pUlblic. 'Dhe mandate given them in the shadow of the gallows and under the threat of Russian bayonets for services rendered to CommUiliist expansion has long lost its validity. Does this mean that every understanding and cooperation between the Czechs and Slovaks in exile and between the Czeicih nation and the Slovak nation is excluded a priori after liberation? It does not. The Slovaik nation and its representa•ti<ves in exile are suffi•cient:Jly aware of the fact that the fig,ht against Communism and, later, the destiny of Central Eu.Tope require the understanding and cooperation of all the Central- 47 European nations. That is why the Slovaks are for an understand ing in Cent:r,al Europe. At the same time, however, it is clear to the Sfovruks that a new organizatio n of Central Europe must lbe built on realities whi'ch respect historical rea,litJies and geopolitica l laws, and !Ilot on the im1perialisti'c dreams of the emigrants in the "Council of Free Ozechoslov iakia." Therefore, the Slovaks are conrvinced tha;t cooperation with the Czech emigrants of the Council cannat be considered in the interest of a better future of Central Europe. This has already become dear even to severaJl individuals of the Czech exile. Unfortll!Ilat ely, their numlber is small, but they are pohtically sober and in.Jt:ella!tually strong. Professor Dr. Bohdian Ohuddba is the foremost among them. He has ithe oourage not only to see the problems of Europe in their right perspective , 'b ut also to •p ersistently propa;gate a;nd defend his truth against all the hatred of his own countryme n in exile. lt is self-eviden t to Dr. Chudoba that "just as a hundred years ago, so even today aH Central-IDu,r opean nations, including the Sudeten Geimans, want to have their own properties and their own administrat ions." Therefore, says Chudolba altogetiher correctly, Czech politics will either "concur with this reality and so also have chance to say somet!hing alb.o ut it, or ~lse it will continue in the captivity of imperialisti c dreams, which can be nothing else ,b ut an ephemeral chapter in Czech ,h istory, and then reality will develop without the Czechs exactly as it did during MUilli.ch" (ROZPRAV Y, Rome, Vol. IV, No. 1). In practical ,politics, for Dr. Chuddba this means: 1. A new Central European order must have the full assent of Germany right from the beginning, because otherwise it would not be real ; 2. the Czechs must resolrve the question of the Sudeten Germans as quickly as ;possible; 3. the Czechs must come to an agreement, just as quiokly a,s possible, with the Slovaks so that they could have at least one friend in Central . Europe. Undoll!bted ly no one will object to Chudoba's views, a t least no one who is realJy interested in estaiblishin g a SLOVAKIA 48 reaJ, permanent peace in Central Europe, and not a new, dangerous, provisional condition. Conversei,y, such an outlook on CentraJ-Eu:rop ean problems must be truken as an indication that not onlry sensilble talks •w ould be possible with the younger Czech generation, but even a sober cooperatio1I1 couft.d be ef.fected with it on the ibasi.s of "suum cuique." Of course, in ,p ractical politics further development will depend on how mainy Czooh ipo1iticians will haive :bhe ooura;ge to fiace realities and also adrupt political acts to reality. Im the last amailysis, whether Ozecih politics will be governed by the spirit of mpka and Zen'kl, or by the spirit of the views fomrnfated lby Chudo!ba, on this will depend the relationship 1between the Ozechs amd ,t he Slov,a ks. Today, ail.ong with Communiism, the Czech exihle amd espedaUy the "Council oif Free Cze~hoslovaki,a" is the greatest enemy of the SlovaJks. The incontrover:t~ble fact is the Ozechs are the only nation on earth fighting a:gainst the freedom and ,independenice of Slovaks. • • • WHO SAID IT? "WE ARE THE ALLIES OF THE SOVIET UNION A.ND SHALL REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THAT ALLIANCE. We are friends of the Western Allies, we shall maintain our friendship towards them and will do our loyal best to retain their friendship and we shall sincerely (Dr. Bene!, Message to the pursue A NEW SLAVONIC Policy." Provisional N'a.tional Assembly, Prague, Oct. 28. 1945) . • • • • • • "There are some individuals who assert that we are in the hands of the Soviets, yet the governments look upon us In a different way. WE ARE ALLIES OF THE SOVIET UNION AND WE SHALL ALWAYS REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THE SOVIETS. We are friends of the west, and we shall remain SUCH friends. In the form of our alliance with the Soviet Union we proceed and we shall proceed IN OUR OWN WAY." - (Dr. Bene!§ Statement to the Praesidium of the Slovak National Council, Prague, 0-ot. 9. 1945) . "But I say quite openly that the path which Soviet Russia took after the last war Is not the one which will be followed in Czechoslovakia. Our conditions are completely different from every point of view, and we shall not abandon our old method of evolutionary adaptation and our old policy of ba.Jance between the east and the west. Our geographical position does not permit us to change thl1 (Dr. Benes , Foreign Affairs, New century-old policy violently." York , Oct. 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 Could Czechs and Slovaks Agree? Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum, M. A., LL. D. Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 1 (6), April 1953 pp. 45-48 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 April 1953 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/246aaecc7fbdb68855219d458968dfc3.pdf 71517e9c2056577c91057c7e3f1fd7af PDF Text Text APRIL, 1953 SLOVAKIA 1 SLOVAKIA AND CENTRAL-EUROPEAN FEDERATION PLANS Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovrukia with its three and a haJrf million inhiaJbitants and area 45,000 square kilometers lies in the very heart of Central EUTope and its fate in the ,past has been most bitter. After losing their first State, Great Moravia, which during the reign oif King svatopluk included a part of today's Poland, Hmgary, Yugoslavia and for a short time even the Czech lands (1), the SlovaJks as a political factor could not validate themselves in CentraJl Europe for whole centuries. The leading Sloivak group shed its blood first in battles with the Ge:rmians and Magyars and, later, also in battles with the Tu:rks and Tartars. And still later it suffered under tthe pressure of the assimilatory tendencies of the Magyars, which ilrl it.he 19th century and the 1b eginn. ing of this century re8iChed the broadest masses of Slovaks and ruppreciaJbly reduced the growth of the Slovak nation . The Slovaks, who already in 830 had theiT own sta:te and chUI1Ch or,ganization and tthus placed the first foundations of European civili Z8Jtion in the Danube area (2), ap pear more clearly on the ipolitica:l scene again only in 1848, when they rebelled to regain their national independenct>. Decimated and .pushed into the mountains of the north eastern part of their first State, the Great Moravii.8Jl1 Empire, the Slov,a ks were more a cutural than politioo.l factor , up to the 18th century. "During the 17th century," wrote Dr. Milan Hodza, "when the Turks had occupied •all the rest oif old Hungary, Slovakia became the refoge of many lofty intellectual ef forts on behalif of that country. For some time to come_ 1 . 1) Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, GESCHICHTE DER S-LOWAKEI, · pp. 9-15; Julius Pauler, A MAGYARNEMZET TORTJ!JNETE SZENT ISTVAN!G; Dr. Joseph ~kult~ty, ORTY ZO SLOVENSKEJ MINU• LOSTI, p. 13 ; Dr. Milan Hodza, FEDERATION IN CEN'mlAL EUROPE, p . 86; AL'Phoise Huber, GESCHICHTE OESTERREICHE, Vol. 1. 2) Dr. Milan Hodza, FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, p. 86. �SLOVAKIA 2 in Slovaikia, there was much morn cultural mo;vement than in Bohemia or occupied Hungacy. At the end of the eighteenth century Slovakia prepared not only her racial rebirth. Trnaiva, which housed the Catholic University before it was tra:nsferred to Budaipest, became a centre of Catholic culture in the realm. Slova!kia was going to be the seat of the first serious democratic movement which had its raimifications in the whole of Hungary and which ended in a conspiracy directed against HaJbSlburg, and Slovakia revealed itselif as a meeting place of prructi:cally all contemporary currents of cultural and ipo>litica;l ideas. (3). After 1848, on the one side under the independence and politfrcal equality of a11 nations, and on the other side under the increasing pressure of assimilaitory Magyar policy, the Slova:k nation beg8;Jl a systematic fight for its polibcal riights. After the Slovak armed revolt of 1848 failed, the Slova!ks within the Hrubsburg monarchy dared to demand an individual self-administr ative unit, such as the Croaits demanded through Ostrozinsky, the Czechs through Pala cky, the Magyars, after Kossuth's revolution was squelched, through DeaJk. This was .p roposed also by Count Valerian Krasinski in his work "Panslavi.sm and Bangernnanism . " What the Slovaks really demanded was a federative solution. The Slovaks remained faithful to the idea of a fede rative solution of the Monarchy in the memorandum , pre sented to the Emperor in 1861, and aigailll at the Conigress of Na:tionaHties in Budrupest in 1867. At the second Congress of Nationa1ities, which took plruce August 10, 1895, in Budaipes't, despite ,persecutions, "the Rumanians, Serbs and Slova:ks, who assemlbled in Buda.pest, "wrote the Neue Freie Presse," dernand ,t he division of Hungary into ethnic self-administra iti;ve units, whreh in effect is equall to the demand to aJbol:ish the un.ion between Hungary and Tr.ainsylviania, to renew the Serbian Duchy and create a selfadmini,s trati:ve Slova:kia, suoh as Huriban (,leader of the 1 1 3) Dr. Mil an Hod za, IBIDEM, pp.208- 213. �SLOVAKIA 3 1848 Slo'Vak rebellion - Author) promoted already thi•r ty years earlier" ( 4). This stand of the Slovaks, if we consider the Nuropean situation oif thaJt time and even the special position of the Slovaks, is readily understandaJble. Not only because the federalization olf the Habs!burg Monarchy, fearing Pangermanism, was the political program also of the Test of the nations of the Monarchy, except the Poles, but also because the rest of Europe was inclined toward this solution, considering the Habslburg Monarchy in its politics of "'balance of poiwer" as a factor of balance betiween Germany and Russia. In this policy, dictated primarily 'by fear of the Germans who called a congress to Frankfurt i:n 1:848 to attempt a union orf all Germans, the Czechs plruyed a leading part. Palacky's arguments and slogan "if AIU'stria did not exist, we would have to create it" gained the rest of the nations.who were satisfiied with the demand of a federalized empire. Even the Emperor seemed ·favo:rable to the idea as long as the danger lasted. "Th~ preservation of Austria, its integrity and solidification, is and must be the great and important concern not only of the Czech nation, but of the whole of Europe, nay of all hUJmanity and foreign lands," wrote Palacky to the Frankfurt Congress in 1848. In this regard Dr. Edward Benes wrote in 1908: "It is frequently spoken about the dissoluti-on of Austria. I aJbsolutely do not believe in it. The historical and economic ties, which mutua:lly u.nite the nations of Austria, are too strong to allow Austria to collaJP5e" (5). The rest of Europe, oif course, also feared Russia and its efforts to realize Panslavism as related by J . Danilevskij in his book "Russia and Europe" and by General Fadejev in his writings. "Slovanic nations," wrote Fadejev, "must try to attain two aims, that is, political and ~onomic development in their present homelands, and then a 4) Quoted from book DIE VEREINIGTEN STAATEN VON GROSSOESTER!RELCH, by Aurel Popovic!, Leipzig, 1906. 5) LE PROBLEME .ArTJTRIOHIEN ET LA QUESTION TCHEQUE, p. 307. �·4 SLOVAKIA closer union with the general Slovanic uni:on, whkh must be headed by Russia in international and military Tela. tions. Ea,ch of these Slovanic tribes needs a ruler for inter nal affairs and for the ·general interests of the great Slovanic Czar. Without the fulifiltlme:nt of these conditions self-admmistra.tion a:nd independence of the BaJikaJD. and Danube Slovak tr}bes is unthinka,ble" (6). Danilevskij, who pUlblished his boolk in 1871, also proposed a Russian-Slovanic confedemtion, in which would · be uni,ted all the Slova,nic people (Slavs) from the Adriatic to the Pacific under the leadershtp of Russia. In this situation, always feeling that it was thr~tened by Germany, France regarded the Habsbu:rg ffimpire as "the only barrier, sufficiently strong, at the beginning of the 20th century, whkh could discourage German a,mbi. tions the day when these would begin to threaten the European bafance," WTote Henry Rene (7). And France saw this balance threatened also by Russia, about whioh Th. Funk-Brentano wrote: "No longer is Rus:sia our ally, as it neither is for Germany or Austria, for England or Turkey : it has only one concern - to expand. It has only one ambition - to g,row. If it uses definite form s . besides, then it does so only to be better understood and allowed into the so-called European concern . . . We make offers to it and it · presents them to Berlin, w,hi'ch makes it a bett er oitlfer . .. Every alliance ls good thrut h elps it to exp.and. All other alliances are bad. It partakes in the divLsion of .s tates with the same ruthlessness with which it m a r ches to conquer them; it will reduce Poland and support · t he Balkans , because they are .Slovanic peoples, and it will annex · t he CJiinese, Turks, Armenians because they are not. That is Russia always . . . " (8). · Fear of Russia and Pamslavism, of which the Magyars and Ruma,nians were afraid and ·b y which the Polish · nation w1as stilf.led periodically, and the fear of the German "'Drang nach · Osten," forced the nations of Centi.·al Europe · -to seek a solution, which would expose it to the least -dangers. This solution they saw in a federalized Hrubsburg 6) Biresvija Vjedomosti; UVAHY O ORIENTA.LNEJ OT A.ZKE ; NEUESTE SCHRIFTEN, pgs.37-4 9. . 7) H enry Rene, . QUESTIONS D'AUTRICHE-HONGRIE ET . 'Q UESTIONIS D'ORIENT, Paris, 1903. 8) Th. .Funk-Brentano, LA POLITIQUE , PR·I NCIPES. ORI· .TIQUES, REFORMES. P.aris, 1892. �SLOVAKIA 5 MonaTchy. As early as 1902 a representative of the Czech nation, one Oharles Kramaf, wTOte: "The wor1d does riot need a feeble, sickly Austria; only a strong, vigorous, interna!lly healthy Empiire can perform the all important task of keeping watch over the ba:lance of power in the world" (9). And Aurel C. Popovici, a Rumanian, WI'Orte a great woirk in 1906 in the defense of the e~istence of a federaliized HalbsJburg Monarchy under the title: Die Vereinigten Staaten von Gross-Oesterreich. Of course, this cry of the nations of the Halbsiburg Monarchy could find little SU!ppolit at the Royal Court, so the natioins constituting the Empire had to seek some other solution of theiir national problems, especially when the war whi-ch broke out in 1914 offered them an opportunity to do so. Furthermore, when the war ended, fear of Russia and Genmany, it was said, precluded the necessity of Austria, because Germany was defeaited, disarmed and "decrnilitar~zed," while Russia was in the throes of a politica:l and social revolution. Emerging from this situation, which the vrotorious a:llies somehow forgot to regard as transitory, the Peace Conference sanctioned the destruction of the Halbsbw,g Empire and the estaJblishment of national and nationaJi:stic states on its ruins. Centrnl Europe got a new face and a new OI1gani'zation on the basis of the right of self-determination of nations. But even this · new organization did not bring an end to fedemtional efforts , especiaHy not those of the Slovaks. II. FEDERALIZATION EFFORTS 1918-1945 The situation,· into whi-ch the Siovaks were forced after WorJd .War I, on the one hand, and the over-all situation of Central Europe in the period between the two wars, on the other, forced the Slovaks to continue their struggle for fedemlization: for a . federalization of Czecho-Slova:kia and simuitaneousiy also for -a federali,z ation of Central Europe. 9) NATIONAL REVIIDW, 1902. �6 S LOVAKIA In fact, 0zecho~Slovaikia was born on the basis of an aigreement between the Slova:ks and the Czechs that it woU!ld be a federart:ive state. In Cleveland Agreemelllt of 1915 and the Pittsburgh A!greement of 1918, the latter undersigned by T. G. Masaryk himself, t'hiJS was promised to the Slaviak:S. At the Peace Conference in 191'9 even Dr. Edward Benes promised this in the name of the 0zechoSlovak Gorvernment when he stated that "it is the intention of the Czecho-1Slovak Government to create the organization of the State ·b y accepting as a basis of natural rights the prindples aipplied in the constitution of the Swiss RelpUJblic, that is, to mrake the 0zecho;Slovak Republic a sort of Switzerland.... " (10). These agreements and commitments, however, were not rkept 1b y the Praigue government, which was dominated by the Czechs, and Czecho-1Slovakia became a centralistk state with apparent tendencies to assimHiate the non-Czech population, especiially the Slovaks on t'he basis of the artificia.Ny created conception of an ethnic "Czechoslovak" nation. - The eminent historian C. A. Macartney saw through the situation very clea11ly when he wrote: "The fact remains that the (Czech~Slova:k) government has been obliged more of:ten than not to rule Slovakia against the wishes of most of its inhabitants, maintaining itself only by the exipedienits of .restricting the powers of the .sellfgovernmg bodies to within the narrowest possilble limits, of filling the seats designated for "ex;perts" with its own nominees, and utilizi'Il!g. freely weapons of censorshi,p and po1i:ce supervision ... " About the economic policy of the Czech toward the S'1ovruks, the same author stated : "The richer (Ozech) firms bought up, or obtained control through holding barri!ks (notable the 2ivnostenska Ba'Il!ka) over the greater part of the Slovak establishments. The latter were thus left at the mel'cy of t'he owners in the Historic Lands (Bohemia), who worked them or closed them down as they pleased. Pro'balb.ly nearly one-third of all Slovak industries disaippeared in this way during the 10) Lloyd George, THE TRU TH ABOUT THE PEACE TREA· TIES, pg. 937 . �SLOVAI\.IA 7 immediate postwar peri'Od, the heavy industries and textile factories beiing chiefly ruffe:cted" (11) . . . It was only natural, then, that the Slova;ks opposed the system whioh put them at such a great disadvaintage econooniically, politically and cultura:lly. The vast majority of Sllova1-cs, under the leadership of Andrew Hlinka and Martin Razus, demanded the fedemii zation od: Ozecho-Slovakia from the very begin~ing of its existence. 1 On J•a nua;ry 23, 1920, one of the foremost Slovak politicians, Deputy Dr. Ferdis Juriga, demanded the federalization of the OzeclhoJSlovak RepUiblic on the floor of the Pa:rliament with these words : "We must tend to decentralization, toward sel:f-1administra;tion, so that the Republic could develop on a federalistic basis, because federalism is the system of the future - We must preserve our individual1ity and not let ourselves be absoribed. Federalization is not only in the interest of our naition, and the OzechoSlova!k Repwblic, but also answers the spirit of all mankind. It is an ahl-hu:man tenderrcy, the tendency of all mankind, this tendency to validate oneself, develop, to which every individual person and every national unit should have the right, whkh should crystallize out into a [egal personality, so tha;t these various nations could then become federalized in one, great world re4)u'bliic. This would be the highest ideal and the path that leads to it is : federalism (12). 1 But the Ozechs, just like the Ha'bsburgs, would not accede to the detrnands of the Siovaks and the minorities while there still was time. The Slovaks, therefore, "reacted in the form of a fl a,m'boyant Slovax nationalism which was a main reason for the albsence of revo[t with which they accepted the dissolution of the Ozecho-1Slovak State" (13). 1 11) C. A. Macartney, HUNGARY AND HER SIUCCESSOBS, London, 1937; pgs. 145, 130. J 2) Karol Sador, SLOVENSK.A. POLITJ:KA NA P<>DE PR.A2SKEHO SNEMU, Vol. I, pg.69. 13) ,C. A . Mwcartney, PROBLEMS OF 'DRE DANUBE BASIN, London; p. 122. �SLOVAKli. 8 Between 1918 and 1945, there were evident tendencies among the Slovaks for the creation of a federated Central ffiurope. The organimti{)IIl, whiich was given t!his area by the pea>ce treaties, soon proved to lbe unsatisfactory economically and poilitioolly. On the OIIle hand, the principle of the right of self--determination was valida,,ted only :parti•a lly and as a consequen!ce the several nations of Central EurO!pe awaited only the opporlunity ~o alter the given situation. States like Czecho-Slovakia or Yugoslavia, made up of several nations and minorities, resembled old Austria.JHungary sitructurally, and soon enough their unjust policies toward t'he national minorities caused distrust and revisionism and excluded harmonious cooperation in Central Europe. On May 8, 1919, Rdbert Lam.sing, Secretary of State of tJhe United States, had this to say a!bout this new organiizati'on : "Examine the Treaty and you •wiU find peoples delivered agaill.8t their wills into t,he hands of those whom they hate... Resentment and bitterness, if not desperation, are 'bound to be the oonsequen<:es oof such provisions . It may be years ·b efore these oppressed pooples are able to tih<row otif their yoke, 1but as wre as day follows night the time will eome when they will make the effort" (14). On the other hiand, the dissolution of the economic crises, especial'ly in the accession states. T,he period between 1918 and 1938 wa,,s one of constant seeking of a ·r eorgaruzaition of Central Europe into a harmonious econo.m.ic and political whole. The Little Ein.tente, estalblished in 1920, Hiantos',s plan in 1925, Tardieu's plan in 1932, the Danulbe ·Paict in 1935 and Hodza's fiTst plan in 1936, to note at least t'he better we11 known plans, all of these in sUJbstan>ce had but o~e purpose: to create in an acceptable form such an organization in Central Europe whi1ch would hasve the adivanrtaiges of former Austria-Hungary, 'but would lack al[ its politica;l and social .shortcomings. Preserving the nationaJl states and democratm regimes, the economic arising from the partition of the Danube area were to •b e .removed by a system of alHances. Thus would lb e removed the tense atmosphere whi'c h reigned in this region and provoked neighboring powers to acts of aggression. 1 14) THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS, London, 1921; p. 245. �SLOVAKIA t Naturally, aU these plans and endeavors, including the Little Entente, resulted primarily !because of economiic condiitions; and their aim was not indi,c,ated as an effort to create a Centra:1-Euiropean Federation. This ,t hought, however, was deeply rooted in the minds of political leaders, even Dr. Edwaro Benes himself. A'1ways fearing the loss Otf the political and economic role which Ozecho-Slova:kia was playing, Dr. Edward Benes fought against every plan to unite Cenitra:l IDurape, 'but in 1936 he admiltted that "the plan of a Danube Federation is t!he widely propagated and best known conception proposed as a solution Otf the Austxian and Centro-European pro'blem." The reasons why this solution was not realized -w ere, according to Benes, "much more of a sentimental, psychologicrul and mora:1 nature than of a political and economic nature" (15) . 1 At , the end of the first World War, Dr. Stephen Osusky, foreimost representative of the Slovaks at that time on the side of the Entente, wrote a lb,o ok in F,renc'h, 1n whielh we find these words: "The defenders Otf AttstriaHunga:ry, in foreign lands as well as in the interior Otf the dual Monarchy, are aJCting very Hlog,rcaMy. They are very much for the 1ilberation of Poland, !b ut do not want to allow the ltberation of the remaining nations. Let us liberate all nations who wrunt to 'b e free, allowing them to create their own independent states, and we shall fulfill one of the tasks confronting us. Fav,o ring then the approchement of great Poland, whielh shall have access to the Ba:ltic Sea in Danzig, Rumania and the land$ of Czecho-Slova!kia, on the one hand, and Ukrainia, to which we must give serious thoug,ht, on the other hand, a ,powerful federation of free states will be created in the nor,th (of Central Europe)" (16). In the southern part of this area, Osus.ky proposed to support efforts to create a federation of .Southern Slavs, (15) LE PROBLEME DE L'EUROPE CENTIRALE: p.' 47, Sources et documents tchecoslovaques, No. 24. 16) Stephen Osuslky, ClJOPIN, MAGY:ARff ET ~4-NGERM.NNISTIDS, Paris, 1918. �SLOVAKIA 10 after the realiizaition of which, "we shall on'1y have to connect these two federaitioins with a bridge which once existed but collapsed under the blow of historic events. T,hiu:s would come to an end the Orang nach Osten, to German a:ggression to the ffiast, and Europe and the world could work in peaJCe" (17). The plan, however, was Oipposed by T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes. Another Sllovaik, Dr. Milan Hod'za, came forth with a d:irfferent plan, the so-called "Danube Plan." Fkst as Minister of Agriculture , later as Premier of the Ozecho-iSlo<vak Governmen t, Dr. Hodza endeavored to develop cooperation between the Central Eruropean nations and the consolidation of the oconomic situation in this pa1t of Europe- The climax of these endeavors was his "Danu!be Plan," which aimed to create, ·aJccording to Hodza's own words, "one single, great economic urut in Central Europe." This was to be attained by removing tariff ba.roiers and establishing a customs union, regu1'atmg agriculture and industrial production, reorganizin g the system of payments and transportation, etc. (18). The first steps in this dirootion were already made in 1937 by treaJties conduded between the indwidu.ail Danulbfan States and Bulgaria. Hodm's initiatiive found understand ing both in France and ffingla.nd, but Gemnany and Italy opposed it, thinking the plan was aimed against their influence in Central Europe, nay that it was an "effort to surround Germany," a:s the Germian press e,cpressed it. The plan failed not only 'beca;use orf this opposition, but also because of the crisis which began to aippear within the framework of the Little Entente and the developmen t of an inter-natioD.ial situation which tended in the opposite direction. The politico-mil itary actions of nationaHy socialist Germany and Mussolini's ltaly began to have far-reachim.g i:nd:iluenice on the whole of EUTope, but the most marked consequenc es began to appeax in Central and Souithea:stern Europe. Yugoslavia was 17) A. Ohervin, L'AUTRIOHE ET LA HONGRIE DE DE- MAIN, Paris, 1915. 18) Dr. Milan Hodza, i;,JDDERATI-ON IN CENTRAL EUROPE, pgs. 131-133. �SLOVAKIA 11 the first to suffer the consequences froim the cha.rnged situation and, with Stojadinovic leading it, began to look toward Berlin. Mter a;n internal crisis and a change of governments, Rum-ani•a a'lso ibeca:m.e equaJil.y uncertain. The Little filntente, w'hioh •w as considered the pillar and guarantor of the OTder, created by pea:ce aigreements, went headlong into ruin. lit crashed even •b efore the Germans began their march into the DanuJbe basin and oould not prevent the colla;pse of the order built up in 1918, nor the political and economical hegemony of Hitler's Germany. UndoulbtecNy, the rea;sons for the collapse of the European system and, therefore, also of the Cenltral-European organization, were many- But it ca11!Ilot be denied that Hitler's plans and ructions in the Danube basin were suJbstantially facilitated by the political and economic conditions which governed there after 1918. Oonsequeinitly, the discontented nations, as predicted :ey Lansing, iif they did not work to overthrow that system, as did Hungary and Austria, then they certainly were not willing in the least to defend it, as was the case with c~echo-Slovatkiia a111d Yugoslavia. The dissolution of Czecho~Slova1kia was in fact caused by the German minoriity, as even Dr. Benes stated, because : In Munioh Czecho..:Slovakia was fatally wounded from the outside. " Munich, however, meant much more tha:n thaJt. "It opened the way along the Danulbe all the way to the Blacik Sea to German expamsion," as Winston Churchill said in the British Parliament O'l1 Oct. 5, 1938. Munich meant the end of the European system ,b uilt up by the •peace treaties of 19181920 and installed in Central Europe a Germ.an- Italian Russian co-dominiOIIl whioh, even though it did not last long, did bring new elements into the organization of the CentralEuropean area. Germany was in its politics consistent and adroit, and thus "milita;ry might, dwplomacy, propaganda and the feeling of helplessness before the preponderance of their neighbors, as well as the economic interests, were the causes of the voluntary or forced subordination of the Danulbian �12 SL0VAKlA nations, their new political orientation and cooperation with the Axis," says Graham Hutton (19). "•I n Belgrade, Bucharest and naturally in Sophia, kings and princes did not trust international obligations of collective security. They fuought tha,t every state must endeavor by its own means to serve the peace of all, buit t hat its first task ls to preserve its own peace" (20). And what 'hruppened in Prague was nothing else but what Dr. Benes had already told Minister Sfona in 1936: "If they (the French) aJbandon us without helping us in ·the face of German threats, we shall suI1prise the world by the limitless possilbilities of servility toward Berlin" (21) . This dissolution of the Versailles organization by German policies, whiich endeavored to make of this region a German "lebensraum," forced the representatives of the Central-European nations to return to the efforts to create a Cenitral-European federation, or confederation. A federalistic solution of Central-European problems seemed to be the only strong solution especial1.y when Gerniainy and Russia, with the pact of August 23, 1939, temporarily shared government over Central and Southeastern Europe, annexing territories, nay, even whole states and esta/t,lishing a dictatorship over them. In that situation even the most bigoted enemies of federalistic endeavors of Centr.a:l-Europe in the period between the two wars, politicians who ",p referred to see Hitler in Vienna than the Habsburgs," returned to the idea of creating a great federative unit in Central Europe after the end of the war. The Soviet-German Pact convinced even the nations, which in an effort to hold their own advantageous position in Central Europe wished its partition, that their own security, nay even their own existence in fact, could be guaranteed oltly by an intimate union of all the Central European nations. 19) Graihaim Hutton, LES NOUVEAUX DES'DINS DU DANiUBE, Paris, 1939. . 20) Gregoke Gafencu, DERNIERS J0URS DE L'EU'R0PE, p. 105. 21) Comte Sforza, ILLUS IONS ET REALITES DE L'EUR0PE, Neuch-atel 1944; p. 196. �SLOVAKIA 13 Russia, wrote Gregoire, "revea~ed her face, which had nothlng encouragin g either fur her neig1hlbors or for a peaceful order of the world. The Moscow aigreement unmasked the Soviet Union, in whrch the cult of might and the practice of dou!ble..dealing so strikingly reminded one of the times of Catherine the Great ,a nd the ooarrs of the past centuries. 'It seemed that she obeys the ancient and mighty impulses, siimilrur to those, which drove the Gennan masses in the opposite direction, to the East. But the Russian aggression was at the same time more corufusilng and mysterious. Opposing every .Umitation not because the area which this aggression included was too narrow, lbut conversely beca,use the concepti:on of borders is alien to the nature of Russia" (22). It was, therefore, only natural, that in such a situation the plans of l.lIWying Central Europe on a federalistic basis were again revived and that together . with t!he representativ es of other Central-EUTdpeain nations the Slovvaks - those who fought on the side of the Mlies, as well as the political representat ives who remained at home will:ih the people and sought to lead it into •postwar Europe with as little loss as possible - endeavored to realize a federated Central Europe. On the side of the AUies, it was especiaAly the Slovak political group led by Dr. M. Hodfa and Peter Pridavo~, which led an open strwg,gle for these conceptions . In his book "Federatio n in Central Europe" H~a writes that already in Jainuary 1940 Slovalk political emigrants had come to an understand ing that they wowld endeavor to create a Central-Eu ropean federation. The fotliildation of this federation was to be the union between Poland, the Czech. lands and Slovakia. On January 23, 1942, there wais such an agreement cone'luded between the Polish and Czecho-Slovak g(?vemmen ts with the __ jntention that it wouJd be. the nudeu:s of a great Central-Eu ropean £-Oll22) Gregoire Gafeneu, PRELIMINA,:fRES DE LA -, GUERRE A L'EST, Fri-bourg, 1944. �1-4 SLOVAKIA federation. Matters common to all were to be foreign, military, economic, social and furancial affairs, as weH as transportation, communications and the postaJl. service (23). Milan Hod'za's book, published in 1942, contained all the more serious reasO!I1s for a federated Central IDuroipe. "WaT event'S in Central Europe," wrote Hodza, "dhviously fully vindi<:ate the idea <Yf a solidly org,anized futuTe cooperatron <Yf ahl those eight States whicih aTe placed in complete geogrruphic coherenice between Russia, Germany amd Irtaily. A federali.lzed Centrall Europe is one of the absolute necessi-ties of a new postwaT order." In the preface <Yf his >book, Hodza te1ls us that the Oentral-EuTopean federation should be composed of four Sl'O'Vainic and four non"Slovanic nations, which should £ind a new, great and sohd foundation for their own national lilfe, keeping in balance all possi!ble ra;cial and imperialistic aspirations in the broad territory, the consolidated system of whioh is to be the strongest contribution to the new arraingement of Europe. The federation proposed 1b y Hodza was supposed to rest on a customs union. Fina<n:ces, trade policies, foreign ·p olicy, defense, communioations were to be managed jointly. The p1'am also called for a Ministry of Federal Law 8Jlld a Ministry <Yf Trade Unions and Professional Associations. Altogether there were to be eight commQ!Il. ministries, forming the federal government, which would be headed by a chancellor appoiinted by the president af the federation. In the central goverrunent all the nations were to ·b e represented by ministers without 1portfolio. Ministers with pol'tfOllfo were to perform their functiooo in cooperation with the state secretaries representing all.I the federated nations. The president was to be elected first by the presidents of the national governments, then 1b y the congress of the federation for a period of one yeaT. The memlbers af congress were to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the national parliaments in the proportion of 23) F.r om the French text of the Treaty in the Stoc![,holm review L'AVENIR, Vol. 1, No. 2. �SLOVAKIA one memlber for a million inhaib1tants. The ministers oif the federation, under the plan, could not be deputies of oongress. The solution ,p roposed iby Hod.fa would ha,v e a twofold advantage, wrote the "Voix des Peuples," the Swiss politicail review (Oct- 1944): "it would minimize the natio-nal antagonisms and would recreate the harmonius economic area, which !benefited Centrrul Europe before 1914. The sOilution, therefore, seems to be the wisest, because it is most advantageous for all the nations concerned." A positive stand to Hodfa's prnposal, on the assumption that SlO'Vlrukii:a iin the Europe confederation would figure as an ind~vidual member state, was truken by the main political o!I1gan in Slorva!kia, the "Slovfuk" (24), and in the Vatican diplomatic circles the interpreter of federalistic sqova,,k efforts was Ambassador Karol Sidor. At the beginniing af 1944, Dr. Ferdinand :Du11cansiky, university professoir and the first Fm·eign Minister of the Slovak Repulblic, published a technical study albout the problem of Centrail Euro;pe. The study ap:peaTed in the "Revue de droiit international, de sciences diplomatiques et politiques" (~fil annee, No. 1), putb lished in Gene,va. The status Which prevailed m Central Euro;pe up to 1938, led :Duvcansky to the log,i10al conclusion that a new Central Euro1p e must be orgaJnized on other fQ!Ulld:ations than those ()If 1'918 or those ruifteir that time; it must be organi:zed on the basis ()If coope:riation of the (Je,ntra!l-European niations and their equality. "We can imagine theoretically a cooperiati'On of the nations of Central Europe," wrote :DUTCam;ky, "either in a form of completely independent states, or in a form ()If close, mutual relation in a t.mrion of states. This cooperatiion would be directed by interna.tiona1 a:greement, or by a manner of federation in which every state would have •a special position defined by law." Campiete independence is, according .to :Dur1can:Sky, UJildou!btedly t!he most ad\.'amtageous. With regaro to the 1 24) Dr. Joseph Kirs:chlbaum, HODZ0V PLAN S'l'RED0-EUROPSKEJ F'EDERAOIE, article in tth e SLOVAK, Aug. 20, 1944. �}6 SLOVAKIA ciromnsta:nce that the majority of the Central-European nations, as far as their number and the exitent of their territories, are small nations, this coU!ld mean, said Durcansky, certain dangers. Furthermore, tendencies to limit the sovereignty of small[ nations, endeavors to create laxge eoonomiJC units, the result of technical development and experience from previous wars that sma:ller nations could not defend their independence rb y being neutral - all these led to tlle creation of larger units. :Dutcansky continues: "From these motives there is talk aJbout more active cooperation which ought to guar-amtee lasting peace aind a greater prosperity- This cooperation cannot overstep the framework of a confederation the cooperation 'between independent states diirected by norms of international law. This solution gives guarantees of independence and freedom to the nations of CentralEurope, enaJbles a s01lurti:on of incidental disputes which could arise between the individual states of the confederation and, on the other hand, could defend Central IDurope against external attacks." WthaJt are the arguments 3/gain.st the federation of Central Europe? :Duircainsky points ~mt that ail such arguments rest on the psychologica:l situation in Central-Euroipe, the prejudices emanating from the past and the tendencies of certain nations to renew their former status. The development of war events, however, did not respect the federalistic tendencies of Central-European nations as much as it did during the first World War. Desp~¼ the P-01ish-OzechJSlovak Agreement, despite the positive stand of influential Anglo~Saxon circles and despite tlle general conviction (25) that the Central-European prgaLD!ization created in 191'8 was aib,solutely unsatisfact,:ory _, :t9-r,, ~h~ majority of Centra,l-European nations, as it also ·was for the rest of Europe, nevertheless at the end of 25) What the indivrldual Centra)-Europel).n na.tions thought Stojan Pribil!evil!, about federating Central Europe is told by: WORLD WITHOUT END, New York, 1939; Edmoll'd Demaltre in the review 1/A:VENIR; Gr. Gl\,fencu, PRElJIMlNAIRES DE LA GUERRE A L'EST; ~ - A. Mccartney; PROBLEMS OF THE DANUBE BASIN. �SLOVAKIA 17 the war the very same states were renewed in their old forms, excepting maimed Poland and a smaller OzechoSlova:kia. The Altlantic Charter, the Charter of the United Nations, the natural rilght of every nation to its own state and the solemn prooLa.matioos of the waT years were qu'i.okly forgotten or e:,opediently a:bandoned. Furt:!hernnore, the dei1icate prolb'lem of the minorities began to lbe solved in a manner which was supported by the momenitary situation, in its co1I1Sequences, however, it ibroUJght new da:ngers for the Central-Ell.lropean area and ther~y for the whole of Europe. We are all witnesses of this today. The policy of the Soviet Union towaTd the n81tions of Central Euroipe and, therefore, feder81tiorral efforts did not die out even after World War II. m. THE PRESENT STRUGGLE OF THE SLOVAKS FOR A COMMONWEALTH OF CENTRAL-EUROPEAN NATIONS In 1945 Slova;kiia was occwpied by ,b oth the Russians and the Czechs, and the Communist-dOlminated regime installed there with the help of Moscow and Pr.ague reached to the very roots O!f the existence O!f the Slavalk nation. This irirefotaible fact has led the S1ov,a;k!s to fight uncompromisingly· from the very end of World War II :foT the liberation of Central Europe from alien hegemony rund for its federaJlirza:tion. The representatives O!f the Slovak nation are firmly convinced tha:t Central Europerun nations, if they do not waint to live under the hegemony of the one or the other otf their strong neig1hlbor,s, must unite in a larger · economic am.d stra:tegic unit. There i's no other solution. The entire politica1 and social development of Central EJurope from 1848 coofi:rnns this conclusfon. International policy, as well as the .p olfoy of individUJa1 1powers, is gu~ded by definilte coootants and lastinrg interests wihlch have Olll,tlived and shall out1we all changes o,f regimes. 'Dha:t is why today, just as in the past century, the CentraJl-IDuropeain nations must rookoo with the revival O!f German expansioo, �18 SLOVAKIA: which can change only its forms but not its aims, just as, on the other ham.d, Russi an JmperiaHsm haiS not changed and no regime will ever change it. The object of the expansionist endeavorrs of Russia and Gemniany is Central Europe, because of its geographical position and ethnic composition. These two powers have attaJdked each other for centuries for the control of the Centra~-Eumpeam nations. With the passage of centuries only the forms and pretenses of their imperiaJlism have changed. Pam.-Gerimanism and Pam-1Sllavism a1way:s followed and will follow the very sa:me pur,pose, and the only defense ,a grumst them is the unification of the Central-EJuropean nations on the basis of equality. ThaJt is the lesson of history. On the other hand, the experience of the ipast thirty years have proved that the system, which prevailed in Central and Eastern Europe s-ince 1918 and was again reestablished in 1945 by committing the very same mistakes, cotcld not giuai-antee Europe pea:ce and stalbNity, a:nd to the nations 'between Russia and Germany it could guarantee neither economic prosperity, nor security and freedom . ThUIS it hruppened that with the first blow of German imperiail~sm in 1938, as welil as a result of expansion of the Soviet Uni-on, the system succumbed, and with its downfall Ewrope and the wodd hruve boon thmst into dangerous crises, of whi:ch the first ended in war and the seoond threatoos with war. At the end of both waris, the nations of Central Europe were forced under regimes of terror, which were alien and hostile to the most fundamental cultur~d, po1i,tiical, economi:c and sociaiJ. traditions of all the CentraJl~Eurropeain natiions, who a.Te deeply devoted to the prindples of democr8Jcy and Christianity, the two concepts which are in prJndp1e at odds with both Nazism and materialistri1c OomJmunism. • 1 'I"housamds of Slov,ruk emigrants in Europe and elsewhere, am.d over a million Americruns of Slovak descent, have, therrefore, ,p roclaimed themselves since 194'5 for such a demooratic concepUon of a new Europe which would remove the o1d shortcomings of Europe, and especially of �SLOVAKIA 19 Central Europe, and would rest on the principle of equality of au nations alild be united in a federative uni'on. The organiization of Central and Eastern Europe, as it has proved thusfar, could not fulfill its mission orf strength against imperialism which has threatened the pea:.ce of Europe for Centuries, but conversely, it even facilitated the victory orf these imperirulismsThe weakest part of this organization was CzechoSlovakia, a heterogenous amd polyglotic state, which gave an OipipOrlU'lle excuse to ,the · Third Reich for its expansion and, on the other hand, made cooperation impossible with other Central Euiropean nations, because the millions of inhrubitants of the minorities which were included a:gainst their will into the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Instead of strength against the "Drang nach Osten," the Czecho-Slovak Repwblic became in 191'8 the gateway for the German march into the Dam.Iibe Basin, a,nd in 1945 the bridge 01Ver which the Russian-Bolshevist expainsion penetrated into the very heart of Europe without any resistence. A new orga:nization of Central Europe is therefore, according to the v,i ews orf the representatives of the Slovak emigiration, rubsoiutely ne<:essary not only in the interest of CentraiJ.-Euroipean nations, but also, and in the very first ¢ace, in the interest oif the security orf Euroipe and the peace of the world. We rememib er that both world conflrugrations broke out in this a:rea. Until the extensive region between Germany and Russia is organized on a new basis, gua1ramteeing justice, equality and freedom to every nation, Europe cannot have secured its security and prosperity. Aggression of imperialism , tending to dominaite Central Euro-pe, and then the whole of Euro,pe, could again be facilitated, nay aggressors could even find opportune pretenses and allies, if any one of the Central-European nations were wronged and forced under the rule od' another. The poHticai and economic development from the end of World War I has made the nations of Central Europe conscious enough orf the fact that a more pernnanent �SLOVAKIA !O and solid organization of this region demands that the r1ght to freedom and independence of every nation living there 'be recognired and respected. Being aiware of all this, the Slovak Lerugue of America, in the name of Americans of Slovak descent, as well as in the name of the Slovialk natioo, decl~re.d at its Congress in Oleve1and, Ohio, on Octdber 21, 1947, that "ibasicaliy it welcomes the idea of a federative union of the European nations." It was especially in agreement wiilth the thought of a fedei,aitive uni:on of the centra.1-IDuropean states, in which the nations of that part of Europe would find the prerequj.1s ities for peaceful coha/bitation, fruitful cooperation and effeicti.Jve defense of their individual and ool.lective interests. Of cou.rise, American Slovaks were for such an arrangement of Central Europe on the supposition that "the internal life of the indi,viduial member states amd their mu~ua.1 relationshi p ibe bui!l.t on the Christian principles of true democracy, mutual respect and solidarity," and if among the member states of this federation will be included "also Slovakia as an indrivid'l.Jlal , state, as an equiivalent state, as an equi,v alent and equal member." Slovak em~grants in Europe and elsewhere stand back of the same conceptions. They have so e~pressed themselves in numerous memoranda addressed to the Pe~e Conference, the United Nations, ind:ividua1l governments and to the represenitaltives of the various emigrant groups of the nations from behind the Iron Curtain. The Slovak nation never was am aggressor or imperi·a!list nation; it seeks nothing that does not rilghtfolly belong to it, and nothmg more than every naJtion, however large or small, has an inherent rig'hrt to .seek. The 'S lovaks are a deeply religious and democ-rati'c people, ruble and willing to cooperate with ·au nations of Europe who are determined to wipe out the pl,a gue oif Oommunism and fight for the freedom and independence of allil nati·ons. 1 It is, therefore, onl,y na,1:,ural that the representatiives of all the nations behintl the Iiron Curtain in emigration, among them aJlso Slo,va!k effii.gram.ts, are for the .remo,val �SLOVAKIA 21 of the organizations and regimes of terror which call themsclves "1p eople's democracies." Just as the hitherto unhealthy arralillgement clid not satisfy the needs of the Central-European nations - .one in which practreally hailf the nations of Central Europe did not attain the valid!aition of the right of selrf-detevmination - just so· the system of totali1:arian ":people's democracies" does not satisfy and ,is not in aocord with the traditions of these nations. The ,p olitical and social chaniges, effected iby the 30year economic and socia!l development in t'his region of Europe, whether in regard to the spreaJd oif cidization among the broad masses, or in the social structure, chang~ ed the features <if Cenitral Europe to such an extent that in the future onily true demooracy, extended to the e{!onomic field as ,well, can b.e the system which woU!ld satisfy the · mentality, the spiritual foundiaition and the social needs of t'he natio!IllS of Central Europe. Ainy other system than the democratic, especially the totalitarian system of the " 1people's democracies," is opposed to the most basic mOTal and poiitioail traditi'ons of these countries and, therefore, could be instaJ11ed only ,b y force and maintained only br terror. The freedom of Europe, however, cannot be · Se{!Ured as long as one half of it is under a government of tert01r. On the other hand, the ipeaice of ' Etl!iope and , tbe world cannot be secured as long as Centra1 ·: Europe _i,'s not free and tmi.ted :in sUJCh a manner that '-'it ' could cfufend its own freedom and security .and thereby , also the seciirity of Eumpe Thi,s ios ipossible only if a United Staites of Central Euro,p e be:c~mes a reality in one foT-m or another, Hugh Seton-W:atson, in the int,vodUJCtion of his book "Eiastem Europe Between the Wars," stressed this point when he wrote: "IndividuaLEastern countries ·o.fifer ·interesting fields of study to the speda,list, but are · of smaJ.l importance in world politics. But the Eastern · European proiblem, the problem of the hundred millions,· is· one :of •the ma,jor problems of oor age. Each of the peoiples of ffiaJstern Europe must enjoy liiberty aind self-government if unrest is to be aivoided." � APRIL, 1953 SLOVAKIA 1 SLOVAKIA AND CENTRAL-EUROPEAN FEDERATION PLANS Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovrukia with its three and a haJrf million inhiaJbitants and area 45,000 square kilometers lies in the very heart of Central EUTope and its fate in the ,past has been most bitter. After losing their first State, Great Moravia, which during the reign oif King svatopluk included a part of today's Poland, Hmgary, Yugoslavia and for a short time even the Czech lands (1), the SlovaJks as a political factor could not validate themselves in CentraJl Europe for whole centuries. The leading Sloivak group shed its blood first in battles with the Ge:rmians and Magyars and, later, also in battles with the Tu:rks and Tartars. And still later it suffered under tthe pressure of the assimilatory tendencies of the Magyars, which ilrl it.he 19th century and the 1b eginn. ing of this century re8iChed the broadest masses of Slovaks and ruppreciaJbly reduced the growth of the Slovak nation . The Slovaks, who already in 830 had theiT own sta:te and chUI1Ch or,ganization and tthus placed the first foundations of European civili Z8Jtion in the Danube area (2), ap pear more clearly on the ipolitica:l scene again only in 1848, when they rebelled to regain their national independenct>. Decimated and .pushed into the mountains of the north eastern part of their first State, the Great Moravii.8Jl1 Empire, the Slov,a ks were more a cutural than politioo.l factor , up to the 18th century. "During the 17th century," wrote Dr. Milan Hodza, "when the Turks had occupied •all the rest oif old Hungary, Slovakia became the refoge of many lofty intellectual ef forts on behalif of that country. For some time to come_ 1 . 1) Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, GESCHICHTE DER S-LOWAKEI, · pp. 9-15; Julius Pauler, A MAGYARNEMZET TORTJ!JNETE SZENT ISTVAN!G; Dr. Joseph ~kult~ty, ORTY ZO SLOVENSKEJ MINU• LOSTI, p. 13 ; Dr. Milan Hodza, FEDERATION IN CEN'mlAL EUROPE, p . 86; AL'Phoise Huber, GESCHICHTE OESTERREICHE, Vol. 1. 2) Dr. Milan Hodza, FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, p. 86. �SLOVAKIA 2 in Slovaikia, there was much morn cultural mo;vement than in Bohemia or occupied Hungacy. At the end of the eighteenth century Slovakia prepared not only her racial rebirth. Trnaiva, which housed the Catholic University before it was tra:nsferred to Budaipest, became a centre of Catholic culture in the realm. Slova!kia was going to be the seat of the first serious democratic movement which had its raimifications in the whole of Hungary and which ended in a conspiracy directed against HaJbSlburg, and Slovakia revealed itselif as a meeting place of prructi:cally all contemporary currents of cultural and ipo>litica;l ideas. (3). After 1848, on the one side under the independence and politfrcal equality of a11 nations, and on the other side under the increasing pressure of assimilaitory Magyar policy, the Slova:k nation beg8;Jl a systematic fight for its polibcal riights. After the Slovak armed revolt of 1848 failed, the Slova!ks within the Hrubsburg monarchy dared to demand an individual self-administr ative unit, such as the Croaits demanded through Ostrozinsky, the Czechs through Pala cky, the Magyars, after Kossuth's revolution was squelched, through DeaJk. This was .p roposed also by Count Valerian Krasinski in his work "Panslavi.sm and Bangernnanism . " What the Slovaks really demanded was a federative solution. The Slovaks remained faithful to the idea of a fede rative solution of the Monarchy in the memorandum , pre sented to the Emperor in 1861, and aigailll at the Conigress of Na:tionaHties in Budrupest in 1867. At the second Congress of Nationa1ities, which took plruce August 10, 1895, in Budaipes't, despite ,persecutions, "the Rumanians, Serbs and Slova:ks, who assemlbled in Buda.pest, "wrote the Neue Freie Presse," dernand ,t he division of Hungary into ethnic self-administra iti;ve units, whreh in effect is equall to the demand to aJbol:ish the un.ion between Hungary and Tr.ainsylviania, to renew the Serbian Duchy and create a selfadmini,s trati:ve Slova:kia, suoh as Huriban (,leader of the 1 1 3) Dr. Mil an Hod za, IBIDEM, pp.208- 213. �SLOVAKIA 3 1848 Slo'Vak rebellion - Author) promoted already thi•r ty years earlier" ( 4). This stand of the Slovaks, if we consider the Nuropean situation oif thaJt time and even the special position of the Slovaks, is readily understandaJble. Not only because the federalization olf the Habs!burg Monarchy, fearing Pangermanism, was the political program also of the Test of the nations of the Monarchy, except the Poles, but also because the rest of Europe was inclined toward this solution, considering the Habslburg Monarchy in its politics of "'balance of poiwer" as a factor of balance betiween Germany and Russia. In this policy, dictated primarily 'by fear of the Germans who called a congress to Frankfurt i:n 1:848 to attempt a union orf all Germans, the Czechs plruyed a leading part. Palacky's arguments and slogan "if AIU'stria did not exist, we would have to create it" gained the rest of the nations.who were satisfiied with the demand of a federalized empire. Even the Emperor seemed ·favo:rable to the idea as long as the danger lasted. "Th~ preservation of Austria, its integrity and solidification, is and must be the great and important concern not only of the Czech nation, but of the whole of Europe, nay of all hUJmanity and foreign lands," wrote Palacky to the Frankfurt Congress in 1848. In this regard Dr. Edward Benes wrote in 1908: "It is frequently spoken about the dissoluti-on of Austria. I aJbsolutely do not believe in it. The historical and economic ties, which mutua:lly u.nite the nations of Austria, are too strong to allow Austria to collaJP5e" (5). The rest of Europe, oif course, also feared Russia and its efforts to realize Panslavism as related by J . Danilevskij in his book "Russia and Europe" and by General Fadejev in his writings. "Slovanic nations," wrote Fadejev, "must try to attain two aims, that is, political and ~onomic development in their present homelands, and then a 4) Quoted from book DIE VEREINIGTEN STAATEN VON GROSSOESTER!RELCH, by Aurel Popovic!, Leipzig, 1906. 5) LE PROBLEME .ArTJTRIOHIEN ET LA QUESTION TCHEQUE, p. 307. �·4 SLOVAKIA closer union with the general Slovanic uni:on, whkh must be headed by Russia in international and military Tela. tions. Ea,ch of these Slovanic tribes needs a ruler for inter nal affairs and for the ·general interests of the great Slovanic Czar. Without the fulifiltlme:nt of these conditions self-admmistra.tion a:nd independence of the BaJikaJD. and Danube Slovak tr}bes is unthinka,ble" (6). Danilevskij, who pUlblished his boolk in 1871, also proposed a Russian-Slovanic confedemtion, in which would · be uni,ted all the Slova,nic people (Slavs) from the Adriatic to the Pacific under the leadershtp of Russia. In this situation, always feeling that it was thr~tened by Germany, France regarded the Habsbu:rg ffimpire as "the only barrier, sufficiently strong, at the beginning of the 20th century, whkh could discourage German a,mbi. tions the day when these would begin to threaten the European bafance," WTote Henry Rene (7). And France saw this balance threatened also by Russia, about whioh Th. Funk-Brentano wrote: "No longer is Rus:sia our ally, as it neither is for Germany or Austria, for England or Turkey : it has only one concern - to expand. It has only one ambition - to g,row. If it uses definite form s . besides, then it does so only to be better understood and allowed into the so-called European concern . . . We make offers to it and it · presents them to Berlin, w,hi'ch makes it a bett er oitlfer . .. Every alliance ls good thrut h elps it to exp.and. All other alliances are bad. It partakes in the divLsion of .s tates with the same ruthlessness with which it m a r ches to conquer them; it will reduce Poland and support · t he Balkans , because they are .Slovanic peoples, and it will annex · t he CJiinese, Turks, Armenians because they are not. That is Russia always . . . " (8). · Fear of Russia and Pamslavism, of which the Magyars and Ruma,nians were afraid and ·b y which the Polish · nation w1as stilf.led periodically, and the fear of the German "'Drang nach · Osten," forced the nations of Centi.·al Europe · -to seek a solution, which would expose it to the least -dangers. This solution they saw in a federalized Hrubsburg 6) Biresvija Vjedomosti; UVAHY O ORIENTA.LNEJ OT A.ZKE ; NEUESTE SCHRIFTEN, pgs.37-4 9. . 7) H enry Rene, . QUESTIONS D'AUTRICHE-HONGRIE ET . 'Q UESTIONIS D'ORIENT, Paris, 1903. 8) Th. .Funk-Brentano, LA POLITIQUE , PR·I NCIPES. ORI· .TIQUES, REFORMES. P.aris, 1892. �SLOVAKIA 5 MonaTchy. As early as 1902 a representative of the Czech nation, one Oharles Kramaf, wTOte: "The wor1d does riot need a feeble, sickly Austria; only a strong, vigorous, interna!lly healthy Empiire can perform the all important task of keeping watch over the ba:lance of power in the world" (9). And Aurel C. Popovici, a Rumanian, WI'Orte a great woirk in 1906 in the defense of the e~istence of a federaliized HalbsJburg Monarchy under the title: Die Vereinigten Staaten von Gross-Oesterreich. Of course, this cry of the nations of the Halbsiburg Monarchy could find little SU!ppolit at the Royal Court, so the natioins constituting the Empire had to seek some other solution of theiir national problems, especially when the war whi-ch broke out in 1914 offered them an opportunity to do so. Furthermore, when the war ended, fear of Russia and Genmany, it was said, precluded the necessity of Austria, because Germany was defeaited, disarmed and "decrnilitar~zed," while Russia was in the throes of a politica:l and social revolution. Emerging from this situation, which the vrotorious a:llies somehow forgot to regard as transitory, the Peace Conference sanctioned the destruction of the Halbsbw,g Empire and the estaJblishment of national and nationaJi:stic states on its ruins. Centrnl Europe got a new face and a new OI1gani'zation on the basis of the right of self-determination of nations. But even this · new organization did not bring an end to fedemtional efforts , especiaHy not those of the Slovaks. II. FEDERALIZATION EFFORTS 1918-1945 The situation,· into whi-ch the Siovaks were forced after WorJd .War I, on the one hand, and the over-all situation of Central Europe in the period between the two wars, on the other, forced the Slovaks to continue their struggle for fedemlization: for a . federalization of Czecho-Slova:kia and simuitaneousiy also for -a federali,z ation of Central Europe. 9) NATIONAL REVIIDW, 1902. �6 S LOVAKIA In fact, 0zecho~Slovaikia was born on the basis of an aigreement between the Slova:ks and the Czechs that it woU!ld be a federart:ive state. In Cleveland Agreemelllt of 1915 and the Pittsburgh A!greement of 1918, the latter undersigned by T. G. Masaryk himself, t'hiJS was promised to the Slaviak:S. At the Peace Conference in 191'9 even Dr. Edward Benes promised this in the name of the 0zechoSlovak Gorvernment when he stated that "it is the intention of the Czecho-1Slovak Government to create the organization of the State ·b y accepting as a basis of natural rights the prindples aipplied in the constitution of the Swiss RelpUJblic, that is, to mrake the 0zecho;Slovak Republic a sort of Switzerland.... " (10). These agreements and commitments, however, were not rkept 1b y the Praigue government, which was dominated by the Czechs, and Czecho-1Slovakia became a centralistk state with apparent tendencies to assimHiate the non-Czech population, especiially the Slovaks on t'he basis of the artificia.Ny created conception of an ethnic "Czechoslovak" nation. - The eminent historian C. A. Macartney saw through the situation very clea11ly when he wrote: "The fact remains that the (Czech~Slova:k) government has been obliged more of:ten than not to rule Slovakia against the wishes of most of its inhabitants, maintaining itself only by the exipedienits of .restricting the powers of the .sellfgovernmg bodies to within the narrowest possilble limits, of filling the seats designated for "ex;perts" with its own nominees, and utilizi'Il!g. freely weapons of censorshi,p and po1i:ce supervision ... " About the economic policy of the Czech toward the S'1ovruks, the same author stated : "The richer (Ozech) firms bought up, or obtained control through holding barri!ks (notable the 2ivnostenska Ba'Il!ka) over the greater part of the Slovak establishments. The latter were thus left at the mel'cy of t'he owners in the Historic Lands (Bohemia), who worked them or closed them down as they pleased. Pro'balb.ly nearly one-third of all Slovak industries disaippeared in this way during the 10) Lloyd George, THE TRU TH ABOUT THE PEACE TREA· TIES, pg. 937 . �SLOVAI\.IA 7 immediate postwar peri'Od, the heavy industries and textile factories beiing chiefly ruffe:cted" (11) . . . It was only natural, then, that the Slova;ks opposed the system whioh put them at such a great disadvaintage econooniically, politically and cultura:lly. The vast majority of Sllova1-cs, under the leadership of Andrew Hlinka and Martin Razus, demanded the fedemii zation od: Ozecho-Slovakia from the very begin~ing of its existence. 1 On J•a nua;ry 23, 1920, one of the foremost Slovak politicians, Deputy Dr. Ferdis Juriga, demanded the federalization of the OzeclhoJSlovak RepUiblic on the floor of the Pa:rliament with these words : "We must tend to decentralization, toward sel:f-1administra;tion, so that the Republic could develop on a federalistic basis, because federalism is the system of the future - We must preserve our individual1ity and not let ourselves be absoribed. Federalization is not only in the interest of our naition, and the OzechoSlova!k Repwblic, but also answers the spirit of all mankind. It is an ahl-hu:man tenderrcy, the tendency of all mankind, this tendency to validate oneself, develop, to which every individual person and every national unit should have the right, whkh should crystallize out into a [egal personality, so tha;t these various nations could then become federalized in one, great world re4)u'bliic. This would be the highest ideal and the path that leads to it is : federalism (12). 1 But the Ozechs, just like the Ha'bsburgs, would not accede to the detrnands of the Siovaks and the minorities while there still was time. The Slovaks, therefore, "reacted in the form of a fl a,m'boyant Slovax nationalism which was a main reason for the albsence of revo[t with which they accepted the dissolution of the Ozecho-1Slovak State" (13). 1 11) C. A. Macartney, HUNGARY AND HER SIUCCESSOBS, London, 1937; pgs. 145, 130. J 2) Karol Sador, SLOVENSK.A. POLITJ:KA NA P<>DE PR.A2SKEHO SNEMU, Vol. I, pg.69. 13) ,C. A . Mwcartney, PROBLEMS OF 'DRE DANUBE BASIN, London; p. 122. �SLOVAKli. 8 Between 1918 and 1945, there were evident tendencies among the Slovaks for the creation of a federated Central ffiurope. The organimti{)IIl, whiich was given t!his area by the pea>ce treaties, soon proved to lbe unsatisfactory economically and poilitioolly. On the OIIle hand, the principle of the right of self--determination was valida,,ted only :parti•a lly and as a consequen!ce the several nations of Central EurO!pe awaited only the opporlunity ~o alter the given situation. States like Czecho-Slovakia or Yugoslavia, made up of several nations and minorities, resembled old Austria.JHungary sitructurally, and soon enough their unjust policies toward t'he national minorities caused distrust and revisionism and excluded harmonious cooperation in Central Europe. On May 8, 1919, Rdbert Lam.sing, Secretary of State of tJhe United States, had this to say a!bout this new organiizati'on : "Examine the Treaty and you •wiU find peoples delivered agaill.8t their wills into t,he hands of those whom they hate... Resentment and bitterness, if not desperation, are 'bound to be the oonsequen<:es oof such provisions . It may be years ·b efore these oppressed pooples are able to tih<row otif their yoke, 1but as wre as day follows night the time will eome when they will make the effort" (14). On the other hiand, the dissolution of the economic crises, especial'ly in the accession states. T,he period between 1918 and 1938 wa,,s one of constant seeking of a ·r eorgaruzaition of Central Europe into a harmonious econo.m.ic and political whole. The Little Ein.tente, estalblished in 1920, Hiantos',s plan in 1925, Tardieu's plan in 1932, the Danulbe ·Paict in 1935 and Hodza's fiTst plan in 1936, to note at least t'he better we11 known plans, all of these in sUJbstan>ce had but o~e purpose: to create in an acceptable form such an organization in Central Europe whi1ch would hasve the adivanrtaiges of former Austria-Hungary, 'but would lack al[ its politica;l and social .shortcomings. Preserving the nationaJl states and democratm regimes, the economic arising from the partition of the Danube area were to •b e .removed by a system of alHances. Thus would lb e removed the tense atmosphere whi'c h reigned in this region and provoked neighboring powers to acts of aggression. 1 14) THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS, London, 1921; p. 245. �SLOVAKIA t Naturally, aU these plans and endeavors, including the Little Entente, resulted primarily !because of economiic condiitions; and their aim was not indi,c,ated as an effort to create a Centra:1-Euiropean Federation. This ,t hought, however, was deeply rooted in the minds of political leaders, even Dr. Edwaro Benes himself. A'1ways fearing the loss Otf the political and economic role which Ozecho-Slova:kia was playing, Dr. Edward Benes fought against every plan to unite Cenitra:l IDurape, 'but in 1936 he admiltted that "the plan of a Danube Federation is t!he widely propagated and best known conception proposed as a solution Otf the Austxian and Centro-European pro'blem." The reasons why this solution was not realized -w ere, according to Benes, "much more of a sentimental, psychologicrul and mora:1 nature than of a political and economic nature" (15) . 1 At , the end of the first World War, Dr. Stephen Osusky, foreimost representative of the Slovaks at that time on the side of the Entente, wrote a lb,o ok in F,renc'h, 1n whielh we find these words: "The defenders Otf AttstriaHunga:ry, in foreign lands as well as in the interior Otf the dual Monarchy, are aJCting very Hlog,rcaMy. They are very much for the 1ilberation of Poland, !b ut do not want to allow the ltberation of the remaining nations. Let us liberate all nations who wrunt to 'b e free, allowing them to create their own independent states, and we shall fulfill one of the tasks confronting us. Fav,o ring then the approchement of great Poland, whielh shall have access to the Ba:ltic Sea in Danzig, Rumania and the land$ of Czecho-Slova!kia, on the one hand, and Ukrainia, to which we must give serious thoug,ht, on the other hand, a ,powerful federation of free states will be created in the nor,th (of Central Europe)" (16). In the southern part of this area, Osus.ky proposed to support efforts to create a federation of .Southern Slavs, (15) LE PROBLEME DE L'EUROPE CENTIRALE: p.' 47, Sources et documents tchecoslovaques, No. 24. 16) Stephen Osuslky, ClJOPIN, MAGY:ARff ET ~4-NGERM.NNISTIDS, Paris, 1918. �SLOVAKIA 10 after the realiizaition of which, "we shall on'1y have to connect these two federaitioins with a bridge which once existed but collapsed under the blow of historic events. T,hiu:s would come to an end the Orang nach Osten, to German a:ggression to the ffiast, and Europe and the world could work in peaJCe" (17). The plan, however, was Oipposed by T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes. Another Sllovaik, Dr. Milan Hod'za, came forth with a d:irfferent plan, the so-called "Danube Plan." Fkst as Minister of Agriculture , later as Premier of the Ozecho-iSlo<vak Governmen t, Dr. Hodza endeavored to develop cooperation between the Central Eruropean nations and the consolidation of the oconomic situation in this pa1t of Europe- The climax of these endeavors was his "Danu!be Plan," which aimed to create, ·aJccording to Hodza's own words, "one single, great economic urut in Central Europe." This was to be attained by removing tariff ba.roiers and establishing a customs union, regu1'atmg agriculture and industrial production, reorganizin g the system of payments and transportation, etc. (18). The first steps in this dirootion were already made in 1937 by treaJties conduded between the indwidu.ail Danulbfan States and Bulgaria. Hodm's initiatiive found understand ing both in France and ffingla.nd, but Gemnany and Italy opposed it, thinking the plan was aimed against their influence in Central Europe, nay that it was an "effort to surround Germany," a:s the Germian press e,cpressed it. The plan failed not only 'beca;use orf this opposition, but also because of the crisis which began to aippear within the framework of the Little Entente and the developmen t of an inter-natioD.ial situation which tended in the opposite direction. The politico-mil itary actions of nationaHy socialist Germany and Mussolini's ltaly began to have far-reachim.g i:nd:iluenice on the whole of EUTope, but the most marked consequenc es began to appeax in Central and Souithea:stern Europe. Yugoslavia was 17) A. Ohervin, L'AUTRIOHE ET LA HONGRIE DE DE- MAIN, Paris, 1915. 18) Dr. Milan Hodza, i;,JDDERATI-ON IN CENTRAL EUROPE, pgs. 131-133. �SLOVAKIA 11 the first to suffer the consequences froim the cha.rnged situation and, with Stojadinovic leading it, began to look toward Berlin. Mter a;n internal crisis and a change of governments, Rum-ani•a a'lso ibeca:m.e equaJil.y uncertain. The Little filntente, w'hioh •w as considered the pillar and guarantor of the OTder, created by pea:ce aigreements, went headlong into ruin. lit crashed even •b efore the Germans began their march into the DanuJbe basin and oould not prevent the colla;pse of the order built up in 1918, nor the political and economical hegemony of Hitler's Germany. UndoulbtecNy, the rea;sons for the collapse of the European system and, therefore, also of the Cenltral-European organization, were many- But it ca11!Ilot be denied that Hitler's plans and ructions in the Danube basin were suJbstantially facilitated by the political and economic conditions which governed there after 1918. Oonsequeinitly, the discontented nations, as predicted :ey Lansing, iif they did not work to overthrow that system, as did Hungary and Austria, then they certainly were not willing in the least to defend it, as was the case with c~echo-Slovatkiia a111d Yugoslavia. The dissolution of Czecho~Slova1kia was in fact caused by the German minoriity, as even Dr. Benes stated, because : In Munioh Czecho..:Slovakia was fatally wounded from the outside. " Munich, however, meant much more tha:n thaJt. "It opened the way along the Danulbe all the way to the Blacik Sea to German expamsion," as Winston Churchill said in the British Parliament O'l1 Oct. 5, 1938. Munich meant the end of the European system ,b uilt up by the •peace treaties of 19181920 and installed in Central Europe a Germ.an- Italian Russian co-dominiOIIl whioh, even though it did not last long, did bring new elements into the organization of the CentralEuropean area. Germany was in its politics consistent and adroit, and thus "milita;ry might, dwplomacy, propaganda and the feeling of helplessness before the preponderance of their neighbors, as well as the economic interests, were the causes of the voluntary or forced subordination of the Danulbian �12 SL0VAKlA nations, their new political orientation and cooperation with the Axis," says Graham Hutton (19). "•I n Belgrade, Bucharest and naturally in Sophia, kings and princes did not trust international obligations of collective security. They fuought tha,t every state must endeavor by its own means to serve the peace of all, buit t hat its first task ls to preserve its own peace" (20). And what 'hruppened in Prague was nothing else but what Dr. Benes had already told Minister Sfona in 1936: "If they (the French) aJbandon us without helping us in ·the face of German threats, we shall suI1prise the world by the limitless possilbilities of servility toward Berlin" (21) . This dissolution of the Versailles organization by German policies, whiich endeavored to make of this region a German "lebensraum," forced the representatives of the Central-European nations to return to the efforts to create a Cenitral-European federation, or confederation. A federalistic solution of Central-European problems seemed to be the only strong solution especial1.y when Gerniainy and Russia, with the pact of August 23, 1939, temporarily shared government over Central and Southeastern Europe, annexing territories, nay, even whole states and esta/t,lishing a dictatorship over them. In that situation even the most bigoted enemies of federalistic endeavors of Centr.a:l-Europe in the period between the two wars, politicians who ",p referred to see Hitler in Vienna than the Habsburgs," returned to the idea of creating a great federative unit in Central Europe after the end of the war. The Soviet-German Pact convinced even the nations, which in an effort to hold their own advantageous position in Central Europe wished its partition, that their own security, nay even their own existence in fact, could be guaranteed oltly by an intimate union of all the Central European nations. 19) Graihaim Hutton, LES NOUVEAUX DES'DINS DU DANiUBE, Paris, 1939. . 20) Gregoke Gafencu, DERNIERS J0URS DE L'EU'R0PE, p. 105. 21) Comte Sforza, ILLUS IONS ET REALITES DE L'EUR0PE, Neuch-atel 1944; p. 196. �SLOVAKIA 13 Russia, wrote Gregoire, "revea~ed her face, which had nothlng encouragin g either fur her neig1hlbors or for a peaceful order of the world. The Moscow aigreement unmasked the Soviet Union, in whrch the cult of might and the practice of dou!ble..dealing so strikingly reminded one of the times of Catherine the Great ,a nd the ooarrs of the past centuries. 'It seemed that she obeys the ancient and mighty impulses, siimilrur to those, which drove the Gennan masses in the opposite direction, to the East. But the Russian aggression was at the same time more corufusilng and mysterious. Opposing every .Umitation not because the area which this aggression included was too narrow, lbut conversely beca,use the concepti:on of borders is alien to the nature of Russia" (22). It was, therefore, only natural, that in such a situation the plans of l.lIWying Central Europe on a federalistic basis were again revived and that together . with t!he representativ es of other Central-EUTdpeain nations the Slovvaks - those who fought on the side of the Mlies, as well as the political representat ives who remained at home will:ih the people and sought to lead it into •postwar Europe with as little loss as possible - endeavored to realize a federated Central Europe. On the side of the AUies, it was especiaAly the Slovak political group led by Dr. M. Hodfa and Peter Pridavo~, which led an open strwg,gle for these conceptions . In his book "Federatio n in Central Europe" H~a writes that already in Jainuary 1940 Slovalk political emigrants had come to an understand ing that they wowld endeavor to create a Central-Eu ropean federation. The fotliildation of this federation was to be the union between Poland, the Czech. lands and Slovakia. On January 23, 1942, there wais such an agreement cone'luded between the Polish and Czecho-Slovak g(?vemmen ts with the __ jntention that it wouJd be. the nudeu:s of a great Central-Eu ropean £-Oll22) Gregoire Gafeneu, PRELIMINA,:fRES DE LA -, GUERRE A L'EST, Fri-bourg, 1944. �1-4 SLOVAKIA federation. Matters common to all were to be foreign, military, economic, social and furancial affairs, as weH as transportation, communications and the postaJl. service (23). Milan Hod'za's book, published in 1942, contained all the more serious reasO!I1s for a federated Central IDuroipe. "WaT event'S in Central Europe," wrote Hodza, "dhviously fully vindi<:ate the idea <Yf a solidly org,anized futuTe cooperatron <Yf ahl those eight States whicih aTe placed in complete geogrruphic coherenice between Russia, Germany amd Irtaily. A federali.lzed Centrall Europe is one of the absolute necessi-ties of a new postwaT order." In the preface <Yf his >book, Hodza te1ls us that the Oentral-EuTopean federation should be composed of four Sl'O'Vainic and four non"Slovanic nations, which should £ind a new, great and sohd foundation for their own national lilfe, keeping in balance all possi!ble ra;cial and imperialistic aspirations in the broad territory, the consolidated system of whioh is to be the strongest contribution to the new arraingement of Europe. The federation proposed 1b y Hodza was supposed to rest on a customs union. Fina<n:ces, trade policies, foreign ·p olicy, defense, communioations were to be managed jointly. The p1'am also called for a Ministry of Federal Law 8Jlld a Ministry <Yf Trade Unions and Professional Associations. Altogether there were to be eight commQ!Il. ministries, forming the federal government, which would be headed by a chancellor appoiinted by the president af the federation. In the central goverrunent all the nations were to ·b e represented by ministers without 1portfolio. Ministers with pol'tfOllfo were to perform their functiooo in cooperation with the state secretaries representing all.I the federated nations. The president was to be elected first by the presidents of the national governments, then 1b y the congress of the federation for a period of one yeaT. The memlbers af congress were to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the national parliaments in the proportion of 23) F.r om the French text of the Treaty in the Stoc![,holm review L'AVENIR, Vol. 1, No. 2. �SLOVAKIA one memlber for a million inhaib1tants. The ministers oif the federation, under the plan, could not be deputies of oongress. The solution ,p roposed iby Hod.fa would ha,v e a twofold advantage, wrote the "Voix des Peuples," the Swiss politicail review (Oct- 1944): "it would minimize the natio-nal antagonisms and would recreate the harmonius economic area, which !benefited Centrrul Europe before 1914. The sOilution, therefore, seems to be the wisest, because it is most advantageous for all the nations concerned." A positive stand to Hodfa's prnposal, on the assumption that SlO'Vlrukii:a iin the Europe confederation would figure as an ind~vidual member state, was truken by the main political o!I1gan in Slorva!kia, the "Slovfuk" (24), and in the Vatican diplomatic circles the interpreter of federalistic sqova,,k efforts was Ambassador Karol Sidor. At the beginniing af 1944, Dr. Ferdinand :Du11cansiky, university professoir and the first Fm·eign Minister of the Slovak Repulblic, published a technical study albout the problem of Centrail Euro;pe. The study ap:peaTed in the "Revue de droiit international, de sciences diplomatiques et politiques" (~fil annee, No. 1), putb lished in Gene,va. The status Which prevailed m Central Euro;pe up to 1938, led :Duvcansky to the log,i10al conclusion that a new Central Euro1p e must be orgaJnized on other fQ!Ulld:ations than those ()If 1'918 or those ruifteir that time; it must be organi:zed on the basis ()If coope:riation of the (Je,ntra!l-European niations and their equality. "We can imagine theoretically a cooperiati'On of the nations of Central Europe," wrote :DUTCam;ky, "either in a form of completely independent states, or in a form ()If close, mutual relation in a t.mrion of states. This cooperatiion would be directed by interna.tiona1 a:greement, or by a manner of federation in which every state would have •a special position defined by law." Campiete independence is, according .to :Dur1can:Sky, UJildou!btedly t!he most ad\.'amtageous. With regaro to the 1 24) Dr. Joseph Kirs:chlbaum, HODZ0V PLAN S'l'RED0-EUROPSKEJ F'EDERAOIE, article in tth e SLOVAK, Aug. 20, 1944. �}6 SLOVAKIA ciromnsta:nce that the majority of the Central-European nations, as far as their number and the exitent of their territories, are small nations, this coU!ld mean, said Durcansky, certain dangers. Furthermore, tendencies to limit the sovereignty of small[ nations, endeavors to create laxge eoonomiJC units, the result of technical development and experience from previous wars that sma:ller nations could not defend their independence rb y being neutral - all these led to tlle creation of larger units. :Dutcansky continues: "From these motives there is talk aJbout more active cooperation which ought to guar-amtee lasting peace aind a greater prosperity- This cooperation cannot overstep the framework of a confederation the cooperation 'between independent states diirected by norms of international law. This solution gives guarantees of independence and freedom to the nations of CentralEurope, enaJbles a s01lurti:on of incidental disputes which could arise between the individual states of the confederation and, on the other hand, could defend Central IDurope against external attacks." WthaJt are the arguments 3/gain.st the federation of Central Europe? :Duircainsky points ~mt that ail such arguments rest on the psychologica:l situation in Central-Euroipe, the prejudices emanating from the past and the tendencies of certain nations to renew their former status. The development of war events, however, did not respect the federalistic tendencies of Central-European nations as much as it did during the first World War. Desp~¼ the P-01ish-OzechJSlovak Agreement, despite the positive stand of influential Anglo~Saxon circles and despite tlle general conviction (25) that the Central-European prgaLD!ization created in 191'8 was aib,solutely unsatisfact,:ory _, :t9-r,, ~h~ majority of Centra,l-European nations, as it also ·was for the rest of Europe, nevertheless at the end of 25) What the indivrldual Centra)-Europel).n na.tions thought Stojan Pribil!evil!, about federating Central Europe is told by: WORLD WITHOUT END, New York, 1939; Edmoll'd Demaltre in the review 1/A:VENIR; Gr. Gl\,fencu, PRElJIMlNAIRES DE LA GUERRE A L'EST; ~ - A. Mccartney; PROBLEMS OF THE DANUBE BASIN. �SLOVAKIA 17 the war the very same states were renewed in their old forms, excepting maimed Poland and a smaller OzechoSlova:kia. The Altlantic Charter, the Charter of the United Nations, the natural rilght of every nation to its own state and the solemn prooLa.matioos of the waT years were qu'i.okly forgotten or e:,opediently a:bandoned. Furt:!hernnore, the dei1icate prolb'lem of the minorities began to lbe solved in a manner which was supported by the momenitary situation, in its co1I1Sequences, however, it ibroUJght new da:ngers for the Central-Ell.lropean area and ther~y for the whole of Europe. We are all witnesses of this today. The policy of the Soviet Union towaTd the n81tions of Central Euroipe and, therefore, feder81tiorral efforts did not die out even after World War II. m. THE PRESENT STRUGGLE OF THE SLOVAKS FOR A COMMONWEALTH OF CENTRAL-EUROPEAN NATIONS In 1945 Slova;kiia was occwpied by ,b oth the Russians and the Czechs, and the Communist-dOlminated regime installed there with the help of Moscow and Pr.ague reached to the very roots O!f the existence O!f the Slavalk nation. This irirefotaible fact has led the S1ov,a;k!s to fight uncompromisingly· from the very end of World War II :foT the liberation of Central Europe from alien hegemony rund for its federaJlirza:tion. The representatives O!f the Slovak nation are firmly convinced tha:t Central Europerun nations, if they do not waint to live under the hegemony of the one or the other otf their strong neig1hlbor,s, must unite in a larger · economic am.d stra:tegic unit. There i's no other solution. The entire politica1 and social development of Central EJurope from 1848 coofi:rnns this conclusfon. International policy, as well as the .p olfoy of individUJa1 1powers, is gu~ded by definilte coootants and lastinrg interests wihlch have Olll,tlived and shall out1we all changes o,f regimes. 'Dha:t is why today, just as in the past century, the CentraJl-IDuropeain nations must rookoo with the revival O!f German expansioo, �18 SLOVAKIA: which can change only its forms but not its aims, just as, on the other ham.d, Russi an JmperiaHsm haiS not changed and no regime will ever change it. The object of the expansionist endeavorrs of Russia and Gemniany is Central Europe, because of its geographical position and ethnic composition. These two powers have attaJdked each other for centuries for the control of the Centra~-Eumpeam nations. With the passage of centuries only the forms and pretenses of their imperiaJlism have changed. Pam.-Gerimanism and Pam-1Sllavism a1way:s followed and will follow the very sa:me pur,pose, and the only defense ,a grumst them is the unification of the Central-EJuropean nations on the basis of equality. ThaJt is the lesson of history. On the other hand, the experience of the ipast thirty years have proved that the system, which prevailed in Central and Eastern Europe s-ince 1918 and was again reestablished in 1945 by committing the very same mistakes, cotcld not giuai-antee Europe pea:ce and stalbNity, a:nd to the nations 'between Russia and Germany it could guarantee neither economic prosperity, nor security and freedom . ThUIS it hruppened that with the first blow of German imperiail~sm in 1938, as welil as a result of expansion of the Soviet Uni-on, the system succumbed, and with its downfall Ewrope and the wodd hruve boon thmst into dangerous crises, of whi:ch the first ended in war and the seoond threatoos with war. At the end of both waris, the nations of Central Europe were forced under regimes of terror, which were alien and hostile to the most fundamental cultur~d, po1i,tiical, economi:c and sociaiJ. traditions of all the CentraJl~Eurropeain natiions, who a.Te deeply devoted to the prindples of democr8Jcy and Christianity, the two concepts which are in prJndp1e at odds with both Nazism and materialistri1c OomJmunism. • 1 'I"housamds of Slov,ruk emigrants in Europe and elsewhere, am.d over a million Americruns of Slovak descent, have, therrefore, ,p roclaimed themselves since 194'5 for such a demooratic concepUon of a new Europe which would remove the o1d shortcomings of Europe, and especially of �SLOVAKIA 19 Central Europe, and would rest on the principle of equality of au nations alild be united in a federative uni'on. The organiization of Central and Eastern Europe, as it has proved thusfar, could not fulfill its mission orf strength against imperialism which has threatened the pea:.ce of Europe for Centuries, but conversely, it even facilitated the victory orf these imperirulismsThe weakest part of this organization was CzechoSlovakia, a heterogenous amd polyglotic state, which gave an OipipOrlU'lle excuse to ,the · Third Reich for its expansion and, on the other hand, made cooperation impossible with other Central Euiropean nations, because the millions of inhrubitants of the minorities which were included a:gainst their will into the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Instead of strength against the "Drang nach Osten," the Czecho-Slovak Repwblic became in 191'8 the gateway for the German march into the Dam.Iibe Basin, a,nd in 1945 the bridge 01Ver which the Russian-Bolshevist expainsion penetrated into the very heart of Europe without any resistence. A new orga:nization of Central Europe is therefore, according to the v,i ews orf the representatives of the Slovak emigiration, rubsoiutely ne<:essary not only in the interest of CentraiJ.-Euroipean nations, but also, and in the very first ¢ace, in the interest oif the security orf Euroipe and the peace of the world. We rememib er that both world conflrugrations broke out in this a:rea. Until the extensive region between Germany and Russia is organized on a new basis, gua1ramteeing justice, equality and freedom to every nation, Europe cannot have secured its security and prosperity. Aggression of imperialism , tending to dominaite Central Euro-pe, and then the whole of Euro,pe, could again be facilitated, nay aggressors could even find opportune pretenses and allies, if any one of the Central-European nations were wronged and forced under the rule od' another. The poHticai and economic development from the end of World War I has made the nations of Central Europe conscious enough orf the fact that a more pernnanent �SLOVAKIA !O and solid organization of this region demands that the r1ght to freedom and independence of every nation living there 'be recognired and respected. Being aiware of all this, the Slovak Lerugue of America, in the name of Americans of Slovak descent, as well as in the name of the Slovialk natioo, decl~re.d at its Congress in Oleve1and, Ohio, on Octdber 21, 1947, that "ibasicaliy it welcomes the idea of a federative union of the European nations." It was especially in agreement wiilth the thought of a fedei,aitive uni:on of the centra.1-IDuropean states, in which the nations of that part of Europe would find the prerequj.1s ities for peaceful coha/bitation, fruitful cooperation and effeicti.Jve defense of their individual and ool.lective interests. Of cou.rise, American Slovaks were for such an arrangement of Central Europe on the supposition that "the internal life of the indi,viduial member states amd their mu~ua.1 relationshi p ibe bui!l.t on the Christian principles of true democracy, mutual respect and solidarity," and if among the member states of this federation will be included "also Slovakia as an indrivid'l.Jlal , state, as an equiivalent state, as an equi,v alent and equal member." Slovak em~grants in Europe and elsewhere stand back of the same conceptions. They have so e~pressed themselves in numerous memoranda addressed to the Pe~e Conference, the United Nations, ind:ividua1l governments and to the represenitaltives of the various emigrant groups of the nations from behind the Iron Curtain. The Slovak nation never was am aggressor or imperi·a!list nation; it seeks nothing that does not rilghtfolly belong to it, and nothmg more than every naJtion, however large or small, has an inherent rig'hrt to .seek. The 'S lovaks are a deeply religious and democ-rati'c people, ruble and willing to cooperate with ·au nations of Europe who are determined to wipe out the pl,a gue oif Oommunism and fight for the freedom and independence of allil nati·ons. 1 It is, therefore, onl,y na,1:,ural that the representatiives of all the nations behintl the Iiron Curtain in emigration, among them aJlso Slo,va!k effii.gram.ts, are for the .remo,val �SLOVAKIA 21 of the organizations and regimes of terror which call themsclves "1p eople's democracies." Just as the hitherto unhealthy arralillgement clid not satisfy the needs of the Central-European nations - .one in which practreally hailf the nations of Central Europe did not attain the valid!aition of the right of selrf-detevmination - just so· the system of totali1:arian ":people's democracies" does not satisfy and ,is not in aocord with the traditions of these nations. The ,p olitical and social chaniges, effected iby the 30year economic and socia!l development in t'his region of Europe, whether in regard to the spreaJd oif cidization among the broad masses, or in the social structure, chang~ ed the features <if Cenitral Europe to such an extent that in the future onily true demooracy, extended to the e{!onomic field as ,well, can b.e the system which woU!ld satisfy the · mentality, the spiritual foundiaition and the social needs of t'he natio!IllS of Central Europe. Ainy other system than the democratic, especially the totalitarian system of the " 1people's democracies," is opposed to the most basic mOTal and poiitioail traditi'ons of these countries and, therefore, could be instaJ11ed only ,b y force and maintained only br terror. The freedom of Europe, however, cannot be · Se{!Ured as long as one half of it is under a government of tert01r. On the other hand, the ipeaice of ' Etl!iope and , tbe world cannot be secured as long as Centra1 ·: Europe _i,'s not free and tmi.ted :in sUJCh a manner that '-'it ' could cfufend its own freedom and security .and thereby , also the seciirity of Eumpe Thi,s ios ipossible only if a United Staites of Central Euro,p e be:c~mes a reality in one foT-m or another, Hugh Seton-W:atson, in the int,vodUJCtion of his book "Eiastem Europe Between the Wars," stressed this point when he wrote: "IndividuaLEastern countries ·o.fifer ·interesting fields of study to the speda,list, but are · of smaJ.l importance in world politics. But the Eastern · European proiblem, the problem of the hundred millions,· is· one :of •the ma,jor problems of oor age. Each of the peoiples of ffiaJstern Europe must enjoy liiberty aind self-government if unrest is to be aivoided." � 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 APRIL, 1953 SLOVAKIA 1 SLOVAKIA AND CENTRAL-EUROPEAN FEDERATION PLANS Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovrukia with its three and a haJrf million inhiaJbitants and area 45,000 square kilometers lies in the very heart of Central EUTope and its fate in the ,past has been most bitter. After losing their first State, Great Moravia, which during the reign oif King svatopluk included a part of today's Poland, Hmgary, Yugoslavia and for a short time even the Czech lands (1), the SlovaJks as a political factor could not validate themselves in CentraJl Europe for whole centuries. The leading Sloivak group shed its blood first in battles with the Ge:rmians and Magyars and, later, also in battles with the Tu:rks and Tartars. And still later it suffered under tthe pressure of the assimilatory tendencies of the Magyars, which ilrl it.he 19th century and the 1b eginn. ing of this century re8iChed the broadest masses of Slovaks and ruppreciaJbly reduced the growth of the Slovak nation . The Slovaks, who already in 830 had theiT own sta:te and chUI1Ch or,ganization and tthus placed the first foundations of European civili Z8Jtion in the Danube area (2), ap pear more clearly on the ipolitica:l scene again only in 1848, when they rebelled to regain their national independenct>. Decimated and .pushed into the mountains of the north eastern part of their first State, the Great Moravii.8Jl1 Empire, the Slov,a ks were more a cutural than politioo.l factor , up to the 18th century. "During the 17th century," wrote Dr. Milan Hodza, "when the Turks had occupied •all the rest oif old Hungary, Slovakia became the refoge of many lofty intellectual ef forts on behalif of that country. For some time to come_ 1 . 1) Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, GESCHICHTE DER S-LOWAKEI, · pp. 9-15; Julius Pauler, A MAGYARNEMZET TORTJ!JNETE SZENT ISTVAN!G; Dr. Joseph ~kult~ty, ORTY ZO SLOVENSKEJ MINU• LOSTI, p. 13 ; Dr. Milan Hodza, FEDERATION IN CEN'mlAL EUROPE, p . 86; AL'Phoise Huber, GESCHICHTE OESTERREICHE, Vol. 1. 2) Dr. Milan Hodza, FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, p. 86. SLOVAKIA 2 in Slovaikia, there was much morn cultural mo;vement than in Bohemia or occupied Hungacy. At the end of the eighteenth century Slovakia prepared not only her racial rebirth. Trnaiva, which housed the Catholic University before it was tra:nsferred to Budaipest, became a centre of Catholic culture in the realm. Slova!kia was going to be the seat of the first serious democratic movement which had its raimifications in the whole of Hungary and which ended in a conspiracy directed against HaJbSlburg, and Slovakia revealed itselif as a meeting place of prructi:cally all contemporary currents of cultural and ipo>litica;l ideas. (3). After 1848, on the one side under the independence and politfrcal equality of a11 nations, and on the other side under the increasing pressure of assimilaitory Magyar policy, the Slova:k nation beg8;Jl a systematic fight for its polibcal riights. After the Slovak armed revolt of 1848 failed, the Slova!ks within the Hrubsburg monarchy dared to demand an individual self-administr ative unit, such as the Croaits demanded through Ostrozinsky, the Czechs through Pala cky, the Magyars, after Kossuth's revolution was squelched, through DeaJk. This was .p roposed also by Count Valerian Krasinski in his work "Panslavi.sm and Bangernnanism . " What the Slovaks really demanded was a federative solution. The Slovaks remained faithful to the idea of a fede rative solution of the Monarchy in the memorandum , pre sented to the Emperor in 1861, and aigailll at the Conigress of Na:tionaHties in Budrupest in 1867. At the second Congress of Nationa1ities, which took plruce August 10, 1895, in Budaipes't, despite ,persecutions, "the Rumanians, Serbs and Slova:ks, who assemlbled in Buda.pest, "wrote the Neue Freie Presse," dernand ,t he division of Hungary into ethnic self-administra iti;ve units, whreh in effect is equall to the demand to aJbol:ish the un.ion between Hungary and Tr.ainsylviania, to renew the Serbian Duchy and create a selfadmini,s trati:ve Slova:kia, suoh as Huriban (,leader of the 1 1 3) Dr. Mil an Hod za, IBIDEM, pp.208- 213. SLOVAKIA 3 1848 Slo'Vak rebellion - Author) promoted already thi•r ty years earlier" ( 4). This stand of the Slovaks, if we consider the Nuropean situation oif thaJt time and even the special position of the Slovaks, is readily understandaJble. Not only because the federalization olf the Habs!burg Monarchy, fearing Pangermanism, was the political program also of the Test of the nations of the Monarchy, except the Poles, but also because the rest of Europe was inclined toward this solution, considering the Habslburg Monarchy in its politics of "'balance of poiwer" as a factor of balance betiween Germany and Russia. In this policy, dictated primarily 'by fear of the Germans who called a congress to Frankfurt i:n 1:848 to attempt a union orf all Germans, the Czechs plruyed a leading part. Palacky's arguments and slogan "if AIU'stria did not exist, we would have to create it" gained the rest of the nations.who were satisfiied with the demand of a federalized empire. Even the Emperor seemed ·favo:rable to the idea as long as the danger lasted. "Th~ preservation of Austria, its integrity and solidification, is and must be the great and important concern not only of the Czech nation, but of the whole of Europe, nay of all hUJmanity and foreign lands," wrote Palacky to the Frankfurt Congress in 1848. In this regard Dr. Edward Benes wrote in 1908: "It is frequently spoken about the dissoluti-on of Austria. I aJbsolutely do not believe in it. The historical and economic ties, which mutua:lly u.nite the nations of Austria, are too strong to allow Austria to collaJP5e" (5). The rest of Europe, oif course, also feared Russia and its efforts to realize Panslavism as related by J . Danilevskij in his book "Russia and Europe" and by General Fadejev in his writings. "Slovanic nations," wrote Fadejev, "must try to attain two aims, that is, political and ~onomic development in their present homelands, and then a 4) Quoted from book DIE VEREINIGTEN STAATEN VON GROSSOESTER!RELCH, by Aurel Popovic!, Leipzig, 1906. 5) LE PROBLEME .ArTJTRIOHIEN ET LA QUESTION TCHEQUE, p. 307. ·4 SLOVAKIA closer union with the general Slovanic uni:on, whkh must be headed by Russia in international and military Tela. tions. Ea,ch of these Slovanic tribes needs a ruler for inter nal affairs and for the ·general interests of the great Slovanic Czar. Without the fulifiltlme:nt of these conditions self-admmistra.tion a:nd independence of the BaJikaJD. and Danube Slovak tr}bes is unthinka,ble" (6). Danilevskij, who pUlblished his boolk in 1871, also proposed a Russian-Slovanic confedemtion, in which would · be uni,ted all the Slova,nic people (Slavs) from the Adriatic to the Pacific under the leadershtp of Russia. In this situation, always feeling that it was thr~tened by Germany, France regarded the Habsbu:rg ffimpire as "the only barrier, sufficiently strong, at the beginning of the 20th century, whkh could discourage German a,mbi. tions the day when these would begin to threaten the European bafance," WTote Henry Rene (7). And France saw this balance threatened also by Russia, about whioh Th. Funk-Brentano wrote: "No longer is Rus:sia our ally, as it neither is for Germany or Austria, for England or Turkey : it has only one concern - to expand. It has only one ambition - to g,row. If it uses definite form s . besides, then it does so only to be better understood and allowed into the so-called European concern . . . We make offers to it and it · presents them to Berlin, w,hi'ch makes it a bett er oitlfer . .. Every alliance ls good thrut h elps it to exp.and. All other alliances are bad. It partakes in the divLsion of .s tates with the same ruthlessness with which it m a r ches to conquer them; it will reduce Poland and support · t he Balkans , because they are .Slovanic peoples, and it will annex · t he CJiinese, Turks, Armenians because they are not. That is Russia always . . . " (8). · Fear of Russia and Pamslavism, of which the Magyars and Ruma,nians were afraid and ·b y which the Polish · nation w1as stilf.led periodically, and the fear of the German "'Drang nach · Osten," forced the nations of Centi.·al Europe · -to seek a solution, which would expose it to the least -dangers. This solution they saw in a federalized Hrubsburg 6) Biresvija Vjedomosti; UVAHY O ORIENTA.LNEJ OT A.ZKE ; NEUESTE SCHRIFTEN, pgs.37-4 9. . 7) H enry Rene, . QUESTIONS D'AUTRICHE-HONGRIE ET . 'Q UESTIONIS D'ORIENT, Paris, 1903. 8) Th. .Funk-Brentano, LA POLITIQUE , PR·I NCIPES. ORI· .TIQUES, REFORMES. P.aris, 1892. SLOVAKIA 5 MonaTchy. As early as 1902 a representative of the Czech nation, one Oharles Kramaf, wTOte: "The wor1d does riot need a feeble, sickly Austria; only a strong, vigorous, interna!lly healthy Empiire can perform the all important task of keeping watch over the ba:lance of power in the world" (9). And Aurel C. Popovici, a Rumanian, WI'Orte a great woirk in 1906 in the defense of the e~istence of a federaliized HalbsJburg Monarchy under the title: Die Vereinigten Staaten von Gross-Oesterreich. Of course, this cry of the nations of the Halbsiburg Monarchy could find little SU!ppolit at the Royal Court, so the natioins constituting the Empire had to seek some other solution of theiir national problems, especially when the war whi-ch broke out in 1914 offered them an opportunity to do so. Furthermore, when the war ended, fear of Russia and Genmany, it was said, precluded the necessity of Austria, because Germany was defeaited, disarmed and "decrnilitar~zed," while Russia was in the throes of a politica:l and social revolution. Emerging from this situation, which the vrotorious a:llies somehow forgot to regard as transitory, the Peace Conference sanctioned the destruction of the Halbsbw,g Empire and the estaJblishment of national and nationaJi:stic states on its ruins. Centrnl Europe got a new face and a new OI1gani'zation on the basis of the right of self-determination of nations. But even this · new organization did not bring an end to fedemtional efforts , especiaHy not those of the Slovaks. II. FEDERALIZATION EFFORTS 1918-1945 The situation,· into whi-ch the Siovaks were forced after WorJd .War I, on the one hand, and the over-all situation of Central Europe in the period between the two wars, on the other, forced the Slovaks to continue their struggle for fedemlization: for a . federalization of Czecho-Slova:kia and simuitaneousiy also for -a federali,z ation of Central Europe. 9) NATIONAL REVIIDW, 1902. 6 S LOVAKIA In fact, 0zecho~Slovaikia was born on the basis of an aigreement between the Slova:ks and the Czechs that it woU!ld be a federart:ive state. In Cleveland Agreemelllt of 1915 and the Pittsburgh A!greement of 1918, the latter undersigned by T. G. Masaryk himself, t'hiJS was promised to the Slaviak:S. At the Peace Conference in 191'9 even Dr. Edward Benes promised this in the name of the 0zechoSlovak Gorvernment when he stated that "it is the intention of the Czecho-1Slovak Government to create the organization of the State ·b y accepting as a basis of natural rights the prindples aipplied in the constitution of the Swiss RelpUJblic, that is, to mrake the 0zecho;Slovak Republic a sort of Switzerland.... " (10). These agreements and commitments, however, were not rkept 1b y the Praigue government, which was dominated by the Czechs, and Czecho-1Slovakia became a centralistk state with apparent tendencies to assimHiate the non-Czech population, especiially the Slovaks on t'he basis of the artificia.Ny created conception of an ethnic "Czechoslovak" nation. - The eminent historian C. A. Macartney saw through the situation very clea11ly when he wrote: "The fact remains that the (Czech~Slova:k) government has been obliged more of:ten than not to rule Slovakia against the wishes of most of its inhabitants, maintaining itself only by the exipedienits of .restricting the powers of the .sellfgovernmg bodies to within the narrowest possilble limits, of filling the seats designated for "ex;perts" with its own nominees, and utilizi'Il!g. freely weapons of censorshi,p and po1i:ce supervision ... " About the economic policy of the Czech toward the S'1ovruks, the same author stated : "The richer (Ozech) firms bought up, or obtained control through holding barri!ks (notable the 2ivnostenska Ba'Il!ka) over the greater part of the Slovak establishments. The latter were thus left at the mel'cy of t'he owners in the Historic Lands (Bohemia), who worked them or closed them down as they pleased. Pro'balb.ly nearly one-third of all Slovak industries disaippeared in this way during the 10) Lloyd George, THE TRU TH ABOUT THE PEACE TREA· TIES, pg. 937 . SLOVAI\.IA 7 immediate postwar peri'Od, the heavy industries and textile factories beiing chiefly ruffe:cted" (11) . . . It was only natural, then, that the Slova;ks opposed the system whioh put them at such a great disadvaintage econooniically, politically and cultura:lly. The vast majority of Sllova1-cs, under the leadership of Andrew Hlinka and Martin Razus, demanded the fedemii zation od: Ozecho-Slovakia from the very begin~ing of its existence. 1 On J•a nua;ry 23, 1920, one of the foremost Slovak politicians, Deputy Dr. Ferdis Juriga, demanded the federalization of the OzeclhoJSlovak RepUiblic on the floor of the Pa:rliament with these words : "We must tend to decentralization, toward sel:f-1administra;tion, so that the Republic could develop on a federalistic basis, because federalism is the system of the future - We must preserve our individual1ity and not let ourselves be absoribed. Federalization is not only in the interest of our naition, and the OzechoSlova!k Repwblic, but also answers the spirit of all mankind. It is an ahl-hu:man tenderrcy, the tendency of all mankind, this tendency to validate oneself, develop, to which every individual person and every national unit should have the right, whkh should crystallize out into a [egal personality, so tha;t these various nations could then become federalized in one, great world re4)u'bliic. This would be the highest ideal and the path that leads to it is : federalism (12). 1 But the Ozechs, just like the Ha'bsburgs, would not accede to the detrnands of the Siovaks and the minorities while there still was time. The Slovaks, therefore, "reacted in the form of a fl a,m'boyant Slovax nationalism which was a main reason for the albsence of revo[t with which they accepted the dissolution of the Ozecho-1Slovak State" (13). 1 11) C. A. Macartney, HUNGARY AND HER SIUCCESSOBS, London, 1937; pgs. 145, 130. J 2) Karol Sador, SLOVENSK.A. POLITJ:KA NA P<>DE PR.A2SKEHO SNEMU, Vol. I, pg.69. 13) ,C. A . Mwcartney, PROBLEMS OF 'DRE DANUBE BASIN, London; p. 122. SLOVAKli. 8 Between 1918 and 1945, there were evident tendencies among the Slovaks for the creation of a federated Central ffiurope. The organimti{)IIl, whiich was given t!his area by the pea>ce treaties, soon proved to lbe unsatisfactory economically and poilitioolly. On the OIIle hand, the principle of the right of self--determination was valida,,ted only :parti•a lly and as a consequen!ce the several nations of Central EurO!pe awaited only the opporlunity ~o alter the given situation. States like Czecho-Slovakia or Yugoslavia, made up of several nations and minorities, resembled old Austria.JHungary sitructurally, and soon enough their unjust policies toward t'he national minorities caused distrust and revisionism and excluded harmonious cooperation in Central Europe. On May 8, 1919, Rdbert Lam.sing, Secretary of State of tJhe United States, had this to say a!bout this new organiizati'on : "Examine the Treaty and you •wiU find peoples delivered agaill.8t their wills into t,he hands of those whom they hate... Resentment and bitterness, if not desperation, are 'bound to be the oonsequen<:es oof such provisions . It may be years ·b efore these oppressed pooples are able to tih<row otif their yoke, 1but as wre as day follows night the time will eome when they will make the effort" (14). On the other hiand, the dissolution of the economic crises, especial'ly in the accession states. T,he period between 1918 and 1938 wa,,s one of constant seeking of a ·r eorgaruzaition of Central Europe into a harmonious econo.m.ic and political whole. The Little Ein.tente, estalblished in 1920, Hiantos',s plan in 1925, Tardieu's plan in 1932, the Danulbe ·Paict in 1935 and Hodza's fiTst plan in 1936, to note at least t'he better we11 known plans, all of these in sUJbstan>ce had but o~e purpose: to create in an acceptable form such an organization in Central Europe whi1ch would hasve the adivanrtaiges of former Austria-Hungary, 'but would lack al[ its politica;l and social .shortcomings. Preserving the nationaJl states and democratm regimes, the economic arising from the partition of the Danube area were to •b e .removed by a system of alHances. Thus would lb e removed the tense atmosphere whi'c h reigned in this region and provoked neighboring powers to acts of aggression. 1 14) THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS, London, 1921; p. 245. SLOVAKIA t Naturally, aU these plans and endeavors, including the Little Entente, resulted primarily !because of economiic condiitions; and their aim was not indi,c,ated as an effort to create a Centra:1-Euiropean Federation. This ,t hought, however, was deeply rooted in the minds of political leaders, even Dr. Edwaro Benes himself. A'1ways fearing the loss Otf the political and economic role which Ozecho-Slova:kia was playing, Dr. Edward Benes fought against every plan to unite Cenitra:l IDurape, 'but in 1936 he admiltted that "the plan of a Danube Federation is t!he widely propagated and best known conception proposed as a solution Otf the Austxian and Centro-European pro'blem." The reasons why this solution was not realized -w ere, according to Benes, "much more of a sentimental, psychologicrul and mora:1 nature than of a political and economic nature" (15) . 1 At , the end of the first World War, Dr. Stephen Osusky, foreimost representative of the Slovaks at that time on the side of the Entente, wrote a lb,o ok in F,renc'h, 1n whielh we find these words: "The defenders Otf AttstriaHunga:ry, in foreign lands as well as in the interior Otf the dual Monarchy, are aJCting very Hlog,rcaMy. They are very much for the 1ilberation of Poland, !b ut do not want to allow the ltberation of the remaining nations. Let us liberate all nations who wrunt to 'b e free, allowing them to create their own independent states, and we shall fulfill one of the tasks confronting us. Fav,o ring then the approchement of great Poland, whielh shall have access to the Ba:ltic Sea in Danzig, Rumania and the land$ of Czecho-Slova!kia, on the one hand, and Ukrainia, to which we must give serious thoug,ht, on the other hand, a ,powerful federation of free states will be created in the nor,th (of Central Europe)" (16). In the southern part of this area, Osus.ky proposed to support efforts to create a federation of .Southern Slavs, (15) LE PROBLEME DE L'EUROPE CENTIRALE: p.' 47, Sources et documents tchecoslovaques, No. 24. 16) Stephen Osuslky, ClJOPIN, MAGY:ARff ET ~4-NGERM.NNISTIDS, Paris, 1918. SLOVAKIA 10 after the realiizaition of which, "we shall on'1y have to connect these two federaitioins with a bridge which once existed but collapsed under the blow of historic events. T,hiu:s would come to an end the Orang nach Osten, to German a:ggression to the ffiast, and Europe and the world could work in peaJCe" (17). The plan, however, was Oipposed by T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes. Another Sllovaik, Dr. Milan Hod'za, came forth with a d:irfferent plan, the so-called "Danube Plan." Fkst as Minister of Agriculture , later as Premier of the Ozecho-iSlo<vak Governmen t, Dr. Hodza endeavored to develop cooperation between the Central Eruropean nations and the consolidation of the oconomic situation in this pa1t of Europe- The climax of these endeavors was his "Danu!be Plan," which aimed to create, ·aJccording to Hodza's own words, "one single, great economic urut in Central Europe." This was to be attained by removing tariff ba.roiers and establishing a customs union, regu1'atmg agriculture and industrial production, reorganizin g the system of payments and transportation, etc. (18). The first steps in this dirootion were already made in 1937 by treaJties conduded between the indwidu.ail Danulbfan States and Bulgaria. Hodm's initiatiive found understand ing both in France and ffingla.nd, but Gemnany and Italy opposed it, thinking the plan was aimed against their influence in Central Europe, nay that it was an "effort to surround Germany," a:s the Germian press e,cpressed it. The plan failed not only 'beca;use orf this opposition, but also because of the crisis which began to aippear within the framework of the Little Entente and the developmen t of an inter-natioD.ial situation which tended in the opposite direction. The politico-mil itary actions of nationaHy socialist Germany and Mussolini's ltaly began to have far-reachim.g i:nd:iluenice on the whole of EUTope, but the most marked consequenc es began to appeax in Central and Souithea:stern Europe. Yugoslavia was 17) A. Ohervin, L'AUTRIOHE ET LA HONGRIE DE DE- MAIN, Paris, 1915. 18) Dr. Milan Hodza, i;,JDDERATI-ON IN CENTRAL EUROPE, pgs. 131-133. SLOVAKIA 11 the first to suffer the consequences froim the cha.rnged situation and, with Stojadinovic leading it, began to look toward Berlin. Mter a;n internal crisis and a change of governments, Rum-ani•a a'lso ibeca:m.e equaJil.y uncertain. The Little filntente, w'hioh •w as considered the pillar and guarantor of the OTder, created by pea:ce aigreements, went headlong into ruin. lit crashed even •b efore the Germans began their march into the DanuJbe basin and oould not prevent the colla;pse of the order built up in 1918, nor the political and economical hegemony of Hitler's Germany. UndoulbtecNy, the rea;sons for the collapse of the European system and, therefore, also of the Cenltral-European organization, were many- But it ca11!Ilot be denied that Hitler's plans and ructions in the Danube basin were suJbstantially facilitated by the political and economic conditions which governed there after 1918. Oonsequeinitly, the discontented nations, as predicted :ey Lansing, iif they did not work to overthrow that system, as did Hungary and Austria, then they certainly were not willing in the least to defend it, as was the case with c~echo-Slovatkiia a111d Yugoslavia. The dissolution of Czecho~Slova1kia was in fact caused by the German minoriity, as even Dr. Benes stated, because : In Munioh Czecho..:Slovakia was fatally wounded from the outside. " Munich, however, meant much more tha:n thaJt. "It opened the way along the Danulbe all the way to the Blacik Sea to German expamsion," as Winston Churchill said in the British Parliament O'l1 Oct. 5, 1938. Munich meant the end of the European system ,b uilt up by the •peace treaties of 19181920 and installed in Central Europe a Germ.an- Italian Russian co-dominiOIIl whioh, even though it did not last long, did bring new elements into the organization of the CentralEuropean area. Germany was in its politics consistent and adroit, and thus "milita;ry might, dwplomacy, propaganda and the feeling of helplessness before the preponderance of their neighbors, as well as the economic interests, were the causes of the voluntary or forced subordination of the Danulbian 12 SL0VAKlA nations, their new political orientation and cooperation with the Axis," says Graham Hutton (19). "•I n Belgrade, Bucharest and naturally in Sophia, kings and princes did not trust international obligations of collective security. They fuought tha,t every state must endeavor by its own means to serve the peace of all, buit t hat its first task ls to preserve its own peace" (20). And what 'hruppened in Prague was nothing else but what Dr. Benes had already told Minister Sfona in 1936: "If they (the French) aJbandon us without helping us in ·the face of German threats, we shall suI1prise the world by the limitless possilbilities of servility toward Berlin" (21) . This dissolution of the Versailles organization by German policies, whiich endeavored to make of this region a German "lebensraum," forced the representatives of the Central-European nations to return to the efforts to create a Cenitral-European federation, or confederation. A federalistic solution of Central-European problems seemed to be the only strong solution especial1.y when Gerniainy and Russia, with the pact of August 23, 1939, temporarily shared government over Central and Southeastern Europe, annexing territories, nay, even whole states and esta/t,lishing a dictatorship over them. In that situation even the most bigoted enemies of federalistic endeavors of Centr.a:l-Europe in the period between the two wars, politicians who ",p referred to see Hitler in Vienna than the Habsburgs," returned to the idea of creating a great federative unit in Central Europe after the end of the war. The Soviet-German Pact convinced even the nations, which in an effort to hold their own advantageous position in Central Europe wished its partition, that their own security, nay even their own existence in fact, could be guaranteed oltly by an intimate union of all the Central European nations. 19) Graihaim Hutton, LES NOUVEAUX DES'DINS DU DANiUBE, Paris, 1939. . 20) Gregoke Gafencu, DERNIERS J0URS DE L'EU'R0PE, p. 105. 21) Comte Sforza, ILLUS IONS ET REALITES DE L'EUR0PE, Neuch-atel 1944; p. 196. SLOVAKIA 13 Russia, wrote Gregoire, "revea~ed her face, which had nothlng encouragin g either fur her neig1hlbors or for a peaceful order of the world. The Moscow aigreement unmasked the Soviet Union, in whrch the cult of might and the practice of dou!ble..dealing so strikingly reminded one of the times of Catherine the Great ,a nd the ooarrs of the past centuries. 'It seemed that she obeys the ancient and mighty impulses, siimilrur to those, which drove the Gennan masses in the opposite direction, to the East. But the Russian aggression was at the same time more corufusilng and mysterious. Opposing every .Umitation not because the area which this aggression included was too narrow, lbut conversely beca,use the concepti:on of borders is alien to the nature of Russia" (22). It was, therefore, only natural, that in such a situation the plans of l.lIWying Central Europe on a federalistic basis were again revived and that together . with t!he representativ es of other Central-EUTdpeain nations the Slovvaks - those who fought on the side of the Mlies, as well as the political representat ives who remained at home will:ih the people and sought to lead it into •postwar Europe with as little loss as possible - endeavored to realize a federated Central Europe. On the side of the AUies, it was especiaAly the Slovak political group led by Dr. M. Hodfa and Peter Pridavo~, which led an open strwg,gle for these conceptions . In his book "Federatio n in Central Europe" H~a writes that already in Jainuary 1940 Slovalk political emigrants had come to an understand ing that they wowld endeavor to create a Central-Eu ropean federation. The fotliildation of this federation was to be the union between Poland, the Czech. lands and Slovakia. On January 23, 1942, there wais such an agreement cone'luded between the Polish and Czecho-Slovak g(?vemmen ts with the __ jntention that it wouJd be. the nudeu:s of a great Central-Eu ropean £-Oll22) Gregoire Gafeneu, PRELIMINA,:fRES DE LA -, GUERRE A L'EST, Fri-bourg, 1944. 1-4 SLOVAKIA federation. Matters common to all were to be foreign, military, economic, social and furancial affairs, as weH as transportation, communications and the postaJl. service (23). Milan Hod'za's book, published in 1942, contained all the more serious reasO!I1s for a federated Central IDuroipe. "WaT event'S in Central Europe," wrote Hodza, "dhviously fully vindi<:ate the idea <Yf a solidly org,anized futuTe cooperatron <Yf ahl those eight States whicih aTe placed in complete geogrruphic coherenice between Russia, Germany amd Irtaily. A federali.lzed Centrall Europe is one of the absolute necessi-ties of a new postwaT order." In the preface <Yf his >book, Hodza te1ls us that the Oentral-EuTopean federation should be composed of four Sl'O'Vainic and four non"Slovanic nations, which should £ind a new, great and sohd foundation for their own national lilfe, keeping in balance all possi!ble ra;cial and imperialistic aspirations in the broad territory, the consolidated system of whioh is to be the strongest contribution to the new arraingement of Europe. The federation proposed 1b y Hodza was supposed to rest on a customs union. Fina<n:ces, trade policies, foreign ·p olicy, defense, communioations were to be managed jointly. The p1'am also called for a Ministry of Federal Law 8Jlld a Ministry <Yf Trade Unions and Professional Associations. Altogether there were to be eight commQ!Il. ministries, forming the federal government, which would be headed by a chancellor appoiinted by the president af the federation. In the central goverrunent all the nations were to ·b e represented by ministers without 1portfolio. Ministers with pol'tfOllfo were to perform their functiooo in cooperation with the state secretaries representing all.I the federated nations. The president was to be elected first by the presidents of the national governments, then 1b y the congress of the federation for a period of one yeaT. The memlbers af congress were to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the national parliaments in the proportion of 23) F.r om the French text of the Treaty in the Stoc![,holm review L'AVENIR, Vol. 1, No. 2. SLOVAKIA one memlber for a million inhaib1tants. The ministers oif the federation, under the plan, could not be deputies of oongress. The solution ,p roposed iby Hod.fa would ha,v e a twofold advantage, wrote the "Voix des Peuples," the Swiss politicail review (Oct- 1944): "it would minimize the natio-nal antagonisms and would recreate the harmonius economic area, which !benefited Centrrul Europe before 1914. The sOilution, therefore, seems to be the wisest, because it is most advantageous for all the nations concerned." A positive stand to Hodfa's prnposal, on the assumption that SlO'Vlrukii:a iin the Europe confederation would figure as an ind~vidual member state, was truken by the main political o!I1gan in Slorva!kia, the "Slovfuk" (24), and in the Vatican diplomatic circles the interpreter of federalistic sqova,,k efforts was Ambassador Karol Sidor. At the beginniing af 1944, Dr. Ferdinand :Du11cansiky, university professoir and the first Fm·eign Minister of the Slovak Repulblic, published a technical study albout the problem of Centrail Euro;pe. The study ap:peaTed in the "Revue de droiit international, de sciences diplomatiques et politiques" (~fil annee, No. 1), putb lished in Gene,va. The status Which prevailed m Central Euro;pe up to 1938, led :Duvcansky to the log,i10al conclusion that a new Central Euro1p e must be orgaJnized on other fQ!Ulld:ations than those ()If 1'918 or those ruifteir that time; it must be organi:zed on the basis ()If coope:riation of the (Je,ntra!l-European niations and their equality. "We can imagine theoretically a cooperiati'On of the nations of Central Europe," wrote :DUTCam;ky, "either in a form of completely independent states, or in a form ()If close, mutual relation in a t.mrion of states. This cooperatiion would be directed by interna.tiona1 a:greement, or by a manner of federation in which every state would have •a special position defined by law." Campiete independence is, according .to :Dur1can:Sky, UJildou!btedly t!he most ad\.'amtageous. With regaro to the 1 24) Dr. Joseph Kirs:chlbaum, HODZ0V PLAN S'l'RED0-EUROPSKEJ F'EDERAOIE, article in tth e SLOVAK, Aug. 20, 1944. }6 SLOVAKIA ciromnsta:nce that the majority of the Central-European nations, as far as their number and the exitent of their territories, are small nations, this coU!ld mean, said Durcansky, certain dangers. Furthermore, tendencies to limit the sovereignty of small[ nations, endeavors to create laxge eoonomiJC units, the result of technical development and experience from previous wars that sma:ller nations could not defend their independence rb y being neutral - all these led to tlle creation of larger units. :Dutcansky continues: "From these motives there is talk aJbout more active cooperation which ought to guar-amtee lasting peace aind a greater prosperity- This cooperation cannot overstep the framework of a confederation the cooperation 'between independent states diirected by norms of international law. This solution gives guarantees of independence and freedom to the nations of CentralEurope, enaJbles a s01lurti:on of incidental disputes which could arise between the individual states of the confederation and, on the other hand, could defend Central IDurope against external attacks." WthaJt are the arguments 3/gain.st the federation of Central Europe? :Duircainsky points ~mt that ail such arguments rest on the psychologica:l situation in Central-Euroipe, the prejudices emanating from the past and the tendencies of certain nations to renew their former status. The development of war events, however, did not respect the federalistic tendencies of Central-European nations as much as it did during the first World War. Desp~¼ the P-01ish-OzechJSlovak Agreement, despite the positive stand of influential Anglo~Saxon circles and despite tlle general conviction (25) that the Central-European prgaLD!ization created in 191'8 was aib,solutely unsatisfact,:ory _, :t9-r,, ~h~ majority of Centra,l-European nations, as it also ·was for the rest of Europe, nevertheless at the end of 25) What the indivrldual Centra)-Europel).n na.tions thought Stojan Pribil!evil!, about federating Central Europe is told by: WORLD WITHOUT END, New York, 1939; Edmoll'd Demaltre in the review 1/A:VENIR; Gr. Gl\,fencu, PRElJIMlNAIRES DE LA GUERRE A L'EST; ~ - A. Mccartney; PROBLEMS OF THE DANUBE BASIN. SLOVAKIA 17 the war the very same states were renewed in their old forms, excepting maimed Poland and a smaller OzechoSlova:kia. The Altlantic Charter, the Charter of the United Nations, the natural rilght of every nation to its own state and the solemn prooLa.matioos of the waT years were qu'i.okly forgotten or e:,opediently a:bandoned. Furt:!hernnore, the dei1icate prolb'lem of the minorities began to lbe solved in a manner which was supported by the momenitary situation, in its co1I1Sequences, however, it ibroUJght new da:ngers for the Central-Ell.lropean area and ther~y for the whole of Europe. We are all witnesses of this today. The policy of the Soviet Union towaTd the n81tions of Central Euroipe and, therefore, feder81tiorral efforts did not die out even after World War II. m. THE PRESENT STRUGGLE OF THE SLOVAKS FOR A COMMONWEALTH OF CENTRAL-EUROPEAN NATIONS In 1945 Slova;kiia was occwpied by ,b oth the Russians and the Czechs, and the Communist-dOlminated regime installed there with the help of Moscow and Pr.ague reached to the very roots O!f the existence O!f the Slavalk nation. This irirefotaible fact has led the S1ov,a;k!s to fight uncompromisingly· from the very end of World War II :foT the liberation of Central Europe from alien hegemony rund for its federaJlirza:tion. The representatives O!f the Slovak nation are firmly convinced tha:t Central Europerun nations, if they do not waint to live under the hegemony of the one or the other otf their strong neig1hlbor,s, must unite in a larger · economic am.d stra:tegic unit. There i's no other solution. The entire politica1 and social development of Central EJurope from 1848 coofi:rnns this conclusfon. International policy, as well as the .p olfoy of individUJa1 1powers, is gu~ded by definilte coootants and lastinrg interests wihlch have Olll,tlived and shall out1we all changes o,f regimes. 'Dha:t is why today, just as in the past century, the CentraJl-IDuropeain nations must rookoo with the revival O!f German expansioo, 18 SLOVAKIA: which can change only its forms but not its aims, just as, on the other ham.d, Russi an JmperiaHsm haiS not changed and no regime will ever change it. The object of the expansionist endeavorrs of Russia and Gemniany is Central Europe, because of its geographical position and ethnic composition. These two powers have attaJdked each other for centuries for the control of the Centra~-Eumpeam nations. With the passage of centuries only the forms and pretenses of their imperiaJlism have changed. Pam.-Gerimanism and Pam-1Sllavism a1way:s followed and will follow the very sa:me pur,pose, and the only defense ,a grumst them is the unification of the Central-EJuropean nations on the basis of equality. ThaJt is the lesson of history. On the other hand, the experience of the ipast thirty years have proved that the system, which prevailed in Central and Eastern Europe s-ince 1918 and was again reestablished in 1945 by committing the very same mistakes, cotcld not giuai-antee Europe pea:ce and stalbNity, a:nd to the nations 'between Russia and Germany it could guarantee neither economic prosperity, nor security and freedom . ThUIS it hruppened that with the first blow of German imperiail~sm in 1938, as welil as a result of expansion of the Soviet Uni-on, the system succumbed, and with its downfall Ewrope and the wodd hruve boon thmst into dangerous crises, of whi:ch the first ended in war and the seoond threatoos with war. At the end of both waris, the nations of Central Europe were forced under regimes of terror, which were alien and hostile to the most fundamental cultur~d, po1i,tiical, economi:c and sociaiJ. traditions of all the CentraJl~Eurropeain natiions, who a.Te deeply devoted to the prindples of democr8Jcy and Christianity, the two concepts which are in prJndp1e at odds with both Nazism and materialistri1c OomJmunism. • 1 'I"housamds of Slov,ruk emigrants in Europe and elsewhere, am.d over a million Americruns of Slovak descent, have, therrefore, ,p roclaimed themselves since 194'5 for such a demooratic concepUon of a new Europe which would remove the o1d shortcomings of Europe, and especially of SLOVAKIA 19 Central Europe, and would rest on the principle of equality of au nations alild be united in a federative uni'on. The organiization of Central and Eastern Europe, as it has proved thusfar, could not fulfill its mission orf strength against imperialism which has threatened the pea:.ce of Europe for Centuries, but conversely, it even facilitated the victory orf these imperirulismsThe weakest part of this organization was CzechoSlovakia, a heterogenous amd polyglotic state, which gave an OipipOrlU'lle excuse to ,the · Third Reich for its expansion and, on the other hand, made cooperation impossible with other Central Euiropean nations, because the millions of inhrubitants of the minorities which were included a:gainst their will into the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Instead of strength against the "Drang nach Osten," the Czecho-Slovak Repwblic became in 191'8 the gateway for the German march into the Dam.Iibe Basin, a,nd in 1945 the bridge 01Ver which the Russian-Bolshevist expainsion penetrated into the very heart of Europe without any resistence. A new orga:nization of Central Europe is therefore, according to the v,i ews orf the representatives of the Slovak emigiration, rubsoiutely ne<:essary not only in the interest of CentraiJ.-Euroipean nations, but also, and in the very first ¢ace, in the interest oif the security orf Euroipe and the peace of the world. We rememib er that both world conflrugrations broke out in this a:rea. Until the extensive region between Germany and Russia is organized on a new basis, gua1ramteeing justice, equality and freedom to every nation, Europe cannot have secured its security and prosperity. Aggression of imperialism , tending to dominaite Central Euro-pe, and then the whole of Euro,pe, could again be facilitated, nay aggressors could even find opportune pretenses and allies, if any one of the Central-European nations were wronged and forced under the rule od' another. The poHticai and economic development from the end of World War I has made the nations of Central Europe conscious enough orf the fact that a more pernnanent SLOVAKIA !O and solid organization of this region demands that the r1ght to freedom and independence of every nation living there 'be recognired and respected. Being aiware of all this, the Slovak Lerugue of America, in the name of Americans of Slovak descent, as well as in the name of the Slovialk natioo, decl~re.d at its Congress in Oleve1and, Ohio, on Octdber 21, 1947, that "ibasicaliy it welcomes the idea of a federative union of the European nations." It was especially in agreement wiilth the thought of a fedei,aitive uni:on of the centra.1-IDuropean states, in which the nations of that part of Europe would find the prerequj.1s ities for peaceful coha/bitation, fruitful cooperation and effeicti.Jve defense of their individual and ool.lective interests. Of cou.rise, American Slovaks were for such an arrangement of Central Europe on the supposition that "the internal life of the indi,viduial member states amd their mu~ua.1 relationshi p ibe bui!l.t on the Christian principles of true democracy, mutual respect and solidarity," and if among the member states of this federation will be included "also Slovakia as an indrivid'l.Jlal , state, as an equiivalent state, as an equi,v alent and equal member." Slovak em~grants in Europe and elsewhere stand back of the same conceptions. They have so e~pressed themselves in numerous memoranda addressed to the Pe~e Conference, the United Nations, ind:ividua1l governments and to the represenitaltives of the various emigrant groups of the nations from behind the Iron Curtain. The Slovak nation never was am aggressor or imperi·a!list nation; it seeks nothing that does not rilghtfolly belong to it, and nothmg more than every naJtion, however large or small, has an inherent rig'hrt to .seek. The 'S lovaks are a deeply religious and democ-rati'c people, ruble and willing to cooperate with ·au nations of Europe who are determined to wipe out the pl,a gue oif Oommunism and fight for the freedom and independence of allil nati·ons. 1 It is, therefore, onl,y na,1:,ural that the representatiives of all the nations behintl the Iiron Curtain in emigration, among them aJlso Slo,va!k effii.gram.ts, are for the .remo,val SLOVAKIA 21 of the organizations and regimes of terror which call themsclves "1p eople's democracies." Just as the hitherto unhealthy arralillgement clid not satisfy the needs of the Central-European nations - .one in which practreally hailf the nations of Central Europe did not attain the valid!aition of the right of selrf-detevmination - just so· the system of totali1:arian ":people's democracies" does not satisfy and ,is not in aocord with the traditions of these nations. The ,p olitical and social chaniges, effected iby the 30year economic and socia!l development in t'his region of Europe, whether in regard to the spreaJd oif cidization among the broad masses, or in the social structure, chang~ ed the features <if Cenitral Europe to such an extent that in the future onily true demooracy, extended to the e{!onomic field as ,well, can b.e the system which woU!ld satisfy the · mentality, the spiritual foundiaition and the social needs of t'he natio!IllS of Central Europe. Ainy other system than the democratic, especially the totalitarian system of the " 1people's democracies," is opposed to the most basic mOTal and poiitioail traditi'ons of these countries and, therefore, could be instaJ11ed only ,b y force and maintained only br terror. The freedom of Europe, however, cannot be · Se{!Ured as long as one half of it is under a government of tert01r. On the other hand, the ipeaice of ' Etl!iope and , tbe world cannot be secured as long as Centra1 ·: Europe _i,'s not free and tmi.ted :in sUJCh a manner that '-'it ' could cfufend its own freedom and security .and thereby , also the seciirity of Eumpe Thi,s ios ipossible only if a United Staites of Central Euro,p e be:c~mes a reality in one foT-m or another, Hugh Seton-W:atson, in the int,vodUJCtion of his book "Eiastem Europe Between the Wars," stressed this point when he wrote: "IndividuaLEastern countries ·o.fifer ·interesting fields of study to the speda,list, but are · of smaJ.l importance in world politics. But the Eastern · European proiblem, the problem of the hundred millions,· is· one :of •the ma,jor problems of oor age. Each of the peoiples of ffiaJstern Europe must enjoy liiberty aind self-government if unrest is to be aivoided."  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 Slovakia and Central European Federation Plans Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 3, No. 1 (6), April 1953 pp. 1-21 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 April 1953 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d34ef8d9b1e14db214783cae3b9d29e9.pdf 9f5488907155635d54a32238029997c0 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA THE CASE OF DR. HUBERT RIPKA AND COMPANY Joseph K~rschbaum, M,A., LL.D. Early in February orf this year. Senator William E. Jenner's Committee !began to investigate se:veraJ Cze<!h politicians and their SlOIVaJk hirelings (br. Ruibert Ripka, Dr. Ferdinand Peroutka, Dr. Peter Zenlkl, Dr. J ose,ph Let.trich, General Nicholas Feriencik) who collatbomted wiitJh Communism and were granted asy1wm ·a nd aid by the administration oif President Hiarry Truman: The iillvesti:gatiion was initiated in the interests of American democracy and the security of .the United States of America. Anglo...Saxon law, however, protects the accused and the suspect until a verd!ict is rendered and, therefore, no one on the Slov,ak side has thus far taJken · a meritorious position, even though the SlovaJk nation ,p aid and is stiU .paying heavily in blood and suffering for the politics of the Czech and so-.called "Czechoslovak" CO'llaJboraitOTs with Communism now being investigated. The investi,gaJtion is not as yet completed, and it can happen that for various reaso1I1s it may not b_e completed in such a m·a nner as would ·be demanded by truth and justice. In the first place, we are here concerned with a .poHtical committee and the evidence of facts after some 10-12 yea·r s is quite 'buvdensome. In the second plaJce, many political circles, new,spa;pers. and or1ganimations in the demooratic world are and wiU 1~ interested in defending the 0zech collalborators, because all fellow-travelers and cry,pto-Communists wiill thereby deifend their own policies and themselves. The following remarks concerning the case of Hulbert Ripka· and Coonpan~ are not a result of the investigation of the Senate SU:b-<Committee, nor do they in any way consider what the eventual result might ib.e. Dr. Hulbert Ripka himself, conscious of his own "mistakes" and not altogether governed by the mofal prindp.le that "the hest deifense is offense," d!id not wait for .the resll!lt of the investigation, as every serious person would do, but attacked his a0cusers, waning: I cOiffiplain, I oigject. Ordinarily we wou,l d not expect this from a 60-year-old politician. The remariks t'hat foHow refer to t:Jhis 1 �SLOVAKIA 5 complaint of Dr. Ripka and his altlies in whose na;me Dr. Rrpka speaks. The Psychological Errors of Ripka's Defense The very fad that Dr. Riipka considered it necessary to complain iaJbout hiis accusers 1publ icly must girve the impression to ervery legally and politica!My minded person that Dr. Riipka is not certain albout his ow11 innocence and, therefore, resorted to hysteri'ca1 spasms before the resul..ts of the investigation were made kno1W11. The manner of his public defense and ang,r y tone, as well as the badly selec,ted vooa1bulary of Dr. Rip:k,a in his series of articles .pU!blished in the NiEW YORKSKY DENN1K f!rom March 12th of this year, necessarily leads us to the conclusion that some/body stepped on the corns of Dr. Ripka and his fsociates.. Dr. Ripka made it quite dbvious that the co·r n huH:s, and he and his associates are afraid of having it operated on. 1 This, however, undoulb,t edl,y wu.H not sur.pTise any decent person, who is acquainted with the actual situation in the Gzecho-Sl{)!Vruk Repulblic after 194.5 and wu.th the politics of the aocused Ozech aifd "Ozechoslovatk" collaJborators with Oommunism, as much as the fa'Ct that heire we hruve a man who so scandra:lously defends himself aigainst accusations of politi'cal collalboration, lbut who voted with both hands to hang ,p oliticians who eiven "might have" collalborated and with far less catastrophic consequences than in the case of Dr. Rtpka and his associates. The Sloivak ,p oliticians, who saived their nation from suffering and possible caitastrophy and cairried out the state rewolution with a song on their lips, were not resiponsi/ble foir a single verdict of death for politi:ca:l reasons while they g01Verned. How did they fare during the reign of DT. Rip!ka and his a;SSociates? They were hung and shot and tortured witho,wt mercy and without regard to rig,ht and justice for "all.eged" collaJbomtion. Nay, the verofoits were already rendered by the Ozech exiles in London without investigation and trial. Yet, this same Dr. Ripka, who sent people to the g•allows, feels highly inswted and thiniks that he is unjustly treated by the very faot th11it somebody had dared to ask him what the conditions were in Ozec'ho-Slova;kia while he �(j SI. OV AKT A and his associates were memibers of the "National Front" Government there and why that country was surrende,r ed to Moscow without a fight. Instead of exiplaining calmly and objectively and, incidentally, uttering "mea oulipa" and pointing out extenuating circUlffis1Jances, 1because only these will be considered, Dr. Hulbert Riplka insolently attacked his accusers and the victims of his politics in the effort to weaken the accusation and diivert attention to events which had little or nothing in common with the investigation of the Senate COIIlllrn.ittee of the United States. PsyohologicaHy - and in politics psychological moments are not without significance - Dr. R•i pka b.egan his defense very amk!war<ily. Lt was "a very wrong approach" to the delicate question of collaJboration in ipolitics. Let us, however, leave the realm of psycholo,g y and see at least cursorily how the case looks from the angle of political and legal argiuments. Political Falsehoods and Half-Truths Dr. Ripka rests his defense on several politicai falsehoods and half--truths, assuming that "Ameri:cans, with the exception of a few experts, cannot knoiw the comp1ex problems of Central EurO!pe," as he himself stated it. The main lies resorted to 'by Ripka are the following: 1. that the whole (Ozechos;Jo1vruk) nation wa:s for an alliance with the USSR during the war; 2. that the treaty of Dr. Benes with Moscow (December 12, 1943) was concluded to save Sl01ViaJkfa; 3. that the A.Hies had wanted a Soviet-Czech treaty in 1943. In the first instance, we are concerned with such an apparent lie that we must seriously question the fact that Dr. Ripka, a learned politician, can so daringly state such an exposed untruth in the face of thousands of Czechs and Sfovaks. The fad is that, for example, in Slovakia - in whose name Ripka presumes to spealk - up to the time of the OzechoJSoviet treaty, both the Communists and those accused with Ripka today (Ur. Lettrich and Gen. Feriencik) were practically inactive in politics. It was only after the treaty of Dr. Benes with Stalin that the so-ealled "Slovak underground" - the Communists and their collabora- �SLOVAKIA i tors from the "Ozechoslova;k" camp - met for the first time and on the basis of the treaty decided in Moscow to undertake political action for the renewal of Ozecho-.Slo ,,akia. It seems that Dr. Ri,pka depends entirely too much on the "ignorance " of Americans when he a1btempts to deny such evident facts. He pretends that he has forgotten that the governmen t, in which he occupied such an eminent position, had jailed and sentenced to death thousands and thousands of ,people in Sloivakia and the Czech lands, that it dispossessed and disfranchis ed them only /because they were against Moscow and CommuniS1In; that the governmen t of which Ripka was a part deported over three million Germans in a ba.zfuaTic manner aJlso beicause they rather looked to Germany than to Russia, and that it deported even the Magyars for collaiborating with the Germans. Now, then, where was this "whole nation" which Ripka spoke of? In this case we can understand "nation" in the political sense oi Anglo.Saxo n terminolog y and, consequent ly, must include the entire population of the Ozecho-Slo.vak Repulblic, because otherwise in the Ozech~lov aJk Repulblic there are and were at least two nations already even at the time the London governmen t of Dr. Benes concluded the Czecho-Sov iet Treaty. 2. The weakest argument of a political nature offered for the co.llalboration of the Czech ,p oliticians with Moscow is the statement that the Czecho-&wieit Treaty of 1943 was concluded "to save Slovailria." '.Dhis is not only a lie, but a political rubsurdity, especially in the veraion of Dr. Hulbert Ri,p ka. At the time when the Czech exiles, headed 'by Dr. Edward Benes, concluded their treaty with Moscow, there were no SlovaJk Communis ts in Moscow who could have had "sepa.ratist ic tendencies, " nay, there were :no significant SloV1ak Communis ts there at aJI. The leader of the Slovak Communist s, Dr. Vladimir Clementis, was Dr. Benes's man in London and the rest of the Slovruk Communist s, outside of one or two exceptions, li'Ved comfortabl y in Slovakia. Dr. Ripka knowingly uses the argument which could be applied cum grano salis to the events of 1944 and later, �SLOVAKIA when Slovaik Communists manifested tendencies for independence, because they saw no reason why the Czechs should rule over S10!Vl8Jk,ia (Dr. Nemec, the governmoot delegate), when Slwruk blood was !being spilled the:re, while in the Czech lands the people, taiking council from the London government of Benes, were even afraid to speak out so that they mi ght not anger the Germa:ris. At this time it is bloody irony to ta1k a'bout "saNing Slovalkia," whkh without the interference orf Dr. Ripka and his associates would have come out of the war either as Finland did, or in the worst case as Hungary did, which would haNe been !better for the Slovak nation from every point oif 'View than the position which ·r esulted from the Ozecho-Soviet Treaty. Slovakia was plundered so thoroughly and Silo1Vak women and girls were brutally ravaged by the Russian hordes as if no treaty had existed at all. And thus it was that amti-Commun ists were hung, shot and jailed in Slo,valkia. To this ibolshevik vengeance and inhumanity was added also the revenge of the Ozechs, ait times, proved wo,r se than the excesses of the bar'baria.n Reds. Then SlovaJkia was also plundered economically by Prague. 1 If Dr. Riipka and his asso.ciates maintain that they rendered the Czechs and the SlOIV'aJks a seirivice by delaying the bolsheivization of Czecho-Slwaik ia with the:i.r treaty (which we seriously doulbt), then it is apparent that Ripka '8Jlld Coonpany would like us to forget how many people perished and are still perishing ~ause they believed the false and n.ruive the sis aJbouit the independeince oif the Ozecho~Slovak Republic and therefore, came out openl;y- agiainst Communism. And how muoh damage did the propaganda of Riipka and his associates do from the international standpoint when it proved, or tried to pmve, that collaJboration witfu Moscow was not only possible, but necessary? The tTuth is that the policy of Dr. Benes, Dr. Ripka and Company could have served only the interests of Moscow and the Czech Communists, lbecaJuse under the veil of Czech propaganda Moscow could play its false role, and the Czech Communists could murrder, deport, violate, ipersecute any one they wanted to with the copartidspaJtion and coresponsibili ty of the glo- �SLOVAKIA 9 rified "democ,r,a,ts" in the western world of Dr. Benes, Masaryik, Dr. Ripka, Zenkl, etc. 3. Rilpka did not state the trwth when he wrote that the western a:11:ies wanted the Czecho-Soviet 'Dreaty in 1943. We know that they were not for it; Churchill aind EJden eS1peciaJl.y were against it; both protested.pulbliicly ag:ainst it and the matter was debated in Parliament. Of course, when the allies did coI11SenJt to it, it was only rufter Dr. Benes had everything cwt and dried amd the allies were faced with .,_ fait accampli; and they did so to aJVoid an airig,ument with Moscow at t:hat time. In his entire "complaint," Dr. Rtpka moves aibout on thin ice; he anticipates, distorts the facts and entangles his argumentation with pettifoggery. He would like to hruve us forget, at the same time, that he himse1f had spoken and written aJbout aH. these matters, that the Loo.don bToadc,a sts .and the press of the Ozeich exiles commented on them, that we ha,ve the memoirs of Dr. Benes, Dr. Olementis, Masaryk and even the great masterpiece of collraJboration by Ripka himself, his boolk IDAST AND WEST, published in London in 1944. U siI1Jg the Polish case as an argument in this connootion is also antici'Pating and distorting the facts. Dr. Ripka intentionally forgets jrust wh~in Dr. Edward Benes began hi:s. Sovietophile politics; and ver,y conrvenienUy prefers not tq mention thait between Moscow and the Poiish London Government there was not only the "Katyn affa.ir," but also an 8JPparent anti-Communist atmosphere, while the goivernment of Dr. Benes wa,s a cami:miflaged bols'hevilk emlbassy a:nd propagation center in the western world, which Moscow not only did not h0JVe to l,iquidaJte, 'but, converaely, used its .services very effectivcly to promote its own interests. Moscow liquidate its own agents only after they harve finished the wo~k asstgrned them. Since this was not the case with Benes'•s . London Go:vernmenrt in 1943, no parallel can ibe drawn between the Ozecli and Polish governments in London without an attempt at deceit. By using the arguments he did, Ripka not only did not produce an adequate defense for the conclusion of the Czecho-Soviet Treaty,. but eiven did not give an aiecepbalble ex- �10 SLOVAKIA ipla.nation for it. On the contrary, by taking recourse to lies, half-truths, anticipation and distortion of the facts , he demonstrated quite clearly that the Cooch and Slovak collaborators with Communism do not know how to defend their politics. Therefore, it remains for us to answer at least briefly the question whether Dr. Ripka and Company did collaJborate with bolshevism at the eX!pense of the Czech and SlOIVak naJtions and at the expense of the interests o.f democracy in general. The Collaboration of Ripka and Co. If we do not taJke into account the legal pa:squinades of the so-.cahled "peoples-democrat ic" courts, we find that there is no established legal definition for the crime of col1.a!boration as we have, for exa:mple, in the case of treason. In general, after the S'e cond World War, colla:boraltion meant aiding the occU1pants in the management of the territories they had oocU!pied -and su,pportirug their aggressions. A whole series of governments - from Petiaiin's to the H'l.l!Ilgarian, Rumanian and Slava:k - ,w as placed on trial and convicted for such colla!boration, even though in some cases collaboration consisted of not resisting German agg·ressiorn and of alliances of these governments with Berlin, which undoubtedly spared the nations concerned from aJctwail oocuipation and its consequences. The defense "of the collaborators with Germany - pointing out that they a'Verted ca:tastTophy f.rcnn other nations - however, was not accepted. Post~war governments, including the one of which Dr. Riipka and his associates were members, a::r\bitrnrily and mercilessly sent hundreds and thousands of such "collaJbora:tors" to the gallows, jails and concentration camps. If it is true that the Czecho.-iSlovruk Repulblic was "occupied" by the Russian Army, as Dr. Ripka himself now claims in his defense, and not "lifberated" - as he claimed eaxlier - then tihere can be no argument that the politics of Dr. Riipka and Co. exhausts the rea.il sUl~ance of the crime of coll.aJboration as it was defined by the "Nation.al Courts" of Ozecho--SlOIV'alkria and by the manifestations of Dr. R:ilpka himself. �SLOVAKIA 11 Dr. Ripka and his associates not only col,laJborated with the occupying power, but a:lso he1ped it sig:n.irficantly to consolidate its aggressions, includJing Ozecho-<Slovaikia itself. Naturally, Dr. Ripka points out that that was not his intention. It is possilble, however, to ,presuppose that it was the intention of Petain, or any other government in Central Euro:pe during the war, to aid the Gernnans at the expense of their own ·nations and countries? Did they a1l not defend themselrve.s - and many of them altogether jlUSbly - that they saved their naitions from great drumacge, from slaughter and plunder? What was the answer given to such questions, or to suoh a defense, by the government of which Benes, Ripka, Zenfkl, Lettrich, etc., were members? The gallows, concentration camps, deportation to Siberia, forced labor camps, and jails! So that there mi:ght not be any misunderstanding, decent ,people in macny cases regarded the continU'atiOlll cxf "peoples-democratic governments" as a travesty of justice and judicial mocder and, therefore, we do not want to girve the impression that our conclusion is to "repay the gaUows with gallows." Nothing could be farther from the truth. The aim of those remarks is something altogether different: to point out what kind of individuals are seelking cover in the democratic society and are aippealing to its sense of justrl.re, when they themselves never displayed any towat-d persons who were guilty of lesser transgressions than they and whose politics resulted in far less fortunate consequences than theirs. Comparing the collaJboration and politics of Dr. Ripka and Co. with that of, for example, Marshall Petain, Dr. Tiso, Antonescu, etc., we must also taJke into consideration one essential difference: the latter did not request and did not want colialboration with Germa'lllY; they did not initiate it and did not see in the Naizi system a;nd collaiboration with Germany what Dr. Rirpka and Oompany, long before 1945, saw in bolsheviism and in collaboration with Moscow. Marshal Petain and Dr. Tiso were put into the situation of "co'llalboration," when more than half of France was occupied and Slovakia was gi;ven a choice of being ooowpied by Germany or dirvided among its neighbors. Therefore, even if they did accept unpleasant and ungrateful tasks in �12 SLOVAKIA the interest of their nations, they did not 'b ecome international propagandists Of German politics, as w,a,s- the case with the Czech gove:mment-in..exile in its relation to Russia. Dr. RiJpka and Co., therefore, were not only guilty of the type of "collaboration'' for whfoh Pet-ain was coovicted and Dr. Tiso was murdered, but of a ty;pe much wcmse, because they wanted to collalbol'late with Russia and presented bolsheivism, fong before they returned to Prague, in glowing ternns as a form of prog,r essive democrax!y, defending i,t a-g ainst the Naizi bogey and convincing the world that the Soviets love and want peruce and the necessity for cooperating with Russia. Broadcasting over BBC, London, November 7, 1942, on the world s1gmficance of the Soviet Revolution, Dr. Hubert Ripka said that the revolution (which ,b rought bo~shevism or Communism to Russia) "is a super-111ational ideal, an eternal ideal, a h\.llill'an ideal, an ideal which has kindled the minds of t'he nolblest of men from the time of Plato and through t'he Chr:isti,a n era, through the great Fre1mh Revolution and until today." In his hook EA/ST AND WEST (London, l944), Dr. Rlipka wrote (p. 64). "The democvatization of Russia and the whole of Soviet society, which is a permanent resuit of the Soviet revolutionary process, eliJminated from Russian policy the imperialist aims which Tsarist Russia pursued against the smaUer nations; it also resulted in the ,Soviet Union's becoming a genll'inely pea~e-loving power, sincerely interested in -the maJnteniance of peace,. but at the same time powerful enough to resist aggression and furnish effective help and support to t'he peace..Joving forees of the world." Addressing .himself to the Central...Jilil~apean nations, Dr. Ripka stated categorically: "We repeat: the So'Vli.ets are not anxious to 'Bolshewze' Central and South~Eastern Europe" (East and West, p. 61). And: "Here and there, mi~ givings still exist on the score of Russian or, more ,preciseily, Soviet imlperi,a;lism. We do not share those feavs" (.p. 51) Dr. Fevclinamd Peroutka, a very close fri-end of Dr. Rirpka, even after he had the opportunity to see just what the bolshevi!k ho:rdes ·were c84)alble of and to know just what oommunist politics aimed to achieve, wrote: "The East, there is �SLOVAKIA 13 our liberator, our ally and our protector in the future ... If in England there still can be found factors who evince a bigoted hatred for the Soviet Union, then those persons cannot even be considered as our friends" (DNESEK, June 11, 1946). The remain!ing 0zech aind Slova!k associa.tes of Dr. Ripka spolke, acted and wrote along the same lines, here and there trying to outdo each othm- in their apPeasement of the Communists and in proclaiming their undying loyalty to the Soviet Union. In other words, in the case of Dr. Ripka a.nd Oo. we are not concerned with coUaJborators who were forced to collaborate, 'but with politicians who. even gained otheiis for the Soviet Union (Vd. the books of Dr. Ripka, Dr. Peroutka, Dr. Benes and their manifestations during and aftm- the war; Dr. Stephen Osusky',s booklet "Dr. Bene£ and the Slova!ks"; also quotaitions in the SLOVAK NEWSLETTER and S'LOV A.KIA, as well as HrOlbak's "CZECH0SL0ViA!KliSM Versus A!MERilC.AJN]SM"). Conclusion As I had said at the beginning of these remavks, the investigaition of Dr. Hubm-t Ripka and Co. can be completed without the American authorities undertaking any necessary steps a;gainst this grouip of collalbomtors with bolshevism who are hidiinig behind a democratic laibel an~ are using and abusing the good nature and hospitality of certain American circles. But eiven such an end of the inivestigation will not change the fact in t'he least that Dr. Ripka; Peroutka, Zeillkl, Lettrich, Fm-ienci,k, etc., were tools of communist policy in the 0zecho..Slo:vak Republi:c - Dr. Ripka even in and t'hat their collalbora.tion the international arena resulted in rirvers of blood, suffering and the enslavement of millions of innocent hwman beings. Dr. Rii.pk•a and his associ,a tes are attempting to defend their coHalboration by saying that they intended to 'defend democracy and that they could not foresee that Russia would not honor its treaties. In ,p olitics, where everything is judged b.y results and not according to intentions, this feeble defense will not · rid them of the responsibility. It �14 SLO VAKIA could be, as already stated, the maximum of extenuating circumstances, ,booaruse in poil[tics the definition still. applies : gouverner, c'est prevoir (to govern is to foresee). Dr. Rirpka and Co. either l,araked necessairy f.oresig'ht, or, if they knew what they were doing, collaJborated fully and wiUingly in the full sense of the word. In either case, however, i:t is difficrut to understand why sO!Ill'e American chicles are still supporting these ~ech politicfans, who in the battle a:g·a inst Communism - failed .shamefully and rutterly, maJking it ruppeaT that some one is interested in whitewashing them forcefll!lly of c0Ua1boration - the collaJb oriation which they committed to a very greater measure than did the people they shot and hung for coUaboratirrg with the Na2Jis. · The Czech politicians coli1ruborated with the men of the Kremlin 'because they hated the West after Munich (193:8). Some wanted to avenge themselves on the West. They :knew what they were doing; they turned to Moscow knowingly and willingly. The Ozech •p oliticians a3so hated the SloV'a:ks, because they had dared to lwe their own li,ves and proclaim their independence; th,a t they demonstmted their ability to live without the Czechs and thus frustrated their plan to Ozechize the S1ovaik nation, to destroy it as a nation. Driven by this hatred, the desire for revenge and the ambition to rule, Dr. Ripka and Co. thrust themseJ,ves into the embrace of Moscow and fled to the West only after they sa:w that they played the wrong hoTse and Moscow wanted to liquidate them. We m'll!st, therefore, ask the question, whether in the fight against Communism these persons are, from among the Czech and Slov,a,k exiles, suitaJble intei,preters o;f democratic conceptions with regard to the ~ h and Slovak nations and whether they came to the United States and Cainada through those elements of the past administrations, which saw in Comtmunism "a progressive democracy" - as did Ripka, PerourtJka, Zenkl Le1Jtrich and Co. The <:ry· "cavean:t consules, nequid detrimenti Res PUiblica capiat," it seems, is, therefore, in order, but the investigation of the Czech collalborators is aJso late by several years. � SLOVAKIA THE CASE OF DR. HUBERT RIPKA AND COMPANY Joseph K~rschbaum, M,A., LL.D. Early in February orf this year. Senator William E. Jenner's Committee !began to investigate se:veraJ Cze<!h politicians and their SlOIVaJk hirelings (br. Ruibert Ripka, Dr. Ferdinand Peroutka, Dr. Peter Zenlkl, Dr. J ose,ph Let.trich, General Nicholas Feriencik) who collatbomted wiitJh Communism and were granted asy1wm ·a nd aid by the administration oif President Hiarry Truman: The iillvesti:gatiion was initiated in the interests of American democracy and the security of .the United States of America. Anglo...Saxon law, however, protects the accused and the suspect until a verd!ict is rendered and, therefore, no one on the Slov,ak side has thus far taJken · a meritorious position, even though the SlovaJk nation ,p aid and is stiU .paying heavily in blood and suffering for the politics of the Czech and so-.called "Czechoslovak" CO'llaJboraitOTs with Communism now being investigated. The investi,gaJtion is not as yet completed, and it can happen that for various reaso1I1s it may not b_e completed in such a m·a nner as would ·be demanded by truth and justice. In the first place, we are here concerned with a .poHtical committee and the evidence of facts after some 10-12 yea·r s is quite 'buvdensome. In the second plaJce, many political circles, new,spa;pers. and or1ganimations in the demooratic world are and wiU 1~ interested in defending the 0zech collalborators, because all fellow-travelers and cry,pto-Communists wiill thereby deifend their own policies and themselves. The following remarks concerning the case of Hulbert Ripka· and Coonpan~ are not a result of the investigation of the Senate SU:b-<Committee, nor do they in any way consider what the eventual result might ib.e. Dr. Hulbert Ripka himself, conscious of his own "mistakes" and not altogether governed by the mofal prindp.le that "the hest deifense is offense," d!id not wait for .the resll!lt of the investigation, as every serious person would do, but attacked his a0cusers, waning: I cOiffiplain, I oigject. Ordinarily we wou,l d not expect this from a 60-year-old politician. The remariks t'hat foHow refer to t:Jhis 1 �SLOVAKIA 5 complaint of Dr. Ripka and his altlies in whose na;me Dr. Rrpka speaks. The Psychological Errors of Ripka's Defense The very fad that Dr. Riipka considered it necessary to complain iaJbout hiis accusers 1publ icly must girve the impression to ervery legally and politica!My minded person that Dr. Riipka is not certain albout his ow11 innocence and, therefore, resorted to hysteri'ca1 spasms before the resul..ts of the investigation were made kno1W11. The manner of his public defense and ang,r y tone, as well as the badly selec,ted vooa1bulary of Dr. Rip:k,a in his series of articles .pU!blished in the NiEW YORKSKY DENN1K f!rom March 12th of this year, necessarily leads us to the conclusion that some/body stepped on the corns of Dr. Ripka and his fsociates.. Dr. Ripka made it quite dbvious that the co·r n huH:s, and he and his associates are afraid of having it operated on. 1 This, however, undoulb,t edl,y wu.H not sur.pTise any decent person, who is acquainted with the actual situation in the Gzecho-Sl{)!Vruk Repulblic after 194.5 and wu.th the politics of the aocused Ozech aifd "Ozechoslovatk" collaJborators with Oommunism, as much as the fa'Ct that heire we hruve a man who so scandra:lously defends himself aigainst accusations of politi'cal collalboration, lbut who voted with both hands to hang ,p oliticians who eiven "might have" collalborated and with far less catastrophic consequences than in the case of Dr. Rtpka and his associates. The Sloivak ,p oliticians, who saived their nation from suffering and possible caitastrophy and cairried out the state rewolution with a song on their lips, were not resiponsi/ble foir a single verdict of death for politi:ca:l reasons while they g01Verned. How did they fare during the reign of DT. Rip!ka and his a;SSociates? They were hung and shot and tortured witho,wt mercy and without regard to rig,ht and justice for "all.eged" collaJbomtion. Nay, the verofoits were already rendered by the Ozech exiles in London without investigation and trial. Yet, this same Dr. Ripka, who sent people to the g•allows, feels highly inswted and thiniks that he is unjustly treated by the very faot th11it somebody had dared to ask him what the conditions were in Ozec'ho-Slova;kia while he �(j SI. OV AKT A and his associates were memibers of the "National Front" Government there and why that country was surrende,r ed to Moscow without a fight. Instead of exiplaining calmly and objectively and, incidentally, uttering "mea oulipa" and pointing out extenuating circUlffis1Jances, 1because only these will be considered, Dr. Hulbert Riplka insolently attacked his accusers and the victims of his politics in the effort to weaken the accusation and diivert attention to events which had little or nothing in common with the investigation of the Senate COIIlllrn.ittee of the United States. PsyohologicaHy - and in politics psychological moments are not without significance - Dr. R•i pka b.egan his defense very amk!war<ily. Lt was "a very wrong approach" to the delicate question of collaJboration in ipolitics. Let us, however, leave the realm of psycholo,g y and see at least cursorily how the case looks from the angle of political and legal argiuments. Political Falsehoods and Half-Truths Dr. Ripka rests his defense on several politicai falsehoods and half--truths, assuming that "Ameri:cans, with the exception of a few experts, cannot knoiw the comp1ex problems of Central EurO!pe," as he himself stated it. The main lies resorted to 'by Ripka are the following: 1. that the whole (Ozechos;Jo1vruk) nation wa:s for an alliance with the USSR during the war; 2. that the treaty of Dr. Benes with Moscow (December 12, 1943) was concluded to save Sl01ViaJkfa; 3. that the A.Hies had wanted a Soviet-Czech treaty in 1943. In the first instance, we are concerned with such an apparent lie that we must seriously question the fact that Dr. Ripka, a learned politician, can so daringly state such an exposed untruth in the face of thousands of Czechs and Sfovaks. The fad is that, for example, in Slovakia - in whose name Ripka presumes to spealk - up to the time of the OzechoJSoviet treaty, both the Communists and those accused with Ripka today (Ur. Lettrich and Gen. Feriencik) were practically inactive in politics. It was only after the treaty of Dr. Benes with Stalin that the so-ealled "Slovak underground" - the Communists and their collabora- �SLOVAKIA i tors from the "Ozechoslova;k" camp - met for the first time and on the basis of the treaty decided in Moscow to undertake political action for the renewal of Ozecho-.Slo ,,akia. It seems that Dr. Ri,pka depends entirely too much on the "ignorance " of Americans when he a1btempts to deny such evident facts. He pretends that he has forgotten that the governmen t, in which he occupied such an eminent position, had jailed and sentenced to death thousands and thousands of ,people in Sloivakia and the Czech lands, that it dispossessed and disfranchis ed them only /because they were against Moscow and CommuniS1In; that the governmen t of which Ripka was a part deported over three million Germans in a ba.zfuaTic manner aJlso beicause they rather looked to Germany than to Russia, and that it deported even the Magyars for collaiborating with the Germans. Now, then, where was this "whole nation" which Ripka spoke of? In this case we can understand "nation" in the political sense oi Anglo.Saxo n terminolog y and, consequent ly, must include the entire population of the Ozecho-Slo.vak Repulblic, because otherwise in the Ozech~lov aJk Repulblic there are and were at least two nations already even at the time the London governmen t of Dr. Benes concluded the Czecho-Sov iet Treaty. 2. The weakest argument of a political nature offered for the co.llalboration of the Czech ,p oliticians with Moscow is the statement that the Czecho-&wieit Treaty of 1943 was concluded "to save Slovailria." '.Dhis is not only a lie, but a political rubsurdity, especially in the veraion of Dr. Hulbert Ri,p ka. At the time when the Czech exiles, headed 'by Dr. Edward Benes, concluded their treaty with Moscow, there were no SlovaJk Communis ts in Moscow who could have had "sepa.ratist ic tendencies, " nay, there were :no significant SloV1ak Communis ts there at aJI. The leader of the Slovak Communist s, Dr. Vladimir Clementis, was Dr. Benes's man in London and the rest of the Slovruk Communist s, outside of one or two exceptions, li'Ved comfortabl y in Slovakia. Dr. Ripka knowingly uses the argument which could be applied cum grano salis to the events of 1944 and later, �SLOVAKIA when Slovaik Communists manifested tendencies for independence, because they saw no reason why the Czechs should rule over S10!Vl8Jk,ia (Dr. Nemec, the governmoot delegate), when Slwruk blood was !being spilled the:re, while in the Czech lands the people, taiking council from the London government of Benes, were even afraid to speak out so that they mi ght not anger the Germa:ris. At this time it is bloody irony to ta1k a'bout "saNing Slovalkia," whkh without the interference orf Dr. Ripka and his associates would have come out of the war either as Finland did, or in the worst case as Hungary did, which would haNe been !better for the Slovak nation from every point oif 'View than the position which ·r esulted from the Ozecho-Soviet Treaty. Slovakia was plundered so thoroughly and Silo1Vak women and girls were brutally ravaged by the Russian hordes as if no treaty had existed at all. And thus it was that amti-Commun ists were hung, shot and jailed in Slo,valkia. To this ibolshevik vengeance and inhumanity was added also the revenge of the Ozechs, ait times, proved wo,r se than the excesses of the bar'baria.n Reds. Then SlovaJkia was also plundered economically by Prague. 1 If Dr. Riipka and his asso.ciates maintain that they rendered the Czechs and the SlOIV'aJks a seirivice by delaying the bolsheivization of Czecho-Slwaik ia with the:i.r treaty (which we seriously doulbt), then it is apparent that Ripka '8Jlld Coonpany would like us to forget how many people perished and are still perishing ~ause they believed the false and n.ruive the sis aJbouit the independeince oif the Ozecho~Slovak Republic and therefore, came out openl;y- agiainst Communism. And how muoh damage did the propaganda of Riipka and his associates do from the international standpoint when it proved, or tried to pmve, that collaJboration witfu Moscow was not only possible, but necessary? The tTuth is that the policy of Dr. Benes, Dr. Ripka and Company could have served only the interests of Moscow and the Czech Communists, lbecaJuse under the veil of Czech propaganda Moscow could play its false role, and the Czech Communists could murrder, deport, violate, ipersecute any one they wanted to with the copartidspaJtion and coresponsibili ty of the glo- �SLOVAKIA 9 rified "democ,r,a,ts" in the western world of Dr. Benes, Masaryik, Dr. Ripka, Zenkl, etc. 3. Rilpka did not state the trwth when he wrote that the western a:11:ies wanted the Czecho-Soviet 'Dreaty in 1943. We know that they were not for it; Churchill aind EJden eS1peciaJl.y were against it; both protested.pulbliicly ag:ainst it and the matter was debated in Parliament. Of course, when the allies did coI11SenJt to it, it was only rufter Dr. Benes had everything cwt and dried amd the allies were faced with .,_ fait accampli; and they did so to aJVoid an airig,ument with Moscow at t:hat time. In his entire "complaint," Dr. Rtpka moves aibout on thin ice; he anticipates, distorts the facts and entangles his argumentation with pettifoggery. He would like to hruve us forget, at the same time, that he himse1f had spoken and written aJbout aH. these matters, that the Loo.don bToadc,a sts .and the press of the Ozeich exiles commented on them, that we ha,ve the memoirs of Dr. Benes, Dr. Olementis, Masaryk and even the great masterpiece of collraJboration by Ripka himself, his boolk IDAST AND WEST, published in London in 1944. U siI1Jg the Polish case as an argument in this connootion is also antici'Pating and distorting the facts. Dr. Ripka intentionally forgets jrust wh~in Dr. Edward Benes began hi:s. Sovietophile politics; and ver,y conrvenienUy prefers not tq mention thait between Moscow and the Poiish London Government there was not only the "Katyn affa.ir," but also an 8JPparent anti-Communist atmosphere, while the goivernment of Dr. Benes wa,s a cami:miflaged bols'hevilk emlbassy a:nd propagation center in the western world, which Moscow not only did not h0JVe to l,iquidaJte, 'but, converaely, used its .services very effectivcly to promote its own interests. Moscow liquidate its own agents only after they harve finished the wo~k asstgrned them. Since this was not the case with Benes'•s . London Go:vernmenrt in 1943, no parallel can ibe drawn between the Ozecli and Polish governments in London without an attempt at deceit. By using the arguments he did, Ripka not only did not produce an adequate defense for the conclusion of the Czecho-Soviet Treaty,. but eiven did not give an aiecepbalble ex- �10 SLOVAKIA ipla.nation for it. On the contrary, by taking recourse to lies, half-truths, anticipation and distortion of the facts , he demonstrated quite clearly that the Cooch and Slovak collaborators with Communism do not know how to defend their politics. Therefore, it remains for us to answer at least briefly the question whether Dr. Ripka and Company did collaJborate with bolshevism at the eX!pense of the Czech and SlOIVak naJtions and at the expense of the interests o.f democracy in general. The Collaboration of Ripka and Co. If we do not taJke into account the legal pa:squinades of the so-.cahled "peoples-democrat ic" courts, we find that there is no established legal definition for the crime of col1.a!boration as we have, for exa:mple, in the case of treason. In general, after the S'e cond World War, colla:boraltion meant aiding the occU1pants in the management of the territories they had oocU!pied -and su,pportirug their aggressions. A whole series of governments - from Petiaiin's to the H'l.l!Ilgarian, Rumanian and Slava:k - ,w as placed on trial and convicted for such colla!boration, even though in some cases collaboration consisted of not resisting German agg·ressiorn and of alliances of these governments with Berlin, which undoubtedly spared the nations concerned from aJctwail oocuipation and its consequences. The defense "of the collaborators with Germany - pointing out that they a'Verted ca:tastTophy f.rcnn other nations - however, was not accepted. Post~war governments, including the one of which Dr. Riipka and his associates were members, a::r\bitrnrily and mercilessly sent hundreds and thousands of such "collaJbora:tors" to the gallows, jails and concentration camps. If it is true that the Czecho.-iSlovruk Repulblic was "occupied" by the Russian Army, as Dr. Ripka himself now claims in his defense, and not "lifberated" - as he claimed eaxlier - then tihere can be no argument that the politics of Dr. Riipka and Co. exhausts the rea.il sUl~ance of the crime of coll.aJboration as it was defined by the "Nation.al Courts" of Ozecho--SlOIV'alkria and by the manifestations of Dr. R:ilpka himself. �SLOVAKIA 11 Dr. Ripka and his associates not only col,laJborated with the occupying power, but a:lso he1ped it sig:n.irficantly to consolidate its aggressions, includJing Ozecho-<Slovaikia itself. Naturally, Dr. Ripka points out that that was not his intention. It is possilble, however, to ,presuppose that it was the intention of Petain, or any other government in Central Euro:pe during the war, to aid the Gernnans at the expense of their own ·nations and countries? Did they a1l not defend themselrve.s - and many of them altogether jlUSbly - that they saved their naitions from great drumacge, from slaughter and plunder? What was the answer given to such questions, or to suoh a defense, by the government of which Benes, Ripka, Zenfkl, Lettrich, etc., were members? The gallows, concentration camps, deportation to Siberia, forced labor camps, and jails! So that there mi:ght not be any misunderstanding, decent ,people in macny cases regarded the continU'atiOlll cxf "peoples-democratic governments" as a travesty of justice and judicial mocder and, therefore, we do not want to girve the impression that our conclusion is to "repay the gaUows with gallows." Nothing could be farther from the truth. The aim of those remarks is something altogether different: to point out what kind of individuals are seelking cover in the democratic society and are aippealing to its sense of justrl.re, when they themselves never displayed any towat-d persons who were guilty of lesser transgressions than they and whose politics resulted in far less fortunate consequences than theirs. Comparing the collaJboration and politics of Dr. Ripka and Co. with that of, for example, Marshall Petain, Dr. Tiso, Antonescu, etc., we must also taJke into consideration one essential difference: the latter did not request and did not want colialboration with Germa'lllY; they did not initiate it and did not see in the Naizi system a;nd collaiboration with Germany what Dr. Rirpka and Oompany, long before 1945, saw in bolsheviism and in collaboration with Moscow. Marshal Petain and Dr. Tiso were put into the situation of "co'llalboration," when more than half of France was occupied and Slovakia was gi;ven a choice of being ooowpied by Germany or dirvided among its neighbors. Therefore, even if they did accept unpleasant and ungrateful tasks in �12 SLOVAKIA the interest of their nations, they did not 'b ecome international propagandists Of German politics, as w,a,s- the case with the Czech gove:mment-in..exile in its relation to Russia. Dr. RiJpka and Co., therefore, were not only guilty of the type of "collaboration'' for whfoh Pet-ain was coovicted and Dr. Tiso was murdered, but of a ty;pe much wcmse, because they wanted to collalbol'late with Russia and presented bolsheivism, fong before they returned to Prague, in glowing ternns as a form of prog,r essive democrax!y, defending i,t a-g ainst the Naizi bogey and convincing the world that the Soviets love and want peruce and the necessity for cooperating with Russia. Broadcasting over BBC, London, November 7, 1942, on the world s1gmficance of the Soviet Revolution, Dr. Hubert Ripka said that the revolution (which ,b rought bo~shevism or Communism to Russia) "is a super-111ational ideal, an eternal ideal, a h\.llill'an ideal, an ideal which has kindled the minds of t'he nolblest of men from the time of Plato and through t'he Chr:isti,a n era, through the great Fre1mh Revolution and until today." In his hook EA/ST AND WEST (London, l944), Dr. Rlipka wrote (p. 64). "The democvatization of Russia and the whole of Soviet society, which is a permanent resuit of the Soviet revolutionary process, eliJminated from Russian policy the imperialist aims which Tsarist Russia pursued against the smaUer nations; it also resulted in the ,Soviet Union's becoming a genll'inely pea~e-loving power, sincerely interested in -the maJnteniance of peace,. but at the same time powerful enough to resist aggression and furnish effective help and support to t'he peace..Joving forees of the world." Addressing .himself to the Central...Jilil~apean nations, Dr. Ripka stated categorically: "We repeat: the So'Vli.ets are not anxious to 'Bolshewze' Central and South~Eastern Europe" (East and West, p. 61). And: "Here and there, mi~ givings still exist on the score of Russian or, more ,preciseily, Soviet imlperi,a;lism. We do not share those feavs" (.p. 51) Dr. Fevclinamd Peroutka, a very close fri-end of Dr. Rirpka, even after he had the opportunity to see just what the bolshevi!k ho:rdes ·were c84)alble of and to know just what oommunist politics aimed to achieve, wrote: "The East, there is �SLOVAKIA 13 our liberator, our ally and our protector in the future ... If in England there still can be found factors who evince a bigoted hatred for the Soviet Union, then those persons cannot even be considered as our friends" (DNESEK, June 11, 1946). The remain!ing 0zech aind Slova!k associa.tes of Dr. Ripka spolke, acted and wrote along the same lines, here and there trying to outdo each othm- in their apPeasement of the Communists and in proclaiming their undying loyalty to the Soviet Union. In other words, in the case of Dr. Ripka a.nd Oo. we are not concerned with coUaJborators who were forced to collaborate, 'but with politicians who. even gained otheiis for the Soviet Union (Vd. the books of Dr. Ripka, Dr. Peroutka, Dr. Benes and their manifestations during and aftm- the war; Dr. Stephen Osusky',s booklet "Dr. Bene£ and the Slova!ks"; also quotaitions in the SLOVAK NEWSLETTER and S'LOV A.KIA, as well as HrOlbak's "CZECH0SL0ViA!KliSM Versus A!MERilC.AJN]SM"). Conclusion As I had said at the beginning of these remavks, the investigaition of Dr. Hubm-t Ripka and Co. can be completed without the American authorities undertaking any necessary steps a;gainst this grouip of collalbomtors with bolshevism who are hidiinig behind a democratic laibel an~ are using and abusing the good nature and hospitality of certain American circles. But eiven such an end of the inivestigation will not change the fact in t'he least that Dr. Ripka; Peroutka, Zeillkl, Lettrich, Fm-ienci,k, etc., were tools of communist policy in the 0zecho..Slo:vak Republi:c - Dr. Ripka even in and t'hat their collalbora.tion the international arena resulted in rirvers of blood, suffering and the enslavement of millions of innocent hwman beings. Dr. Rii.pk•a and his associ,a tes are attempting to defend their coHalboration by saying that they intended to 'defend democracy and that they could not foresee that Russia would not honor its treaties. In ,p olitics, where everything is judged b.y results and not according to intentions, this feeble defense will not · rid them of the responsibility. It �14 SLO VAKIA could be, as already stated, the maximum of extenuating circumstances, ,booaruse in poil[tics the definition still. applies : gouverner, c'est prevoir (to govern is to foresee). Dr. Rirpka and Co. either l,araked necessairy f.oresig'ht, or, if they knew what they were doing, collaJborated fully and wiUingly in the full sense of the word. In either case, however, i:t is difficrut to understand why sO!Ill'e American chicles are still supporting these ~ech politicfans, who in the battle a:g·a inst Communism - failed .shamefully and rutterly, maJking it ruppeaT that some one is interested in whitewashing them forcefll!lly of c0Ua1boration - the collaJb oriation which they committed to a very greater measure than did the people they shot and hung for coUaboratirrg with the Na2Jis. · The Czech politicians coli1ruborated with the men of the Kremlin 'because they hated the West after Munich (193:8). Some wanted to avenge themselves on the West. They :knew what they were doing; they turned to Moscow knowingly and willingly. The Ozech •p oliticians a3so hated the SloV'a:ks, because they had dared to lwe their own li,ves and proclaim their independence; th,a t they demonstmted their ability to live without the Czechs and thus frustrated their plan to Ozechize the S1ovaik nation, to destroy it as a nation. Driven by this hatred, the desire for revenge and the ambition to rule, Dr. Ripka and Co. thrust themseJ,ves into the embrace of Moscow and fled to the West only after they sa:w that they played the wrong hoTse and Moscow wanted to liquidate them. We m'll!st, therefore, ask the question, whether in the fight against Communism these persons are, from among the Czech and Slov,a,k exiles, suitaJble intei,preters o;f democratic conceptions with regard to the ~ h and Slovak nations and whether they came to the United States and Cainada through those elements of the past administrations, which saw in Comtmunism "a progressive democracy" - as did Ripka, PerourtJka, Zenkl Le1Jtrich and Co. The <:ry· "cavean:t consules, nequid detrimenti Res PUiblica capiat," it seems, is, therefore, in order, but the investigation of the Czech collalborators is aJso late by several years. � 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 THE CASE OF DR. HUBERT RIPKA AND COMPANY Joseph K~rschbaum, M,A., LL.D. Early in February orf this year. Senator William E. Jenner's Committee !began to investigate se:veraJ Cze<!h politicians and their SlOIVaJk hirelings (br. Ruibert Ripka, Dr. Ferdinand Peroutka, Dr. Peter Zenlkl, Dr. J ose,ph Let.trich, General Nicholas Feriencik) who collatbomted wiitJh Communism and were granted asy1wm ·a nd aid by the administration oif President Hiarry Truman: The iillvesti:gatiion was initiated in the interests of American democracy and the security of .the United States of America. Anglo...Saxon law, however, protects the accused and the suspect until a verd!ict is rendered and, therefore, no one on the Slov,ak side has thus far taJken · a meritorious position, even though the SlovaJk nation ,p aid and is stiU .paying heavily in blood and suffering for the politics of the Czech and so-.called "Czechoslovak" CO'llaJboraitOTs with Communism now being investigated. The investi,gaJtion is not as yet completed, and it can happen that for various reaso1I1s it may not b_e completed in such a m·a nner as would ·be demanded by truth and justice. In the first place, we are here concerned with a .poHtical committee and the evidence of facts after some 10-12 yea·r s is quite 'buvdensome. In the second plaJce, many political circles, new,spa;pers. and or1ganimations in the demooratic world are and wiU 1~ interested in defending the 0zech collalborators, because all fellow-travelers and cry,pto-Communists wiill thereby deifend their own policies and themselves. The following remarks concerning the case of Hulbert Ripka· and Coonpan~ are not a result of the investigation of the Senate SU:b-<Committee, nor do they in any way consider what the eventual result might ib.e. Dr. Hulbert Ripka himself, conscious of his own "mistakes" and not altogether governed by the mofal prindp.le that "the hest deifense is offense," d!id not wait for .the resll!lt of the investigation, as every serious person would do, but attacked his a0cusers, waning: I cOiffiplain, I oigject. Ordinarily we wou,l d not expect this from a 60-year-old politician. The remariks t'hat foHow refer to t:Jhis 1 SLOVAKIA 5 complaint of Dr. Ripka and his altlies in whose na;me Dr. Rrpka speaks. The Psychological Errors of Ripka's Defense The very fad that Dr. Riipka considered it necessary to complain iaJbout hiis accusers 1publ icly must girve the impression to ervery legally and politica!My minded person that Dr. Riipka is not certain albout his ow11 innocence and, therefore, resorted to hysteri'ca1 spasms before the resul..ts of the investigation were made kno1W11. The manner of his public defense and ang,r y tone, as well as the badly selec,ted vooa1bulary of Dr. Rip:k,a in his series of articles .pU!blished in the NiEW YORKSKY DENN1K f!rom March 12th of this year, necessarily leads us to the conclusion that some/body stepped on the corns of Dr. Ripka and his fsociates.. Dr. Ripka made it quite dbvious that the co·r n huH:s, and he and his associates are afraid of having it operated on. 1 This, however, undoulb,t edl,y wu.H not sur.pTise any decent person, who is acquainted with the actual situation in the Gzecho-Sl{)!Vruk Repulblic after 194.5 and wu.th the politics of the aocused Ozech aifd "Ozechoslovatk" collaJborators with Oommunism, as much as the fa'Ct that heire we hruve a man who so scandra:lously defends himself aigainst accusations of politi'cal collalboration, lbut who voted with both hands to hang ,p oliticians who eiven "might have" collalborated and with far less catastrophic consequences than in the case of Dr. Rtpka and his associates. The Sloivak ,p oliticians, who saived their nation from suffering and possible caitastrophy and cairried out the state rewolution with a song on their lips, were not resiponsi/ble foir a single verdict of death for politi:ca:l reasons while they g01Verned. How did they fare during the reign of DT. Rip!ka and his a;SSociates? They were hung and shot and tortured witho,wt mercy and without regard to rig,ht and justice for "all.eged" collaJbomtion. Nay, the verofoits were already rendered by the Ozech exiles in London without investigation and trial. Yet, this same Dr. Ripka, who sent people to the g•allows, feels highly inswted and thiniks that he is unjustly treated by the very faot th11it somebody had dared to ask him what the conditions were in Ozec'ho-Slova;kia while he (j SI. OV AKT A and his associates were memibers of the "National Front" Government there and why that country was surrende,r ed to Moscow without a fight. Instead of exiplaining calmly and objectively and, incidentally, uttering "mea oulipa" and pointing out extenuating circUlffis1Jances, 1because only these will be considered, Dr. Hulbert Riplka insolently attacked his accusers and the victims of his politics in the effort to weaken the accusation and diivert attention to events which had little or nothing in common with the investigation of the Senate COIIlllrn.ittee of the United States. PsyohologicaHy - and in politics psychological moments are not without significance - Dr. R•i pka b.egan his defense very amk!war<ily. Lt was "a very wrong approach" to the delicate question of collaJboration in ipolitics. Let us, however, leave the realm of psycholo,g y and see at least cursorily how the case looks from the angle of political and legal argiuments. Political Falsehoods and Half-Truths Dr. Ripka rests his defense on several politicai falsehoods and half--truths, assuming that "Ameri:cans, with the exception of a few experts, cannot knoiw the comp1ex problems of Central EurO!pe," as he himself stated it. The main lies resorted to 'by Ripka are the following: 1. that the whole (Ozechos;Jo1vruk) nation wa:s for an alliance with the USSR during the war; 2. that the treaty of Dr. Benes with Moscow (December 12, 1943) was concluded to save Sl01ViaJkfa; 3. that the A.Hies had wanted a Soviet-Czech treaty in 1943. In the first instance, we are concerned with such an apparent lie that we must seriously question the fact that Dr. Ripka, a learned politician, can so daringly state such an exposed untruth in the face of thousands of Czechs and Sfovaks. The fad is that, for example, in Slovakia - in whose name Ripka presumes to spealk - up to the time of the OzechoJSoviet treaty, both the Communists and those accused with Ripka today (Ur. Lettrich and Gen. Feriencik) were practically inactive in politics. It was only after the treaty of Dr. Benes with Stalin that the so-ealled "Slovak underground" - the Communists and their collabora- SLOVAKIA i tors from the "Ozechoslova;k" camp - met for the first time and on the basis of the treaty decided in Moscow to undertake political action for the renewal of Ozecho-.Slo ,,akia. It seems that Dr. Ri,pka depends entirely too much on the "ignorance " of Americans when he a1btempts to deny such evident facts. He pretends that he has forgotten that the governmen t, in which he occupied such an eminent position, had jailed and sentenced to death thousands and thousands of ,people in Sloivakia and the Czech lands, that it dispossessed and disfranchis ed them only /because they were against Moscow and CommuniS1In; that the governmen t of which Ripka was a part deported over three million Germans in a ba.zfuaTic manner aJlso beicause they rather looked to Germany than to Russia, and that it deported even the Magyars for collaiborating with the Germans. Now, then, where was this "whole nation" which Ripka spoke of? In this case we can understand "nation" in the political sense oi Anglo.Saxo n terminolog y and, consequent ly, must include the entire population of the Ozecho-Slo.vak Repulblic, because otherwise in the Ozech~lov aJk Repulblic there are and were at least two nations already even at the time the London governmen t of Dr. Benes concluded the Czecho-Sov iet Treaty. 2. The weakest argument of a political nature offered for the co.llalboration of the Czech ,p oliticians with Moscow is the statement that the Czecho-&wieit Treaty of 1943 was concluded "to save Slovailria." '.Dhis is not only a lie, but a political rubsurdity, especially in the veraion of Dr. Hulbert Ri,p ka. At the time when the Czech exiles, headed 'by Dr. Edward Benes, concluded their treaty with Moscow, there were no SlovaJk Communis ts in Moscow who could have had "sepa.ratist ic tendencies, " nay, there were :no significant SloV1ak Communis ts there at aJI. The leader of the Slovak Communist s, Dr. Vladimir Clementis, was Dr. Benes's man in London and the rest of the Slovruk Communist s, outside of one or two exceptions, li'Ved comfortabl y in Slovakia. Dr. Ripka knowingly uses the argument which could be applied cum grano salis to the events of 1944 and later, SLOVAKIA when Slovaik Communists manifested tendencies for independence, because they saw no reason why the Czechs should rule over S10!Vl8Jk,ia (Dr. Nemec, the governmoot delegate), when Slwruk blood was !being spilled the:re, while in the Czech lands the people, taiking council from the London government of Benes, were even afraid to speak out so that they mi ght not anger the Germa:ris. At this time it is bloody irony to ta1k a'bout "saNing Slovalkia," whkh without the interference orf Dr. Ripka and his associates would have come out of the war either as Finland did, or in the worst case as Hungary did, which would haNe been !better for the Slovak nation from every point oif 'View than the position which ·r esulted from the Ozecho-Soviet Treaty. Slovakia was plundered so thoroughly and Silo1Vak women and girls were brutally ravaged by the Russian hordes as if no treaty had existed at all. And thus it was that amti-Commun ists were hung, shot and jailed in Slo,valkia. To this ibolshevik vengeance and inhumanity was added also the revenge of the Ozechs, ait times, proved wo,r se than the excesses of the bar'baria.n Reds. Then SlovaJkia was also plundered economically by Prague. 1 If Dr. Riipka and his asso.ciates maintain that they rendered the Czechs and the SlOIV'aJks a seirivice by delaying the bolsheivization of Czecho-Slwaik ia with the:i.r treaty (which we seriously doulbt), then it is apparent that Ripka '8Jlld Coonpany would like us to forget how many people perished and are still perishing ~ause they believed the false and n.ruive the sis aJbouit the independeince oif the Ozecho~Slovak Republic and therefore, came out openl;y- agiainst Communism. And how muoh damage did the propaganda of Riipka and his associates do from the international standpoint when it proved, or tried to pmve, that collaJboration witfu Moscow was not only possible, but necessary? The tTuth is that the policy of Dr. Benes, Dr. Ripka and Company could have served only the interests of Moscow and the Czech Communists, lbecaJuse under the veil of Czech propaganda Moscow could play its false role, and the Czech Communists could murrder, deport, violate, ipersecute any one they wanted to with the copartidspaJtion and coresponsibili ty of the glo- SLOVAKIA 9 rified "democ,r,a,ts" in the western world of Dr. Benes, Masaryik, Dr. Ripka, Zenkl, etc. 3. Rilpka did not state the trwth when he wrote that the western a:11:ies wanted the Czecho-Soviet 'Dreaty in 1943. We know that they were not for it; Churchill aind EJden eS1peciaJl.y were against it; both protested.pulbliicly ag:ainst it and the matter was debated in Parliament. Of course, when the allies did coI11SenJt to it, it was only rufter Dr. Benes had everything cwt and dried amd the allies were faced with .,_ fait accampli; and they did so to aJVoid an airig,ument with Moscow at t:hat time. In his entire "complaint," Dr. Rtpka moves aibout on thin ice; he anticipates, distorts the facts and entangles his argumentation with pettifoggery. He would like to hruve us forget, at the same time, that he himse1f had spoken and written aJbout aH. these matters, that the Loo.don bToadc,a sts .and the press of the Ozeich exiles commented on them, that we ha,ve the memoirs of Dr. Benes, Dr. Olementis, Masaryk and even the great masterpiece of collraJboration by Ripka himself, his boolk IDAST AND WEST, published in London in 1944. U siI1Jg the Polish case as an argument in this connootion is also antici'Pating and distorting the facts. Dr. Ripka intentionally forgets jrust wh~in Dr. Edward Benes began hi:s. Sovietophile politics; and ver,y conrvenienUy prefers not tq mention thait between Moscow and the Poiish London Government there was not only the "Katyn affa.ir," but also an 8JPparent anti-Communist atmosphere, while the goivernment of Dr. Benes wa,s a cami:miflaged bols'hevilk emlbassy a:nd propagation center in the western world, which Moscow not only did not h0JVe to l,iquidaJte, 'but, converaely, used its .services very effectivcly to promote its own interests. Moscow liquidate its own agents only after they harve finished the wo~k asstgrned them. Since this was not the case with Benes'•s . London Go:vernmenrt in 1943, no parallel can ibe drawn between the Ozecli and Polish governments in London without an attempt at deceit. By using the arguments he did, Ripka not only did not produce an adequate defense for the conclusion of the Czecho-Soviet Treaty,. but eiven did not give an aiecepbalble ex- 10 SLOVAKIA ipla.nation for it. On the contrary, by taking recourse to lies, half-truths, anticipation and distortion of the facts , he demonstrated quite clearly that the Cooch and Slovak collaborators with Communism do not know how to defend their politics. Therefore, it remains for us to answer at least briefly the question whether Dr. Ripka and Company did collaJborate with bolshevism at the eX!pense of the Czech and SlOIVak naJtions and at the expense of the interests o.f democracy in general. The Collaboration of Ripka and Co. If we do not taJke into account the legal pa:squinades of the so-.cahled "peoples-democrat ic" courts, we find that there is no established legal definition for the crime of col1.a!boration as we have, for exa:mple, in the case of treason. In general, after the S'e cond World War, colla:boraltion meant aiding the occU1pants in the management of the territories they had oocU!pied -and su,pportirug their aggressions. A whole series of governments - from Petiaiin's to the H'l.l!Ilgarian, Rumanian and Slava:k - ,w as placed on trial and convicted for such colla!boration, even though in some cases collaboration consisted of not resisting German agg·ressiorn and of alliances of these governments with Berlin, which undoubtedly spared the nations concerned from aJctwail oocuipation and its consequences. The defense "of the collaborators with Germany - pointing out that they a'Verted ca:tastTophy f.rcnn other nations - however, was not accepted. Post~war governments, including the one of which Dr. Riipka and his associates were members, a::r\bitrnrily and mercilessly sent hundreds and thousands of such "collaJbora:tors" to the gallows, jails and concentration camps. If it is true that the Czecho.-iSlovruk Repulblic was "occupied" by the Russian Army, as Dr. Ripka himself now claims in his defense, and not "lifberated" - as he claimed eaxlier - then tihere can be no argument that the politics of Dr. Riipka and Co. exhausts the rea.il sUl~ance of the crime of coll.aJboration as it was defined by the "Nation.al Courts" of Ozecho--SlOIV'alkria and by the manifestations of Dr. R:ilpka himself. SLOVAKIA 11 Dr. Ripka and his associates not only col,laJborated with the occupying power, but a:lso he1ped it sig:n.irficantly to consolidate its aggressions, includJing Ozecho-<Slovaikia itself. Naturally, Dr. Ripka points out that that was not his intention. It is possilble, however, to ,presuppose that it was the intention of Petain, or any other government in Central Euro:pe during the war, to aid the Gernnans at the expense of their own ·nations and countries? Did they a1l not defend themselrve.s - and many of them altogether jlUSbly - that they saved their naitions from great drumacge, from slaughter and plunder? What was the answer given to such questions, or to suoh a defense, by the government of which Benes, Ripka, Zenfkl, Lettrich, etc., were members? The gallows, concentration camps, deportation to Siberia, forced labor camps, and jails! So that there mi:ght not be any misunderstanding, decent ,people in macny cases regarded the continU'atiOlll cxf "peoples-democratic governments" as a travesty of justice and judicial mocder and, therefore, we do not want to girve the impression that our conclusion is to "repay the gaUows with gallows." Nothing could be farther from the truth. The aim of those remarks is something altogether different: to point out what kind of individuals are seelking cover in the democratic society and are aippealing to its sense of justrl.re, when they themselves never displayed any towat-d persons who were guilty of lesser transgressions than they and whose politics resulted in far less fortunate consequences than theirs. Comparing the collaJboration and politics of Dr. Ripka and Co. with that of, for example, Marshall Petain, Dr. Tiso, Antonescu, etc., we must also taJke into consideration one essential difference: the latter did not request and did not want colialboration with Germa'lllY; they did not initiate it and did not see in the Naizi system a;nd collaiboration with Germany what Dr. Rirpka and Oompany, long before 1945, saw in bolsheviism and in collaboration with Moscow. Marshal Petain and Dr. Tiso were put into the situation of "co'llalboration," when more than half of France was occupied and Slovakia was gi;ven a choice of being ooowpied by Germany or dirvided among its neighbors. Therefore, even if they did accept unpleasant and ungrateful tasks in 12 SLOVAKIA the interest of their nations, they did not 'b ecome international propagandists Of German politics, as w,a,s- the case with the Czech gove:mment-in..exile in its relation to Russia. Dr. RiJpka and Co., therefore, were not only guilty of the type of "collaboration'' for whfoh Pet-ain was coovicted and Dr. Tiso was murdered, but of a ty;pe much wcmse, because they wanted to collalbol'late with Russia and presented bolsheivism, fong before they returned to Prague, in glowing ternns as a form of prog,r essive democrax!y, defending i,t a-g ainst the Naizi bogey and convincing the world that the Soviets love and want peruce and the necessity for cooperating with Russia. Broadcasting over BBC, London, November 7, 1942, on the world s1gmficance of the Soviet Revolution, Dr. Hubert Ripka said that the revolution (which ,b rought bo~shevism or Communism to Russia) "is a super-111ational ideal, an eternal ideal, a h\.llill'an ideal, an ideal which has kindled the minds of t'he nolblest of men from the time of Plato and through t'he Chr:isti,a n era, through the great Fre1mh Revolution and until today." In his hook EA/ST AND WEST (London, l944), Dr. Rlipka wrote (p. 64). "The democvatization of Russia and the whole of Soviet society, which is a permanent resuit of the Soviet revolutionary process, eliJminated from Russian policy the imperialist aims which Tsarist Russia pursued against the smaUer nations; it also resulted in the ,Soviet Union's becoming a genll'inely pea~e-loving power, sincerely interested in -the maJnteniance of peace,. but at the same time powerful enough to resist aggression and furnish effective help and support to t'he peace..Joving forees of the world." Addressing .himself to the Central...Jilil~apean nations, Dr. Ripka stated categorically: "We repeat: the So'Vli.ets are not anxious to 'Bolshewze' Central and South~Eastern Europe" (East and West, p. 61). And: "Here and there, mi~ givings still exist on the score of Russian or, more ,preciseily, Soviet imlperi,a;lism. We do not share those feavs" (.p. 51) Dr. Fevclinamd Peroutka, a very close fri-end of Dr. Rirpka, even after he had the opportunity to see just what the bolshevi!k ho:rdes ·were c84)alble of and to know just what oommunist politics aimed to achieve, wrote: "The East, there is SLOVAKIA 13 our liberator, our ally and our protector in the future ... If in England there still can be found factors who evince a bigoted hatred for the Soviet Union, then those persons cannot even be considered as our friends" (DNESEK, June 11, 1946). The remain!ing 0zech aind Slova!k associa.tes of Dr. Ripka spolke, acted and wrote along the same lines, here and there trying to outdo each othm- in their apPeasement of the Communists and in proclaiming their undying loyalty to the Soviet Union. In other words, in the case of Dr. Ripka a.nd Oo. we are not concerned with coUaJborators who were forced to collaborate, 'but with politicians who. even gained otheiis for the Soviet Union (Vd. the books of Dr. Ripka, Dr. Peroutka, Dr. Benes and their manifestations during and aftm- the war; Dr. Stephen Osusky',s booklet "Dr. Bene£ and the Slova!ks"; also quotaitions in the SLOVAK NEWSLETTER and S'LOV A.KIA, as well as HrOlbak's "CZECH0SL0ViA!KliSM Versus A!MERilC.AJN]SM"). Conclusion As I had said at the beginning of these remavks, the investigaition of Dr. Hubm-t Ripka and Co. can be completed without the American authorities undertaking any necessary steps a;gainst this grouip of collalbomtors with bolshevism who are hidiinig behind a democratic laibel an~ are using and abusing the good nature and hospitality of certain American circles. But eiven such an end of the inivestigation will not change the fact in t'he least that Dr. Ripka; Peroutka, Zeillkl, Lettrich, Fm-ienci,k, etc., were tools of communist policy in the 0zecho..Slo:vak Republi:c - Dr. Ripka even in and t'hat their collalbora.tion the international arena resulted in rirvers of blood, suffering and the enslavement of millions of innocent hwman beings. Dr. Rii.pk•a and his associ,a tes are attempting to defend their coHalboration by saying that they intended to 'defend democracy and that they could not foresee that Russia would not honor its treaties. In ,p olitics, where everything is judged b.y results and not according to intentions, this feeble defense will not · rid them of the responsibility. It 14 SLO VAKIA could be, as already stated, the maximum of extenuating circumstances, ,booaruse in poil[tics the definition still. applies : gouverner, c'est prevoir (to govern is to foresee). Dr. Rirpka and Co. either l,araked necessairy f.oresig'ht, or, if they knew what they were doing, collaJborated fully and wiUingly in the full sense of the word. In either case, however, i:t is difficrut to understand why sO!Ill'e American chicles are still supporting these ~ech politicfans, who in the battle a:g·a inst Communism - failed .shamefully and rutterly, maJking it ruppeaT that some one is interested in whitewashing them forcefll!lly of c0Ua1boration - the collaJb oriation which they committed to a very greater measure than did the people they shot and hung for coUaboratirrg with the Na2Jis. · The Czech politicians coli1ruborated with the men of the Kremlin 'because they hated the West after Munich (193:8). Some wanted to avenge themselves on the West. They :knew what they were doing; they turned to Moscow knowingly and willingly. The Ozech •p oliticians a3so hated the SloV'a:ks, because they had dared to lwe their own li,ves and proclaim their independence; th,a t they demonstmted their ability to live without the Czechs and thus frustrated their plan to Ozechize the S1ovaik nation, to destroy it as a nation. Driven by this hatred, the desire for revenge and the ambition to rule, Dr. Ripka and Co. thrust themseJ,ves into the embrace of Moscow and fled to the West only after they sa:w that they played the wrong hoTse and Moscow wanted to liquidate them. We m'll!st, therefore, ask the question, whether in the fight against Communism these persons are, from among the Czech and Slov,a,k exiles, suitaJble intei,preters o;f democratic conceptions with regard to the ~ h and Slovak nations and whether they came to the United States and Cainada through those elements of the past administrations, which saw in Comtmunism "a progressive democracy" - as did Ripka, PerourtJka, Zenkl Le1Jtrich and Co. The <:ry· "cavean:t consules, nequid detrimenti Res PUiblica capiat," it seems, is, therefore, in order, but the investigation of the Czech collalborators is aJso late by several years.  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 Case of Dr. Hubert Ripka and Company Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum, M.A., LL.D. Slovakia, Vol. 4, No. 2 (10), June 1954 pp. 4-14 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 June 1954 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/70a4867303c04e6d7f7c38fdeeaa91fe.pdf f12c1aaa283e8bd5f8a3fc454ecf7894 PDF Text Text SLOYAKI A 3 DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS ON SLOVA~'S DECLARATION OF lL"VDEPENDENCE JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM A verry interesting Olbserwation was made ,b y E. H. Carr, weH-lknown EngJiJSh scfuolar,. ,i n regard to CentraJEurorpe8ill m01Vernents for ind€1I)en:dence based on the right of self-determination, when he said: "The ,s ettlement of the fust World War can ,by no means be regarded as fin!al and defmi'tiJVe. National ·s e1f.;determination becrum.e a standing iniv1tation to secession. The morvemeint wh!icll di'.Smembered Austria-<HUil'gary and created Yugioslia via and Czecho..,Slovakia was bound to be succeeded by mo.vements for the dismemberment of Yugosilavia and ~eicho-Sioivakia. Given the premtlses of nation18Jlism, the pro!Cess was naturnil and legitimate, and no end could be set to it" (1). From the his'tiorical point oif view, Slovakia's declaration of independence on March 14, 1939, did nothing else but folLow the cOIUI'se indicated lby Profe.ssor Carr. In 1918, when Cenbral Europe was formed acoordfung to President Wilson's prinrci:ple of self-determination, the SflO;vaJr people at home and abroa<l agreed to apply the new doctrine in common with the Czech people. In the given circumstances, it seemed to be the bes t solution for a people, who, after a brilliant history-<:reating e:poch o,f s ome 80 years in the ninth century, was fo11ced to fight for its ba.re exiSlten.ce and s urvi:va.1 du ring the following t en centuries. In 19·1 8, the trend o,f Europe's evolution towards democracy was quite general. The democratic idea unle,a shed the moral and biological forces of the Slo;v'cl;k people as well. Despite a,U the attempts of the Prague regime to bralke the cultural and economic development of Slnivrukia, the Slova'ks made ~urprisinig progre!?s in all fields of national endeavor and became possessed with a r eal national selfconfidence and <pride. Czech politicians were quite aware of the chiange, but did not take appropriate mea·s ures to deal with Slovak demands for more rights and less Ce:ech inter(1) Nati onalis m and After, London, 1945; P. 2~ . �SLOVAKIA f~rcnce in Slovakia's internal affairs. On t!J.e contrary, Prague's regime showed less under.standing for the desires and jw,t claims of the Slovak people in 1938 than it did in 1918. 'Dhe anti-Slovak policy of the Czech regime in Prague w~s bound to lbaC!kfire with a vengeance. The Slowtk people, leadered by a new, se[f~conscious and courageous intelligentsia decided to take advantage of the political situation in 1938-39 and declared its sepamtion from the Czechs, establiishing its own state, the Slovak Republic. In wew oif the fact that au chamges in Central Europe presupposed at least the tacit consent of Ge-rmany, which later became invohed in a total war against the democratic powers of the western world, many American and British statesmen, diplomats, politicians and publicists adopted a very hostile attitude to,w aros the Sl,ovak StJate. Without hearing and weighing the Sfovak side of the story, they regiaTded SlovaJk politiJ0ians as docile instruments cf (',.er,man e}G!)ansion and presented the cir,oumstances which led to . the declaration of SloiVaJkia's indeipeindence in the Hght of the anti-,Slovalk propaganda hatched by Dr. Edward Benes and other Czech exiles, W:h'O wished to assure their domination over Slovakia after the war wias ended. 1 Now, what do diplomatic documents, pub~ished by the American and Briitilsh Govern!!Ilents, hruve to say rubout the matter of Slovakia's decltaration of independence? The Germans and Slovakia Independent Slorvakia, as one of the solutions of the Slovruk problem, is mentioned for the first time in the Gernrnn cHp1'omatic documents, which were prepared by the Chief of the Political Devartment for Chancellor Hitler, on Octo'ber 7, 1938. Three days earlier, on October 4, 1938, Wei1z sacker told AtoJico, the ltaAian aJinlba.ssador, that Germany "in regard to Slovakia had not yeit any absolutely fixed line of policy." In the memorandum for Hi't:ler, there are mentioned "four possibilities in theory: 1. Independenll: S1ovakia; 2 . Slovruk autonomy within the framework of the Ozecho-Slovak State; 3. 3,utonomous Slow.kfa orientated toward Hungary, which might 'develop from an alliance into �SLOVAKIA 5 incorporation; 4. autonomous Slovalkia orientated toward Poiand." The Genman Miinistry of Fore,ign Afmirs exipressed itself for t.lie continuance of Sloivalkia within Ozeoho-1Slovakia and held to t!he opini'On that this '"even rpres.ents certain advantages compared with an independent Sio:va.kia." And Hitler himself, we learn, tl1'ought it "opportJune to support the Sillein (Zi.'lina) resolution" (autonomy and orientation toward Prague). The General Staff o;f the Wehrmacht (German Defense Porwer) , on October 6, 1938, held that "it is in our (German) miilitJary interest that Slovakia s!hould not be sepa'r ated from the Ozecho-1Slrovak Union, but should remain with Ozooho-1Sl0iVa:kia under strong German influence'' (Doc . No. 39). When the Germans wanted to annex Devin, Dr. F&dinand :Dwcansky went to Berlin in Navember 11, 1932, and appealed to Goering not to fuke Devin. At that time Goering wa·s of the oipinion that "the SlOVlalk and the Ukrainian questions could be derult with o.nl;y withrin the framework of the Czecho--1Slovruk State." At the end of 1938, when the fate o;f the Ozecho-Slorvalk Republic was completely ,i n ,tfue hands o;f Germany, representatives ,o f Hitler's regime were definitely for the continuance of Ozecho-Silorvalkia. F1urlhenmore, o:fifi:cilal documents telrl us that they not only were a,gamst the independence of Slovalkia, but that on Noveimlber 17, 1938, Ri:bbenrtro,p issued an order fmibiddmg to speaJk albout the question with Slovalks, iand Goeriillg, who mentioned independent Slovakia as a question Oif the future in his talk with :DurcanSlky, wa:s swpposed to be notified that "at the moment, political negotiations wii.th tlhe Sl ova.ks were not opportune" and that the Fuhrer had deicided "tha.t at the present time, the question of .sepairation of Slovalkila ShouJ.d not be touched U1pon either in a positive or in a neigaitive sense" (Doc. Nos. 26, 39, 45, 46). 1 Such, then, was the stand taken by Berlin on the question Oif .Slovalk independence, despite the fact that, 01ccordmg to doooments, the German Charge d' Affaires in Prague, Heneike, told Berlin as early a,s Octdber 4th that "according �b S LOVAKIA to reports here, the independence movement in Slovauda is gain.mg ground steadily. F'ar-<rea:ohing autonomy is now demanded by poHtioal circles in Slova,kfa whiich formerly were loyal to Pra:gue." And as late as February 12, 1939, Hitler told Professor Tl.lika that "up to six months ago he had 'been under the impression that Slovalkia desired reunion with Hll:Illgary." Did the Slovaks Want Independence? Ofifidal Gemnan dooUIIIlen.ts definitely disprove the clai!rns of propaganda that Germany wanted Slovakia to be independent before 1939. But they a!so show that the Slovaks considered that poss~bility al-ready in 1938. When representa:tiJVes of SlQlVaJkia, Dr. Joseph Tiso and Dr. F. Durlca.nsky, visited Miniister Riibbentroip on Oc'bolber 19, 1938, to defend Slova'kia against the territorial claims ·o f the Maigyars, Dr. Tiso, we read, "el1aJborated at length his ami of an a:utonomoos SlovaJkia coUaJborabing with an autonomous Cat1patho-Ulkraine under Prague." Dr. Duircansky, however, aC'cording to the record, "seemed .to be striving rather for the complete independence of Sloivalkia, perhaps in union with Canpatho-.Ukraine." Indepen'dence of Slova,kia i's also mentioned in the document wlhich recoros the meeting of Duircansky with Miarshall Goering on Novemer 11, 1938. And 'Dulka told Hitler, February 12, 1939, that "it was oibivious that for the Slovaks continn.led coexistence with the Czechs had ibeoome impossiible from a psyicholog,ica:l as we'll as an economic point of v,iew" (Doc. No. 168). But the docUIIIlents, in a;ocord with reality, also show that this opinion was not held by tJhe entire Slovak Government, even tholJlgh the idea of Slova!k independence was gaining ground among the Sl01Vaks, esipecially among the younger Slovaks, w'here Czech influence was fast losing its hold. Even though Dr. Vojtech Tuka was one of the most learned politicians, yet he was only a priV\ate individual at that time. True, he was quite popular in SloiVa:kia bec~use he had served so mue'h time in jail at the hands of the Czech government; but he had no influence on the decisions of the autonomous Sloviaik Government which was headed 1 �SLOVAKIA 7 by Dr. Joseph 'l'iso. That is why, even as. late as March 7, 1939, we read in the documents tha;t when "the Central Government in Prague had told the SiJ.ovak Miniisltern that they were at HJberty to procla,im the independeillCe of Slovakfa, if they thought this possi:ble and desirable for their country, t!he SlO!Vall{ Ministers in reply again e,cpressed Slovakia's wish to remain in the joint Rep,u;blic." According to the dooument orf Marich 9, 1939, "'l'iso and Sidor are said to be more indmed r~ently to a;greement than to breaikinig away." A doc,ument dated the same day, howe'Ver, says that the Prime Minister of the Pra;gue Government, Dr. Chrvalkovsky, informed the German diiplorrnatk: representati've in Prague, Hencike, that "ta!lks held last night between Tiso and Sidor, the SlOIVruk Ministers, and the Central Goivemment in Prague had broken down because the SlovaJks were not willing to g~ve any assurance tJhat they would refrain from proclaiming the in.d~ndence of Slovakia - if they would think thi-s necessary - nor were they prepared to ~ve assurances that propaganda actirvity for Slo-vak independence in tJhe country would be suppressed. President Ha.cha, theTeifore, had decided to dismiss Prime Minister Tiso, Miniister :Durcans'ky and Minister Prulzinsky from their posts" (Doc. Nos. 184, 186). Declaration of Slovak Independence The deposition of Dr. Joseph Tiso and the am.tonomous Slova:k Government by Prague - whioh was aJ~companied by a de0laration of Martial Law, the incarcerati'On of over three hundred Slovak po'1d.ti:ciiains and the mH.it•a ry oocupation of Slovakiia by the Ozeich army - was responsible, according to avail1aible doouiments, for the following events: 1. the preparation of an u[timatum for tJhe Czechs on the part of Germany; 2. a concentration of the Magyar army on the eastern boU111daries of Slorvrukia and Sulb-Ca:npathoUkraine; 3. the demand of the SloJVaks to, parrt: with the Ozechs, W'hiich resounded not only throughout ~ovailria, but aiJ.so - throug;h Dr. :Dureansky, who had esooiped arrest by fleeing to Vienna throug,hout the whole of Europe through the medium of the V~enna radio. �8 SLOVAKIA In the documents it says that "the illegal measures taken by Prague in Slorvrukia against raurtonomy have resulted in a declaration of the independen ce o;f the SlO!Vruk State by the Slovak Diet." But this did not come rubout so suddenly and simpl,y, as some woU!ld haive us .believe. SlOVlalkia undoubtecily was stirred up by the unconstitut ional regulations of Prague, and es:peciall,y by the arrest oif some 300 po. litical factors. When the latter were taken out o<f Slovrukia , the people of Slavia!kia demanded a definlite ~aration from the Czechs. The situation, however, did change to a certain extent, when, on the motion of the presidi'U!Ill of the autonomous Slovak Governmen t and the Hlinka Slovruk People's Party, Prag,ue narrned minister Charles Sidor as Premier of the SlovaJk Governmen t, and when Sidor asked the people to preserve peace and order and promised the release of political priisoner.s. Alocord'ing to the documents the situation became "somewhat jammed," and tlhe German representat:ives, who visited Sidor in the hope of coming to some agreement with him, announced amgr-ily in Berlin that "Sidor had ruwrurently been bribed by the Czechs and nothing couild be done with him" (2). The same day that Pmgue had named Sidor premier of the Slovak Governmen t, Berl~n sent messengers to Dr. Tiso with an inivitation to come to Berlin for a conference . Tiso wias removed from tJhe premiership unconstitut ionally and the Germans stil'l regarded him as pre:mier of the Slovruk Governmen t. After the presidium of the SloV13!k Diet, Hlinka's Party and Sidor's Governmen t concurred in the matter of the wsi.Jt, Dr. Tiso flew from Vienna to Berlin on March 13, 19·39, acc01mpanie d by Dr. :Du11cansky and another memiber of 1:Jhe Slovak Diet. According to the extensive record about the conference of Dr. Tiso and his ,party with Chancellor Hitler, the Slovak representatiive:s were received 'b y Hitler at 6 :40 P. M. in the presence of the 'highest German functionari es. In a lengthy I (2 ) Sidor lat.er e~pl ained th at he r efused to promise the Germans to proclaim th e indepen de nce of Slo vaki a because he did no t fee l compete.rut to do so inasmuch as this qu estion could b e decided only by 't he SloYak Assembly. �SLOVAKIA 9 monologue, Hitler at first sipOike a.bout the o.bstinacy of the Czechs who, he said, failed to understand the .situation and were sitilil tryiing to continue the policies of Dr. Edward Be_nes so that "conditions became intoJeralble" and, consequently, he stated that "Germany could no longer tolerate these conditions.'' Hitler, however, was not satisfied even with Sl01Va1kia. "Our second disaippointment had been the attitude of Slovakia," he told Tiso and his companions, and added tlhat in 1938 he "had 'been faced with a difficult decision as to whether or not to aHow Slova,kia to be occupied by the Hung8.'rians." Because he had accepted the ethnic principle as the basis of Murach discussions, Hitler said he thereby had alienated the friends/hip of Hungary. Hitler contioo.ed that now he had called Tiso to clarify the situation in as short a time as possilble. "Gennamy had no interests east of the Car,pat!hians," Hitler said, and "it was a matter of complete indifference to him what haipipened there." But Hitler did want to know whether "SlO!Vakia did want to lead an independent existence or not." F1u.rthermore, he said that ·he wanted "nothing from Slovakia," but, at the same time, "he did not wamt Hungary to reproach him for preserving something that did not want to be preserved." Then Hitler told Tiso that the question had to be decided not in da)'is, but m hours. "1f Slovrulda resisted or refused to be separated from Prague, Hitler would leaJVe the fate of Slovaikia to events for which he was no longer responsible. Then he would look after German interests only, and they diid not extend east od: tlhe Carpatlhians. Germany had nothmg to do with Slovalk,i a. She had never belonged to Germany." The document further states that Hitler "asked Ribbentrop if he had anything more to add. The Reich Foreign Mill.lister emphasized that hours not daYIS were concerned and handed Hitler a report just received from Regent Horthy rubout Hungarian troop movements on the Slova.!k frontier. Hitler read the report, told Tiso of its contents and expressed the hope that Slovakia woudd reach a decision quickly" (Doc. No. 202). �10 SLOVAKIA How did Dr. Joseiph T1so act in the presence of Hitler during this historiool moment? We might reca:J..l here just how a few mlOnths beifore the Prime Minister of the British Empire, Mr. Oharrnlberlain, and the Premier of France, Daladli.er, had acted. Mso the visit of Dr. E. Haicha and Dr. Chva:JJw:vsky of the Prague Goverillment the day after 'Diso's visit, March 14, 193·9. According to the record, "Tiso thanlked the Flihrer for his words. He had long desired to hear from the 1-i,ps of the Flihrer his attitude toward the Siovak people and their country, and how he looked upon problems. The FlihTer would pardon him if, under the impact of the Flihrer's words, he couitl not immeillately m~ke a definite statement, let alone render a decision. He woukl r.eti•r e with his colleague and consider the whole question calmly." Dr. Tiso and Dr. Durcanslky ructuaUy did retire 8Jlld, after a short time, announced to Hitler that they had come to the con'Olusion tJhat the decision really ibeloniged to the S'1o1VaJk Parliament. BecaUJSe tihe situation was very grave and tense, they immediately contaJCted Bresident Ha:cha f,r om BerJin and requested him to cOillVOke the Slo;viak Parliament on Mwch 14th - proceeding, therefore, according to the Czecho-SlOIVruk Constitutfon. Dr. Ha.cha complied. After Dr. Tiso !Presented the report albout his Berlin vii.sit, the Slovak Parliament unanimolUSly proclaimed the independence of ~ova1ki•a - the SlOIV•a k Republic (3). The Czechs and Slovakia's Indepenaence The SlOIVaJk Repulbliie was quicld.~ recognized by its neiighlbors: Hungary, Poland, Genmany. Then by tlhe Balkan countriies, and, sever-a1 months laiter, by Great Britain, Fran'Ce and the USSR, and the neutra~ states - Switzerland, the Vatican, Sweden and Spain. Slova!kia was recog(3) This historical session has been faithfully recorded in the oilfucial Minutes of the meeting, as well as on recording tape, the original of the latter still exis.ts, and these refute all falsehoods of Czech propaganda which·· would have the world believe tha,t the Slovak deputies were hesitant a•b out proclaiming the independence of their countcy and that the text of the proclamation was prepared by the Germans. The document was published in the Slovak press of t he Us.A. �SLOVAKIA 11 ni1zed 1and had diiplomatic conta:cts with altogether 27 different countries. How did the Czechs act under the ci-~cum stances? As soon as tJhe cry for independence ~an to be heard m Slovaikia, the Ozeichs, according to documents, were without a definite, fil1ffi stand, necessary V'iision and poliHcaI adroitness. They acted quite senselessilry. A,s we haJVe seen, on March 7, 1939, the Prague GovernimenJt "had Wld the Slovak Minri:sters that they were at liberty to prO!C'laim the independence of Sl~vakia if they thought this pos:si'ble and desiraible for thcir country." Aind even though the Slo,vaik Miini,sters at that time had again expressed ":S1'ovaikia's wish to reima.iin in the joint Republic," Dr. Chwlko:vsky, the Min~ster of Foreign Atffa,irs visited the diplomatic representatirve of Ge:rman,y in Brague to :ftind out whether Germ8.Illy wanted Slovakia to be i:indeipendent. He learned that "if Berlin wanted an independent Slovak[a, then Prague wOU!ld somethow haJVe to reconcile itse1f to this solution. He was a:Iso man enough to accept this difficult solJU.tion calmly." But despite all tJhis, the Prague Government, headed by President Hacha, not only deposed the autonomoU!S Sloiv;ak Government ll'Ilconstitutionalliy on March 10, 1939, but also sent mi1itary units to ooc'll'py Sl<Wiailcia. The Prague Gwernment had hundreds of Slovak political leaders arrested many regardless of parliamentary immun:i.ty~had the anny occupy puJbl,ic bll!i,l dings and proclaimed Mlartia:I Law in Slovalkia. When this act brolke the Slovak camel's back and led to the prod1amation of independence, Dr. Ha.cha . toiJ.d Hitler that "he was not shedding any tears over SloivaJkia" and that "he had no need to deplore what had haJPpened in SlO'V'rukia. He had long boon conivinJCed," coillt:Jinrued Ha.cha, "that the different nation:ai,ities in thi,s bod~ politic (Ozecho.,SJ.oviaJda) could not li,v e together. Despite siimilariity of speech, they had deiveloiped very differently, and Ozechia wa:s more alkin to Germiany than to Slovakia, whli.ch inclined more to the Magyars. They (tihe Oz~chs) had had relatio!IlS only with the EvangeHcal Slo~s. whi1le tihe CathoJi'cs had been rejected by the Czechs (there are-aJbout 80 per cent Ca1 �12 SLOVAKIA tholics in Slovrukia and some 14 per cent Protestants. Ekl.). Those were the reasons why they had never been able to arrive at a satisfiaotory l1Ilidetstandiing, and he wrus glad that developments had taken this coUTse. He was not a:lone in tlris opinion, :f.or certainly 80 ,p er cent o;f the Czech population shared it with him." Ha.cha added that "he thought that the Fli:hrer's experiences wirth the Sl0V1aks would be none too good,'' and conicluded his requested conference with Hitler sa:yinig that hls decision to aic1c ept the Ge11man Proteotoraite "woulJ.d probrubliy be regarded as a blessing fifty years hence" (Doc. No. 228). Shortly after the estaJbl~shment of the Sloivak Repulblic, cliplomatiic relations were estaJblished with the Ozeichs; a genera:l consulate was opened in Prague. More Czech students coonpleted thcir studies at the Bratislava Unii,veirsity in firve years of the SlovaJk RepuJb1ic, than Sloviak students thereto had graduated in Prague. lit seemed, therefore, that the Czeoh nation-had 'become reconciled to the idea that the SIJ.ovaks, too, had the inherent right to be free and independent. But the situation was not accepted by the Czech exiles headed by Dr. Ediwaro Benes. Retiurning in 1945 behind the Red Ar.my, Benes and his goverrunenrt-in-eocille, wit:h the aid of Communti:srts, nort only annexed SlO!ViaJkia to Czech lands and made it subordinate to Prague again a,g,a.inst the will of the SIJ.ovaJks, but also had SOl:me of the leaJding SlovaJk politici1a ns, who stood for Slovak independence and failed to. escrupe, hung and shot. The new Czech group of exiiles, excepting several honora;ble exceptions, is stHi continuing the ruinous rpolicy of Dr. Ediwaro Benes and is morally exeouting every Slovruk who dares to work for the independence oif his nation. After the sad exiperience of t:he past, these so-.calied Benes "OzoohoslovaJks" and Ozeichs have learned nothing. Theiy talk democracy and friendly relations, but flout the basic principles of true democracy and spread hatred for democratic Slovak,s. The stand of the Czechs, therefore, is by no means without bizarreness. � SLOYAKI A 3 DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS ON SLOVA~'S DECLARATION OF lL"VDEPENDENCE JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM A verry interesting Olbserwation was made ,b y E. H. Carr, weH-lknown EngJiJSh scfuolar,. ,i n regard to CentraJEurorpe8ill m01Vernents for ind€1I)en:dence based on the right of self-determination, when he said: "The ,s ettlement of the fust World War can ,by no means be regarded as fin!al and defmi'tiJVe. National ·s e1f.;determination becrum.e a standing iniv1tation to secession. The morvemeint wh!icll di'.Smembered Austria-<HUil'gary and created Yugioslia via and Czecho..,Slovakia was bound to be succeeded by mo.vements for the dismemberment of Yugosilavia and ~eicho-Sioivakia. Given the premtlses of nation18Jlism, the pro!Cess was naturnil and legitimate, and no end could be set to it" (1). From the his'tiorical point oif view, Slovakia's declaration of independence on March 14, 1939, did nothing else but folLow the cOIUI'se indicated lby Profe.ssor Carr. In 1918, when Cenbral Europe was formed acoordfung to President Wilson's prinrci:ple of self-determination, the SflO;vaJr people at home and abroa<l agreed to apply the new doctrine in common with the Czech people. In the given circumstances, it seemed to be the bes t solution for a people, who, after a brilliant history-<:reating e:poch o,f s ome 80 years in the ninth century, was fo11ced to fight for its ba.re exiSlten.ce and s urvi:va.1 du ring the following t en centuries. In 19·1 8, the trend o,f Europe's evolution towards democracy was quite general. The democratic idea unle,a shed the moral and biological forces of the Slo;v'cl;k people as well. Despite a,U the attempts of the Prague regime to bralke the cultural and economic development of Slnivrukia, the Slova'ks made ~urprisinig progre!?s in all fields of national endeavor and became possessed with a r eal national selfconfidence and <pride. Czech politicians were quite aware of the chiange, but did not take appropriate mea·s ures to deal with Slovak demands for more rights and less Ce:ech inter(1) Nati onalis m and After, London, 1945; P. 2~ . �SLOVAKIA f~rcnce in Slovakia's internal affairs. On t!J.e contrary, Prague's regime showed less under.standing for the desires and jw,t claims of the Slovak people in 1938 than it did in 1918. 'Dhe anti-Slovak policy of the Czech regime in Prague w~s bound to lbaC!kfire with a vengeance. The Slowtk people, leadered by a new, se[f~conscious and courageous intelligentsia decided to take advantage of the political situation in 1938-39 and declared its sepamtion from the Czechs, establiishing its own state, the Slovak Republic. In wew oif the fact that au chamges in Central Europe presupposed at least the tacit consent of Ge-rmany, which later became invohed in a total war against the democratic powers of the western world, many American and British statesmen, diplomats, politicians and publicists adopted a very hostile attitude to,w aros the Sl,ovak StJate. Without hearing and weighing the Sfovak side of the story, they regiaTded SlovaJk politiJ0ians as docile instruments cf (',.er,man e}G!)ansion and presented the cir,oumstances which led to . the declaration of SloiVaJkia's indeipeindence in the Hght of the anti-,Slovalk propaganda hatched by Dr. Edward Benes and other Czech exiles, W:h'O wished to assure their domination over Slovakia after the war wias ended. 1 Now, what do diplomatic documents, pub~ished by the American and Briitilsh Govern!!Ilents, hruve to say rubout the matter of Slovakia's decltaration of independence? The Germans and Slovakia Independent Slorvakia, as one of the solutions of the Slovruk problem, is mentioned for the first time in the Gernrnn cHp1'omatic documents, which were prepared by the Chief of the Political Devartment for Chancellor Hitler, on Octo'ber 7, 1938. Three days earlier, on October 4, 1938, Wei1z sacker told AtoJico, the ltaAian aJinlba.ssador, that Germany "in regard to Slovakia had not yeit any absolutely fixed line of policy." In the memorandum for Hi't:ler, there are mentioned "four possibilities in theory: 1. Independenll: S1ovakia; 2 . Slovruk autonomy within the framework of the Ozecho-Slovak State; 3. 3,utonomous Slow.kfa orientated toward Hungary, which might 'develop from an alliance into �SLOVAKIA 5 incorporation; 4. autonomous Slovalkia orientated toward Poiand." The Genman Miinistry of Fore,ign Afmirs exipressed itself for t.lie continuance of Sloivalkia within Ozeoho-1Slovakia and held to t!he opini'On that this '"even rpres.ents certain advantages compared with an independent Sio:va.kia." And Hitler himself, we learn, tl1'ought it "opportJune to support the Sillein (Zi.'lina) resolution" (autonomy and orientation toward Prague). The General Staff o;f the Wehrmacht (German Defense Porwer) , on October 6, 1938, held that "it is in our (German) miilitJary interest that Slovakia s!hould not be sepa'r ated from the Ozecho-1Slrovak Union, but should remain with Ozooho-1Sl0iVa:kia under strong German influence'' (Doc . No. 39). When the Germans wanted to annex Devin, Dr. F&dinand :Dwcansky went to Berlin in Navember 11, 1932, and appealed to Goering not to fuke Devin. At that time Goering wa·s of the oipinion that "the SlOVlalk and the Ukrainian questions could be derult with o.nl;y withrin the framework of the Czecho--1Slovruk State." At the end of 1938, when the fate o;f the Ozecho-Slorvalk Republic was completely ,i n ,tfue hands o;f Germany, representatives ,o f Hitler's regime were definitely for the continuance of Ozecho-Silorvalkia. F1urlhenmore, o:fifi:cilal documents telrl us that they not only were a,gamst the independence of Slovalkia, but that on Noveimlber 17, 1938, Ri:bbenrtro,p issued an order fmibiddmg to speaJk albout the question with Slovalks, iand Goeriillg, who mentioned independent Slovakia as a question Oif the future in his talk with :DurcanSlky, wa:s swpposed to be notified that "at the moment, political negotiations wii.th tlhe Sl ova.ks were not opportune" and that the Fuhrer had deicided "tha.t at the present time, the question of .sepairation of Slovalkila ShouJ.d not be touched U1pon either in a positive or in a neigaitive sense" (Doc. Nos. 26, 39, 45, 46). 1 Such, then, was the stand taken by Berlin on the question Oif .Slovalk independence, despite the fact that, 01ccordmg to doooments, the German Charge d' Affaires in Prague, Heneike, told Berlin as early a,s Octdber 4th that "according �b S LOVAKIA to reports here, the independence movement in Slovauda is gain.mg ground steadily. F'ar-<rea:ohing autonomy is now demanded by poHtioal circles in Slova,kfa whiich formerly were loyal to Pra:gue." And as late as February 12, 1939, Hitler told Professor Tl.lika that "up to six months ago he had 'been under the impression that Slovalkia desired reunion with Hll:Illgary." Did the Slovaks Want Independence? Ofifidal Gemnan dooUIIIlen.ts definitely disprove the clai!rns of propaganda that Germany wanted Slovakia to be independent before 1939. But they a!so show that the Slovaks considered that poss~bility al-ready in 1938. When representa:tiJVes of SlQlVaJkia, Dr. Joseph Tiso and Dr. F. Durlca.nsky, visited Miniister Riibbentroip on Oc'bolber 19, 1938, to defend Slova'kia against the territorial claims ·o f the Maigyars, Dr. Tiso, we read, "el1aJborated at length his ami of an a:utonomoos SlovaJkia coUaJborabing with an autonomous Cat1patho-Ulkraine under Prague." Dr. Duircansky, however, aC'cording to the record, "seemed .to be striving rather for the complete independence of Sloivalkia, perhaps in union with Canpatho-.Ukraine." Indepen'dence of Slova,kia i's also mentioned in the document wlhich recoros the meeting of Duircansky with Miarshall Goering on Novemer 11, 1938. And 'Dulka told Hitler, February 12, 1939, that "it was oibivious that for the Slovaks continn.led coexistence with the Czechs had ibeoome impossiible from a psyicholog,ica:l as we'll as an economic point of v,iew" (Doc. No. 168). But the docUIIIlents, in a;ocord with reality, also show that this opinion was not held by tJhe entire Slovak Government, even tholJlgh the idea of Slova!k independence was gaining ground among the Sl01Vaks, esipecially among the younger Slovaks, w'here Czech influence was fast losing its hold. Even though Dr. Vojtech Tuka was one of the most learned politicians, yet he was only a priV\ate individual at that time. True, he was quite popular in SloiVa:kia bec~use he had served so mue'h time in jail at the hands of the Czech government; but he had no influence on the decisions of the autonomous Sloviaik Government which was headed 1 �SLOVAKIA 7 by Dr. Joseph 'l'iso. That is why, even as. late as March 7, 1939, we read in the documents tha;t when "the Central Government in Prague had told the SiJ.ovak Miniisltern that they were at HJberty to procla,im the independeillCe of Slovakfa, if they thought this possi:ble and desirable for their country, t!he SlO!Vall{ Ministers in reply again e,cpressed Slovakia's wish to remain in the joint Rep,u;blic." According to the dooument orf Marich 9, 1939, "'l'iso and Sidor are said to be more indmed r~ently to a;greement than to breaikinig away." A doc,ument dated the same day, howe'Ver, says that the Prime Minister of the Pra;gue Government, Dr. Chrvalkovsky, informed the German diiplorrnatk: representati've in Prague, Hencike, that "ta!lks held last night between Tiso and Sidor, the SlOIVruk Ministers, and the Central Goivemment in Prague had broken down because the SlovaJks were not willing to g~ve any assurance tJhat they would refrain from proclaiming the in.d~ndence of Slovakia - if they would think thi-s necessary - nor were they prepared to ~ve assurances that propaganda actirvity for Slo-vak independence in tJhe country would be suppressed. President Ha.cha, theTeifore, had decided to dismiss Prime Minister Tiso, Miniister :Durcans'ky and Minister Prulzinsky from their posts" (Doc. Nos. 184, 186). Declaration of Slovak Independence The deposition of Dr. Joseph Tiso and the am.tonomous Slova:k Government by Prague - whioh was aJ~companied by a de0laration of Martial Law, the incarcerati'On of over three hundred Slovak po'1d.ti:ciiains and the mH.it•a ry oocupation of Slovakiia by the Ozeich army - was responsible, according to avail1aible doouiments, for the following events: 1. the preparation of an u[timatum for tJhe Czechs on the part of Germany; 2. a concentration of the Magyar army on the eastern boU111daries of Slorvrukia and Sulb-Ca:npathoUkraine; 3. the demand of the SloJVaks to, parrt: with the Ozechs, W'hiich resounded not only throughout ~ovailria, but aiJ.so - throug;h Dr. :Dureansky, who had esooiped arrest by fleeing to Vienna throug,hout the whole of Europe through the medium of the V~enna radio. �8 SLOVAKIA In the documents it says that "the illegal measures taken by Prague in Slorvrukia against raurtonomy have resulted in a declaration of the independen ce o;f the SlO!Vruk State by the Slovak Diet." But this did not come rubout so suddenly and simpl,y, as some woU!ld haive us .believe. SlOVlalkia undoubtecily was stirred up by the unconstitut ional regulations of Prague, and es:peciall,y by the arrest oif some 300 po. litical factors. When the latter were taken out o<f Slovrukia , the people of Slavia!kia demanded a definlite ~aration from the Czechs. The situation, however, did change to a certain extent, when, on the motion of the presidi'U!Ill of the autonomous Slovak Governmen t and the Hlinka Slovruk People's Party, Prag,ue narrned minister Charles Sidor as Premier of the SlovaJk Governmen t, and when Sidor asked the people to preserve peace and order and promised the release of political priisoner.s. Alocord'ing to the documents the situation became "somewhat jammed," and tlhe German representat:ives, who visited Sidor in the hope of coming to some agreement with him, announced amgr-ily in Berlin that "Sidor had ruwrurently been bribed by the Czechs and nothing couild be done with him" (2). The same day that Pmgue had named Sidor premier of the Slovak Governmen t, Berl~n sent messengers to Dr. Tiso with an inivitation to come to Berlin for a conference . Tiso wias removed from tJhe premiership unconstitut ionally and the Germans stil'l regarded him as pre:mier of the Slovruk Governmen t. After the presidium of the SloV13!k Diet, Hlinka's Party and Sidor's Governmen t concurred in the matter of the wsi.Jt, Dr. Tiso flew from Vienna to Berlin on March 13, 19·39, acc01mpanie d by Dr. :Du11cansky and another memiber of 1:Jhe Slovak Diet. According to the extensive record about the conference of Dr. Tiso and his ,party with Chancellor Hitler, the Slovak representatiive:s were received 'b y Hitler at 6 :40 P. M. in the presence of the 'highest German functionari es. In a lengthy I (2 ) Sidor lat.er e~pl ained th at he r efused to promise the Germans to proclaim th e indepen de nce of Slo vaki a because he did no t fee l compete.rut to do so inasmuch as this qu estion could b e decided only by 't he SloYak Assembly. �SLOVAKIA 9 monologue, Hitler at first sipOike a.bout the o.bstinacy of the Czechs who, he said, failed to understand the .situation and were sitilil tryiing to continue the policies of Dr. Edward Be_nes so that "conditions became intoJeralble" and, consequently, he stated that "Germany could no longer tolerate these conditions.'' Hitler, however, was not satisfied even with Sl01Va1kia. "Our second disaippointment had been the attitude of Slovakia," he told Tiso and his companions, and added tlhat in 1938 he "had 'been faced with a difficult decision as to whether or not to aHow Slova,kia to be occupied by the Hung8.'rians." Because he had accepted the ethnic principle as the basis of Murach discussions, Hitler said he thereby had alienated the friends/hip of Hungary. Hitler contioo.ed that now he had called Tiso to clarify the situation in as short a time as possilble. "Gennamy had no interests east of the Car,pat!hians," Hitler said, and "it was a matter of complete indifference to him what haipipened there." But Hitler did want to know whether "SlO!Vakia did want to lead an independent existence or not." F1u.rthermore, he said that ·he wanted "nothing from Slovakia," but, at the same time, "he did not wamt Hungary to reproach him for preserving something that did not want to be preserved." Then Hitler told Tiso that the question had to be decided not in da)'is, but m hours. "1f Slovrulda resisted or refused to be separated from Prague, Hitler would leaJVe the fate of Slovaikia to events for which he was no longer responsible. Then he would look after German interests only, and they diid not extend east od: tlhe Carpatlhians. Germany had nothmg to do with Slovalk,i a. She had never belonged to Germany." The document further states that Hitler "asked Ribbentrop if he had anything more to add. The Reich Foreign Mill.lister emphasized that hours not daYIS were concerned and handed Hitler a report just received from Regent Horthy rubout Hungarian troop movements on the Slova.!k frontier. Hitler read the report, told Tiso of its contents and expressed the hope that Slovakia woudd reach a decision quickly" (Doc. No. 202). �10 SLOVAKIA How did Dr. Joseiph T1so act in the presence of Hitler during this historiool moment? We might reca:J..l here just how a few mlOnths beifore the Prime Minister of the British Empire, Mr. Oharrnlberlain, and the Premier of France, Daladli.er, had acted. Mso the visit of Dr. E. Haicha and Dr. Chva:JJw:vsky of the Prague Goverillment the day after 'Diso's visit, March 14, 193·9. According to the record, "Tiso thanlked the Flihrer for his words. He had long desired to hear from the 1-i,ps of the Flihrer his attitude toward the Siovak people and their country, and how he looked upon problems. The FlihTer would pardon him if, under the impact of the Flihrer's words, he couitl not immeillately m~ke a definite statement, let alone render a decision. He woukl r.eti•r e with his colleague and consider the whole question calmly." Dr. Tiso and Dr. Durcanslky ructuaUy did retire 8Jlld, after a short time, announced to Hitler that they had come to the con'Olusion tJhat the decision really ibeloniged to the S'1o1VaJk Parliament. BecaUJSe tihe situation was very grave and tense, they immediately contaJCted Bresident Ha:cha f,r om BerJin and requested him to cOillVOke the Slo;viak Parliament on Mwch 14th - proceeding, therefore, according to the Czecho-SlOIVruk Constitutfon. Dr. Ha.cha complied. After Dr. Tiso !Presented the report albout his Berlin vii.sit, the Slovak Parliament unanimolUSly proclaimed the independence of ~ova1ki•a - the SlOIV•a k Republic (3). The Czechs and Slovakia's Indepenaence The SlOIVaJk Repulbliie was quicld.~ recognized by its neiighlbors: Hungary, Poland, Genmany. Then by tlhe Balkan countriies, and, sever-a1 months laiter, by Great Britain, Fran'Ce and the USSR, and the neutra~ states - Switzerland, the Vatican, Sweden and Spain. Slova!kia was recog(3) This historical session has been faithfully recorded in the oilfucial Minutes of the meeting, as well as on recording tape, the original of the latter still exis.ts, and these refute all falsehoods of Czech propaganda which·· would have the world believe tha,t the Slovak deputies were hesitant a•b out proclaiming the independence of their countcy and that the text of the proclamation was prepared by the Germans. The document was published in the Slovak press of t he Us.A. �SLOVAKIA 11 ni1zed 1and had diiplomatic conta:cts with altogether 27 different countries. How did the Czechs act under the ci-~cum stances? As soon as tJhe cry for independence ~an to be heard m Slovaikia, the Ozeichs, according to documents, were without a definite, fil1ffi stand, necessary V'iision and poliHcaI adroitness. They acted quite senselessilry. A,s we haJVe seen, on March 7, 1939, the Prague GovernimenJt "had Wld the Slovak Minri:sters that they were at liberty to prO!C'laim the independence of Sl~vakia if they thought this pos:si'ble and desiraible for thcir country." Aind even though the Slo,vaik Miini,sters at that time had again expressed ":S1'ovaikia's wish to reima.iin in the joint Republic," Dr. Chwlko:vsky, the Min~ster of Foreign Atffa,irs visited the diplomatic representatirve of Ge:rman,y in Brague to :ftind out whether Germ8.Illy wanted Slovakia to be i:indeipendent. He learned that "if Berlin wanted an independent Slovak[a, then Prague wOU!ld somethow haJVe to reconcile itse1f to this solution. He was a:Iso man enough to accept this difficult solJU.tion calmly." But despite all tJhis, the Prague Government, headed by President Hacha, not only deposed the autonomoU!S Sloiv;ak Government ll'Ilconstitutionalliy on March 10, 1939, but also sent mi1itary units to ooc'll'py Sl<Wiailcia. The Prague Gwernment had hundreds of Slovak political leaders arrested many regardless of parliamentary immun:i.ty~had the anny occupy puJbl,ic bll!i,l dings and proclaimed Mlartia:I Law in Slovalkia. When this act brolke the Slovak camel's back and led to the prod1amation of independence, Dr. Ha.cha . toiJ.d Hitler that "he was not shedding any tears over SloivaJkia" and that "he had no need to deplore what had haJPpened in SlO'V'rukia. He had long boon conivinJCed," coillt:Jinrued Ha.cha, "that the different nation:ai,ities in thi,s bod~ politic (Ozecho.,SJ.oviaJda) could not li,v e together. Despite siimilariity of speech, they had deiveloiped very differently, and Ozechia wa:s more alkin to Germiany than to Slovakia, whli.ch inclined more to the Magyars. They (tihe Oz~chs) had had relatio!IlS only with the EvangeHcal Slo~s. whi1le tihe CathoJi'cs had been rejected by the Czechs (there are-aJbout 80 per cent Ca1 �12 SLOVAKIA tholics in Slovrukia and some 14 per cent Protestants. Ekl.). Those were the reasons why they had never been able to arrive at a satisfiaotory l1Ilidetstandiing, and he wrus glad that developments had taken this coUTse. He was not a:lone in tlris opinion, :f.or certainly 80 ,p er cent o;f the Czech population shared it with him." Ha.cha added that "he thought that the Fli:hrer's experiences wirth the Sl0V1aks would be none too good,'' and conicluded his requested conference with Hitler sa:yinig that hls decision to aic1c ept the Ge11man Proteotoraite "woulJ.d probrubliy be regarded as a blessing fifty years hence" (Doc. No. 228). Shortly after the estaJbl~shment of the Sloivak Repulblic, cliplomatiic relations were estaJblished with the Ozeichs; a genera:l consulate was opened in Prague. More Czech students coonpleted thcir studies at the Bratislava Unii,veirsity in firve years of the SlovaJk RepuJb1ic, than Sloviak students thereto had graduated in Prague. lit seemed, therefore, that the Czeoh nation-had 'become reconciled to the idea that the SIJ.ovaks, too, had the inherent right to be free and independent. But the situation was not accepted by the Czech exiles headed by Dr. Ediwaro Benes. Retiurning in 1945 behind the Red Ar.my, Benes and his goverrunenrt-in-eocille, wit:h the aid of Communti:srts, nort only annexed SlO!ViaJkia to Czech lands and made it subordinate to Prague again a,g,a.inst the will of the SIJ.ovaJks, but also had SOl:me of the leaJding SlovaJk politici1a ns, who stood for Slovak independence and failed to. escrupe, hung and shot. The new Czech group of exiiles, excepting several honora;ble exceptions, is stHi continuing the ruinous rpolicy of Dr. Ediwaro Benes and is morally exeouting every Slovruk who dares to work for the independence oif his nation. After the sad exiperience of t:he past, these so-.calied Benes "OzoohoslovaJks" and Ozeichs have learned nothing. Theiy talk democracy and friendly relations, but flout the basic principles of true democracy and spread hatred for democratic Slovak,s. The stand of the Czechs, therefore, is by no means without bizarreness. � 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 SLOYAKI A 3 DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS ON SLOVA~'S DECLARATION OF lL"VDEPENDENCE JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM A verry interesting Olbserwation was made ,b y E. H. Carr, weH-lknown EngJiJSh scfuolar,. ,i n regard to CentraJEurorpe8ill m01Vernents for ind€1I)en:dence based on the right of self-determination, when he said: "The ,s ettlement of the fust World War can ,by no means be regarded as fin!al and defmi'tiJVe. National ·s e1f.;determination becrum.e a standing iniv1tation to secession. The morvemeint wh!icll di'.Smembered Austria-<HUil'gary and created Yugioslia via and Czecho..,Slovakia was bound to be succeeded by mo.vements for the dismemberment of Yugosilavia and ~eicho-Sioivakia. Given the premtlses of nation18Jlism, the pro!Cess was naturnil and legitimate, and no end could be set to it" (1). From the his'tiorical point oif view, Slovakia's declaration of independence on March 14, 1939, did nothing else but folLow the cOIUI'se indicated lby Profe.ssor Carr. In 1918, when Cenbral Europe was formed acoordfung to President Wilson's prinrci:ple of self-determination, the SflO;vaJr people at home and abroa<l agreed to apply the new doctrine in common with the Czech people. In the given circumstances, it seemed to be the bes t solution for a people, who, after a brilliant history-<:reating e:poch o,f s ome 80 years in the ninth century, was fo11ced to fight for its ba.re exiSlten.ce and s urvi:va.1 du ring the following t en centuries. In 19·1 8, the trend o,f Europe's evolution towards democracy was quite general. The democratic idea unle,a shed the moral and biological forces of the Slo;v'cl;k people as well. Despite a,U the attempts of the Prague regime to bralke the cultural and economic development of Slnivrukia, the Slova'ks made ~urprisinig progre!?s in all fields of national endeavor and became possessed with a r eal national selfconfidence and <pride. Czech politicians were quite aware of the chiange, but did not take appropriate mea·s ures to deal with Slovak demands for more rights and less Ce:ech inter(1) Nati onalis m and After, London, 1945; P. 2~ . SLOVAKIA f~rcnce in Slovakia's internal affairs. On t!J.e contrary, Prague's regime showed less under.standing for the desires and jw,t claims of the Slovak people in 1938 than it did in 1918. 'Dhe anti-Slovak policy of the Czech regime in Prague w~s bound to lbaC!kfire with a vengeance. The Slowtk people, leadered by a new, se[f~conscious and courageous intelligentsia decided to take advantage of the political situation in 1938-39 and declared its sepamtion from the Czechs, establiishing its own state, the Slovak Republic. In wew oif the fact that au chamges in Central Europe presupposed at least the tacit consent of Ge-rmany, which later became invohed in a total war against the democratic powers of the western world, many American and British statesmen, diplomats, politicians and publicists adopted a very hostile attitude to,w aros the Sl,ovak StJate. Without hearing and weighing the Sfovak side of the story, they regiaTded SlovaJk politiJ0ians as docile instruments cf (',.er,man e}G!)ansion and presented the cir,oumstances which led to . the declaration of SloiVaJkia's indeipeindence in the Hght of the anti-,Slovalk propaganda hatched by Dr. Edward Benes and other Czech exiles, W:h'O wished to assure their domination over Slovakia after the war wias ended. 1 Now, what do diplomatic documents, pub~ished by the American and Briitilsh Govern!!Ilents, hruve to say rubout the matter of Slovakia's decltaration of independence? The Germans and Slovakia Independent Slorvakia, as one of the solutions of the Slovruk problem, is mentioned for the first time in the Gernrnn cHp1'omatic documents, which were prepared by the Chief of the Political Devartment for Chancellor Hitler, on Octo'ber 7, 1938. Three days earlier, on October 4, 1938, Wei1z sacker told AtoJico, the ltaAian aJinlba.ssador, that Germany "in regard to Slovakia had not yeit any absolutely fixed line of policy." In the memorandum for Hi't:ler, there are mentioned "four possibilities in theory: 1. Independenll: S1ovakia; 2 . Slovruk autonomy within the framework of the Ozecho-Slovak State; 3. 3,utonomous Slow.kfa orientated toward Hungary, which might 'develop from an alliance into SLOVAKIA 5 incorporation; 4. autonomous Slovalkia orientated toward Poiand." The Genman Miinistry of Fore,ign Afmirs exipressed itself for t.lie continuance of Sloivalkia within Ozeoho-1Slovakia and held to t!he opini'On that this '"even rpres.ents certain advantages compared with an independent Sio:va.kia." And Hitler himself, we learn, tl1'ought it "opportJune to support the Sillein (Zi.'lina) resolution" (autonomy and orientation toward Prague). The General Staff o;f the Wehrmacht (German Defense Porwer) , on October 6, 1938, held that "it is in our (German) miilitJary interest that Slovakia s!hould not be sepa'r ated from the Ozecho-1Slrovak Union, but should remain with Ozooho-1Sl0iVa:kia under strong German influence'' (Doc . No. 39). When the Germans wanted to annex Devin, Dr. F&dinand :Dwcansky went to Berlin in Navember 11, 1932, and appealed to Goering not to fuke Devin. At that time Goering wa·s of the oipinion that "the SlOVlalk and the Ukrainian questions could be derult with o.nl;y withrin the framework of the Czecho--1Slovruk State." At the end of 1938, when the fate o;f the Ozecho-Slorvalk Republic was completely ,i n ,tfue hands o;f Germany, representatives ,o f Hitler's regime were definitely for the continuance of Ozecho-Silorvalkia. F1urlhenmore, o:fifi:cilal documents telrl us that they not only were a,gamst the independence of Slovalkia, but that on Noveimlber 17, 1938, Ri:bbenrtro,p issued an order fmibiddmg to speaJk albout the question with Slovalks, iand Goeriillg, who mentioned independent Slovakia as a question Oif the future in his talk with :DurcanSlky, wa:s swpposed to be notified that "at the moment, political negotiations wii.th tlhe Sl ova.ks were not opportune" and that the Fuhrer had deicided "tha.t at the present time, the question of .sepairation of Slovalkila ShouJ.d not be touched U1pon either in a positive or in a neigaitive sense" (Doc. Nos. 26, 39, 45, 46). 1 Such, then, was the stand taken by Berlin on the question Oif .Slovalk independence, despite the fact that, 01ccordmg to doooments, the German Charge d' Affaires in Prague, Heneike, told Berlin as early a,s Octdber 4th that "according b S LOVAKIA to reports here, the independence movement in Slovauda is gain.mg ground steadily. F'ar-<rea:ohing autonomy is now demanded by poHtioal circles in Slova,kfa whiich formerly were loyal to Pra:gue." And as late as February 12, 1939, Hitler told Professor Tl.lika that "up to six months ago he had 'been under the impression that Slovalkia desired reunion with Hll:Illgary." Did the Slovaks Want Independence? Ofifidal Gemnan dooUIIIlen.ts definitely disprove the clai!rns of propaganda that Germany wanted Slovakia to be independent before 1939. But they a!so show that the Slovaks considered that poss~bility al-ready in 1938. When representa:tiJVes of SlQlVaJkia, Dr. Joseph Tiso and Dr. F. Durlca.nsky, visited Miniister Riibbentroip on Oc'bolber 19, 1938, to defend Slova'kia against the territorial claims ·o f the Maigyars, Dr. Tiso, we read, "el1aJborated at length his ami of an a:utonomoos SlovaJkia coUaJborabing with an autonomous Cat1patho-Ulkraine under Prague." Dr. Duircansky, however, aC'cording to the record, "seemed .to be striving rather for the complete independence of Sloivalkia, perhaps in union with Canpatho-.Ukraine." Indepen'dence of Slova,kia i's also mentioned in the document wlhich recoros the meeting of Duircansky with Miarshall Goering on Novemer 11, 1938. And 'Dulka told Hitler, February 12, 1939, that "it was oibivious that for the Slovaks continn.led coexistence with the Czechs had ibeoome impossiible from a psyicholog,ica:l as we'll as an economic point of v,iew" (Doc. No. 168). But the docUIIIlents, in a;ocord with reality, also show that this opinion was not held by tJhe entire Slovak Government, even tholJlgh the idea of Slova!k independence was gaining ground among the Sl01Vaks, esipecially among the younger Slovaks, w'here Czech influence was fast losing its hold. Even though Dr. Vojtech Tuka was one of the most learned politicians, yet he was only a priV\ate individual at that time. True, he was quite popular in SloiVa:kia bec~use he had served so mue'h time in jail at the hands of the Czech government; but he had no influence on the decisions of the autonomous Sloviaik Government which was headed 1 SLOVAKIA 7 by Dr. Joseph 'l'iso. That is why, even as. late as March 7, 1939, we read in the documents tha;t when "the Central Government in Prague had told the SiJ.ovak Miniisltern that they were at HJberty to procla,im the independeillCe of Slovakfa, if they thought this possi:ble and desirable for their country, t!he SlO!Vall{ Ministers in reply again e,cpressed Slovakia's wish to remain in the joint Rep,u;blic." According to the dooument orf Marich 9, 1939, "'l'iso and Sidor are said to be more indmed r~ently to a;greement than to breaikinig away." A doc,ument dated the same day, howe'Ver, says that the Prime Minister of the Pra;gue Government, Dr. Chrvalkovsky, informed the German diiplorrnatk: representati've in Prague, Hencike, that "ta!lks held last night between Tiso and Sidor, the SlOIVruk Ministers, and the Central Goivemment in Prague had broken down because the SlovaJks were not willing to g~ve any assurance tJhat they would refrain from proclaiming the in.d~ndence of Slovakia - if they would think thi-s necessary - nor were they prepared to ~ve assurances that propaganda actirvity for Slo-vak independence in tJhe country would be suppressed. President Ha.cha, theTeifore, had decided to dismiss Prime Minister Tiso, Miniister :Durcans'ky and Minister Prulzinsky from their posts" (Doc. Nos. 184, 186). Declaration of Slovak Independence The deposition of Dr. Joseph Tiso and the am.tonomous Slova:k Government by Prague - whioh was aJ~companied by a de0laration of Martial Law, the incarcerati'On of over three hundred Slovak po'1d.ti:ciiains and the mH.it•a ry oocupation of Slovakiia by the Ozeich army - was responsible, according to avail1aible doouiments, for the following events: 1. the preparation of an u[timatum for tJhe Czechs on the part of Germany; 2. a concentration of the Magyar army on the eastern boU111daries of Slorvrukia and Sulb-Ca:npathoUkraine; 3. the demand of the SloJVaks to, parrt: with the Ozechs, W'hiich resounded not only throughout ~ovailria, but aiJ.so - throug;h Dr. :Dureansky, who had esooiped arrest by fleeing to Vienna throug,hout the whole of Europe through the medium of the V~enna radio. 8 SLOVAKIA In the documents it says that "the illegal measures taken by Prague in Slorvrukia against raurtonomy have resulted in a declaration of the independen ce o;f the SlO!Vruk State by the Slovak Diet." But this did not come rubout so suddenly and simpl,y, as some woU!ld haive us .believe. SlOVlalkia undoubtecily was stirred up by the unconstitut ional regulations of Prague, and es:peciall,y by the arrest oif some 300 po. litical factors. When the latter were taken out o<f Slovrukia , the people of Slavia!kia demanded a definlite ~aration from the Czechs. The situation, however, did change to a certain extent, when, on the motion of the presidi'U!Ill of the autonomous Slovak Governmen t and the Hlinka Slovruk People's Party, Prag,ue narrned minister Charles Sidor as Premier of the SlovaJk Governmen t, and when Sidor asked the people to preserve peace and order and promised the release of political priisoner.s. Alocord'ing to the documents the situation became "somewhat jammed," and tlhe German representat:ives, who visited Sidor in the hope of coming to some agreement with him, announced amgr-ily in Berlin that "Sidor had ruwrurently been bribed by the Czechs and nothing couild be done with him" (2). The same day that Pmgue had named Sidor premier of the Slovak Governmen t, Berl~n sent messengers to Dr. Tiso with an inivitation to come to Berlin for a conference . Tiso wias removed from tJhe premiership unconstitut ionally and the Germans stil'l regarded him as pre:mier of the Slovruk Governmen t. After the presidium of the SloV13!k Diet, Hlinka's Party and Sidor's Governmen t concurred in the matter of the wsi.Jt, Dr. Tiso flew from Vienna to Berlin on March 13, 19·39, acc01mpanie d by Dr. :Du11cansky and another memiber of 1:Jhe Slovak Diet. According to the extensive record about the conference of Dr. Tiso and his ,party with Chancellor Hitler, the Slovak representatiive:s were received 'b y Hitler at 6 :40 P. M. in the presence of the 'highest German functionari es. In a lengthy I (2 ) Sidor lat.er e~pl ained th at he r efused to promise the Germans to proclaim th e indepen de nce of Slo vaki a because he did no t fee l compete.rut to do so inasmuch as this qu estion could b e decided only by 't he SloYak Assembly. SLOVAKIA 9 monologue, Hitler at first sipOike a.bout the o.bstinacy of the Czechs who, he said, failed to understand the .situation and were sitilil tryiing to continue the policies of Dr. Edward Be_nes so that "conditions became intoJeralble" and, consequently, he stated that "Germany could no longer tolerate these conditions.'' Hitler, however, was not satisfied even with Sl01Va1kia. "Our second disaippointment had been the attitude of Slovakia," he told Tiso and his companions, and added tlhat in 1938 he "had 'been faced with a difficult decision as to whether or not to aHow Slova,kia to be occupied by the Hung8.'rians." Because he had accepted the ethnic principle as the basis of Murach discussions, Hitler said he thereby had alienated the friends/hip of Hungary. Hitler contioo.ed that now he had called Tiso to clarify the situation in as short a time as possilble. "Gennamy had no interests east of the Car,pat!hians," Hitler said, and "it was a matter of complete indifference to him what haipipened there." But Hitler did want to know whether "SlO!Vakia did want to lead an independent existence or not." F1u.rthermore, he said that ·he wanted "nothing from Slovakia," but, at the same time, "he did not wamt Hungary to reproach him for preserving something that did not want to be preserved." Then Hitler told Tiso that the question had to be decided not in da)'is, but m hours. "1f Slovrulda resisted or refused to be separated from Prague, Hitler would leaJVe the fate of Slovaikia to events for which he was no longer responsible. Then he would look after German interests only, and they diid not extend east od: tlhe Carpatlhians. Germany had nothmg to do with Slovalk,i a. She had never belonged to Germany." The document further states that Hitler "asked Ribbentrop if he had anything more to add. The Reich Foreign Mill.lister emphasized that hours not daYIS were concerned and handed Hitler a report just received from Regent Horthy rubout Hungarian troop movements on the Slova.!k frontier. Hitler read the report, told Tiso of its contents and expressed the hope that Slovakia woudd reach a decision quickly" (Doc. No. 202). 10 SLOVAKIA How did Dr. Joseiph T1so act in the presence of Hitler during this historiool moment? We might reca:J..l here just how a few mlOnths beifore the Prime Minister of the British Empire, Mr. Oharrnlberlain, and the Premier of France, Daladli.er, had acted. Mso the visit of Dr. E. Haicha and Dr. Chva:JJw:vsky of the Prague Goverillment the day after 'Diso's visit, March 14, 193·9. According to the record, "Tiso thanlked the Flihrer for his words. He had long desired to hear from the 1-i,ps of the Flihrer his attitude toward the Siovak people and their country, and how he looked upon problems. The FlihTer would pardon him if, under the impact of the Flihrer's words, he couitl not immeillately m~ke a definite statement, let alone render a decision. He woukl r.eti•r e with his colleague and consider the whole question calmly." Dr. Tiso and Dr. Durcanslky ructuaUy did retire 8Jlld, after a short time, announced to Hitler that they had come to the con'Olusion tJhat the decision really ibeloniged to the S'1o1VaJk Parliament. BecaUJSe tihe situation was very grave and tense, they immediately contaJCted Bresident Ha:cha f,r om BerJin and requested him to cOillVOke the Slo;viak Parliament on Mwch 14th - proceeding, therefore, according to the Czecho-SlOIVruk Constitutfon. Dr. Ha.cha complied. After Dr. Tiso !Presented the report albout his Berlin vii.sit, the Slovak Parliament unanimolUSly proclaimed the independence of ~ova1ki•a - the SlOIV•a k Republic (3). The Czechs and Slovakia's Indepenaence The SlOIVaJk Repulbliie was quicld.~ recognized by its neiighlbors: Hungary, Poland, Genmany. Then by tlhe Balkan countriies, and, sever-a1 months laiter, by Great Britain, Fran'Ce and the USSR, and the neutra~ states - Switzerland, the Vatican, Sweden and Spain. Slova!kia was recog(3) This historical session has been faithfully recorded in the oilfucial Minutes of the meeting, as well as on recording tape, the original of the latter still exis.ts, and these refute all falsehoods of Czech propaganda which·· would have the world believe tha,t the Slovak deputies were hesitant a•b out proclaiming the independence of their countcy and that the text of the proclamation was prepared by the Germans. The document was published in the Slovak press of t he Us.A. SLOVAKIA 11 ni1zed 1and had diiplomatic conta:cts with altogether 27 different countries. How did the Czechs act under the ci-~cum stances? As soon as tJhe cry for independence ~an to be heard m Slovaikia, the Ozeichs, according to documents, were without a definite, fil1ffi stand, necessary V'iision and poliHcaI adroitness. They acted quite senselessilry. A,s we haJVe seen, on March 7, 1939, the Prague GovernimenJt "had Wld the Slovak Minri:sters that they were at liberty to prO!C'laim the independence of Sl~vakia if they thought this pos:si'ble and desiraible for thcir country." Aind even though the Slo,vaik Miini,sters at that time had again expressed ":S1'ovaikia's wish to reima.iin in the joint Republic," Dr. Chwlko:vsky, the Min~ster of Foreign Atffa,irs visited the diplomatic representatirve of Ge:rman,y in Brague to :ftind out whether Germ8.Illy wanted Slovakia to be i:indeipendent. He learned that "if Berlin wanted an independent Slovak[a, then Prague wOU!ld somethow haJVe to reconcile itse1f to this solution. He was a:Iso man enough to accept this difficult solJU.tion calmly." But despite all tJhis, the Prague Government, headed by President Hacha, not only deposed the autonomoU!S Sloiv;ak Government ll'Ilconstitutionalliy on March 10, 1939, but also sent mi1itary units to ooc'll'py Sl<Wiailcia. The Prague Gwernment had hundreds of Slovak political leaders arrested many regardless of parliamentary immun:i.ty~had the anny occupy puJbl,ic bll!i,l dings and proclaimed Mlartia:I Law in Slovalkia. When this act brolke the Slovak camel's back and led to the prod1amation of independence, Dr. Ha.cha . toiJ.d Hitler that "he was not shedding any tears over SloivaJkia" and that "he had no need to deplore what had haJPpened in SlO'V'rukia. He had long boon conivinJCed," coillt:Jinrued Ha.cha, "that the different nation:ai,ities in thi,s bod~ politic (Ozecho.,SJ.oviaJda) could not li,v e together. Despite siimilariity of speech, they had deiveloiped very differently, and Ozechia wa:s more alkin to Germiany than to Slovakia, whli.ch inclined more to the Magyars. They (tihe Oz~chs) had had relatio!IlS only with the EvangeHcal Slo~s. whi1le tihe CathoJi'cs had been rejected by the Czechs (there are-aJbout 80 per cent Ca1 12 SLOVAKIA tholics in Slovrukia and some 14 per cent Protestants. Ekl.). Those were the reasons why they had never been able to arrive at a satisfiaotory l1Ilidetstandiing, and he wrus glad that developments had taken this coUTse. He was not a:lone in tlris opinion, :f.or certainly 80 ,p er cent o;f the Czech population shared it with him." Ha.cha added that "he thought that the Fli:hrer's experiences wirth the Sl0V1aks would be none too good,'' and conicluded his requested conference with Hitler sa:yinig that hls decision to aic1c ept the Ge11man Proteotoraite "woulJ.d probrubliy be regarded as a blessing fifty years hence" (Doc. No. 228). Shortly after the estaJbl~shment of the Sloivak Repulblic, cliplomatiic relations were estaJblished with the Ozeichs; a genera:l consulate was opened in Prague. More Czech students coonpleted thcir studies at the Bratislava Unii,veirsity in firve years of the SlovaJk RepuJb1ic, than Sloviak students thereto had graduated in Prague. lit seemed, therefore, that the Czeoh nation-had 'become reconciled to the idea that the SIJ.ovaks, too, had the inherent right to be free and independent. But the situation was not accepted by the Czech exiles headed by Dr. Ediwaro Benes. Retiurning in 1945 behind the Red Ar.my, Benes and his goverrunenrt-in-eocille, wit:h the aid of Communti:srts, nort only annexed SlO!ViaJkia to Czech lands and made it subordinate to Prague again a,g,a.inst the will of the SIJ.ovaJks, but also had SOl:me of the leaJding SlovaJk politici1a ns, who stood for Slovak independence and failed to. escrupe, hung and shot. The new Czech group of exiiles, excepting several honora;ble exceptions, is stHi continuing the ruinous rpolicy of Dr. Ediwaro Benes and is morally exeouting every Slovruk who dares to work for the independence oif his nation. After the sad exiperience of t:he past, these so-.calied Benes "OzoohoslovaJks" and Ozeichs have learned nothing. Theiy talk democracy and friendly relations, but flout the basic principles of true democracy and spread hatred for democratic Slovak,s. The stand of the Czechs, therefore, is by no means without bizarreness.  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 Diplomatic Documents on Slovakia's Declaration of Independence Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 4, No. 1 (10), March 1954 pp. 3-12 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 March 1954 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d31c8fb0500b44a0f2ea75f3bcd30340.pdf 1f2e83c344a1cccfc46a1ac889e01145 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 39 THE SLOVAKS AND SLAVONIC CIVILIZATION Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. There seems to be some confusion even among ,specialists in the fi.eld of Slav,iic studies as far as Slorvalkia's contribution to the civilization of other Slav peoples is concerned. The question, then, as to· what role the SlovaJkis reaHy did 'Play in the civilization of the Slavonic peoples, is not only interesting, but worthy of consideration and study. To answer that question, we must first consider several fundamental questions: First: What role did IS'loviaikiia play in the Great Mora. vian Empire, on the territory o.f which the cultura)l~reHgioll'S mission of Saints Cyril and Methodiius was developed? Second: Into the cultural history of what nation can we place the cuatural and literary work of Cyril and Me. thodius and their immediate puipils? Third: Are the Slovaks of today ethnically and culturally bound with the people of Great Moravia? In a significant 1portion of ,Slavonic histriography, especially in the works of sciientific workers and Slavists whiich were !pUb1ished in English in the past three decades, there is no agreemoot on these fundamental questions. R. A. Kamn in hiis "The Multinational Empire"(l) states, for example, that "the !Slav popuJ.ation, ,p articularly the eastern SlaN populaition of the Great Moravian Ehnpire, is unquestionaJbly the historic ancestor of the Slovaks of today," but he adds that those historic ,p redcessors ·a re "by no means ethnically identical with them (the Slovaks)." John D. lJa Monte in his "World of the Middle Ages" omits the 'Slovaks cOIIIllpletely when naming the ethnic gro'll!ps which .formed the Great iMoiravian Empire. H. S. Thompson, J. S. Roucek, Milan Hodza, Francis Dvornik, and many other •less significant iSlavists ,present the first ,Slavonic !State in Central Europe - which Porfyl'ogenetos named topogrruphically accordmg to the river bearing that name - as if it belonged to the political and cultural history of the Ozechs, or at best of the Ozecho- �40 SLOVAKIA Slovaks. And thus they a:lso present the cultUTal-Ohristiarn work of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Professor Francis Dvornik, one of the most acknowledged authorities of cultural and political history of the IShwonic ,p eoples of the ninth century, regards "Bohemia the heir of .t he Mo11avian Empire"C2). For ,p rofessor Rouceik (ISla;vonic Encyclopedia) Great Moravia and the cultmal wor>k of Cyril-Methodius is exclusively a part of Czech history, while for Dr. Miilan Hodza it is the first "CzechosJovaJk" State(3). This -wew, which the aibove mentioned authors at~ tempt to support with the hypothesis that "Czechs and Slova!ks of Bohemia, Moravia and Northern Hungary (Silova;k,i•a ) fovmed a single group with a common language"( 4) - the iview held ,b y several Ozech histor1ans, phil'()llogists and ethnographers, specially Cha1oupeoky, Niederle, Pra•z ak, and Pastmek - is, of course, at odds with older views of some Czech, Slovak, German and otiher European histovians, philologists and ethnographers. And ,i t certainly cannot find support in histor,ical sources, which though not abundant are nevertheless sufficient to cast dou'bt on the aibove theses . Professor Dvornik himself, who- regards Czechia-Bohemi1a as the heir of the Great Moravian Elmpire, leads rto the logical conclusion that the Czech tribes belonged to the Great Moravian Empire only for a very sho-rt time, when Svatoplulk was extending his power on a1'1 sides, and .that after Svatopluk's death in 895 "the Bohemians appeared again at the Re.ichrsita;g at Regensburg and renewed their allegiance to the FrMllkish Empire. " And Dvornik also states that "Bohemia's submission to the Franks naturally implied severance of all !l'.'cligious ties with the Mora-wan eoclesirus-tical organization" (5) The statement that "the Bohemians appeared again at Regensburg" requiTes supplementation from the Arnnales Fuldenses, which Dvornik himself quotes a;nd depends upon, that is, tha;t in the year 8415 "fourteen chieftains of Czech tribes a:ppeared at the court of Louis and accepted baptism with their escorts"(6), which under the givoo cir<:umstances clearly indicates the political dependence of �SLOVAKIA 41 the Czech tribes on Bavaria. According to the Armales Xantenses, the Czechs quarreled and fought with Bai\Tlaria in. 849, but could not rid themselves of Bavarian rule and join the Ozech lands to the Great Moravian Empire, which Dvornik regards as a "federation under the authority of the Mojmir dynasty"(7), until aJbout 880. According to Novotny and the Annales Fuldenses •~svatopl,uk extricated the Czech tribes from Frankish rule b.y force"< 8) . Since the beginnings of Gre,a t MoTavia are placed in the year 822 a:nd 'h istorical sources mention Pribina and the dedication of the Church in Nitrn in 833; furthermore since, even accordmg to, professor Dvornilk, Czech tribes were still defin,itely :sUJbordinated to Bavaria in 8'49, even though that was already the era of Rastis1av, the third ruler of the Great Moravian Empire, and since the Czech trilbes separated from the Great Moravian Empire and sutbmitted to Bavaria and then even waged war together witJh the Germans against the Great Moravian :EJmpire:(9), it ,i s indeed quite difficult to find a historical or logical argument for the thesis that Great Moravia did belong to Czech polirti'cal history and that the cultural work of Cyril and Methodius belonged to Ozech cultm-al history. The question of what tribes formed the Great Moravian Empire and what lands the empire consisted of could not be considered satisfactorily and defi.n,i tely resolved and, therefore, a group of scientific workers began a new search and technica{ researdh of sources. The historians were joined :b y philologists, archeo[og,ists and ex-· ,p erts on medieval history; the era of the Great Moravian Emrpire was studied ~at only ,f rom 'a nnals and chronicles, from legends and liturgical texts of iS lavonic antiquity, but also on the baisis of archeological finds, names of rivers and mountaiins, villages and towns, ·c hurches, Christi'an and fomily names, popular traditions, etc. The list of speo~ali,s ts of the Great Moravian era is surprisingly lange in the rpast years and while some of them are known internationally (1Dvornik, Jam:ohson), significant works of others are tJhus far unknown on the Amerfoan continent only becruuse they were not trans.Jated into ,various world �42 SLOVAKIA languages, nor were they presented to the learned world even in a:bst:mct form. Among the uruknown or little-known ,s pecialists in the Anglo-Saxon world, we find a si,,gnif.icant group of Slovwk university professors and e~perts of whom I might men., tion the following: a) In history: Joseph Skultety, Francis lHruso,v sky, Daniel Rapant, J. Dakan. :b) In philofogy: John Stanislav, Henry Bartek, Louis Novaik, Jizacenko, B. Varsi1k, V . Pogorielov, Anthony !Banik. c) In literary histoiry: Andrew Mraz, Steplhen Krcmery. d) In ar,cheology: John Eisner. Every one of these men made a study of one or the other phase of the em of Great Momvi,a and the work, of Saiints Cyril and Methodiius, ,and some of them - Stanislav, Hrusovsky, Bartek, ,:maicenlko, Pogorielov of several ,p hases and some of their studies were ,published even in foreign languaiges(l0). To what conclusions does the scientific research of these experts lead to, even though the results of their studies thus far ,a re available for the main part only to Slavonic scholars and haive not been made availruble in suita!ble form for the western world? Professo.r Otokar Odlozilik, in the ' ~Harvard Slavic Studies," summwri'zes them 1.Jhiis way: "'1:t can ibe said of them in general that they not only shed fuller light on po1'itical and cultuTal dev~lopments in the Mor.avian State, but invalidated earlier concepts, aiccording to which the work of the Slavic Apostles wais short-lived and doomed to failure"(ll). 'F undamentally, the results of the scienti.f1ic research of Slovaik historians, philofogists., archeologists and cultural wovkers of the past decades are these: 1. In agreement with Dobrovsky, who alreaidy in 1825 wrote that ",S lovakia was really Great MoraJVlia" (12), and in agreement with Safarik (:Slovanske starozitnosti, pp. 794-795), Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav ,a nd Dekan con., sider Slovakia as 1Jhe central and main part of the Great Moravian Elm.pi.re, which in the "Skazani o prelozeni knig" was already called "1Slovensk,a zemlja" (Sloviak country). 2. In agreement with V. Jag-i:c, who in his wcmk a'bout �43 SLOVAKIA the origin of the Church ISlaJV1onic tongue wrote in 1900 that "in Great Moravia ,p eople must have spoken dn the ninth century with a tQ!1lgue which in its fundamental,s was identkal witJh the !Slov•aik language of today"(13), Stamislav, Bartek, Rapant, Varsik and No,vak arrived at the conclu-· si•o n through .scientific study that the inhalbitants of Great Moravia •w ere the direct ancestors of the 1Slovaks of today. 3. On the ,b asis of the abOIVe mentioned premi ses, the above historians and philologists, as ,well ·a s A. Mraz, the literary historian, oo.me to the conclusion that the cultural-Christianiz.ing adiv:ity of 1Sruints Cyril and Methodius related to, iin tJhe first ,place, the ancestors of present-day Slovltks and ISlovwkia and, therefore, their literary work, including the literary activity of some of their ipupil.s, is a ·component ,part of SlOl\"aik 1iternture. It may be interesting to note here that this .thesis is supported even by profes~ so:rs of the Bratislava University today (A. Mira~ and J. Dek1an) , even though in present C'zecho-Slo,vaikia nationalism and everything which might be susipected of nationa:l- . 1sm is prmishable according to the lruw as "deviationism." By what .scientif,i.c arguments are these tJheises supported? On what scientific order do they mainfy depend? What new contributions do they bring to the evaluation of the work of Cy11itl and Methodius? Besides a new search and ev;aluation of known sources, such as the Annales Fuldenses, Annales, regni &ancormn, Libellus de conversione Bagoariorum et Carantanorum, the chronicles of Heriman, Regino, Nestor, legends and biogrruphies, etc., the brusis for the above mentioned conclusions are in the main philological researches(14). The name Mora;via and Miaravian.s, incidental~y also "Scalvi," which we meet with mainly in Latin sources, whHe eastern sources spook of ".Sfoveni" (in the S!K'A'Z ANi, the Mornvian State is, as we have seen, alternatively ca:lled "Monwa" and "Slovenska zemljia" - Morav;ia iand the Sl01vak l,and), is considered a topo,g ra;phical term, which received its ,political character and was used ,in the etatistical meaning to indica,te the inhabitants of the Moravian State, besides the Czechs and the Se11bians wllw belonged only for short time to SvatoplUJk's empire. 1 a �44 SLOVAKIA "The fall of Great Moravia," writes Dr. J. Delkan, "brings a. return to the original topographical signif.icance of the name, and tJhe inhabitants of the eastern .part of Great Morav;ia, i.e., the territory of Slovakia, ,b esides isolated toponomastk remiscences, are called iby their own ancient ethnic name of "Sclavi, Slovieni, namely, the Slovaks" (15). The thesis tha:t the term Moravians had only a specifically topographic •a nd, later, a politicaHy ebatistical meaning was unfolded long before Dekan by several Slo!Vak Slav;ists and hi,s torians, especially by Joseph Skultety(16), Hrusovsky and Stanis:lav. The .philologists John 1Stantisliav, L. Novak, H. Bartek , V. Pogorielov, mcenko, and others, lby philologioa1 inquiry of the Cyrilo-.Methodius texts, the Cividalian Gospel Book , legends and chronicles, as well as by searching names of people, J'livers., mountains, villages, churches and traditions and, furthermOTe, the dia!lects and "loan words", confirm the theses and the hypotheses ,o;f the historians. as regard..c; even the ethnical nature of the inhia,bitants of Great Moravia as well as the mission of Cyril and Methodius in relation to Slovaikia. According to the latest researches, of Slovak Sl-avists, the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius took pla:ce mainly on the territo-ry o,f the Slova,ks - professor Stanislav states with certainty that Method's residence was in Nitra(l 7) and the great cultural-Christianizing work of Cynil and MetJhodius is consequently placed first of all in the cultural history of the Slovaks. Even Dvornik confiir.ms this indirectly when he states that "Slo,vam.ic liturgy in Slovakia outlived the catastrophe of the Great Morawian Empire," that the territory o.f present-day Slo,vrukia was "in a definite sense the most cultured part of the Magyar empire" (,correctly, the Hungarian empire), and the Slavonic monks, after being ex,pelled from Czech lands (from the Monastery at Sazavia) in 1055, found refuge in !Slovakia. According to Dvornilk, Slovakia and her ancient Slavonic cente11s served as ''half~way transmitting centers" not only between Croatia, but even Kievian Russia08l. As far as tJhe literary work of Cyril-Methodius and their immedi,a te .students is ,c oncerned, we know from the �SLOVAKIA 45 ;'SKAZANI" that they translated "i proceJe knigy" (also many other books) and from Latin legends "pluraque aliia documenta sacrae scri,ptuare" (according to the legend of Bodescens), or only ".plura que a'lia," according to the legend of Christian. ,Sbanisla'V reco.rds that "after his arri'Val in Great Mora'Via, Constantine translated almost the entire ecclesiastical rituial." We know definiteJy, Stanislav writes, that Constantine completed the translation of the Gospel texts of all four ev,angelists in Great Mora'Via, and that he also translated the Acts of the Apostles and the Psa1ms(l9l. St . Methodius, according to Stanis1a'V, continued in the work ,b egun by his brother and after the issuance of the glorious Bull "I:ndustriae tuae," by which the Sla'V•Onic liturgy a;gain was confirmed and permitted, "made a compendium of everything that was translated during the twel1Ve years (869-881) oif hris independent '1eadership of the Great Moravian mission. He selected -t wo priest 'rapid writers' a111d with them translated - probably dictated to them - the entire text of the Holy B ible - tJhe Old and New Testaments, besides the books of the 1faccalbees, within eight months." Methodius also t:mnslated, or had translated, the Latin Missal, which is •.p reserved as the so-•called Kiev Missal; written in Gl agolic letters it is preserved in a copy from the 10th century wi,1fu the elements of the Great Mora1Vian tongue. Stanisla'V aJso mentions the translation of the ri-· tual, the fbrev;iary and the credo•, which, according to Methiodius' biog,r,ruphy, Sva.toplUik was Slllpposed to hav,e prayed in the Slovak translation. Of the non..Jiturgica11 books, Sfanislav mentions the translation of the Nomocanon, or the Korm'.caja bodk, i.e., a collection of laiws and regulations o.f the By,zantian rulers and Chwch Fiatlhers, then Cyril's po~emic treatise in Greek against the Jews, which was translated :b y Methodius, ,a nd the original works "A Preface to the Gospels" and "Writings A'bout the True Faith," both written by Cyril. Among the original mementoes belong the so-caUed iPannonianMO'ravian Legends, "The Life of St. Cyril and iMethodius," written, according to, Stanjslav, without a doubt in Great 1 �46 SLOVAKIA Moravia, also the "Praiises of Cyril and Metihodius" and "albou;t the end of the ancient Slovak epoch of Slovak culture" - the 'legend aJbout Naum. One of the "MoravianSloviak sons" - Stanislav says - composed also the ancient Slovalk legend about St. Wenceslaius around the year 935. Stan:is1aiv states quite clearJy that this literacy activity developed on rSlovaJk territory and that in the "great work along wiith Cyril and .M ethod.ius undoubtedly other sons of the Slovak nation had a part, especially Gorazd(20) . Traces of thii:s are found especially in many words of these mementoes." And since "tlhese memoirs were written for the religious, i.e., the cultural needs of the Slovak nation and prompted by it, the predecessors of the Slovaks took part in this work passi'Vely and actively and, therefore, this literary wor.k, according to Sta.nislav, belongs also to our (Slovak) nationaJl treasure." "Old Slavonic was the first liter,a ry language of the Slwa;k nation," J. Stanrislav wrote in 1944 at the conolusion of his studies. This the.sis was taken up after him by Dr. A. Mra:z, professor orf Slova,k literature at ,t he Bratisl1a va U-p.iversity today. The Slovaik nation actuaHy regards it as lits langua:ge, states Stanislav. Prnof of this we have, for example, in tihe letter of Pope Hadrian IT to Rastislav, Svatophrk and Kocel, in which is written: "We have decided . . . to send Methodius . . . to teach you as you requested, e~laining the Bible in your language (21) . This clarif,ioation of the re'1ation of the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Slo;vakia appeared to be necessary to find the answer to the question what role the Slova;ks and !Slovakia ,p layed in the ibegiinnings of civilization of the 1Slruvonic rpeoples. -If we accept the thesis, demonstrated by Slovak IS lavists, ,tJhen the matlter is in surbstance simple : the participation oif the Slovaks and Slova-· kia in the civilization of the rest of the Slavonic nations is proved by .the signifioance of Saints Cyril and Methodius and their immediate pupils in the cultural life .of the individua:l Sliwonic nations. As for as the content and extent of the cultural-Christian~ing work of Cyri'l .and Methodius is concerned, SlovaJk Slavists, wiit:h their scientific inquiries, confirm the �SLOVAKIA 47 view ,o f professor K. J. Grot(22), who wrote rub-Out Great Moravia and the work of the Slovak Aipostles that in Great Moravia was made not only "the most important at.. temrpt at a politicail unification of the Slovanic peoples the Greater Moravian Union - but also that: 1. there "were l aid the foundations for the national Church and nati.onal Christian education; 2. there origina,ted the draft and the directive of the future of the who>J.e subsequent historic development of Slavdom, its world :riole and re.1ation to Roman-Germaillic Europe, to the West and to the Asiatic question; 3. the foundation of Church-1Slov,a nic literature and education in the .Slovanic South among the BuLgars and the 1Seribs, and in the East among the Russians, and pa:rtly also among other western Slavs, was only a continuation of that work whfoh Cyril and Methodius had begun in Great Moravia." Before concluding, it is iperhaps necessary to recall iha:t bortih histori'Oal and cu1tural conclusions here indicated are nothing new in ,Slovak cultUTal life, but onily a scientific support of the tradition and endu:riing consciousness of the continuity of Great Mora'\ria w1th Slovakia, which already in rthe 17th and 18th centuries found expression in several scientific and literary wo-:r,ks b-Oth from the ci~de of Trnavia University (1635), and also from the circle of Bernol1ruk's school at the end of the 18th century. In the preface to 1:Jhe significant Cantus Catholiic,i (1655), Benedict ,S zolosi (1609-56) tells ·clearly about the consciousness of historical continuity of the Slovaks wiith the history of Great Moravia; the greia.t epic "Cy:rifoimertodiada" _and "IS vatoplulk" from John Holly and the Latin work of Samu~l Timon (16'715-1736), .the distinguished wor:k of Johlil B. Magin from 1712-8 •~Maurices sive Arpologda" aTe irre. futruble proofs of this. Of couTse, :Slavists of other nations are &pected to tell how far the results and conclusions of .the scientific resoo.rdh of ISlov,a;k Slaviists are in agreement with the histo~ical truth aind where the theses and hypoitheses are in cases in disagreement with their scientifdc research. Therefore the aim of this dissertation is not only to call at.ten-• tion to Slovruk -scientific inquiries, to the ·c ontri1bution which 1 1 �48 SLOVAKIA Slovaks m'ade to Slavistics from Safarlk and Kollar to present-day scientific woiikers in Slovaiki1a and outside its territory, but this short treatise has for its aim also to evoke moire interest to inquire .into and evaluate a,nd, in cases, even to refute some theses of contemporary Sfova:k scientific woDkers in ,tJhe field of Slavic studies. References 1. Robert A. Kann, The Multinational Empire Nationalism and National Re.form in the Habsburg Monarchy 1848-1918, Ruil:gers U niversity, New Y,ork, Columbia Un iversity Press, 1950, 2 vol. 2. ,F rancis Dvornik, The Making of Central and Eastern Europe, London, 1949, ,p. 241. etc. 3. Dr. Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe, Jarold-s , London, 1942, p. 86: "Slovakia was hlle fiTst cultured and, mayb e also the first pol'itical centre .of thait Great Moravi-a of A :D. 8,26-907 which was the early mediev.al precedent of the -modern OzechoJSlovakia. 'l'his original Czecho•Sfovak State mad e 'i tself the first Chrisitian centre of the Western Slavs." 4. Dvornik, ,i bidem, p. 18. 5. Ibidem , p. 21. 6. "Hludovicus quatuordecim ex ducibus Boemanorum cum hominibus -s ui s Christianam religionem desiderantes suscepit et in octavis ,theopihaniae haptizar.i juss,i t," M. G. H . S ., I, p. 364; Dvornik ibidem, p. 20. 7. Lbidem, p. 293. 8. V. Novotny, Ceske dejiny, Praha, 1912, p. 380: Annales Fuldenses. p. 126: "(.:B!oemani ) quos Zwentibaldus dux a consortio et potestate Baio,aricae ,g entis per vim dudum divelendo detr.axerat ... " 9. Ernest Deni-s , La question d' Autriche et les Slovaques, Paris, 1917; Louis Leger, Histoire de I' Autriche-Hongrie, Paris, 1920, p. 89. 10. The principal bo,o k,s dealing with the question of Great Moravia a nd the Mission of Cyri,J and Methodius are as follows: J. Skultety, Sketches from Slovak History, Middletown, P.a ., 1930; F. Hrus ovsky, Gesch ichte der Slowakei, Bratis'lava, 1943, and Slovenskf vladari , Scranton, Pa., 1948; Jan 'Stanislav, Kultura starych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944, ,and Rfsa Vel'komoravska , Sbo-r nik v,edeckye'h prac, Prague, 1933, and Slovanskf apostoli Cyril a Metod a ich cinnosf vo Vel ' komoravskej rfsi , Bratislava, 1945; Izacenko, Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej rfsi, T. sv. Martin, 1948; V . Pogor,ielov, O narodnosti slovanskych apostolov, Bratislava, No. 2, 1927; Rap.ant, Pribynov nitriansky kostolik, .Bratislava, 1941; A. Banik, Apostol Gorazd ; A . Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislav,a , 1948, etc. 11. Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. I.I, p. 77-78. 12. " . . . die heutige Slorwakey in Oberungern is das eigen,tliche Gross,Mli.hren . .. " wrote •Dobrovsky in a l etter to J. S. Bandtke (Correspondence o,f J . Dobrovsky, II, p. 163) . �SLOVAKIA 49 13. See V. J agic, Entstehungsg eschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache, Vjenna, 1900. 14. Annales Fuldenses and Annales r egni Francorum mention '·Sclavos Marabenses" . . . "duces Sclavorum circa Danubiu m habitantium .. ." or "legationes Marvanorum . . ." distingui>shin,g them fro m "legaitiones !Beheimorum," i.e., C2Jechs. In the Reg,e nsburg continuation of Annales Fuldenses we find only "Maravi, M·aravaui, Marehenses, Marabi, Marahav.i," etc. 15. ,see !Dr. J an Dekan, Slovenske dejiny, Iii, Bratislava, 1951, p. 42. 16. J . SkuJ.tety already in 1926 writes in this regard: "With the ,d evelopment of science, particularly Slavonic ph ilology, talk of Carpatho,Danubian and Pannonian Slavs w:ill cease, -a nd t!he SloveneSlovaks w'il'l be def,i nitely m entioned . When it is once clear that ihe inhabitants of present-day Moravia were nothing but Slovaks, t h e nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called Moravlans .a nd Slovaks, but persistently and definitely Slovaks" (Sketches from Slovak History, p. 30). 17. See Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 42 . 18. See Chapter, Kievan Russia and Central Europe, p. 236-261. 19. See Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 10-14. 20. Pogorielov s•a ys em ph a ti cally th at t he Slovakisms in the Slavonic text of th e H oly Scriptures are th e work of Gorazd and calls Gorazd the third h oly apos tl e of Slavdom . 21. Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 14. 22. K. J . Grot, Karpato-dunajs kija zemli v sud'bach slavianstva, 1905, p. 18, and Metodijevskij jubilejnij sbornik, W arsaiw, 1885, p. 5. • • • BENES'S 'JIRiiP TO MOSCOW AND CZECHOSLOVAK PROPAGANDA Dr. Michael Zibrin Benes admits in his Memoirs that Eden made some forJ mal objecUons aigainst his 1943 trip to Moscow, yet he tries to mmimti:ze the opposition of the IDnglish cabinet . Benes pr.opaJgandists of today, h owever, do not admit ev~ this faot and t hey praiise the Benes t rip to Moscow as something by which Benes greatly ,helped the Allies and to which Washington and London consented. Anyone who heard Dr. Ripka's report before the CzechoJSlovak State Council in London, July 26, 19'43 when he talked aib,out the preparaUons for Benes's trip to Moscow, made in a;greement with Ozecho.;S1ov,ak Communists, and how Dr. Benes was expected in Moscow in any case - has an entirely different picture rubout the � SLOVAKIA 39 THE SLOVAKS AND SLAVONIC CIVILIZATION Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. There seems to be some confusion even among ,specialists in the fi.eld of Slav,iic studies as far as Slorvalkia's contribution to the civilization of other Slav peoples is concerned. The question, then, as to· what role the SlovaJkis reaHy did 'Play in the civilization of the Slavonic peoples, is not only interesting, but worthy of consideration and study. To answer that question, we must first consider several fundamental questions: First: What role did IS'loviaikiia play in the Great Mora. vian Empire, on the territory o.f which the cultura)l~reHgioll'S mission of Saints Cyril and Methodiius was developed? Second: Into the cultural history of what nation can we place the cuatural and literary work of Cyril and Me. thodius and their immediate puipils? Third: Are the Slovaks of today ethnically and culturally bound with the people of Great Moravia? In a significant 1portion of ,Slavonic histriography, especially in the works of sciientific workers and Slavists whiich were !pUb1ished in English in the past three decades, there is no agreemoot on these fundamental questions. R. A. Kamn in hiis "The Multinational Empire"(l) states, for example, that "the !Slav popuJ.ation, ,p articularly the eastern SlaN populaition of the Great Moravian Ehnpire, is unquestionaJbly the historic ancestor of the Slovaks of today," but he adds that those historic ,p redcessors ·a re "by no means ethnically identical with them (the Slovaks)." John D. lJa Monte in his "World of the Middle Ages" omits the 'Slovaks cOIIIllpletely when naming the ethnic gro'll!ps which .formed the Great iMoiravian Empire. H. S. Thompson, J. S. Roucek, Milan Hodza, Francis Dvornik, and many other •less significant iSlavists ,present the first ,Slavonic !State in Central Europe - which Porfyl'ogenetos named topogrruphically accordmg to the river bearing that name - as if it belonged to the political and cultural history of the Ozechs, or at best of the Ozecho- �40 SLOVAKIA Slovaks. And thus they a:lso present the cultUTal-Ohristiarn work of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Professor Francis Dvornik, one of the most acknowledged authorities of cultural and political history of the IShwonic ,p eoples of the ninth century, regards "Bohemia the heir of .t he Mo11avian Empire"C2). For ,p rofessor Rouceik (ISla;vonic Encyclopedia) Great Moravia and the cultmal wor>k of Cyril-Methodius is exclusively a part of Czech history, while for Dr. Miilan Hodza it is the first "CzechosJovaJk" State(3). This -wew, which the aibove mentioned authors at~ tempt to support with the hypothesis that "Czechs and Slova!ks of Bohemia, Moravia and Northern Hungary (Silova;k,i•a ) fovmed a single group with a common language"( 4) - the iview held ,b y several Ozech histor1ans, phil'()llogists and ethnographers, specially Cha1oupeoky, Niederle, Pra•z ak, and Pastmek - is, of course, at odds with older views of some Czech, Slovak, German and otiher European histovians, philologists and ethnographers. And ,i t certainly cannot find support in histor,ical sources, which though not abundant are nevertheless sufficient to cast dou'bt on the aibove theses . Professor Dvornik himself, who- regards Czechia-Bohemi1a as the heir of the Great Moravian Elmpire, leads rto the logical conclusion that the Czech tribes belonged to the Great Moravian Empire only for a very sho-rt time, when Svatoplulk was extending his power on a1'1 sides, and .that after Svatopluk's death in 895 "the Bohemians appeared again at the Re.ichrsita;g at Regensburg and renewed their allegiance to the FrMllkish Empire. " And Dvornik also states that "Bohemia's submission to the Franks naturally implied severance of all !l'.'cligious ties with the Mora-wan eoclesirus-tical organization" (5) The statement that "the Bohemians appeared again at Regensburg" requiTes supplementation from the Arnnales Fuldenses, which Dvornik himself quotes a;nd depends upon, that is, tha;t in the year 8415 "fourteen chieftains of Czech tribes a:ppeared at the court of Louis and accepted baptism with their escorts"(6), which under the givoo cir<:umstances clearly indicates the political dependence of �SLOVAKIA 41 the Czech tribes on Bavaria. According to the Armales Xantenses, the Czechs quarreled and fought with Bai\Tlaria in. 849, but could not rid themselves of Bavarian rule and join the Ozech lands to the Great Moravian Empire, which Dvornik regards as a "federation under the authority of the Mojmir dynasty"(7), until aJbout 880. According to Novotny and the Annales Fuldenses •~svatopl,uk extricated the Czech tribes from Frankish rule b.y force"< 8) . Since the beginnings of Gre,a t MoTavia are placed in the year 822 a:nd 'h istorical sources mention Pribina and the dedication of the Church in Nitrn in 833; furthermore since, even accordmg to, professor Dvornilk, Czech tribes were still defin,itely :sUJbordinated to Bavaria in 8'49, even though that was already the era of Rastis1av, the third ruler of the Great Moravian Empire, and since the Czech trilbes separated from the Great Moravian Empire and sutbmitted to Bavaria and then even waged war together witJh the Germans against the Great Moravian :EJmpire:(9), it ,i s indeed quite difficult to find a historical or logical argument for the thesis that Great Moravia did belong to Czech polirti'cal history and that the cultural work of Cyril and Methodius belonged to Ozech cultm-al history. The question of what tribes formed the Great Moravian Empire and what lands the empire consisted of could not be considered satisfactorily and defi.n,i tely resolved and, therefore, a group of scientific workers began a new search and technica{ researdh of sources. The historians were joined :b y philologists, archeo[og,ists and ex-· ,p erts on medieval history; the era of the Great Moravian Emrpire was studied ~at only ,f rom 'a nnals and chronicles, from legends and liturgical texts of iS lavonic antiquity, but also on the baisis of archeological finds, names of rivers and mountaiins, villages and towns, ·c hurches, Christi'an and fomily names, popular traditions, etc. The list of speo~ali,s ts of the Great Moravian era is surprisingly lange in the rpast years and while some of them are known internationally (1Dvornik, Jam:ohson), significant works of others are tJhus far unknown on the Amerfoan continent only becruuse they were not trans.Jated into ,various world �42 SLOVAKIA languages, nor were they presented to the learned world even in a:bst:mct form. Among the uruknown or little-known ,s pecialists in the Anglo-Saxon world, we find a si,,gnif.icant group of Slovwk university professors and e~perts of whom I might men., tion the following: a) In history: Joseph Skultety, Francis lHruso,v sky, Daniel Rapant, J. Dakan. :b) In philofogy: John Stanislav, Henry Bartek, Louis Novaik, Jizacenko, B. Varsi1k, V . Pogorielov, Anthony !Banik. c) In literary histoiry: Andrew Mraz, Steplhen Krcmery. d) In ar,cheology: John Eisner. Every one of these men made a study of one or the other phase of the em of Great Momvi,a and the work, of Saiints Cyril and Methodiius, ,and some of them - Stanislav, Hrusovsky, Bartek, ,:maicenlko, Pogorielov of several ,p hases and some of their studies were ,published even in foreign languaiges(l0). To what conclusions does the scientific research of these experts lead to, even though the results of their studies thus far ,a re available for the main part only to Slavonic scholars and haive not been made availruble in suita!ble form for the western world? Professo.r Otokar Odlozilik, in the ' ~Harvard Slavic Studies," summwri'zes them 1.Jhiis way: "'1:t can ibe said of them in general that they not only shed fuller light on po1'itical and cultuTal dev~lopments in the Mor.avian State, but invalidated earlier concepts, aiccording to which the work of the Slavic Apostles wais short-lived and doomed to failure"(ll). 'F undamentally, the results of the scienti.f1ic research of Slovaik historians, philofogists., archeologists and cultural wovkers of the past decades are these: 1. In agreement with Dobrovsky, who alreaidy in 1825 wrote that ",S lovakia was really Great MoraJVlia" (12), and in agreement with Safarik (:Slovanske starozitnosti, pp. 794-795), Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav ,a nd Dekan con., sider Slovakia as 1Jhe central and main part of the Great Moravian Elm.pi.re, which in the "Skazani o prelozeni knig" was already called "1Slovensk,a zemlja" (Sloviak country). 2. In agreement with V. Jag-i:c, who in his wcmk a'bout �43 SLOVAKIA the origin of the Church ISlaJV1onic tongue wrote in 1900 that "in Great Moravia ,p eople must have spoken dn the ninth century with a tQ!1lgue which in its fundamental,s was identkal witJh the !Slov•aik language of today"(13), Stamislav, Bartek, Rapant, Varsik and No,vak arrived at the conclu-· si•o n through .scientific study that the inhalbitants of Great Moravia •w ere the direct ancestors of the 1Slovaks of today. 3. On the ,b asis of the abOIVe mentioned premi ses, the above historians and philologists, as ,well ·a s A. Mraz, the literary historian, oo.me to the conclusion that the cultural-Christianiz.ing adiv:ity of 1Sruints Cyril and Methodius related to, iin tJhe first ,place, the ancestors of present-day Slovltks and ISlovwkia and, therefore, their literary work, including the literary activity of some of their ipupil.s, is a ·component ,part of SlOl\"aik 1iternture. It may be interesting to note here that this .thesis is supported even by profes~ so:rs of the Bratislava University today (A. Mira~ and J. Dek1an) , even though in present C'zecho-Slo,vaikia nationalism and everything which might be susipected of nationa:l- . 1sm is prmishable according to the lruw as "deviationism." By what .scientif,i.c arguments are these tJheises supported? On what scientific order do they mainfy depend? What new contributions do they bring to the evaluation of the work of Cy11itl and Methodius? Besides a new search and ev;aluation of known sources, such as the Annales Fuldenses, Annales, regni &ancormn, Libellus de conversione Bagoariorum et Carantanorum, the chronicles of Heriman, Regino, Nestor, legends and biogrruphies, etc., the brusis for the above mentioned conclusions are in the main philological researches(14). The name Mora;via and Miaravian.s, incidental~y also "Scalvi," which we meet with mainly in Latin sources, whHe eastern sources spook of ".Sfoveni" (in the S!K'A'Z ANi, the Mornvian State is, as we have seen, alternatively ca:lled "Monwa" and "Slovenska zemljia" - Morav;ia iand the Sl01vak l,and), is considered a topo,g ra;phical term, which received its ,political character and was used ,in the etatistical meaning to indica,te the inhabitants of the Moravian State, besides the Czechs and the Se11bians wllw belonged only for short time to SvatoplUJk's empire. 1 a �44 SLOVAKIA "The fall of Great Moravia," writes Dr. J. Delkan, "brings a. return to the original topographical signif.icance of the name, and tJhe inhabitants of the eastern .part of Great Morav;ia, i.e., the territory of Slovakia, ,b esides isolated toponomastk remiscences, are called iby their own ancient ethnic name of "Sclavi, Slovieni, namely, the Slovaks" (15). The thesis tha:t the term Moravians had only a specifically topographic •a nd, later, a politicaHy ebatistical meaning was unfolded long before Dekan by several Slo!Vak Slav;ists and hi,s torians, especially by Joseph Skultety(16), Hrusovsky and Stanis:lav. The .philologists John 1Stantisliav, L. Novak, H. Bartek , V. Pogorielov, mcenko, and others, lby philologioa1 inquiry of the Cyrilo-.Methodius texts, the Cividalian Gospel Book , legends and chronicles, as well as by searching names of people, J'livers., mountains, villages, churches and traditions and, furthermOTe, the dia!lects and "loan words", confirm the theses and the hypotheses ,o;f the historians. as regard..c; even the ethnical nature of the inhia,bitants of Great Moravia as well as the mission of Cyril and Methodius in relation to Slovaikia. According to the latest researches, of Slovak Sl-avists, the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius took pla:ce mainly on the territo-ry o,f the Slova,ks - professor Stanislav states with certainty that Method's residence was in Nitra(l 7) and the great cultural-Christianizing work of Cynil and MetJhodius is consequently placed first of all in the cultural history of the Slovaks. Even Dvornik confiir.ms this indirectly when he states that "Slo,vam.ic liturgy in Slovakia outlived the catastrophe of the Great Morawian Empire," that the territory o.f present-day Slo,vrukia was "in a definite sense the most cultured part of the Magyar empire" (,correctly, the Hungarian empire), and the Slavonic monks, after being ex,pelled from Czech lands (from the Monastery at Sazavia) in 1055, found refuge in !Slovakia. According to Dvornilk, Slovakia and her ancient Slavonic cente11s served as ''half~way transmitting centers" not only between Croatia, but even Kievian Russia08l. As far as tJhe literary work of Cyril-Methodius and their immedi,a te .students is ,c oncerned, we know from the �SLOVAKIA 45 ;'SKAZANI" that they translated "i proceJe knigy" (also many other books) and from Latin legends "pluraque aliia documenta sacrae scri,ptuare" (according to the legend of Bodescens), or only ".plura que a'lia," according to the legend of Christian. ,Sbanisla'V reco.rds that "after his arri'Val in Great Mora'Via, Constantine translated almost the entire ecclesiastical rituial." We know definiteJy, Stanislav writes, that Constantine completed the translation of the Gospel texts of all four ev,angelists in Great Mora'Via, and that he also translated the Acts of the Apostles and the Psa1ms(l9l. St . Methodius, according to Stanis1a'V, continued in the work ,b egun by his brother and after the issuance of the glorious Bull "I:ndustriae tuae," by which the Sla'V•Onic liturgy a;gain was confirmed and permitted, "made a compendium of everything that was translated during the twel1Ve years (869-881) oif hris independent '1eadership of the Great Moravian mission. He selected -t wo priest 'rapid writers' a111d with them translated - probably dictated to them - the entire text of the Holy B ible - tJhe Old and New Testaments, besides the books of the 1faccalbees, within eight months." Methodius also t:mnslated, or had translated, the Latin Missal, which is •.p reserved as the so-•called Kiev Missal; written in Gl agolic letters it is preserved in a copy from the 10th century wi,1fu the elements of the Great Mora1Vian tongue. Stanisla'V aJso mentions the translation of the ri-· tual, the fbrev;iary and the credo•, which, according to Methiodius' biog,r,ruphy, Sva.toplUik was Slllpposed to hav,e prayed in the Slovak translation. Of the non..Jiturgica11 books, Sfanislav mentions the translation of the Nomocanon, or the Korm'.caja bodk, i.e., a collection of laiws and regulations o.f the By,zantian rulers and Chwch Fiatlhers, then Cyril's po~emic treatise in Greek against the Jews, which was translated :b y Methodius, ,a nd the original works "A Preface to the Gospels" and "Writings A'bout the True Faith," both written by Cyril. Among the original mementoes belong the so-caUed iPannonianMO'ravian Legends, "The Life of St. Cyril and iMethodius," written, according to, Stanjslav, without a doubt in Great 1 �46 SLOVAKIA Moravia, also the "Praiises of Cyril and Metihodius" and "albou;t the end of the ancient Slovak epoch of Slovak culture" - the 'legend aJbout Naum. One of the "MoravianSloviak sons" - Stanislav says - composed also the ancient Slovalk legend about St. Wenceslaius around the year 935. Stan:is1aiv states quite clearJy that this literacy activity developed on rSlovaJk territory and that in the "great work along wiith Cyril and .M ethod.ius undoubtedly other sons of the Slovak nation had a part, especially Gorazd(20) . Traces of thii:s are found especially in many words of these mementoes." And since "tlhese memoirs were written for the religious, i.e., the cultural needs of the Slovak nation and prompted by it, the predecessors of the Slovaks took part in this work passi'Vely and actively and, therefore, this literary wor.k, according to Sta.nislav, belongs also to our (Slovak) nationaJl treasure." "Old Slavonic was the first liter,a ry language of the Slwa;k nation," J. Stanrislav wrote in 1944 at the conolusion of his studies. This the.sis was taken up after him by Dr. A. Mra:z, professor orf Slova,k literature at ,t he Bratisl1a va U-p.iversity today. The Slovaik nation actuaHy regards it as lits langua:ge, states Stanislav. Prnof of this we have, for example, in tihe letter of Pope Hadrian IT to Rastislav, Svatophrk and Kocel, in which is written: "We have decided . . . to send Methodius . . . to teach you as you requested, e~laining the Bible in your language (21) . This clarif,ioation of the re'1ation of the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Slo;vakia appeared to be necessary to find the answer to the question what role the Slova;ks and !Slovakia ,p layed in the ibegiinnings of civilization of the 1Slruvonic rpeoples. -If we accept the thesis, demonstrated by Slovak IS lavists, ,tJhen the matlter is in surbstance simple : the participation oif the Slovaks and Slova-· kia in the civilization of the rest of the Slavonic nations is proved by .the signifioance of Saints Cyril and Methodius and their immediate pupils in the cultural life .of the individua:l Sliwonic nations. As for as the content and extent of the cultural-Christian~ing work of Cyri'l .and Methodius is concerned, SlovaJk Slavists, wiit:h their scientific inquiries, confirm the �SLOVAKIA 47 view ,o f professor K. J. Grot(22), who wrote rub-Out Great Moravia and the work of the Slovak Aipostles that in Great Moravia was made not only "the most important at.. temrpt at a politicail unification of the Slovanic peoples the Greater Moravian Union - but also that: 1. there "were l aid the foundations for the national Church and nati.onal Christian education; 2. there origina,ted the draft and the directive of the future of the who>J.e subsequent historic development of Slavdom, its world :riole and re.1ation to Roman-Germaillic Europe, to the West and to the Asiatic question; 3. the foundation of Church-1Slov,a nic literature and education in the .Slovanic South among the BuLgars and the 1Seribs, and in the East among the Russians, and pa:rtly also among other western Slavs, was only a continuation of that work whfoh Cyril and Methodius had begun in Great Moravia." Before concluding, it is iperhaps necessary to recall iha:t bortih histori'Oal and cu1tural conclusions here indicated are nothing new in ,Slovak cultUTal life, but onily a scientific support of the tradition and endu:riing consciousness of the continuity of Great Mora'\ria w1th Slovakia, which already in rthe 17th and 18th centuries found expression in several scientific and literary wo-:r,ks b-Oth from the ci~de of Trnavia University (1635), and also from the circle of Bernol1ruk's school at the end of the 18th century. In the preface to 1:Jhe significant Cantus Catholiic,i (1655), Benedict ,S zolosi (1609-56) tells ·clearly about the consciousness of historical continuity of the Slovaks wiith the history of Great Moravia; the greia.t epic "Cy:rifoimertodiada" _and "IS vatoplulk" from John Holly and the Latin work of Samu~l Timon (16'715-1736), .the distinguished wor:k of Johlil B. Magin from 1712-8 •~Maurices sive Arpologda" aTe irre. futruble proofs of this. Of couTse, :Slavists of other nations are &pected to tell how far the results and conclusions of .the scientific resoo.rdh of ISlov,a;k Slaviists are in agreement with the histo~ical truth aind where the theses and hypoitheses are in cases in disagreement with their scientifdc research. Therefore the aim of this dissertation is not only to call at.ten-• tion to Slovruk -scientific inquiries, to the ·c ontri1bution which 1 1 �48 SLOVAKIA Slovaks m'ade to Slavistics from Safarlk and Kollar to present-day scientific woiikers in Slovaiki1a and outside its territory, but this short treatise has for its aim also to evoke moire interest to inquire .into and evaluate a,nd, in cases, even to refute some theses of contemporary Sfova:k scientific woDkers in ,tJhe field of Slavic studies. References 1. Robert A. Kann, The Multinational Empire Nationalism and National Re.form in the Habsburg Monarchy 1848-1918, Ruil:gers U niversity, New Y,ork, Columbia Un iversity Press, 1950, 2 vol. 2. ,F rancis Dvornik, The Making of Central and Eastern Europe, London, 1949, ,p. 241. etc. 3. Dr. Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe, Jarold-s , London, 1942, p. 86: "Slovakia was hlle fiTst cultured and, mayb e also the first pol'itical centre .of thait Great Moravi-a of A :D. 8,26-907 which was the early mediev.al precedent of the -modern OzechoJSlovakia. 'l'his original Czecho•Sfovak State mad e 'i tself the first Chrisitian centre of the Western Slavs." 4. Dvornik, ,i bidem, p. 18. 5. Ibidem , p. 21. 6. "Hludovicus quatuordecim ex ducibus Boemanorum cum hominibus -s ui s Christianam religionem desiderantes suscepit et in octavis ,theopihaniae haptizar.i juss,i t," M. G. H . S ., I, p. 364; Dvornik ibidem, p. 20. 7. Lbidem, p. 293. 8. V. Novotny, Ceske dejiny, Praha, 1912, p. 380: Annales Fuldenses. p. 126: "(.:B!oemani ) quos Zwentibaldus dux a consortio et potestate Baio,aricae ,g entis per vim dudum divelendo detr.axerat ... " 9. Ernest Deni-s , La question d' Autriche et les Slovaques, Paris, 1917; Louis Leger, Histoire de I' Autriche-Hongrie, Paris, 1920, p. 89. 10. The principal bo,o k,s dealing with the question of Great Moravia a nd the Mission of Cyri,J and Methodius are as follows: J. Skultety, Sketches from Slovak History, Middletown, P.a ., 1930; F. Hrus ovsky, Gesch ichte der Slowakei, Bratis'lava, 1943, and Slovenskf vladari , Scranton, Pa., 1948; Jan 'Stanislav, Kultura starych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944, ,and Rfsa Vel'komoravska , Sbo-r nik v,edeckye'h prac, Prague, 1933, and Slovanskf apostoli Cyril a Metod a ich cinnosf vo Vel ' komoravskej rfsi , Bratislava, 1945; Izacenko, Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej rfsi, T. sv. Martin, 1948; V . Pogor,ielov, O narodnosti slovanskych apostolov, Bratislava, No. 2, 1927; Rap.ant, Pribynov nitriansky kostolik, .Bratislava, 1941; A. Banik, Apostol Gorazd ; A . Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislav,a , 1948, etc. 11. Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. I.I, p. 77-78. 12. " . . . die heutige Slorwakey in Oberungern is das eigen,tliche Gross,Mli.hren . .. " wrote •Dobrovsky in a l etter to J. S. Bandtke (Correspondence o,f J . Dobrovsky, II, p. 163) . �SLOVAKIA 49 13. See V. J agic, Entstehungsg eschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache, Vjenna, 1900. 14. Annales Fuldenses and Annales r egni Francorum mention '·Sclavos Marabenses" . . . "duces Sclavorum circa Danubiu m habitantium .. ." or "legationes Marvanorum . . ." distingui>shin,g them fro m "legaitiones !Beheimorum," i.e., C2Jechs. In the Reg,e nsburg continuation of Annales Fuldenses we find only "Maravi, M·aravaui, Marehenses, Marabi, Marahav.i," etc. 15. ,see !Dr. J an Dekan, Slovenske dejiny, Iii, Bratislava, 1951, p. 42. 16. J . SkuJ.tety already in 1926 writes in this regard: "With the ,d evelopment of science, particularly Slavonic ph ilology, talk of Carpatho,Danubian and Pannonian Slavs w:ill cease, -a nd t!he SloveneSlovaks w'il'l be def,i nitely m entioned . When it is once clear that ihe inhabitants of present-day Moravia were nothing but Slovaks, t h e nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called Moravlans .a nd Slovaks, but persistently and definitely Slovaks" (Sketches from Slovak History, p. 30). 17. See Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 42 . 18. See Chapter, Kievan Russia and Central Europe, p. 236-261. 19. See Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 10-14. 20. Pogorielov s•a ys em ph a ti cally th at t he Slovakisms in the Slavonic text of th e H oly Scriptures are th e work of Gorazd and calls Gorazd the third h oly apos tl e of Slavdom . 21. Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 14. 22. K. J . Grot, Karpato-dunajs kija zemli v sud'bach slavianstva, 1905, p. 18, and Metodijevskij jubilejnij sbornik, W arsaiw, 1885, p. 5. • • • BENES'S 'JIRiiP TO MOSCOW AND CZECHOSLOVAK PROPAGANDA Dr. Michael Zibrin Benes admits in his Memoirs that Eden made some forJ mal objecUons aigainst his 1943 trip to Moscow, yet he tries to mmimti:ze the opposition of the IDnglish cabinet . Benes pr.opaJgandists of today, h owever, do not admit ev~ this faot and t hey praiise the Benes t rip to Moscow as something by which Benes greatly ,helped the Allies and to which Washington and London consented. Anyone who heard Dr. Ripka's report before the CzechoJSlovak State Council in London, July 26, 19'43 when he talked aib,out the preparaUons for Benes's trip to Moscow, made in a;greement with Ozecho.;S1ov,ak Communists, and how Dr. Benes was expected in Moscow in any case - has an entirely different picture rubout 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 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 39 THE SLOVAKS AND SLAVONIC CIVILIZATION Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. There seems to be some confusion even among ,specialists in the fi.eld of Slav,iic studies as far as Slorvalkia's contribution to the civilization of other Slav peoples is concerned. The question, then, as to· what role the SlovaJkis reaHy did 'Play in the civilization of the Slavonic peoples, is not only interesting, but worthy of consideration and study. To answer that question, we must first consider several fundamental questions: First: What role did IS'loviaikiia play in the Great Mora. vian Empire, on the territory o.f which the cultura)l~reHgioll'S mission of Saints Cyril and Methodiius was developed? Second: Into the cultural history of what nation can we place the cuatural and literary work of Cyril and Me. thodius and their immediate puipils? Third: Are the Slovaks of today ethnically and culturally bound with the people of Great Moravia? In a significant 1portion of ,Slavonic histriography, especially in the works of sciientific workers and Slavists whiich were !pUb1ished in English in the past three decades, there is no agreemoot on these fundamental questions. R. A. Kamn in hiis "The Multinational Empire"(l) states, for example, that "the !Slav popuJ.ation, ,p articularly the eastern SlaN populaition of the Great Moravian Ehnpire, is unquestionaJbly the historic ancestor of the Slovaks of today," but he adds that those historic ,p redcessors ·a re "by no means ethnically identical with them (the Slovaks)." John D. lJa Monte in his "World of the Middle Ages" omits the 'Slovaks cOIIIllpletely when naming the ethnic gro'll!ps which .formed the Great iMoiravian Empire. H. S. Thompson, J. S. Roucek, Milan Hodza, Francis Dvornik, and many other •less significant iSlavists ,present the first ,Slavonic !State in Central Europe - which Porfyl'ogenetos named topogrruphically accordmg to the river bearing that name - as if it belonged to the political and cultural history of the Ozechs, or at best of the Ozecho- 40 SLOVAKIA Slovaks. And thus they a:lso present the cultUTal-Ohristiarn work of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Professor Francis Dvornik, one of the most acknowledged authorities of cultural and political history of the IShwonic ,p eoples of the ninth century, regards "Bohemia the heir of .t he Mo11avian Empire"C2). For ,p rofessor Rouceik (ISla;vonic Encyclopedia) Great Moravia and the cultmal wor>k of Cyril-Methodius is exclusively a part of Czech history, while for Dr. Miilan Hodza it is the first "CzechosJovaJk" State(3). This -wew, which the aibove mentioned authors at~ tempt to support with the hypothesis that "Czechs and Slova!ks of Bohemia, Moravia and Northern Hungary (Silova;k,i•a ) fovmed a single group with a common language"( 4) - the iview held ,b y several Ozech histor1ans, phil'()llogists and ethnographers, specially Cha1oupeoky, Niederle, Pra•z ak, and Pastmek - is, of course, at odds with older views of some Czech, Slovak, German and otiher European histovians, philologists and ethnographers. And ,i t certainly cannot find support in histor,ical sources, which though not abundant are nevertheless sufficient to cast dou'bt on the aibove theses . Professor Dvornik himself, who- regards Czechia-Bohemi1a as the heir of the Great Moravian Elmpire, leads rto the logical conclusion that the Czech tribes belonged to the Great Moravian Empire only for a very sho-rt time, when Svatoplulk was extending his power on a1'1 sides, and .that after Svatopluk's death in 895 "the Bohemians appeared again at the Re.ichrsita;g at Regensburg and renewed their allegiance to the FrMllkish Empire. " And Dvornik also states that "Bohemia's submission to the Franks naturally implied severance of all !l'.'cligious ties with the Mora-wan eoclesirus-tical organization" (5) The statement that "the Bohemians appeared again at Regensburg" requiTes supplementation from the Arnnales Fuldenses, which Dvornik himself quotes a;nd depends upon, that is, tha;t in the year 8415 "fourteen chieftains of Czech tribes a:ppeared at the court of Louis and accepted baptism with their escorts"(6), which under the givoo cir<:umstances clearly indicates the political dependence of SLOVAKIA 41 the Czech tribes on Bavaria. According to the Armales Xantenses, the Czechs quarreled and fought with Bai\Tlaria in. 849, but could not rid themselves of Bavarian rule and join the Ozech lands to the Great Moravian Empire, which Dvornik regards as a "federation under the authority of the Mojmir dynasty"(7), until aJbout 880. According to Novotny and the Annales Fuldenses •~svatopl,uk extricated the Czech tribes from Frankish rule b.y force"< 8) . Since the beginnings of Gre,a t MoTavia are placed in the year 822 a:nd 'h istorical sources mention Pribina and the dedication of the Church in Nitrn in 833; furthermore since, even accordmg to, professor Dvornilk, Czech tribes were still defin,itely :sUJbordinated to Bavaria in 8'49, even though that was already the era of Rastis1av, the third ruler of the Great Moravian Empire, and since the Czech trilbes separated from the Great Moravian Empire and sutbmitted to Bavaria and then even waged war together witJh the Germans against the Great Moravian :EJmpire:(9), it ,i s indeed quite difficult to find a historical or logical argument for the thesis that Great Moravia did belong to Czech polirti'cal history and that the cultural work of Cyril and Methodius belonged to Ozech cultm-al history. The question of what tribes formed the Great Moravian Empire and what lands the empire consisted of could not be considered satisfactorily and defi.n,i tely resolved and, therefore, a group of scientific workers began a new search and technica{ researdh of sources. The historians were joined :b y philologists, archeo[og,ists and ex-· ,p erts on medieval history; the era of the Great Moravian Emrpire was studied ~at only ,f rom 'a nnals and chronicles, from legends and liturgical texts of iS lavonic antiquity, but also on the baisis of archeological finds, names of rivers and mountaiins, villages and towns, ·c hurches, Christi'an and fomily names, popular traditions, etc. The list of speo~ali,s ts of the Great Moravian era is surprisingly lange in the rpast years and while some of them are known internationally (1Dvornik, Jam:ohson), significant works of others are tJhus far unknown on the Amerfoan continent only becruuse they were not trans.Jated into ,various world 42 SLOVAKIA languages, nor were they presented to the learned world even in a:bst:mct form. Among the uruknown or little-known ,s pecialists in the Anglo-Saxon world, we find a si,,gnif.icant group of Slovwk university professors and e~perts of whom I might men., tion the following: a) In history: Joseph Skultety, Francis lHruso,v sky, Daniel Rapant, J. Dakan. :b) In philofogy: John Stanislav, Henry Bartek, Louis Novaik, Jizacenko, B. Varsi1k, V . Pogorielov, Anthony !Banik. c) In literary histoiry: Andrew Mraz, Steplhen Krcmery. d) In ar,cheology: John Eisner. Every one of these men made a study of one or the other phase of the em of Great Momvi,a and the work, of Saiints Cyril and Methodiius, ,and some of them - Stanislav, Hrusovsky, Bartek, ,:maicenlko, Pogorielov of several ,p hases and some of their studies were ,published even in foreign languaiges(l0). To what conclusions does the scientific research of these experts lead to, even though the results of their studies thus far ,a re available for the main part only to Slavonic scholars and haive not been made availruble in suita!ble form for the western world? Professo.r Otokar Odlozilik, in the ' ~Harvard Slavic Studies," summwri'zes them 1.Jhiis way: "'1:t can ibe said of them in general that they not only shed fuller light on po1'itical and cultuTal dev~lopments in the Mor.avian State, but invalidated earlier concepts, aiccording to which the work of the Slavic Apostles wais short-lived and doomed to failure"(ll). 'F undamentally, the results of the scienti.f1ic research of Slovaik historians, philofogists., archeologists and cultural wovkers of the past decades are these: 1. In agreement with Dobrovsky, who alreaidy in 1825 wrote that ",S lovakia was really Great MoraJVlia" (12), and in agreement with Safarik (:Slovanske starozitnosti, pp. 794-795), Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav ,a nd Dekan con., sider Slovakia as 1Jhe central and main part of the Great Moravian Elm.pi.re, which in the "Skazani o prelozeni knig" was already called "1Slovensk,a zemlja" (Sloviak country). 2. In agreement with V. Jag-i:c, who in his wcmk a'bout 43 SLOVAKIA the origin of the Church ISlaJV1onic tongue wrote in 1900 that "in Great Moravia ,p eople must have spoken dn the ninth century with a tQ!1lgue which in its fundamental,s was identkal witJh the !Slov•aik language of today"(13), Stamislav, Bartek, Rapant, Varsik and No,vak arrived at the conclu-· si•o n through .scientific study that the inhalbitants of Great Moravia •w ere the direct ancestors of the 1Slovaks of today. 3. On the ,b asis of the abOIVe mentioned premi ses, the above historians and philologists, as ,well ·a s A. Mraz, the literary historian, oo.me to the conclusion that the cultural-Christianiz.ing adiv:ity of 1Sruints Cyril and Methodius related to, iin tJhe first ,place, the ancestors of present-day Slovltks and ISlovwkia and, therefore, their literary work, including the literary activity of some of their ipupil.s, is a ·component ,part of SlOl\"aik 1iternture. It may be interesting to note here that this .thesis is supported even by profes~ so:rs of the Bratislava University today (A. Mira~ and J. Dek1an) , even though in present C'zecho-Slo,vaikia nationalism and everything which might be susipected of nationa:l- . 1sm is prmishable according to the lruw as "deviationism." By what .scientif,i.c arguments are these tJheises supported? On what scientific order do they mainfy depend? What new contributions do they bring to the evaluation of the work of Cy11itl and Methodius? Besides a new search and ev;aluation of known sources, such as the Annales Fuldenses, Annales, regni &ancormn, Libellus de conversione Bagoariorum et Carantanorum, the chronicles of Heriman, Regino, Nestor, legends and biogrruphies, etc., the brusis for the above mentioned conclusions are in the main philological researches(14). The name Mora;via and Miaravian.s, incidental~y also "Scalvi," which we meet with mainly in Latin sources, whHe eastern sources spook of ".Sfoveni" (in the S!K'A'Z ANi, the Mornvian State is, as we have seen, alternatively ca:lled "Monwa" and "Slovenska zemljia" - Morav;ia iand the Sl01vak l,and), is considered a topo,g ra;phical term, which received its ,political character and was used ,in the etatistical meaning to indica,te the inhabitants of the Moravian State, besides the Czechs and the Se11bians wllw belonged only for short time to SvatoplUJk's empire. 1 a 44 SLOVAKIA "The fall of Great Moravia," writes Dr. J. Delkan, "brings a. return to the original topographical signif.icance of the name, and tJhe inhabitants of the eastern .part of Great Morav;ia, i.e., the territory of Slovakia, ,b esides isolated toponomastk remiscences, are called iby their own ancient ethnic name of "Sclavi, Slovieni, namely, the Slovaks" (15). The thesis tha:t the term Moravians had only a specifically topographic •a nd, later, a politicaHy ebatistical meaning was unfolded long before Dekan by several Slo!Vak Slav;ists and hi,s torians, especially by Joseph Skultety(16), Hrusovsky and Stanis:lav. The .philologists John 1Stantisliav, L. Novak, H. Bartek , V. Pogorielov, mcenko, and others, lby philologioa1 inquiry of the Cyrilo-.Methodius texts, the Cividalian Gospel Book , legends and chronicles, as well as by searching names of people, J'livers., mountains, villages, churches and traditions and, furthermOTe, the dia!lects and "loan words", confirm the theses and the hypotheses ,o;f the historians. as regard..c; even the ethnical nature of the inhia,bitants of Great Moravia as well as the mission of Cyril and Methodius in relation to Slovaikia. According to the latest researches, of Slovak Sl-avists, the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius took pla:ce mainly on the territo-ry o,f the Slova,ks - professor Stanislav states with certainty that Method's residence was in Nitra(l 7) and the great cultural-Christianizing work of Cynil and MetJhodius is consequently placed first of all in the cultural history of the Slovaks. Even Dvornik confiir.ms this indirectly when he states that "Slo,vam.ic liturgy in Slovakia outlived the catastrophe of the Great Morawian Empire," that the territory o.f present-day Slo,vrukia was "in a definite sense the most cultured part of the Magyar empire" (,correctly, the Hungarian empire), and the Slavonic monks, after being ex,pelled from Czech lands (from the Monastery at Sazavia) in 1055, found refuge in !Slovakia. According to Dvornilk, Slovakia and her ancient Slavonic cente11s served as ''half~way transmitting centers" not only between Croatia, but even Kievian Russia08l. As far as tJhe literary work of Cyril-Methodius and their immedi,a te .students is ,c oncerned, we know from the SLOVAKIA 45 ;'SKAZANI" that they translated "i proceJe knigy" (also many other books) and from Latin legends "pluraque aliia documenta sacrae scri,ptuare" (according to the legend of Bodescens), or only ".plura que a'lia," according to the legend of Christian. ,Sbanisla'V reco.rds that "after his arri'Val in Great Mora'Via, Constantine translated almost the entire ecclesiastical rituial." We know definiteJy, Stanislav writes, that Constantine completed the translation of the Gospel texts of all four ev,angelists in Great Mora'Via, and that he also translated the Acts of the Apostles and the Psa1ms(l9l. St . Methodius, according to Stanis1a'V, continued in the work ,b egun by his brother and after the issuance of the glorious Bull "I:ndustriae tuae," by which the Sla'V•Onic liturgy a;gain was confirmed and permitted, "made a compendium of everything that was translated during the twel1Ve years (869-881) oif hris independent '1eadership of the Great Moravian mission. He selected -t wo priest 'rapid writers' a111d with them translated - probably dictated to them - the entire text of the Holy B ible - tJhe Old and New Testaments, besides the books of the 1faccalbees, within eight months." Methodius also t:mnslated, or had translated, the Latin Missal, which is •.p reserved as the so-•called Kiev Missal; written in Gl agolic letters it is preserved in a copy from the 10th century wi,1fu the elements of the Great Mora1Vian tongue. Stanisla'V aJso mentions the translation of the ri-· tual, the fbrev;iary and the credo•, which, according to Methiodius' biog,r,ruphy, Sva.toplUik was Slllpposed to hav,e prayed in the Slovak translation. Of the non..Jiturgica11 books, Sfanislav mentions the translation of the Nomocanon, or the Korm'.caja bodk, i.e., a collection of laiws and regulations o.f the By,zantian rulers and Chwch Fiatlhers, then Cyril's po~emic treatise in Greek against the Jews, which was translated :b y Methodius, ,a nd the original works "A Preface to the Gospels" and "Writings A'bout the True Faith," both written by Cyril. Among the original mementoes belong the so-caUed iPannonianMO'ravian Legends, "The Life of St. Cyril and iMethodius," written, according to, Stanjslav, without a doubt in Great 1 46 SLOVAKIA Moravia, also the "Praiises of Cyril and Metihodius" and "albou;t the end of the ancient Slovak epoch of Slovak culture" - the 'legend aJbout Naum. One of the "MoravianSloviak sons" - Stanislav says - composed also the ancient Slovalk legend about St. Wenceslaius around the year 935. Stan:is1aiv states quite clearJy that this literacy activity developed on rSlovaJk territory and that in the "great work along wiith Cyril and .M ethod.ius undoubtedly other sons of the Slovak nation had a part, especially Gorazd(20) . Traces of thii:s are found especially in many words of these mementoes." And since "tlhese memoirs were written for the religious, i.e., the cultural needs of the Slovak nation and prompted by it, the predecessors of the Slovaks took part in this work passi'Vely and actively and, therefore, this literary wor.k, according to Sta.nislav, belongs also to our (Slovak) nationaJl treasure." "Old Slavonic was the first liter,a ry language of the Slwa;k nation," J. Stanrislav wrote in 1944 at the conolusion of his studies. This the.sis was taken up after him by Dr. A. Mra:z, professor orf Slova,k literature at ,t he Bratisl1a va U-p.iversity today. The Slovaik nation actuaHy regards it as lits langua:ge, states Stanislav. Prnof of this we have, for example, in tihe letter of Pope Hadrian IT to Rastislav, Svatophrk and Kocel, in which is written: "We have decided . . . to send Methodius . . . to teach you as you requested, e~laining the Bible in your language (21) . This clarif,ioation of the re'1ation of the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Slo;vakia appeared to be necessary to find the answer to the question what role the Slova;ks and !Slovakia ,p layed in the ibegiinnings of civilization of the 1Slruvonic rpeoples. -If we accept the thesis, demonstrated by Slovak IS lavists, ,tJhen the matlter is in surbstance simple : the participation oif the Slovaks and Slova-· kia in the civilization of the rest of the Slavonic nations is proved by .the signifioance of Saints Cyril and Methodius and their immediate pupils in the cultural life .of the individua:l Sliwonic nations. As for as the content and extent of the cultural-Christian~ing work of Cyri'l .and Methodius is concerned, SlovaJk Slavists, wiit:h their scientific inquiries, confirm the SLOVAKIA 47 view ,o f professor K. J. Grot(22), who wrote rub-Out Great Moravia and the work of the Slovak Aipostles that in Great Moravia was made not only "the most important at.. temrpt at a politicail unification of the Slovanic peoples the Greater Moravian Union - but also that: 1. there "were l aid the foundations for the national Church and nati.onal Christian education; 2. there origina,ted the draft and the directive of the future of the who>J.e subsequent historic development of Slavdom, its world :riole and re.1ation to Roman-Germaillic Europe, to the West and to the Asiatic question; 3. the foundation of Church-1Slov,a nic literature and education in the .Slovanic South among the BuLgars and the 1Seribs, and in the East among the Russians, and pa:rtly also among other western Slavs, was only a continuation of that work whfoh Cyril and Methodius had begun in Great Moravia." Before concluding, it is iperhaps necessary to recall iha:t bortih histori'Oal and cu1tural conclusions here indicated are nothing new in ,Slovak cultUTal life, but onily a scientific support of the tradition and endu:riing consciousness of the continuity of Great Mora'\ria w1th Slovakia, which already in rthe 17th and 18th centuries found expression in several scientific and literary wo-:r,ks b-Oth from the ci~de of Trnavia University (1635), and also from the circle of Bernol1ruk's school at the end of the 18th century. In the preface to 1:Jhe significant Cantus Catholiic,i (1655), Benedict ,S zolosi (1609-56) tells ·clearly about the consciousness of historical continuity of the Slovaks wiith the history of Great Moravia; the greia.t epic "Cy:rifoimertodiada" _and "IS vatoplulk" from John Holly and the Latin work of Samu~l Timon (16'715-1736), .the distinguished wor:k of Johlil B. Magin from 1712-8 •~Maurices sive Arpologda" aTe irre. futruble proofs of this. Of couTse, :Slavists of other nations are &pected to tell how far the results and conclusions of .the scientific resoo.rdh of ISlov,a;k Slaviists are in agreement with the histo~ical truth aind where the theses and hypoitheses are in cases in disagreement with their scientifdc research. Therefore the aim of this dissertation is not only to call at.ten-• tion to Slovruk -scientific inquiries, to the ·c ontri1bution which 1 1 48 SLOVAKIA Slovaks m'ade to Slavistics from Safarlk and Kollar to present-day scientific woiikers in Slovaiki1a and outside its territory, but this short treatise has for its aim also to evoke moire interest to inquire .into and evaluate a,nd, in cases, even to refute some theses of contemporary Sfova:k scientific woDkers in ,tJhe field of Slavic studies. References 1. Robert A. Kann, The Multinational Empire Nationalism and National Re.form in the Habsburg Monarchy 1848-1918, Ruil:gers U niversity, New Y,ork, Columbia Un iversity Press, 1950, 2 vol. 2. ,F rancis Dvornik, The Making of Central and Eastern Europe, London, 1949, ,p. 241. etc. 3. Dr. Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe, Jarold-s , London, 1942, p. 86: "Slovakia was hlle fiTst cultured and, mayb e also the first pol'itical centre .of thait Great Moravi-a of A :D. 8,26-907 which was the early mediev.al precedent of the -modern OzechoJSlovakia. 'l'his original Czecho•Sfovak State mad e 'i tself the first Chrisitian centre of the Western Slavs." 4. Dvornik, ,i bidem, p. 18. 5. Ibidem , p. 21. 6. "Hludovicus quatuordecim ex ducibus Boemanorum cum hominibus -s ui s Christianam religionem desiderantes suscepit et in octavis ,theopihaniae haptizar.i juss,i t," M. G. H . S ., I, p. 364; Dvornik ibidem, p. 20. 7. Lbidem, p. 293. 8. V. Novotny, Ceske dejiny, Praha, 1912, p. 380: Annales Fuldenses. p. 126: "(.:B!oemani ) quos Zwentibaldus dux a consortio et potestate Baio,aricae ,g entis per vim dudum divelendo detr.axerat ... " 9. Ernest Deni-s , La question d' Autriche et les Slovaques, Paris, 1917; Louis Leger, Histoire de I' Autriche-Hongrie, Paris, 1920, p. 89. 10. The principal bo,o k,s dealing with the question of Great Moravia a nd the Mission of Cyri,J and Methodius are as follows: J. Skultety, Sketches from Slovak History, Middletown, P.a ., 1930; F. Hrus ovsky, Gesch ichte der Slowakei, Bratis'lava, 1943, and Slovenskf vladari , Scranton, Pa., 1948; Jan 'Stanislav, Kultura starych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944, ,and Rfsa Vel'komoravska , Sbo-r nik v,edeckye'h prac, Prague, 1933, and Slovanskf apostoli Cyril a Metod a ich cinnosf vo Vel ' komoravskej rfsi , Bratislava, 1945; Izacenko, Zaciatky vzdelanosti vo Vel'komoravskej rfsi, T. sv. Martin, 1948; V . Pogor,ielov, O narodnosti slovanskych apostolov, Bratislava, No. 2, 1927; Rap.ant, Pribynov nitriansky kostolik, .Bratislava, 1941; A. Banik, Apostol Gorazd ; A . Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislav,a , 1948, etc. 11. Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. I.I, p. 77-78. 12. " . . . die heutige Slorwakey in Oberungern is das eigen,tliche Gross,Mli.hren . .. " wrote •Dobrovsky in a l etter to J. S. Bandtke (Correspondence o,f J . Dobrovsky, II, p. 163) . SLOVAKIA 49 13. See V. J agic, Entstehungsg eschichte der Kirchenslawischen Sprache, Vjenna, 1900. 14. Annales Fuldenses and Annales r egni Francorum mention '·Sclavos Marabenses" . . . "duces Sclavorum circa Danubiu m habitantium .. ." or "legationes Marvanorum . . ." distingui>shin,g them fro m "legaitiones !Beheimorum," i.e., C2Jechs. In the Reg,e nsburg continuation of Annales Fuldenses we find only "Maravi, M·aravaui, Marehenses, Marabi, Marahav.i," etc. 15. ,see !Dr. J an Dekan, Slovenske dejiny, Iii, Bratislava, 1951, p. 42. 16. J . SkuJ.tety already in 1926 writes in this regard: "With the ,d evelopment of science, particularly Slavonic ph ilology, talk of Carpatho,Danubian and Pannonian Slavs w:ill cease, -a nd t!he SloveneSlovaks w'il'l be def,i nitely m entioned . When it is once clear that ihe inhabitants of present-day Moravia were nothing but Slovaks, t h e nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called Moravlans .a nd Slovaks, but persistently and definitely Slovaks" (Sketches from Slovak History, p. 30). 17. See Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 42 . 18. See Chapter, Kievan Russia and Central Europe, p. 236-261. 19. See Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 10-14. 20. Pogorielov s•a ys em ph a ti cally th at t he Slovakisms in the Slavonic text of th e H oly Scriptures are th e work of Gorazd and calls Gorazd the third h oly apos tl e of Slavdom . 21. Kultura starych Slovakov, p. 14. 22. K. J . Grot, Karpato-dunajs kija zemli v sud'bach slavianstva, 1905, p. 18, and Metodijevskij jubilejnij sbornik, W arsaiw, 1885, p. 5. • • • BENES'S 'JIRiiP TO MOSCOW AND CZECHOSLOVAK PROPAGANDA Dr. Michael Zibrin Benes admits in his Memoirs that Eden made some forJ mal objecUons aigainst his 1943 trip to Moscow, yet he tries to mmimti:ze the opposition of the IDnglish cabinet . Benes pr.opaJgandists of today, h owever, do not admit ev~ this faot and t hey praiise the Benes t rip to Moscow as something by which Benes greatly ,helped the Allies and to which Washington and London consented. Anyone who heard Dr. Ripka's report before the CzechoJSlovak State Council in London, July 26, 19'43 when he talked aib,out the preparaUons for Benes's trip to Moscow, made in a;greement with Ozecho.;S1ov,ak Communists, and how Dr. Benes was expected in Moscow in any case - has an entirely different picture rubout 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 Slovaks and Slavonic Civilization Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 5, No. 4 (17), December 1955 pp. 39-49 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 1955 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d5704acf67c5fc61db78eda773809082.pdf a689fad8f4cd1b234fcf5e1b7d77d83c PDF Text Text ::,lLUVAKlA 3 R. I. P. Dr. Francis Hrusovsky Jos eph Kir schbaum , LL.D., Ph.D. Thousands of Slovaks living on this side of the Iron Curtain were stunned by the unexpected news which broke the night of September 9. It struck them as an incredible report, this word announcing the sudden death of Dr. Frap.cis Hrus01Vsky, president of the Slav,a k National Council Abroad, outstanding patriot, eminent historian and educator, and a man of .s terling moral caliber. Among pro_ minent representatives of a Slovak generation, to which it was given to see their cherished dream of Sl01Viakia's independence and statehood fU'lfiHed only to be ruthlessly destroyed within a few years. Dr. Hrusovsky personified the best traditions and characteristics which distinguish our Slovak intellectuals, men of a class that is being me-rciless[y hol\.lllded to extermination ,by the Communists. The loss of Dr. Hrusovslky is very keenly fe~t both because of what he was per s.e and because of what he meant to the nation. And it is precisely these two reasons that quicken the realization that no blow could have been more grievous in our ranks than this death of Dr. Hrusovsky which so sorely afflicts all our Slov1aik communities in the free world and especially affects alil Slorva;k e:rnigres dedicated to the vindication of IS lavakia's liberation fTom foreign rule. 1 t has be-en our unhappy lot to suffer three irrepara;ble losses within the span of tlrree consecutive years: the passing of Karol Sidor, dilplomat, statesman and key leader of the Sl01Vaik exile movement; the political assassination of Matus Cernak, a most valua;bJe force among Slovak exiles in Germany, and now the death of Dr. Hrusavsiky, Sidor's successor, in the prime of his caireer at the age of 53. One short year ago, when Dr. Hrusovrsky aocepted the chief executive responsibilities of the Slovak National Council Albroad, we rejoiced in being under his capable leaderahip. We confidently fixed all our prospects on him �4 SLOVAKIA as being the individual best qualified to effect a united effort of all Slovak exiled groups engaged in the struggle to attain Slovakia's justified liberation and independence. Mild-mannere d and unassuming as he was, Dr. Hrusovsky commanded the respect of all Slovaks. His personal inclination and preference were not for the tensions amd strategems of a political career but he did not decline wholehearted service to his nation in this difficult post, when it was evident that the need of the hour required it of him. The Cleveland weekly "Slovak News" wrote of him: "In less than a decade in his adopted country he became a beloved figure in Slovak circles everywhere. Everyone who met him was impressed by his personality. Those who knew him learned to admire his schol,a rship, to respect his unwavering devotion to 1principles, and to love him for his boundless charity. Seldom can one expect to meet a man of his moral stature, dignity, idealism, and faith." The ,primary interest of Dr. Hrusovsky's life was teaching, specifically the teaching of history and the pursuit of historical research. His innate love of his people and his instinctive devotion to youth •p rompted him to choose education as his profession. He attained distinction in this field, and it was as, an educator and a historian that he entered the ,p olitical arena. Here he looked upon all his political functions and commitments as a service to his nation's highest interests and, hence, wo·r ked with a sen:se of dedication to public duty. 'Specializing as he did in medieval history, Dr. Hru_ sovsky published several fully documented studies on Great Moravia, t:he first Slovak and Slav state on the Danube. He also prepared a Slovak history text for secondary schools which established a precedent in the Slovak pu:blishing world. In its second edition this book was welcomed with such wide acclaim that it became a national best seller. In the early part of his exile, during his sojourn in Rome and in the United States, Dr. Hrusovsky iprepared a scholarly work on the earliest Slovak rulers and an exhaustive study investigating the relations of the Slovak rulers of Great Moravia with the Holy See. �5 SLOVAKIA Slovak letters, as well as American Slovak history, were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and ex;pansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural 'history of American citizens of Slovak descent. Besides these book length productions, Dr. Hruso:vsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numeTous addresses delivered on various occasions. Reflecting on some of these merits of Dr. 'Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond v\ith the ex.pression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultral life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for wo,r k, and his lmfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." Afl true Slovaks on both sides of the Iron Curtain bear with pain the loss of Dr. IHruso,vsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovs:k y's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and li'berties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die . Thus, indeed, will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live, partaking of an immorality among us, his courage, his vision, his selflessness seTVing as an undying example for coming generations of Slo:vaks, inspiring them tq win fOT their country that freedom, that independent and recognized state for which Hrusovsky wo!"ked literally to his last breath . 1 • • • DR. FRANCIS HRUSOVSKY - THE MAN Constantine Culen Franc.is Hrufovsky was eminently an historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislava even under the tuteJage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. The ,professor was aware that this yo'll'Ilg collegian's views were radical,l y oppooed to his own outlook, nevertheless entertained high esteem for him. It was something which Hirusovsky merited 'because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge. But � ::,lLUVAKlA 3 R. I. P. Dr. Francis Hrusovsky Jos eph Kir schbaum , LL.D., Ph.D. Thousands of Slovaks living on this side of the Iron Curtain were stunned by the unexpected news which broke the night of September 9. It struck them as an incredible report, this word announcing the sudden death of Dr. Frap.cis Hrus01Vsky, president of the Slav,a k National Council Abroad, outstanding patriot, eminent historian and educator, and a man of .s terling moral caliber. Among pro_ minent representatives of a Slovak generation, to which it was given to see their cherished dream of Sl01Viakia's independence and statehood fU'lfiHed only to be ruthlessly destroyed within a few years. Dr. Hrusovsky personified the best traditions and characteristics which distinguish our Slovak intellectuals, men of a class that is being me-rciless[y hol\.lllded to extermination ,by the Communists. The loss of Dr. Hrusovslky is very keenly fe~t both because of what he was per s.e and because of what he meant to the nation. And it is precisely these two reasons that quicken the realization that no blow could have been more grievous in our ranks than this death of Dr. Hrusovsky which so sorely afflicts all our Slov1aik communities in the free world and especially affects alil Slorva;k e:rnigres dedicated to the vindication of IS lavakia's liberation fTom foreign rule. 1 t has be-en our unhappy lot to suffer three irrepara;ble losses within the span of tlrree consecutive years: the passing of Karol Sidor, dilplomat, statesman and key leader of the Sl01Vaik exile movement; the political assassination of Matus Cernak, a most valua;bJe force among Slovak exiles in Germany, and now the death of Dr. Hrusavsiky, Sidor's successor, in the prime of his caireer at the age of 53. One short year ago, when Dr. Hrusovrsky aocepted the chief executive responsibilities of the Slovak National Council Albroad, we rejoiced in being under his capable leaderahip. We confidently fixed all our prospects on him �4 SLOVAKIA as being the individual best qualified to effect a united effort of all Slovak exiled groups engaged in the struggle to attain Slovakia's justified liberation and independence. Mild-mannere d and unassuming as he was, Dr. Hrusovsky commanded the respect of all Slovaks. His personal inclination and preference were not for the tensions amd strategems of a political career but he did not decline wholehearted service to his nation in this difficult post, when it was evident that the need of the hour required it of him. The Cleveland weekly "Slovak News" wrote of him: "In less than a decade in his adopted country he became a beloved figure in Slovak circles everywhere. Everyone who met him was impressed by his personality. Those who knew him learned to admire his schol,a rship, to respect his unwavering devotion to 1principles, and to love him for his boundless charity. Seldom can one expect to meet a man of his moral stature, dignity, idealism, and faith." The ,primary interest of Dr. Hrusovsky's life was teaching, specifically the teaching of history and the pursuit of historical research. His innate love of his people and his instinctive devotion to youth •p rompted him to choose education as his profession. He attained distinction in this field, and it was as, an educator and a historian that he entered the ,p olitical arena. Here he looked upon all his political functions and commitments as a service to his nation's highest interests and, hence, wo·r ked with a sen:se of dedication to public duty. 'Specializing as he did in medieval history, Dr. Hru_ sovsky published several fully documented studies on Great Moravia, t:he first Slovak and Slav state on the Danube. He also prepared a Slovak history text for secondary schools which established a precedent in the Slovak pu:blishing world. In its second edition this book was welcomed with such wide acclaim that it became a national best seller. In the early part of his exile, during his sojourn in Rome and in the United States, Dr. Hrusovsky iprepared a scholarly work on the earliest Slovak rulers and an exhaustive study investigating the relations of the Slovak rulers of Great Moravia with the Holy See. �5 SLOVAKIA Slovak letters, as well as American Slovak history, were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and ex;pansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural 'history of American citizens of Slovak descent. Besides these book length productions, Dr. Hruso:vsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numeTous addresses delivered on various occasions. Reflecting on some of these merits of Dr. 'Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond v\ith the ex.pression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultral life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for wo,r k, and his lmfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." Afl true Slovaks on both sides of the Iron Curtain bear with pain the loss of Dr. IHruso,vsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovs:k y's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and li'berties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die . Thus, indeed, will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live, partaking of an immorality among us, his courage, his vision, his selflessness seTVing as an undying example for coming generations of Slo:vaks, inspiring them tq win fOT their country that freedom, that independent and recognized state for which Hrusovsky wo!"ked literally to his last breath . 1 • • • DR. FRANCIS HRUSOVSKY - THE MAN Constantine Culen Franc.is Hrufovsky was eminently an historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislava even under the tuteJage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. The ,professor was aware that this yo'll'Ilg collegian's views were radical,l y oppooed to his own outlook, nevertheless entertained high esteem for him. It was something which Hirusovsky merited 'because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge. But � 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 ::,lLUVAKlA 3 R. I. P. Dr. Francis Hrusovsky Jos eph Kir schbaum , LL.D., Ph.D. Thousands of Slovaks living on this side of the Iron Curtain were stunned by the unexpected news which broke the night of September 9. It struck them as an incredible report, this word announcing the sudden death of Dr. Frap.cis Hrus01Vsky, president of the Slav,a k National Council Abroad, outstanding patriot, eminent historian and educator, and a man of .s terling moral caliber. Among pro_ minent representatives of a Slovak generation, to which it was given to see their cherished dream of Sl01Viakia's independence and statehood fU'lfiHed only to be ruthlessly destroyed within a few years. Dr. Hrusovsky personified the best traditions and characteristics which distinguish our Slovak intellectuals, men of a class that is being me-rciless[y hol\.lllded to extermination ,by the Communists. The loss of Dr. Hrusovslky is very keenly fe~t both because of what he was per s.e and because of what he meant to the nation. And it is precisely these two reasons that quicken the realization that no blow could have been more grievous in our ranks than this death of Dr. Hrusovsky which so sorely afflicts all our Slov1aik communities in the free world and especially affects alil Slorva;k e:rnigres dedicated to the vindication of IS lavakia's liberation fTom foreign rule. 1 t has be-en our unhappy lot to suffer three irrepara;ble losses within the span of tlrree consecutive years: the passing of Karol Sidor, dilplomat, statesman and key leader of the Sl01Vaik exile movement; the political assassination of Matus Cernak, a most valua;bJe force among Slovak exiles in Germany, and now the death of Dr. Hrusavsiky, Sidor's successor, in the prime of his caireer at the age of 53. One short year ago, when Dr. Hrusovrsky aocepted the chief executive responsibilities of the Slovak National Council Albroad, we rejoiced in being under his capable leaderahip. We confidently fixed all our prospects on him 4 SLOVAKIA as being the individual best qualified to effect a united effort of all Slovak exiled groups engaged in the struggle to attain Slovakia's justified liberation and independence. Mild-mannere d and unassuming as he was, Dr. Hrusovsky commanded the respect of all Slovaks. His personal inclination and preference were not for the tensions amd strategems of a political career but he did not decline wholehearted service to his nation in this difficult post, when it was evident that the need of the hour required it of him. The Cleveland weekly "Slovak News" wrote of him: "In less than a decade in his adopted country he became a beloved figure in Slovak circles everywhere. Everyone who met him was impressed by his personality. Those who knew him learned to admire his schol,a rship, to respect his unwavering devotion to 1principles, and to love him for his boundless charity. Seldom can one expect to meet a man of his moral stature, dignity, idealism, and faith." The ,primary interest of Dr. Hrusovsky's life was teaching, specifically the teaching of history and the pursuit of historical research. His innate love of his people and his instinctive devotion to youth •p rompted him to choose education as his profession. He attained distinction in this field, and it was as, an educator and a historian that he entered the ,p olitical arena. Here he looked upon all his political functions and commitments as a service to his nation's highest interests and, hence, wo·r ked with a sen:se of dedication to public duty. 'Specializing as he did in medieval history, Dr. Hru_ sovsky published several fully documented studies on Great Moravia, t:he first Slovak and Slav state on the Danube. He also prepared a Slovak history text for secondary schools which established a precedent in the Slovak pu:blishing world. In its second edition this book was welcomed with such wide acclaim that it became a national best seller. In the early part of his exile, during his sojourn in Rome and in the United States, Dr. Hrusovsky iprepared a scholarly work on the earliest Slovak rulers and an exhaustive study investigating the relations of the Slovak rulers of Great Moravia with the Holy See. 5 SLOVAKIA Slovak letters, as well as American Slovak history, were definitely enriched by Dr. Hrusovsky's book surveying the growth and ex;pansion of Slovak religious orders in the United States. This book incidentally develops a great deal of the cultural 'history of American citizens of Slovak descent. Besides these book length productions, Dr. Hruso:vsky has to his credit hundreds of articles and numeTous addresses delivered on various occasions. Reflecting on some of these merits of Dr. 'Hrusovsky, we find that our sentiments, too, correspond v\ith the ex.pression of one of the prominent American leaders in Slovak cultral life who said with deepest sincerity that we "will miss his wise guidance, his great capacity for wo,r k, and his lmfaltering hope of a better world on the morrow." Afl true Slovaks on both sides of the Iron Curtain bear with pain the loss of Dr. IHruso,vsky. Our one comfort and consolation stems from the belief that national leaders of Dr. Hrusovs:k y's moral stature and defenders of a nation's rights and li'berties share the prerogative of great soldiers who never die . Thus, indeed, will Dr. Hrusovsky continue to live, partaking of an immorality among us, his courage, his vision, his selflessness seTVing as an undying example for coming generations of Slo:vaks, inspiring them tq win fOT their country that freedom, that independent and recognized state for which Hrusovsky wo!"ked literally to his last breath . 1 • • • DR. FRANCIS HRUSOVSKY - THE MAN Constantine Culen Franc.is Hrufovsky was eminently an historian. He could have distinguished himself by a career at the University of Bratislava even under the tuteJage of the Czech professor Chaloupecky. The ,professor was aware that this yo'll'Ilg collegian's views were radical,l y oppooed to his own outlook, nevertheless entertained high esteem for him. It was something which Hirusovsky merited 'because of his consistent gravity, his critical acumen, and his broad knowledge. But  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 R.I.P. Dr. Francis Hrušovský Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 3-4 (20-21), September-December 1956 pp. 3-5 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 September-December 1956 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/102faba0788825daf0f7d105d31146ed.pdf b69faeed0c4804b475974a752c97d2bc PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA SLOVAK LITERATUR E UNDER THE SOVIET IMPACT Joseph Kirschbaum, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor at the University of Montreal Department of Slavic Studies A Reprint From "The Slavic and East-Eurooea n Studies." Published by: The Department of Slavic Studies, University of Montreal FOREWORD The Commumst occupation of SlwaJri,a carved deep wounds not only •i nto the sociall and political structure of Slovak life as poliitical occupations and changes used :to do in the past. The totailiitarian character of Communism has the specific quality th!a,t it .affects ail the important sectors of national life, be it !l'eligion or phi!losophy, arts or literature. Due to the peculiar citrCu:rnmnces under wbiich the Slovak people were deprived of national independence and became a defenseless prey of foreign domination, the cultural life of Slo'V18Jkfa suffered. ,p robably the stirongest impact among all Soviet satellites. The reasons are many. First of all the character of SlO'V'ak literature and writers. Slovak culture developed through lbhe ages U'Ilder Western influences. This is true namely m regard to the Slovak literature which originated in the classical dlimate of the Catholic University of Trnava, founded in 1635. (1) With exception of the Gdthlc period, we find •i n Slovak literature all the literary currents from humani.!S!m .t hrough (baroque to classicism, romantic-ism, realism, Catholic "modenie," and surrealism. In fact, the olassicaJl. reminiscences , the era of enlighrtenment and romanticism g,ave birth to SlovaJk poetry and prose. Some of the influences ,ruppeared [ater, or J:asted. longer, or el-se !their form wa:s not pure, but we find ianalogies for this phenomenon in all Slavic literatures. More than m poetic and literacy forms, the Western influences and Western orientrution of the Slovak literature is evident in the contents and in the mission that �SLOVAKIA 35 poetry and prose aimed to accomplish in the Jife of the Slovak people. Slovak poets and novelists beginning with Holly (2) in .t he eigJJ.teenth century, and the group of Eudovit Stur(3) in the nineteenth century to Hviezdoslav(4), Vajansky, Razus, Zarnov, Urban, Bronsky, Beniak, etc., saw tihe reaJI. function of Slovak literrutrure primarNy in equipping !the Sloviak people with the spiritual resources necessary for survival and the fight for freedom. They endeavored rto bring the Slovak ,p eople to an awa:reness of rtheir spiritual •a nd nationrul iindi'Viduality and fought for their politic-al M1d sociral rights. Like .the poetry of Mickiewicz, Krasinski and Slowac·ki, "summoned the Poles prom political enslavement to a spir.ituaJI. life and revealed them completely new pwspecltiives of mor,al responsibility resulting from the. ll'ation's politicaJl situatiO!Il," (5) in the same way tile Slov,aks Jearned through the works of theiir poets and novel-ists to regard the naitional cause as a question of honor and the supreme mo,r al criterion a.round which the. entire spiritual life of the nation was crystallized. Slovak poets and novelists who regarded thei!r mission, as described aibove, could not nourish any illusion about thei1r fate /Under Communist rule. They knew that literatUTe, •as a means of expression of the national soul and ait the same time ,t he most efficient instrument in the intellectual struggle foir ·r eshapiing nation's patterns of thinking, wou\ld be the first cultwal field undergoing substM1tial changes and losses . The Slovak intelligentsia also knew that the Czech politicians returning behind the Red Army in SloV'akia would take revenge o:n a:ll patriotic Slova1ks who claimed the right of seJf-determination for the Slovak people and applied or aidvoca.ted the ·s ame when the occasion ,had am-ived. Jan Thousands of Slovak intelllectuals, therefore, preferred the exile with all its uncertainties •a nd ,miseries to the Czecho-Communist rule. Among the intellectual emigres the write:ra who were the true irepresentatives of Slova!k literature .b etween the WaTS a:nd made ,a name for themselves by their works and outstanding talents have been �36 SLOVAKIA more numerous than it appears in the literary ,p roduction of the ilast ten years in exNe. There was, at the beginning, 111ot only the most popUJl,a;r nO'VelList of ,t he period 1918~1939, Milo Urban, w,hose "Ziivy Bic" (LlNing Whip) was translated into ,s everal European languages, but a:lso .AJildrej Zarnov, whose poetry became an efficacious instrument in the Slovak national struggle and summoned the young Slovalk intelligentsia to fight for justke and freedom. Both were 1ater kidnapped by the Czech Communists in Austria and on!ly Zarnov succeeded in a dramati·c filighit f.rom Slova!lda again and today fights for his ideas ,i n exHe. There are many others who preferred exile to Communist rule and far from Slovakia - in .Arr-gentma, the U. S. A., Canada, Australia, etc., jn deep sorrow and fiery resistance fight for rthe.ir people's freedom. Among them is Joseph C. Hroosky, the most prolific and undoubtedly one of the greatest 1Slovak noveLists, who celebrated just recently, or rather the Slovaks in the free world celebrated his 60th annirversary. The literary work of J. C. Hronsky is of such artistic vrulue and importance for the Slovak 1iterature thait even the literary historian of the Slovak University of today, professoir A. Mraz, was forced to ac'knowledge that many of iHronsky's works "belonged amOID.g the best works of the Slovak post-war literature by thei.T qualities of style and composition." In regard to Hronsky's noive1 '~Pisar Grae" (Clerk Grae), Mraz even writes a'boUJt "hravour of composiUon"; he sees in his first novels "complicated artistic instrumentality" and commends him for "exceptional and privileged interpreting of the common people, as weili as of refined and cultivated souls ,a nd hearts of women." During the war years, in his German book on Slova.!k literature, professor Mraz qualified J. C. Hironsky's novel "Jozef Mak," whlich was also translated into German, as "one of the 1b est works of the Slovruk post~war literature," and the author as the "most prolific Slovak :novelist." Altogether J. C. Hironsky published over 50 volumes of short novels, beasutiful tales for children, novels describing the life of SlorvaJk peasants and worker,s, and mas1 �SLOVAKIA 37 terpieces on the life of the Slovak SIIIl.aN-town intelligentsia (Clerk Grae, The .P rophecy orf Doctor Stan!kovsky) , with all social and ideological problems and struggles of Slovakia's post~war dramatic evolution. Usually regaTded as the heir and follower of Martin Kuikucin's realism in Sloivak literature,. !Hronslky attained new artistic heights and in many ,respects even ,sUTpassed Kulkuoin, who i1s considered even !by the Communist ireg,i.me as a "classic" of SlO!Vak literature. rHronsky's spi riitual world is broad and deep, his sphere of artistic interests is extensive and manifold, his style am.d composition masterly clerur and lingui'Sltica:lly perfect and beaubiful. At the begimning of his literary career, the Siovak peasant in his traditional way of 'life, poverty, patient heroism, and sturdy mental~ty was a favolI'ilte subject of nove!ls. HaNing made his mark with •s hort stories from Slovak village rlife, in which r ealism matched the best worlks of the founder of Slovak literary realism, Martin Kuikucin, Bronsky moved into rthe domain of liteTature for children and youth and, l,a ter, into the domain of social and psyohologicaJl problems of smaHtown people, proceeding firom short stories and tales to more and more complicated and artisticaJlly elaborated forms of novel. Hrrorusky emwged very soon as a towering personality from the group of post-war novelists and writers. His remarkable literary ,w ork constituted a lin'k between the talented Slovak n01Velists .of the previous generation and mode:m Slovak ,},i terature modeled on Western European literary currents. Not an epigon of •a nyone, Hronsky created: :from his own spiritual funds and had a strong appeal prim:arily to the heart of the young generation ,of writers among w'hom his new shade of realas-m had ma!lly followers. Hironsky',s •s ignificance in Slovak cultura:l life was, however, extraordinaJry not only in literatUII'e. Hiis -literary activity was doubled by his achievements in the highest Slovak cultUTal institution "Matica Slove:nska" (The Slovak Lnstiwte) , foll'Ilded in 1863 with the aim t 10 s,pread Slwak cultural valrues and defend Slovak traditions against 1 1 �38 SLOVAKIA Magyair tendencies of assimilation. There was rarely a Slovak writex who successifully combined a highly developed literary talent with such organizational ,ability as it has been in the case of J. C. Bronsky. Acord.mg to many seri'ous cultwrai worik€1I'S (cf. Cullen's ia.nd Hrusovsky's articles in the "S:lovensika Obrana" and the "Kainadsky Slovwk"), J. C. HronSlky has done more usefiU!l work in the few years of his administration of the "Slovak Institute" than any Oille of his predecessors during long periods. Thousands of new books wer edited every year by his merits, new cultwral sections organized, equipped and reorganized, a new farge printery built, and new activities initiaited. an institution of many The "Slovak In.stitute" merits in the fieild of co111Servation of Slorvak traditioI1JS, culture, popular art, tiheater, pwrity of language - ip1ayed an important Tole in Slovak cultura•l life at all times since its foundation in the nineteenth century. Election to leading funcUons in thls institution was considered one of the highest honors in SlovaJkia and it undoubtedly was. J . C. Hronsky was elected and reelected. For the Communist regime such merits have been, however, "crimes" against the "people's democracy and revolution," and J. C. Hrons'ky was arrested before the Red Army accomplished the occupation of Slovakia. After many unsuccessful aittempts, he finally escaped from a prison and fled from 'Slovakia through Austria into Italy, and later found refuge in Argentina, where he lives, deeply convinced that the Slovaks will never give up their fight for freedom and their Christian ,t raditions. We mention HirolilSlky's case in this connection as an example of the Slovak nationail. tragedy. There are many others, who in literature, science, arts, aind in ,t he pO'litical and economic life of Slava,kia, created works of value and have been silenced by the Communist regime, or preferred freedom in exile, as Hronsky did. In the following pages an attempt has been made to present, in a very restricted way, the main features of the Slovak literature under the Communist ,r ule. The author has scrupulously tried to paint �SLOVAKIA 39 the picture objectirvely, and the publishing committee of the review "The Slavic and East-European .Studies" saw to it that the study might remain within the limits of a scientific work. There is on:ly one abjectirve this study ,a ims at: to se:rve the cause of truth and freedom which in Slova1kia as well as in other satelilite countiries have been temporarily stifled. J. K. 1. Cf. Branislav Vars!k: Le Probleme des nationalites a r Universlte de Trnav,a, Bratislava, 193.8. 2. Jan Holly (178·5-1849) most gifted poet and disciple of A. Bernolak, glorified in three po ems Slovakia's greatness of one tllousand years ago, "Svatopluk" (18n), "Cyrilo-Methodiada" (1835), and •·,Slav" (1839). He also translated the main works of Greek and Roman classics into the Slovak l,a nguage and prepared th e Slovak renatssanee. 3. Cf. Hans Kohn: "Pan-Slavlsm, Its History and Ideology," University of Notre Dame Press, 19.53; and Ernest Denis: "Les Slovaques,' Paris, Delgrave, 1917. 4. P. 0. Hviezdoslav (1849-1921) by his own name Pavol Or· szagh, is considered the most talented Slovak poet. His poetry was publls'hed In fifteen large volumes, one of them, "Bloody Sonnets," was translated also Into English. His main works are "Herodes and Herodlas" (drama), the epics "Hajnlkova zena, Ezo a Gabor Vlkolinsky, Agar, Rachel, Kron," etc. He also published four volumes of translation,s from World literatures, Goethe's Faust, Shakes.p,eare's Hamlet and Mid-Summer Night's Dream, the main works of Shiller, Lermont-0v, Slowackl and Madach's "The Tragedy of Man." ,5. C.f. Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. 2, 19·54, p. 323-4. SLOVAK LITERATURE UNDER THE SOVIET IMPACT Within a decade of the forced inclusion of Slovakia within the Soviet orbit, Slovaik literature weint through most peculiar transformations. If Slovak novelists and poets, generally more conservative and traditional than Polish, Czech or Slovene writers, did not leave the country m- choose silence, they were abruptly compelled to ada;pt their literary c-reeds, forms and subjects .to a new line of "socialist reailis,m" and to run exclusively Eastern orientation. The main characteristics of Slovak literatll!l"e were patriotism, pan-slavism, universalism and a deep religiO'UIS �40 SLOVAKIA spirit. The generation after John Holly, namely John Kolla.T and the group of L. Stur, turned their eyes, as fawiders of nineteenth century painslla:vism, to Russia 'but their literrury works, education and iphllosophy were fundrurnentahly Western. They were educated at German Unive:r,sities and, while KoHar's "Daughter of Slava" was modelled on Dante and Petrarca, L. Stur and his group were under the influence of German romanticism, having foir masters Herder and Hegel (in their phi1osoiphy) .1 It was in poetry only that Mickiewicz, Slowacki, Krasinski am.d Pu<s'hkin. were the:iir ideails. Kol[ar's idea of "S[avic reciprocity" refrruined from any attemipt to mottld the politkal ideology or the religious charaicter of any Slav group. He aimed merely at cuiltural and literary reciprocity, •a nd his philo,s ophy was humanistic." He only is wOlI'thy of liberty who resrpects the :liiberty of 8!11; he who forges the chains of others, is himself a slave; when thou callest for a Slav, there must respond a man," are his famous axioms.2 According to W. Bobek, one of the best foreign scholars on Slovak literature, Slovakia c-a n be reasonably considered as the classical country of the Slavic idea, with several conceptions of panslaV'ism based on the equa[ity of Slaivic peoples. Howevell", an identification of the idea of a Slavic cooperaition with russophilism was raire; it appeared as a result of national depression and despair.3 Such was the case of L. Stur, for whom "P.anslavism in the political sense was a chimera," but who later, according to W. Lednicki, forunulated about 1850 ":the most complete and consistently developed program for the subjugation of Slavs to Russia in his bo01k "SlaV'dom and the World of the Future"4. Stur wrote 'his '.book in a period of "Nationail depression ,arrd despailr," as mentioned by Boibek. (The book was written in German and never appeared in Slova!k). During the last decades of the nirneteenth century arnd the years before and during the first World War, Sfovak literary •amd cultural life was dominated to some extent by Slovak Russophiles like Vajansky and Skn.lltety. However, this was merely an interlude; for after the war, 1 �SLOVAKIA 41 the inf1uence ·o f French, English and even Scandinavian writem which was mani!fest among the younger poe'bs and novelists (I. Kraslro, V. Roy, P. 0 . Hv:iezdoslav, M. Razus), gained ground firmly and without resistance. The RussophiJ.e orientation ,i n Slova:k literature was chiefly dru:e to the political situation following the Austro-Hungarian. compromise •Of H~67, when the Slovaks were left at the mercy of Hungarian effonts of assii:rnilation. As the Slovak poets and novelists saw that the only hope for a Slovak national surrvival was in Russia's power, they gave fU!ll expression to this belief 1n their Hterary woriks. iBut they did not mean to exohange one oppression for a.mother. The Bo1sltevik Revolution and the results of the Firat WorJ,d War changed the picture. The Revo1urbion destroyed the panslavistic and Russophile dreams of Slovruk poets. While f,u!lifilling their hope for emancipation foom HUID:giarian ru'le by oreating the Czecho-Slova'k Republic with the Czechs, jt -left the Slovakis free to choose their cU!ltural orientation. They e1ther turned again to the West or they used their own spiritual and moral tradiitions for creative inspi:ration. The general trend of Slovak liteiratJure in poetry as well as in prose was to broaden its range of interests and to become responsive to European literary curents 5 The main representatives of Slovak literatlrre between the two Wars were uninterested in Soviet Russia, except for a smal[ groUJp of proJetarian o:r left-wing poets and writers under Czech influence. Oruy three or four of them acquiired literary recognition. and even fa.me. The older generation of Slovak poets, headed by P. 0. Hiviezdoslav, V. Roy, Ivan Krasko and Martin Razus, continued to create in the traditional forms or, Ji.ke Hviezdoslav, to use the European literrury forms and currents coriresponding to his great ta:lent and creativeness. In prose, the masters were the realists Kukucin,6 Hronsky, 'l'ajov!Sky, T. Vansova, Timrava and L. 'Podjavorinska. The younger generation looked for new fo:rms: to for·eign literatures. The really successful literary woriks of more tham. ephemera[ value were those which dTew their motives. from Slovak H!fe, their inspiration from rSlorva!k �42 SLOVAKIA national traditions and their art from their own spiritual reserves (Milo Ur.ban, J. C. Hironsky, A. Za.rn.ov, V. Benia:k, J. Smrek, E. IBolesilav Lu!kac, S. 1K rcmery, T. J. Gaspar, J. Hrufovsky). Consciously or unconsciously, they belonged ,t o the West and also to theiir country's social and ideological evolution. Their orientation was contilnenta,l in form, in philosophy and in motivation. A:U the European ourents ·a nd literary scho<Yls, from symbolism and impresiSlionism to Catholiic modernism (especia1ly F!rench) and su:rirealism, characteri'zed Slovak Hterature between the wars. According to Bobek, it equalled Czech literature,7 and acOTdilng to A. ,M raz, it "fought for a place in the context of wor1d 'literatures. " 8 The second World War did not change substantially the orientation of Slov·a k ,lrl,teratme. Being an island where, un,ti} the ·f all of 194.'4, the German ,i mpact was neitheir violent nor apparent, Slovakia experienced a strongly literary and cultll!I'al development. The trend remained Western, nationaliist, conservative and traditional. With the "liberation" of the co'll!ntry, the shock of the Soviet limparet was violent, spreading deep and wide throughout the literairy and cultural life orf 'Slovakia. A short analysis brings to light the foUowing features orf contemporary Slovak literature. Socialist Realism and the Soviet Model A smail:l group of p:wletarian poets, surrealists and left-wing critics or nove'lists, headed by L. Novomesky, who along with J. Rob Ponican, was the only prominent poet in the group before 1945, not only took over liiterary and cultural life while Slova;kia was stiU occupied by the RUSSliam Anny, but :they al:so decided who would be allowed to continue as writer, poet, journalist or scientist and what kind of literature they would be allowed to pubilish. If the writers wished to continue their wol1k, they had to become membern of a Society of writers, organized on the Soviet model. Their main duties were to extirpate the "corrupting" mfluence of Western "bourgeois; and fascist" writers and to follow the line of "g.reat socialiist Soviet �SLOVAKIA 43 literature," inspired 'by the ideaJs brought to reality by Stalinissm. The Slogan was "progress" and the name of the new current was "socialist :realism," though many of the main actors in this "revolutionary reshaping" of the Slovak literature were dmitators of pre-wa,r French sur:realism (R. Fabry, V. R!eisel, M. Mittelman). Soviet litera.tUTe "with its surpassdng wealth of ideas, its burning socialist patriotism, its new humanism," was destined ,t o be the mghest ideal for Slorvak literature. This reshaping of SlOIVak oultural life was purt into praotice not only without regard for traditiOIIl, but al:so wirthout the ,t rue 1representatives of Slwa!k literature hetween the wars, known by .theiT works and thei!r outstanding talent. Neither the ·best novelist of the period 19181939, Milo Urban (!b. 1904) whose Living Whlp9 was translated into serverad EUTopean languages, nor the prominen,t poet Valentin Benia,k (b. 1894), nor Andrej 2arnov (b. 1903) whose poetry by its fiery language and reso'l.l'nding verse became an effective instrument in the Slova:k national struggle and who summoned the young Sloivak intelligentsia to a struggle for justice and freedom, took part in the new trend. They pref.erred to be silent. Zarn:ov, who was under constant threat of arrest and deportation and many times imprisoned, later left his .coun:try to fight for his ideas in exHe. 'l'ido J. Gaspar (ib. 1893) author of splendid short novels and exotic ,t ales, was also ,sidenced in prison. Many others whose names were held up as worthy representati'ves of Slovak lita-aiture before 1945 fled to Argentina, the U. S. A., Canada, Australia and O'bher plaices, with deep sorrow and in a spirit of fiery resistance, preferring exile to Communist rule . Among them is the prolific nO<Velist J. C. Hronsky (b .. 1896) whose works desm-ibed ,in mastedy fas:hion the social tUTmoil and political struggles of the Sdov~ks,10 and talented literary critics and aesthetes as :professor :El 2-atiko-Bor, Stanislav Meciar and Jan Mestancik, tile poets iR. Dillong - prolific and emotional, with hiS' •r apturouis lyricism, - M. Sprinc, K. Strmen, Jan Oka,l, J. Doransiky, J. BesenOVSJky, Marusa JUSikova, J. Zvonar-Tien, Hrtus..Jurina, historians (Hru- �44 SLOVAKIA swsky, Culen, Durcansky), linguists (prof. Bartek), publicists (Dr. P. Pauco, -Dr. S. Pol~kovic, Dr. J. Mi'kus, Dr. J. Cieker, Dr. A. Grebert, Dr. J. GleimMl, prof. Zubek, Nahallka), a dozen university professors and over a hundred highly educated young priests who had prepared for their careers as ,professors 3/nd educators at the universities of Rome, Paris Louvain, Innsbruck, Brussels and elsewhere. To understand the rvast chamge brought aibout by this "reshaping" of Slovak literature, we must remember that the proleta:riam poets, like the surrrealist s, weTe only a sma11 ,g roup alien to the Slovak literary traditi-on and spiritual atmosphere.11 For the most part, they grew up under the :influence of Czech Marxist or Communist intellectuials and writers: (J. Wolker, V. Nezval, J. Fuc:iik, Sekanina). Their movement with its journal Dav, originated in ,P rague. Novomesky, Ponifan, Oka.Ii, Clementis and others broug,ht their revolutionary ideas and [eft-wing orientation .iinto the Slovak puritan literary ·atmosphere as university students in t,h e Czech capital. Ponican declared this proudly during the "Congress of Nationa,l Culture" held in Prague in 1948. At the same time he condemned "Czech oultural imperialism" and the tendency to assimilate which, according to him, was the consistent aim of Prague's bourgeois regimes between the Wa-rs. 12 During the twenties, the group even tried to transplant into Slovakia Communist literacy aesthetics. They made appeals to break from tiraditonal themes and forms, fatvored collectivism rather than individl.l!a:lism, materialism instead of idealism, and often hurt religious feelings by their youth:£ul revolt a,g ainst God ,and' Christian traditions. hl the thirties the ,g roup had direct contact with Moscow (No;vomesky attended the Congress of W!riters in Moscow and Ilja Ehrenburg appeared in Brntisla,va), but .it was still Prague whose Czech Marxist poets and intellectuals (journal Tvorba) ideologkally nourished Slova..11{ proletaxian literature amd prescribed its aesthetics. After 1945 the groUJp, strengthened by sur.realists and young irntellectuals reared during World Warr: II, con1 1 �SLOVAKIA 4-5 tinued their re'V'olt against individualism., .sU'bjectirvism, art fo'I' axit'·s sake, petty-,bO'llrgeois realism and clericalism. Their concept of "socialist realism," based on the philosophy of dia1ectical materialism, the Marx-iLenini.st theory of ,l iterature, a new aipproaioh to "reality" and active prurHcipation in building ·a new Sodalist s·o ciety, was ,t his time imposed by the political power of ,the Comunist party. Im reviews and in the daily press,, the literary critics asked for conformity with Russian literatuTe, condemned all "apolitical" approaches and' proudly declared that the struggJe for socialism. was a struggle for a new and true art. As the Communist Party had unlimited control over ali newspapers, reviews and pubHshing firms and the exdu.sive right to permit or prohibit publircation, traditional Slovak literatme abruptly disappeared. Literary pr,oduction i,s orgainiized by ,t he !Party and its organs, ,literature was planned to obtain rapid spiritual reorientation, i.e., .sovietizatio:n and conformity with 'Russia and mental russification. Under such circumstances, Slovak literature was not only impoverished but ailso became an imitation of Soviet literature rather than an expression of the Slovak soul. Filled with ,s logans aind praise of CmnmUJIHsm and its leadem, exaggerating .social differences and struggling aga:in:st religion and old traditions, "socialist realism" has little in common with artistic values or true .realism. Mental and Spiritual Russification ·To:i addition, there was a steadri1y increasing flood of trrunslations of Soviet books, to sovietize the literary life of Slovaikia not only in form but ailso in spirit. An aina,l ysis of books ipUlblis:hed under the present regim.e13 shows that at the end of 1953 and in the fin.st month of 1954, fonty-one translations of poetry -and ipr-0.se were published in Sloivakia. Twenty-two of tho,s e translations were from Riussian literature, nineteen from aH others. Modoon Soviet writers were represented by sixteen works, the Russian classi,cs by five. Of nineteen translations from �46 SLOVAKIA non~ussian literatures. thirteen works were written by Communists, the o1fuem, apart from a translation of Ovid, are works of Mark Twain, Maupassant, Bendel and others, depicting the morail decadence of Western society. 'Dhe picture is similair in rt.he prodiuotion of ,b ooks for children and youth. Of forty-three books pu:blished in the same period (end of 1953 and beginning of 1954) twentyone works were written by Slov-aJk writers, eighteen by Russians and the iI'est ·b y Czech, Hungartan rund Rumanirun aut!hors. No Western writers were Tepresented. Six Slovak originail works and fourteen translations from RJllssirun were puirely propaganda. 'Sovietization and mental .r us,sification do not appear only in the number of translations from Russian alild Soviet satellite languages. By the exclusion of Western. iiteratures, a SOI1t ()If "cultural iron curtain" is buidt in Slovakia, because SlovaJk writers are absolutely dependent on Soviet ~oiurces, considered by the .r egime as "the most progressive in the world." Under the heading "rMarx-Leniinism' one finds sixtynine publications, twenty-five Slovak originals, thirty-eight translations from IRuSIS'ian, two f.rom German (the works of Marx and IDngels), one from Hungarian rund one from Bu[garian. Though some SlovaJk iintellectuals have m0& tered the Western languages, there is no translatio:n from French, IDnglish or any 0 1ther Western tongue. If we consider that book,s translated from RJussian. a.ire pulblished in :tens of ,t housands and that they are sold at reduced prices, the picture is clea:r: mental ,russification and rovietization is promoted by every avaihvble method. Reforms of the Slovak Language Following the "theory given to Ma'I'Xist philology by J. Stalin in ,his work, Marxism and 'P hilological Questions and the Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR" the new Slovak "working intelligentsia" not only changed the spirit, structure and forms of literature but also reformed the Jangua:ge.14 Some of the changes effected by the Commun1sts, were proposed by Prof. H. Bartek before �SLOVAKIA 47 and during World War II to simplify SloV'ak or-thog.raiphy. An expert on linguistics, Prof. Bartek advocated his reforms on the grownds of scientific research -and the evolution of .the Slovak language, Which is, .according to A . Senn, "more ar-chaic than Czech and Poli$," that is one of the most archaic Slavic languages.15 ColllSequently, not all the ohrunges ,o an ,b e regarded as ,ha:rmf\11 or unnecessary; and Slova;k exiles as well as the Slova!k press in the free world basicrully accepted this reform. Since the eighteenth century, when Anthony Bernolak (176·2 ..J813), lea.med philologist and patriot, wrote a grammar of the Slo_ vak language rund a huge dictionary >in six language.s and gave a set of rules of o.rthography, eliminating the use of Latin in Slovak cuUural and literary life, the 'S:tova;k language has been a field of study foc highly educaited clergymen, Catholic and Protes:tant, and for enthusiastic nationalists. 1 The reform. of 1844, which is mistakenly presented by some Sla:vists as the date of birth of the Slovak literary lrunguage, was brought a:bout by the particiipation of Protestant ministers 8Jlld Cathoilfo priests, though the reform wa:s popuila,r ized hy L. Stfrr.16 Stfu himself acted as a nationaHst leader aiming at the uruon of ,the Slovak people, the greate:r nium1ber of whom ( over 80 % Ca:tholics) have written in Slovak siince the counter-:Refo'I"mation. Oatholrics used as a hasis one of the Western Slovak dialects, whereas the Protestants, who accepted the Lutheran fa.1th from Bohemia (Czech lands) together with an archaic Czooh translation of the Bible, used, apart from German, as their lit,w giical la:ngua,ge, richly adorned wtth Slovaik ex1pressions. Regarding the division as a great misfortune in the face of strong Magyarization, Stur fought for :the unity of a Hterary fanguage and a compromise between the Lutheran and the Catholic adherents of the BemolaJk ·s chool. This resulted in the acceptance of a centra:l dialect as a new Slovaik Hterary language,17 'but preserved much of the beauty of expres~ siOIIl aJD.d idiom of other Slava!k dialects. This ,r eform, and the rioh litemture which developed later, was merely an �48 SLOVAKIA instrll!ffient in the strugg}e for natiorn:ail survival. The SlovaJk intellectuals were co.nrvinced that the very existence of the nation depended upon the preservation of 1t.s language, rund that nationail identity wrus bound up with languaige. As a result, there was ll'Iltil re<:ently a kind of "sanctity of ,l anguage" among the Slovaks. Applying a reform by ,referri.ing lto the rules Jaitl down for Marxist philosophy by J. StaHn cannot but hurt the Slovaks in their most sensitive spot. Revaluation of Literary History 1 Very soon after the Communists took over the direction of c-ulturrul affair,s in Slovakia, af.ter the potential opposition either fled the country or was silenced, Slovak literary history was revaluated. The first revaluation was made a:s early as 1948 when the Slovak Academy of Sciences a.ind Arts, founded d'll!I'ing the S,lova:k Repulblic, edited the History of Slovak Lit.erature.18 The aiuthor, professor AII1d!rej• Mraz, was not a Communi st before the War, and duiring the War he published in Germa!Il another histocy of 'Slovak literature. His new wovk, however, mirrors in some respects the present siltuation in the oultural life of SlovaJkia. Aware that the Easite•r n orientaJtion of SlovaJkia's cultural life had been made a fait accompli by the so-called "Program of Kosice" which clearrly stated the SlaJVic, i.e., R'll!ssian orientation of Slovruk cu1tuire, profesSOT Mraz ada;pted his work to the new situation. He revised his judgment of writers a:nd poets who were jn prisons (T. J. Gaspar) or in exile. Proletariam and smrealist poets on the other hand became moire talented, thek novels and poetry of greaJte,r importJance aJnd artisitk value. On the whole his book was wriitten in the way of ;pre-War literary schools, his iphraseology shows little similavity with the iMa;rxi-stLeninist literary critics of the years following Novomes~ ky's imprisonment and lthe condemnation to the gallows of Clementis, the intellectual leader of the group. The revaluation of Slovalk literary hlstory by Prof. Mraz is more iilnteresting as far as tJhe general approaoh to SlovaJk literature is concerned. 'Dhe Program of Kosice, 1 �SLOVAKIA 49 wihich defined the ideological orientation for the future, puts an end to an <Yld controversy about Slo¥ak national, c'U!ltwral and l~terary indi'V'iduality. Thi1s dooomenJt stated that "the relation between Czechs and Slovaks should be that of separate nations jomed in common interest in a single State."19 The C{)lffiillunist intelleotuails also proudly manifested their desire to see Slovaiks. as an autonomous Soviet Republic rather than a province dominated by Prague. Professor Mraz adapted .the History of Slovak Literature to this "n:atiOIIlalist" atmosphere of the years 1'945-.48, and consequently he included "ex cathed1ra" i,n to the Slo'V'a.k C'Ultmral and H,terary heritage not only the writings of Sts.. Cyiril and ,Methodius and those of their disciples, which had boon consistently, though erroneously, claimed by the Czechs, burt also ,t he Latin works of all scholars and writers who were of ,Slovak origin. He :took an objectiive and favorable rview, considering the circumstances, of the Slovak iliteratme oreated by Catholics in the seventeenth ·a nd eighteenth centturies. The thesis that t!he Slo:vaxs and not the Czechs are the :true heirs of Great !Moravia, that .there existed a clear distinction, diwring the centuries, be,t ween Czechs and Slova'k,s and their languages, and that the 'S lovaks preser:ved a consciousness of their ethnic and cultural individuality a:nd ,t heir continu!ity with the first Sl,ovak kingdom of Great Moravia, were accepted as historical facts by Mraz. He supported his position by quotations and reforences to the works of SlovaJk writers of the se:venteenuh and eighteenth ce:n,turies. Mraz aLso accepted the porint of 'View that the archaic Czech language, which was brought into, Slova,kia by ,t he Czech P ,r otestants "who found shel:ter in Slovakia and even ;p rinted books in Czech for the rpurrpose of smuggling rthooi i:nto iBohemia,"20 was merely a bo~rowed language, and that the Slovalk Protesitants used it for litera,ture and litJwrgy in the same way as the Catholics used Latin. Though ,th:i-s thesis had previously been supported by m8JIIly serious experts iin Slovalk linguistics, literatrnre and histocy, the universlities in pre-,War Czechoslova1kia tried impose a lt!hoory of a common language with the to �SLOVAKIA 50 Czechs until the Stur reform of 1844. "The Slovaik culturra:l and literairy sphere was never blended or identified with the Czech; :it always had i<ts specific needs and :set of rules" says Mraz, ars ,p rofessor of Bratislava university.21 F.rom these premises, Mraz judged favorably the activities of the Jesuit University of Trnava (1635), the Oaitholic writers of the era of Enlightrnent as well. as the generation of 1848, who established modern 1Slovruk natiooalism irn letterisi and in politicail life. Mraz's History of Slovak Literature, probably written -d'UII'ing the Second World War and adapted to the politicail climate of the first post-War years when the Communists shared political power with the Democratic Party, oruly partly ex.pressed the chianged sit:Juaroion by its method and criiteria. The book ri:s basically within the framework of values, terminology aind ccmceipt s esta:blished ea,rlier in .Slovaikia. '.Dhe ""revolutionary revaluation" was undertaiken by the young group orf militamit mamberis of the Comm.UIIlist Party (A. Bakos, R. Rosenbaum, R. Mrlian, J. Hoirvat and others) who made a fam.atical reappraiisa'l of Slovak literature, and "purged" the libraries ·acooroing .to the Party ideology and Marxist-.Leninist theory of literature 22 When even Novomesky was "purged" as a "bourgeois rn.ationalist and deviationist," the new school of "socialist realllism" was established. Consequently, only those booik s and writers serving :the new ,s ocial order are regarded as representati.rve of true literary values. The rest aire irejected as reactionary, deviationist, rightist, and petty-bourgeois.23 As the literature was also integrated into the structure of the new Socialist or Communist order and destined to be suboTdirnated to the 1P arty and its ideology, the poet and novelist, Jiterary critic and scientist must oontribute by their talents amd works to the building of a Socialist society. The model: Soviet Russia. 1 1. Cf. S. ,P . Palickar, Slovaki-a n Culture, Cambridge, 1954; A. MTaz, Die Literatur der •S lov,a ken, Berlin, 1943. 2. P. P . Yurchak, The Slovaks, 1947, pp. 117-57. Also E. Denis, La Question d' Autriche, Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917, p. 164. 3. W. Semkowicz (eel.) Slowacja i Slowacy, Krakow, 1937, p. 262. 4. Feliks Gross (ed.) European Ideologies, New York, 1948, p. 838. �SLOVAKIA 51 5. L. I. Strakhovsky (ed.) Handbook of Slavic Studies, Cambridge, 1949, pp. 495-96. 6. Cf. J. J. Potocek, "Martin Kukucin, PJoneer of Slovak Realism," The Slavonic and East ·E uropean Review, XXII, 7944. 7. Ibidem, p. 2&3. ,8. A. Mraz, Dejiny ,slovenskej literatury, Bra-tislav·a , Academia Scientiarum et Artium, Slovaca, 1948, p. 263. 9. Hand!book of Slavic Studies, p. 505, Mraz, o,p. cit., pp. 17'5-180. 10. Andreas Mraz, Die Literatur der Slowaken, Berlin, Prague, Vjenna, 1943. 11. Cf. KramorH§, "Slovakia and Slova.c Literature," The Catholic Encyclopedia, XVIU, 19·50. 12. Cf. Sjezd Narodni Kultury, Praha, 1948, p. 239. 1'3. CJ'. ·Bi-b liograficky katalog, Slovenska kni'ha, Bratislava, 1'954, V. 1-17; also Slobodne Slovensko, X. 2. 14. H. Bartek, Novy slovensky pravopis, Chicago, 1954, p. 19. 1,5. Handbook of Slavic Studies, P'P- -51·57. 1'6. Cf. Yur,C'hak, op. dt. pp. 90-116; also S. P. Palickar, Slovakian Oulture, Oa.mbrid•g e, 1954, pp. 139-55. 17. Cf. Yurohak, op.. cit. 18. A. Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slova-ca, 1498. 19. V. Diamond, Czechos\,ovakia Between East and West, London, 1947, p. 6. 20. •Cf. Handbook of SJ.avic Studies, pp. 17 5-80. 21. Ibid., p. 8. 22. Cf. Sjezd Narodni Kultury, pp. 134-41. 23. Cf. K. Rozenbaum, Sovremennaya slovanskaya Uteratura, Slavy•a ne, 19·515, I, 23-2:9, also J . Martak, Introduction to Su.borne dielo Jana Bottu, Bratislava, 1955 . • • • WHO SAID IT? "There is another thing to be said aJbouit the Admini& tration's foreiign policy. It is pUTely negative and defensive. rt attempts to contain communism; but does nothing to answer the question s.o often asllred: me: How would you finally ded:ea t COIIIlmUJl.,i sm? - Most of those satellite countries and peoples were deilitvered into the hands Olf the RULSSian Comml.lind.sit:s by the Y aJt!a Agreement. That American diploanati'c instrument, never submitted to the Senate, sysitematicrulliy violaited iby the RUISSi.ans, defended onliy by those officials of the D€4)8.rtmenit of Staite who rure aJccessories to the crime, must be formally discairded by Congressional resol.iu.tion as a b'a sis for American foreign poiicy." - (Senator Robert A. Taft, NEW YORK TiiMiES, June 2, 1952). � SLOVAKIA SLOVAK LITERATUR E UNDER THE SOVIET IMPACT Joseph Kirschbaum, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor at the University of Montreal Department of Slavic Studies A Reprint From "The Slavic and East-Eurooea n Studies." Published by: The Department of Slavic Studies, University of Montreal FOREWORD The Commumst occupation of SlwaJri,a carved deep wounds not only •i nto the sociall and political structure of Slovak life as poliitical occupations and changes used :to do in the past. The totailiitarian character of Communism has the specific quality th!a,t it .affects ail the important sectors of national life, be it !l'eligion or phi!losophy, arts or literature. Due to the peculiar citrCu:rnmnces under wbiich the Slovak people were deprived of national independence and became a defenseless prey of foreign domination, the cultural life of Slo'V18Jkfa suffered. ,p robably the stirongest impact among all Soviet satellites. The reasons are many. First of all the character of SlO'V'ak literature and writers. Slovak culture developed through lbhe ages U'Ilder Western influences. This is true namely m regard to the Slovak literature which originated in the classical dlimate of the Catholic University of Trnava, founded in 1635. (1) With exception of the Gdthlc period, we find •i n Slovak literature all the literary currents from humani.!S!m .t hrough (baroque to classicism, romantic-ism, realism, Catholic "modenie," and surrealism. In fact, the olassicaJl. reminiscences , the era of enlighrtenment and romanticism g,ave birth to SlovaJk poetry and prose. Some of the influences ,ruppeared [ater, or J:asted. longer, or el-se !their form wa:s not pure, but we find ianalogies for this phenomenon in all Slavic literatures. More than m poetic and literacy forms, the Western influences and Western orientrution of the Slovak literature is evident in the contents and in the mission that �SLOVAKIA 35 poetry and prose aimed to accomplish in the Jife of the Slovak people. Slovak poets and novelists beginning with Holly (2) in .t he eigJJ.teenth century, and the group of Eudovit Stur(3) in the nineteenth century to Hviezdoslav(4), Vajansky, Razus, Zarnov, Urban, Bronsky, Beniak, etc., saw tihe reaJI. function of Slovak literrutrure primarNy in equipping !the Sloviak people with the spiritual resources necessary for survival and the fight for freedom. They endeavored rto bring the Slovak ,p eople to an awa:reness of rtheir spiritual •a nd nationrul iindi'Viduality and fought for their politic-al M1d sociral rights. Like .the poetry of Mickiewicz, Krasinski and Slowac·ki, "summoned the Poles prom political enslavement to a spir.ituaJI. life and revealed them completely new pwspecltiives of mor,al responsibility resulting from the. ll'ation's politicaJl situatiO!Il," (5) in the same way tile Slov,aks Jearned through the works of theiir poets and novel-ists to regard the naitional cause as a question of honor and the supreme mo,r al criterion a.round which the. entire spiritual life of the nation was crystallized. Slovak poets and novelists who regarded thei!r mission, as described aibove, could not nourish any illusion about thei1r fate /Under Communist rule. They knew that literatUTe, •as a means of expression of the national soul and ait the same time ,t he most efficient instrument in the intellectual struggle foir ·r eshapiing nation's patterns of thinking, wou\ld be the first cultwal field undergoing substM1tial changes and losses . The Slovak intelligentsia also knew that the Czech politicians returning behind the Red Army in SloV'akia would take revenge o:n a:ll patriotic Slova1ks who claimed the right of seJf-determination for the Slovak people and applied or aidvoca.ted the ·s ame when the occasion ,had am-ived. Jan Thousands of Slovak intelllectuals, therefore, preferred the exile with all its uncertainties •a nd ,miseries to the Czecho-Communist rule. Among the intellectual emigres the write:ra who were the true irepresentatives of Slova!k literature .b etween the WaTS a:nd made ,a name for themselves by their works and outstanding talents have been �36 SLOVAKIA more numerous than it appears in the literary ,p roduction of the ilast ten years in exNe. There was, at the beginning, 111ot only the most popUJl,a;r nO'VelList of ,t he period 1918~1939, Milo Urban, w,hose "Ziivy Bic" (LlNing Whip) was translated into ,s everal European languages, but a:lso .AJildrej Zarnov, whose poetry became an efficacious instrument in the Slovak national struggle and summoned the young Slovalk intelligentsia to fight for justke and freedom. Both were 1ater kidnapped by the Czech Communists in Austria and on!ly Zarnov succeeded in a dramati·c filighit f.rom Slova!lda again and today fights for his ideas ,i n exHe. There are many others who preferred exile to Communist rule and far from Slovakia - in .Arr-gentma, the U. S. A., Canada, Australia, etc., jn deep sorrow and fiery resistance fight for rthe.ir people's freedom. Among them is Joseph C. Hroosky, the most prolific and undoubtedly one of the greatest 1Slovak noveLists, who celebrated just recently, or rather the Slovaks in the free world celebrated his 60th annirversary. The literary work of J. C. Hronsky is of such artistic vrulue and importance for the Slovak 1iterature thait even the literary historian of the Slovak University of today, professoir A. Mraz, was forced to ac'knowledge that many of iHronsky's works "belonged amOID.g the best works of the Slovak post-war literature by thei.T qualities of style and composition." In regard to Hronsky's noive1 '~Pisar Grae" (Clerk Grae), Mraz even writes a'boUJt "hravour of composiUon"; he sees in his first novels "complicated artistic instrumentality" and commends him for "exceptional and privileged interpreting of the common people, as weili as of refined and cultivated souls ,a nd hearts of women." During the war years, in his German book on Slova.!k literature, professor Mraz qualified J. C. Hironsky's novel "Jozef Mak," whlich was also translated into German, as "one of the 1b est works of the Slovruk post~war literature," and the author as the "most prolific Slovak :novelist." Altogether J. C. Hironsky published over 50 volumes of short novels, beasutiful tales for children, novels describing the life of SlorvaJk peasants and worker,s, and mas1 �SLOVAKIA 37 terpieces on the life of the Slovak SIIIl.aN-town intelligentsia (Clerk Grae, The .P rophecy orf Doctor Stan!kovsky) , with all social and ideological problems and struggles of Slovakia's post~war dramatic evolution. Usually regaTded as the heir and follower of Martin Kuikucin's realism in Sloivak literature,. !Hronslky attained new artistic heights and in many ,respects even ,sUTpassed Kulkuoin, who i1s considered even !by the Communist ireg,i.me as a "classic" of SlO!Vak literature. rHronsky's spi riitual world is broad and deep, his sphere of artistic interests is extensive and manifold, his style am.d composition masterly clerur and lingui'Sltica:lly perfect and beaubiful. At the begimning of his literary career, the Siovak peasant in his traditional way of 'life, poverty, patient heroism, and sturdy mental~ty was a favolI'ilte subject of nove!ls. HaNing made his mark with •s hort stories from Slovak village rlife, in which r ealism matched the best worlks of the founder of Slovak literary realism, Martin Kuikucin, Bronsky moved into rthe domain of liteTature for children and youth and, l,a ter, into the domain of social and psyohologicaJl problems of smaHtown people, proceeding firom short stories and tales to more and more complicated and artisticaJlly elaborated forms of novel. Hrrorusky emwged very soon as a towering personality from the group of post-war novelists and writers. His remarkable literary ,w ork constituted a lin'k between the talented Slovak n01Velists .of the previous generation and mode:m Slovak ,},i terature modeled on Western European literary currents. Not an epigon of •a nyone, Hronsky created: :from his own spiritual funds and had a strong appeal prim:arily to the heart of the young generation ,of writers among w'hom his new shade of realas-m had ma!lly followers. Hironsky',s •s ignificance in Slovak cultura:l life was, however, extraordinaJry not only in literatUII'e. Hiis -literary activity was doubled by his achievements in the highest Slovak cultUTal institution "Matica Slove:nska" (The Slovak Lnstiwte) , foll'Ilded in 1863 with the aim t 10 s,pread Slwak cultural valrues and defend Slovak traditions against 1 1 �38 SLOVAKIA Magyair tendencies of assimilation. There was rarely a Slovak writex who successifully combined a highly developed literary talent with such organizational ,ability as it has been in the case of J. C. Bronsky. Acord.mg to many seri'ous cultwrai worik€1I'S (cf. Cullen's ia.nd Hrusovsky's articles in the "S:lovensika Obrana" and the "Kainadsky Slovwk"), J. C. HronSlky has done more usefiU!l work in the few years of his administration of the "Slovak Institute" than any Oille of his predecessors during long periods. Thousands of new books wer edited every year by his merits, new cultwral sections organized, equipped and reorganized, a new farge printery built, and new activities initiaited. an institution of many The "Slovak In.stitute" merits in the fieild of co111Servation of Slorvak traditioI1JS, culture, popular art, tiheater, pwrity of language - ip1ayed an important Tole in Slovak cultura•l life at all times since its foundation in the nineteenth century. Election to leading funcUons in thls institution was considered one of the highest honors in SlovaJkia and it undoubtedly was. J . C. Hronsky was elected and reelected. For the Communist regime such merits have been, however, "crimes" against the "people's democracy and revolution," and J. C. Hrons'ky was arrested before the Red Army accomplished the occupation of Slovakia. After many unsuccessful aittempts, he finally escaped from a prison and fled from 'Slovakia through Austria into Italy, and later found refuge in Argentina, where he lives, deeply convinced that the Slovaks will never give up their fight for freedom and their Christian ,t raditions. We mention HirolilSlky's case in this connection as an example of the Slovak nationail. tragedy. There are many others, who in literature, science, arts, aind in ,t he pO'litical and economic life of Slava,kia, created works of value and have been silenced by the Communist regime, or preferred freedom in exile, as Hronsky did. In the following pages an attempt has been made to present, in a very restricted way, the main features of the Slovak literature under the Communist ,r ule. The author has scrupulously tried to paint �SLOVAKIA 39 the picture objectirvely, and the publishing committee of the review "The Slavic and East-European .Studies" saw to it that the study might remain within the limits of a scientific work. There is on:ly one abjectirve this study ,a ims at: to se:rve the cause of truth and freedom which in Slova1kia as well as in other satelilite countiries have been temporarily stifled. J. K. 1. Cf. Branislav Vars!k: Le Probleme des nationalites a r Universlte de Trnav,a, Bratislava, 193.8. 2. Jan Holly (178·5-1849) most gifted poet and disciple of A. Bernolak, glorified in three po ems Slovakia's greatness of one tllousand years ago, "Svatopluk" (18n), "Cyrilo-Methodiada" (1835), and •·,Slav" (1839). He also translated the main works of Greek and Roman classics into the Slovak l,a nguage and prepared th e Slovak renatssanee. 3. Cf. Hans Kohn: "Pan-Slavlsm, Its History and Ideology," University of Notre Dame Press, 19.53; and Ernest Denis: "Les Slovaques,' Paris, Delgrave, 1917. 4. P. 0. Hviezdoslav (1849-1921) by his own name Pavol Or· szagh, is considered the most talented Slovak poet. His poetry was publls'hed In fifteen large volumes, one of them, "Bloody Sonnets," was translated also Into English. His main works are "Herodes and Herodlas" (drama), the epics "Hajnlkova zena, Ezo a Gabor Vlkolinsky, Agar, Rachel, Kron," etc. He also published four volumes of translation,s from World literatures, Goethe's Faust, Shakes.p,eare's Hamlet and Mid-Summer Night's Dream, the main works of Shiller, Lermont-0v, Slowackl and Madach's "The Tragedy of Man." ,5. C.f. Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. 2, 19·54, p. 323-4. SLOVAK LITERATURE UNDER THE SOVIET IMPACT Within a decade of the forced inclusion of Slovakia within the Soviet orbit, Slovaik literature weint through most peculiar transformations. If Slovak novelists and poets, generally more conservative and traditional than Polish, Czech or Slovene writers, did not leave the country m- choose silence, they were abruptly compelled to ada;pt their literary c-reeds, forms and subjects .to a new line of "socialist reailis,m" and to run exclusively Eastern orientation. The main characteristics of Slovak literatll!l"e were patriotism, pan-slavism, universalism and a deep religiO'UIS �40 SLOVAKIA spirit. The generation after John Holly, namely John Kolla.T and the group of L. Stur, turned their eyes, as fawiders of nineteenth century painslla:vism, to Russia 'but their literrury works, education and iphllosophy were fundrurnentahly Western. They were educated at German Unive:r,sities and, while KoHar's "Daughter of Slava" was modelled on Dante and Petrarca, L. Stur and his group were under the influence of German romanticism, having foir masters Herder and Hegel (in their phi1osoiphy) .1 It was in poetry only that Mickiewicz, Slowacki, Krasinski am.d Pu<s'hkin. were the:iir ideails. Kol[ar's idea of "S[avic reciprocity" refrruined from any attemipt to mottld the politkal ideology or the religious charaicter of any Slav group. He aimed merely at cuiltural and literary reciprocity, •a nd his philo,s ophy was humanistic." He only is wOlI'thy of liberty who resrpects the :liiberty of 8!11; he who forges the chains of others, is himself a slave; when thou callest for a Slav, there must respond a man," are his famous axioms.2 According to W. Bobek, one of the best foreign scholars on Slovak literature, Slovakia c-a n be reasonably considered as the classical country of the Slavic idea, with several conceptions of panslaV'ism based on the equa[ity of Slaivic peoples. Howevell", an identification of the idea of a Slavic cooperaition with russophilism was raire; it appeared as a result of national depression and despair.3 Such was the case of L. Stur, for whom "P.anslavism in the political sense was a chimera," but who later, according to W. Lednicki, forunulated about 1850 ":the most complete and consistently developed program for the subjugation of Slavs to Russia in his bo01k "SlaV'dom and the World of the Future"4. Stur wrote 'his '.book in a period of "Nationail depression ,arrd despailr," as mentioned by Boibek. (The book was written in German and never appeared in Slova!k). During the last decades of the nirneteenth century arnd the years before and during the first World War, Sfovak literary •amd cultural life was dominated to some extent by Slovak Russophiles like Vajansky and Skn.lltety. However, this was merely an interlude; for after the war, 1 �SLOVAKIA 41 the inf1uence ·o f French, English and even Scandinavian writem which was mani!fest among the younger poe'bs and novelists (I. Kraslro, V. Roy, P. 0 . Hv:iezdoslav, M. Razus), gained ground firmly and without resistance. The RussophiJ.e orientation ,i n Slova:k literature was chiefly dru:e to the political situation following the Austro-Hungarian. compromise •Of H~67, when the Slovaks were left at the mercy of Hungarian effonts of assii:rnilation. As the Slovak poets and novelists saw that the only hope for a Slovak national surrvival was in Russia's power, they gave fU!ll expression to this belief 1n their Hterary woriks. iBut they did not mean to exohange one oppression for a.mother. The Bo1sltevik Revolution and the results of the Firat WorJ,d War changed the picture. The Revo1urbion destroyed the panslavistic and Russophile dreams of Slovruk poets. While f,u!lifilling their hope for emancipation foom HUID:giarian ru'le by oreating the Czecho-Slova'k Republic with the Czechs, jt -left the Slovakis free to choose their cU!ltural orientation. They e1ther turned again to the West or they used their own spiritual and moral tradiitions for creative inspi:ration. The general trend of Slovak liteiratJure in poetry as well as in prose was to broaden its range of interests and to become responsive to European literary curents 5 The main representatives of Slovak literatlrre between the two Wars were uninterested in Soviet Russia, except for a smal[ groUJp of proJetarian o:r left-wing poets and writers under Czech influence. Oruy three or four of them acquiired literary recognition. and even fa.me. The older generation of Slovak poets, headed by P. 0. Hiviezdoslav, V. Roy, Ivan Krasko and Martin Razus, continued to create in the traditional forms or, Ji.ke Hviezdoslav, to use the European literrury forms and currents coriresponding to his great ta:lent and creativeness. In prose, the masters were the realists Kukucin,6 Hronsky, 'l'ajov!Sky, T. Vansova, Timrava and L. 'Podjavorinska. The younger generation looked for new fo:rms: to for·eign literatures. The really successful literary woriks of more tham. ephemera[ value were those which dTew their motives. from Slovak H!fe, their inspiration from rSlorva!k �42 SLOVAKIA national traditions and their art from their own spiritual reserves (Milo Ur.ban, J. C. Hironsky, A. Za.rn.ov, V. Benia:k, J. Smrek, E. IBolesilav Lu!kac, S. 1K rcmery, T. J. Gaspar, J. Hrufovsky). Consciously or unconsciously, they belonged ,t o the West and also to theiir country's social and ideological evolution. Their orientation was contilnenta,l in form, in philosophy and in motivation. A:U the European ourents ·a nd literary scho<Yls, from symbolism and impresiSlionism to Catholiic modernism (especia1ly F!rench) and su:rirealism, characteri'zed Slovak Hterature between the wars. According to Bobek, it equalled Czech literature,7 and acOTdilng to A. ,M raz, it "fought for a place in the context of wor1d 'literatures. " 8 The second World War did not change substantially the orientation of Slov·a k ,lrl,teratme. Being an island where, un,ti} the ·f all of 194.'4, the German ,i mpact was neitheir violent nor apparent, Slovakia experienced a strongly literary and cultll!I'al development. The trend remained Western, nationaliist, conservative and traditional. With the "liberation" of the co'll!ntry, the shock of the Soviet limparet was violent, spreading deep and wide throughout the literairy and cultural life orf 'Slovakia. A short analysis brings to light the foUowing features orf contemporary Slovak literature. Socialist Realism and the Soviet Model A smail:l group of p:wletarian poets, surrealists and left-wing critics or nove'lists, headed by L. Novomesky, who along with J. Rob Ponican, was the only prominent poet in the group before 1945, not only took over liiterary and cultural life while Slova;kia was stiU occupied by the RUSSliam Anny, but :they al:so decided who would be allowed to continue as writer, poet, journalist or scientist and what kind of literature they would be allowed to pubilish. If the writers wished to continue their wol1k, they had to become membern of a Society of writers, organized on the Soviet model. Their main duties were to extirpate the "corrupting" mfluence of Western "bourgeois; and fascist" writers and to follow the line of "g.reat socialiist Soviet �SLOVAKIA 43 literature," inspired 'by the ideaJs brought to reality by Stalinissm. The Slogan was "progress" and the name of the new current was "socialist :realism," though many of the main actors in this "revolutionary reshaping" of the Slovak literature were dmitators of pre-wa,r French sur:realism (R. Fabry, V. R!eisel, M. Mittelman). Soviet litera.tUTe "with its surpassdng wealth of ideas, its burning socialist patriotism, its new humanism," was destined ,t o be the mghest ideal for Slorvak literature. This reshaping of SlOIVak oultural life was purt into praotice not only without regard for traditiOIIl, but al:so wirthout the ,t rue 1representatives of Slwa!k literature hetween the wars, known by .theiT works and thei!r outstanding talent. Neither the ·best novelist of the period 19181939, Milo Urban (!b. 1904) whose Living Whlp9 was translated into serverad EUTopean languages, nor the prominen,t poet Valentin Benia,k (b. 1894), nor Andrej 2arnov (b. 1903) whose poetry by its fiery language and reso'l.l'nding verse became an effective instrument in the Slova:k national struggle and who summoned the young Sloivak intelligentsia to a struggle for justice and freedom, took part in the new trend. They pref.erred to be silent. Zarn:ov, who was under constant threat of arrest and deportation and many times imprisoned, later left his .coun:try to fight for his ideas in exHe. 'l'ido J. Gaspar (ib. 1893) author of splendid short novels and exotic ,t ales, was also ,sidenced in prison. Many others whose names were held up as worthy representati'ves of Slovak lita-aiture before 1945 fled to Argentina, the U. S. A., Canada, Australia and O'bher plaices, with deep sorrow and in a spirit of fiery resistance, preferring exile to Communist rule . Among them is the prolific nO<Velist J. C. Hronsky (b .. 1896) whose works desm-ibed ,in mastedy fas:hion the social tUTmoil and political struggles of the Sdov~ks,10 and talented literary critics and aesthetes as :professor :El 2-atiko-Bor, Stanislav Meciar and Jan Mestancik, tile poets iR. Dillong - prolific and emotional, with hiS' •r apturouis lyricism, - M. Sprinc, K. Strmen, Jan Oka,l, J. Doransiky, J. BesenOVSJky, Marusa JUSikova, J. Zvonar-Tien, Hrtus..Jurina, historians (Hru- �44 SLOVAKIA swsky, Culen, Durcansky), linguists (prof. Bartek), publicists (Dr. P. Pauco, -Dr. S. Pol~kovic, Dr. J. Mi'kus, Dr. J. Cieker, Dr. A. Grebert, Dr. J. GleimMl, prof. Zubek, Nahallka), a dozen university professors and over a hundred highly educated young priests who had prepared for their careers as ,professors 3/nd educators at the universities of Rome, Paris Louvain, Innsbruck, Brussels and elsewhere. To understand the rvast chamge brought aibout by this "reshaping" of Slovak literature, we must remember that the proleta:riam poets, like the surrrealist s, weTe only a sma11 ,g roup alien to the Slovak literary traditi-on and spiritual atmosphere.11 For the most part, they grew up under the :influence of Czech Marxist or Communist intellectuials and writers: (J. Wolker, V. Nezval, J. Fuc:iik, Sekanina). Their movement with its journal Dav, originated in ,P rague. Novomesky, Ponifan, Oka.Ii, Clementis and others broug,ht their revolutionary ideas and [eft-wing orientation .iinto the Slovak puritan literary ·atmosphere as university students in t,h e Czech capital. Ponican declared this proudly during the "Congress of Nationa,l Culture" held in Prague in 1948. At the same time he condemned "Czech oultural imperialism" and the tendency to assimilate which, according to him, was the consistent aim of Prague's bourgeois regimes between the Wa-rs. 12 During the twenties, the group even tried to transplant into Slovakia Communist literacy aesthetics. They made appeals to break from tiraditonal themes and forms, fatvored collectivism rather than individl.l!a:lism, materialism instead of idealism, and often hurt religious feelings by their youth:£ul revolt a,g ainst God ,and' Christian traditions. hl the thirties the ,g roup had direct contact with Moscow (No;vomesky attended the Congress of W!riters in Moscow and Ilja Ehrenburg appeared in Brntisla,va), but .it was still Prague whose Czech Marxist poets and intellectuals (journal Tvorba) ideologkally nourished Slova..11{ proletaxian literature amd prescribed its aesthetics. After 1945 the groUJp, strengthened by sur.realists and young irntellectuals reared during World Warr: II, con1 1 �SLOVAKIA 4-5 tinued their re'V'olt against individualism., .sU'bjectirvism, art fo'I' axit'·s sake, petty-,bO'llrgeois realism and clericalism. Their concept of "socialist realism," based on the philosophy of dia1ectical materialism, the Marx-iLenini.st theory of ,l iterature, a new aipproaioh to "reality" and active prurHcipation in building ·a new Sodalist s·o ciety, was ,t his time imposed by the political power of ,the Comunist party. Im reviews and in the daily press,, the literary critics asked for conformity with Russian literatuTe, condemned all "apolitical" approaches and' proudly declared that the struggJe for socialism. was a struggle for a new and true art. As the Communist Party had unlimited control over ali newspapers, reviews and pubHshing firms and the exdu.sive right to permit or prohibit publircation, traditional Slovak literatme abruptly disappeared. Literary pr,oduction i,s orgainiized by ,t he !Party and its organs, ,literature was planned to obtain rapid spiritual reorientation, i.e., .sovietizatio:n and conformity with 'Russia and mental russification. Under such circumstances, Slovak literature was not only impoverished but ailso became an imitation of Soviet literature rather than an expression of the Slovak soul. Filled with ,s logans aind praise of CmnmUJIHsm and its leadem, exaggerating .social differences and struggling aga:in:st religion and old traditions, "socialist realism" has little in common with artistic values or true .realism. Mental and Spiritual Russification ·To:i addition, there was a steadri1y increasing flood of trrunslations of Soviet books, to sovietize the literary life of Slovaikia not only in form but ailso in spirit. An aina,l ysis of books ipUlblis:hed under the present regim.e13 shows that at the end of 1953 and in the fin.st month of 1954, fonty-one translations of poetry -and ipr-0.se were published in Sloivakia. Twenty-two of tho,s e translations were from Riussian literature, nineteen from aH others. Modoon Soviet writers were represented by sixteen works, the Russian classi,cs by five. Of nineteen translations from �46 SLOVAKIA non~ussian literatures. thirteen works were written by Communists, the o1fuem, apart from a translation of Ovid, are works of Mark Twain, Maupassant, Bendel and others, depicting the morail decadence of Western society. 'Dhe picture is similair in rt.he prodiuotion of ,b ooks for children and youth. Of forty-three books pu:blished in the same period (end of 1953 and beginning of 1954) twentyone works were written by Slov-aJk writers, eighteen by Russians and the iI'est ·b y Czech, Hungartan rund Rumanirun aut!hors. No Western writers were Tepresented. Six Slovak originail works and fourteen translations from RJllssirun were puirely propaganda. 'Sovietization and mental .r us,sification do not appear only in the number of translations from Russian alild Soviet satellite languages. By the exclusion of Western. iiteratures, a SOI1t ()If "cultural iron curtain" is buidt in Slovakia, because SlovaJk writers are absolutely dependent on Soviet ~oiurces, considered by the .r egime as "the most progressive in the world." Under the heading "rMarx-Leniinism' one finds sixtynine publications, twenty-five Slovak originals, thirty-eight translations from IRuSIS'ian, two f.rom German (the works of Marx and IDngels), one from Hungarian rund one from Bu[garian. Though some SlovaJk iintellectuals have m0& tered the Western languages, there is no translatio:n from French, IDnglish or any 0 1ther Western tongue. If we consider that book,s translated from RJussian. a.ire pulblished in :tens of ,t housands and that they are sold at reduced prices, the picture is clea:r: mental ,russification and rovietization is promoted by every avaihvble method. Reforms of the Slovak Language Following the "theory given to Ma'I'Xist philology by J. Stalin in ,his work, Marxism and 'P hilological Questions and the Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR" the new Slovak "working intelligentsia" not only changed the spirit, structure and forms of literature but also reformed the Jangua:ge.14 Some of the changes effected by the Commun1sts, were proposed by Prof. H. Bartek before �SLOVAKIA 47 and during World War II to simplify SloV'ak or-thog.raiphy. An expert on linguistics, Prof. Bartek advocated his reforms on the grownds of scientific research -and the evolution of .the Slovak language, Which is, .according to A . Senn, "more ar-chaic than Czech and Poli$," that is one of the most archaic Slavic languages.15 ColllSequently, not all the ohrunges ,o an ,b e regarded as ,ha:rmf\11 or unnecessary; and Slova;k exiles as well as the Slova!k press in the free world basicrully accepted this reform. Since the eighteenth century, when Anthony Bernolak (176·2 ..J813), lea.med philologist and patriot, wrote a grammar of the Slo_ vak language rund a huge dictionary >in six language.s and gave a set of rules of o.rthography, eliminating the use of Latin in Slovak cuUural and literary life, the 'S:tova;k language has been a field of study foc highly educaited clergymen, Catholic and Protes:tant, and for enthusiastic nationalists. 1 The reform. of 1844, which is mistakenly presented by some Sla:vists as the date of birth of the Slovak literary lrunguage, was brought a:bout by the particiipation of Protestant ministers 8Jlld Cathoilfo priests, though the reform wa:s popuila,r ized hy L. Stfrr.16 Stfu himself acted as a nationaHst leader aiming at the uruon of ,the Slovak people, the greate:r nium1ber of whom ( over 80 % Ca:tholics) have written in Slovak siince the counter-:Refo'I"mation. Oatholrics used as a hasis one of the Western Slovak dialects, whereas the Protestants, who accepted the Lutheran fa.1th from Bohemia (Czech lands) together with an archaic Czooh translation of the Bible, used, apart from German, as their lit,w giical la:ngua,ge, richly adorned wtth Slovaik ex1pressions. Regarding the division as a great misfortune in the face of strong Magyarization, Stur fought for :the unity of a Hterary fanguage and a compromise between the Lutheran and the Catholic adherents of the BemolaJk ·s chool. This resulted in the acceptance of a centra:l dialect as a new Slovaik Hterary language,17 'but preserved much of the beauty of expres~ siOIIl aJD.d idiom of other Slava!k dialects. This ,r eform, and the rioh litemture which developed later, was merely an �48 SLOVAKIA instrll!ffient in the strugg}e for natiorn:ail survival. The SlovaJk intellectuals were co.nrvinced that the very existence of the nation depended upon the preservation of 1t.s language, rund that nationail identity wrus bound up with languaige. As a result, there was ll'Iltil re<:ently a kind of "sanctity of ,l anguage" among the Slovaks. Applying a reform by ,referri.ing lto the rules Jaitl down for Marxist philosophy by J. StaHn cannot but hurt the Slovaks in their most sensitive spot. Revaluation of Literary History 1 Very soon after the Communists took over the direction of c-ulturrul affair,s in Slovakia, af.ter the potential opposition either fled the country or was silenced, Slovak literary history was revaluated. The first revaluation was made a:s early as 1948 when the Slovak Academy of Sciences a.ind Arts, founded d'll!I'ing the S,lova:k Repulblic, edited the History of Slovak Lit.erature.18 The aiuthor, professor AII1d!rej• Mraz, was not a Communi st before the War, and duiring the War he published in Germa!Il another histocy of 'Slovak literature. His new wovk, however, mirrors in some respects the present siltuation in the oultural life of SlovaJkia. Aware that the Easite•r n orientaJtion of SlovaJkia's cultural life had been made a fait accompli by the so-called "Program of Kosice" which clearrly stated the SlaJVic, i.e., R'll!ssian orientation of Slovruk cu1tuire, profesSOT Mraz ada;pted his work to the new situation. He revised his judgment of writers a:nd poets who were jn prisons (T. J. Gaspar) or in exile. Proletariam and smrealist poets on the other hand became moire talented, thek novels and poetry of greaJte,r importJance aJnd artisitk value. On the whole his book was wriitten in the way of ;pre-War literary schools, his iphraseology shows little similavity with the iMa;rxi-stLeninist literary critics of the years following Novomes~ ky's imprisonment and lthe condemnation to the gallows of Clementis, the intellectual leader of the group. The revaluation of Slovalk literary hlstory by Prof. Mraz is more iilnteresting as far as tJhe general approaoh to SlovaJk literature is concerned. 'Dhe Program of Kosice, 1 �SLOVAKIA 49 wihich defined the ideological orientation for the future, puts an end to an <Yld controversy about Slo¥ak national, c'U!ltwral and l~terary indi'V'iduality. Thi1s dooomenJt stated that "the relation between Czechs and Slovaks should be that of separate nations jomed in common interest in a single State."19 The C{)lffiillunist intelleotuails also proudly manifested their desire to see Slovaiks. as an autonomous Soviet Republic rather than a province dominated by Prague. Professor Mraz adapted .the History of Slovak Literature to this "n:atiOIIlalist" atmosphere of the years 1'945-.48, and consequently he included "ex cathed1ra" i,n to the Slo'V'a.k C'Ultmral and H,terary heritage not only the writings of Sts.. Cyiril and ,Methodius and those of their disciples, which had boon consistently, though erroneously, claimed by the Czechs, burt also ,t he Latin works of all scholars and writers who were of ,Slovak origin. He :took an objectiive and favorable rview, considering the circumstances, of the Slovak iliteratme oreated by Catholics in the seventeenth ·a nd eighteenth centturies. The thesis that t!he Slo:vaxs and not the Czechs are the :true heirs of Great !Moravia, that .there existed a clear distinction, diwring the centuries, be,t ween Czechs and Slova'k,s and their languages, and that the 'S lovaks preser:ved a consciousness of their ethnic and cultural individuality a:nd ,t heir continu!ity with the first Sl,ovak kingdom of Great Moravia, were accepted as historical facts by Mraz. He supported his position by quotations and reforences to the works of SlovaJk writers of the se:venteenuh and eighteenth ce:n,turies. Mraz aLso accepted the porint of 'View that the archaic Czech language, which was brought into, Slova,kia by ,t he Czech P ,r otestants "who found shel:ter in Slovakia and even ;p rinted books in Czech for the rpurrpose of smuggling rthooi i:nto iBohemia,"20 was merely a bo~rowed language, and that the Slovalk Protesitants used it for litera,ture and litJwrgy in the same way as the Catholics used Latin. Though ,th:i-s thesis had previously been supported by m8JIIly serious experts iin Slovalk linguistics, literatrnre and histocy, the universlities in pre-,War Czechoslova1kia tried impose a lt!hoory of a common language with the to �SLOVAKIA 50 Czechs until the Stur reform of 1844. "The Slovaik culturra:l and literairy sphere was never blended or identified with the Czech; :it always had i<ts specific needs and :set of rules" says Mraz, ars ,p rofessor of Bratislava university.21 F.rom these premises, Mraz judged favorably the activities of the Jesuit University of Trnava (1635), the Oaitholic writers of the era of Enlightrnent as well. as the generation of 1848, who established modern 1Slovruk natiooalism irn letterisi and in politicail life. Mraz's History of Slovak Literature, probably written -d'UII'ing the Second World War and adapted to the politicail climate of the first post-War years when the Communists shared political power with the Democratic Party, oruly partly ex.pressed the chianged sit:Juaroion by its method and criiteria. The book ri:s basically within the framework of values, terminology aind ccmceipt s esta:blished ea,rlier in .Slovaikia. '.Dhe ""revolutionary revaluation" was undertaiken by the young group orf militamit mamberis of the Comm.UIIlist Party (A. Bakos, R. Rosenbaum, R. Mrlian, J. Hoirvat and others) who made a fam.atical reappraiisa'l of Slovak literature, and "purged" the libraries ·acooroing .to the Party ideology and Marxist-.Leninist theory of literature 22 When even Novomesky was "purged" as a "bourgeois rn.ationalist and deviationist," the new school of "socialist realllism" was established. Consequently, only those booik s and writers serving :the new ,s ocial order are regarded as representati.rve of true literary values. The rest aire irejected as reactionary, deviationist, rightist, and petty-bourgeois.23 As the literature was also integrated into the structure of the new Socialist or Communist order and destined to be suboTdirnated to the 1P arty and its ideology, the poet and novelist, Jiterary critic and scientist must oontribute by their talents amd works to the building of a Socialist society. The model: Soviet Russia. 1 1. Cf. S. ,P . Palickar, Slovaki-a n Culture, Cambridge, 1954; A. MTaz, Die Literatur der •S lov,a ken, Berlin, 1943. 2. P. P . Yurchak, The Slovaks, 1947, pp. 117-57. Also E. Denis, La Question d' Autriche, Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917, p. 164. 3. W. Semkowicz (eel.) Slowacja i Slowacy, Krakow, 1937, p. 262. 4. Feliks Gross (ed.) European Ideologies, New York, 1948, p. 838. �SLOVAKIA 51 5. L. I. Strakhovsky (ed.) Handbook of Slavic Studies, Cambridge, 1949, pp. 495-96. 6. Cf. J. J. Potocek, "Martin Kukucin, PJoneer of Slovak Realism," The Slavonic and East ·E uropean Review, XXII, 7944. 7. Ibidem, p. 2&3. ,8. A. Mraz, Dejiny ,slovenskej literatury, Bra-tislav·a , Academia Scientiarum et Artium, Slovaca, 1948, p. 263. 9. Hand!book of Slavic Studies, p. 505, Mraz, o,p. cit., pp. 17'5-180. 10. Andreas Mraz, Die Literatur der Slowaken, Berlin, Prague, Vjenna, 1943. 11. Cf. KramorH§, "Slovakia and Slova.c Literature," The Catholic Encyclopedia, XVIU, 19·50. 12. Cf. Sjezd Narodni Kultury, Praha, 1948, p. 239. 1'3. CJ'. ·Bi-b liograficky katalog, Slovenska kni'ha, Bratislava, 1'954, V. 1-17; also Slobodne Slovensko, X. 2. 14. H. Bartek, Novy slovensky pravopis, Chicago, 1954, p. 19. 1,5. Handbook of Slavic Studies, P'P- -51·57. 1'6. Cf. Yur,C'hak, op. dt. pp. 90-116; also S. P. Palickar, Slovakian Oulture, Oa.mbrid•g e, 1954, pp. 139-55. 17. Cf. Yurohak, op.. cit. 18. A. Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slova-ca, 1498. 19. V. Diamond, Czechos\,ovakia Between East and West, London, 1947, p. 6. 20. •Cf. Handbook of SJ.avic Studies, pp. 17 5-80. 21. Ibid., p. 8. 22. Cf. Sjezd Narodni Kultury, pp. 134-41. 23. Cf. K. Rozenbaum, Sovremennaya slovanskaya Uteratura, Slavy•a ne, 19·515, I, 23-2:9, also J . Martak, Introduction to Su.borne dielo Jana Bottu, Bratislava, 1955 . • • • WHO SAID IT? "There is another thing to be said aJbouit the Admini& tration's foreiign policy. It is pUTely negative and defensive. rt attempts to contain communism; but does nothing to answer the question s.o often asllred: me: How would you finally ded:ea t COIIIlmUJl.,i sm? - Most of those satellite countries and peoples were deilitvered into the hands Olf the RULSSian Comml.lind.sit:s by the Y aJt!a Agreement. That American diploanati'c instrument, never submitted to the Senate, sysitematicrulliy violaited iby the RUISSi.ans, defended onliy by those officials of the D€4)8.rtmenit of Staite who rure aJccessories to the crime, must be formally discairded by Congressional resol.iu.tion as a b'a sis for American foreign poiicy." - (Senator Robert A. Taft, NEW YORK TiiMiES, June 2, 1952). � 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 SLOVAKIA SLOVAK LITERATUR E UNDER THE SOVIET IMPACT Joseph Kirschbaum, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor at the University of Montreal Department of Slavic Studies A Reprint From "The Slavic and East-Eurooea n Studies." Published by: The Department of Slavic Studies, University of Montreal FOREWORD The Commumst occupation of SlwaJri,a carved deep wounds not only •i nto the sociall and political structure of Slovak life as poliitical occupations and changes used :to do in the past. The totailiitarian character of Communism has the specific quality th!a,t it .affects ail the important sectors of national life, be it !l'eligion or phi!losophy, arts or literature. Due to the peculiar citrCu:rnmnces under wbiich the Slovak people were deprived of national independence and became a defenseless prey of foreign domination, the cultural life of Slo'V18Jkfa suffered. ,p robably the stirongest impact among all Soviet satellites. The reasons are many. First of all the character of SlO'V'ak literature and writers. Slovak culture developed through lbhe ages U'Ilder Western influences. This is true namely m regard to the Slovak literature which originated in the classical dlimate of the Catholic University of Trnava, founded in 1635. (1) With exception of the Gdthlc period, we find •i n Slovak literature all the literary currents from humani.!S!m .t hrough (baroque to classicism, romantic-ism, realism, Catholic "modenie," and surrealism. In fact, the olassicaJl. reminiscences , the era of enlighrtenment and romanticism g,ave birth to SlovaJk poetry and prose. Some of the influences ,ruppeared [ater, or J:asted. longer, or el-se !their form wa:s not pure, but we find ianalogies for this phenomenon in all Slavic literatures. More than m poetic and literacy forms, the Western influences and Western orientrution of the Slovak literature is evident in the contents and in the mission that SLOVAKIA 35 poetry and prose aimed to accomplish in the Jife of the Slovak people. Slovak poets and novelists beginning with Holly (2) in .t he eigJJ.teenth century, and the group of Eudovit Stur(3) in the nineteenth century to Hviezdoslav(4), Vajansky, Razus, Zarnov, Urban, Bronsky, Beniak, etc., saw tihe reaJI. function of Slovak literrutrure primarNy in equipping !the Sloviak people with the spiritual resources necessary for survival and the fight for freedom. They endeavored rto bring the Slovak ,p eople to an awa:reness of rtheir spiritual •a nd nationrul iindi'Viduality and fought for their politic-al M1d sociral rights. Like .the poetry of Mickiewicz, Krasinski and Slowac·ki, "summoned the Poles prom political enslavement to a spir.ituaJI. life and revealed them completely new pwspecltiives of mor,al responsibility resulting from the. ll'ation's politicaJl situatiO!Il," (5) in the same way tile Slov,aks Jearned through the works of theiir poets and novel-ists to regard the naitional cause as a question of honor and the supreme mo,r al criterion a.round which the. entire spiritual life of the nation was crystallized. Slovak poets and novelists who regarded thei!r mission, as described aibove, could not nourish any illusion about thei1r fate /Under Communist rule. They knew that literatUTe, •as a means of expression of the national soul and ait the same time ,t he most efficient instrument in the intellectual struggle foir ·r eshapiing nation's patterns of thinking, wou\ld be the first cultwal field undergoing substM1tial changes and losses . The Slovak intelligentsia also knew that the Czech politicians returning behind the Red Army in SloV'akia would take revenge o:n a:ll patriotic Slova1ks who claimed the right of seJf-determination for the Slovak people and applied or aidvoca.ted the ·s ame when the occasion ,had am-ived. Jan Thousands of Slovak intelllectuals, therefore, preferred the exile with all its uncertainties •a nd ,miseries to the Czecho-Communist rule. Among the intellectual emigres the write:ra who were the true irepresentatives of Slova!k literature .b etween the WaTS a:nd made ,a name for themselves by their works and outstanding talents have been 36 SLOVAKIA more numerous than it appears in the literary ,p roduction of the ilast ten years in exNe. There was, at the beginning, 111ot only the most popUJl,a;r nO'VelList of ,t he period 1918~1939, Milo Urban, w,hose "Ziivy Bic" (LlNing Whip) was translated into ,s everal European languages, but a:lso .AJildrej Zarnov, whose poetry became an efficacious instrument in the Slovak national struggle and summoned the young Slovalk intelligentsia to fight for justke and freedom. Both were 1ater kidnapped by the Czech Communists in Austria and on!ly Zarnov succeeded in a dramati·c filighit f.rom Slova!lda again and today fights for his ideas ,i n exHe. There are many others who preferred exile to Communist rule and far from Slovakia - in .Arr-gentma, the U. S. A., Canada, Australia, etc., jn deep sorrow and fiery resistance fight for rthe.ir people's freedom. Among them is Joseph C. Hroosky, the most prolific and undoubtedly one of the greatest 1Slovak noveLists, who celebrated just recently, or rather the Slovaks in the free world celebrated his 60th annirversary. The literary work of J. C. Hronsky is of such artistic vrulue and importance for the Slovak 1iterature thait even the literary historian of the Slovak University of today, professoir A. Mraz, was forced to ac'knowledge that many of iHronsky's works "belonged amOID.g the best works of the Slovak post-war literature by thei.T qualities of style and composition." In regard to Hronsky's noive1 '~Pisar Grae" (Clerk Grae), Mraz even writes a'boUJt "hravour of composiUon"; he sees in his first novels "complicated artistic instrumentality" and commends him for "exceptional and privileged interpreting of the common people, as weili as of refined and cultivated souls ,a nd hearts of women." During the war years, in his German book on Slova.!k literature, professor Mraz qualified J. C. Hironsky's novel "Jozef Mak," whlich was also translated into German, as "one of the 1b est works of the Slovruk post~war literature," and the author as the "most prolific Slovak :novelist." Altogether J. C. Hironsky published over 50 volumes of short novels, beasutiful tales for children, novels describing the life of SlorvaJk peasants and worker,s, and mas1 SLOVAKIA 37 terpieces on the life of the Slovak SIIIl.aN-town intelligentsia (Clerk Grae, The .P rophecy orf Doctor Stan!kovsky) , with all social and ideological problems and struggles of Slovakia's post~war dramatic evolution. Usually regaTded as the heir and follower of Martin Kuikucin's realism in Sloivak literature,. !Hronslky attained new artistic heights and in many ,respects even ,sUTpassed Kulkuoin, who i1s considered even !by the Communist ireg,i.me as a "classic" of SlO!Vak literature. rHronsky's spi riitual world is broad and deep, his sphere of artistic interests is extensive and manifold, his style am.d composition masterly clerur and lingui'Sltica:lly perfect and beaubiful. At the begimning of his literary career, the Siovak peasant in his traditional way of 'life, poverty, patient heroism, and sturdy mental~ty was a favolI'ilte subject of nove!ls. HaNing made his mark with •s hort stories from Slovak village rlife, in which r ealism matched the best worlks of the founder of Slovak literary realism, Martin Kuikucin, Bronsky moved into rthe domain of liteTature for children and youth and, l,a ter, into the domain of social and psyohologicaJl problems of smaHtown people, proceeding firom short stories and tales to more and more complicated and artisticaJlly elaborated forms of novel. Hrrorusky emwged very soon as a towering personality from the group of post-war novelists and writers. His remarkable literary ,w ork constituted a lin'k between the talented Slovak n01Velists .of the previous generation and mode:m Slovak ,},i terature modeled on Western European literary currents. Not an epigon of •a nyone, Hronsky created: :from his own spiritual funds and had a strong appeal prim:arily to the heart of the young generation ,of writers among w'hom his new shade of realas-m had ma!lly followers. Hironsky',s •s ignificance in Slovak cultura:l life was, however, extraordinaJry not only in literatUII'e. Hiis -literary activity was doubled by his achievements in the highest Slovak cultUTal institution "Matica Slove:nska" (The Slovak Lnstiwte) , foll'Ilded in 1863 with the aim t 10 s,pread Slwak cultural valrues and defend Slovak traditions against 1 1 38 SLOVAKIA Magyair tendencies of assimilation. There was rarely a Slovak writex who successifully combined a highly developed literary talent with such organizational ,ability as it has been in the case of J. C. Bronsky. Acord.mg to many seri'ous cultwrai worik€1I'S (cf. Cullen's ia.nd Hrusovsky's articles in the "S:lovensika Obrana" and the "Kainadsky Slovwk"), J. C. HronSlky has done more usefiU!l work in the few years of his administration of the "Slovak Institute" than any Oille of his predecessors during long periods. Thousands of new books wer edited every year by his merits, new cultwral sections organized, equipped and reorganized, a new farge printery built, and new activities initiaited. an institution of many The "Slovak In.stitute" merits in the fieild of co111Servation of Slorvak traditioI1JS, culture, popular art, tiheater, pwrity of language - ip1ayed an important Tole in Slovak cultura•l life at all times since its foundation in the nineteenth century. Election to leading funcUons in thls institution was considered one of the highest honors in SlovaJkia and it undoubtedly was. J . C. Hronsky was elected and reelected. For the Communist regime such merits have been, however, "crimes" against the "people's democracy and revolution," and J. C. Hrons'ky was arrested before the Red Army accomplished the occupation of Slovakia. After many unsuccessful aittempts, he finally escaped from a prison and fled from 'Slovakia through Austria into Italy, and later found refuge in Argentina, where he lives, deeply convinced that the Slovaks will never give up their fight for freedom and their Christian ,t raditions. We mention HirolilSlky's case in this connection as an example of the Slovak nationail. tragedy. There are many others, who in literature, science, arts, aind in ,t he pO'litical and economic life of Slava,kia, created works of value and have been silenced by the Communist regime, or preferred freedom in exile, as Hronsky did. In the following pages an attempt has been made to present, in a very restricted way, the main features of the Slovak literature under the Communist ,r ule. The author has scrupulously tried to paint SLOVAKIA 39 the picture objectirvely, and the publishing committee of the review "The Slavic and East-European .Studies" saw to it that the study might remain within the limits of a scientific work. There is on:ly one abjectirve this study ,a ims at: to se:rve the cause of truth and freedom which in Slova1kia as well as in other satelilite countiries have been temporarily stifled. J. K. 1. Cf. Branislav Vars!k: Le Probleme des nationalites a r Universlte de Trnav,a, Bratislava, 193.8. 2. Jan Holly (178·5-1849) most gifted poet and disciple of A. Bernolak, glorified in three po ems Slovakia's greatness of one tllousand years ago, "Svatopluk" (18n), "Cyrilo-Methodiada" (1835), and •·,Slav" (1839). He also translated the main works of Greek and Roman classics into the Slovak l,a nguage and prepared th e Slovak renatssanee. 3. Cf. Hans Kohn: "Pan-Slavlsm, Its History and Ideology," University of Notre Dame Press, 19.53; and Ernest Denis: "Les Slovaques,' Paris, Delgrave, 1917. 4. P. 0. Hviezdoslav (1849-1921) by his own name Pavol Or· szagh, is considered the most talented Slovak poet. His poetry was publls'hed In fifteen large volumes, one of them, "Bloody Sonnets," was translated also Into English. His main works are "Herodes and Herodlas" (drama), the epics "Hajnlkova zena, Ezo a Gabor Vlkolinsky, Agar, Rachel, Kron," etc. He also published four volumes of translation,s from World literatures, Goethe's Faust, Shakes.p,eare's Hamlet and Mid-Summer Night's Dream, the main works of Shiller, Lermont-0v, Slowackl and Madach's "The Tragedy of Man." ,5. C.f. Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. 2, 19·54, p. 323-4. SLOVAK LITERATURE UNDER THE SOVIET IMPACT Within a decade of the forced inclusion of Slovakia within the Soviet orbit, Slovaik literature weint through most peculiar transformations. If Slovak novelists and poets, generally more conservative and traditional than Polish, Czech or Slovene writers, did not leave the country m- choose silence, they were abruptly compelled to ada;pt their literary c-reeds, forms and subjects .to a new line of "socialist reailis,m" and to run exclusively Eastern orientation. The main characteristics of Slovak literatll!l"e were patriotism, pan-slavism, universalism and a deep religiO'UIS 40 SLOVAKIA spirit. The generation after John Holly, namely John Kolla.T and the group of L. Stur, turned their eyes, as fawiders of nineteenth century painslla:vism, to Russia 'but their literrury works, education and iphllosophy were fundrurnentahly Western. They were educated at German Unive:r,sities and, while KoHar's "Daughter of Slava" was modelled on Dante and Petrarca, L. Stur and his group were under the influence of German romanticism, having foir masters Herder and Hegel (in their phi1osoiphy) .1 It was in poetry only that Mickiewicz, Slowacki, Krasinski am.d Pu<s'hkin. were the:iir ideails. Kol[ar's idea of "S[avic reciprocity" refrruined from any attemipt to mottld the politkal ideology or the religious charaicter of any Slav group. He aimed merely at cuiltural and literary reciprocity, •a nd his philo,s ophy was humanistic." He only is wOlI'thy of liberty who resrpects the :liiberty of 8!11; he who forges the chains of others, is himself a slave; when thou callest for a Slav, there must respond a man," are his famous axioms.2 According to W. Bobek, one of the best foreign scholars on Slovak literature, Slovakia c-a n be reasonably considered as the classical country of the Slavic idea, with several conceptions of panslaV'ism based on the equa[ity of Slaivic peoples. Howevell", an identification of the idea of a Slavic cooperaition with russophilism was raire; it appeared as a result of national depression and despair.3 Such was the case of L. Stur, for whom "P.anslavism in the political sense was a chimera," but who later, according to W. Lednicki, forunulated about 1850 ":the most complete and consistently developed program for the subjugation of Slavs to Russia in his bo01k "SlaV'dom and the World of the Future"4. Stur wrote 'his '.book in a period of "Nationail depression ,arrd despailr," as mentioned by Boibek. (The book was written in German and never appeared in Slova!k). During the last decades of the nirneteenth century arnd the years before and during the first World War, Sfovak literary •amd cultural life was dominated to some extent by Slovak Russophiles like Vajansky and Skn.lltety. However, this was merely an interlude; for after the war, 1 SLOVAKIA 41 the inf1uence ·o f French, English and even Scandinavian writem which was mani!fest among the younger poe'bs and novelists (I. Kraslro, V. Roy, P. 0 . Hv:iezdoslav, M. Razus), gained ground firmly and without resistance. The RussophiJ.e orientation ,i n Slova:k literature was chiefly dru:e to the political situation following the Austro-Hungarian. compromise •Of H~67, when the Slovaks were left at the mercy of Hungarian effonts of assii:rnilation. As the Slovak poets and novelists saw that the only hope for a Slovak national surrvival was in Russia's power, they gave fU!ll expression to this belief 1n their Hterary woriks. iBut they did not mean to exohange one oppression for a.mother. The Bo1sltevik Revolution and the results of the Firat WorJ,d War changed the picture. The Revo1urbion destroyed the panslavistic and Russophile dreams of Slovruk poets. While f,u!lifilling their hope for emancipation foom HUID:giarian ru'le by oreating the Czecho-Slova'k Republic with the Czechs, jt -left the Slovakis free to choose their cU!ltural orientation. They e1ther turned again to the West or they used their own spiritual and moral tradiitions for creative inspi:ration. The general trend of Slovak liteiratJure in poetry as well as in prose was to broaden its range of interests and to become responsive to European literary curents 5 The main representatives of Slovak literatlrre between the two Wars were uninterested in Soviet Russia, except for a smal[ groUJp of proJetarian o:r left-wing poets and writers under Czech influence. Oruy three or four of them acquiired literary recognition. and even fa.me. The older generation of Slovak poets, headed by P. 0. Hiviezdoslav, V. Roy, Ivan Krasko and Martin Razus, continued to create in the traditional forms or, Ji.ke Hviezdoslav, to use the European literrury forms and currents coriresponding to his great ta:lent and creativeness. In prose, the masters were the realists Kukucin,6 Hronsky, 'l'ajov!Sky, T. Vansova, Timrava and L. 'Podjavorinska. The younger generation looked for new fo:rms: to for·eign literatures. The really successful literary woriks of more tham. ephemera[ value were those which dTew their motives. from Slovak H!fe, their inspiration from rSlorva!k 42 SLOVAKIA national traditions and their art from their own spiritual reserves (Milo Ur.ban, J. C. Hironsky, A. Za.rn.ov, V. Benia:k, J. Smrek, E. IBolesilav Lu!kac, S. 1K rcmery, T. J. Gaspar, J. Hrufovsky). Consciously or unconsciously, they belonged ,t o the West and also to theiir country's social and ideological evolution. Their orientation was contilnenta,l in form, in philosophy and in motivation. A:U the European ourents ·a nd literary scho<Yls, from symbolism and impresiSlionism to Catholiic modernism (especia1ly F!rench) and su:rirealism, characteri'zed Slovak Hterature between the wars. According to Bobek, it equalled Czech literature,7 and acOTdilng to A. ,M raz, it "fought for a place in the context of wor1d 'literatures. " 8 The second World War did not change substantially the orientation of Slov·a k ,lrl,teratme. Being an island where, un,ti} the ·f all of 194.'4, the German ,i mpact was neitheir violent nor apparent, Slovakia experienced a strongly literary and cultll!I'al development. The trend remained Western, nationaliist, conservative and traditional. With the "liberation" of the co'll!ntry, the shock of the Soviet limparet was violent, spreading deep and wide throughout the literairy and cultural life orf 'Slovakia. A short analysis brings to light the foUowing features orf contemporary Slovak literature. Socialist Realism and the Soviet Model A smail:l group of p:wletarian poets, surrealists and left-wing critics or nove'lists, headed by L. Novomesky, who along with J. Rob Ponican, was the only prominent poet in the group before 1945, not only took over liiterary and cultural life while Slova;kia was stiU occupied by the RUSSliam Anny, but :they al:so decided who would be allowed to continue as writer, poet, journalist or scientist and what kind of literature they would be allowed to pubilish. If the writers wished to continue their wol1k, they had to become membern of a Society of writers, organized on the Soviet model. Their main duties were to extirpate the "corrupting" mfluence of Western "bourgeois; and fascist" writers and to follow the line of "g.reat socialiist Soviet SLOVAKIA 43 literature," inspired 'by the ideaJs brought to reality by Stalinissm. The Slogan was "progress" and the name of the new current was "socialist :realism," though many of the main actors in this "revolutionary reshaping" of the Slovak literature were dmitators of pre-wa,r French sur:realism (R. Fabry, V. R!eisel, M. Mittelman). Soviet litera.tUTe "with its surpassdng wealth of ideas, its burning socialist patriotism, its new humanism," was destined ,t o be the mghest ideal for Slorvak literature. This reshaping of SlOIVak oultural life was purt into praotice not only without regard for traditiOIIl, but al:so wirthout the ,t rue 1representatives of Slwa!k literature hetween the wars, known by .theiT works and thei!r outstanding talent. Neither the ·best novelist of the period 19181939, Milo Urban (!b. 1904) whose Living Whlp9 was translated into serverad EUTopean languages, nor the prominen,t poet Valentin Benia,k (b. 1894), nor Andrej 2arnov (b. 1903) whose poetry by its fiery language and reso'l.l'nding verse became an effective instrument in the Slova:k national struggle and who summoned the young Sloivak intelligentsia to a struggle for justice and freedom, took part in the new trend. They pref.erred to be silent. Zarn:ov, who was under constant threat of arrest and deportation and many times imprisoned, later left his .coun:try to fight for his ideas in exHe. 'l'ido J. Gaspar (ib. 1893) author of splendid short novels and exotic ,t ales, was also ,sidenced in prison. Many others whose names were held up as worthy representati'ves of Slovak lita-aiture before 1945 fled to Argentina, the U. S. A., Canada, Australia and O'bher plaices, with deep sorrow and in a spirit of fiery resistance, preferring exile to Communist rule . Among them is the prolific nO<Velist J. C. Hronsky (b .. 1896) whose works desm-ibed ,in mastedy fas:hion the social tUTmoil and political struggles of the Sdov~ks,10 and talented literary critics and aesthetes as :professor :El 2-atiko-Bor, Stanislav Meciar and Jan Mestancik, tile poets iR. Dillong - prolific and emotional, with hiS' •r apturouis lyricism, - M. Sprinc, K. Strmen, Jan Oka,l, J. Doransiky, J. BesenOVSJky, Marusa JUSikova, J. Zvonar-Tien, Hrtus..Jurina, historians (Hru- 44 SLOVAKIA swsky, Culen, Durcansky), linguists (prof. Bartek), publicists (Dr. P. Pauco, -Dr. S. Pol~kovic, Dr. J. Mi'kus, Dr. J. Cieker, Dr. A. Grebert, Dr. J. GleimMl, prof. Zubek, Nahallka), a dozen university professors and over a hundred highly educated young priests who had prepared for their careers as ,professors 3/nd educators at the universities of Rome, Paris Louvain, Innsbruck, Brussels and elsewhere. To understand the rvast chamge brought aibout by this "reshaping" of Slovak literature, we must remember that the proleta:riam poets, like the surrrealist s, weTe only a sma11 ,g roup alien to the Slovak literary traditi-on and spiritual atmosphere.11 For the most part, they grew up under the :influence of Czech Marxist or Communist intellectuials and writers: (J. Wolker, V. Nezval, J. Fuc:iik, Sekanina). Their movement with its journal Dav, originated in ,P rague. Novomesky, Ponifan, Oka.Ii, Clementis and others broug,ht their revolutionary ideas and [eft-wing orientation .iinto the Slovak puritan literary ·atmosphere as university students in t,h e Czech capital. Ponican declared this proudly during the "Congress of Nationa,l Culture" held in Prague in 1948. At the same time he condemned "Czech oultural imperialism" and the tendency to assimilate which, according to him, was the consistent aim of Prague's bourgeois regimes between the Wa-rs. 12 During the twenties, the group even tried to transplant into Slovakia Communist literacy aesthetics. They made appeals to break from tiraditonal themes and forms, fatvored collectivism rather than individl.l!a:lism, materialism instead of idealism, and often hurt religious feelings by their youth:£ul revolt a,g ainst God ,and' Christian traditions. hl the thirties the ,g roup had direct contact with Moscow (No;vomesky attended the Congress of W!riters in Moscow and Ilja Ehrenburg appeared in Brntisla,va), but .it was still Prague whose Czech Marxist poets and intellectuals (journal Tvorba) ideologkally nourished Slova..11{ proletaxian literature amd prescribed its aesthetics. After 1945 the groUJp, strengthened by sur.realists and young irntellectuals reared during World Warr: II, con1 1 SLOVAKIA 4-5 tinued their re'V'olt against individualism., .sU'bjectirvism, art fo'I' axit'·s sake, petty-,bO'llrgeois realism and clericalism. Their concept of "socialist realism," based on the philosophy of dia1ectical materialism, the Marx-iLenini.st theory of ,l iterature, a new aipproaioh to "reality" and active prurHcipation in building ·a new Sodalist s·o ciety, was ,t his time imposed by the political power of ,the Comunist party. Im reviews and in the daily press,, the literary critics asked for conformity with Russian literatuTe, condemned all "apolitical" approaches and' proudly declared that the struggJe for socialism. was a struggle for a new and true art. As the Communist Party had unlimited control over ali newspapers, reviews and pubHshing firms and the exdu.sive right to permit or prohibit publircation, traditional Slovak literatme abruptly disappeared. Literary pr,oduction i,s orgainiized by ,t he !Party and its organs, ,literature was planned to obtain rapid spiritual reorientation, i.e., .sovietizatio:n and conformity with 'Russia and mental russification. Under such circumstances, Slovak literature was not only impoverished but ailso became an imitation of Soviet literature rather than an expression of the Slovak soul. Filled with ,s logans aind praise of CmnmUJIHsm and its leadem, exaggerating .social differences and struggling aga:in:st religion and old traditions, "socialist realism" has little in common with artistic values or true .realism. Mental and Spiritual Russification ·To:i addition, there was a steadri1y increasing flood of trrunslations of Soviet books, to sovietize the literary life of Slovaikia not only in form but ailso in spirit. An aina,l ysis of books ipUlblis:hed under the present regim.e13 shows that at the end of 1953 and in the fin.st month of 1954, fonty-one translations of poetry -and ipr-0.se were published in Sloivakia. Twenty-two of tho,s e translations were from Riussian literature, nineteen from aH others. Modoon Soviet writers were represented by sixteen works, the Russian classi,cs by five. Of nineteen translations from 46 SLOVAKIA non~ussian literatures. thirteen works were written by Communists, the o1fuem, apart from a translation of Ovid, are works of Mark Twain, Maupassant, Bendel and others, depicting the morail decadence of Western society. 'Dhe picture is similair in rt.he prodiuotion of ,b ooks for children and youth. Of forty-three books pu:blished in the same period (end of 1953 and beginning of 1954) twentyone works were written by Slov-aJk writers, eighteen by Russians and the iI'est ·b y Czech, Hungartan rund Rumanirun aut!hors. No Western writers were Tepresented. Six Slovak originail works and fourteen translations from RJllssirun were puirely propaganda. 'Sovietization and mental .r us,sification do not appear only in the number of translations from Russian alild Soviet satellite languages. By the exclusion of Western. iiteratures, a SOI1t ()If "cultural iron curtain" is buidt in Slovakia, because SlovaJk writers are absolutely dependent on Soviet ~oiurces, considered by the .r egime as "the most progressive in the world." Under the heading "rMarx-Leniinism' one finds sixtynine publications, twenty-five Slovak originals, thirty-eight translations from IRuSIS'ian, two f.rom German (the works of Marx and IDngels), one from Hungarian rund one from Bu[garian. Though some SlovaJk iintellectuals have m0& tered the Western languages, there is no translatio:n from French, IDnglish or any 0 1ther Western tongue. If we consider that book,s translated from RJussian. a.ire pulblished in :tens of ,t housands and that they are sold at reduced prices, the picture is clea:r: mental ,russification and rovietization is promoted by every avaihvble method. Reforms of the Slovak Language Following the "theory given to Ma'I'Xist philology by J. Stalin in ,his work, Marxism and 'P hilological Questions and the Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR" the new Slovak "working intelligentsia" not only changed the spirit, structure and forms of literature but also reformed the Jangua:ge.14 Some of the changes effected by the Commun1sts, were proposed by Prof. H. Bartek before SLOVAKIA 47 and during World War II to simplify SloV'ak or-thog.raiphy. An expert on linguistics, Prof. Bartek advocated his reforms on the grownds of scientific research -and the evolution of .the Slovak language, Which is, .according to A . Senn, "more ar-chaic than Czech and Poli$," that is one of the most archaic Slavic languages.15 ColllSequently, not all the ohrunges ,o an ,b e regarded as ,ha:rmf\11 or unnecessary; and Slova;k exiles as well as the Slova!k press in the free world basicrully accepted this reform. Since the eighteenth century, when Anthony Bernolak (176·2 ..J813), lea.med philologist and patriot, wrote a grammar of the Slo_ vak language rund a huge dictionary >in six language.s and gave a set of rules of o.rthography, eliminating the use of Latin in Slovak cuUural and literary life, the 'S:tova;k language has been a field of study foc highly educaited clergymen, Catholic and Protes:tant, and for enthusiastic nationalists. 1 The reform. of 1844, which is mistakenly presented by some Sla:vists as the date of birth of the Slovak literary lrunguage, was brought a:bout by the particiipation of Protestant ministers 8Jlld Cathoilfo priests, though the reform wa:s popuila,r ized hy L. Stfrr.16 Stfu himself acted as a nationaHst leader aiming at the uruon of ,the Slovak people, the greate:r nium1ber of whom ( over 80 % Ca:tholics) have written in Slovak siince the counter-:Refo'I"mation. Oatholrics used as a hasis one of the Western Slovak dialects, whereas the Protestants, who accepted the Lutheran fa.1th from Bohemia (Czech lands) together with an archaic Czooh translation of the Bible, used, apart from German, as their lit,w giical la:ngua,ge, richly adorned wtth Slovaik ex1pressions. Regarding the division as a great misfortune in the face of strong Magyarization, Stur fought for :the unity of a Hterary fanguage and a compromise between the Lutheran and the Catholic adherents of the BemolaJk ·s chool. This resulted in the acceptance of a centra:l dialect as a new Slovaik Hterary language,17 'but preserved much of the beauty of expres~ siOIIl aJD.d idiom of other Slava!k dialects. This ,r eform, and the rioh litemture which developed later, was merely an 48 SLOVAKIA instrll!ffient in the strugg}e for natiorn:ail survival. The SlovaJk intellectuals were co.nrvinced that the very existence of the nation depended upon the preservation of 1t.s language, rund that nationail identity wrus bound up with languaige. As a result, there was ll'Iltil re<:ently a kind of "sanctity of ,l anguage" among the Slovaks. Applying a reform by ,referri.ing lto the rules Jaitl down for Marxist philosophy by J. StaHn cannot but hurt the Slovaks in their most sensitive spot. Revaluation of Literary History 1 Very soon after the Communists took over the direction of c-ulturrul affair,s in Slovakia, af.ter the potential opposition either fled the country or was silenced, Slovak literary history was revaluated. The first revaluation was made a:s early as 1948 when the Slovak Academy of Sciences a.ind Arts, founded d'll!I'ing the S,lova:k Repulblic, edited the History of Slovak Lit.erature.18 The aiuthor, professor AII1d!rej• Mraz, was not a Communi st before the War, and duiring the War he published in Germa!Il another histocy of 'Slovak literature. His new wovk, however, mirrors in some respects the present siltuation in the oultural life of SlovaJkia. Aware that the Easite•r n orientaJtion of SlovaJkia's cultural life had been made a fait accompli by the so-called "Program of Kosice" which clearrly stated the SlaJVic, i.e., R'll!ssian orientation of Slovruk cu1tuire, profesSOT Mraz ada;pted his work to the new situation. He revised his judgment of writers a:nd poets who were jn prisons (T. J. Gaspar) or in exile. Proletariam and smrealist poets on the other hand became moire talented, thek novels and poetry of greaJte,r importJance aJnd artisitk value. On the whole his book was wriitten in the way of ;pre-War literary schools, his iphraseology shows little similavity with the iMa;rxi-stLeninist literary critics of the years following Novomes~ ky's imprisonment and lthe condemnation to the gallows of Clementis, the intellectual leader of the group. The revaluation of Slovalk literary hlstory by Prof. Mraz is more iilnteresting as far as tJhe general approaoh to SlovaJk literature is concerned. 'Dhe Program of Kosice, 1 SLOVAKIA 49 wihich defined the ideological orientation for the future, puts an end to an <Yld controversy about Slo¥ak national, c'U!ltwral and l~terary indi'V'iduality. Thi1s dooomenJt stated that "the relation between Czechs and Slovaks should be that of separate nations jomed in common interest in a single State."19 The C{)lffiillunist intelleotuails also proudly manifested their desire to see Slovaiks. as an autonomous Soviet Republic rather than a province dominated by Prague. Professor Mraz adapted .the History of Slovak Literature to this "n:atiOIIlalist" atmosphere of the years 1'945-.48, and consequently he included "ex cathed1ra" i,n to the Slo'V'a.k C'Ultmral and H,terary heritage not only the writings of Sts.. Cyiril and ,Methodius and those of their disciples, which had boon consistently, though erroneously, claimed by the Czechs, burt also ,t he Latin works of all scholars and writers who were of ,Slovak origin. He :took an objectiive and favorable rview, considering the circumstances, of the Slovak iliteratme oreated by Catholics in the seventeenth ·a nd eighteenth centturies. The thesis that t!he Slo:vaxs and not the Czechs are the :true heirs of Great !Moravia, that .there existed a clear distinction, diwring the centuries, be,t ween Czechs and Slova'k,s and their languages, and that the 'S lovaks preser:ved a consciousness of their ethnic and cultural individuality a:nd ,t heir continu!ity with the first Sl,ovak kingdom of Great Moravia, were accepted as historical facts by Mraz. He supported his position by quotations and reforences to the works of SlovaJk writers of the se:venteenuh and eighteenth ce:n,turies. Mraz aLso accepted the porint of 'View that the archaic Czech language, which was brought into, Slova,kia by ,t he Czech P ,r otestants "who found shel:ter in Slovakia and even ;p rinted books in Czech for the rpurrpose of smuggling rthooi i:nto iBohemia,"20 was merely a bo~rowed language, and that the Slovalk Protesitants used it for litera,ture and litJwrgy in the same way as the Catholics used Latin. Though ,th:i-s thesis had previously been supported by m8JIIly serious experts iin Slovalk linguistics, literatrnre and histocy, the universlities in pre-,War Czechoslova1kia tried impose a lt!hoory of a common language with the to SLOVAKIA 50 Czechs until the Stur reform of 1844. "The Slovaik culturra:l and literairy sphere was never blended or identified with the Czech; :it always had i<ts specific needs and :set of rules" says Mraz, ars ,p rofessor of Bratislava university.21 F.rom these premises, Mraz judged favorably the activities of the Jesuit University of Trnava (1635), the Oaitholic writers of the era of Enlightrnent as well. as the generation of 1848, who established modern 1Slovruk natiooalism irn letterisi and in politicail life. Mraz's History of Slovak Literature, probably written -d'UII'ing the Second World War and adapted to the politicail climate of the first post-War years when the Communists shared political power with the Democratic Party, oruly partly ex.pressed the chianged sit:Juaroion by its method and criiteria. The book ri:s basically within the framework of values, terminology aind ccmceipt s esta:blished ea,rlier in .Slovaikia. '.Dhe ""revolutionary revaluation" was undertaiken by the young group orf militamit mamberis of the Comm.UIIlist Party (A. Bakos, R. Rosenbaum, R. Mrlian, J. Hoirvat and others) who made a fam.atical reappraiisa'l of Slovak literature, and "purged" the libraries ·acooroing .to the Party ideology and Marxist-.Leninist theory of literature 22 When even Novomesky was "purged" as a "bourgeois rn.ationalist and deviationist," the new school of "socialist realllism" was established. Consequently, only those booik s and writers serving :the new ,s ocial order are regarded as representati.rve of true literary values. The rest aire irejected as reactionary, deviationist, rightist, and petty-bourgeois.23 As the literature was also integrated into the structure of the new Socialist or Communist order and destined to be suboTdirnated to the 1P arty and its ideology, the poet and novelist, Jiterary critic and scientist must oontribute by their talents amd works to the building of a Socialist society. The model: Soviet Russia. 1 1. Cf. S. ,P . Palickar, Slovaki-a n Culture, Cambridge, 1954; A. MTaz, Die Literatur der •S lov,a ken, Berlin, 1943. 2. P. P . Yurchak, The Slovaks, 1947, pp. 117-57. Also E. Denis, La Question d' Autriche, Les Slovaques, Paris, 1917, p. 164. 3. W. Semkowicz (eel.) Slowacja i Slowacy, Krakow, 1937, p. 262. 4. Feliks Gross (ed.) European Ideologies, New York, 1948, p. 838. SLOVAKIA 51 5. L. I. Strakhovsky (ed.) Handbook of Slavic Studies, Cambridge, 1949, pp. 495-96. 6. Cf. J. J. Potocek, "Martin Kukucin, PJoneer of Slovak Realism," The Slavonic and East ·E uropean Review, XXII, 7944. 7. Ibidem, p. 2&3. ,8. A. Mraz, Dejiny ,slovenskej literatury, Bra-tislav·a , Academia Scientiarum et Artium, Slovaca, 1948, p. 263. 9. Hand!book of Slavic Studies, p. 505, Mraz, o,p. cit., pp. 17'5-180. 10. Andreas Mraz, Die Literatur der Slowaken, Berlin, Prague, Vjenna, 1943. 11. Cf. KramorH§, "Slovakia and Slova.c Literature," The Catholic Encyclopedia, XVIU, 19·50. 12. Cf. Sjezd Narodni Kultury, Praha, 1948, p. 239. 1'3. CJ'. ·Bi-b liograficky katalog, Slovenska kni'ha, Bratislava, 1'954, V. 1-17; also Slobodne Slovensko, X. 2. 14. H. Bartek, Novy slovensky pravopis, Chicago, 1954, p. 19. 1,5. Handbook of Slavic Studies, P'P- -51·57. 1'6. Cf. Yur,C'hak, op. dt. pp. 90-116; also S. P. Palickar, Slovakian Oulture, Oa.mbrid•g e, 1954, pp. 139-55. 17. Cf. Yurohak, op.. cit. 18. A. Mraz, Dejiny slovenskej literatury, Bratislava, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Slova-ca, 1498. 19. V. Diamond, Czechos\,ovakia Between East and West, London, 1947, p. 6. 20. •Cf. Handbook of SJ.avic Studies, pp. 17 5-80. 21. Ibid., p. 8. 22. Cf. Sjezd Narodni Kultury, pp. 134-41. 23. Cf. K. Rozenbaum, Sovremennaya slovanskaya Uteratura, Slavy•a ne, 19·515, I, 23-2:9, also J . Martak, Introduction to Su.borne dielo Jana Bottu, Bratislava, 1955 . • • • WHO SAID IT? "There is another thing to be said aJbouit the Admini& tration's foreiign policy. It is pUTely negative and defensive. rt attempts to contain communism; but does nothing to answer the question s.o often asllred: me: How would you finally ded:ea t COIIIlmUJl.,i sm? - Most of those satellite countries and peoples were deilitvered into the hands Olf the RULSSian Comml.lind.sit:s by the Y aJt!a Agreement. That American diploanati'c instrument, never submitted to the Senate, sysitematicrulliy violaited iby the RUISSi.ans, defended onliy by those officials of the D€4)8.rtmenit of Staite who rure aJccessories to the crime, must be formally discairded by Congressional resol.iu.tion as a b'a sis for American foreign poiicy." - (Senator Robert A. Taft, NEW YORK TiiMiES, June 2, 1952).  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 Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum, Ph.D., LL.D. Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 2 (19), June 1956 pp. 34-51 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 June 1956 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5edc284d17758e850b18677db576a170.pdf 0e39061bb4a6fb9513a5ab59437e5fc6 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 11 THE POLITICAL MESSAGE OF MATUS CERNAK By Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum On J'lliy 5, 1955 Matus CernaJk, a .d istinguished Sl01Vaik politician and diplomat, was assassinated in Munich, Germany. Forces rabid in orpposing our effort ,to secure and esfablish an independent Slovakia could have hardly struck a more tell.mg blow than was this dastardly attack, for by it they .removed from :actiive service an esteemed patriot,. this Cernak of whom it may be said that of all n:a. tiona1 movers currently in exile, he most closely approximated what, lt'elatively speaking, we might designate as the position of a 8Jll-accredited legaJte of the Slovak nation to the republic of Western Germany. And to him as such were paid final tributes and honors in death not only by the ch8Jllcello.r of Western Germany himself who expressed deep sympathy cm the occasion of Cerna.k's tragic death. :rn Gemiany Matus Cern.ak signalized himse1f beyond his office as a desewing politidan and drplomat. It was due mostly 'to his lll.Iltiring diligence and interest that two noteworthy pulbl:ications continued to appear after the departure of Dr. Jozef Pauoo; viz., SLOBODNE SLOVENSKO ('Free Slovaikia, founded by Dr. Pauco) and SWWAKi1SCHE KORJRESPO!NiDENe;. Concern for the social well-being of hundreds of .Slorvak re£ugees who arrived in Germany also came to, devolrve upon Cerna.k, and his name is vecy closely associated with the Slorvaik institute in M'll.Il.ich. IDven this meagelt' cwt-and-dry survey of his recent major acltivities yields us the realization that 1lhe foul politioal murder, which so unexpectedly wrested Matus Cerna;k f.rom our midst, is to all the Slwaks in the free world and to the struggle for a democratic independent Sloiva.k.ia a much greater loss and a much more sigmfi.. cant incident than we had ap1Pmised and accounted it in the earliest hours of our grief. After the Cernova masS8Jcre of 1907, the murder of Stefanik m 1919 and of Dr. Jozef Tiso in 1947, this attack of July 5, :1!955, will be re- �12 corded in Slorvaik national annals as a historically 'Vital eivent. The death of fMatws Cemak marks mot merely the passing o.f another exiled SlO'V'3Jk diplomat and ipatriot who dedicated all his mind and heart to the struggle to liberate Slorvaikia from Oom.mJUnism and the Czech yoke. Matus Cerna'k's previ!ous politicial background, his personal character and talents, hi•s uncompromising doggedness and his tireless and successful activities within the territory of one of the most decisive powers affecting the fate of Slova,kia - all this contributed to make Cerna·k indispensalble to the CU"rrent state of our pol,i tical efforts as w~U as a symlbol of posterity. Who Was Matus Oernak? Matus Cerruik was bo,r n on August 28, 1903, in the town of Vieska where his father was a miller. After his preliminary education in iPrievidza, Kezmarok, and Banska Bystrica,. he undertook university studies ,i n 'Brague and subsequently ,in Leipzig, Germany. His courses were orientated toward a professorship. Having attained his diploma, he spent several years in teaching •a t Trnava, and in 19i30 he became a high school instnuctor in Bratislava. Until 1937 Cernwk devoted himself a,lmost exclusirvely to aoademic pursuits and to cultural interests. He was, however, one of the younger element, a member of that youthful and vitally conscious generation of !Slovruks who in the 1932 demonstrations at Trencianske Teplice gave Prague incontrovertible evidence of the fact that the spiritual and political development of Slova,kia will follow native inspiration and bent and wiN not ibe trammeled by constraining directirves from Prague. As a youthful patriot, then, Cernak naturally found himself an active participant in various political demonstrn:tions Slllpporting ·Slorvakia's interests and deserts. It wa.s the temper of the times that shaped his destiny. He made more and more public appearances and spirited pronouncements hut after his patriotic manifesto delivered in the ,Slovak National Theater in 1937, Cernak was overnight not only projected ,i nto popular ac- �SLOVAKIA 13 claim but was also irrevocably committed to bis role as an outstanding leader in the political arena, The keynote of his message on this occasian was "Orurs is that portion of land 'beneath the Tatras and to us rightfully belongs all i1ls yield." This cry and justification came to echo from inrn.1mera:ble speaker's platforms and it blazed its appeal throughout all the press houses of SlovaJkia. Within. a year after this induction into public national life, Matus Cernak, despite his youthful thirty-five years, became a minister in the Prague government. Prague,. long accustomed to an accord of fawning subservience and servility ,o n the part of those to whom she had granted political ministries and various similar offices, ,s oon realized that this Cernak who accepted a ministerial portfolio came as a representative of a new generation. He was not a hireling. He was a public servant who bore the concerns of the Slovak nation deep in his heart, one to be touched neither by bribes nor by intimidatioo. He was upright as well as fearless and his attitude was undisguised. He understood that it served no purpose to temporize with the Czechs; consequently, ne had hardly estaJblished himself in his new office when, mincing no words, he demanded as by a 24-hour ultimatum that Dr. Benes examme the Slova,k problem in the spirit of the Pittsburgh Pact; i.e.,. Cernak sought to activate Slovakia's autonomy as it had been guaranteed by the Czechs when Thomas G. Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact in 1918 and the unreserved ratification of the Parli'ament convened on Noivember 12, 1918 had made the agreement binding both legally and morally. Benes was unwilling to meet Cerna.k's terms. Manfully and honorably, Cer:nak offered his resignation from ministerial duties and his decisive action hastened Slovakia's autonomy and later her complete independence. In the autonomous state of Slovakia (October 6, 1938 - March 13, 1939) Cernak became a prominent and '!)01)ular personality. iHe was named minister of education and after the proclamation of independence, he was appointed the first Slovak envoy to Berlin. �14 SLOVAKIA Be11lin was not only the most significant, it was also the most difficult ambassadorial .p ost. The very existence of the Slovak •r epublic often hUlll.g by a hair there, and the ·Sloviak diplomatic representative had to exercise consummate tact whille at the sarrne time he preserved an inflexible devotion to his country and defended the interests committed to him in sa:cred trust. Matus Ce.milk proved himself in this capacity. He again advanced the welfare of Slovakia with the sarrne degree of ardor and uncomprom~•s ing vigor which had characterized him formerly in Prague, and his mission was successful. So well, in fact, did he acquaint himself of his duties that he won for the SlovaJk caruse the sympathies even of that power that oome after ,t he occurpaition of Germa.ny, a.nd in its eyes, too, he was accepted as a non--ae<!redited envoy of the Slovak nation. Political reprisals meted out a ,prison sentence for Cerna.k, and after serving several years in B:vatislava, he left Slovrukia ,i n 1948. (His country was then degraded by the Communistic and Czech regimes. Cernak in exille dedicated himself to the struggle to secure a new freedom and independence for Slo-v:aki-a, a sacred fight against Communism, a ,c rusade for the triumph of democracy, and liberty. For this reason, the ·b rutal political murder .of Matus Cernak, who had been favored lby fate to assume in this national struggle for liberty rund independence a role granted only to heroes rund to persons of Ulll.COmmom historic statUTe,. has shaken every worthy SlorvaJk and every honorable person in the world. For in that little post office in Munich there feN :at the hands of a cynical muroerer not merely a member of the little Slovak nation rbut a wholiJ.y dedicated defender of the idea of freedom and democracy, and that at the very hour when the representatives of international Communism and of Czech imperialism were sporting the ma:sk of surface smiles and pretending sugiared speeches on peace and coo.p eration and coexistence. If the world's free press agencies, broadcasts and tele- �SLOVAKIA 15 vised reports from Bonn to W aslrington, from Paris to Canada, Australia, Argentina, and all the free world ciroufated reports and commentaries 00: this despica,ble political crime, then it was in tribute to the 'Victim Cerna;k, a promoter of the ideal of freedom and democracy. Only the intervention and meddling of the forces of cowardly appeasement, of colla.:boration with Communism and Czechsown hatred of the Slov,a,ks prevented the .glorification of this sacrifice, Matus Cernak, as a 1price demanded by the true instinct of Communism and of Czech chau'Vinism. Their malice alone precluded the hailing of Matus Cermilk as a martyr to the cause of liberty and democracy, blessings cherished by the -umiversal free world. This honor Matus Cernalk fully deserves. The Slwak nation at home and all loyal Slovaks now exiled a:nd -scattered throrughout the far-d:hmg countries of the free world can appraise this holocaust of Matus Cerna'k in its full historic significance. Why Was Matus Cernak Slain? Matus Cernruk fell because he was the foe of Communism and of Czech efforts to dominate Slov,m a and to usur.p her rights. He was singled orut as one of the most unyielding exponents of the principle of liberty and a democratic way for Slovalkia. For these reasons he beoame mar,ked as a sworn enemy of the dual powers of :international Communism and of Czech aggressiv~ pretensions. Beoaiu:se he had already established a record of several years o.f sru'Ccessful service on the Slovaik political front which has !been in the recent past and whlch will very likely in the near future again be of paramount importance in the 1SlOV'a.:k contest for liberty and independence, not only Communistic Prague hurt also the adherents of there-e~bl-ished Czech hegemony QIVer Slovakia ranked him as the number one man on their list of resistance leaders active in exile to thwart their nefarious designs. He fell ,b ecause of his love for SloWJkia suffering under Czech domination., because of his friendly attitude toward the Gel'Ill.an nation, and b.ecaruse of the fruitf.ul mission he was accomplishing in the Republic oif Western �16 SLOVAKIA Germany where he had all. the p:vospects of continuing an eminently flourishing career. ·· .. Whether the base assassin will be discoivered as an individual or not, it is unmistakably clear to every thinking person just whose henchmen he must have been and in whose employ he accomplished his dastardly, bloody deed. Since 1945 so great ·a number of outstanding Slovak patriots has 1b een killed, deported and deprived of liberty that doUJbt concerning the mastermind of this vicious crime would hardly be in place. Czechs, iboth of the Communist water-mar.k and non-Communist conformers, especially those who in the wake of unsuccessful collaJboration with Communism escaped into the countries of western Euvope live in abnormal foar.s bred by guilt, the spawn of those crimes they per.petrated against the Sudeten and Cavpathian Ge:rnnans. Their panic mounts as they see Germany mow in the ascendency. as one of the influential nations in international 1p olitics. To iboth classes of Czechs it is clear that the existence of the Czecho~Slovalk Republic, the question of Czeoh !b oundar~es and conditions affecting the principles of life for the Czech nation in the future will come to depend in no small measure and in no negligible way on Germany and on this decisive f.actor whether or not :Slovalkia will succeed in winning the support of influential ,powers which will further her endeavor for independence. Matus Cernak with over 15 years of residence _in Germ.any and very desirable contacts and personal acquaintances even among the highest of German dignitaries was undenia;bly instrumental ,i n ,s oouring favor for the idea of SlovaJkia's independence. His peroonal integrity and his indefatiga;ble efforts in behalf of his country, as posthumously a;ppraised ,b y the German press and attested to by hll!lldreds ,of telegrams of condolence, won sympathetic response even in the highest levels of political power in Bonn and presaged ultimate success for the Slova;k cause. It was primarily for this re8JSOn that the foes of the Slovak nation and of the Slovalk effort to attain national independence decided to liquidate Cerna:k. �SLOVAKIA , 17 The Political Message of M. Oernak Cernak was felied in the heat of the national struggle. He died with a conlViotion -Of Slovak truth, confident in the ultimate victory of the :natural ri.ght of the Slo.valk people to enjoy their pro,per national life. He ,c onsummated his own supreme sacr.ifice in the spirit of his motto "To liberty through sacrifice" and he signed his political credo with his own life's blood. It is not clifficll!lt nor willl it be difficult to• ascertain what wolilld have been the final political messaige of Cernak. He wrote it in 1938 in terms of his adamant resist• ance to compromise, his steadfastness and his patriotic ardorr. You can find it recorded in hundreds of his articles and political manifestos, in his life-long political career and in his heroic martyrdom. In the ranks of Slo'Vlak political figures, personages who have gone ,befo:rre us in death, Cernak takes hiis pla:ce as the representative of a new political generation, one which has sought ,a nd which stiill seeks a. solution. of the Slovak problem on a ,b roader European basis within the cadre of modern demo:cratic and Christian powers. For his pdlitical mission dn exile, Matus Cernruk was betteT prepared. than were most .Slovaks, and iby his educational background and his professional experience as well as by his ,personal endo.w,ments -8Jlld characteristics he satisfactorily evidenced a Slovalk sense of ,balance and maturity and fitness :for lirfe. He allso exemplified .Slovakia's innate belonging to Europe and to European traditions. 'Dhe most substantial and eloquent ·proof of his adequacy to fitl the ro[e he chose in the fight for a democratic and independent .Slov:akia is his very assassination, the tragiic ,b omb which the antagoodsts orf a Christian and independent SlwaJki'a sent him. The death of Matus Cerna:k is a painflill and very grievoU1S loss to the Slovak forces woriking •i n exiJe; it is one of the severest blows which the Slo¥~k people could suffer at this time. The manner to which their foes had to resort in order to bring 0Jbout CernaJk's deswuction, �18 SLOVAKIA however, is d.n itself an assurance to all Slovaik em:igres that in the eyes of Prague and of international Communism ,i t is no "quan·t ite negligeable," that it is, in fact, so formidable a hindrance to them for the Slovaks to be allied with the democracies that they even ventured such a brutal scandal to register their reaction. To Slovruk 1patriots in exile, mourning the death of their most distinguished representative, Matus Cernak, this realization begets a fresh spur to redoubled activities. Consummate triumph of the Slovaik hope for independence beckons on the trail over which Matus Cernak has forged ahead in honor and in complete unflinching dedication. God grant it! - "BuNetin of the Slovruk National Council Abroad," June, 1956) . • • • LABOR AND THE SWVAK REPUBLIC J. C. Bukovina " Our policy shall not be socialis·tic, but social. We shall not incite J:}eople against our. selves, but we shall train them to be understanding and Wilted . .A:bove all else, work is the foundation of our policy." 'Dr. Joseph Tlso, Oct. 8, 1S38. October 6, 1938, and March 14, 1939, found the S10vruks prepared. The Hlin:ka ·S lovak People's Party, whic:h had fought consistently for twenty years before Munich to secure the national existence of the Slova!k nation, was fully prepared for these two historical milestones - to take over the direction of the fate of the Slovak nation. The fight of the Slovaks for national independence in the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovak State was actually a struggle and a call of the Slovruk nation for social justice. Once the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Exlward Benes had taken over the reigns of state, promises made to the Slovruks in America and elsewhere were soon forgotten, and the Slovalks found themselves again in the position of the exploited. Like the Magyars, the Czechs found little trouble in recruiting Judas Slovaks to promote not the interests of the Slovak nation, but the interests of the Czech nation, � SLOVAKIA 11 THE POLITICAL MESSAGE OF MATUS CERNAK By Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum On J'lliy 5, 1955 Matus CernaJk, a .d istinguished Sl01Vaik politician and diplomat, was assassinated in Munich, Germany. Forces rabid in orpposing our effort ,to secure and esfablish an independent Slovakia could have hardly struck a more tell.mg blow than was this dastardly attack, for by it they .removed from :actiive service an esteemed patriot,. this Cernak of whom it may be said that of all n:a. tiona1 movers currently in exile, he most closely approximated what, lt'elatively speaking, we might designate as the position of a 8Jll-accredited legaJte of the Slovak nation to the republic of Western Germany. And to him as such were paid final tributes and honors in death not only by the ch8Jllcello.r of Western Germany himself who expressed deep sympathy cm the occasion of Cerna.k's tragic death. :rn Gemiany Matus Cern.ak signalized himse1f beyond his office as a desewing politidan and drplomat. It was due mostly 'to his lll.Iltiring diligence and interest that two noteworthy pulbl:ications continued to appear after the departure of Dr. Jozef Pauoo; viz., SLOBODNE SLOVENSKO ('Free Slovaikia, founded by Dr. Pauco) and SWWAKi1SCHE KORJRESPO!NiDENe;. Concern for the social well-being of hundreds of .Slorvak re£ugees who arrived in Germany also came to, devolrve upon Cerna.k, and his name is vecy closely associated with the Slorvaik institute in M'll.Il.ich. IDven this meagelt' cwt-and-dry survey of his recent major acltivities yields us the realization that 1lhe foul politioal murder, which so unexpectedly wrested Matus Cerna;k f.rom our midst, is to all the Slwaks in the free world and to the struggle for a democratic independent Sloiva.k.ia a much greater loss and a much more sigmfi.. cant incident than we had ap1Pmised and accounted it in the earliest hours of our grief. After the Cernova masS8Jcre of 1907, the murder of Stefanik m 1919 and of Dr. Jozef Tiso in 1947, this attack of July 5, :1!955, will be re- �12 corded in Slorvaik national annals as a historically 'Vital eivent. The death of fMatws Cemak marks mot merely the passing o.f another exiled SlO'V'3Jk diplomat and ipatriot who dedicated all his mind and heart to the struggle to liberate Slorvaikia from Oom.mJUnism and the Czech yoke. Matus Cerna'k's previ!ous politicial background, his personal character and talents, hi•s uncompromising doggedness and his tireless and successful activities within the territory of one of the most decisive powers affecting the fate of Slova,kia - all this contributed to make Cerna·k indispensalble to the CU"rrent state of our pol,i tical efforts as w~U as a symlbol of posterity. Who Was Matus Oernak? Matus Cerruik was bo,r n on August 28, 1903, in the town of Vieska where his father was a miller. After his preliminary education in iPrievidza, Kezmarok, and Banska Bystrica,. he undertook university studies ,i n 'Brague and subsequently ,in Leipzig, Germany. His courses were orientated toward a professorship. Having attained his diploma, he spent several years in teaching •a t Trnava, and in 19i30 he became a high school instnuctor in Bratislava. Until 1937 Cernwk devoted himself a,lmost exclusirvely to aoademic pursuits and to cultural interests. He was, however, one of the younger element, a member of that youthful and vitally conscious generation of !Slovruks who in the 1932 demonstrations at Trencianske Teplice gave Prague incontrovertible evidence of the fact that the spiritual and political development of Slova,kia will follow native inspiration and bent and wiN not ibe trammeled by constraining directirves from Prague. As a youthful patriot, then, Cernak naturally found himself an active participant in various political demonstrn:tions Slllpporting ·Slorvakia's interests and deserts. It wa.s the temper of the times that shaped his destiny. He made more and more public appearances and spirited pronouncements hut after his patriotic manifesto delivered in the ,Slovak National Theater in 1937, Cernak was overnight not only projected ,i nto popular ac- �SLOVAKIA 13 claim but was also irrevocably committed to bis role as an outstanding leader in the political arena, The keynote of his message on this occasian was "Orurs is that portion of land 'beneath the Tatras and to us rightfully belongs all i1ls yield." This cry and justification came to echo from inrn.1mera:ble speaker's platforms and it blazed its appeal throughout all the press houses of SlovaJkia. Within. a year after this induction into public national life, Matus Cernak, despite his youthful thirty-five years, became a minister in the Prague government. Prague,. long accustomed to an accord of fawning subservience and servility ,o n the part of those to whom she had granted political ministries and various similar offices, ,s oon realized that this Cernak who accepted a ministerial portfolio came as a representative of a new generation. He was not a hireling. He was a public servant who bore the concerns of the Slovak nation deep in his heart, one to be touched neither by bribes nor by intimidatioo. He was upright as well as fearless and his attitude was undisguised. He understood that it served no purpose to temporize with the Czechs; consequently, ne had hardly estaJblished himself in his new office when, mincing no words, he demanded as by a 24-hour ultimatum that Dr. Benes examme the Slova,k problem in the spirit of the Pittsburgh Pact; i.e.,. Cernak sought to activate Slovakia's autonomy as it had been guaranteed by the Czechs when Thomas G. Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact in 1918 and the unreserved ratification of the Parli'ament convened on Noivember 12, 1918 had made the agreement binding both legally and morally. Benes was unwilling to meet Cerna.k's terms. Manfully and honorably, Cer:nak offered his resignation from ministerial duties and his decisive action hastened Slovakia's autonomy and later her complete independence. In the autonomous state of Slovakia (October 6, 1938 - March 13, 1939) Cernak became a prominent and '!)01)ular personality. iHe was named minister of education and after the proclamation of independence, he was appointed the first Slovak envoy to Berlin. �14 SLOVAKIA Be11lin was not only the most significant, it was also the most difficult ambassadorial .p ost. The very existence of the Slovak •r epublic often hUlll.g by a hair there, and the ·Sloviak diplomatic representative had to exercise consummate tact whille at the sarrne time he preserved an inflexible devotion to his country and defended the interests committed to him in sa:cred trust. Matus Ce.milk proved himself in this capacity. He again advanced the welfare of Slovakia with the sarrne degree of ardor and uncomprom~•s ing vigor which had characterized him formerly in Prague, and his mission was successful. So well, in fact, did he acquaint himself of his duties that he won for the SlovaJk caruse the sympathies even of that power that oome after ,t he occurpaition of Germa.ny, a.nd in its eyes, too, he was accepted as a non--ae<!redited envoy of the Slovak nation. Political reprisals meted out a ,prison sentence for Cerna.k, and after serving several years in B:vatislava, he left Slovrukia ,i n 1948. (His country was then degraded by the Communistic and Czech regimes. Cernak in exille dedicated himself to the struggle to secure a new freedom and independence for Slo-v:aki-a, a sacred fight against Communism, a ,c rusade for the triumph of democracy, and liberty. For this reason, the ·b rutal political murder .of Matus Cernak, who had been favored lby fate to assume in this national struggle for liberty rund independence a role granted only to heroes rund to persons of Ulll.COmmom historic statUTe,. has shaken every worthy SlorvaJk and every honorable person in the world. For in that little post office in Munich there feN :at the hands of a cynical muroerer not merely a member of the little Slovak nation rbut a wholiJ.y dedicated defender of the idea of freedom and democracy, and that at the very hour when the representatives of international Communism and of Czech imperialism were sporting the ma:sk of surface smiles and pretending sugiared speeches on peace and coo.p eration and coexistence. If the world's free press agencies, broadcasts and tele- �SLOVAKIA 15 vised reports from Bonn to W aslrington, from Paris to Canada, Australia, Argentina, and all the free world ciroufated reports and commentaries 00: this despica,ble political crime, then it was in tribute to the 'Victim Cerna;k, a promoter of the ideal of freedom and democracy. Only the intervention and meddling of the forces of cowardly appeasement, of colla.:boration with Communism and Czechsown hatred of the Slov,a,ks prevented the .glorification of this sacrifice, Matus Cernak, as a 1price demanded by the true instinct of Communism and of Czech chau'Vinism. Their malice alone precluded the hailing of Matus Cermilk as a martyr to the cause of liberty and democracy, blessings cherished by the -umiversal free world. This honor Matus Cernalk fully deserves. The Slwak nation at home and all loyal Slovaks now exiled a:nd -scattered throrughout the far-d:hmg countries of the free world can appraise this holocaust of Matus Cerna'k in its full historic significance. Why Was Matus Cernak Slain? Matus Cernruk fell because he was the foe of Communism and of Czech efforts to dominate Slov,m a and to usur.p her rights. He was singled orut as one of the most unyielding exponents of the principle of liberty and a democratic way for Slovalkia. For these reasons he beoame mar,ked as a sworn enemy of the dual powers of :international Communism and of Czech aggressiv~ pretensions. Beoaiu:se he had already established a record of several years o.f sru'Ccessful service on the Slovaik political front which has !been in the recent past and whlch will very likely in the near future again be of paramount importance in the 1SlOV'a.:k contest for liberty and independence, not only Communistic Prague hurt also the adherents of there-e~bl-ished Czech hegemony QIVer Slovakia ranked him as the number one man on their list of resistance leaders active in exile to thwart their nefarious designs. He fell ,b ecause of his love for SloWJkia suffering under Czech domination., because of his friendly attitude toward the Gel'Ill.an nation, and b.ecaruse of the fruitf.ul mission he was accomplishing in the Republic oif Western �16 SLOVAKIA Germany where he had all. the p:vospects of continuing an eminently flourishing career. ·· .. Whether the base assassin will be discoivered as an individual or not, it is unmistakably clear to every thinking person just whose henchmen he must have been and in whose employ he accomplished his dastardly, bloody deed. Since 1945 so great ·a number of outstanding Slovak patriots has 1b een killed, deported and deprived of liberty that doUJbt concerning the mastermind of this vicious crime would hardly be in place. Czechs, iboth of the Communist water-mar.k and non-Communist conformers, especially those who in the wake of unsuccessful collaJboration with Communism escaped into the countries of western Euvope live in abnormal foar.s bred by guilt, the spawn of those crimes they per.petrated against the Sudeten and Cavpathian Ge:rnnans. Their panic mounts as they see Germany mow in the ascendency. as one of the influential nations in international 1p olitics. To iboth classes of Czechs it is clear that the existence of the Czecho~Slovalk Republic, the question of Czeoh !b oundar~es and conditions affecting the principles of life for the Czech nation in the future will come to depend in no small measure and in no negligible way on Germany and on this decisive f.actor whether or not :Slovalkia will succeed in winning the support of influential ,powers which will further her endeavor for independence. Matus Cernak with over 15 years of residence _in Germ.any and very desirable contacts and personal acquaintances even among the highest of German dignitaries was undenia;bly instrumental ,i n ,s oouring favor for the idea of SlovaJkia's independence. His peroonal integrity and his indefatiga;ble efforts in behalf of his country, as posthumously a;ppraised ,b y the German press and attested to by hll!lldreds ,of telegrams of condolence, won sympathetic response even in the highest levels of political power in Bonn and presaged ultimate success for the Slova;k cause. It was primarily for this re8JSOn that the foes of the Slovak nation and of the Slovalk effort to attain national independence decided to liquidate Cerna:k. �SLOVAKIA , 17 The Political Message of M. Oernak Cernak was felied in the heat of the national struggle. He died with a conlViotion -Of Slovak truth, confident in the ultimate victory of the :natural ri.ght of the Slo.valk people to enjoy their pro,per national life. He ,c onsummated his own supreme sacr.ifice in the spirit of his motto "To liberty through sacrifice" and he signed his political credo with his own life's blood. It is not clifficll!lt nor willl it be difficult to• ascertain what wolilld have been the final political messaige of Cernak. He wrote it in 1938 in terms of his adamant resist• ance to compromise, his steadfastness and his patriotic ardorr. You can find it recorded in hundreds of his articles and political manifestos, in his life-long political career and in his heroic martyrdom. In the ranks of Slo'Vlak political figures, personages who have gone ,befo:rre us in death, Cernak takes hiis pla:ce as the representative of a new political generation, one which has sought ,a nd which stiill seeks a. solution. of the Slovak problem on a ,b roader European basis within the cadre of modern demo:cratic and Christian powers. For his pdlitical mission dn exile, Matus Cernruk was betteT prepared. than were most .Slovaks, and iby his educational background and his professional experience as well as by his ,personal endo.w,ments -8Jlld characteristics he satisfactorily evidenced a Slovalk sense of ,balance and maturity and fitness :for lirfe. He allso exemplified .Slovakia's innate belonging to Europe and to European traditions. 'Dhe most substantial and eloquent ·proof of his adequacy to fitl the ro[e he chose in the fight for a democratic and independent .Slov:akia is his very assassination, the tragiic ,b omb which the antagoodsts orf a Christian and independent SlwaJki'a sent him. The death of Matus Cerna:k is a painflill and very grievoU1S loss to the Slovak forces woriking •i n exiJe; it is one of the severest blows which the Slo¥~k people could suffer at this time. The manner to which their foes had to resort in order to bring 0Jbout CernaJk's deswuction, �18 SLOVAKIA however, is d.n itself an assurance to all Slovaik em:igres that in the eyes of Prague and of international Communism ,i t is no "quan·t ite negligeable," that it is, in fact, so formidable a hindrance to them for the Slovaks to be allied with the democracies that they even ventured such a brutal scandal to register their reaction. To Slovruk 1patriots in exile, mourning the death of their most distinguished representative, Matus Cernak, this realization begets a fresh spur to redoubled activities. Consummate triumph of the Slovaik hope for independence beckons on the trail over which Matus Cernak has forged ahead in honor and in complete unflinching dedication. God grant it! - "BuNetin of the Slovruk National Council Abroad," June, 1956) . • • • LABOR AND THE SWVAK REPUBLIC J. C. Bukovina " Our policy shall not be socialis·tic, but social. We shall not incite J:}eople against our. selves, but we shall train them to be understanding and Wilted . .A:bove all else, work is the foundation of our policy." 'Dr. Joseph Tlso, Oct. 8, 1S38. October 6, 1938, and March 14, 1939, found the S10vruks prepared. The Hlin:ka ·S lovak People's Party, whic:h had fought consistently for twenty years before Munich to secure the national existence of the Slova!k nation, was fully prepared for these two historical milestones - to take over the direction of the fate of the Slovak nation. The fight of the Slovaks for national independence in the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovak State was actually a struggle and a call of the Slovruk nation for social justice. Once the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Exlward Benes had taken over the reigns of state, promises made to the Slovruks in America and elsewhere were soon forgotten, and the Slovalks found themselves again in the position of the exploited. Like the Magyars, the Czechs found little trouble in recruiting Judas Slovaks to promote not the interests of the Slovak nation, but the interests of the Czech nation, � 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 SLOVAKIA 11 THE POLITICAL MESSAGE OF MATUS CERNAK By Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum On J'lliy 5, 1955 Matus CernaJk, a .d istinguished Sl01Vaik politician and diplomat, was assassinated in Munich, Germany. Forces rabid in orpposing our effort ,to secure and esfablish an independent Slovakia could have hardly struck a more tell.mg blow than was this dastardly attack, for by it they .removed from :actiive service an esteemed patriot,. this Cernak of whom it may be said that of all n:a. tiona1 movers currently in exile, he most closely approximated what, lt'elatively speaking, we might designate as the position of a 8Jll-accredited legaJte of the Slovak nation to the republic of Western Germany. And to him as such were paid final tributes and honors in death not only by the ch8Jllcello.r of Western Germany himself who expressed deep sympathy cm the occasion of Cerna.k's tragic death. :rn Gemiany Matus Cern.ak signalized himse1f beyond his office as a desewing politidan and drplomat. It was due mostly 'to his lll.Iltiring diligence and interest that two noteworthy pulbl:ications continued to appear after the departure of Dr. Jozef Pauoo; viz., SLOBODNE SLOVENSKO ('Free Slovaikia, founded by Dr. Pauco) and SWWAKi1SCHE KORJRESPO!NiDENe;. Concern for the social well-being of hundreds of .Slorvak re£ugees who arrived in Germany also came to, devolrve upon Cerna.k, and his name is vecy closely associated with the Slorvaik institute in M'll.Il.ich. IDven this meagelt' cwt-and-dry survey of his recent major acltivities yields us the realization that 1lhe foul politioal murder, which so unexpectedly wrested Matus Cerna;k f.rom our midst, is to all the Slwaks in the free world and to the struggle for a democratic independent Sloiva.k.ia a much greater loss and a much more sigmfi.. cant incident than we had ap1Pmised and accounted it in the earliest hours of our grief. After the Cernova masS8Jcre of 1907, the murder of Stefanik m 1919 and of Dr. Jozef Tiso in 1947, this attack of July 5, :1!955, will be re- 12 corded in Slorvaik national annals as a historically 'Vital eivent. The death of fMatws Cemak marks mot merely the passing o.f another exiled SlO'V'3Jk diplomat and ipatriot who dedicated all his mind and heart to the struggle to liberate Slorvaikia from Oom.mJUnism and the Czech yoke. Matus Cerna'k's previ!ous politicial background, his personal character and talents, hi•s uncompromising doggedness and his tireless and successful activities within the territory of one of the most decisive powers affecting the fate of Slova,kia - all this contributed to make Cerna·k indispensalble to the CU"rrent state of our pol,i tical efforts as w~U as a symlbol of posterity. Who Was Matus Oernak? Matus Cerruik was bo,r n on August 28, 1903, in the town of Vieska where his father was a miller. After his preliminary education in iPrievidza, Kezmarok, and Banska Bystrica,. he undertook university studies ,i n 'Brague and subsequently ,in Leipzig, Germany. His courses were orientated toward a professorship. Having attained his diploma, he spent several years in teaching •a t Trnava, and in 19i30 he became a high school instnuctor in Bratislava. Until 1937 Cernwk devoted himself a,lmost exclusirvely to aoademic pursuits and to cultural interests. He was, however, one of the younger element, a member of that youthful and vitally conscious generation of !Slovruks who in the 1932 demonstrations at Trencianske Teplice gave Prague incontrovertible evidence of the fact that the spiritual and political development of Slova,kia will follow native inspiration and bent and wiN not ibe trammeled by constraining directirves from Prague. As a youthful patriot, then, Cernak naturally found himself an active participant in various political demonstrn:tions Slllpporting ·Slorvakia's interests and deserts. It wa.s the temper of the times that shaped his destiny. He made more and more public appearances and spirited pronouncements hut after his patriotic manifesto delivered in the ,Slovak National Theater in 1937, Cernak was overnight not only projected ,i nto popular ac- SLOVAKIA 13 claim but was also irrevocably committed to bis role as an outstanding leader in the political arena, The keynote of his message on this occasian was "Orurs is that portion of land 'beneath the Tatras and to us rightfully belongs all i1ls yield." This cry and justification came to echo from inrn.1mera:ble speaker's platforms and it blazed its appeal throughout all the press houses of SlovaJkia. Within. a year after this induction into public national life, Matus Cernak, despite his youthful thirty-five years, became a minister in the Prague government. Prague,. long accustomed to an accord of fawning subservience and servility ,o n the part of those to whom she had granted political ministries and various similar offices, ,s oon realized that this Cernak who accepted a ministerial portfolio came as a representative of a new generation. He was not a hireling. He was a public servant who bore the concerns of the Slovak nation deep in his heart, one to be touched neither by bribes nor by intimidatioo. He was upright as well as fearless and his attitude was undisguised. He understood that it served no purpose to temporize with the Czechs; consequently, ne had hardly estaJblished himself in his new office when, mincing no words, he demanded as by a 24-hour ultimatum that Dr. Benes examme the Slova,k problem in the spirit of the Pittsburgh Pact; i.e.,. Cernak sought to activate Slovakia's autonomy as it had been guaranteed by the Czechs when Thomas G. Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Pact in 1918 and the unreserved ratification of the Parli'ament convened on Noivember 12, 1918 had made the agreement binding both legally and morally. Benes was unwilling to meet Cerna.k's terms. Manfully and honorably, Cer:nak offered his resignation from ministerial duties and his decisive action hastened Slovakia's autonomy and later her complete independence. In the autonomous state of Slovakia (October 6, 1938 - March 13, 1939) Cernak became a prominent and '!)01)ular personality. iHe was named minister of education and after the proclamation of independence, he was appointed the first Slovak envoy to Berlin. 14 SLOVAKIA Be11lin was not only the most significant, it was also the most difficult ambassadorial .p ost. The very existence of the Slovak •r epublic often hUlll.g by a hair there, and the ·Sloviak diplomatic representative had to exercise consummate tact whille at the sarrne time he preserved an inflexible devotion to his country and defended the interests committed to him in sa:cred trust. Matus Ce.milk proved himself in this capacity. He again advanced the welfare of Slovakia with the sarrne degree of ardor and uncomprom~•s ing vigor which had characterized him formerly in Prague, and his mission was successful. So well, in fact, did he acquaint himself of his duties that he won for the SlovaJk caruse the sympathies even of that power that oome after ,t he occurpaition of Germa.ny, a.nd in its eyes, too, he was accepted as a non--ae<!redited envoy of the Slovak nation. Political reprisals meted out a ,prison sentence for Cerna.k, and after serving several years in B:vatislava, he left Slovrukia ,i n 1948. (His country was then degraded by the Communistic and Czech regimes. Cernak in exille dedicated himself to the struggle to secure a new freedom and independence for Slo-v:aki-a, a sacred fight against Communism, a ,c rusade for the triumph of democracy, and liberty. For this reason, the ·b rutal political murder .of Matus Cernak, who had been favored lby fate to assume in this national struggle for liberty rund independence a role granted only to heroes rund to persons of Ulll.COmmom historic statUTe,. has shaken every worthy SlorvaJk and every honorable person in the world. For in that little post office in Munich there feN :at the hands of a cynical muroerer not merely a member of the little Slovak nation rbut a wholiJ.y dedicated defender of the idea of freedom and democracy, and that at the very hour when the representatives of international Communism and of Czech imperialism were sporting the ma:sk of surface smiles and pretending sugiared speeches on peace and coo.p eration and coexistence. If the world's free press agencies, broadcasts and tele- SLOVAKIA 15 vised reports from Bonn to W aslrington, from Paris to Canada, Australia, Argentina, and all the free world ciroufated reports and commentaries 00: this despica,ble political crime, then it was in tribute to the 'Victim Cerna;k, a promoter of the ideal of freedom and democracy. Only the intervention and meddling of the forces of cowardly appeasement, of colla.:boration with Communism and Czechsown hatred of the Slov,a,ks prevented the .glorification of this sacrifice, Matus Cernak, as a 1price demanded by the true instinct of Communism and of Czech chau'Vinism. Their malice alone precluded the hailing of Matus Cermilk as a martyr to the cause of liberty and democracy, blessings cherished by the -umiversal free world. This honor Matus Cernalk fully deserves. The Slwak nation at home and all loyal Slovaks now exiled a:nd -scattered throrughout the far-d:hmg countries of the free world can appraise this holocaust of Matus Cerna'k in its full historic significance. Why Was Matus Cernak Slain? Matus Cernruk fell because he was the foe of Communism and of Czech efforts to dominate Slov,m a and to usur.p her rights. He was singled orut as one of the most unyielding exponents of the principle of liberty and a democratic way for Slovalkia. For these reasons he beoame mar,ked as a sworn enemy of the dual powers of :international Communism and of Czech aggressiv~ pretensions. Beoaiu:se he had already established a record of several years o.f sru'Ccessful service on the Slovaik political front which has !been in the recent past and whlch will very likely in the near future again be of paramount importance in the 1SlOV'a.:k contest for liberty and independence, not only Communistic Prague hurt also the adherents of there-e~bl-ished Czech hegemony QIVer Slovakia ranked him as the number one man on their list of resistance leaders active in exile to thwart their nefarious designs. He fell ,b ecause of his love for SloWJkia suffering under Czech domination., because of his friendly attitude toward the Gel'Ill.an nation, and b.ecaruse of the fruitf.ul mission he was accomplishing in the Republic oif Western 16 SLOVAKIA Germany where he had all. the p:vospects of continuing an eminently flourishing career. ·· .. Whether the base assassin will be discoivered as an individual or not, it is unmistakably clear to every thinking person just whose henchmen he must have been and in whose employ he accomplished his dastardly, bloody deed. Since 1945 so great ·a number of outstanding Slovak patriots has 1b een killed, deported and deprived of liberty that doUJbt concerning the mastermind of this vicious crime would hardly be in place. Czechs, iboth of the Communist water-mar.k and non-Communist conformers, especially those who in the wake of unsuccessful collaJboration with Communism escaped into the countries of western Euvope live in abnormal foar.s bred by guilt, the spawn of those crimes they per.petrated against the Sudeten and Cavpathian Ge:rnnans. Their panic mounts as they see Germany mow in the ascendency. as one of the influential nations in international 1p olitics. To iboth classes of Czechs it is clear that the existence of the Czecho~Slovalk Republic, the question of Czeoh !b oundar~es and conditions affecting the principles of life for the Czech nation in the future will come to depend in no small measure and in no negligible way on Germany and on this decisive f.actor whether or not :Slovalkia will succeed in winning the support of influential ,powers which will further her endeavor for independence. Matus Cernak with over 15 years of residence _in Germ.any and very desirable contacts and personal acquaintances even among the highest of German dignitaries was undenia;bly instrumental ,i n ,s oouring favor for the idea of SlovaJkia's independence. His peroonal integrity and his indefatiga;ble efforts in behalf of his country, as posthumously a;ppraised ,b y the German press and attested to by hll!lldreds ,of telegrams of condolence, won sympathetic response even in the highest levels of political power in Bonn and presaged ultimate success for the Slova;k cause. It was primarily for this re8JSOn that the foes of the Slovak nation and of the Slovalk effort to attain national independence decided to liquidate Cerna:k. SLOVAKIA , 17 The Political Message of M. Oernak Cernak was felied in the heat of the national struggle. He died with a conlViotion -Of Slovak truth, confident in the ultimate victory of the :natural ri.ght of the Slo.valk people to enjoy their pro,per national life. He ,c onsummated his own supreme sacr.ifice in the spirit of his motto "To liberty through sacrifice" and he signed his political credo with his own life's blood. It is not clifficll!lt nor willl it be difficult to• ascertain what wolilld have been the final political messaige of Cernak. He wrote it in 1938 in terms of his adamant resist• ance to compromise, his steadfastness and his patriotic ardorr. You can find it recorded in hundreds of his articles and political manifestos, in his life-long political career and in his heroic martyrdom. In the ranks of Slo'Vlak political figures, personages who have gone ,befo:rre us in death, Cernak takes hiis pla:ce as the representative of a new political generation, one which has sought ,a nd which stiill seeks a. solution. of the Slovak problem on a ,b roader European basis within the cadre of modern demo:cratic and Christian powers. For his pdlitical mission dn exile, Matus Cernruk was betteT prepared. than were most .Slovaks, and iby his educational background and his professional experience as well as by his ,personal endo.w,ments -8Jlld characteristics he satisfactorily evidenced a Slovalk sense of ,balance and maturity and fitness :for lirfe. He allso exemplified .Slovakia's innate belonging to Europe and to European traditions. 'Dhe most substantial and eloquent ·proof of his adequacy to fitl the ro[e he chose in the fight for a democratic and independent .Slov:akia is his very assassination, the tragiic ,b omb which the antagoodsts orf a Christian and independent SlwaJki'a sent him. The death of Matus Cerna:k is a painflill and very grievoU1S loss to the Slovak forces woriking •i n exiJe; it is one of the severest blows which the Slo¥~k people could suffer at this time. The manner to which their foes had to resort in order to bring 0Jbout CernaJk's deswuction, 18 SLOVAKIA however, is d.n itself an assurance to all Slovaik em:igres that in the eyes of Prague and of international Communism ,i t is no "quan·t ite negligeable," that it is, in fact, so formidable a hindrance to them for the Slovaks to be allied with the democracies that they even ventured such a brutal scandal to register their reaction. To Slovruk 1patriots in exile, mourning the death of their most distinguished representative, Matus Cernak, this realization begets a fresh spur to redoubled activities. Consummate triumph of the Slovaik hope for independence beckons on the trail over which Matus Cernak has forged ahead in honor and in complete unflinching dedication. God grant it! - "BuNetin of the Slovruk National Council Abroad," June, 1956) . • • • LABOR AND THE SWVAK REPUBLIC J. C. Bukovina " Our policy shall not be socialis·tic, but social. We shall not incite J:}eople against our. selves, but we shall train them to be understanding and Wilted . .A:bove all else, work is the foundation of our policy." 'Dr. Joseph Tlso, Oct. 8, 1S38. October 6, 1938, and March 14, 1939, found the S10vruks prepared. The Hlin:ka ·S lovak People's Party, whic:h had fought consistently for twenty years before Munich to secure the national existence of the Slova!k nation, was fully prepared for these two historical milestones - to take over the direction of the fate of the Slovak nation. The fight of the Slovaks for national independence in the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovak State was actually a struggle and a call of the Slovruk nation for social justice. Once the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Exlward Benes had taken over the reigns of state, promises made to the Slovruks in America and elsewhere were soon forgotten, and the Slovalks found themselves again in the position of the exploited. Like the Magyars, the Czechs found little trouble in recruiting Judas Slovaks to promote not the interests of the Slovak nation, but the interests of the Czech nation,  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 Political Message of Matúš Černák Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 2 (19), June 1956 pp. 11-18 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 June 1956 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/01bc66f2833ce4fac59ede74e25d714b.pdf ec017380c6c507e8d93e1e296800df83 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 3 LOUIS STOR CENTENNIAL Joseph Kirschbaum The yeaT 1956 marks one hundred years since the death oif one ,o f the most eminent Slovak patriots of a11 time, Louis Stoc. It undouibted[y wH'l 'be gratefully commemorated iby Sloivalks everywhere, because Stur and his fol_, lowers came upon the scene of history when the situation of the Slovaks undeir the Magyam in Hungary seemed to be quite hopeless. Stur's electrifying influence is in fact res,pon.si!ble for the birth of modern natiionaJlism of the Slovak nation. When Louis Stur was dying on January 12, 1856, from a gnrnshot wound accideintany inflicted during a hunting e~pedition, he ,probably never thought that the torcih of nationaJl consciousness, which he had taken over fTom the followers of Bernolak and which he inflamed with the burning feeling and greatness of his spirit, woU1ld become a lasting li,ght of 1Slovaik history. Difficult and gloomy were ,t he times in Slovalkia around the year 185·5. Years after national unity was attained on the question of the language of Slovak literature, years after the revolutions of 1848-49, and after years of hopes based on the promises of the Habsburgs and on the revolutionary victories of the natural rights, of enSllaved nations, there came more disappointments, and the enemies of the Slavaik reaiwakening came to life again to continue in their woir'k against the life of the Slovak nation. The Slovaks suffered not onll.y from the Magy~r gentry, but even from some of their own inteillecturalis who did not believe in the viaJbility of their nation and preferred to see it assimilated by others. Great ideas, supported by the natural law, however, canrnot die. They may be tempornri1y suppressed and silenced, hut in the end they are always victorious , Thal is why enemies within and outside the Slova1k nation could not destroy the concept of the individuaUty of the Slovak nation, its language, cultu:re ,a nd its right to an independent life. After the passage of a hundred difficult years, �4 SLOVAKIA even now during the reigp. of Communists in Slova:kia, this idea is very muc'h alive. The victOTy of this idea is today crysfal clear not only .to Slova,k intellectuals, ,b utt even to the Last ordinary person in Slovakia, and to SlovaJks everywhere. In the years foHowing World War I, seveml mistaken Slova:k intellectuals tried to frustrate deveilopment of Slovruk na,tionalism in the same manner that Kollar and Safarik attempted to do in the forties of the last century. The former, however, intellectual li1hl1putians in comparison, were no more siuocessfwl than the latter. The S'1ovak nation, its language, literatme, and its cll!lture outlasted all storms and betrayals. The path, cleared and ,b eaten .by the Catholic intellectuals from the University of Trnava, by Bernolak, Fandli, Holly, and othern, on to which Stur, in the. spirit of uniting the nation, ied a •lso the Protestant part of the intelligentsia and .peOiple, proived! to be the salva,tion of the Slovak nation and a boon to 'its cu!ltmal and social growth. The significance of StUT and his group, however, is not only po:ritical, as some. writers wou1d have us believe. Like the enlightened generation of Bernolruk, so the followePs of Sbur were a generation with a broad leaxning of phHoso•p hy, history, 'linguistics, a;nd literature. Writers, who wouid se,r iously write about the significance of Stur iin our national life during this centennial o,f his death, wm also have to, evaJluate Stu.r's role in Slovak ,philo.so:phy, as waJS already so expertly begun (Dr. Stephen Polrukovic, prof. Cizevskij, and Dr. S. S. Osus:ky); they will have to eV'aluate the work of Stur and his followers in the field of popular education and enlightenment (Dr. Josep'h Pauoo published a valuable wonk in this direction: "Eudovychova u sturovcov") ; also. in the field of 'Slovak literature (as already done by Skultety, Vajansik__y, Kr.emery, Wek, M. Pirut, A . Mra:z, and others); ·a nd in the fie[d of phHoso-phy, as well. Despite Stu.r's comparatively youthful age, his education and activities were admirably ma:ny-s1ded. It i,s not without a certain amount of pride that we say that there are only a few serious works in the indilVidual depa·r tments of Slavistics in which we do not meet with the name of L. Stur in foreign languages and that, except for the books �SLOVAKIA 5 written on the basis of Ozech sources, they are not negative opinions. Therefore, if in anything, besides an ardent love and sacrifice for the nation, the followers of Stur can be a model for our generation, then it is in their thorough preparatiorn. for the role which they had marked out for themselves in Slovak Hfe. They wanted to liberate Sloivak life from smallness and ,i,s olation and, therefore, they themselves first so1Ught a broad European education. They wanted a standard, uniform Slovruk literary language, so they not only encouraged others to write in that language, lbut themselves also wrote expert reflections and grammars rubout Slovruk. Their aim was a grand, beautiful Slovak literature, and they themselves created it in all branches of endeavor. They wanted to rouse the nation to self--consciousness, the,r efore· they studied its past and revealed it to the people who knew little or nothing about it. They wanted to lift up the people from ,poverty and abandonment, so they went among their people, taught and trained it; they se-rved as an example with their own lives - they did what they preached. Because they were people, they did mruke mistrukes, but enemies of the Slovq1k nation are pointing to and magnifying these in vain. Their mistaJkes were the mistaikes of the century in which they Uved, as Ernest Denis so understandingly reflected in his "La Question d' A1Utriche - Les Siovaques" in 19117. Their smallness or greatnes, their reality or romanticism can 'b e measUTed only against the b~ckground of the conditions and of the period in which they lived. We can justly judge them only according to the fruit which the trees planted by them bore., the resullts of their work which brought a new and more beautiful life to the Slovak nation. The fruits of their spiritual labor are lifegiving even today and many of them are the most beautiful which the Slovak nationa1l genius has created. And this is the important thing. Slova:ks in the free world can enrich their lives to a great measure, if they acquaint themselves during this cen~ tennial of Louis Stur with the many-sided a.nd diversified work of Stur and his followers. Wdth regard to the con.di-· �6 SLOVAK1IA tions under which the nation lives at .ho~e under Communism, it is our moral duty to acquaint ourselves with the endeavons of those who a:lready over a hundred years ago .warned us against the plague of Oommunism. With r-egard to the political mission of our geineratiO!Il, it wouild be to our advantage to. study the ideas of Stur, because then we shall learn that the credo and politicaJl legacy of Louis Stur was: "So that we ourselves might be revived and take the place in history which according to our strength and abilities belongs to us, we must once and for all free ourselves from the hated, alien yoke and gain state independence for ourselves: because a nation which is enslaved has lits hands tied, its spirit stifled, and is forever threatened with the danger that sooner or later it will perish." 1 • • • STOR : FATHER OF MODERN SIJOVAK NATIONALISM Marian ~iar In 1948 !Slovaks had an o,pportunity to assess the revolutionary events of a hundred years ago•. ,r t was our duty at that time to recall the legacy of Stur and his folJl.owers and to appraise their ,political program. Unfortunate:ly, due to circumstances !beyond our control, the year 1948 was not ·an opportune time for a ceJebration of such g,reat significance and extent as was the revolution of 11848-49. In 1956, however, during the .centennial of Stur's death, another opportunity presents itself to ponder over the fate, the Jife, the struggle, and the aim of the entire generation of Stur. Stephen Krcmery, eminent historian of Slova,k literature, said that Stu.r's generation .began "a new chapter in the rustle-fbu'Stle of a thousand years." Representatives of the previous generation - Holly, Kollar and Safarik - still lived, Slovak poets still argued aibout rythm and accent, and the nation still looked for consolation in Svatopluk's Great Moravian Empire (iHolly), or to RusS:ia - to that Slav "giant oak," a:s Kollar ca111ed: i t when suddenly new people began to appear and new voices were heard. Kuzmany, from the distant and wide scope of his predecessors, drew attention of the world to the heart � SLOVAKIA 3 LOUIS STOR CENTENNIAL Joseph Kirschbaum The yeaT 1956 marks one hundred years since the death oif one ,o f the most eminent Slovak patriots of a11 time, Louis Stoc. It undouibted[y wH'l 'be gratefully commemorated iby Sloivalks everywhere, because Stur and his fol_, lowers came upon the scene of history when the situation of the Slovaks undeir the Magyam in Hungary seemed to be quite hopeless. Stur's electrifying influence is in fact res,pon.si!ble for the birth of modern natiionaJlism of the Slovak nation. When Louis Stur was dying on January 12, 1856, from a gnrnshot wound accideintany inflicted during a hunting e~pedition, he ,probably never thought that the torcih of nationaJl consciousness, which he had taken over fTom the followers of Bernolak and which he inflamed with the burning feeling and greatness of his spirit, woU1ld become a lasting li,ght of 1Slovaik history. Difficult and gloomy were ,t he times in Slovalkia around the year 185·5. Years after national unity was attained on the question of the language of Slovak literature, years after the revolutions of 1848-49, and after years of hopes based on the promises of the Habsburgs and on the revolutionary victories of the natural rights, of enSllaved nations, there came more disappointments, and the enemies of the Slavaik reaiwakening came to life again to continue in their woir'k against the life of the Slovak nation. The Slovaks suffered not onll.y from the Magy~r gentry, but even from some of their own inteillecturalis who did not believe in the viaJbility of their nation and preferred to see it assimilated by others. Great ideas, supported by the natural law, however, canrnot die. They may be tempornri1y suppressed and silenced, hut in the end they are always victorious , Thal is why enemies within and outside the Slova1k nation could not destroy the concept of the individuaUty of the Slovak nation, its language, cultu:re ,a nd its right to an independent life. After the passage of a hundred difficult years, �4 SLOVAKIA even now during the reigp. of Communists in Slova:kia, this idea is very muc'h alive. The victOTy of this idea is today crysfal clear not only .to Slova,k intellectuals, ,b utt even to the Last ordinary person in Slovakia, and to SlovaJks everywhere. In the years foHowing World War I, seveml mistaken Slova:k intellectuals tried to frustrate deveilopment of Slovruk na,tionalism in the same manner that Kollar and Safarik attempted to do in the forties of the last century. The former, however, intellectual li1hl1putians in comparison, were no more siuocessfwl than the latter. The S'1ovak nation, its language, literatme, and its cll!lture outlasted all storms and betrayals. The path, cleared and ,b eaten .by the Catholic intellectuals from the University of Trnava, by Bernolak, Fandli, Holly, and othern, on to which Stur, in the. spirit of uniting the nation, ied a •lso the Protestant part of the intelligentsia and .peOiple, proived! to be the salva,tion of the Slovak nation and a boon to 'its cu!ltmal and social growth. The significance of StUT and his group, however, is not only po:ritical, as some. writers wou1d have us believe. Like the enlightened generation of Bernolruk, so the followePs of Sbur were a generation with a broad leaxning of phHoso•p hy, history, 'linguistics, a;nd literature. Writers, who wouid se,r iously write about the significance of Stur iin our national life during this centennial o,f his death, wm also have to, evaJluate Stu.r's role in Slovak ,philo.so:phy, as waJS already so expertly begun (Dr. Stephen Polrukovic, prof. Cizevskij, and Dr. S. S. Osus:ky); they will have to eV'aluate the work of Stur and his followers in the field of popular education and enlightenment (Dr. Josep'h Pauoo published a valuable wonk in this direction: "Eudovychova u sturovcov") ; also. in the field of 'Slovak literature (as already done by Skultety, Vajansik__y, Kr.emery, Wek, M. Pirut, A . Mra:z, and others); ·a nd in the fie[d of phHoso-phy, as well. Despite Stu.r's comparatively youthful age, his education and activities were admirably ma:ny-s1ded. It i,s not without a certain amount of pride that we say that there are only a few serious works in the indilVidual depa·r tments of Slavistics in which we do not meet with the name of L. Stur in foreign languages and that, except for the books �SLOVAKIA 5 written on the basis of Ozech sources, they are not negative opinions. Therefore, if in anything, besides an ardent love and sacrifice for the nation, the followers of Stur can be a model for our generation, then it is in their thorough preparatiorn. for the role which they had marked out for themselves in Slovak Hfe. They wanted to liberate Sloivak life from smallness and ,i,s olation and, therefore, they themselves first so1Ught a broad European education. They wanted a standard, uniform Slovruk literary language, so they not only encouraged others to write in that language, lbut themselves also wrote expert reflections and grammars rubout Slovruk. Their aim was a grand, beautiful Slovak literature, and they themselves created it in all branches of endeavor. They wanted to rouse the nation to self--consciousness, the,r efore· they studied its past and revealed it to the people who knew little or nothing about it. They wanted to lift up the people from ,poverty and abandonment, so they went among their people, taught and trained it; they se-rved as an example with their own lives - they did what they preached. Because they were people, they did mruke mistrukes, but enemies of the Slovq1k nation are pointing to and magnifying these in vain. Their mistaJkes were the mistaikes of the century in which they Uved, as Ernest Denis so understandingly reflected in his "La Question d' A1Utriche - Les Siovaques" in 19117. Their smallness or greatnes, their reality or romanticism can 'b e measUTed only against the b~ckground of the conditions and of the period in which they lived. We can justly judge them only according to the fruit which the trees planted by them bore., the resullts of their work which brought a new and more beautiful life to the Slovak nation. The fruits of their spiritual labor are lifegiving even today and many of them are the most beautiful which the Slovak nationa1l genius has created. And this is the important thing. Slova:ks in the free world can enrich their lives to a great measure, if they acquaint themselves during this cen~ tennial of Louis Stur with the many-sided a.nd diversified work of Stur and his followers. Wdth regard to the con.di-· �6 SLOVAK1IA tions under which the nation lives at .ho~e under Communism, it is our moral duty to acquaint ourselves with the endeavons of those who a:lready over a hundred years ago .warned us against the plague of Oommunism. With r-egard to the political mission of our geineratiO!Il, it wouild be to our advantage to. study the ideas of Stur, because then we shall learn that the credo and politicaJl legacy of Louis Stur was: "So that we ourselves might be revived and take the place in history which according to our strength and abilities belongs to us, we must once and for all free ourselves from the hated, alien yoke and gain state independence for ourselves: because a nation which is enslaved has lits hands tied, its spirit stifled, and is forever threatened with the danger that sooner or later it will perish." 1 • • • STOR : FATHER OF MODERN SIJOVAK NATIONALISM Marian ~iar In 1948 !Slovaks had an o,pportunity to assess the revolutionary events of a hundred years ago•. ,r t was our duty at that time to recall the legacy of Stur and his folJl.owers and to appraise their ,political program. Unfortunate:ly, due to circumstances !beyond our control, the year 1948 was not ·an opportune time for a ceJebration of such g,reat significance and extent as was the revolution of 11848-49. In 1956, however, during the .centennial of Stur's death, another opportunity presents itself to ponder over the fate, the Jife, the struggle, and the aim of the entire generation of Stur. Stephen Krcmery, eminent historian of Slova,k literature, said that Stu.r's generation .began "a new chapter in the rustle-fbu'Stle of a thousand years." Representatives of the previous generation - Holly, Kollar and Safarik - still lived, Slovak poets still argued aibout rythm and accent, and the nation still looked for consolation in Svatopluk's Great Moravian Empire (iHolly), or to RusS:ia - to that Slav "giant oak," a:s Kollar ca111ed: i t when suddenly new people began to appear and new voices were heard. Kuzmany, from the distant and wide scope of his predecessors, drew attention of the world to the heart � 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 SLOVAKIA 3 LOUIS STOR CENTENNIAL Joseph Kirschbaum The yeaT 1956 marks one hundred years since the death oif one ,o f the most eminent Slovak patriots of a11 time, Louis Stoc. It undouibted[y wH'l 'be gratefully commemorated iby Sloivalks everywhere, because Stur and his fol_, lowers came upon the scene of history when the situation of the Slovaks undeir the Magyam in Hungary seemed to be quite hopeless. Stur's electrifying influence is in fact res,pon.si!ble for the birth of modern natiionaJlism of the Slovak nation. When Louis Stur was dying on January 12, 1856, from a gnrnshot wound accideintany inflicted during a hunting e~pedition, he ,probably never thought that the torcih of nationaJl consciousness, which he had taken over fTom the followers of Bernolak and which he inflamed with the burning feeling and greatness of his spirit, woU1ld become a lasting li,ght of 1Slovaik history. Difficult and gloomy were ,t he times in Slovalkia around the year 185·5. Years after national unity was attained on the question of the language of Slovak literature, years after the revolutions of 1848-49, and after years of hopes based on the promises of the Habsburgs and on the revolutionary victories of the natural rights, of enSllaved nations, there came more disappointments, and the enemies of the Slavaik reaiwakening came to life again to continue in their woir'k against the life of the Slovak nation. The Slovaks suffered not onll.y from the Magy~r gentry, but even from some of their own inteillecturalis who did not believe in the viaJbility of their nation and preferred to see it assimilated by others. Great ideas, supported by the natural law, however, canrnot die. They may be tempornri1y suppressed and silenced, hut in the end they are always victorious , Thal is why enemies within and outside the Slova1k nation could not destroy the concept of the individuaUty of the Slovak nation, its language, cultu:re ,a nd its right to an independent life. After the passage of a hundred difficult years, 4 SLOVAKIA even now during the reigp. of Communists in Slova:kia, this idea is very muc'h alive. The victOTy of this idea is today crysfal clear not only .to Slova,k intellectuals, ,b utt even to the Last ordinary person in Slovakia, and to SlovaJks everywhere. In the years foHowing World War I, seveml mistaken Slova:k intellectuals tried to frustrate deveilopment of Slovruk na,tionalism in the same manner that Kollar and Safarik attempted to do in the forties of the last century. The former, however, intellectual li1hl1putians in comparison, were no more siuocessfwl than the latter. The S'1ovak nation, its language, literatme, and its cll!lture outlasted all storms and betrayals. The path, cleared and ,b eaten .by the Catholic intellectuals from the University of Trnava, by Bernolak, Fandli, Holly, and othern, on to which Stur, in the. spirit of uniting the nation, ied a •lso the Protestant part of the intelligentsia and .peOiple, proived! to be the salva,tion of the Slovak nation and a boon to 'its cu!ltmal and social growth. The significance of StUT and his group, however, is not only po:ritical, as some. writers wou1d have us believe. Like the enlightened generation of Bernolruk, so the followePs of Sbur were a generation with a broad leaxning of phHoso•p hy, history, 'linguistics, a;nd literature. Writers, who wouid se,r iously write about the significance of Stur iin our national life during this centennial o,f his death, wm also have to, evaJluate Stu.r's role in Slovak ,philo.so:phy, as waJS already so expertly begun (Dr. Stephen Polrukovic, prof. Cizevskij, and Dr. S. S. Osus:ky); they will have to eV'aluate the work of Stur and his followers in the field of popular education and enlightenment (Dr. Josep'h Pauoo published a valuable wonk in this direction: "Eudovychova u sturovcov") ; also. in the field of 'Slovak literature (as already done by Skultety, Vajansik__y, Kr.emery, Wek, M. Pirut, A . Mra:z, and others); ·a nd in the fie[d of phHoso-phy, as well. Despite Stu.r's comparatively youthful age, his education and activities were admirably ma:ny-s1ded. It i,s not without a certain amount of pride that we say that there are only a few serious works in the indilVidual depa·r tments of Slavistics in which we do not meet with the name of L. Stur in foreign languages and that, except for the books SLOVAKIA 5 written on the basis of Ozech sources, they are not negative opinions. Therefore, if in anything, besides an ardent love and sacrifice for the nation, the followers of Stur can be a model for our generation, then it is in their thorough preparatiorn. for the role which they had marked out for themselves in Slovak Hfe. They wanted to liberate Sloivak life from smallness and ,i,s olation and, therefore, they themselves first so1Ught a broad European education. They wanted a standard, uniform Slovruk literary language, so they not only encouraged others to write in that language, lbut themselves also wrote expert reflections and grammars rubout Slovruk. Their aim was a grand, beautiful Slovak literature, and they themselves created it in all branches of endeavor. They wanted to rouse the nation to self--consciousness, the,r efore· they studied its past and revealed it to the people who knew little or nothing about it. They wanted to lift up the people from ,poverty and abandonment, so they went among their people, taught and trained it; they se-rved as an example with their own lives - they did what they preached. Because they were people, they did mruke mistrukes, but enemies of the Slovq1k nation are pointing to and magnifying these in vain. Their mistaJkes were the mistaikes of the century in which they Uved, as Ernest Denis so understandingly reflected in his "La Question d' A1Utriche - Les Siovaques" in 19117. Their smallness or greatnes, their reality or romanticism can 'b e measUTed only against the b~ckground of the conditions and of the period in which they lived. We can justly judge them only according to the fruit which the trees planted by them bore., the resullts of their work which brought a new and more beautiful life to the Slovak nation. The fruits of their spiritual labor are lifegiving even today and many of them are the most beautiful which the Slovak nationa1l genius has created. And this is the important thing. Slova:ks in the free world can enrich their lives to a great measure, if they acquaint themselves during this cen~ tennial of Louis Stur with the many-sided a.nd diversified work of Stur and his followers. Wdth regard to the con.di-· 6 SLOVAK1IA tions under which the nation lives at .ho~e under Communism, it is our moral duty to acquaint ourselves with the endeavons of those who a:lready over a hundred years ago .warned us against the plague of Oommunism. With r-egard to the political mission of our geineratiO!Il, it wouild be to our advantage to. study the ideas of Stur, because then we shall learn that the credo and politicaJl legacy of Louis Stur was: "So that we ourselves might be revived and take the place in history which according to our strength and abilities belongs to us, we must once and for all free ourselves from the hated, alien yoke and gain state independence for ourselves: because a nation which is enslaved has lits hands tied, its spirit stifled, and is forever threatened with the danger that sooner or later it will perish." 1 • • • STOR : FATHER OF MODERN SIJOVAK NATIONALISM Marian ~iar In 1948 !Slovaks had an o,pportunity to assess the revolutionary events of a hundred years ago•. ,r t was our duty at that time to recall the legacy of Stur and his folJl.owers and to appraise their ,political program. Unfortunate:ly, due to circumstances !beyond our control, the year 1948 was not ·an opportune time for a ceJebration of such g,reat significance and extent as was the revolution of 11848-49. In 1956, however, during the .centennial of Stur's death, another opportunity presents itself to ponder over the fate, the Jife, the struggle, and the aim of the entire generation of Stur. Stephen Krcmery, eminent historian of Slova,k literature, said that Stu.r's generation .began "a new chapter in the rustle-fbu'Stle of a thousand years." Representatives of the previous generation - Holly, Kollar and Safarik - still lived, Slovak poets still argued aibout rythm and accent, and the nation still looked for consolation in Svatopluk's Great Moravian Empire (iHolly), or to RusS:ia - to that Slav "giant oak," a:s Kollar ca111ed: i t when suddenly new people began to appear and new voices were heard. Kuzmany, from the distant and wide scope of his predecessors, drew attention of the world to the heart  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 Louis Štúr Centennial Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 6, No. 1 (18), March 1956 pp. 3-6 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 March 1956 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/da02577accbe70499210de9cbe8d3295.pdf 8f437d2b75d1c5147c376ac14c6e27f6 PDF Text Text 44 SLOVAKIA the basic principle of human freedom. Let us never give our moral or legal blessing to the enslavement oif millions behind the J.ron Curtain who long to be free. Nor should we permit any international organization of which we are a member to compromise us in this regard. How can any nation ignore the moral issue involved in Roviet destruction of freedom in Hungary and subsequently want sanctions applied in the case of trouble in the Middle East? What organization can survive such a double standard? Either we have a system of law and order or the doctrine of might makes right is recognized. Communism cannot 1b e allowed to place itself above international law or God-gi,v en moral law. Our first Republican President Abraham Lincoln, said: "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. • • • The fiery trial thvough which we pass will light us down to the latest generation. • • * We, yes even we, have the power and bear the responsibility. • • * In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free. * * • We shall nobly save or meanly lose this last best ho.p e on earth." • • • INDEPENDENCE AN D THE SLOVAK PAST ,Joseph Kirschbaum, LL. D., Ph. D. The question of the national existence of the Slovak nation, the efforts expended by the Slovaks for national and state independence, are treated in various works of political writers. In their analysis of the problems of Central Europe, writers try to be objective, but their literary efforts demonstrate that they answer the question only partially and usually incorr-ectly. Not taking into account the use of tendencious sources, it appears that the fault lies particularly in the approach to the problem of Slovak efforts for independence from the downfall of the first state of the Slovaks, Great Moravia. !Many political writers identify creations of dynasties with creations of nations, especially in multi--national states, and overlooik the universalistir tendencies of Europe in the early centuries of the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. �SLOVAKIA 45 Ailly search of the question of the efforts of the Slovaks :fior independence in the course of the centuries requires that we take into consideration the whole series of actualities, which directly or indirectly created or affected the destinies of the SlovaJk and had any influence on Slovak political tendencies. We must necessarily take into accownt especially the following actualities : 1. Slovakia was and still is a component part of the European continent ·and, therefore, the spiritual and political development in Slovakia can be judged only by comparing it with the over-all EU.Topean development or evolution. At the same time, of course, we must taike. into account the fact that the territory of the Slovaks in the past was situated more than it is now on the border of western civilization, and that with this border...position there occurred automatica!lly a definite retardation of the spiritual and political cur:rents which emanated from the centers of European ciivilization. 2. In judging Slovak political development of the past, it is no less important to be mindful of the fact that the Slovaks, after the downfall of Great Moravia, their first state, got themselves into a supranational and later into a multi-national Hungary and the Hlabsburg Empire, and that they got into these ,political creations or formations not as a ruling or co-governing element, or voluntarily, as was the case with the Croatians and Czechs, but as inhabitants of a territory that was overcome by arms. 3. We must also bear in mind the special historical, geopolitical, and social conditions prevailing in Central Europe which via facti brought the individual and substantially delayed development of the nations lirving there m the direction of national independence and state independenc~. It is only when we bear in mind these three actualities, which determined Slovak life m the past, that we can correctly comprehend and evaluate the political evolution of Slovakia and the Slovaks. And it is understandable because, while the adherence of the SlovaJks to western civilization ::toes determine the source and the ya'l'dstick for the spiritual and political devel'Olpment of the Slovaks in the past, �46 SLOVAKIA the fact of the adherence of the Sl01Vaks to the ~ulturalpolitical area of Central Europe and to the aibove- mentioned state formations Hungary, Austria, and AustriaHungary - eX!plains why the concept ·o f national and political independence was realized later by the Slovaks than by other European nations. So that we might avoid confusion and incorrect conclusions, it is further necessary to distinguish between the idea of independence and the concept of statehood, the ex,istence of a state in some nation, because the state in its development passed through staiges :in which it had nothmg in comm()IJl with the nation as a bearer or carrier of political tpower. By the concept of independence we understand a free political determination of a nation as an informed subject of political power about its own affairs. In view of the fact that a modern state today has a nation for iti:; substratum and is not the patrimony of a ruler or the joint property of Estates, as it rhaippened to be up to the French Revolution, the distinction between the concept of independence and statehood today in no way appears prominently in current language. But even today it can haippen that a nation enjoys independence, as it happens, for example, in the case of a federation .. In analyzing the idea of independence in the Slovak past it is necessary, therefore, to bear in mind the efforts of the Slovaks as a politic-ally informed individuality, to manage their own affairs, to live and develop their own cultural and political life, regarding the question of statehood as a modern form of realizing these efforts. By inquiring objectively into the Slovak past, even on the basis of only those sources which have thus far b.een unc()IVered, we can safely ascertain the fact that Slovakia and the Slovaiks, even after the ·l oss of their first state independence in the tenth century, did go through their own development and preserved, even in limited form , the character of a separate territorial and ethnic unit. The disappeaTance of the Great Moravian Empire of which Slovakia indisputably was the territorial nucleus 1 �SLOVAKIA 47 and its inhabitants were the forefathers of present-day Slovaks to such an extent that we can safely include this first Slovanic ( SlaJVic) state in the history of the Slovaksdid not mean, as unfavo.raible tendencies tried to persuade the Slovaks, also the disappearance of the individuality of Slovak territory and its inhabitants. From the relatively meagre historical sources, which have thusfar been unc01vered and investigated, we know that it took almost two centuries before Slovakia was incorporated organizationally into Hungary, Furthermore it is scientifically ascertained that, up to the fall of Matthew Cak of Trencin I 1821), even in the framework of Hungary, she remained more or less an independent administrative unit, with her own administration and military and financial autonomy. Matthew Cak himself acted as an independent ruler of the Slovak territory. If from that time Slovakia, the land of the Slovaks, was indicated by the label ''Partes regi superiores," later as "Pannonia superior" or "Hungaria superior," this also means that Slovakia was regarded as a separate administrative unit. In the fifteenth century and during the 1'50 years of Tu~kish hegemony in Central Europe this character of the individual administrative unit was strengthened to such an extent that the Czech historian, V. Chaloupecky, who is in no way inclined to the Slovak nation, said that Slovakia was in a certain sense an "independent state"(l). Of course, it would not be correct, already in this early period, to talk about the Slovak nation in a political sense and about any 'kind of national political endeavors of the Slovaks. The Medieval Age :knew no national individualities in the political sense and, threfo.re, there was neither a Slovak national, political individuality, which could have been the bearer of the national poiitical efforts of the Slovaks. In Europe this entire era was governed by Christian universalism and the bearer of political power was the rnlcr and the nobility, and not the "nation.'' A nation, in the political sense, is in Europe, and therefore even in Slovall da, a product of the French Revolution and German romanticism. Even Louis XIV thought and stated that the French nation "residait entierement en la �48 SLOVAKIA personne du roi" (was incorpora ted in the person oif the king). De Maistre defended the thesis that the naJtion was made up of the lking and the ndbililty ("la nation compren.tl le chef et la noblesse" ). Up to the nineteent h century the concept of "nation" denoted a "linguisti c and ethnic (racial) group and had no political significan ce; it was only from. the nineteent h century that the doctrine began to prevail that such groups had the right to be politically independe Rt and to create states"(2). Jean-Jacq ues Rousseau repudiate d the idea that the nation is incorpora ted in the person of the king or in thle nobility and identifies and places on an equal basis the "people" and the "nation." It was this identifica tion of the people and the nation which, on the one hand, made Rousseau the founder of modern nationalis m and, on the other, became the fundamen tal principle of the American and French revolutio ns, which out of the "people" as subjects of the king, and later of the king and the nobility - made the nation the subject of political power - for a time together with the king and the nobility, later more often wihout the king - in democrat ic republics. Up to the French Revolutio n we can speak about people and nation in a sociological, but not political sense. This importan t differenc e between the concept "people" and "nation" is frequentl y not distinguis hed; in some cases "nation" (natio) is taken in the political sense, or, as for example in the English language , it acquires a significan ce identical with the concept of "state." A far-reach ing change in the outlook on "people" and its political rights, brought about by the French Revolution, was carried over into the rest of Europe. From that time on, without exception , we can therefore talk about "nation" in the political sense even with regard to other countries. The French, Italians, Germans , and others, only from the French Revolutio n are, or began to develop into a nation, the same as the other smaller nations of Europe, and particula rly in Central Europe. In the latter, with regard to special historical and social condition s, this evolution was retarded and that not only centripeta lly, to the crystalizi ng of national conscious ness, but also centrifu- �SLOVAKIA. 49 gally, to the formation of proper national states, namely, toward statehood. In the analysis of the concept of independence with the Slovaks, its origin and evolution, we must unconditionally issue forth from this European ideological and political stream and, therefore, we must ask whether from the time of identifying people and nation, from the time when other nations, in the ethnic and sociological sense of the word, began to be conscious of their right to participate in political power and to create national states, whether any such endeavors manifested themselves among Slovak people. • • • In this regard, what does scientific research tell us about the Slovak past? By what documents can we support the thesis that the Slovaks simultaneously with the rest of the nations of Europe, and especially those of Central Europe, began to feel as a nation and fought for the recognition of their own national individuality, including political participation in power and self-administration? Scholars who have looked into the matter of national consciousness of the Slovak nation during the past twenty years have brought to light many notable findings. These definitely prove that all theses, scientific and pseudoscientific, which tend to demonstrate that the Slovaks were not nationally conscious are absurd. Recent findings of the University of Bratislava are notable too(3). On the other hand, there are so many proofs for the concept of independence that one must wonder how any one could doubt about it or support the opposite thesis in the twentieth century. Unbiased research of the Slovak past tells us that in the course of the centuries the Slovaks: 1. were conscious of the continuity with the Great Moravian Empire which they regarded as the first Slovak Kingdom. One of the significant proofs is the introduction to the "Canthus Catholici" (1655), in which the author, Benedict Sz616si, recalls with emphasis, after the Slovaks accepted Christianity, what had happened during the reign of King Svatopluk by the merit of Saints Cyril and Metho- �50 SLOVAKIA dius: that his nation excelled in piety and loved to sing religious hymns in its national tongue (4); 2. were conscious of not only their linguistic but also national individuality, about which there is a whole series of written documents especially from the 18th century (Macsay(5), Timon, Adam F. Kollar, Hadbavny, etc.), in first half, and the followers of Bernolak in the second half of the 18th century), of which noteworthy is particularly the work "Murices - sive Apologia" from J. B. Magin(6), published in 1728, in which the author shows that the Slovaks with their past in no respect were behind other nations of Hungary, that their history was just as great and respectable as that of others and, therefore, historical equality entitled the Slovaks to enjoy the same rights in Hungary as the other nations; 3. just about the same time as other nations of Central Europe, the Slovaks began to replace the Latin literary medium with their own literary Slovak language with the tendency stressing their national individuality and to create their own national literature and culture. This important step in Slovak national life, according to scientific workers of the present Bratislava University, is connected with the Catholic University of Trnava(7) from the 17th century (1635) and definitely with the end of the 18th century, because the often-referred to year 1842 is the year of the reform, that is the establishment of Central Slovak as a uniform literary medium and not the beginning of writing in Slovak; 4. at about the same time as the other nations of Central Europe, the Slovaks fought for the recognition of their national rights, including independence, not only with political means (memoranda and demands), but also with weapons. The fact that the Slovak language replaced Latin and "Biblical" Czech (used only by the Protestants for religious services), and then the fact that the Slovaks undertook political action systematically from 1848 to give expression to their national individuality, these are indisputably the most important circumstances for proving the concept of independence in the Slovak past. �SLOVAKIA 51 In the light of the idea of the era they mean the passage from "people" to "nation" in the political sense and, if the evolution of the Slovaks to statehood was retarded by special conditions, or if these manifestations for independence did not always have equal intensity, this does not substantially change anything in the matter. In Central Europe up to 1918 there were quite a few nations that did not have their own political state. And objective study leads to doubts whether, even in 1918, the multi-national Habsburg Monarchy was broken up by the will of the nations within it, or rather by foreign intervention. Of course, the question always remains whether it would not have been to the greater benefit of the nations concerned and all of Europe if the nations had been reorganized on a federative basis as national units instead of being more or less forced to become so-called "successor" states or members thereof. There are many proofs to back the claim that the Slovaks consciously fought for the recognition of national independence, including statehood, particularly from 1848, when the Slovaks resorted to arms and formally declared their independence from Hungary. Both in Slovakia itself, as well as in the United States (8), where political conditions permitted free expression. Louis Stur said: "So that we might take over the spot in history which belongs to us according to our strength and abilities, we must once and for all time free ourselves from this unbearable foreign thraldom and gain state independence for ourselves." When Stur made that declaration, he simply formulated the sentiments and thoughts of his contemporaries. In 1918, in the Budapest Parliament, Dr. F. Juriga proclaimed: "We demand the righ to organize our own and separate state community and territory which we inhabit." This, too, was a manifestation for the right of self-determination, which Juriga demanded to be applied in regard to the Slovak nation and which, later, Dr. Vojtech Tuka formulated even more clearly.(9). The fight of the Slovaks for political independence reached its climax in 1939 with the establishment of the independent Slovak Republic, which meant the logical con- �52 SLOVAKIA clusion of Slovak political development. The conditions or circumstances under which this happened can have only a subordinate significance, inasmuch as all the states of this and the past century originated in Central and Southeastern Europe only with the help of, if not by the will of, the great powers(lO). (1) V. Chaloupecky: STARE SLOVENSKO, p. 13. (2) E. H. Carr said that a nation denoted " un group racial ou linguistique et n'avait pas de signification politique avant le XIX-me siecle, quand commenca a prevaloir progressivement cette doctrine que de tels groups avaient un droit d'etre politiquement independants et de constituer des Etats" (Nationalisme et apres, p. 4). (3) Even though present professors of the Bratislava University use Marxistic terminology and endeavor to see the Slovak past from the viewpoint of historic materialism, it is significant that in the question of Slovakness they confirm and adopt the conclusions of the scientific researches of "bourgeois nationalists." Worthy of attention in this regard is especially the work of Dr. J . Dekan about the beginnings of Slovak history, who adopts the theses of Fr. Hrusovsky and others, and in literary history an interesting book is the one of prof. Andrew Mraz. The latter was extremely unjust to many living Slovak poets and writers (Hronsky, Zarnov, Culen, etc.), but even now when he deals with the Slovak past Mraz is amazingly objective in his views. (4) Andrew Mraz in his "Dejiny slovenskej literatury" (Bratislava, 1948) wrote that "it is safe to hold the opinion that the aim of Cantus Catholici was determined also by the traditional knowledge of the historical continuity of the Slovaks with the events of Great Moravia" (p. 44). (5) A. Macsay, in the introduction to his work which was published on 856 pages in 1718, wrote that he was publishing it because many Slovaks were complaining about the dirth of such books, while other nations had such books; among the "other nations" he mentioned the Czechs, Poles and Croatians. (6) A. A. Banik explained Magin's significance in several works; his most valuable contributions possibly are: "Jan Baltazar Magin a jeho politicka, narodna i kulturna obrana Slovakov r. 1728" (Trnava, 1936) and "Novsie udaje na poznanie J . B. Magina, jeho diela i doby" (Trnava, 1937). (7) A. Mraz highly evaluates the work of the University of Trnava in the field of education and Slovak culture, stating that it was "the support of the Slovak national renaissance" (p. 35). (8) Konstantin Culen: "DEJINY AMERICKYCH SLOVAKOV"; and his articles in the "JEDNOTA" (Middletown, Pa., Nov. 1946). �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 � 44 SLOVAKIA the basic principle of human freedom. Let us never give our moral or legal blessing to the enslavement oif millions behind the J.ron Curtain who long to be free. Nor should we permit any international organization of which we are a member to compromise us in this regard. How can any nation ignore the moral issue involved in Roviet destruction of freedom in Hungary and subsequently want sanctions applied in the case of trouble in the Middle East? What organization can survive such a double standard? Either we have a system of law and order or the doctrine of might makes right is recognized. Communism cannot 1b e allowed to place itself above international law or God-gi,v en moral law. Our first Republican President Abraham Lincoln, said: "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. • • • The fiery trial thvough which we pass will light us down to the latest generation. • • * We, yes even we, have the power and bear the responsibility. • • * In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free. * * • We shall nobly save or meanly lose this last best ho.p e on earth." • • • INDEPENDENCE AN D THE SLOVAK PAST ,Joseph Kirschbaum, LL. D., Ph. D. The question of the national existence of the Slovak nation, the efforts expended by the Slovaks for national and state independence, are treated in various works of political writers. In their analysis of the problems of Central Europe, writers try to be objective, but their literary efforts demonstrate that they answer the question only partially and usually incorr-ectly. Not taking into account the use of tendencious sources, it appears that the fault lies particularly in the approach to the problem of Slovak efforts for independence from the downfall of the first state of the Slovaks, Great Moravia. !Many political writers identify creations of dynasties with creations of nations, especially in multi--national states, and overlooik the universalistir tendencies of Europe in the early centuries of the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. �SLOVAKIA 45 Ailly search of the question of the efforts of the Slovaks :fior independence in the course of the centuries requires that we take into consideration the whole series of actualities, which directly or indirectly created or affected the destinies of the SlovaJk and had any influence on Slovak political tendencies. We must necessarily take into accownt especially the following actualities : 1. Slovakia was and still is a component part of the European continent ·and, therefore, the spiritual and political development in Slovakia can be judged only by comparing it with the over-all EU.Topean development or evolution. At the same time, of course, we must taike. into account the fact that the territory of the Slovaks in the past was situated more than it is now on the border of western civilization, and that with this border...position there occurred automatica!lly a definite retardation of the spiritual and political cur:rents which emanated from the centers of European ciivilization. 2. In judging Slovak political development of the past, it is no less important to be mindful of the fact that the Slovaks, after the downfall of Great Moravia, their first state, got themselves into a supranational and later into a multi-national Hungary and the Hlabsburg Empire, and that they got into these ,political creations or formations not as a ruling or co-governing element, or voluntarily, as was the case with the Croatians and Czechs, but as inhabitants of a territory that was overcome by arms. 3. We must also bear in mind the special historical, geopolitical, and social conditions prevailing in Central Europe which via facti brought the individual and substantially delayed development of the nations lirving there m the direction of national independence and state independenc~. It is only when we bear in mind these three actualities, which determined Slovak life m the past, that we can correctly comprehend and evaluate the political evolution of Slovakia and the Slovaks. And it is understandable because, while the adherence of the SlovaJks to western civilization ::toes determine the source and the ya'l'dstick for the spiritual and political devel'Olpment of the Slovaks in the past, �46 SLOVAKIA the fact of the adherence of the Sl01Vaks to the ~ulturalpolitical area of Central Europe and to the aibove- mentioned state formations Hungary, Austria, and AustriaHungary - eX!plains why the concept ·o f national and political independence was realized later by the Slovaks than by other European nations. So that we might avoid confusion and incorrect conclusions, it is further necessary to distinguish between the idea of independence and the concept of statehood, the ex,istence of a state in some nation, because the state in its development passed through staiges :in which it had nothmg in comm()IJl with the nation as a bearer or carrier of political tpower. By the concept of independence we understand a free political determination of a nation as an informed subject of political power about its own affairs. In view of the fact that a modern state today has a nation for iti:; substratum and is not the patrimony of a ruler or the joint property of Estates, as it rhaippened to be up to the French Revolution, the distinction between the concept of independence and statehood today in no way appears prominently in current language. But even today it can haippen that a nation enjoys independence, as it happens, for example, in the case of a federation .. In analyzing the idea of independence in the Slovak past it is necessary, therefore, to bear in mind the efforts of the Slovaks as a politic-ally informed individuality, to manage their own affairs, to live and develop their own cultural and political life, regarding the question of statehood as a modern form of realizing these efforts. By inquiring objectively into the Slovak past, even on the basis of only those sources which have thus far b.een unc()IVered, we can safely ascertain the fact that Slovakia and the Slovaiks, even after the ·l oss of their first state independence in the tenth century, did go through their own development and preserved, even in limited form , the character of a separate territorial and ethnic unit. The disappeaTance of the Great Moravian Empire of which Slovakia indisputably was the territorial nucleus 1 �SLOVAKIA 47 and its inhabitants were the forefathers of present-day Slovaks to such an extent that we can safely include this first Slovanic ( SlaJVic) state in the history of the Slovaksdid not mean, as unfavo.raible tendencies tried to persuade the Slovaks, also the disappearance of the individuality of Slovak territory and its inhabitants. From the relatively meagre historical sources, which have thusfar been unc01vered and investigated, we know that it took almost two centuries before Slovakia was incorporated organizationally into Hungary, Furthermore it is scientifically ascertained that, up to the fall of Matthew Cak of Trencin I 1821), even in the framework of Hungary, she remained more or less an independent administrative unit, with her own administration and military and financial autonomy. Matthew Cak himself acted as an independent ruler of the Slovak territory. If from that time Slovakia, the land of the Slovaks, was indicated by the label ''Partes regi superiores," later as "Pannonia superior" or "Hungaria superior," this also means that Slovakia was regarded as a separate administrative unit. In the fifteenth century and during the 1'50 years of Tu~kish hegemony in Central Europe this character of the individual administrative unit was strengthened to such an extent that the Czech historian, V. Chaloupecky, who is in no way inclined to the Slovak nation, said that Slovakia was in a certain sense an "independent state"(l). Of course, it would not be correct, already in this early period, to talk about the Slovak nation in a political sense and about any 'kind of national political endeavors of the Slovaks. The Medieval Age :knew no national individualities in the political sense and, threfo.re, there was neither a Slovak national, political individuality, which could have been the bearer of the national poiitical efforts of the Slovaks. In Europe this entire era was governed by Christian universalism and the bearer of political power was the rnlcr and the nobility, and not the "nation.'' A nation, in the political sense, is in Europe, and therefore even in Slovall da, a product of the French Revolution and German romanticism. Even Louis XIV thought and stated that the French nation "residait entierement en la �48 SLOVAKIA personne du roi" (was incorpora ted in the person oif the king). De Maistre defended the thesis that the naJtion was made up of the lking and the ndbililty ("la nation compren.tl le chef et la noblesse" ). Up to the nineteent h century the concept of "nation" denoted a "linguisti c and ethnic (racial) group and had no political significan ce; it was only from. the nineteent h century that the doctrine began to prevail that such groups had the right to be politically independe Rt and to create states"(2). Jean-Jacq ues Rousseau repudiate d the idea that the nation is incorpora ted in the person of the king or in thle nobility and identifies and places on an equal basis the "people" and the "nation." It was this identifica tion of the people and the nation which, on the one hand, made Rousseau the founder of modern nationalis m and, on the other, became the fundamen tal principle of the American and French revolutio ns, which out of the "people" as subjects of the king, and later of the king and the nobility - made the nation the subject of political power - for a time together with the king and the nobility, later more often wihout the king - in democrat ic republics. Up to the French Revolutio n we can speak about people and nation in a sociological, but not political sense. This importan t differenc e between the concept "people" and "nation" is frequentl y not distinguis hed; in some cases "nation" (natio) is taken in the political sense, or, as for example in the English language , it acquires a significan ce identical with the concept of "state." A far-reach ing change in the outlook on "people" and its political rights, brought about by the French Revolution, was carried over into the rest of Europe. From that time on, without exception , we can therefore talk about "nation" in the political sense even with regard to other countries. The French, Italians, Germans , and others, only from the French Revolutio n are, or began to develop into a nation, the same as the other smaller nations of Europe, and particula rly in Central Europe. In the latter, with regard to special historical and social condition s, this evolution was retarded and that not only centripeta lly, to the crystalizi ng of national conscious ness, but also centrifu- �SLOVAKIA. 49 gally, to the formation of proper national states, namely, toward statehood. In the analysis of the concept of independence with the Slovaks, its origin and evolution, we must unconditionally issue forth from this European ideological and political stream and, therefore, we must ask whether from the time of identifying people and nation, from the time when other nations, in the ethnic and sociological sense of the word, began to be conscious of their right to participate in political power and to create national states, whether any such endeavors manifested themselves among Slovak people. • • • In this regard, what does scientific research tell us about the Slovak past? By what documents can we support the thesis that the Slovaks simultaneously with the rest of the nations of Europe, and especially those of Central Europe, began to feel as a nation and fought for the recognition of their own national individuality, including political participation in power and self-administration? Scholars who have looked into the matter of national consciousness of the Slovak nation during the past twenty years have brought to light many notable findings. These definitely prove that all theses, scientific and pseudoscientific, which tend to demonstrate that the Slovaks were not nationally conscious are absurd. Recent findings of the University of Bratislava are notable too(3). On the other hand, there are so many proofs for the concept of independence that one must wonder how any one could doubt about it or support the opposite thesis in the twentieth century. Unbiased research of the Slovak past tells us that in the course of the centuries the Slovaks: 1. were conscious of the continuity with the Great Moravian Empire which they regarded as the first Slovak Kingdom. One of the significant proofs is the introduction to the "Canthus Catholici" (1655), in which the author, Benedict Sz616si, recalls with emphasis, after the Slovaks accepted Christianity, what had happened during the reign of King Svatopluk by the merit of Saints Cyril and Metho- �50 SLOVAKIA dius: that his nation excelled in piety and loved to sing religious hymns in its national tongue (4); 2. were conscious of not only their linguistic but also national individuality, about which there is a whole series of written documents especially from the 18th century (Macsay(5), Timon, Adam F. Kollar, Hadbavny, etc.), in first half, and the followers of Bernolak in the second half of the 18th century), of which noteworthy is particularly the work "Murices - sive Apologia" from J. B. Magin(6), published in 1728, in which the author shows that the Slovaks with their past in no respect were behind other nations of Hungary, that their history was just as great and respectable as that of others and, therefore, historical equality entitled the Slovaks to enjoy the same rights in Hungary as the other nations; 3. just about the same time as other nations of Central Europe, the Slovaks began to replace the Latin literary medium with their own literary Slovak language with the tendency stressing their national individuality and to create their own national literature and culture. This important step in Slovak national life, according to scientific workers of the present Bratislava University, is connected with the Catholic University of Trnava(7) from the 17th century (1635) and definitely with the end of the 18th century, because the often-referred to year 1842 is the year of the reform, that is the establishment of Central Slovak as a uniform literary medium and not the beginning of writing in Slovak; 4. at about the same time as the other nations of Central Europe, the Slovaks fought for the recognition of their national rights, including independence, not only with political means (memoranda and demands), but also with weapons. The fact that the Slovak language replaced Latin and "Biblical" Czech (used only by the Protestants for religious services), and then the fact that the Slovaks undertook political action systematically from 1848 to give expression to their national individuality, these are indisputably the most important circumstances for proving the concept of independence in the Slovak past. �SLOVAKIA 51 In the light of the idea of the era they mean the passage from "people" to "nation" in the political sense and, if the evolution of the Slovaks to statehood was retarded by special conditions, or if these manifestations for independence did not always have equal intensity, this does not substantially change anything in the matter. In Central Europe up to 1918 there were quite a few nations that did not have their own political state. And objective study leads to doubts whether, even in 1918, the multi-national Habsburg Monarchy was broken up by the will of the nations within it, or rather by foreign intervention. Of course, the question always remains whether it would not have been to the greater benefit of the nations concerned and all of Europe if the nations had been reorganized on a federative basis as national units instead of being more or less forced to become so-called "successor" states or members thereof. There are many proofs to back the claim that the Slovaks consciously fought for the recognition of national independence, including statehood, particularly from 1848, when the Slovaks resorted to arms and formally declared their independence from Hungary. Both in Slovakia itself, as well as in the United States (8), where political conditions permitted free expression. Louis Stur said: "So that we might take over the spot in history which belongs to us according to our strength and abilities, we must once and for all time free ourselves from this unbearable foreign thraldom and gain state independence for ourselves." When Stur made that declaration, he simply formulated the sentiments and thoughts of his contemporaries. In 1918, in the Budapest Parliament, Dr. F. Juriga proclaimed: "We demand the righ to organize our own and separate state community and territory which we inhabit." This, too, was a manifestation for the right of self-determination, which Juriga demanded to be applied in regard to the Slovak nation and which, later, Dr. Vojtech Tuka formulated even more clearly.(9). The fight of the Slovaks for political independence reached its climax in 1939 with the establishment of the independent Slovak Republic, which meant the logical con- �52 SLOVAKIA clusion of Slovak political development. The conditions or circumstances under which this happened can have only a subordinate significance, inasmuch as all the states of this and the past century originated in Central and Southeastern Europe only with the help of, if not by the will of, the great powers(lO). (1) V. Chaloupecky: STARE SLOVENSKO, p. 13. (2) E. H. Carr said that a nation denoted " un group racial ou linguistique et n'avait pas de signification politique avant le XIX-me siecle, quand commenca a prevaloir progressivement cette doctrine que de tels groups avaient un droit d'etre politiquement independants et de constituer des Etats" (Nationalisme et apres, p. 4). (3) Even though present professors of the Bratislava University use Marxistic terminology and endeavor to see the Slovak past from the viewpoint of historic materialism, it is significant that in the question of Slovakness they confirm and adopt the conclusions of the scientific researches of "bourgeois nationalists." Worthy of attention in this regard is especially the work of Dr. J . Dekan about the beginnings of Slovak history, who adopts the theses of Fr. Hrusovsky and others, and in literary history an interesting book is the one of prof. Andrew Mraz. The latter was extremely unjust to many living Slovak poets and writers (Hronsky, Zarnov, Culen, etc.), but even now when he deals with the Slovak past Mraz is amazingly objective in his views. (4) Andrew Mraz in his "Dejiny slovenskej literatury" (Bratislava, 1948) wrote that "it is safe to hold the opinion that the aim of Cantus Catholici was determined also by the traditional knowledge of the historical continuity of the Slovaks with the events of Great Moravia" (p. 44). (5) A. Macsay, in the introduction to his work which was published on 856 pages in 1718, wrote that he was publishing it because many Slovaks were complaining about the dirth of such books, while other nations had such books; among the "other nations" he mentioned the Czechs, Poles and Croatians. (6) A. A. Banik explained Magin's significance in several works; his most valuable contributions possibly are: "Jan Baltazar Magin a jeho politicka, narodna i kulturna obrana Slovakov r. 1728" (Trnava, 1936) and "Novsie udaje na poznanie J . B. Magina, jeho diela i doby" (Trnava, 1937). (7) A. Mraz highly evaluates the work of the University of Trnava in the field of education and Slovak culture, stating that it was "the support of the Slovak national renaissance" (p. 35). (8) Konstantin Culen: "DEJINY AMERICKYCH SLOVAKOV"; and his articles in the "JEDNOTA" (Middletown, Pa., Nov. 1946). �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 � 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 44 SLOVAKIA the basic principle of human freedom. Let us never give our moral or legal blessing to the enslavement oif millions behind the J.ron Curtain who long to be free. Nor should we permit any international organization of which we are a member to compromise us in this regard. How can any nation ignore the moral issue involved in Roviet destruction of freedom in Hungary and subsequently want sanctions applied in the case of trouble in the Middle East? What organization can survive such a double standard? Either we have a system of law and order or the doctrine of might makes right is recognized. Communism cannot 1b e allowed to place itself above international law or God-gi,v en moral law. Our first Republican President Abraham Lincoln, said: "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. • • • The fiery trial thvough which we pass will light us down to the latest generation. • • * We, yes even we, have the power and bear the responsibility. • • * In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free. * * • We shall nobly save or meanly lose this last best ho.p e on earth." • • • INDEPENDENCE AN D THE SLOVAK PAST ,Joseph Kirschbaum, LL. D., Ph. D. The question of the national existence of the Slovak nation, the efforts expended by the Slovaks for national and state independence, are treated in various works of political writers. In their analysis of the problems of Central Europe, writers try to be objective, but their literary efforts demonstrate that they answer the question only partially and usually incorr-ectly. Not taking into account the use of tendencious sources, it appears that the fault lies particularly in the approach to the problem of Slovak efforts for independence from the downfall of the first state of the Slovaks, Great Moravia. !Many political writers identify creations of dynasties with creations of nations, especially in multi--national states, and overlooik the universalistir tendencies of Europe in the early centuries of the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. SLOVAKIA 45 Ailly search of the question of the efforts of the Slovaks :fior independence in the course of the centuries requires that we take into consideration the whole series of actualities, which directly or indirectly created or affected the destinies of the SlovaJk and had any influence on Slovak political tendencies. We must necessarily take into accownt especially the following actualities : 1. Slovakia was and still is a component part of the European continent ·and, therefore, the spiritual and political development in Slovakia can be judged only by comparing it with the over-all EU.Topean development or evolution. At the same time, of course, we must taike. into account the fact that the territory of the Slovaks in the past was situated more than it is now on the border of western civilization, and that with this border...position there occurred automatica!lly a definite retardation of the spiritual and political cur:rents which emanated from the centers of European ciivilization. 2. In judging Slovak political development of the past, it is no less important to be mindful of the fact that the Slovaks, after the downfall of Great Moravia, their first state, got themselves into a supranational and later into a multi-national Hungary and the Hlabsburg Empire, and that they got into these ,political creations or formations not as a ruling or co-governing element, or voluntarily, as was the case with the Croatians and Czechs, but as inhabitants of a territory that was overcome by arms. 3. We must also bear in mind the special historical, geopolitical, and social conditions prevailing in Central Europe which via facti brought the individual and substantially delayed development of the nations lirving there m the direction of national independence and state independenc~. It is only when we bear in mind these three actualities, which determined Slovak life m the past, that we can correctly comprehend and evaluate the political evolution of Slovakia and the Slovaks. And it is understandable because, while the adherence of the SlovaJks to western civilization ::toes determine the source and the ya'l'dstick for the spiritual and political devel'Olpment of the Slovaks in the past, 46 SLOVAKIA the fact of the adherence of the Sl01Vaks to the ~ulturalpolitical area of Central Europe and to the aibove- mentioned state formations Hungary, Austria, and AustriaHungary - eX!plains why the concept ·o f national and political independence was realized later by the Slovaks than by other European nations. So that we might avoid confusion and incorrect conclusions, it is further necessary to distinguish between the idea of independence and the concept of statehood, the ex,istence of a state in some nation, because the state in its development passed through staiges :in which it had nothmg in comm()IJl with the nation as a bearer or carrier of political tpower. By the concept of independence we understand a free political determination of a nation as an informed subject of political power about its own affairs. In view of the fact that a modern state today has a nation for iti:; substratum and is not the patrimony of a ruler or the joint property of Estates, as it rhaippened to be up to the French Revolution, the distinction between the concept of independence and statehood today in no way appears prominently in current language. But even today it can haippen that a nation enjoys independence, as it happens, for example, in the case of a federation .. In analyzing the idea of independence in the Slovak past it is necessary, therefore, to bear in mind the efforts of the Slovaks as a politic-ally informed individuality, to manage their own affairs, to live and develop their own cultural and political life, regarding the question of statehood as a modern form of realizing these efforts. By inquiring objectively into the Slovak past, even on the basis of only those sources which have thus far b.een unc()IVered, we can safely ascertain the fact that Slovakia and the Slovaiks, even after the ·l oss of their first state independence in the tenth century, did go through their own development and preserved, even in limited form , the character of a separate territorial and ethnic unit. The disappeaTance of the Great Moravian Empire of which Slovakia indisputably was the territorial nucleus 1 SLOVAKIA 47 and its inhabitants were the forefathers of present-day Slovaks to such an extent that we can safely include this first Slovanic ( SlaJVic) state in the history of the Slovaksdid not mean, as unfavo.raible tendencies tried to persuade the Slovaks, also the disappearance of the individuality of Slovak territory and its inhabitants. From the relatively meagre historical sources, which have thusfar been unc01vered and investigated, we know that it took almost two centuries before Slovakia was incorporated organizationally into Hungary, Furthermore it is scientifically ascertained that, up to the fall of Matthew Cak of Trencin I 1821), even in the framework of Hungary, she remained more or less an independent administrative unit, with her own administration and military and financial autonomy. Matthew Cak himself acted as an independent ruler of the Slovak territory. If from that time Slovakia, the land of the Slovaks, was indicated by the label ''Partes regi superiores," later as "Pannonia superior" or "Hungaria superior," this also means that Slovakia was regarded as a separate administrative unit. In the fifteenth century and during the 1'50 years of Tu~kish hegemony in Central Europe this character of the individual administrative unit was strengthened to such an extent that the Czech historian, V. Chaloupecky, who is in no way inclined to the Slovak nation, said that Slovakia was in a certain sense an "independent state"(l). Of course, it would not be correct, already in this early period, to talk about the Slovak nation in a political sense and about any 'kind of national political endeavors of the Slovaks. The Medieval Age :knew no national individualities in the political sense and, threfo.re, there was neither a Slovak national, political individuality, which could have been the bearer of the national poiitical efforts of the Slovaks. In Europe this entire era was governed by Christian universalism and the bearer of political power was the rnlcr and the nobility, and not the "nation.'' A nation, in the political sense, is in Europe, and therefore even in Slovall da, a product of the French Revolution and German romanticism. Even Louis XIV thought and stated that the French nation "residait entierement en la 48 SLOVAKIA personne du roi" (was incorpora ted in the person oif the king). De Maistre defended the thesis that the naJtion was made up of the lking and the ndbililty ("la nation compren.tl le chef et la noblesse" ). Up to the nineteent h century the concept of "nation" denoted a "linguisti c and ethnic (racial) group and had no political significan ce; it was only from. the nineteent h century that the doctrine began to prevail that such groups had the right to be politically independe Rt and to create states"(2). Jean-Jacq ues Rousseau repudiate d the idea that the nation is incorpora ted in the person of the king or in thle nobility and identifies and places on an equal basis the "people" and the "nation." It was this identifica tion of the people and the nation which, on the one hand, made Rousseau the founder of modern nationalis m and, on the other, became the fundamen tal principle of the American and French revolutio ns, which out of the "people" as subjects of the king, and later of the king and the nobility - made the nation the subject of political power - for a time together with the king and the nobility, later more often wihout the king - in democrat ic republics. Up to the French Revolutio n we can speak about people and nation in a sociological, but not political sense. This importan t differenc e between the concept "people" and "nation" is frequentl y not distinguis hed; in some cases "nation" (natio) is taken in the political sense, or, as for example in the English language , it acquires a significan ce identical with the concept of "state." A far-reach ing change in the outlook on "people" and its political rights, brought about by the French Revolution, was carried over into the rest of Europe. From that time on, without exception , we can therefore talk about "nation" in the political sense even with regard to other countries. The French, Italians, Germans , and others, only from the French Revolutio n are, or began to develop into a nation, the same as the other smaller nations of Europe, and particula rly in Central Europe. In the latter, with regard to special historical and social condition s, this evolution was retarded and that not only centripeta lly, to the crystalizi ng of national conscious ness, but also centrifu- SLOVAKIA. 49 gally, to the formation of proper national states, namely, toward statehood. In the analysis of the concept of independence with the Slovaks, its origin and evolution, we must unconditionally issue forth from this European ideological and political stream and, therefore, we must ask whether from the time of identifying people and nation, from the time when other nations, in the ethnic and sociological sense of the word, began to be conscious of their right to participate in political power and to create national states, whether any such endeavors manifested themselves among Slovak people. • • • In this regard, what does scientific research tell us about the Slovak past? By what documents can we support the thesis that the Slovaks simultaneously with the rest of the nations of Europe, and especially those of Central Europe, began to feel as a nation and fought for the recognition of their own national individuality, including political participation in power and self-administration? Scholars who have looked into the matter of national consciousness of the Slovak nation during the past twenty years have brought to light many notable findings. These definitely prove that all theses, scientific and pseudoscientific, which tend to demonstrate that the Slovaks were not nationally conscious are absurd. Recent findings of the University of Bratislava are notable too(3). On the other hand, there are so many proofs for the concept of independence that one must wonder how any one could doubt about it or support the opposite thesis in the twentieth century. Unbiased research of the Slovak past tells us that in the course of the centuries the Slovaks: 1. were conscious of the continuity with the Great Moravian Empire which they regarded as the first Slovak Kingdom. One of the significant proofs is the introduction to the "Canthus Catholici" (1655), in which the author, Benedict Sz616si, recalls with emphasis, after the Slovaks accepted Christianity, what had happened during the reign of King Svatopluk by the merit of Saints Cyril and Metho- 50 SLOVAKIA dius: that his nation excelled in piety and loved to sing religious hymns in its national tongue (4); 2. were conscious of not only their linguistic but also national individuality, about which there is a whole series of written documents especially from the 18th century (Macsay(5), Timon, Adam F. Kollar, Hadbavny, etc.), in first half, and the followers of Bernolak in the second half of the 18th century), of which noteworthy is particularly the work "Murices - sive Apologia" from J. B. Magin(6), published in 1728, in which the author shows that the Slovaks with their past in no respect were behind other nations of Hungary, that their history was just as great and respectable as that of others and, therefore, historical equality entitled the Slovaks to enjoy the same rights in Hungary as the other nations; 3. just about the same time as other nations of Central Europe, the Slovaks began to replace the Latin literary medium with their own literary Slovak language with the tendency stressing their national individuality and to create their own national literature and culture. This important step in Slovak national life, according to scientific workers of the present Bratislava University, is connected with the Catholic University of Trnava(7) from the 17th century (1635) and definitely with the end of the 18th century, because the often-referred to year 1842 is the year of the reform, that is the establishment of Central Slovak as a uniform literary medium and not the beginning of writing in Slovak; 4. at about the same time as the other nations of Central Europe, the Slovaks fought for the recognition of their national rights, including independence, not only with political means (memoranda and demands), but also with weapons. The fact that the Slovak language replaced Latin and "Biblical" Czech (used only by the Protestants for religious services), and then the fact that the Slovaks undertook political action systematically from 1848 to give expression to their national individuality, these are indisputably the most important circumstances for proving the concept of independence in the Slovak past. SLOVAKIA 51 In the light of the idea of the era they mean the passage from "people" to "nation" in the political sense and, if the evolution of the Slovaks to statehood was retarded by special conditions, or if these manifestations for independence did not always have equal intensity, this does not substantially change anything in the matter. In Central Europe up to 1918 there were quite a few nations that did not have their own political state. And objective study leads to doubts whether, even in 1918, the multi-national Habsburg Monarchy was broken up by the will of the nations within it, or rather by foreign intervention. Of course, the question always remains whether it would not have been to the greater benefit of the nations concerned and all of Europe if the nations had been reorganized on a federative basis as national units instead of being more or less forced to become so-called "successor" states or members thereof. There are many proofs to back the claim that the Slovaks consciously fought for the recognition of national independence, including statehood, particularly from 1848, when the Slovaks resorted to arms and formally declared their independence from Hungary. Both in Slovakia itself, as well as in the United States (8), where political conditions permitted free expression. Louis Stur said: "So that we might take over the spot in history which belongs to us according to our strength and abilities, we must once and for all time free ourselves from this unbearable foreign thraldom and gain state independence for ourselves." When Stur made that declaration, he simply formulated the sentiments and thoughts of his contemporaries. In 1918, in the Budapest Parliament, Dr. F. Juriga proclaimed: "We demand the righ to organize our own and separate state community and territory which we inhabit." This, too, was a manifestation for the right of self-determination, which Juriga demanded to be applied in regard to the Slovak nation and which, later, Dr. Vojtech Tuka formulated even more clearly.(9). The fight of the Slovaks for political independence reached its climax in 1939 with the establishment of the independent Slovak Republic, which meant the logical con- 52 SLOVAKIA clusion of Slovak political development. The conditions or circumstances under which this happened can have only a subordinate significance, inasmuch as all the states of this and the past century originated in Central and Southeastern Europe only with the help of, if not by the will of, the great powers(lO). (1) V. Chaloupecky: STARE SLOVENSKO, p. 13. (2) E. H. Carr said that a nation denoted " un group racial ou linguistique et n'avait pas de signification politique avant le XIX-me siecle, quand commenca a prevaloir progressivement cette doctrine que de tels groups avaient un droit d'etre politiquement independants et de constituer des Etats" (Nationalisme et apres, p. 4). (3) Even though present professors of the Bratislava University use Marxistic terminology and endeavor to see the Slovak past from the viewpoint of historic materialism, it is significant that in the question of Slovakness they confirm and adopt the conclusions of the scientific researches of "bourgeois nationalists." Worthy of attention in this regard is especially the work of Dr. J . Dekan about the beginnings of Slovak history, who adopts the theses of Fr. Hrusovsky and others, and in literary history an interesting book is the one of prof. Andrew Mraz. The latter was extremely unjust to many living Slovak poets and writers (Hronsky, Zarnov, Culen, etc.), but even now when he deals with the Slovak past Mraz is amazingly objective in his views. (4) Andrew Mraz in his "Dejiny slovenskej literatury" (Bratislava, 1948) wrote that "it is safe to hold the opinion that the aim of Cantus Catholici was determined also by the traditional knowledge of the historical continuity of the Slovaks with the events of Great Moravia" (p. 44). (5) A. Macsay, in the introduction to his work which was published on 856 pages in 1718, wrote that he was publishing it because many Slovaks were complaining about the dirth of such books, while other nations had such books; among the "other nations" he mentioned the Czechs, Poles and Croatians. (6) A. A. Banik explained Magin's significance in several works; his most valuable contributions possibly are: "Jan Baltazar Magin a jeho politicka, narodna i kulturna obrana Slovakov r. 1728" (Trnava, 1936) and "Novsie udaje na poznanie J . B. Magina, jeho diela i doby" (Trnava, 1937). (7) A. Mraz highly evaluates the work of the University of Trnava in the field of education and Slovak culture, stating that it was "the support of the Slovak national renaissance" (p. 35). (8) Konstantin Culen: "DEJINY AMERICKYCH SLOVAKOV"; and his articles in the "JEDNOTA" (Middletown, Pa., Nov. 1946). 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  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 Independence and the Slovak Past Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 1 (22), March 1957 pp. 44-53 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 March 1957 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9ec0d1da160774fe570dfe22c6987e16.pdf 578dea45c029c313fbce23f37ad40cbe PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 32 1939; Vefka Morava a Pofsko, rn33. Ungarns Volkerschaften im XI. Jahrhundert, Dr. I. Kn iesza, 1938. Zur Geschichte der ungarisch-slowakischen ethnischen Grenze, Dr. I. K niezsa, 19 41. Slovanske starozitnosti, P avel J . Safa rik, Vol. II, 2nd ed., 1863. Slovenske starozitnosti, Dr. I'..ubor Niederle, 1906, 1910. Narodopisni mapa Uher podle ured. lexikonu osad z r. 1n3, A . P e trov , 1924. Pribinovi Vermozi , Dr. J an Stanislav, 1939-40. Nehai'ite l'ud moj, Dr. Jo zef Skult ety, 1928 . • • • MICKIEWICZ IN SLOVAK POETRY AND TRANSLATIONS JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Ph.D. The University of California recently published an excellent symposium on the great Polish poet and patriot, Adam Mickiewicz, whose centenary has been commemorated throughout the world since 1955. Altogether 30 scholars and experts in Slavistics, representing over 20 nations and universities, contributed to this remarkable volume, edited by the eminent Polish scholar, professor Waclaw Lednicki. The volume has been published under the impressive title "Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature," and the editor actually succeeded in presenting Mickiewicz's influence on World literatures. Slovakia is represented by two contributions and is also mentioned in an article of a Czech scholar, who quite sincerely tried not to make the usual mistake of confusing Slovak and Czech poets and writers. The main article on Slovak literature in connection with Mickiekicz was written by the known expert in Slavic studies, professor Dimitry Cizevsky from Harvard, who in his scholarly study deals mainly with the poetry of two outstanding Slovak romantics: r..udovit Stur and Janka KraP. Cizevsky admits "that Mickiewicz's influence on Slovak literature was undoubtedly significant," but he warns at the same time against the "parallels" which are not parallels at all. This remark refers mainly to a Polish expert on Slovak poetry, Wladyslaw Bobek, whose work twenty-five years ago aimed to demonstrate the part which the poetry of Mickiewicz played in the works of - out of the theo- �SLOVAKIA 33 retical basis and in the poetic practice of Slovak poets above all, the Slovak romantic poets. In this respect Bobek succeeded according to Cizevsky. The second article on Slovak literature is a note on two modern Slovak translators of Mickiewicz, Hviezdoslav and Zarnov, contributed by this writer. Since on the Polish side also professor M. Majowski of the University of Montreal published sometime ago an interesting study on Polish-Slovak cultural relations in "Zew mlodych," we should not miss this occasion to demonstrate on Mickiewicz's example how extensive and important the cultural ties between Poland and Slovakia already were in the past century. The impact of Mickiewicz on Slovak literature was so strong that the Slovaks have not only all his works translated into the Slovak language, but we find two or three various translations. Three Slovak generations attempted to transplant the beauty of Mickiewicz's poetry into Slovak literary life. Since the first Mickiewicz's poems appeared, the generation of I?,udovit Stur, (1815-1856) recited and drew enthusiasm for the Slovak national cause from Mickiewicz's works. Slovak poets of the nineteenth century (Jan Botto, Janko Matuska, K. Kuzmany, Peter Bella- Horal etc.) translated Mickiewicz's ballads, the Ode to the Youth, his Forefather's Eve, Konrad Wallenrod, and other verses, though they preferred to read and recite the Polish original, as we shall see further. The following generation produced an admirer and translator in the person of the great Slovak poet, Pavo! 0. Hviezdoslav, and contemporary Slovak poetry was enriched by masterful translations of Andrej Zarnov, Matus Zjara, Rudo Brtaii, and Jan Holy. While we shall speak of Hviezdoslav's and Zarnov's translations extensively, it is worthwhile to mention that even very recently, in the martyrized Slovakia, there were translations and adequate commentaries of Mickiewicz's Books of the Polish Nation and Books of the Polish Pilgrimage by a persecuted Catholic priest-poet hidden behind the pseudonym Matus Zjara. A new translation of "Pan �SLOVAKIA Tadeusz" was prepared by Rudo Brtaii, and professor Jan Holy translated Jastrun's essay on Mickiewicz. We have, however, to point out that the quantity of Slovak translations from the various Slavic literatures has never adequately reflected either the popularity of the great Slavic writers and poets in Slovakia or Slovak interest in them. From the second half of the nineteenth century, when Slovakia made her contribution to the PanSlavic idea by producing its most famous exponents in the persons of Jan Kollar, P. J. Safarik, and Eudovit Stur, the Slovak "intelligentsia" expressed their Pan-Slavic sympathy and tendencies by reading Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Jugoslav authors in the original. The geographic situation of Slovakia and the central position of Slovak among the Slavic languages account for this peculiar phenomenon in Slovak cultural life. Under these circumstances, until recently we have had in Slovak literature a larger number of translations from non-Slavic languages (German, French, English, and Scandinavian) than from the Slavic, and this in spite of the fact that Slovak literature, especially in the nineteenth century, developed under the strong influence of the outstanding works of Russian, Polish, and other Slav authors. Again, being fundamentally national and romantic, Slovak poetry and fiction were marked, like Polish and Russian literature, by an extensive use of folk tradition and regionalism, and Slovakia's greatest poets drew on folklore and legend in the same way and to the same extent as did the other Slavs. Adam Mickiewicz, who influenced Slovak literature and cultural efforts more than any other Pole, offers an excellent illustration of the situation we have just described. A whole generation of Slovak writers drew enthusiasm, inspiration, and incentive from Mickiewicz's Ode to Youth(l) and his ballads, as well as from his Konrad Walenrod, Pan Tadeusz, and the Crimean Sonnets. For the Slovak contemporaries of Mickiewicz, namely, the group of Eudovit Stur, the Ode became "an armory of maxims, slogans, and appeals, which were used as mottoes for their collections of poetry, individual works, and publications on every possible �SLOVAKIA 35 occasion," and, according to W. Bobek, "not even in Poland has the Ode been so enthusiastically received as in Slovakia. "(2) However, with the exception of the ballads, translations of the Ode, as well as of other works of Mickiewicz that enjoyed a wide popularity among the Slovak writers of the nineteenth century, began to appear only in the twentieth century. Artistically, the best of these translations are without doubt those made by two outstanding Slovak poets, Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav and Andrej Zarnov . • • • P. 0. Hviezdoslav,(3) who "elevated Slovak literature to its highest peak, and gave it a true greatness and depth, and who in his national note comes near to Mickiewicz, in his artistry to the poetry of Vrchlicky, and in his strong love for his people and popular art to the works of Shevchenko, "(4) translated not only Miskiewicz's Crimean Sonnets, but also his Faris, Sages, Out of My Sight, and Girl at the Crossroads (the last mistakingly ascribed to Mickiewicz; Bobek identifies the author as J. Jezowski), thus completing the series of translations done by P . Bella-Horal, Janko Matuska, Stefan Krcmery, Botto, and others.(5) Although at first glance the translation of Polish poetry into Slovak may seem an easy task, owing to the close relationship between the two languages, this is far from being so. One reason is that, while Slovak verse bases its rhythm on the accent, Polish verse is syllabic. Another is that similar words in both languages are often not semantically equivalent.(6) It is a further difficulty to the translator of Mickiewicz that the author is a man of genius, with a style of his own, and a special variety of metaphors and peculiarities of expression. Hviezdoslav more than anyone else had, however, all the gifts needed, not only to overcome these difficulties, but at the same time to master the poetic forms and apprehend the spiritual greatness of Mickiewicz's poetry. Hviezdoslav was not only "the most important personality among the Slovak poets representing the transition from romanticism to realism"(7) and, therefore, suited spiritually to i~NS£.~lt:IBR'Jmy'epresentative of Polish ro- ~ !~~~~~VILLE STATE CO.LLEGr �36 SLOVAKIA manticism and messianism, whom he resembled by force of his own poetic visioin and prophetic sense and by his attachment to the national cause and his oppressed Slovak people; his poetic language, too - rich and varied, weighty, and filled with dialectical expressior,is and metaphors was sufficiently plastic and mature to convey the artistic brilliance of Mickiewicz's poetry. Translator of Goethe's Faust, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Midsummer Night's Dream, of Lermontov, Schiller, and Slowacki, as well as of the monumental work of Mada.ch - The Tragedy of Man, - and, in his original verse, a master of the most complicated forms, from distich and sestina to ghazel and ritornello, Hviezdoslav also possessed full technical equipment for the task of translating the Polish classics. It is not, therefore, mere courtesy when Professor Bobek writes that Hviezdoslav's translation of the Crimean Sonnets is really "masterful" and adds that the Eastern coloring of the language, so characteristic of the Sonnets, was not only preserved by Hviezdoslav but sometimes actually enriched through the use, in the translation, of the Eastern terms which Mickiewicz cited in his explanatory notes. And Bobek concludes that "on the whole, the translation of the Crimean Sonnets stands on an equal footing with the original work and can be considered as one of Hviezdoslav's best translations," (8) an opinion that is fully shared by the present writer and by many literary critics. Although Hviezdoslav's translation of Faris differs slightly in form from the original, it is nevertheless equally faithful, and artistically thorough. A comparison of texts, which unfortunately is not practicable here, would supply ample proof. In comparison with the earlier translations from Mickiewicz, especially those of i:;tur's group, the translations made by Hviezdoslav are not so close to the Polish original either in means of expression or in meter; they are poetical interpretation s, done in acordance with the rules of Slovak prosody. No influence of Mickiewicz's poetry on the original creative work of Hviezdoslav has so far been detected by an.y literary analyst or critic. W. Bobek notes that theories �SLOVAKIA 37 kave been brought forth to the effect that Pan Thadeusz influenced the composition of Hviezdoslav's longer epic poems, but that there is no supporting evidence. He adds, kowever, that Hviezdoslav's epic poems, such as The Forester's Wife, Ezo Vlkolinsky, and Gabor Vlkolinsky, form a counterpart, on Slovak soil, of the Polish epic.(9) We may conclude the comparison by stating that there was a strong spiritual affinity between the two poets and that Hviezdoslav, like Mickiewicz, by his own poetry as well as by his translations gave his fellow countrymen a vision of what they might long for and accomplish, and implemented the vision with practical and profound Christian maxims . • • • In the turmoil of the Second World War, Andrej Zarnov, (10) one of the best modern Slovak poets, prepared an entire book of translations from Mickiewicz. The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the works of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts , failures , and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and allSlavic poet."(11) The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." A. Zarnov, who was awarded a silver wreath by the Polish Academy of Literature in recognition of his earlier translations from Polish poetry (published in a volume entitled U pofskych basnikov), is an outstanding translator of lyrics, epics, and dramas. Of his original works Andrej Mraz, Professor of Slovak Literature at the University of Bratislava, writes: "By its fiery words and resounding verses Zarnov's poetry became an efficacious instrument in the Slovak national struggle; events of major national importance, reminiscences of history and its tragedies, find in him a militant and inflamed interpreter of the national aspirations and will-power of his people. Yet he also arrived, in his effort to find a harmony between the individual and the universe, at a lyrical as well as philosophical �38 SLOVAKIA poetry."(12) Let us add that he in fact became one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirit of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. Without exaggeration we can assert that 2arnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's greatest and most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight, and Out of My Sight, thus present• ing some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in 2arnov's Slovak translation remain "a wonder" and "some of the most beautiful pages in all European poetry of the century," since he has preserved to a great degree the "richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this colleclection."(13) 2arnov's poetic language is, naturally. more modern, his verse and rhythm more vivid, and the whole translation more audacious even than that of Hviezdoslav. Where Hviezdoslav tried to preserve not only the images and metaphors but also the expressions and rhymes, using words from the dialect of his native region, 2arnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod can be considered as standing not far behind the original in many respects. This poem (which was translated for the first time into Slovak in 1907 by Peter Bella-Horal) made a strong impact on the group of Sh1r's followers , who recited and imitated especially the Song of the Wajdoleta. 2arnov's translation is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equaling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. 2arnov is certainly no romantic �SLOVAKIA 39 in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore, predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest."(14) .Zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation (which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences which the Russian occupation of Slovakia brought to the people of Jan Kollar, P. J. Safarik, and Ludovit Stur, founders of the cultural as well as political Pan-Slavism of the last century . .Zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and sumoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. .Zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz .Zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz ha:d the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great questions of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." .Zarnov attempted to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystallized." The real function of .Zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not "to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. (15) �40 · SLOVAKIA The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. Zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas and those of Mickiewicz. (1) See Wladyslaw Bobek, Mickiewicz w literaturze slovackiej (Prague, 1931), pp. 9-10. (2) Ibid. (3) P. 0 . Hviezdoslav (1849-1921) is the pseudonym of Pavo! Orszagh. By occupation a lawyer, he published several volumes of lyrics, one of them (Bloody Sonnets) translated into English, dramas (Herodes a Herodias), epics (Hajnikova zena, Ezo Vlkolinsky, Gabor Vlkolinsky, Agar, Rachel, Kain), and four volumes of translations from world literature. Altogether his poetry was published in fifteen large volumes. (4) See W . Bobek, "Dzieje literatury slowackiej w zarysie," in Slowacja i Slowacy, edited by W. Semkowicz (Cracow, 1937), pp. 357 ff. (5) Among recent Slovak translations from Mickiewicz are his Books of the Polish Nation and Books of the Polish Pilgrimage, translated by Matus Zjara (Kosice, 1947). Jastrun's study of Mickiewicz, translated by Jan Holy, was published in 1950 by Tatran, in Bratislava. Professor R. Brtan has translated Pan Tadeusz, and Matus Zjara has published a penetrating study of Mickiewicz and his relations with Moscow. (6) Stefan Krcmery, outstanding essayist, translator, and poet, states that "Stu.r's group based its poetry on popular songs, Pushkin's and Mickiewicz's works" (Slovenske Pohl'ady, Vol. XLVII [1931], p. 132. W . Bobek has published a study on this subject in which he tries to prove that the metrics of Stu.r's group is based on the Polish poetry. See Kultura, Vol. V, No. 4, pp. 248-256. (7) See Otto Radl, in Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L I. Strakhovsky (Cambridge, Mass., 1949), p. 496. (8) See W. Bobek, Mickiewicz w literaturze slowackiej, p. 57. (9) Page 43. (10) Andrej Zarnov is the pseudonym of Frantisek Subik, former professor at the University of Bratislava, at present in Washington. He was born in 1903 in Slovakia. His main published works are Straz pri Morave (1925), Brazda cez Uhory (1929), Hlas krvi (1932), Stit (1940), and Mrtvy (1941). (11) Introduction to the volume Poezia, pp. 121-133. (12) Andreas Mraz, Die Literatur der Slowaken (Berlin-PragueVienna: Volk und Reich Verlag, 1943), pp. 187-188. �41 SLOVAKIA (13) See Waclaw Lednicki, Life and Culture of Poland (New York: Ray Publishers, 1944), p. 176 etc. (14) See Roman Dyboski, Poland in World Civilization (New York, 1950), p. 213. (15) See J . Nechon's essay on Stefan Zeronski in Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. II, (Cambridge, Mass., 1954), pp. 323-324. • • • WF, MUST QUIT HELPING RED REGIMES (Address By Hon. William F. Knowland Before Inaugural Nationalities Banquet, January 20, 1957) It is most fitting that this banquet, held on the eve of the public inaugural ceremonies of the President and Vice President of the United States, should be under the sponsorship of the Nationalities Advisory Committee and the Inaugural Nationalities committee. Firstly, with the exception of American Indians, in this new world all of us ourse1ves or our parents, grandparent.a, or more distant forebears, came front the old worlds of Europe, Asia, or Africa. While as citizens of the United States our loyalty is to this great ·r epublic it is also natural that there remain ties of historic interests, family or racial connections, and religious beliefs, together with our natural humanitarian instincts, that makes what happens in Budapest, Berlin, London, Peiping, Cairo, or any other city large or small more than just newspaper datelines. Secondly, the naJtiona:lities groups throughout our country made notable contriibutions to the reelection of our great president Dwight D. Eisenhower a:nd our able and effective Vice President Rihard M. Nixon. Not only are you entitled to be here to witness the culmination of your individual and •c ollective constructive labors in the last campaign but you have earned the right to a respectful hearing to your recommendations. There are many great problems confronting our country domestic and foreign. The President in his address on the Middle East resolution, in his staite of ,t he Union message, in his inaugural address tomorrow, or in future special messaiges to the Congress will discuss them. � SLOVAKIA 32 1939; Vefka Morava a Pofsko, rn33. Ungarns Volkerschaften im XI. Jahrhundert, Dr. I. Kn iesza, 1938. Zur Geschichte der ungarisch-slowakischen ethnischen Grenze, Dr. I. K niezsa, 19 41. Slovanske starozitnosti, P avel J . Safa rik, Vol. II, 2nd ed., 1863. Slovenske starozitnosti, Dr. I'..ubor Niederle, 1906, 1910. Narodopisni mapa Uher podle ured. lexikonu osad z r. 1n3, A . P e trov , 1924. Pribinovi Vermozi , Dr. J an Stanislav, 1939-40. Nehai'ite l'ud moj, Dr. Jo zef Skult ety, 1928 . • • • MICKIEWICZ IN SLOVAK POETRY AND TRANSLATIONS JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Ph.D. The University of California recently published an excellent symposium on the great Polish poet and patriot, Adam Mickiewicz, whose centenary has been commemorated throughout the world since 1955. Altogether 30 scholars and experts in Slavistics, representing over 20 nations and universities, contributed to this remarkable volume, edited by the eminent Polish scholar, professor Waclaw Lednicki. The volume has been published under the impressive title "Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature," and the editor actually succeeded in presenting Mickiewicz's influence on World literatures. Slovakia is represented by two contributions and is also mentioned in an article of a Czech scholar, who quite sincerely tried not to make the usual mistake of confusing Slovak and Czech poets and writers. The main article on Slovak literature in connection with Mickiekicz was written by the known expert in Slavic studies, professor Dimitry Cizevsky from Harvard, who in his scholarly study deals mainly with the poetry of two outstanding Slovak romantics: r..udovit Stur and Janka KraP. Cizevsky admits "that Mickiewicz's influence on Slovak literature was undoubtedly significant," but he warns at the same time against the "parallels" which are not parallels at all. This remark refers mainly to a Polish expert on Slovak poetry, Wladyslaw Bobek, whose work twenty-five years ago aimed to demonstrate the part which the poetry of Mickiewicz played in the works of - out of the theo- �SLOVAKIA 33 retical basis and in the poetic practice of Slovak poets above all, the Slovak romantic poets. In this respect Bobek succeeded according to Cizevsky. The second article on Slovak literature is a note on two modern Slovak translators of Mickiewicz, Hviezdoslav and Zarnov, contributed by this writer. Since on the Polish side also professor M. Majowski of the University of Montreal published sometime ago an interesting study on Polish-Slovak cultural relations in "Zew mlodych," we should not miss this occasion to demonstrate on Mickiewicz's example how extensive and important the cultural ties between Poland and Slovakia already were in the past century. The impact of Mickiewicz on Slovak literature was so strong that the Slovaks have not only all his works translated into the Slovak language, but we find two or three various translations. Three Slovak generations attempted to transplant the beauty of Mickiewicz's poetry into Slovak literary life. Since the first Mickiewicz's poems appeared, the generation of I?,udovit Stur, (1815-1856) recited and drew enthusiasm for the Slovak national cause from Mickiewicz's works. Slovak poets of the nineteenth century (Jan Botto, Janko Matuska, K. Kuzmany, Peter Bella- Horal etc.) translated Mickiewicz's ballads, the Ode to the Youth, his Forefather's Eve, Konrad Wallenrod, and other verses, though they preferred to read and recite the Polish original, as we shall see further. The following generation produced an admirer and translator in the person of the great Slovak poet, Pavo! 0. Hviezdoslav, and contemporary Slovak poetry was enriched by masterful translations of Andrej Zarnov, Matus Zjara, Rudo Brtaii, and Jan Holy. While we shall speak of Hviezdoslav's and Zarnov's translations extensively, it is worthwhile to mention that even very recently, in the martyrized Slovakia, there were translations and adequate commentaries of Mickiewicz's Books of the Polish Nation and Books of the Polish Pilgrimage by a persecuted Catholic priest-poet hidden behind the pseudonym Matus Zjara. A new translation of "Pan �SLOVAKIA Tadeusz" was prepared by Rudo Brtaii, and professor Jan Holy translated Jastrun's essay on Mickiewicz. We have, however, to point out that the quantity of Slovak translations from the various Slavic literatures has never adequately reflected either the popularity of the great Slavic writers and poets in Slovakia or Slovak interest in them. From the second half of the nineteenth century, when Slovakia made her contribution to the PanSlavic idea by producing its most famous exponents in the persons of Jan Kollar, P. J. Safarik, and Eudovit Stur, the Slovak "intelligentsia" expressed their Pan-Slavic sympathy and tendencies by reading Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Jugoslav authors in the original. The geographic situation of Slovakia and the central position of Slovak among the Slavic languages account for this peculiar phenomenon in Slovak cultural life. Under these circumstances, until recently we have had in Slovak literature a larger number of translations from non-Slavic languages (German, French, English, and Scandinavian) than from the Slavic, and this in spite of the fact that Slovak literature, especially in the nineteenth century, developed under the strong influence of the outstanding works of Russian, Polish, and other Slav authors. Again, being fundamentally national and romantic, Slovak poetry and fiction were marked, like Polish and Russian literature, by an extensive use of folk tradition and regionalism, and Slovakia's greatest poets drew on folklore and legend in the same way and to the same extent as did the other Slavs. Adam Mickiewicz, who influenced Slovak literature and cultural efforts more than any other Pole, offers an excellent illustration of the situation we have just described. A whole generation of Slovak writers drew enthusiasm, inspiration, and incentive from Mickiewicz's Ode to Youth(l) and his ballads, as well as from his Konrad Walenrod, Pan Tadeusz, and the Crimean Sonnets. For the Slovak contemporaries of Mickiewicz, namely, the group of Eudovit Stur, the Ode became "an armory of maxims, slogans, and appeals, which were used as mottoes for their collections of poetry, individual works, and publications on every possible �SLOVAKIA 35 occasion," and, according to W. Bobek, "not even in Poland has the Ode been so enthusiastically received as in Slovakia. "(2) However, with the exception of the ballads, translations of the Ode, as well as of other works of Mickiewicz that enjoyed a wide popularity among the Slovak writers of the nineteenth century, began to appear only in the twentieth century. Artistically, the best of these translations are without doubt those made by two outstanding Slovak poets, Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav and Andrej Zarnov . • • • P. 0. Hviezdoslav,(3) who "elevated Slovak literature to its highest peak, and gave it a true greatness and depth, and who in his national note comes near to Mickiewicz, in his artistry to the poetry of Vrchlicky, and in his strong love for his people and popular art to the works of Shevchenko, "(4) translated not only Miskiewicz's Crimean Sonnets, but also his Faris, Sages, Out of My Sight, and Girl at the Crossroads (the last mistakingly ascribed to Mickiewicz; Bobek identifies the author as J. Jezowski), thus completing the series of translations done by P . Bella-Horal, Janko Matuska, Stefan Krcmery, Botto, and others.(5) Although at first glance the translation of Polish poetry into Slovak may seem an easy task, owing to the close relationship between the two languages, this is far from being so. One reason is that, while Slovak verse bases its rhythm on the accent, Polish verse is syllabic. Another is that similar words in both languages are often not semantically equivalent.(6) It is a further difficulty to the translator of Mickiewicz that the author is a man of genius, with a style of his own, and a special variety of metaphors and peculiarities of expression. Hviezdoslav more than anyone else had, however, all the gifts needed, not only to overcome these difficulties, but at the same time to master the poetic forms and apprehend the spiritual greatness of Mickiewicz's poetry. Hviezdoslav was not only "the most important personality among the Slovak poets representing the transition from romanticism to realism"(7) and, therefore, suited spiritually to i~NS£.~lt:IBR'Jmy'epresentative of Polish ro- ~ !~~~~~VILLE STATE CO.LLEGr �36 SLOVAKIA manticism and messianism, whom he resembled by force of his own poetic visioin and prophetic sense and by his attachment to the national cause and his oppressed Slovak people; his poetic language, too - rich and varied, weighty, and filled with dialectical expressior,is and metaphors was sufficiently plastic and mature to convey the artistic brilliance of Mickiewicz's poetry. Translator of Goethe's Faust, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Midsummer Night's Dream, of Lermontov, Schiller, and Slowacki, as well as of the monumental work of Mada.ch - The Tragedy of Man, - and, in his original verse, a master of the most complicated forms, from distich and sestina to ghazel and ritornello, Hviezdoslav also possessed full technical equipment for the task of translating the Polish classics. It is not, therefore, mere courtesy when Professor Bobek writes that Hviezdoslav's translation of the Crimean Sonnets is really "masterful" and adds that the Eastern coloring of the language, so characteristic of the Sonnets, was not only preserved by Hviezdoslav but sometimes actually enriched through the use, in the translation, of the Eastern terms which Mickiewicz cited in his explanatory notes. And Bobek concludes that "on the whole, the translation of the Crimean Sonnets stands on an equal footing with the original work and can be considered as one of Hviezdoslav's best translations," (8) an opinion that is fully shared by the present writer and by many literary critics. Although Hviezdoslav's translation of Faris differs slightly in form from the original, it is nevertheless equally faithful, and artistically thorough. A comparison of texts, which unfortunately is not practicable here, would supply ample proof. In comparison with the earlier translations from Mickiewicz, especially those of i:;tur's group, the translations made by Hviezdoslav are not so close to the Polish original either in means of expression or in meter; they are poetical interpretation s, done in acordance with the rules of Slovak prosody. No influence of Mickiewicz's poetry on the original creative work of Hviezdoslav has so far been detected by an.y literary analyst or critic. W. Bobek notes that theories �SLOVAKIA 37 kave been brought forth to the effect that Pan Thadeusz influenced the composition of Hviezdoslav's longer epic poems, but that there is no supporting evidence. He adds, kowever, that Hviezdoslav's epic poems, such as The Forester's Wife, Ezo Vlkolinsky, and Gabor Vlkolinsky, form a counterpart, on Slovak soil, of the Polish epic.(9) We may conclude the comparison by stating that there was a strong spiritual affinity between the two poets and that Hviezdoslav, like Mickiewicz, by his own poetry as well as by his translations gave his fellow countrymen a vision of what they might long for and accomplish, and implemented the vision with practical and profound Christian maxims . • • • In the turmoil of the Second World War, Andrej Zarnov, (10) one of the best modern Slovak poets, prepared an entire book of translations from Mickiewicz. The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the works of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts , failures , and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and allSlavic poet."(11) The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." A. Zarnov, who was awarded a silver wreath by the Polish Academy of Literature in recognition of his earlier translations from Polish poetry (published in a volume entitled U pofskych basnikov), is an outstanding translator of lyrics, epics, and dramas. Of his original works Andrej Mraz, Professor of Slovak Literature at the University of Bratislava, writes: "By its fiery words and resounding verses Zarnov's poetry became an efficacious instrument in the Slovak national struggle; events of major national importance, reminiscences of history and its tragedies, find in him a militant and inflamed interpreter of the national aspirations and will-power of his people. Yet he also arrived, in his effort to find a harmony between the individual and the universe, at a lyrical as well as philosophical �38 SLOVAKIA poetry."(12) Let us add that he in fact became one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirit of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. Without exaggeration we can assert that 2arnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's greatest and most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight, and Out of My Sight, thus present• ing some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in 2arnov's Slovak translation remain "a wonder" and "some of the most beautiful pages in all European poetry of the century," since he has preserved to a great degree the "richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this colleclection."(13) 2arnov's poetic language is, naturally. more modern, his verse and rhythm more vivid, and the whole translation more audacious even than that of Hviezdoslav. Where Hviezdoslav tried to preserve not only the images and metaphors but also the expressions and rhymes, using words from the dialect of his native region, 2arnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod can be considered as standing not far behind the original in many respects. This poem (which was translated for the first time into Slovak in 1907 by Peter Bella-Horal) made a strong impact on the group of Sh1r's followers , who recited and imitated especially the Song of the Wajdoleta. 2arnov's translation is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equaling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. 2arnov is certainly no romantic �SLOVAKIA 39 in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore, predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest."(14) .Zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation (which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences which the Russian occupation of Slovakia brought to the people of Jan Kollar, P. J. Safarik, and Ludovit Stur, founders of the cultural as well as political Pan-Slavism of the last century . .Zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and sumoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. .Zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz .Zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz ha:d the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great questions of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." .Zarnov attempted to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystallized." The real function of .Zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not "to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. (15) �40 · SLOVAKIA The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. Zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas and those of Mickiewicz. (1) See Wladyslaw Bobek, Mickiewicz w literaturze slovackiej (Prague, 1931), pp. 9-10. (2) Ibid. (3) P. 0 . Hviezdoslav (1849-1921) is the pseudonym of Pavo! Orszagh. By occupation a lawyer, he published several volumes of lyrics, one of them (Bloody Sonnets) translated into English, dramas (Herodes a Herodias), epics (Hajnikova zena, Ezo Vlkolinsky, Gabor Vlkolinsky, Agar, Rachel, Kain), and four volumes of translations from world literature. Altogether his poetry was published in fifteen large volumes. (4) See W . Bobek, "Dzieje literatury slowackiej w zarysie," in Slowacja i Slowacy, edited by W. Semkowicz (Cracow, 1937), pp. 357 ff. (5) Among recent Slovak translations from Mickiewicz are his Books of the Polish Nation and Books of the Polish Pilgrimage, translated by Matus Zjara (Kosice, 1947). Jastrun's study of Mickiewicz, translated by Jan Holy, was published in 1950 by Tatran, in Bratislava. Professor R. Brtan has translated Pan Tadeusz, and Matus Zjara has published a penetrating study of Mickiewicz and his relations with Moscow. (6) Stefan Krcmery, outstanding essayist, translator, and poet, states that "Stu.r's group based its poetry on popular songs, Pushkin's and Mickiewicz's works" (Slovenske Pohl'ady, Vol. XLVII [1931], p. 132. W . Bobek has published a study on this subject in which he tries to prove that the metrics of Stu.r's group is based on the Polish poetry. See Kultura, Vol. V, No. 4, pp. 248-256. (7) See Otto Radl, in Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L I. Strakhovsky (Cambridge, Mass., 1949), p. 496. (8) See W. Bobek, Mickiewicz w literaturze slowackiej, p. 57. (9) Page 43. (10) Andrej Zarnov is the pseudonym of Frantisek Subik, former professor at the University of Bratislava, at present in Washington. He was born in 1903 in Slovakia. His main published works are Straz pri Morave (1925), Brazda cez Uhory (1929), Hlas krvi (1932), Stit (1940), and Mrtvy (1941). (11) Introduction to the volume Poezia, pp. 121-133. (12) Andreas Mraz, Die Literatur der Slowaken (Berlin-PragueVienna: Volk und Reich Verlag, 1943), pp. 187-188. �41 SLOVAKIA (13) See Waclaw Lednicki, Life and Culture of Poland (New York: Ray Publishers, 1944), p. 176 etc. (14) See Roman Dyboski, Poland in World Civilization (New York, 1950), p. 213. (15) See J . Nechon's essay on Stefan Zeronski in Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. II, (Cambridge, Mass., 1954), pp. 323-324. • • • WF, MUST QUIT HELPING RED REGIMES (Address By Hon. William F. Knowland Before Inaugural Nationalities Banquet, January 20, 1957) It is most fitting that this banquet, held on the eve of the public inaugural ceremonies of the President and Vice President of the United States, should be under the sponsorship of the Nationalities Advisory Committee and the Inaugural Nationalities committee. Firstly, with the exception of American Indians, in this new world all of us ourse1ves or our parents, grandparent.a, or more distant forebears, came front the old worlds of Europe, Asia, or Africa. While as citizens of the United States our loyalty is to this great ·r epublic it is also natural that there remain ties of historic interests, family or racial connections, and religious beliefs, together with our natural humanitarian instincts, that makes what happens in Budapest, Berlin, London, Peiping, Cairo, or any other city large or small more than just newspaper datelines. Secondly, the naJtiona:lities groups throughout our country made notable contriibutions to the reelection of our great president Dwight D. Eisenhower a:nd our able and effective Vice President Rihard M. Nixon. Not only are you entitled to be here to witness the culmination of your individual and •c ollective constructive labors in the last campaign but you have earned the right to a respectful hearing to your recommendations. There are many great problems confronting our country domestic and foreign. The President in his address on the Middle East resolution, in his staite of ,t he Union message, in his inaugural address tomorrow, or in future special messaiges to the Congress will discuss 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 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 32 1939; Vefka Morava a Pofsko, rn33. Ungarns Volkerschaften im XI. Jahrhundert, Dr. I. Kn iesza, 1938. Zur Geschichte der ungarisch-slowakischen ethnischen Grenze, Dr. I. K niezsa, 19 41. Slovanske starozitnosti, P avel J . Safa rik, Vol. II, 2nd ed., 1863. Slovenske starozitnosti, Dr. I'..ubor Niederle, 1906, 1910. Narodopisni mapa Uher podle ured. lexikonu osad z r. 1n3, A . P e trov , 1924. Pribinovi Vermozi , Dr. J an Stanislav, 1939-40. Nehai'ite l'ud moj, Dr. Jo zef Skult ety, 1928 . • • • MICKIEWICZ IN SLOVAK POETRY AND TRANSLATIONS JOSEPH KIRSCHBAUM Ph.D. The University of California recently published an excellent symposium on the great Polish poet and patriot, Adam Mickiewicz, whose centenary has been commemorated throughout the world since 1955. Altogether 30 scholars and experts in Slavistics, representing over 20 nations and universities, contributed to this remarkable volume, edited by the eminent Polish scholar, professor Waclaw Lednicki. The volume has been published under the impressive title "Adam Mickiewicz in World Literature," and the editor actually succeeded in presenting Mickiewicz's influence on World literatures. Slovakia is represented by two contributions and is also mentioned in an article of a Czech scholar, who quite sincerely tried not to make the usual mistake of confusing Slovak and Czech poets and writers. The main article on Slovak literature in connection with Mickiekicz was written by the known expert in Slavic studies, professor Dimitry Cizevsky from Harvard, who in his scholarly study deals mainly with the poetry of two outstanding Slovak romantics: r..udovit Stur and Janka KraP. Cizevsky admits "that Mickiewicz's influence on Slovak literature was undoubtedly significant," but he warns at the same time against the "parallels" which are not parallels at all. This remark refers mainly to a Polish expert on Slovak poetry, Wladyslaw Bobek, whose work twenty-five years ago aimed to demonstrate the part which the poetry of Mickiewicz played in the works of - out of the theo- SLOVAKIA 33 retical basis and in the poetic practice of Slovak poets above all, the Slovak romantic poets. In this respect Bobek succeeded according to Cizevsky. The second article on Slovak literature is a note on two modern Slovak translators of Mickiewicz, Hviezdoslav and Zarnov, contributed by this writer. Since on the Polish side also professor M. Majowski of the University of Montreal published sometime ago an interesting study on Polish-Slovak cultural relations in "Zew mlodych," we should not miss this occasion to demonstrate on Mickiewicz's example how extensive and important the cultural ties between Poland and Slovakia already were in the past century. The impact of Mickiewicz on Slovak literature was so strong that the Slovaks have not only all his works translated into the Slovak language, but we find two or three various translations. Three Slovak generations attempted to transplant the beauty of Mickiewicz's poetry into Slovak literary life. Since the first Mickiewicz's poems appeared, the generation of I?,udovit Stur, (1815-1856) recited and drew enthusiasm for the Slovak national cause from Mickiewicz's works. Slovak poets of the nineteenth century (Jan Botto, Janko Matuska, K. Kuzmany, Peter Bella- Horal etc.) translated Mickiewicz's ballads, the Ode to the Youth, his Forefather's Eve, Konrad Wallenrod, and other verses, though they preferred to read and recite the Polish original, as we shall see further. The following generation produced an admirer and translator in the person of the great Slovak poet, Pavo! 0. Hviezdoslav, and contemporary Slovak poetry was enriched by masterful translations of Andrej Zarnov, Matus Zjara, Rudo Brtaii, and Jan Holy. While we shall speak of Hviezdoslav's and Zarnov's translations extensively, it is worthwhile to mention that even very recently, in the martyrized Slovakia, there were translations and adequate commentaries of Mickiewicz's Books of the Polish Nation and Books of the Polish Pilgrimage by a persecuted Catholic priest-poet hidden behind the pseudonym Matus Zjara. A new translation of "Pan SLOVAKIA Tadeusz" was prepared by Rudo Brtaii, and professor Jan Holy translated Jastrun's essay on Mickiewicz. We have, however, to point out that the quantity of Slovak translations from the various Slavic literatures has never adequately reflected either the popularity of the great Slavic writers and poets in Slovakia or Slovak interest in them. From the second half of the nineteenth century, when Slovakia made her contribution to the PanSlavic idea by producing its most famous exponents in the persons of Jan Kollar, P. J. Safarik, and Eudovit Stur, the Slovak "intelligentsia" expressed their Pan-Slavic sympathy and tendencies by reading Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Jugoslav authors in the original. The geographic situation of Slovakia and the central position of Slovak among the Slavic languages account for this peculiar phenomenon in Slovak cultural life. Under these circumstances, until recently we have had in Slovak literature a larger number of translations from non-Slavic languages (German, French, English, and Scandinavian) than from the Slavic, and this in spite of the fact that Slovak literature, especially in the nineteenth century, developed under the strong influence of the outstanding works of Russian, Polish, and other Slav authors. Again, being fundamentally national and romantic, Slovak poetry and fiction were marked, like Polish and Russian literature, by an extensive use of folk tradition and regionalism, and Slovakia's greatest poets drew on folklore and legend in the same way and to the same extent as did the other Slavs. Adam Mickiewicz, who influenced Slovak literature and cultural efforts more than any other Pole, offers an excellent illustration of the situation we have just described. A whole generation of Slovak writers drew enthusiasm, inspiration, and incentive from Mickiewicz's Ode to Youth(l) and his ballads, as well as from his Konrad Walenrod, Pan Tadeusz, and the Crimean Sonnets. For the Slovak contemporaries of Mickiewicz, namely, the group of Eudovit Stur, the Ode became "an armory of maxims, slogans, and appeals, which were used as mottoes for their collections of poetry, individual works, and publications on every possible SLOVAKIA 35 occasion," and, according to W. Bobek, "not even in Poland has the Ode been so enthusiastically received as in Slovakia. "(2) However, with the exception of the ballads, translations of the Ode, as well as of other works of Mickiewicz that enjoyed a wide popularity among the Slovak writers of the nineteenth century, began to appear only in the twentieth century. Artistically, the best of these translations are without doubt those made by two outstanding Slovak poets, Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav and Andrej Zarnov . • • • P. 0. Hviezdoslav,(3) who "elevated Slovak literature to its highest peak, and gave it a true greatness and depth, and who in his national note comes near to Mickiewicz, in his artistry to the poetry of Vrchlicky, and in his strong love for his people and popular art to the works of Shevchenko, "(4) translated not only Miskiewicz's Crimean Sonnets, but also his Faris, Sages, Out of My Sight, and Girl at the Crossroads (the last mistakingly ascribed to Mickiewicz; Bobek identifies the author as J. Jezowski), thus completing the series of translations done by P . Bella-Horal, Janko Matuska, Stefan Krcmery, Botto, and others.(5) Although at first glance the translation of Polish poetry into Slovak may seem an easy task, owing to the close relationship between the two languages, this is far from being so. One reason is that, while Slovak verse bases its rhythm on the accent, Polish verse is syllabic. Another is that similar words in both languages are often not semantically equivalent.(6) It is a further difficulty to the translator of Mickiewicz that the author is a man of genius, with a style of his own, and a special variety of metaphors and peculiarities of expression. Hviezdoslav more than anyone else had, however, all the gifts needed, not only to overcome these difficulties, but at the same time to master the poetic forms and apprehend the spiritual greatness of Mickiewicz's poetry. Hviezdoslav was not only "the most important personality among the Slovak poets representing the transition from romanticism to realism"(7) and, therefore, suited spiritually to i~NS£.~lt:IBR'Jmy'epresentative of Polish ro- ~ !~~~~~VILLE STATE CO.LLEGr 36 SLOVAKIA manticism and messianism, whom he resembled by force of his own poetic visioin and prophetic sense and by his attachment to the national cause and his oppressed Slovak people; his poetic language, too - rich and varied, weighty, and filled with dialectical expressior,is and metaphors was sufficiently plastic and mature to convey the artistic brilliance of Mickiewicz's poetry. Translator of Goethe's Faust, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Midsummer Night's Dream, of Lermontov, Schiller, and Slowacki, as well as of the monumental work of Mada.ch - The Tragedy of Man, - and, in his original verse, a master of the most complicated forms, from distich and sestina to ghazel and ritornello, Hviezdoslav also possessed full technical equipment for the task of translating the Polish classics. It is not, therefore, mere courtesy when Professor Bobek writes that Hviezdoslav's translation of the Crimean Sonnets is really "masterful" and adds that the Eastern coloring of the language, so characteristic of the Sonnets, was not only preserved by Hviezdoslav but sometimes actually enriched through the use, in the translation, of the Eastern terms which Mickiewicz cited in his explanatory notes. And Bobek concludes that "on the whole, the translation of the Crimean Sonnets stands on an equal footing with the original work and can be considered as one of Hviezdoslav's best translations," (8) an opinion that is fully shared by the present writer and by many literary critics. Although Hviezdoslav's translation of Faris differs slightly in form from the original, it is nevertheless equally faithful, and artistically thorough. A comparison of texts, which unfortunately is not practicable here, would supply ample proof. In comparison with the earlier translations from Mickiewicz, especially those of i:;tur's group, the translations made by Hviezdoslav are not so close to the Polish original either in means of expression or in meter; they are poetical interpretation s, done in acordance with the rules of Slovak prosody. No influence of Mickiewicz's poetry on the original creative work of Hviezdoslav has so far been detected by an.y literary analyst or critic. W. Bobek notes that theories SLOVAKIA 37 kave been brought forth to the effect that Pan Thadeusz influenced the composition of Hviezdoslav's longer epic poems, but that there is no supporting evidence. He adds, kowever, that Hviezdoslav's epic poems, such as The Forester's Wife, Ezo Vlkolinsky, and Gabor Vlkolinsky, form a counterpart, on Slovak soil, of the Polish epic.(9) We may conclude the comparison by stating that there was a strong spiritual affinity between the two poets and that Hviezdoslav, like Mickiewicz, by his own poetry as well as by his translations gave his fellow countrymen a vision of what they might long for and accomplish, and implemented the vision with practical and profound Christian maxims . • • • In the turmoil of the Second World War, Andrej Zarnov, (10) one of the best modern Slovak poets, prepared an entire book of translations from Mickiewicz. The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the works of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts , failures , and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and allSlavic poet."(11) The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." A. Zarnov, who was awarded a silver wreath by the Polish Academy of Literature in recognition of his earlier translations from Polish poetry (published in a volume entitled U pofskych basnikov), is an outstanding translator of lyrics, epics, and dramas. Of his original works Andrej Mraz, Professor of Slovak Literature at the University of Bratislava, writes: "By its fiery words and resounding verses Zarnov's poetry became an efficacious instrument in the Slovak national struggle; events of major national importance, reminiscences of history and its tragedies, find in him a militant and inflamed interpreter of the national aspirations and will-power of his people. Yet he also arrived, in his effort to find a harmony between the individual and the universe, at a lyrical as well as philosophical 38 SLOVAKIA poetry."(12) Let us add that he in fact became one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirit of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. Without exaggeration we can assert that 2arnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's greatest and most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight, and Out of My Sight, thus present• ing some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in 2arnov's Slovak translation remain "a wonder" and "some of the most beautiful pages in all European poetry of the century," since he has preserved to a great degree the "richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this colleclection."(13) 2arnov's poetic language is, naturally. more modern, his verse and rhythm more vivid, and the whole translation more audacious even than that of Hviezdoslav. Where Hviezdoslav tried to preserve not only the images and metaphors but also the expressions and rhymes, using words from the dialect of his native region, 2arnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod can be considered as standing not far behind the original in many respects. This poem (which was translated for the first time into Slovak in 1907 by Peter Bella-Horal) made a strong impact on the group of Sh1r's followers , who recited and imitated especially the Song of the Wajdoleta. 2arnov's translation is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equaling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. 2arnov is certainly no romantic SLOVAKIA 39 in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore, predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest."(14) .Zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation (which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences which the Russian occupation of Slovakia brought to the people of Jan Kollar, P. J. Safarik, and Ludovit Stur, founders of the cultural as well as political Pan-Slavism of the last century . .Zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and sumoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. .Zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz .Zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz ha:d the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great questions of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." .Zarnov attempted to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystallized." The real function of .Zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not "to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. (15) 40 · SLOVAKIA The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. Zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas and those of Mickiewicz. (1) See Wladyslaw Bobek, Mickiewicz w literaturze slovackiej (Prague, 1931), pp. 9-10. (2) Ibid. (3) P. 0 . Hviezdoslav (1849-1921) is the pseudonym of Pavo! Orszagh. By occupation a lawyer, he published several volumes of lyrics, one of them (Bloody Sonnets) translated into English, dramas (Herodes a Herodias), epics (Hajnikova zena, Ezo Vlkolinsky, Gabor Vlkolinsky, Agar, Rachel, Kain), and four volumes of translations from world literature. Altogether his poetry was published in fifteen large volumes. (4) See W . Bobek, "Dzieje literatury slowackiej w zarysie," in Slowacja i Slowacy, edited by W. Semkowicz (Cracow, 1937), pp. 357 ff. (5) Among recent Slovak translations from Mickiewicz are his Books of the Polish Nation and Books of the Polish Pilgrimage, translated by Matus Zjara (Kosice, 1947). Jastrun's study of Mickiewicz, translated by Jan Holy, was published in 1950 by Tatran, in Bratislava. Professor R. Brtan has translated Pan Tadeusz, and Matus Zjara has published a penetrating study of Mickiewicz and his relations with Moscow. (6) Stefan Krcmery, outstanding essayist, translator, and poet, states that "Stu.r's group based its poetry on popular songs, Pushkin's and Mickiewicz's works" (Slovenske Pohl'ady, Vol. XLVII [1931], p. 132. W . Bobek has published a study on this subject in which he tries to prove that the metrics of Stu.r's group is based on the Polish poetry. See Kultura, Vol. V, No. 4, pp. 248-256. (7) See Otto Radl, in Handbook of Slavic Studies, edited by L I. Strakhovsky (Cambridge, Mass., 1949), p. 496. (8) See W. Bobek, Mickiewicz w literaturze slowackiej, p. 57. (9) Page 43. (10) Andrej Zarnov is the pseudonym of Frantisek Subik, former professor at the University of Bratislava, at present in Washington. He was born in 1903 in Slovakia. His main published works are Straz pri Morave (1925), Brazda cez Uhory (1929), Hlas krvi (1932), Stit (1940), and Mrtvy (1941). (11) Introduction to the volume Poezia, pp. 121-133. (12) Andreas Mraz, Die Literatur der Slowaken (Berlin-PragueVienna: Volk und Reich Verlag, 1943), pp. 187-188. 41 SLOVAKIA (13) See Waclaw Lednicki, Life and Culture of Poland (New York: Ray Publishers, 1944), p. 176 etc. (14) See Roman Dyboski, Poland in World Civilization (New York, 1950), p. 213. (15) See J . Nechon's essay on Stefan Zeronski in Harvard Slavic Studies, Vol. II, (Cambridge, Mass., 1954), pp. 323-324. • • • WF, MUST QUIT HELPING RED REGIMES (Address By Hon. William F. Knowland Before Inaugural Nationalities Banquet, January 20, 1957) It is most fitting that this banquet, held on the eve of the public inaugural ceremonies of the President and Vice President of the United States, should be under the sponsorship of the Nationalities Advisory Committee and the Inaugural Nationalities committee. Firstly, with the exception of American Indians, in this new world all of us ourse1ves or our parents, grandparent.a, or more distant forebears, came front the old worlds of Europe, Asia, or Africa. While as citizens of the United States our loyalty is to this great ·r epublic it is also natural that there remain ties of historic interests, family or racial connections, and religious beliefs, together with our natural humanitarian instincts, that makes what happens in Budapest, Berlin, London, Peiping, Cairo, or any other city large or small more than just newspaper datelines. Secondly, the naJtiona:lities groups throughout our country made notable contriibutions to the reelection of our great president Dwight D. Eisenhower a:nd our able and effective Vice President Rihard M. Nixon. Not only are you entitled to be here to witness the culmination of your individual and •c ollective constructive labors in the last campaign but you have earned the right to a respectful hearing to your recommendations. There are many great problems confronting our country domestic and foreign. The President in his address on the Middle East resolution, in his staite of ,t he Union message, in his inaugural address tomorrow, or in future special messaiges to the Congress will discuss 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 Mickiewicz in Slovak Poetry and Translations Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 1 (22), March 1957 pp. 32-41 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 March 1957 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5df349359c13f759066467f60fa19f41.pdf fa86e8be18d24769d0e5fe3811b9ef87 PDF Text Text 18 SLOVAKIA UNIVERSITY TRADITIONS IN SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum An dbjective search of the cultural development of Central ffiurOlpe will r,e veal that Slo,vakia was not only "the first cultural center," as M. Hodzas wrote, but also a land of noteworthy university traditions. With the loss of ,p olitical indeipenden~e in the tenth century and the inco.rporation of Slova!kia first into muJti-national Hungary and later into Ozecho..,Slova!kia, the university tradttions, as well as the entire cultural development of Slovalkia, are often ,presented, it is true, in foreign works as a paTt of Magyar and/ or Czech culture. This is e3:pecially true alb uot the foundation and activity of un1versities in SlorvaJkia, which Mwgyar historians, both young and old (1), classified e~clustvely under the caption of culture of the Magyar nation, despite the fact that in the Middle Ages - and in Cenm-ail ,E}urope even in the 17th centll!rY - modern nationalism ,w as something unknown and that those universities were conducted in a .s pirit of unirversalisrn and cosmopolitanism. Several arguments speak against any such exiplanation of the cultural development in Central ffiurope, and especially in the multi-national !Hungary ,p rior to 19118: 1) the nature of the medieval class .state which was managed by the nobility and gentry of all ethnical components; 2) the character of medieval universities and their mission; and, 3) the nationalistic composition of the students and the ,professorial sta~f. 'l 'f, in thi,s conteIIl\po11aneous period, one would classify, by an ex post exiplaination, the universities of Hungary as the cultural heritage of only one nation, then he would be malking use of an interpretation that is not in line ,w ith logic and historical truth. Cultural values in Hungary were creaited 1b y all the nations of Hungary and, since the nonMagyar nations often exceeded the Maigyars numerically, we can apply only the territorial 1principle when designing the prfority right of cultural institutions. Therefore, even �SLOVAKIA 19 this dissertaion speaJks rubout the university traditi:ons in Slova!kia and not aJbout traditions of Slova;k universities. It would not be in line with the resttlts of an oibjective search of the Slovak cultural ,p ast, if we should present the universities in Slovakia of the 15th or 17th century as 'SlovaJk. If we did, we would there by be committing an error almost as great as the Magyars when they present them a,s Magyar, or as the e~clusive heritage of the Magyar nation. But even overlooking the fact that the 15th or the 17th century did not as yet know the concept of a nation in the sense of the present-day meaning of the word and that culturnl institutions in Central Europe, and esipecially in Hungary, had a universalistic spirit and a language that was foremost Latin, the .national composition of Hungary demands a just distribution of merits, as well as cultural heritage, amon5 all the nations of the poiy,g lot Cro1WI1 of St. Stephen. II ffiven with this scrll!pulous distinction, the Sl01va!ks do have a prio,r ity right to three universities from the times of former Hungary and to two from the time of the incorporation of Slovakia into the Czecho-Sl01Valk Republic. That is, on the territory of Slovaikia, there was not only the .A;cadenia Istroipolitana, founded in Bratislaivia by Mathias Corrwin in 1465, and the University of 'I'rnava from the year 1635, but also the universities of Kosice and Bratislava. The Aicademia I.stropolitana, named aftex the Greek for Danulbe (Istros), was a typical medieval university, set up on the order of Italian universities, particularly that of Bologna, its mission /being mainly religious. Hungary, and especially Slcwalkia, was devastated by Jis:kra's Czech mercenary soldiers and by religious quarrels,. After Ji$kra's crupitulation in 1642, and after he had se:cured himself a;gainst the Turkish danger, King Mathias sought to consolidate his country. His plans called for, above all else, a learned priesthood and an educated nolbility revived in the Catholic spirit. Since at that time there was no university in Hungary, as the King himself wrote in his peti- �20 SLOVAKIA tion of May 19, 1465 which was addressed to the Pope, Mathias requested permission for a "studium generale" and Pope Pole II granted it on the same day. In the petition, King Mathias stated what motivated him to estrublish a university in Bratislava and what ,punpo.se it was to serwe. He wrote that "in the countries .bordering with hereti'Cs there is a need of learned men and that this was a loss for the Church itself, as well as for the Christian religion." The Ki.ng entrusted the organization of the university to the Arch'bishop of Ostrihom, J,o hn Vitez, and the university was started in the home of the Ventura Street. The solemn opening of the univensity took 1place on Jwy 28, 1467. Fortihwith the University of Bratisla;va established good relations with the Univensity orf Vienna which he.ljped out with several of its eminent professo,r s. With the death af King Mathias, however, the uni,v ersity not only lost its founder, but also its protector; it closed its doors in 1490. The Academia Istropolitana was a complete uniiversity with four faculties and a .study c,urriculum that equaled that of other European, particularly the Italian and German, univeTSities. The immediate proximity oif the older and well estalblished Uniiversity of Vienna, and the renown of the University of Cracow, estaiblished in 1364, and the Unirversity of Prague (11348) did not allow the University of Bratislaiva to develop as ,planned by King Mathias, who did want to attract students even from the surrounding countries. The fact is that many students from Hungary itself, particularly from SlorvaJkia, studied in Cracow and Pra1gue, Vienna and at Ralian universities. According to some sources in the years 1400-1525 in Oraco,w alone over 2000 students frOIIIl Slovakia attended, especially from her eastern area (2). Territorially, the Unirversity of Bratisla;va belongs to the history of Slovakia, in the remaining aspects it was a medievaI Catholic unirveTsity and :belongs to all the nations of Hungary from whkh ,b oth the students and also the professors descended. And since even in this case the �SLOVAKIA 21 Magyars cannot apply the dynastic principle (King Mathias was not of a Magyar dynasty), it is decidedly not in line with historic fact if anyone plruces the unhrersity in the cultural hi<story of only the Magyar nation. "The Academy Istropolitna, " as professor A. MTaz correctly states it, "originated f,r om the will and decision of the Hungarian ruler, it was the result of his cultUJral policy, which wais in many ways influenced by humanism and by contacts especially with the romantic world. Its designation must be understood in an all-state sense, but the very fact that this univer,s ity ori,g inated on Slovak territory, that in its ran1ks there was a great percentage of Slova!k students and professors - all thi,s puts the Corwinian Unirversity of Bratislava into close and lirvely relations with Slovalk cultUTal de,velo1pment" (3). The second univernity on the territory of Slorvakia, the Jesuit University in Trnava, was founded by Archlbishop Peter Pazmany and approved by ffimperor Ferdinand on Odolber 18, 1635. The UnirverS!ity of Trnava was also a Catholic unirver,s ity in ,w hich L'a tin was used, as is proved by the register and catalogues which haive 1been preserved. At first there were only two faculties at this uniiversity (iphilosoiphical and theological), with two others added later (the law faculty in 1667, and the medical in 1769). Archbishop Pa,m nany, originally a Calv:in of German birth (4), was critical of the Magyar nation wh~ch he clai<med as his own; but he, 1i'ke the other ecclesiastical authorities were aiware of the fact that Hungary was polyg,l ot and, therefore, it can be rightly claimed that the university was estalblished for all the nationalities of Hungary with the aim to speed the victory of the Counter-Reformation among the Magyars, as well as among the SJo,vaJks, and Germans, nay even among the Serbs and Ruthenians .by means of the Cyrillic a1phalbet. The words of the Charter about "noibilissimae gentis Hun1garicae" cannot b,e explaaned otherwise than that Pa~many had in mind the state-nation of Hungary, which was administered not only by the Magyar, but also by the Croation and Slovalk nobility and gentTy and compo,s ed of even the Ruimanians of Transyl- �22 SLOVAKIA vania, the Germans, Senbs, and Ruthenians who occupied the lands of St. Stephen's Crown. In the Charter, Archlbishoip Pazmainy says literally: "We often ~o1idtously pondered just in what manner we might take crure of prQlpagating the Catholic religion in Hungary and to wplift the authority of the ndble Hungarian naition; and the most advantageous medium that we came wpon was the estaJblishment of a university in which the mind of a belligerent nation could be moderated and capable people might be ti-ained for the administration Church and also the State." The administration of the State, especially in the 17th century, was not exclusively in the hands of the Magyar nobility and gentry, inasmuch the Magyarization of the Slovak nobility, for example, came quite some time later. Under the influence of the Tu:rlkish occupation and the partition of Hungary into three paI'ts (the southern and central part occupied by the Turks; Transylvainia and the Tisa River area b~ independent princes; and the northern part, that is SlovaJkia, with smaller parts of western Hungary administered by the Hapsburgs) , Slovakia played an altogether exceptional role in the 17th century. She was, Hod.fa tells us, the refuge of many intellectual efforts and for some time there was more cultural movement in Slo,vaJkia than in Bohemia or the occupied part of Hungary. .Aiccording to Hodza, practically a,U movements of the cultural and political Life met there and Slova1kia was indisputaJbly the cultural center of Catholic Hungary (5). So that the Slovalks could regard the Uni,v ersity of TrnaJva as their own is attested to not only by the fact that is was on the territocy of Slorvalkia which .played, as we saiw aJbove, an exrceptional role in Hungary in the seventeenth century. The significance of this university for the cultura-l development of the Slovaiks, their langunge and their national conscioU!Sness was so far-reaching that even one of the outstanding literary historians of the .p resent communistic university in SlovaJkia, Professo;r A. Mraz, acknowledges that "with its activity and within its frame- �SLOVAKIA 23 wor'k cultwral and scientific life was prQ_pagated and deepened, the effects of which, all things considered, affected very strong,ly the Sl~ak part of the inhaJbitants, even though this was done according to the plan of religious and scientific direction of this high school and its inclusion into the Jesuit European school ,system. Because o.f the university, Trnava became the cultuTal center of Catholic Hun,gary and Slovakia in the seventeenth centUTy." Mraz also states that "for 160 yews o,f the existence of the University of Trnava on SloiVaJk territory, together with its activity and educational atmosphere created by it, there were crystallized such SlovaJk cultural and natonal realities that were the support of Slovak national renascence" ( 6). From the archives orf the University of Trnava, we learn that UJP to the time of its transfer to Budin in the year 1777, the Slovaks attended the university in greatest numbers, not only as students but, in s·o me years, the Slovaxs predominated as professors. In the first five years, for example, out of 248 students logic, 90 are indicated a,s 'SlovaJks and 77 as Magyars (the others were marked as Croatians and Germans, or their nationality was not indicated). Mter 1649, the registers of the university do not indicate the nationality of the students reg,ulal'ly, but the nationality of those re::!eiving the baccalaureate is indicated: even during this period, it can lbe 1proved that the Siloiva'ks and other iSlorvanic peoples werre in the rubsolute majority at the uniivers,ity (7). Now, then, if we regard the University of Trna.va from the standpoint of the question whom it sewed, who studied and taught at it, the ,p reponderance is on the side of the SlovaJks, Croatians and Germans, a;nd then come the Magyars. As far as· cultural influence is concerned, the University of Trnarva has merited a permanent place in SlovaJk cultural history with the literary activity o.f its professors and wards even in the Slovak langua,ge. From the yearr 1578 to 1777, the unirvevsity issued 79 Lrutin pulblicati<ons in the field of apologetics and contro;versial works~· but also 14 such ipU!bli:cations in Slorvak. During that same, time, 20 Magyar and 12 German, lbut also 75 bodks in the �24 SLOVAKIA field of scetics and preaching (8), so that "the crystallization of the langll!age of Catholic writers from the period of the University of Trnava was marked to such a degree that when Anthony Bernolruk and his g,r oup came out with the idea of an independent Slovalk literary langua;ge, in many things they only codified the practices, prevalent in Catholic literature, of their predeces,s ors" (9). From the rubove, it is undouibtedly surfrficiently clear that the SlO'Vaiks can rightfully inolude the UnilV'ersity of Ton:wa in the cultural heritage of the 1Slovalk nation and that !it ibelOiillgs in the first iplace to the unirve:r,sity traditions of SlovaJkia. It was iin such a sense that the Slovaks celebrated the tri-centennial of the foundation of the University of Trnava in 1935, when they pulblished a whole ,s eries of literary works commemorating the occasion with the actirve ,partic~pation of not only their cultura·l, but also their ,politi'cal institutions. The third uni,v ersity in SlovaJkia was established in Kosice in 1657 by Benedict Kisdi, the bishop of Jasov; it began its aietivity in 1'658, and the 1SlovaJks are commemorating the tri-centennial of the foundation of the University of Kosice this year. Like the University oif Trnava, the University .of Kosice, too, is grateful to the Jesuits for its development and Mgh acaderruc standing .Emiperor Leopold I rupproved its foundation in 1660, when he issued a Golden Bull, placing the unirversity on a level with the other universities of the mona;rchy with the right of granting academic titles and degrees. The Unirver.sity of Kosice - later degraded to an academy iby the There~iaJll reforms and to a law academy during the Bachera - was formded lb y the same motives as the Trna'Va University. In the Charter of February 26, 1657, Bishop Benedict states that he decided to establish a "studiUJm universale, that is, an academy or unirversity and to entrust it to the Jesuits, whose industry, loyalty and skill in the educational field are known to the who,le world, .so that it could train caipaJble priests the lack of ,whom ~ very harmful for God's Chwrch and for our afflicted fatherland" (10). �SLOVAKIA 25 After the dissolution of the Kosice law academy by the Praigue Government in 1922, the archives of the University of Kosice, were taken to Bratislava and, as far as is known, no one has made a thorough study of them so that we might know a;ccurately the composition of the student 1body and its professorial staff. From the wo11ks of Jesuit scientific scholars, who have been active in Italian universities during recent years, we :know that religious servi·c es with exclusively Slo,va.k sermons, during the first years, in the uniiversity cha1pel, attracted so many listenera that they could not be taJken care of in the chaipel. Father Stanislaus Po1cin also states that one of his famous students was A. Balud'ansky, a native of Vysne Olsovany, who ovganized the Uniivers,ity oif St. Petersburg and also was its rector (11). On the whole, the Kosi,ce University was very much li!ke the University of Trnava. From the academic standpoint, the University of Kosice was independent, according to the intentions of its founder it was administered as an institution of higher learning only by Church regulations and later in the sense of the Bull of Leopold I. The latter granted the uni,v ersity the same iprivileges, immunities and .p rerogatives which he had granted to other great universities of the Hrupslburg Monarvchy, and the degrees ,granted ,b y it were on the same level as those granted :b y the other European universities. According to the Charter, at the univer~ity of Kosice there were faculties of logic, philosophy, mathematics, theology, moral, rupologetics, and Heibrew. In 1777 the university lost its theological faculty, but then the faculty of ,la;w was estrublished which, as we mentioned aJbo:ve, remained until 1922. Since we are here concerned with a unirversity on SlovaJk territory, we can conclude that, up to the time of the Theresiam reforms, its character di:fifered little, if at aU, from that of the University of Tr:nava. Certainly its national compositiorn and mission wer,e much the s,a me. It was a Jesuit Latin university set up to serve Counter-Reformation efforts in multi-national Hungary. Though parts of eastern !Slovakia were strongly influenced for a time by the �26 SLOVAKIA Reformation, the Slavruk element during the time of the Kosice University was more strongJy represented inasmuch the neighlboring Maygar parts of Hungary were strongly Calvm.istic and the stage for revolutionary, anti-Hapsburg activities. At the !b eginning of the eighteenth century, in the eastern parts of SlovaJkia, even the Slovaik Calvinists pwblished religious literature in the national tongue and expressed the hyipothesis that it was iproibably there that even the first translation Off he Holy Writ of the year 17561757 originated, with Romuald Hadlbavy, author of a LatinSlovruk dictionary, ipartioipating in it. A study of the archives would undoubtedly tell us much about the composition of students and professors of the University o.f Kosice. Unfortunately they are not accessible to us today because of the Czecho-Comrrnmist occupation of Slova1kia. A few documents rubout the Kosice University can be found in the arch1ves of the Vatican (12), but they do not ,g ive us a clear answer to the questions referred to. Ln 1912 another school of higher learning was established in Bratislava, the Academy of law, which belongs to SlovaJkia only territorially since its spirit and aims differed swbstantially from those of the universities dealt with above. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, this academy was tr~ferred to Pathlrnstoly (P&!s). The Comenius University was then organized in Bratislava to help the Czech governments Cz.echize the Slovaks. Slovak generations, educated iby the Czech professors of this university, did not succumlb, however, but went in the 01pposite direction: they .b ecame strongly nationalistic, forming the vanguard of the movement for the ouJ.trn-al and political individuality and independence of 'Slo!V'akia. fo 1939, they changed not only the name of the university, iburt also its spirit and mission: the Slovak University serived the highest cultural, political, and economical aims of the Slovak nation until the Slovak Republic was destroyed in AprH, 1945, when Benes, with the help of the United Nations, estaJblished another "Czec:ho-iSlovaJkia," a ,p olitical mons·t irosity more monstrous than the first which was born in 1918. Since 1945, lilke the other fom m;;titutions of higher �SLOVAKIA 27 learning, the SlovaJk University in Bratislava, is a tool of Communism in the hands of a Czecho-Communist government. Slovaks At Foreign Universities To complete the picture oif university traditions in Slovakia, we must mention at least ibriefly that f,r om the fourteenth century until the pre;,;ent time Slovalks studied and taught not only in S,lovaJk unilver,s ities, or only in Hoogary and Austria, hut also in significant numbers in practically all European universities. Some of them attained high honors and recognition not only of university circles, but even of the sovereigns. In the era of Humanism and Renaissance, Slo•v ~s studied mamly at the Italian universities in Bologna and Padua, but also in Paris, Vienna, and especially in Crrueow a,nd P.ra,gue. At the latter univ,e rsity, Va:vrinec Benedicti of Nedozery (1'555-11616) was the rector and wrote a Czech ,gram.mer, while John Jesenius from Turiec County excelled in medicine, atd'. Our list of eminent ,SlovaJks of the Hwmanistic, Renaissanoe and Enlightenment eras at foreign universities is far from complete, but it is a noteworthy list. John Samb.oclky (Sambuet.1:S, born in Trnruva 16'31), made himself famous at the University of Bologna and later became an advisor and personal physician to, ffirrvpreor Maximilian II in Vienna. His literacy wo!'!ks we,r e ,published in practically all centers of humanistic culture from Padua through Paris, Vienna, G€neva, Nruples and Antwer;p on to ,F rrunkfurt. His scientific works were in the ma-i n of a historical and legal nature, but he also wrote Latin verses. Ma.rtin Rakovsky enjoyed world fame also in his time; and renaissance learning. In the writing of such treati!Ses Peter Rewa also excelled; his "De Monarchia et sacra corona regni Hungariae" was published in Fran:kfurt in 16159. The Uni'Versity of Trnava mulitiplied its scientific activity and interest of Slovruks in a university education not only on natrve soil, but also in foreign lands. Many scienti£ic workers and defenders of the Slwaiks and their culture grew up within its circle. One of the most prominent representatives of scientific scholars of Trnava was �28 SLOVAKIA Martin Szentivanyi who hailed from Liptovsky Svaty Jan; he ,w rote a1bout fifty various volumes and a six..ivolume encyclopedia called "Curiosora et selectiora variarum scientiarum miscellanea" in which he collected the scientific 1 knowledge of the va-rious disciplines of his time, from philosophy and mathematics to history, geogiraiphy, theology and economy (13). In the eighteenth century we have quite a numlber of eminent Slovruks worthy of mention, of whom we have in the first place Adam F. Kollar (lborn 1718 in Terchova) and Mathias Bel. Kollar, lilbrarian to the emperor's court in Vienna, devoted his time to history and diplomacy, but al.so to social and educational questions. During the refol'lms of Marie-Therese he played a significant role in her educational changes and in contempo,r ary pedago,grics. Mathias Bel, iborn in Ocova as Funtilk, was such a prominent and many-sided .personality that as a Lutheran he received recognition f;z-om the Pope and the Catholic ruler, who g,r anted him the title of nobleman. Bel, called "magnum decus Hungariae," published his scientific work,s in Latin, Ger.man, and Magyar; seven of his works, however, were in Slovruk. Most of his lite;z-ary works concerned themse1ves with history, geogra.phy, ethnography, and philology. He was a member of many foreign scientific societies and one of the most ,p rominent personalities of his generation in all of Hungary. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries SlovaJk Catholics and Lutherans studied and taught at many foreign universities and so helrped to elevate the culture of other nations, ,pairticularly that of the Czechs and Magyars. This question, however, still needs a systematic going-over and, hence, is not included in this dissertation. A significant numlber of Slovruks are also active in the contemporary period at various universities of the free woTld, particularly in Rome, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chili, Flrance, and the United ,States. ,Dr. Milan Hodza stated only a fact at the beginning af Woirld War II when he wrote that "Slovakia reached if not surpassed the Central European civilization level." �SLOVAKIA REFERENCES 1. Dez1der Heckenast: HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITIES, PAST A ND PRESENT, Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. II, Part 1, pp. 31-39; University of Montreal, Canada. 2. Compare Samuel Osusky's "Nasi studenti na Krakovskej universite od 1400-1525," Vi era a veda, Vol. II, 1931, pp. 174-178, 226-233, and Vol. IV, 1933, pp. 232-244. 3. Andrej Mraz : DEJINY SLOVENSKEJ LITERATURY, Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts, Bratislava, 1948, pp. 20-21. 4. In his letter of December 5, 1634, Pazmany wrote the Bishop of Olomouc, Cardinal F. Ditrichstein, that his family comes from Germany (ex Germania) and that is why, he said, that he wishes his last descendant would become a complete Moravian (totaliter Moravum facere constitutum habeo). According to I. Acsady, Pazmany "frequently told Ferdinand II that it was not possible to trust even the best Magyar and that the Magyar people needed a yoke, because it was only thus that it would be possible to keep it under control. He did not even believe his own non-Catholic countrymen, nay, not even in the future of the Magyar nation," (quoted from Daniel Varsik's Slovak book: THE NATIONALITY PROBLEM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRNAVA, Bratislava, 1938, p. 37). How Pazmany felt about the nationalities is also attested to by the gift which he gave the Franciscan church in Trnava "moved," as he wrote. "above all else by paternal love for the Slovak nation and by t he ardor of the devout people" (Epistolae, II, p. 2-1). 5. Dr. Milan Hodfa: FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, London, 1942, pp. 208-209: "During the seventeenth century .. . Slovakia became also the refuge of many lofty intellectual efforts on behalf of that country. For some time to come in Slovakia there was much more cultural movement than in Bohemia or occupied Hungary .. . Trnava, which housed the Catholic University before it was transferred to Budapest, became a center of Catholic culture in the realm. Slovakia revealed itself as a meeting-place of practically all contemporary currents of cultural and political ideas." 6. Andrew Mraz: op. cit., pp. 35, 62. 7. Compare the thorough study of D. Varsik. "Narodnostny problem Trnavske j uni ve rz ity," which also has a resume in French in which Varsik states literally: "11 etait par consequent nature! que !'element slovaque fut preponderant a l'Universite de Trnava" (pp. 240-241). 8. Compare Stephen Dubravec's "Apologetika a kontroverz istika na un iverzite v Trnave," Sbornik LVOSSV, Vol. II, No. 2, Trnava, 1935, p. 197). 9. Andrew Mraz : op. cit., pp. 46-47. 10. Compare Stanislaus Polcin's S.J., "Tristo rokov od zalozenia Kosickej univerzity," MOST, Cleveland, 0., Vol. 4, No. 3, 1957, pp. 97-106. 11. MOST, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1957, p. 105. 12. About the documents in the Vatican Archives, vd. mention in the study of S. Polcin,S.J. 13. Compare Stanislaus Jurovsky's "Fil ozofia Ma rti na Szent ivanyi ho," Turciansky Svaty Martin, 1944. � 18 SLOVAKIA UNIVERSITY TRADITIONS IN SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum An dbjective search of the cultural development of Central ffiurOlpe will r,e veal that Slo,vakia was not only "the first cultural center," as M. Hodzas wrote, but also a land of noteworthy university traditions. With the loss of ,p olitical indeipenden~e in the tenth century and the inco.rporation of Slova!kia first into muJti-national Hungary and later into Ozecho..,Slova!kia, the university tradttions, as well as the entire cultural development of Slovalkia, are often ,presented, it is true, in foreign works as a paTt of Magyar and/ or Czech culture. This is e3:pecially true alb uot the foundation and activity of un1versities in SlorvaJkia, which Mwgyar historians, both young and old (1), classified e~clustvely under the caption of culture of the Magyar nation, despite the fact that in the Middle Ages - and in Cenm-ail ,E}urope even in the 17th centll!rY - modern nationalism ,w as something unknown and that those universities were conducted in a .s pirit of unirversalisrn and cosmopolitanism. Several arguments speak against any such exiplanation of the cultural development in Central ffiurope, and especially in the multi-national !Hungary ,p rior to 19118: 1) the nature of the medieval class .state which was managed by the nobility and gentry of all ethnical components; 2) the character of medieval universities and their mission; and, 3) the nationalistic composition of the students and the ,professorial sta~f. 'l 'f, in thi,s conteIIl\po11aneous period, one would classify, by an ex post exiplaination, the universities of Hungary as the cultural heritage of only one nation, then he would be malking use of an interpretation that is not in line ,w ith logic and historical truth. Cultural values in Hungary were creaited 1b y all the nations of Hungary and, since the nonMagyar nations often exceeded the Maigyars numerically, we can apply only the territorial 1principle when designing the prfority right of cultural institutions. Therefore, even �SLOVAKIA 19 this dissertaion speaJks rubout the university traditi:ons in Slova!kia and not aJbout traditions of Slova;k universities. It would not be in line with the resttlts of an oibjective search of the Slovak cultural ,p ast, if we should present the universities in Slovakia of the 15th or 17th century as 'SlovaJk. If we did, we would there by be committing an error almost as great as the Magyars when they present them a,s Magyar, or as the e~clusive heritage of the Magyar nation. But even overlooking the fact that the 15th or the 17th century did not as yet know the concept of a nation in the sense of the present-day meaning of the word and that culturnl institutions in Central Europe, and esipecially in Hungary, had a universalistic spirit and a language that was foremost Latin, the .national composition of Hungary demands a just distribution of merits, as well as cultural heritage, amon5 all the nations of the poiy,g lot Cro1WI1 of St. Stephen. II ffiven with this scrll!pulous distinction, the Sl01va!ks do have a prio,r ity right to three universities from the times of former Hungary and to two from the time of the incorporation of Slovakia into the Czecho-Sl01Valk Republic. That is, on the territory of Slovaikia, there was not only the .A;cadenia Istroipolitana, founded in Bratislaivia by Mathias Corrwin in 1465, and the University of 'I'rnava from the year 1635, but also the universities of Kosice and Bratislava. The Aicademia I.stropolitana, named aftex the Greek for Danulbe (Istros), was a typical medieval university, set up on the order of Italian universities, particularly that of Bologna, its mission /being mainly religious. Hungary, and especially Slcwalkia, was devastated by Jis:kra's Czech mercenary soldiers and by religious quarrels,. After Ji$kra's crupitulation in 1642, and after he had se:cured himself a;gainst the Turkish danger, King Mathias sought to consolidate his country. His plans called for, above all else, a learned priesthood and an educated nolbility revived in the Catholic spirit. Since at that time there was no university in Hungary, as the King himself wrote in his peti- �20 SLOVAKIA tion of May 19, 1465 which was addressed to the Pope, Mathias requested permission for a "studium generale" and Pope Pole II granted it on the same day. In the petition, King Mathias stated what motivated him to estrublish a university in Bratislava and what ,punpo.se it was to serwe. He wrote that "in the countries .bordering with hereti'Cs there is a need of learned men and that this was a loss for the Church itself, as well as for the Christian religion." The Ki.ng entrusted the organization of the university to the Arch'bishop of Ostrihom, J,o hn Vitez, and the university was started in the home of the Ventura Street. The solemn opening of the univensity took 1place on Jwy 28, 1467. Fortihwith the University of Bratisla;va established good relations with the Univensity orf Vienna which he.ljped out with several of its eminent professo,r s. With the death af King Mathias, however, the uni,v ersity not only lost its founder, but also its protector; it closed its doors in 1490. The Academia Istropolitana was a complete uniiversity with four faculties and a .study c,urriculum that equaled that of other European, particularly the Italian and German, univeTSities. The immediate proximity oif the older and well estalblished Uniiversity of Vienna, and the renown of the University of Cracow, estaiblished in 1364, and the Unirversity of Prague (11348) did not allow the University of Bratislaiva to develop as ,planned by King Mathias, who did want to attract students even from the surrounding countries. The fact is that many students from Hungary itself, particularly from SlorvaJkia, studied in Cracow and Pra1gue, Vienna and at Ralian universities. According to some sources in the years 1400-1525 in Oraco,w alone over 2000 students frOIIIl Slovakia attended, especially from her eastern area (2). Territorially, the Unirversity of Bratisla;va belongs to the history of Slovakia, in the remaining aspects it was a medievaI Catholic unirveTsity and :belongs to all the nations of Hungary from whkh ,b oth the students and also the professors descended. And since even in this case the �SLOVAKIA 21 Magyars cannot apply the dynastic principle (King Mathias was not of a Magyar dynasty), it is decidedly not in line with historic fact if anyone plruces the unhrersity in the cultural hi<story of only the Magyar nation. "The Academy Istropolitna, " as professor A. MTaz correctly states it, "originated f,r om the will and decision of the Hungarian ruler, it was the result of his cultUJral policy, which wais in many ways influenced by humanism and by contacts especially with the romantic world. Its designation must be understood in an all-state sense, but the very fact that this univer,s ity ori,g inated on Slovak territory, that in its ran1ks there was a great percentage of Slova!k students and professors - all thi,s puts the Corwinian Unirversity of Bratislava into close and lirvely relations with Slovalk cultUTal de,velo1pment" (3). The second univernity on the territory of Slorvakia, the Jesuit University in Trnava, was founded by Archlbishop Peter Pazmany and approved by ffimperor Ferdinand on Odolber 18, 1635. The UnirverS!ity of Trnava was also a Catholic unirver,s ity in ,w hich L'a tin was used, as is proved by the register and catalogues which haive 1been preserved. At first there were only two faculties at this uniiversity (iphilosoiphical and theological), with two others added later (the law faculty in 1667, and the medical in 1769). Archbishop Pa,m nany, originally a Calv:in of German birth (4), was critical of the Magyar nation wh~ch he clai<med as his own; but he, 1i'ke the other ecclesiastical authorities were aiware of the fact that Hungary was polyg,l ot and, therefore, it can be rightly claimed that the university was estalblished for all the nationalities of Hungary with the aim to speed the victory of the Counter-Reformation among the Magyars, as well as among the SJo,vaJks, and Germans, nay even among the Serbs and Ruthenians .by means of the Cyrillic a1phalbet. The words of the Charter about "noibilissimae gentis Hun1garicae" cannot b,e explaaned otherwise than that Pa~many had in mind the state-nation of Hungary, which was administered not only by the Magyar, but also by the Croation and Slovalk nobility and gentTy and compo,s ed of even the Ruimanians of Transyl- �22 SLOVAKIA vania, the Germans, Senbs, and Ruthenians who occupied the lands of St. Stephen's Crown. In the Charter, Archlbishoip Pazmainy says literally: "We often ~o1idtously pondered just in what manner we might take crure of prQlpagating the Catholic religion in Hungary and to wplift the authority of the ndble Hungarian naition; and the most advantageous medium that we came wpon was the estaJblishment of a university in which the mind of a belligerent nation could be moderated and capable people might be ti-ained for the administration Church and also the State." The administration of the State, especially in the 17th century, was not exclusively in the hands of the Magyar nobility and gentry, inasmuch the Magyarization of the Slovak nobility, for example, came quite some time later. Under the influence of the Tu:rlkish occupation and the partition of Hungary into three paI'ts (the southern and central part occupied by the Turks; Transylvainia and the Tisa River area b~ independent princes; and the northern part, that is SlovaJkia, with smaller parts of western Hungary administered by the Hapsburgs) , Slovakia played an altogether exceptional role in the 17th century. She was, Hod.fa tells us, the refuge of many intellectual efforts and for some time there was more cultural movement in Slo,vaJkia than in Bohemia or the occupied part of Hungary. .Aiccording to Hodza, practically a,U movements of the cultural and political Life met there and Slova1kia was indisputaJbly the cultural center of Catholic Hungary (5). So that the Slovalks could regard the Uni,v ersity of TrnaJva as their own is attested to not only by the fact that is was on the territocy of Slorvalkia which .played, as we saiw aJbove, an exrceptional role in Hungary in the seventeenth century. The significance of this university for the cultura-l development of the Slovaiks, their langunge and their national conscioU!Sness was so far-reaching that even one of the outstanding literary historians of the .p resent communistic university in SlovaJkia, Professo;r A. Mraz, acknowledges that "with its activity and within its frame- �SLOVAKIA 23 wor'k cultwral and scientific life was prQ_pagated and deepened, the effects of which, all things considered, affected very strong,ly the Sl~ak part of the inhaJbitants, even though this was done according to the plan of religious and scientific direction of this high school and its inclusion into the Jesuit European school ,system. Because o.f the university, Trnava became the cultuTal center of Catholic Hun,gary and Slovakia in the seventeenth centUTy." Mraz also states that "for 160 yews o,f the existence of the University of Trnava on SloiVaJk territory, together with its activity and educational atmosphere created by it, there were crystallized such SlovaJk cultural and natonal realities that were the support of Slovak national renascence" ( 6). From the archives orf the University of Trnava, we learn that UJP to the time of its transfer to Budin in the year 1777, the Slovaks attended the university in greatest numbers, not only as students but, in s·o me years, the Slovaxs predominated as professors. In the first five years, for example, out of 248 students logic, 90 are indicated a,s 'SlovaJks and 77 as Magyars (the others were marked as Croatians and Germans, or their nationality was not indicated). Mter 1649, the registers of the university do not indicate the nationality of the students reg,ulal'ly, but the nationality of those re::!eiving the baccalaureate is indicated: even during this period, it can lbe 1proved that the Siloiva'ks and other iSlorvanic peoples werre in the rubsolute majority at the uniivers,ity (7). Now, then, if we regard the University of Trna.va from the standpoint of the question whom it sewed, who studied and taught at it, the ,p reponderance is on the side of the SlovaJks, Croatians and Germans, a;nd then come the Magyars. As far as· cultural influence is concerned, the University of Trnarva has merited a permanent place in SlovaJk cultural history with the literary activity o.f its professors and wards even in the Slovak langua,ge. From the yearr 1578 to 1777, the unirvevsity issued 79 Lrutin pulblicati<ons in the field of apologetics and contro;versial works~· but also 14 such ipU!bli:cations in Slorvak. During that same, time, 20 Magyar and 12 German, lbut also 75 bodks in the �24 SLOVAKIA field of scetics and preaching (8), so that "the crystallization of the langll!age of Catholic writers from the period of the University of Trnava was marked to such a degree that when Anthony Bernolruk and his g,r oup came out with the idea of an independent Slovalk literary langua;ge, in many things they only codified the practices, prevalent in Catholic literature, of their predeces,s ors" (9). From the rubove, it is undouibtedly surfrficiently clear that the SlO'Vaiks can rightfully inolude the UnilV'ersity of Ton:wa in the cultural heritage of the 1Slovalk nation and that !it ibelOiillgs in the first iplace to the unirve:r,sity traditions of SlovaJkia. It was iin such a sense that the Slovaks celebrated the tri-centennial of the foundation of the University of Trnava in 1935, when they pulblished a whole ,s eries of literary works commemorating the occasion with the actirve ,partic~pation of not only their cultura·l, but also their ,politi'cal institutions. The third uni,v ersity in SlovaJkia was established in Kosice in 1657 by Benedict Kisdi, the bishop of Jasov; it began its aietivity in 1'658, and the 1SlovaJks are commemorating the tri-centennial of the foundation of the University of Kosice this year. Like the University oif Trnava, the University .of Kosice, too, is grateful to the Jesuits for its development and Mgh acaderruc standing .Emiperor Leopold I rupproved its foundation in 1660, when he issued a Golden Bull, placing the unirversity on a level with the other universities of the mona;rchy with the right of granting academic titles and degrees. The Unirver.sity of Kosice - later degraded to an academy iby the There~iaJll reforms and to a law academy during the Bachera - was formded lb y the same motives as the Trna'Va University. In the Charter of February 26, 1657, Bishop Benedict states that he decided to establish a "studiUJm universale, that is, an academy or unirversity and to entrust it to the Jesuits, whose industry, loyalty and skill in the educational field are known to the who,le world, .so that it could train caipaJble priests the lack of ,whom ~ very harmful for God's Chwrch and for our afflicted fatherland" (10). �SLOVAKIA 25 After the dissolution of the Kosice law academy by the Praigue Government in 1922, the archives of the University of Kosice, were taken to Bratislava and, as far as is known, no one has made a thorough study of them so that we might know a;ccurately the composition of the student 1body and its professorial staff. From the wo11ks of Jesuit scientific scholars, who have been active in Italian universities during recent years, we :know that religious servi·c es with exclusively Slo,va.k sermons, during the first years, in the uniiversity cha1pel, attracted so many listenera that they could not be taJken care of in the chaipel. Father Stanislaus Po1cin also states that one of his famous students was A. Balud'ansky, a native of Vysne Olsovany, who ovganized the Uniivers,ity oif St. Petersburg and also was its rector (11). On the whole, the Kosi,ce University was very much li!ke the University of Trnava. From the academic standpoint, the University of Kosice was independent, according to the intentions of its founder it was administered as an institution of higher learning only by Church regulations and later in the sense of the Bull of Leopold I. The latter granted the uni,v ersity the same iprivileges, immunities and .p rerogatives which he had granted to other great universities of the Hrupslburg Monarvchy, and the degrees ,granted ,b y it were on the same level as those granted :b y the other European universities. According to the Charter, at the univer~ity of Kosice there were faculties of logic, philosophy, mathematics, theology, moral, rupologetics, and Heibrew. In 1777 the university lost its theological faculty, but then the faculty of ,la;w was estrublished which, as we mentioned aJbo:ve, remained until 1922. Since we are here concerned with a unirversity on SlovaJk territory, we can conclude that, up to the time of the Theresiam reforms, its character di:fifered little, if at aU, from that of the University of Tr:nava. Certainly its national compositiorn and mission wer,e much the s,a me. It was a Jesuit Latin university set up to serve Counter-Reformation efforts in multi-national Hungary. Though parts of eastern !Slovakia were strongly influenced for a time by the �26 SLOVAKIA Reformation, the Slavruk element during the time of the Kosice University was more strongJy represented inasmuch the neighlboring Maygar parts of Hungary were strongly Calvm.istic and the stage for revolutionary, anti-Hapsburg activities. At the !b eginning of the eighteenth century, in the eastern parts of SlovaJkia, even the Slovaik Calvinists pwblished religious literature in the national tongue and expressed the hyipothesis that it was iproibably there that even the first translation Off he Holy Writ of the year 17561757 originated, with Romuald Hadlbavy, author of a LatinSlovruk dictionary, ipartioipating in it. A study of the archives would undoubtedly tell us much about the composition of students and professors of the University o.f Kosice. Unfortunately they are not accessible to us today because of the Czecho-Comrrnmist occupation of Slova1kia. A few documents rubout the Kosice University can be found in the arch1ves of the Vatican (12), but they do not ,g ive us a clear answer to the questions referred to. Ln 1912 another school of higher learning was established in Bratislava, the Academy of law, which belongs to SlovaJkia only territorially since its spirit and aims differed swbstantially from those of the universities dealt with above. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, this academy was tr~ferred to Pathlrnstoly (P&!s). The Comenius University was then organized in Bratislava to help the Czech governments Cz.echize the Slovaks. Slovak generations, educated iby the Czech professors of this university, did not succumlb, however, but went in the 01pposite direction: they .b ecame strongly nationalistic, forming the vanguard of the movement for the ouJ.trn-al and political individuality and independence of 'Slo!V'akia. fo 1939, they changed not only the name of the university, iburt also its spirit and mission: the Slovak University serived the highest cultural, political, and economical aims of the Slovak nation until the Slovak Republic was destroyed in AprH, 1945, when Benes, with the help of the United Nations, estaJblished another "Czec:ho-iSlovaJkia," a ,p olitical mons·t irosity more monstrous than the first which was born in 1918. Since 1945, lilke the other fom m;;titutions of higher �SLOVAKIA 27 learning, the SlovaJk University in Bratislava, is a tool of Communism in the hands of a Czecho-Communist government. Slovaks At Foreign Universities To complete the picture oif university traditions in Slovakia, we must mention at least ibriefly that f,r om the fourteenth century until the pre;,;ent time Slovalks studied and taught not only in S,lovaJk unilver,s ities, or only in Hoogary and Austria, hut also in significant numbers in practically all European universities. Some of them attained high honors and recognition not only of university circles, but even of the sovereigns. In the era of Humanism and Renaissance, Slo•v ~s studied mamly at the Italian universities in Bologna and Padua, but also in Paris, Vienna, and especially in Crrueow a,nd P.ra,gue. At the latter univ,e rsity, Va:vrinec Benedicti of Nedozery (1'555-11616) was the rector and wrote a Czech ,gram.mer, while John Jesenius from Turiec County excelled in medicine, atd'. Our list of eminent ,SlovaJks of the Hwmanistic, Renaissanoe and Enlightenment eras at foreign universities is far from complete, but it is a noteworthy list. John Samb.oclky (Sambuet.1:S, born in Trnruva 16'31), made himself famous at the University of Bologna and later became an advisor and personal physician to, ffirrvpreor Maximilian II in Vienna. His literacy wo!'!ks we,r e ,published in practically all centers of humanistic culture from Padua through Paris, Vienna, G€neva, Nruples and Antwer;p on to ,F rrunkfurt. His scientific works were in the ma-i n of a historical and legal nature, but he also wrote Latin verses. Ma.rtin Rakovsky enjoyed world fame also in his time; and renaissance learning. In the writing of such treati!Ses Peter Rewa also excelled; his "De Monarchia et sacra corona regni Hungariae" was published in Fran:kfurt in 16159. The Uni'Versity of Trnava mulitiplied its scientific activity and interest of Slovruks in a university education not only on natrve soil, but also in foreign lands. Many scienti£ic workers and defenders of the Slwaiks and their culture grew up within its circle. One of the most prominent representatives of scientific scholars of Trnava was �28 SLOVAKIA Martin Szentivanyi who hailed from Liptovsky Svaty Jan; he ,w rote a1bout fifty various volumes and a six..ivolume encyclopedia called "Curiosora et selectiora variarum scientiarum miscellanea" in which he collected the scientific 1 knowledge of the va-rious disciplines of his time, from philosophy and mathematics to history, geogiraiphy, theology and economy (13). In the eighteenth century we have quite a numlber of eminent Slovruks worthy of mention, of whom we have in the first place Adam F. Kollar (lborn 1718 in Terchova) and Mathias Bel. Kollar, lilbrarian to the emperor's court in Vienna, devoted his time to history and diplomacy, but al.so to social and educational questions. During the refol'lms of Marie-Therese he played a significant role in her educational changes and in contempo,r ary pedago,grics. Mathias Bel, iborn in Ocova as Funtilk, was such a prominent and many-sided .personality that as a Lutheran he received recognition f;z-om the Pope and the Catholic ruler, who g,r anted him the title of nobleman. Bel, called "magnum decus Hungariae," published his scientific work,s in Latin, Ger.man, and Magyar; seven of his works, however, were in Slovruk. Most of his lite;z-ary works concerned themse1ves with history, geogra.phy, ethnography, and philology. He was a member of many foreign scientific societies and one of the most ,p rominent personalities of his generation in all of Hungary. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries SlovaJk Catholics and Lutherans studied and taught at many foreign universities and so helrped to elevate the culture of other nations, ,pairticularly that of the Czechs and Magyars. This question, however, still needs a systematic going-over and, hence, is not included in this dissertation. A significant numlber of Slovruks are also active in the contemporary period at various universities of the free woTld, particularly in Rome, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chili, Flrance, and the United ,States. ,Dr. Milan Hodza stated only a fact at the beginning af Woirld War II when he wrote that "Slovakia reached if not surpassed the Central European civilization level." �SLOVAKIA REFERENCES 1. Dez1der Heckenast: HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITIES, PAST A ND PRESENT, Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. II, Part 1, pp. 31-39; University of Montreal, Canada. 2. Compare Samuel Osusky's "Nasi studenti na Krakovskej universite od 1400-1525," Vi era a veda, Vol. II, 1931, pp. 174-178, 226-233, and Vol. IV, 1933, pp. 232-244. 3. Andrej Mraz : DEJINY SLOVENSKEJ LITERATURY, Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts, Bratislava, 1948, pp. 20-21. 4. In his letter of December 5, 1634, Pazmany wrote the Bishop of Olomouc, Cardinal F. Ditrichstein, that his family comes from Germany (ex Germania) and that is why, he said, that he wishes his last descendant would become a complete Moravian (totaliter Moravum facere constitutum habeo). According to I. Acsady, Pazmany "frequently told Ferdinand II that it was not possible to trust even the best Magyar and that the Magyar people needed a yoke, because it was only thus that it would be possible to keep it under control. He did not even believe his own non-Catholic countrymen, nay, not even in the future of the Magyar nation," (quoted from Daniel Varsik's Slovak book: THE NATIONALITY PROBLEM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRNAVA, Bratislava, 1938, p. 37). How Pazmany felt about the nationalities is also attested to by the gift which he gave the Franciscan church in Trnava "moved," as he wrote. "above all else by paternal love for the Slovak nation and by t he ardor of the devout people" (Epistolae, II, p. 2-1). 5. Dr. Milan Hodfa: FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, London, 1942, pp. 208-209: "During the seventeenth century .. . Slovakia became also the refuge of many lofty intellectual efforts on behalf of that country. For some time to come in Slovakia there was much more cultural movement than in Bohemia or occupied Hungary .. . Trnava, which housed the Catholic University before it was transferred to Budapest, became a center of Catholic culture in the realm. Slovakia revealed itself as a meeting-place of practically all contemporary currents of cultural and political ideas." 6. Andrew Mraz: op. cit., pp. 35, 62. 7. Compare the thorough study of D. Varsik. "Narodnostny problem Trnavske j uni ve rz ity," which also has a resume in French in which Varsik states literally: "11 etait par consequent nature! que !'element slovaque fut preponderant a l'Universite de Trnava" (pp. 240-241). 8. Compare Stephen Dubravec's "Apologetika a kontroverz istika na un iverzite v Trnave," Sbornik LVOSSV, Vol. II, No. 2, Trnava, 1935, p. 197). 9. Andrew Mraz : op. cit., pp. 46-47. 10. Compare Stanislaus Polcin's S.J., "Tristo rokov od zalozenia Kosickej univerzity," MOST, Cleveland, 0., Vol. 4, No. 3, 1957, pp. 97-106. 11. MOST, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1957, p. 105. 12. About the documents in the Vatican Archives, vd. mention in the study of S. Polcin,S.J. 13. Compare Stanislaus Jurovsky's "Fil ozofia Ma rti na Szent ivanyi ho," Turciansky Svaty Martin, 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 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 18 SLOVAKIA UNIVERSITY TRADITIONS IN SLOVAKIA Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum An dbjective search of the cultural development of Central ffiurOlpe will r,e veal that Slo,vakia was not only "the first cultural center," as M. Hodzas wrote, but also a land of noteworthy university traditions. With the loss of ,p olitical indeipenden~e in the tenth century and the inco.rporation of Slova!kia first into muJti-national Hungary and later into Ozecho..,Slova!kia, the university tradttions, as well as the entire cultural development of Slovalkia, are often ,presented, it is true, in foreign works as a paTt of Magyar and/ or Czech culture. This is e3:pecially true alb uot the foundation and activity of un1versities in SlorvaJkia, which Mwgyar historians, both young and old (1), classified e~clustvely under the caption of culture of the Magyar nation, despite the fact that in the Middle Ages - and in Cenm-ail ,E}urope even in the 17th centll!rY - modern nationalism ,w as something unknown and that those universities were conducted in a .s pirit of unirversalisrn and cosmopolitanism. Several arguments speak against any such exiplanation of the cultural development in Central ffiurope, and especially in the multi-national !Hungary ,p rior to 19118: 1) the nature of the medieval class .state which was managed by the nobility and gentry of all ethnical components; 2) the character of medieval universities and their mission; and, 3) the nationalistic composition of the students and the ,professorial sta~f. 'l 'f, in thi,s conteIIl\po11aneous period, one would classify, by an ex post exiplaination, the universities of Hungary as the cultural heritage of only one nation, then he would be malking use of an interpretation that is not in line ,w ith logic and historical truth. Cultural values in Hungary were creaited 1b y all the nations of Hungary and, since the nonMagyar nations often exceeded the Maigyars numerically, we can apply only the territorial 1principle when designing the prfority right of cultural institutions. Therefore, even SLOVAKIA 19 this dissertaion speaJks rubout the university traditi:ons in Slova!kia and not aJbout traditions of Slova;k universities. It would not be in line with the resttlts of an oibjective search of the Slovak cultural ,p ast, if we should present the universities in Slovakia of the 15th or 17th century as 'SlovaJk. If we did, we would there by be committing an error almost as great as the Magyars when they present them a,s Magyar, or as the e~clusive heritage of the Magyar nation. But even overlooking the fact that the 15th or the 17th century did not as yet know the concept of a nation in the sense of the present-day meaning of the word and that culturnl institutions in Central Europe, and esipecially in Hungary, had a universalistic spirit and a language that was foremost Latin, the .national composition of Hungary demands a just distribution of merits, as well as cultural heritage, amon5 all the nations of the poiy,g lot Cro1WI1 of St. Stephen. II ffiven with this scrll!pulous distinction, the Sl01va!ks do have a prio,r ity right to three universities from the times of former Hungary and to two from the time of the incorporation of Slovakia into the Czecho-Sl01Valk Republic. That is, on the territory of Slovaikia, there was not only the .A;cadenia Istroipolitana, founded in Bratislaivia by Mathias Corrwin in 1465, and the University of 'I'rnava from the year 1635, but also the universities of Kosice and Bratislava. The Aicademia I.stropolitana, named aftex the Greek for Danulbe (Istros), was a typical medieval university, set up on the order of Italian universities, particularly that of Bologna, its mission /being mainly religious. Hungary, and especially Slcwalkia, was devastated by Jis:kra's Czech mercenary soldiers and by religious quarrels,. After Ji$kra's crupitulation in 1642, and after he had se:cured himself a;gainst the Turkish danger, King Mathias sought to consolidate his country. His plans called for, above all else, a learned priesthood and an educated nolbility revived in the Catholic spirit. Since at that time there was no university in Hungary, as the King himself wrote in his peti- 20 SLOVAKIA tion of May 19, 1465 which was addressed to the Pope, Mathias requested permission for a "studium generale" and Pope Pole II granted it on the same day. In the petition, King Mathias stated what motivated him to estrublish a university in Bratislava and what ,punpo.se it was to serwe. He wrote that "in the countries .bordering with hereti'Cs there is a need of learned men and that this was a loss for the Church itself, as well as for the Christian religion." The Ki.ng entrusted the organization of the university to the Arch'bishop of Ostrihom, J,o hn Vitez, and the university was started in the home of the Ventura Street. The solemn opening of the univensity took 1place on Jwy 28, 1467. Fortihwith the University of Bratisla;va established good relations with the Univensity orf Vienna which he.ljped out with several of its eminent professo,r s. With the death af King Mathias, however, the uni,v ersity not only lost its founder, but also its protector; it closed its doors in 1490. The Academia Istropolitana was a complete uniiversity with four faculties and a .study c,urriculum that equaled that of other European, particularly the Italian and German, univeTSities. The immediate proximity oif the older and well estalblished Uniiversity of Vienna, and the renown of the University of Cracow, estaiblished in 1364, and the Unirversity of Prague (11348) did not allow the University of Bratislaiva to develop as ,planned by King Mathias, who did want to attract students even from the surrounding countries. The fact is that many students from Hungary itself, particularly from SlorvaJkia, studied in Cracow and Pra1gue, Vienna and at Ralian universities. According to some sources in the years 1400-1525 in Oraco,w alone over 2000 students frOIIIl Slovakia attended, especially from her eastern area (2). Territorially, the Unirversity of Bratisla;va belongs to the history of Slovakia, in the remaining aspects it was a medievaI Catholic unirveTsity and :belongs to all the nations of Hungary from whkh ,b oth the students and also the professors descended. And since even in this case the SLOVAKIA 21 Magyars cannot apply the dynastic principle (King Mathias was not of a Magyar dynasty), it is decidedly not in line with historic fact if anyone plruces the unhrersity in the cultural hi<story of only the Magyar nation. "The Academy Istropolitna, " as professor A. MTaz correctly states it, "originated f,r om the will and decision of the Hungarian ruler, it was the result of his cultUJral policy, which wais in many ways influenced by humanism and by contacts especially with the romantic world. Its designation must be understood in an all-state sense, but the very fact that this univer,s ity ori,g inated on Slovak territory, that in its ran1ks there was a great percentage of Slova!k students and professors - all thi,s puts the Corwinian Unirversity of Bratislava into close and lirvely relations with Slovalk cultUTal de,velo1pment" (3). The second univernity on the territory of Slorvakia, the Jesuit University in Trnava, was founded by Archlbishop Peter Pazmany and approved by ffimperor Ferdinand on Odolber 18, 1635. The UnirverS!ity of Trnava was also a Catholic unirver,s ity in ,w hich L'a tin was used, as is proved by the register and catalogues which haive 1been preserved. At first there were only two faculties at this uniiversity (iphilosoiphical and theological), with two others added later (the law faculty in 1667, and the medical in 1769). Archbishop Pa,m nany, originally a Calv:in of German birth (4), was critical of the Magyar nation wh~ch he clai<med as his own; but he, 1i'ke the other ecclesiastical authorities were aiware of the fact that Hungary was polyg,l ot and, therefore, it can be rightly claimed that the university was estalblished for all the nationalities of Hungary with the aim to speed the victory of the Counter-Reformation among the Magyars, as well as among the SJo,vaJks, and Germans, nay even among the Serbs and Ruthenians .by means of the Cyrillic a1phalbet. The words of the Charter about "noibilissimae gentis Hun1garicae" cannot b,e explaaned otherwise than that Pa~many had in mind the state-nation of Hungary, which was administered not only by the Magyar, but also by the Croation and Slovalk nobility and gentTy and compo,s ed of even the Ruimanians of Transyl- 22 SLOVAKIA vania, the Germans, Senbs, and Ruthenians who occupied the lands of St. Stephen's Crown. In the Charter, Archlbishoip Pazmainy says literally: "We often ~o1idtously pondered just in what manner we might take crure of prQlpagating the Catholic religion in Hungary and to wplift the authority of the ndble Hungarian naition; and the most advantageous medium that we came wpon was the estaJblishment of a university in which the mind of a belligerent nation could be moderated and capable people might be ti-ained for the administration Church and also the State." The administration of the State, especially in the 17th century, was not exclusively in the hands of the Magyar nobility and gentry, inasmuch the Magyarization of the Slovak nobility, for example, came quite some time later. Under the influence of the Tu:rlkish occupation and the partition of Hungary into three paI'ts (the southern and central part occupied by the Turks; Transylvainia and the Tisa River area b~ independent princes; and the northern part, that is SlovaJkia, with smaller parts of western Hungary administered by the Hapsburgs) , Slovakia played an altogether exceptional role in the 17th century. She was, Hod.fa tells us, the refuge of many intellectual efforts and for some time there was more cultural movement in Slo,vaJkia than in Bohemia or the occupied part of Hungary. .Aiccording to Hodza, practically a,U movements of the cultural and political Life met there and Slova1kia was indisputaJbly the cultural center of Catholic Hungary (5). So that the Slovalks could regard the Uni,v ersity of TrnaJva as their own is attested to not only by the fact that is was on the territocy of Slorvalkia which .played, as we saiw aJbove, an exrceptional role in Hungary in the seventeenth century. The significance of this university for the cultura-l development of the Slovaiks, their langunge and their national conscioU!Sness was so far-reaching that even one of the outstanding literary historians of the .p resent communistic university in SlovaJkia, Professo;r A. Mraz, acknowledges that "with its activity and within its frame- SLOVAKIA 23 wor'k cultwral and scientific life was prQ_pagated and deepened, the effects of which, all things considered, affected very strong,ly the Sl~ak part of the inhaJbitants, even though this was done according to the plan of religious and scientific direction of this high school and its inclusion into the Jesuit European school ,system. Because o.f the university, Trnava became the cultuTal center of Catholic Hun,gary and Slovakia in the seventeenth centUTy." Mraz also states that "for 160 yews o,f the existence of the University of Trnava on SloiVaJk territory, together with its activity and educational atmosphere created by it, there were crystallized such SlovaJk cultural and natonal realities that were the support of Slovak national renascence" ( 6). From the archives orf the University of Trnava, we learn that UJP to the time of its transfer to Budin in the year 1777, the Slovaks attended the university in greatest numbers, not only as students but, in s·o me years, the Slovaxs predominated as professors. In the first five years, for example, out of 248 students logic, 90 are indicated a,s 'SlovaJks and 77 as Magyars (the others were marked as Croatians and Germans, or their nationality was not indicated). Mter 1649, the registers of the university do not indicate the nationality of the students reg,ulal'ly, but the nationality of those re::!eiving the baccalaureate is indicated: even during this period, it can lbe 1proved that the Siloiva'ks and other iSlorvanic peoples werre in the rubsolute majority at the uniivers,ity (7). Now, then, if we regard the University of Trna.va from the standpoint of the question whom it sewed, who studied and taught at it, the ,p reponderance is on the side of the SlovaJks, Croatians and Germans, a;nd then come the Magyars. As far as· cultural influence is concerned, the University of Trnarva has merited a permanent place in SlovaJk cultural history with the literary activity o.f its professors and wards even in the Slovak langua,ge. From the yearr 1578 to 1777, the unirvevsity issued 79 Lrutin pulblicati<ons in the field of apologetics and contro;versial works~· but also 14 such ipU!bli:cations in Slorvak. During that same, time, 20 Magyar and 12 German, lbut also 75 bodks in the 24 SLOVAKIA field of scetics and preaching (8), so that "the crystallization of the langll!age of Catholic writers from the period of the University of Trnava was marked to such a degree that when Anthony Bernolruk and his g,r oup came out with the idea of an independent Slovalk literary langua;ge, in many things they only codified the practices, prevalent in Catholic literature, of their predeces,s ors" (9). From the rubove, it is undouibtedly surfrficiently clear that the SlO'Vaiks can rightfully inolude the UnilV'ersity of Ton:wa in the cultural heritage of the 1Slovalk nation and that !it ibelOiillgs in the first iplace to the unirve:r,sity traditions of SlovaJkia. It was iin such a sense that the Slovaks celebrated the tri-centennial of the foundation of the University of Trnava in 1935, when they pulblished a whole ,s eries of literary works commemorating the occasion with the actirve ,partic~pation of not only their cultura·l, but also their ,politi'cal institutions. The third uni,v ersity in SlovaJkia was established in Kosice in 1657 by Benedict Kisdi, the bishop of Jasov; it began its aietivity in 1'658, and the 1SlovaJks are commemorating the tri-centennial of the foundation of the University of Kosice this year. Like the University oif Trnava, the University .of Kosice, too, is grateful to the Jesuits for its development and Mgh acaderruc standing .Emiperor Leopold I rupproved its foundation in 1660, when he issued a Golden Bull, placing the unirversity on a level with the other universities of the mona;rchy with the right of granting academic titles and degrees. The Unirver.sity of Kosice - later degraded to an academy iby the There~iaJll reforms and to a law academy during the Bachera - was formded lb y the same motives as the Trna'Va University. In the Charter of February 26, 1657, Bishop Benedict states that he decided to establish a "studiUJm universale, that is, an academy or unirversity and to entrust it to the Jesuits, whose industry, loyalty and skill in the educational field are known to the who,le world, .so that it could train caipaJble priests the lack of ,whom ~ very harmful for God's Chwrch and for our afflicted fatherland" (10). SLOVAKIA 25 After the dissolution of the Kosice law academy by the Praigue Government in 1922, the archives of the University of Kosice, were taken to Bratislava and, as far as is known, no one has made a thorough study of them so that we might know a;ccurately the composition of the student 1body and its professorial staff. From the wo11ks of Jesuit scientific scholars, who have been active in Italian universities during recent years, we :know that religious servi·c es with exclusively Slo,va.k sermons, during the first years, in the uniiversity cha1pel, attracted so many listenera that they could not be taJken care of in the chaipel. Father Stanislaus Po1cin also states that one of his famous students was A. Balud'ansky, a native of Vysne Olsovany, who ovganized the Uniivers,ity oif St. Petersburg and also was its rector (11). On the whole, the Kosi,ce University was very much li!ke the University of Trnava. From the academic standpoint, the University of Kosice was independent, according to the intentions of its founder it was administered as an institution of higher learning only by Church regulations and later in the sense of the Bull of Leopold I. The latter granted the uni,v ersity the same iprivileges, immunities and .p rerogatives which he had granted to other great universities of the Hrupslburg Monarvchy, and the degrees ,granted ,b y it were on the same level as those granted :b y the other European universities. According to the Charter, at the univer~ity of Kosice there were faculties of logic, philosophy, mathematics, theology, moral, rupologetics, and Heibrew. In 1777 the university lost its theological faculty, but then the faculty of ,la;w was estrublished which, as we mentioned aJbo:ve, remained until 1922. Since we are here concerned with a unirversity on SlovaJk territory, we can conclude that, up to the time of the Theresiam reforms, its character di:fifered little, if at aU, from that of the University of Tr:nava. Certainly its national compositiorn and mission wer,e much the s,a me. It was a Jesuit Latin university set up to serve Counter-Reformation efforts in multi-national Hungary. Though parts of eastern !Slovakia were strongly influenced for a time by the 26 SLOVAKIA Reformation, the Slavruk element during the time of the Kosice University was more strongJy represented inasmuch the neighlboring Maygar parts of Hungary were strongly Calvm.istic and the stage for revolutionary, anti-Hapsburg activities. At the !b eginning of the eighteenth century, in the eastern parts of SlovaJkia, even the Slovaik Calvinists pwblished religious literature in the national tongue and expressed the hyipothesis that it was iproibably there that even the first translation Off he Holy Writ of the year 17561757 originated, with Romuald Hadlbavy, author of a LatinSlovruk dictionary, ipartioipating in it. A study of the archives would undoubtedly tell us much about the composition of students and professors of the University o.f Kosice. Unfortunately they are not accessible to us today because of the Czecho-Comrrnmist occupation of Slova1kia. A few documents rubout the Kosice University can be found in the arch1ves of the Vatican (12), but they do not ,g ive us a clear answer to the questions referred to. Ln 1912 another school of higher learning was established in Bratislava, the Academy of law, which belongs to SlovaJkia only territorially since its spirit and aims differed swbstantially from those of the universities dealt with above. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, this academy was tr~ferred to Pathlrnstoly (P&!s). The Comenius University was then organized in Bratislava to help the Czech governments Cz.echize the Slovaks. Slovak generations, educated iby the Czech professors of this university, did not succumlb, however, but went in the 01pposite direction: they .b ecame strongly nationalistic, forming the vanguard of the movement for the ouJ.trn-al and political individuality and independence of 'Slo!V'akia. fo 1939, they changed not only the name of the university, iburt also its spirit and mission: the Slovak University serived the highest cultural, political, and economical aims of the Slovak nation until the Slovak Republic was destroyed in AprH, 1945, when Benes, with the help of the United Nations, estaJblished another "Czec:ho-iSlovaJkia," a ,p olitical mons·t irosity more monstrous than the first which was born in 1918. Since 1945, lilke the other fom m;;titutions of higher SLOVAKIA 27 learning, the SlovaJk University in Bratislava, is a tool of Communism in the hands of a Czecho-Communist government. Slovaks At Foreign Universities To complete the picture oif university traditions in Slovakia, we must mention at least ibriefly that f,r om the fourteenth century until the pre;,;ent time Slovalks studied and taught not only in S,lovaJk unilver,s ities, or only in Hoogary and Austria, hut also in significant numbers in practically all European universities. Some of them attained high honors and recognition not only of university circles, but even of the sovereigns. In the era of Humanism and Renaissance, Slo•v ~s studied mamly at the Italian universities in Bologna and Padua, but also in Paris, Vienna, and especially in Crrueow a,nd P.ra,gue. At the latter univ,e rsity, Va:vrinec Benedicti of Nedozery (1'555-11616) was the rector and wrote a Czech ,gram.mer, while John Jesenius from Turiec County excelled in medicine, atd'. Our list of eminent ,SlovaJks of the Hwmanistic, Renaissanoe and Enlightenment eras at foreign universities is far from complete, but it is a noteworthy list. John Samb.oclky (Sambuet.1:S, born in Trnruva 16'31), made himself famous at the University of Bologna and later became an advisor and personal physician to, ffirrvpreor Maximilian II in Vienna. His literacy wo!'!ks we,r e ,published in practically all centers of humanistic culture from Padua through Paris, Vienna, G€neva, Nruples and Antwer;p on to ,F rrunkfurt. His scientific works were in the ma-i n of a historical and legal nature, but he also wrote Latin verses. Ma.rtin Rakovsky enjoyed world fame also in his time; and renaissance learning. In the writing of such treati!Ses Peter Rewa also excelled; his "De Monarchia et sacra corona regni Hungariae" was published in Fran:kfurt in 16159. The Uni'Versity of Trnava mulitiplied its scientific activity and interest of Slovruks in a university education not only on natrve soil, but also in foreign lands. Many scienti£ic workers and defenders of the Slwaiks and their culture grew up within its circle. One of the most prominent representatives of scientific scholars of Trnava was 28 SLOVAKIA Martin Szentivanyi who hailed from Liptovsky Svaty Jan; he ,w rote a1bout fifty various volumes and a six..ivolume encyclopedia called "Curiosora et selectiora variarum scientiarum miscellanea" in which he collected the scientific 1 knowledge of the va-rious disciplines of his time, from philosophy and mathematics to history, geogiraiphy, theology and economy (13). In the eighteenth century we have quite a numlber of eminent Slovruks worthy of mention, of whom we have in the first place Adam F. Kollar (lborn 1718 in Terchova) and Mathias Bel. Kollar, lilbrarian to the emperor's court in Vienna, devoted his time to history and diplomacy, but al.so to social and educational questions. During the refol'lms of Marie-Therese he played a significant role in her educational changes and in contempo,r ary pedago,grics. Mathias Bel, iborn in Ocova as Funtilk, was such a prominent and many-sided .personality that as a Lutheran he received recognition f;z-om the Pope and the Catholic ruler, who g,r anted him the title of nobleman. Bel, called "magnum decus Hungariae," published his scientific work,s in Latin, Ger.man, and Magyar; seven of his works, however, were in Slovruk. Most of his lite;z-ary works concerned themse1ves with history, geogra.phy, ethnography, and philology. He was a member of many foreign scientific societies and one of the most ,p rominent personalities of his generation in all of Hungary. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries SlovaJk Catholics and Lutherans studied and taught at many foreign universities and so helrped to elevate the culture of other nations, ,pairticularly that of the Czechs and Magyars. This question, however, still needs a systematic going-over and, hence, is not included in this dissertation. A significant numlber of Slovruks are also active in the contemporary period at various universities of the free woTld, particularly in Rome, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chili, Flrance, and the United ,States. ,Dr. Milan Hodza stated only a fact at the beginning af Woirld War II when he wrote that "Slovakia reached if not surpassed the Central European civilization level." SLOVAKIA REFERENCES 1. Dez1der Heckenast: HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITIES, PAST A ND PRESENT, Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. II, Part 1, pp. 31-39; University of Montreal, Canada. 2. Compare Samuel Osusky's "Nasi studenti na Krakovskej universite od 1400-1525," Vi era a veda, Vol. II, 1931, pp. 174-178, 226-233, and Vol. IV, 1933, pp. 232-244. 3. Andrej Mraz : DEJINY SLOVENSKEJ LITERATURY, Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts, Bratislava, 1948, pp. 20-21. 4. In his letter of December 5, 1634, Pazmany wrote the Bishop of Olomouc, Cardinal F. Ditrichstein, that his family comes from Germany (ex Germania) and that is why, he said, that he wishes his last descendant would become a complete Moravian (totaliter Moravum facere constitutum habeo). According to I. Acsady, Pazmany "frequently told Ferdinand II that it was not possible to trust even the best Magyar and that the Magyar people needed a yoke, because it was only thus that it would be possible to keep it under control. He did not even believe his own non-Catholic countrymen, nay, not even in the future of the Magyar nation," (quoted from Daniel Varsik's Slovak book: THE NATIONALITY PROBLEM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRNAVA, Bratislava, 1938, p. 37). How Pazmany felt about the nationalities is also attested to by the gift which he gave the Franciscan church in Trnava "moved," as he wrote. "above all else by paternal love for the Slovak nation and by t he ardor of the devout people" (Epistolae, II, p. 2-1). 5. Dr. Milan Hodfa: FEDERATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE, London, 1942, pp. 208-209: "During the seventeenth century .. . Slovakia became also the refuge of many lofty intellectual efforts on behalf of that country. For some time to come in Slovakia there was much more cultural movement than in Bohemia or occupied Hungary .. . Trnava, which housed the Catholic University before it was transferred to Budapest, became a center of Catholic culture in the realm. Slovakia revealed itself as a meeting-place of practically all contemporary currents of cultural and political ideas." 6. Andrew Mraz: op. cit., pp. 35, 62. 7. Compare the thorough study of D. Varsik. "Narodnostny problem Trnavske j uni ve rz ity," which also has a resume in French in which Varsik states literally: "11 etait par consequent nature! que !'element slovaque fut preponderant a l'Universite de Trnava" (pp. 240-241). 8. Compare Stephen Dubravec's "Apologetika a kontroverz istika na un iverzite v Trnave," Sbornik LVOSSV, Vol. II, No. 2, Trnava, 1935, p. 197). 9. Andrew Mraz : op. cit., pp. 46-47. 10. Compare Stanislaus Polcin's S.J., "Tristo rokov od zalozenia Kosickej univerzity," MOST, Cleveland, 0., Vol. 4, No. 3, 1957, pp. 97-106. 11. MOST, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1957, p. 105. 12. About the documents in the Vatican Archives, vd. mention in the study of S. Polcin,S.J. 13. Compare Stanislaus Jurovsky's "Fil ozofia Ma rti na Szent ivanyi ho," Turciansky Svaty Martin, 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 University Traditions in Slovakia Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 8, No. 2 (27), June 1958 pp. 18-29 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 June 1958 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d50783a331b225bc03870154ff45540b.pdf c10429c060fd41608051e2e5a04b0f59 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Published VOL. VIII quarterly by the Slovak League MARCH, 1958 of America NO. 1 (26) EUDOvtT STUR AND ms PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD By Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. INTRODUCTORY NOTE Among Slovaks of the XIXth century who acquired their fame in the Slavic world, I'..udovit Stur (born 1815, died 1856) is among his contemporaries, poet Jan Kollar and ethnologist Pavel J. Safarik, one whose role and significance are still to be reconsidered and objectively reevaluated. Though nobody tried to claim him because some of his works were written in foreign languages, as it happened to Kollar and Safarik, who even now are classified as Czech poets and scholars, the literary value of Stur's works and the seriousness of his political and philosophical conceptions were questioned and often intentionally underestimated and distorted. While even scholars and literary historians at today's communist universities reevaluated - despite Sh1r's wellknown condemnation of Communism(!) his literary heritage and classified him among outstanding Slavic poets(2), philologists, philosophers and political leaders of the XIXth century - in many scholarly works in the free world he has been presented again and again "mediocre as a writer and thinker, but full of the typical sentimentalism and lyricism of the period, a man who like many at that time devoted all his life to the cause of his people and spent himself in its service."(3) · This judgment, which is quoted from Hans Kohn'. s "Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology," one of the most objective and up to date works on the subject, was uncritically repeated since it appeared for the first time in Ernest Denis' book "La Question d' Autriche - Les Slovaques," published in 1917.(4) Actually, this superficial and antagonistic view has been based on a thesis "Louis Stu.r �2 SLOVAKIA et l' idee d' independance slovaque," prepared by a young university student from Central Europe, H. Tourzer, who compiled unfavorable views and interpretations of Stur's work by contemporary Czech and Slovak literary critics and Stur's opponents. Instead of basing her judgment on a critical analysis of Stur's works, the young candidate for a Ph.D., Tourzer, presented Stur to the Western world in accordance with some political tendencies but in a highly unobjective light. Needless to say that neither Denis, nor Seton-Watson - another authority on the Slovak question - nor Hans Kohn, nor Kann ever analyzed and read Stur's works, some of them never translated into foreign languages and, consequently, the conclusions published in their books hardly resulted from their own analysis.(5) After a century, while commemorating Stur's centenary of death, we feel obliged to shed an objective light on Stur's work, his literary heritage, and his role in the Slavic world of the XIXth century. We are in a position to base our judgments not only on all his works - which until recently were not available in extenso - but on a hundred years span of time, which tested many of his conceptions and achievements and as the heat of the antagonists, who hated and debased him for political reasons, cooled down to a great extent by force of the vitality of Stur's ideas and the righteousness of his conceptions. Looking for Stur's place in the Slavic world, naturally we cannot avoid some purely Slovak cultural and political issues, though there is a great deal of truth in Hans Kohn's words that "the Slovak nation, with its own literary language, was definitely established"(6) by the merits of Stur's manifold activities, and this cannot, of course, be without interest for a student of the Slavic world in the field of linguistics, ethnology, history, or politics. Avoiding Stur's role and his historical achievements within a purely national range of his activities, an analysis of his works, conceptions, and lifelong struggles moves us to consider Stur's place in the Slavic world, 1) in the PanSlavic movement; 2) in the field of linguistics; and, 3) in literature. �SLOVAKIA 3 I I'..UDOVfT STUR AND PAN-SLAVISM Seton-Watson, one of the best English experts on Slovakia's past cultural and political struggles and aspirations, assessed Stur's significance in the Slavic world together with Kollar's and Safarik's role, stating that "their writings were of capital importance in the whole Slav revival of the last century, and form a strange sentimental link between the Western romantic school and the extravagancies of Pan-Slavism."(7) And referring to the first Slav Congress in Prague in 1848, Seton-Watson says that Stur "played a decisive part in the preparations for the Congress" and that at the Congress the four Slovaks - Safarik, Stur, Hurban and Hodza - played a part second to none save Palacky.(8) These two opinions on Stur's significance in the PanSlavic movement call for an analysis and completion in order to be understood properly. Quite a few of the experts on Slavic studies know Stur as a writer predominantly from his last work, written around 1855 in German and never published in Stur's native language, entitled "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" (Slavdom and the World of the Future), which was published in Russian translation in 1867, and its specially printed edition was presented to the foreign Slavic delegates to the Moscow Slav Congress in order to attract attention to the political views of the Russian organizers of the Congress. The book represents, according to Prof. Lednicki, an "integral PanSlavism, practically degenerating into Pan-Russianism, and a quite exceptional tribute to the cultural, moral and political forces of the Russian Empire.(9) And in view of a recent analysis by Michael Petrovich, which seems to be one of the best documented and objective, the work "is a romantic melange of science and poetry presented in a vigorous style and an argumentation which is remarkably consequential even when mistaken."(10) Though Stur was quite a prolific writer and his works embraced many fields of intellectual activities from history and poetry to philosophy and philology(ll), for the last hundred years it has been, nevertheless, the above �4 SLOVAKIA mentioned book which made Stur known among the students of Slavistics outside his native land and, therefore, an analysis seems to be opportune on this occasion. What are the main ideas and the principal reasons that this little book - probably only an introduction to a larger history of the Slavs - made Stur one of the major figures among the Slavic intelligentsia of the nineteenth century? Even if we do not accept the view of Prof. Lednicki that the work presents " the most complete and consistently developed program for the subjugation of Slavs to Russia" - Seton-Watson's view is that even in this book Stur's aim was to preserve his own people - it was, among all reasons for its fame, Stur's political and philosophical conceptions which stirred the greatest interest in it. Stur adopted Hegel's and Herder's ideas that gave the Slavs the consciousness of a unity based upon the community of language and glorious destiny, and proclaimed them the coming leaders of Europe. He was thrilled by the vision of a gigantic empire sprawling from the Carpathians of his own native land to the shores of the Pacific. Drawing on history, philosophy, literature, philology, theology, and folklore, as well as on a penetrating insight into contemporary events, Stur emphasized that the Slavs have a mission to fulfill in universal history - or, in other words, that they have a historic vocation. This mission, however, they can fulfill only if united, and in his analysis of the world situation, in which he presents an apocalyptic vision of Western Europe's doom, there were three roads to consider: 1. Slavic federation without Russia. 2. Transformation of Austria into a Slavic federation. 3. Union with Russia - as a monarchic empire under Russian leadership, united in the Orthodox Church and the Russian literary language. Neither of the first two solutions had an appeal to Stur's vision of Slavdom's future and to his philosophy of history. Any attempt to organize a federation of European Slavic nations was doomed to failure in his opinion, because of the geographical situation, internal rivalries, re- �SLOVAKIA 5 ligious differences, cultural differentation, and intermingled non-Slavic elements. Though a few years ago, at the Slav Congress in Prague(12), he was not far from accepting Palacky's idea of Austroslavism and led the Slovaks on the side of the Habsburg's forces against the Magyars in the revolution of 1848, his books condemn in strong terms Austria and the idea of an Austro-Slavic federation. "There remains a third road," Stur insists, "the only one which is sure and has a future - the Union of all Slavs with Russia." "Russia is the prime mover and the leader of our national family," continues Stur. "Our people are but a fragment of a single nationality, they can be reborn and united into a single whole only by a related benevolent and great Power." That Power among the Slavs in Stur's time was only Russia. "Let us go forth together," urges Stur, "in the spirit of our people, under the leadership of the racial elders given to us by history." How was this Russian-led Slavic Union to come about? Stur recommended a return of all Slavs to the GrecoSlavic Church, urged the adoption of the Russian language and Cyrillic alphabet by all Slavs as a common literary language, but how to change the political situation of the Slavic peoples dominated by Austria and Turkey and bring them under the Russian leadership, Stur did not venture to say. He acknowledged that it could be realized only "under the pressure of grave political events" and therefore, he writes: "We do not consider it necessary, and we even consider it superfluous, to define prematurely the means of unification and degree of the reciprocal relations of the Slavs with Russia. The means and the degree of this unification will emerge from circumstances yet to come about. But it is useful," he concludes, "at least to raise the question, to speak about this subject and to prepare our minds for it." Stur's political and philosophical conceptions expressed in this book remain a puzzle even to such experts on his writings as Prof. Cizevskij(13), and they never were explained either by his own compatriots or anyone else. �6 SLOVAKIA Stur adopted Hegel's idea of the succession of various nations on the historical stage as a consecutive incarnation of the universal spirit while studying in Halle, where he came into contact with German nationalism and philosophy. After his return to his native land, however, Stur became a passionate champion of Slovak national independence and fought for a distinct Slovak literary language even against Kollar and his Czech friends. He was for the idea of Slavic reciprocity, and many things stirred his Slavic pride, but his Pan-Slavism was, until this book appeared, a cultural, more or less defensive movement, with emphasis on language, literature, and culture, and politically it aimed at the liberation of his people and other Slavic oppressed nations from foreign rule, with Russia's help, but not under Russia's hegemony. Cizevskij and some other experts on Stur's writings try to explain Stur's political re-orientation mainly as a result of political events in Central Europe and particularly in Slovakia after the unsuccessful revolution of 1848, and such is also our opinion. "It was in a conflicting mood of helplessness and inversely high hopes in salvation from Slavic Russia that Stur wrote his famous work," is the explanation of another Slavist, Prof. Petrovich. "The failure of the Slovak revolution and other political demonstrations (May 1, 1848, Lipt. sv. Mikulas) brought Stur to the conclusion that it was useless for his people to seek its own freedom alone or in the frame of Austroslavism." Stur made it clear, however, even in this book, that his principal aim was to preserve his own people, and besides he set out to accomplish four basic tasks: 1. To determine, largely by reviewing the Slavic past, whether the Slavs had a role of their own to fulfill in world history; 2. to describe the Slavic mission in universal history against the background of the cultural. differences between Western and Eastern Europe; 3. to show what advantages the Slavs possessed by comparing their institutions, traditions; and qualities with those of the West; 4. to demonstrate that the Slavs could accomplish their mission only through political unification under Russian leadership(14). �SLOVAKIA 7 No doubt, this was a new look on the Slavic world. Was it original? We cannot deny that he applied some Hegelian principles of philosophy, such as the primacy of the idea in man's development, Hegel's dialectical approach to historical evolution, and Herder's vision of Slavdom taking place in succession of the bearers of the idea. But there are many original approaches in his book which cannot be linked either with German philosophy or Russian Slavophils, which is the second of alleged influences. Cizevskij defends Stu.r's originality(15). Florinskij, in the preface to the second edition of Stu.r's book (1905), stresses that Stur is very close to the viewpoints of the Russian Slavophils, Chomiakov, Pogodin, Kiriejevski, Aksakov, and their successors, but he also says that "insofar as one can judge by known biographical data, Stu.r's views arose in him independently, apart from any influence of Russian Slavophilism whatsoever." And such also was the opinion of Prof. A. Budilovic and others(16). Stu.r's biographical data speak, in fact, against dependence on Slavophils, though he knew Bodianski, Pogodin, Sevyrev, Sreznevski, Raevski, and others. We can, therefore, defend his originality in many regards, especially if we consider the intellectual climate of Europe in Stu.r's time and if we take into account that Slovakia - with Kollar and Safarik and Herkel, who invented the term "panslavismus," - was the classic land of Slavic reciprocity and that "as in name, so in sentiment, the Slovak never ceased being a Slav." ' Since N. I. Danilevskij and R. A. Fadejev came many years after Stu.r's death(17), Stur can be rightly consider_e d as the founder of political Pan-Slavism, of which Kollar was the poet and Safarik the scientist. �8 SLOVAKIA II STUR'S ROLE IN LINGUISTICS AND PHILOLOGY The role of f,udovit Stur in the field of Slavic studies is generally little known outside of Slovakia. In English, French and German published works, Stur is presented mainly as a political leader(18), a mediocre poet, owing his fame in the Slavic world to his treatise "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" which is, as we mentioned before, a study of a political, sociological, and philosophical character. A few years ago Professor D. Cizevskij, in his German book - translated in the meantime into the Slovak under the title "Sturova filozofia zivota" (Stu.r's Philosophy of Life) -found however, that Stur was also a philosopher of considerable knowledge and originality(19). He shows, of course, dependence on Hegel and contemporary German philosophers. But to present him in such a light, as if he had blindly applied Hegel's philosophy to Slavic or Slovak life, as he was accused by his opponents, seems to be a malicious distortion. In view of Cizevskij's analysis, Stur's generation had several thinkers who tried to create their own philosophical system and who, in their time, among Slavic nations excelled in originality bf thinking. As for Stu.r's philosophy, Cizevskij refuted in his book the assertions that: 1. Stur was a simple follower of Hegel; 2. that his philosophical views were those of contemporary romantic philosophy. In Cizevskij's opinion Stur formed an independent philosophical system which in many ways differs from that of Hegel, and his approach to life's phenomena were highly realistic(20). This, however, is not our concern in the present analysis. Considering Stu.r's role in linguistics and philology, it would be unjust and incorrect not to recognize his merits(21). Stur was no J agic or Miklosic as far as overall Slavic philology is concerned, but without exaggeration we may say that the role, along with A. Bernolak, was that of Vuk Karadzic, Gaj, or Vraz in establishing new literary Slavic languages. There have been until recently many misconceptions as far as the Slovak language, its history and place among �SLOVAKIA 9 the Slavic languages are concerned. A thorough study of phonology, etymology, lexicography, and grammar now shows that the Slovak language is distinct from any other Slavic tongue. This was not so clear and evident one hundred years ago when contemporary theories in linguistics were still based on primitive methods and the science of philology was in its infancy. Modern techniques in linguistics have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving us modified views that are far advanced beyond the hasty, unwarranted conclusions of a century ago. It is to Stur's credit that - after a century of clashes and discussions between Czech linguists and the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, who replaced the Latin already in the 17th century with a Slovak literary language - the Slovak language was properly classified as the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history, and Stur helped to establish it irrevocably among Slavic languages of the Western group. Stur accepted the phonetic orthography of Bernolak which from the philological and practical standpoint best answered the purpose, but for scientific and ideological reasons he decided to adopt the dialect of Central Slovakia and not the western Slovak dialect used since 1635 at the University of Trnava and codified by Bernolak in his Grammar and huge dictionary, the latter in six languages(22). It would be superfluous now to point out that formulating purely scientific views on the proper relations between the Czech and Slovak languages, most of the Czech and other philologists and literary historians were influenced by political views and aspirations. The claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the older Czech was not based on facts of history or philology. It was, according to Stur a biased opinion of those who wished to deny to the Slovaks the right to their independent national life. Though Stur's works in the field of philology - "Narecia slovensko" (Slovak dialect) and his Grammar - are marked by amateurism of XIXth century patriots, and it would be difficult to call him "a scholar trained in the science �10 SLOVAKIA of philology," nevertheless he grasped the true basis of the Slovak language by a careful analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and by a comparative study of their developments. Modern philological research gave Stur reason in many respects. According to Professor Bartek, Stur, who studied and spoke several Slavic languages and was acquainted with comparative philology, was "in his time an extraordinary good philologist, who intuitively often correctly came upon certain individual characteristics of the Slovak language, so that even a modern philological analysis of his work will confirm the correctness of many of Stu.r's linguistic findings, the justification for which science in that period could not prove(23). Stu.r's view that the Slovak language developed independently was confirmed also by Trubeckoj, who considers the disappearance of the lesser vowel sounds (slabe jery) in the Slavic derivatives as the last common change and the date of birth of the Slavic languages. The end of the vowel signs in fact caused a fundamental change in the phonological technique of the Slavic dialects, as well as in the original forms in many instances, so that the entire phonological structure was revised, not uniformly but individually, in each Slavic dialect, which fact brought into being the independent Slavic languages as we have them today(24). Stur considered the Slovak language as the central and cardinal language among all the Slavic tongues. We, of course, can question this from the linguistical point of view and accept that Stur wished to emphasize the central position of Slovakia linguistically, historically, and geographically as the centrum of all Slavdom. Stur viewec' the position of the Slovak language as a central clearinghouse ' mainly because he was conscious of many of its similarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North and South, especially noting the agreement with the Yugoslav dialects with which the Slovak came into intimate contact in the tenth century as is evident from the presence of Yugoslavism in the Slovak language even today. According to Stur, in the ninth century the Old Sla- �SLOVAKIA 11 vonic was still the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology. From the ninth century different dialects developed into distinct Slavic languages, among them also the Slovak tongue. This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory in the eleventh century was annexed by Hungary and, hence, the only contact the Slovaks had with the Czechs was through the Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovakian dialect in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West and to the present time have retained their own phonological structure. Stur's claim that the Slovak language never was a part of the Czech, or the so-called "czechoslovak" language, was based on assumptions many of which were in the meantime proven correct by scientific research of authorities on the subject(25). Professor Senn formulated the results of the new research in this regard in his study on Slavic linguistics, published in "A Handbook of Slavic Studies," edited by Prof. Strakhovsky, and Prof. Henry Bartek from the University of Bratislava, who dedicated to this problem several of his works, says that "we may rightly claim that at the time of the disintegration of the Old Slavonic, the era saw the rise of new, independent Slavic languages, among them being also the Slovak, whose development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language." According to Bartek, the ancient phonological nature of the Slovak language certainly indicates that even in the centuries that followed the disappearance of the Old Slavonic, the Slovak tongue was not subject to a common evolution with the Czech which possesses its own unique phonological system, which is quite different from the Slovak." "In conclusion," says Bartek, "we may say that the Slovak language is by every right of its origin and development an independent tongue having its rightful place of equality alongside the Czech or any other Slavic tongue," as Stur asserted over a hundred years ago. �12 SLOVAKIA III STUR'S LITERARY AESTHETICS AND CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS There was for a long time no unanimity among literary historians and critics as to whether Stur was in the first plaee "f homme de pensee," or if in his activities prevailed "f homme d' action." His role in the Slav Congress in Prague, in 1848, his many contacts with Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Yugoslav intellectuals, his part in the Slovak revolution of 1848, and his role in the Hungarian Diet definitely mark him as "l' homme d' action." From his correspondence we know now that he had direct relations with the leaders of all Slavic peoples and, when sentenced to death for his part in the Slovak revolution, he removed himself to Vienna and there came into contact with other Slav representatives, notably the Slovene Stanko Vraz, and still more important with Ban Jelacic and the Serbian Patriarch Rajacic, who were working hand in hand and paid a joint visit to the Imperial Court. On the other hand, Stur played the most important role among the young generation of his time in the Slovak national revival, in the reform of the Slovak literary language, and in the resulting unity of the Slovak people which was followed by flourishing cultural and literary activities(26). Consequently, to measure Stur's significance and to see objectively his achievements, his intellectual profile and spiritual foundations, we have to consider his activities also in the Slovak cultural and political life. There his significance was great and far-reaching not only in the development of Slovak literature and the Slovak national ideology, but also in philosophy and politics. Slovakia and the Slovak people being a part of the Slav world, Stur's role in the Slovak national revival, logically a part of hi.; manifold contributions, is also to be considered within the framework of the Slavic world. Under Stur's leadership, the Slovak intelligentsia composed mostly of Catholic and Protestant clergy, a few teachers, lawyers, and other members of the middle class �SLOVAKIA 13 - continued to build a new national culture which centered in the Catholic university of Trnava (founded 1635) and was successfully developed by a group of Catholic writers, scholars, and poets, among whom particularly the learned linguist Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Holly played leading r6les(27). This new Slovak culture was necessarily and intentionally based on the Slovak peasantry, on small towns and villages with their own specific traditions and artistic creative genius manifested in flourishing folk songs, artistically designed architecture, toolmaking, and resourceful popular music. Since the Slovak gentry continued to lose its national characteristics and assimilated with the Magyar gentry, abandoning the Slovak people in the middle of rising nationalism and political transformations, the Slovak intellectuals could not but take over the culture of the Slovak peasants, middle classes, and a handful of nationally-minded petty aristocrats and from it, before and especially in Sb1r's time, they developed their own national culture and new national consciousness. As in political thinking and planning, so in Stur's cultural activities, his creative work was in harmony with the climate of the epoch in Western and especially in Central Europe, where among the smaller nations romanticism and nationalism were either identical or very related, and national and historical consciousness and popular art, folksongs, sagas, and fairy tales were the focus of interest. In this climate Stur successfully organized his literary school and cultural activities which marked a new era in Slovak national life. His approach was philosophical, since he had a mystic idea of the nation and a respect for it as a person, and there was a strong spiritualism and idealism in his literary and cultural activities. His literary school adopted aesthetic and philosophical principles which became the real basis of last century's Slovak national revival and marked especially the literary and cultural life of Slovakia. During the revolution of 1848-49, Stur's literary school, as correctly says Gudrun Apel,(28) fulfilled to a large extent the function of a political and military leadership; with Stur, Hurban, Hodza among the �14 SLOVAKIA main leaders. The members of this school "imposed the most exacting task on themselves in order to elevate the Slovak people to the same cultural level as the rest of Europe, to release their creative energies, and to enable a new national culture to arise from the existing popular art and language."(29) Stu.r's influence was so strong that some of the principles of Stu.r's ideology and aesthetic principles lived in the cultural life of Slovakia until her subjugation by the present Communist rule. For a long time the folk-song was the basis of all poetic style, and Slovak poetry was mainly an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, hopes, and struggles, as Stur demanded and practiced. Stu.r's claim - that the poet had to be the herald and prophet of a new and better world, something of a was resocial revolutionary and a national leader spected during the past one hundred years in Slovak literature not only in the nationalist era, but also the first years under Communism. Many literary critics refer to Stu.r's poetry and prose as romantic. But in Stu.r's poetry, as in his philosophy, is an evident lack of some principal elements of romanticism. The leading motives of his poetry - as well as of that of his group - were anti-feudal and anti-aristocratic; he made common cause with the people and fought for its rights; he was full of enthusiasm and faith in a new life. Stur advocated national solidarity of an ethical and emotional nature. According to Stu.r's words: "the course of time ... should rouse the poet to exalt songs of life and not of sickness, despair and hopelessness ... " As in his analysis of Janko Kral's poetry G. Apel rightly noticed, Stur and his group knew longing, but their longing was directed toward concrete political and social goals, especially in the years preceding the revolution of 1848-49, which were full of enthusiasm for the struggle and hope for victory. Consequently, Stur and his contemporaries created a literature which echoed not only melancholy and restlessness, but also the call for revolution and the demand for a better world. �SLOVAKIA 15 The lyrical lament is strong in Stiir's poetry as in his prose. But he passed from the sphere of personal and social into that of national and Slavic thought in all his works. The soul of the nation - or of the Slavs - was his constant subject, and the pain of the nation's sufferings, struggles and failures form the pervading atmosphere of his writings. On the whole, Sb'.lr and his followers combined a realist's keen insight into contemporary social problems(30) with the romantic inheritance of warm-hearted attachment to their country and people and, of course, to Slavdom. They advocated democratic enlightenment in relation to unprivileged classes - peasants and workers - and glorified their qualities, as they glorified the Slavs and their past. One of them, Samo Tomasik, created the Slav anthem "Hej, Slovania." And they gave to the Slovak people not only a new hope and a new ideal, but also a pride expressed in Vajansky's famous verse: I am proud to be a Slovak, Elegant is my race; A hundred million souls it numbers, Over half the world it governs. With the Slovak tongue you traverse The four parts of the earth: One my brother palms does plant, Another eternal ice does scan, A third o'er the sea does fly! From this Kollar-inspired phantasy of one great Slav nation and one Slav language, the Slovaks, as rightly says Hans Kohn, "feeling abandoned in Hungary and their national existence threatened, ~ay have drawn strength and faith in the indestructibility of the Slovak people and language," and it helped to continue to maintain contacts with the cultural life of other Slavic peoples. In fact, Stur and his followers transplanted into Slovakia not only Pushkin's poetry, but also Mickiewicz, Sevcenko and Yugoslav poets. Stur's contemporaries demonstrated their Pan-Slavic sympathy and tendencies by read- �16 SLOVAKIA ing Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Yugoslav authors in the original, and famous Mickiewicz's "Ode to Youth," according to W. Bobek, "not even in Poland had been so enthusiastically received as in Slovakia." We can say that Slovak literature since Stu.r's time developed under a strong influence of the outstanding works of Slav authors and was marked, like Polish and Russian literature, by an extensive use of folk tradition and regionalism, drawing on folklore and legend in the same way and to the same extent as did the literature of other Slavs.(31) �SLOVAKIA 17 IV REVOLUTIONARY, IDEALIST, ROMANTIC, OR REALIST? During the past one hundred years, opponents and adherents of Sh1r's achievements and conceptions classified him differently. To the Hungarian gentry who persecuted and sentenced him to death, he was a revolutionary and a rebel. He was idealist or romantic to those in Central Europe who did not believe in the final victory of truth and natural rights of the oppressed peoples arid did not wish to see Slovaks develop culturally, socially and politically into a distinct national entity. Stur was a romantic day-dreamer for all those who disliked the idea of Slavic reciprocity, his vision of a great future for Slavdom, or his assiduous work for equal rights of the Slovak people with other Central European nations, including Slovak national independence which he advocated in the following terms: "Each nation is only one part of humanity, and no nation can claim for itself that it alone has attained the best human evolution and possible perfection. Therefore, no nation has a right to force upon another nation its way of life when that nation wants to move for itself and educate itself as it sees fit. "So that we (Slovaks) might be r evived and take the place in history which according to our strength and abilities belongs to us, we must once and for all free ourselves from the hated alien yoke and gain state independence for ourselves; because a nation which is enslaved has its hands tied, its spirit stifled, and is forever threatened with the danger that sooner or later it will perish." Considered purely on the basis of his writings, Shir appears to a superficial critic as a revolutionary and als·o a romantic idealist. When all parliamentary and political methods proved unsuccessful, he led, in 1848, the Slovak people in armed resistance against the revolution of the Magyar aristocrats and for Slovak autonomy within th:e framework of the Habsburg Monarchy. But before this happened Stur tried all possible peaceful means, as even a brief look into his activities would show. �18 SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -·-· - ·-· ··-· . -· By advocating the Slovak national cause and uniting the Slovak Catholics and Protestants by means of a common literary language, Stur aimed at a higher cultural level of the broad masses and thereby to gain theqi for the struggle for national equality in Hungary. "Stur was clearly aware of the fact," writes Bartek, "that unity in the literary language was not the ultimate goal of his nation, but only a medium of further national development. The Slovaks, therefore, felt that the proper course had been taken in regard to their literary language. Even John Holly, not only the greatest Slovak poet at that time, but also the greatest ideologist of his nation, gave Stur's action his blessing and, therefore, Stur was joined by the Catholics, representing five-sixths, the absolute majority of the Slovak nation.(32) As a member of the Hungarian Diet, Stur appears as an enlightened fighter for freedom and social progress. A review of his speeches and articles from that time reveals that he demanded equal rights for all nationalities in Hungary, in cultural and political life, and insisted on the adoption by the Diet of laws to free the peasant masses from the feudalistic Robot system and labor , rent, so that the culture of the country might increase by the foundation of schools in national tongues. Among many of his recommendations to the Diet, we also read his fervent demand to industrialize Slovakia and to adopt humanitarian laws regarding relations between gentry and the working class, the State authorities and citizens. The obsolete social and political structure of Hungary was one of the main topics of Stur's speeches. He recommended a federalistic system giving justice to all nationalities and appealed to the magnates to give attention to the development of the State in the spirit of new social and political ideas, and to make it a part of modern Europe. Stur was not a rebel, according to Bartek. As long as there was any hope of settlement with the Magyars, he did not advocate the destruction of the Hungarian State. He warned the ruling Magyar class that they could not forever ignore and suppress the inherent rights of nationalities and exploit the Slovaks and other peoples of �SLOVAKIA 19 Hungary without expecting them to strike back with their righteous demands for a free national life, for the same rights the Magyars were resolved to fight for in the Habsburg Empire. When all these demands hit upon deaf ears, only then did L. Stur and his group decide to organize the Slovak revolution of 1848-49 in which Stur played the leading role together with J. M. Hurban and M. M. Hodza, and which marked, though defeated and betrayed by Vienna, an important milestone in Slovak history. The torch of national consciousness, which Stur and his group had taken over from the followers of Bernolak and J. Holly, as a result of this revolution, became a lasting light for Slovakia's national struggles and aspirations. As for the assertion that Stur was a daydreamer in politics and a romantic in philosophy, recent analysis of his writings by Prof. D. Cizevskij, Prof. S. Polakovic, Dr. S. S. Osusky, and many others, completely repudiates this view. In his book "Stu.r's Philosophy of Life," Prof. Cizevskij proves that Stur was in many respects an original philosopher and not merely an epigon of Hegel and German romantic thinkers. On the contrary, Stu.r's philosophy lacks several characteristic features of German romanticism, according to Cizevskij's thorough analysis which finds him a realist in his approaches to the phenomena of life. Strangely and unfortunately enough, but recent political developments in Central and Eastern Europe proved that even Stu.r's big dream of united Slavic peoples under Russia may become a reality. Not under an enlightened Russian czar with humanistic and liberal views, not as a community dedicated to the Orthodox Church and struggling for the highest ideals of freedom and respect for human beings, as Stur wished to see it in his work "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" (Slavdom and the World of the Future) . Moscow has become the political powerhouse of the Slav world under quite different circumstances, but Stu.r's vision of a single united Slavic world under Russian leadership has technically materialized. �20 SLOVAKIA Stur's v1s1on of Slovak cultural, political, and social . life did not prove to be daydreaming either. There is a Slovak nation with its own literature, cultural institutions, and is practically without illiteracy. There is a strong national consciousness and a sound social stratification, unbalanced only by the present Communist regime. And there is also a fighting spirit of the new Slovak generations for national and social justice among Central European peoples and a constant resistance against Communist ideology, about which over a century ago E. Stur wrote : "Communism not only commits outrageous injustice against all civil society .. . but it also ruins all personal initiative, endeavor and enthusiasm. It divides the family, it destroys the household and thus it opens wide the door to every type of immorality, dissolution, and indulgence. It degrades man to animal level. . . . "Communism has matured to the same degree as atheism and defection from Christianity. . . . In all types of Communism, whatever their classification may be, the outlook is only toward a dismal life. It brings in its wake despotism of the grossest kind . . . . " Despite Stur's comparatively youthful age, his education and activities, as well as those of his group, were admirably manysided. Besides an ardent love and sacrifice for the national cause, Stur and his followers became a model for many generations in their thorough preparation for the role which they marked out for themselves in Slovak life. Because they were human, they did make mistakes, but enemies of the Slovak national revival are pointing to and magnifying these in vain. Their mistakes were the mistakes of the century in which they lived, as Ernest Denis so understandingly reflected in his "La Question d' Autriche-Les Slovaques," published in 1917. Their smallness or greatness, their realism or romanticism can be measured only against the background of the conditions and of the period in which they lived, and against the results of their work which brought a new and more dynamic life to the Slovak people.(33) To summarize, it is certainly proper and correct to say �SLOVAKIA 21 that the significance of r.udovit Stur was great and farreaching, in the first place, in the revival of Slovak national life, where Stur played the role of reformer of the Slovak literary language, greatly contributed to the modern Slovak national ideology, gave to his people a new vision of political freedom and of a better future, and by his own example, his writings embracing poetry, philosophy, history, sociology, etc., gave a strong impetus to Slovak life in general. Since Slovakia and the Slovak people are surely a part of the Slavic world, Stur's role in the Slovak national revival is logically a part of his manifold contributions to be considered within the over-all Slavic world, too. On his position among Slav intellectuals of the XIXth century speaks not only the role he played at the first Slavic Congress in Prague, his rich correspondence with practically all outstanding Slavic leaders, but also the fact that his work "Slavdom and the World of the Future" was translated and twice published by Russian intellectuals in the last and at the beginning of this century. Being endowed with extraordinary natural capacity for creative and original conceptions, Stur belongs with Jan Kollar and Pavel J. Safarik to the Slovaks of the XIXth century who can rightly be regarded as great figures of the Slavic world. �22 SLOVAKIA NOTES 1. Stur's condemnation of Communism around 1850 became a part of the Slovak national ideology and has been quoted again and again. According to Stur, Communism "ranks among the wildest of offshoots ever conceived by the human brain ... it brings in its wake despotism of the grossest kind, it shatters all the bonds of social living and opens wide the door to every type of immorality, dissolution and indulgence. In place of holy ties, it offers profiteering, rioting and their like and thus it degrades man to animal level etc . ... " 2. A. Mraz, professor at the University of Bratislava, in his German book "Die Literature der Slowaken" and in his new · book "Dejiny slovenskej literatury," Bratislava, 1948, says that "Stur war nicht nur ein glilcklicher Reformator und genialer Organisator und Initiator, er ragte auch als Dichter for" (p. 92). 3. Cfr. Hans Kohn, "Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology," University of Notre Dame Press, 1953, (p. 20). Les Slovaques," 4. Ernest Denis, "La Question d' Autriche Paris, Librairie Delagrave, (pp. 162- 170). 5. Objective studies on Stur in foreign languages were published by Prof. Dimitrij Cizevskij , "l!udovit ~tur's Philosophie des Litbens," Halle, 1938, and by Michael B. Petrovich, "The Emergence of Russian Pan-Slavism 1856-1870," Columbia University Press, 1956. 6. Ibidem, (p. 21). 7. Prof. Seton-Watson, "History of the Czechs and Slovaks," London, 1942, (p. 259). 8. Ibidem, (p. 262). See also Louis Leger, "Le Panslavisme et I' inte''l.!uderet francaise," Paris, Ernest Flammarion, 1917, (p. 164) vit Stur etait Slovaque, comme Kollar, comme Schafarik. On voit quel role les Slovaques si oublies chez nous, pour ne pas dire si ignores, ont joue dans la vie de la race slave au XIXe siecle." Leger confirms that the appeal to the Slavs for the First Congress in Prague in 1848 "avait ete redige par l' ectivain slovaque I.!udevit stur. " 9. Cfr. W. Lednicki, "Panslavism, in European Ideologies," ed. by Felix Gross, New York, 1948, (p. 838). 10. Journal of Central European Affairs, XII, 1952, I, 1- 19. 11. Stur's writings were published in several volumes. To his most important published works belong the following: Songs and Poems ; Ancient and New History of the Slovaks; Slavdom and the Future of the World ; Slovak Vernacular and the Need to Write In It; Slovak Grammar, and a great number of articles and studies, some of them published recently under the title : Slova na c!ase. He also was founder and editor of newspapers and reviews : Slovak National Review, The Eagle, etc. 12. Cfr. Louis Leger, "Le Panslavism et I' interet francais," (pp. 164-202). 13. See "~turova filozofia iivota," Bratislava, 1941, SUS, (p. III). 14. Cfr. I.!udovit Stur, "Slavianstvo i mir budushchago; Poslanie �SLOVAKIA 23 Slavianam s beregov Dunaja," translated from the German MS by V. L Lamanskij in "Chteniia lmperatorskago Obschchestva lstorii i Drevnostei Rossiiskich pri Moskovskom Universitete, Ill, Material y slavianskie," Books 1-3, Moscow, 1867, (pp. 1-191). For an analysis of Stur's work, see M. B. . Petrovich's "The Emergence of Russian Panslavism" and his "l!udovit ~tur and Russian Panslavism" in the Journal of Central European Affairs, April, 1952, 1-19. In German an objective analysis can be found in Alfred Fischel's book "Der Panslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg," Stuttgart and Berlin, 1919. 15. Cfr. "~turova filozofia zivota" and also Doc. S. Polako~ic, "Zaciatky slovenskej narodnej filozofie," Bratislava, 1944. 16. Cfr. Petrovich's works. 17. Danilevskii's first series of articles were published in 1869 in "Zaria" and so was his remarkable book "Rossiia i Evropa; vzgliad na kulturnyia i politicheskija otnosheniia slavianskago mira k germano-romanskomu." R. A. Fadieev published his "Mnienie o vostochnom voprosie" also in 1870; Stur died in 1856. 18. Cfr. works by Seton-Watson, Ernest Denis, Louis Leger, A. Fischel, H. Kohn, etc. For E. Denis "Stur reste encore aujourd' hui le nom le plus illustre de l' histoire slovaque . . . et l' ame de la resistance nationale .. . il ne vivait que pour sa cause et son ame debordait d' amour et de foi . .. " (p. 164). 19. Cfr. also Polakovic's "Zaciatky slovenskej narodnej filo• zofie," (p. 56). 20. Cfr. Cizevskij's chapter "Stur and Hegel" and also statement by him on p. 107 of his work. 21. See "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June 1956, article by Prof. H. Bartek. 22. Cfr. Peter P. Yurchak, "The Slovaks," Scranton, Pa., 1947, (pp. 90-100). 23. See H. Bartek : "l!udovit Shir a slovencina," Bratislava, 1943, and also his article in "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June, 1956 (p. 9). 24. Cfr. "Revue des Etudes slaves," Paris, II, (pp. 217-18), article by H. Bartek. 25. Stur also adopted the view that the archaic Czech language, which was used for some time in Slovakia by the Protestant intelli· gentsia, was merely a borrowed language, and that the Slovak Protestants used it for liturgy and literature in the same way as the Catholics used Latin. This thesis was supported before Stur by many Catholic Slovak writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Cfr. "Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact," by J . M. Kirschbaum, Vol. I, 1956, Slavic and Easf European Studies. 26. Cfr. Prof. A. Mraz, "Die Literature der Slowaken," as well as his recent work "Dejiny slovenskej literatury," Bratislava, 1948. 27. Cfr. Peter P. Yurchak, "The Slovaks," (pp. 103-105). 28. See, "A Byronic Hero in Slovak Literature," The Slavonic and East European Review, Volume XXXIV, No. 83, June, 1956, (pp. 338-354). 29. Ibidem, (pp. 33941). 30. On Stur's social ideas see Dr. J . Pauco, "l!udovychova u �24 SLOVAKIA Sturovcov," Turc. sv. Martin, 1943, and his article in "Slovakia," Vol. VI, March, 1956. In Pauco's view Stur and his followers "concerned themselves with the welfare of the entire nation. They fought to improve their economy, but they also fought with equal vigor against alcoholism, illiteracy, etc." 31. Cfr. "A Note On Two Slovak Translators of Mickiewicz," by J. M. Kirschbaum , in "Mickiewic z in World Literature," Univ. of California Press, 1956. See also Cizevskij's contributio n: "Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral," Ibidem, (pp. 469-484). 32. H. Bartek, "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June, 1956. 33. See "Uudovit Stur po sto rokoch," by J. M. Kirschbaum , Most, Vol. III, No. 4. 195. � SLOVAKIA Published VOL. VIII quarterly by the Slovak League MARCH, 1958 of America NO. 1 (26) EUDOvtT STUR AND ms PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD By Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. INTRODUCTORY NOTE Among Slovaks of the XIXth century who acquired their fame in the Slavic world, I'..udovit Stur (born 1815, died 1856) is among his contemporaries, poet Jan Kollar and ethnologist Pavel J. Safarik, one whose role and significance are still to be reconsidered and objectively reevaluated. Though nobody tried to claim him because some of his works were written in foreign languages, as it happened to Kollar and Safarik, who even now are classified as Czech poets and scholars, the literary value of Stur's works and the seriousness of his political and philosophical conceptions were questioned and often intentionally underestimated and distorted. While even scholars and literary historians at today's communist universities reevaluated - despite Sh1r's wellknown condemnation of Communism(!) his literary heritage and classified him among outstanding Slavic poets(2), philologists, philosophers and political leaders of the XIXth century - in many scholarly works in the free world he has been presented again and again "mediocre as a writer and thinker, but full of the typical sentimentalism and lyricism of the period, a man who like many at that time devoted all his life to the cause of his people and spent himself in its service."(3) · This judgment, which is quoted from Hans Kohn'. s "Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology," one of the most objective and up to date works on the subject, was uncritically repeated since it appeared for the first time in Ernest Denis' book "La Question d' Autriche - Les Slovaques," published in 1917.(4) Actually, this superficial and antagonistic view has been based on a thesis "Louis Stu.r �2 SLOVAKIA et l' idee d' independance slovaque," prepared by a young university student from Central Europe, H. Tourzer, who compiled unfavorable views and interpretations of Stur's work by contemporary Czech and Slovak literary critics and Stur's opponents. Instead of basing her judgment on a critical analysis of Stur's works, the young candidate for a Ph.D., Tourzer, presented Stur to the Western world in accordance with some political tendencies but in a highly unobjective light. Needless to say that neither Denis, nor Seton-Watson - another authority on the Slovak question - nor Hans Kohn, nor Kann ever analyzed and read Stur's works, some of them never translated into foreign languages and, consequently, the conclusions published in their books hardly resulted from their own analysis.(5) After a century, while commemorating Stur's centenary of death, we feel obliged to shed an objective light on Stur's work, his literary heritage, and his role in the Slavic world of the XIXth century. We are in a position to base our judgments not only on all his works - which until recently were not available in extenso - but on a hundred years span of time, which tested many of his conceptions and achievements and as the heat of the antagonists, who hated and debased him for political reasons, cooled down to a great extent by force of the vitality of Stur's ideas and the righteousness of his conceptions. Looking for Stur's place in the Slavic world, naturally we cannot avoid some purely Slovak cultural and political issues, though there is a great deal of truth in Hans Kohn's words that "the Slovak nation, with its own literary language, was definitely established"(6) by the merits of Stur's manifold activities, and this cannot, of course, be without interest for a student of the Slavic world in the field of linguistics, ethnology, history, or politics. Avoiding Stur's role and his historical achievements within a purely national range of his activities, an analysis of his works, conceptions, and lifelong struggles moves us to consider Stur's place in the Slavic world, 1) in the PanSlavic movement; 2) in the field of linguistics; and, 3) in literature. �SLOVAKIA 3 I I'..UDOVfT STUR AND PAN-SLAVISM Seton-Watson, one of the best English experts on Slovakia's past cultural and political struggles and aspirations, assessed Stur's significance in the Slavic world together with Kollar's and Safarik's role, stating that "their writings were of capital importance in the whole Slav revival of the last century, and form a strange sentimental link between the Western romantic school and the extravagancies of Pan-Slavism."(7) And referring to the first Slav Congress in Prague in 1848, Seton-Watson says that Stur "played a decisive part in the preparations for the Congress" and that at the Congress the four Slovaks - Safarik, Stur, Hurban and Hodza - played a part second to none save Palacky.(8) These two opinions on Stur's significance in the PanSlavic movement call for an analysis and completion in order to be understood properly. Quite a few of the experts on Slavic studies know Stur as a writer predominantly from his last work, written around 1855 in German and never published in Stur's native language, entitled "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" (Slavdom and the World of the Future), which was published in Russian translation in 1867, and its specially printed edition was presented to the foreign Slavic delegates to the Moscow Slav Congress in order to attract attention to the political views of the Russian organizers of the Congress. The book represents, according to Prof. Lednicki, an "integral PanSlavism, practically degenerating into Pan-Russianism, and a quite exceptional tribute to the cultural, moral and political forces of the Russian Empire.(9) And in view of a recent analysis by Michael Petrovich, which seems to be one of the best documented and objective, the work "is a romantic melange of science and poetry presented in a vigorous style and an argumentation which is remarkably consequential even when mistaken."(10) Though Stur was quite a prolific writer and his works embraced many fields of intellectual activities from history and poetry to philosophy and philology(ll), for the last hundred years it has been, nevertheless, the above �4 SLOVAKIA mentioned book which made Stur known among the students of Slavistics outside his native land and, therefore, an analysis seems to be opportune on this occasion. What are the main ideas and the principal reasons that this little book - probably only an introduction to a larger history of the Slavs - made Stur one of the major figures among the Slavic intelligentsia of the nineteenth century? Even if we do not accept the view of Prof. Lednicki that the work presents " the most complete and consistently developed program for the subjugation of Slavs to Russia" - Seton-Watson's view is that even in this book Stur's aim was to preserve his own people - it was, among all reasons for its fame, Stur's political and philosophical conceptions which stirred the greatest interest in it. Stur adopted Hegel's and Herder's ideas that gave the Slavs the consciousness of a unity based upon the community of language and glorious destiny, and proclaimed them the coming leaders of Europe. He was thrilled by the vision of a gigantic empire sprawling from the Carpathians of his own native land to the shores of the Pacific. Drawing on history, philosophy, literature, philology, theology, and folklore, as well as on a penetrating insight into contemporary events, Stur emphasized that the Slavs have a mission to fulfill in universal history - or, in other words, that they have a historic vocation. This mission, however, they can fulfill only if united, and in his analysis of the world situation, in which he presents an apocalyptic vision of Western Europe's doom, there were three roads to consider: 1. Slavic federation without Russia. 2. Transformation of Austria into a Slavic federation. 3. Union with Russia - as a monarchic empire under Russian leadership, united in the Orthodox Church and the Russian literary language. Neither of the first two solutions had an appeal to Stur's vision of Slavdom's future and to his philosophy of history. Any attempt to organize a federation of European Slavic nations was doomed to failure in his opinion, because of the geographical situation, internal rivalries, re- �SLOVAKIA 5 ligious differences, cultural differentation, and intermingled non-Slavic elements. Though a few years ago, at the Slav Congress in Prague(12), he was not far from accepting Palacky's idea of Austroslavism and led the Slovaks on the side of the Habsburg's forces against the Magyars in the revolution of 1848, his books condemn in strong terms Austria and the idea of an Austro-Slavic federation. "There remains a third road," Stur insists, "the only one which is sure and has a future - the Union of all Slavs with Russia." "Russia is the prime mover and the leader of our national family," continues Stur. "Our people are but a fragment of a single nationality, they can be reborn and united into a single whole only by a related benevolent and great Power." That Power among the Slavs in Stur's time was only Russia. "Let us go forth together," urges Stur, "in the spirit of our people, under the leadership of the racial elders given to us by history." How was this Russian-led Slavic Union to come about? Stur recommended a return of all Slavs to the GrecoSlavic Church, urged the adoption of the Russian language and Cyrillic alphabet by all Slavs as a common literary language, but how to change the political situation of the Slavic peoples dominated by Austria and Turkey and bring them under the Russian leadership, Stur did not venture to say. He acknowledged that it could be realized only "under the pressure of grave political events" and therefore, he writes: "We do not consider it necessary, and we even consider it superfluous, to define prematurely the means of unification and degree of the reciprocal relations of the Slavs with Russia. The means and the degree of this unification will emerge from circumstances yet to come about. But it is useful," he concludes, "at least to raise the question, to speak about this subject and to prepare our minds for it." Stur's political and philosophical conceptions expressed in this book remain a puzzle even to such experts on his writings as Prof. Cizevskij(13), and they never were explained either by his own compatriots or anyone else. �6 SLOVAKIA Stur adopted Hegel's idea of the succession of various nations on the historical stage as a consecutive incarnation of the universal spirit while studying in Halle, where he came into contact with German nationalism and philosophy. After his return to his native land, however, Stur became a passionate champion of Slovak national independence and fought for a distinct Slovak literary language even against Kollar and his Czech friends. He was for the idea of Slavic reciprocity, and many things stirred his Slavic pride, but his Pan-Slavism was, until this book appeared, a cultural, more or less defensive movement, with emphasis on language, literature, and culture, and politically it aimed at the liberation of his people and other Slavic oppressed nations from foreign rule, with Russia's help, but not under Russia's hegemony. Cizevskij and some other experts on Stur's writings try to explain Stur's political re-orientation mainly as a result of political events in Central Europe and particularly in Slovakia after the unsuccessful revolution of 1848, and such is also our opinion. "It was in a conflicting mood of helplessness and inversely high hopes in salvation from Slavic Russia that Stur wrote his famous work," is the explanation of another Slavist, Prof. Petrovich. "The failure of the Slovak revolution and other political demonstrations (May 1, 1848, Lipt. sv. Mikulas) brought Stur to the conclusion that it was useless for his people to seek its own freedom alone or in the frame of Austroslavism." Stur made it clear, however, even in this book, that his principal aim was to preserve his own people, and besides he set out to accomplish four basic tasks: 1. To determine, largely by reviewing the Slavic past, whether the Slavs had a role of their own to fulfill in world history; 2. to describe the Slavic mission in universal history against the background of the cultural. differences between Western and Eastern Europe; 3. to show what advantages the Slavs possessed by comparing their institutions, traditions; and qualities with those of the West; 4. to demonstrate that the Slavs could accomplish their mission only through political unification under Russian leadership(14). �SLOVAKIA 7 No doubt, this was a new look on the Slavic world. Was it original? We cannot deny that he applied some Hegelian principles of philosophy, such as the primacy of the idea in man's development, Hegel's dialectical approach to historical evolution, and Herder's vision of Slavdom taking place in succession of the bearers of the idea. But there are many original approaches in his book which cannot be linked either with German philosophy or Russian Slavophils, which is the second of alleged influences. Cizevskij defends Stu.r's originality(15). Florinskij, in the preface to the second edition of Stu.r's book (1905), stresses that Stur is very close to the viewpoints of the Russian Slavophils, Chomiakov, Pogodin, Kiriejevski, Aksakov, and their successors, but he also says that "insofar as one can judge by known biographical data, Stu.r's views arose in him independently, apart from any influence of Russian Slavophilism whatsoever." And such also was the opinion of Prof. A. Budilovic and others(16). Stu.r's biographical data speak, in fact, against dependence on Slavophils, though he knew Bodianski, Pogodin, Sevyrev, Sreznevski, Raevski, and others. We can, therefore, defend his originality in many regards, especially if we consider the intellectual climate of Europe in Stu.r's time and if we take into account that Slovakia - with Kollar and Safarik and Herkel, who invented the term "panslavismus," - was the classic land of Slavic reciprocity and that "as in name, so in sentiment, the Slovak never ceased being a Slav." ' Since N. I. Danilevskij and R. A. Fadejev came many years after Stu.r's death(17), Stur can be rightly consider_e d as the founder of political Pan-Slavism, of which Kollar was the poet and Safarik the scientist. �8 SLOVAKIA II STUR'S ROLE IN LINGUISTICS AND PHILOLOGY The role of f,udovit Stur in the field of Slavic studies is generally little known outside of Slovakia. In English, French and German published works, Stur is presented mainly as a political leader(18), a mediocre poet, owing his fame in the Slavic world to his treatise "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" which is, as we mentioned before, a study of a political, sociological, and philosophical character. A few years ago Professor D. Cizevskij, in his German book - translated in the meantime into the Slovak under the title "Sturova filozofia zivota" (Stu.r's Philosophy of Life) -found however, that Stur was also a philosopher of considerable knowledge and originality(19). He shows, of course, dependence on Hegel and contemporary German philosophers. But to present him in such a light, as if he had blindly applied Hegel's philosophy to Slavic or Slovak life, as he was accused by his opponents, seems to be a malicious distortion. In view of Cizevskij's analysis, Stur's generation had several thinkers who tried to create their own philosophical system and who, in their time, among Slavic nations excelled in originality bf thinking. As for Stu.r's philosophy, Cizevskij refuted in his book the assertions that: 1. Stur was a simple follower of Hegel; 2. that his philosophical views were those of contemporary romantic philosophy. In Cizevskij's opinion Stur formed an independent philosophical system which in many ways differs from that of Hegel, and his approach to life's phenomena were highly realistic(20). This, however, is not our concern in the present analysis. Considering Stu.r's role in linguistics and philology, it would be unjust and incorrect not to recognize his merits(21). Stur was no J agic or Miklosic as far as overall Slavic philology is concerned, but without exaggeration we may say that the role, along with A. Bernolak, was that of Vuk Karadzic, Gaj, or Vraz in establishing new literary Slavic languages. There have been until recently many misconceptions as far as the Slovak language, its history and place among �SLOVAKIA 9 the Slavic languages are concerned. A thorough study of phonology, etymology, lexicography, and grammar now shows that the Slovak language is distinct from any other Slavic tongue. This was not so clear and evident one hundred years ago when contemporary theories in linguistics were still based on primitive methods and the science of philology was in its infancy. Modern techniques in linguistics have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving us modified views that are far advanced beyond the hasty, unwarranted conclusions of a century ago. It is to Stur's credit that - after a century of clashes and discussions between Czech linguists and the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, who replaced the Latin already in the 17th century with a Slovak literary language - the Slovak language was properly classified as the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history, and Stur helped to establish it irrevocably among Slavic languages of the Western group. Stur accepted the phonetic orthography of Bernolak which from the philological and practical standpoint best answered the purpose, but for scientific and ideological reasons he decided to adopt the dialect of Central Slovakia and not the western Slovak dialect used since 1635 at the University of Trnava and codified by Bernolak in his Grammar and huge dictionary, the latter in six languages(22). It would be superfluous now to point out that formulating purely scientific views on the proper relations between the Czech and Slovak languages, most of the Czech and other philologists and literary historians were influenced by political views and aspirations. The claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the older Czech was not based on facts of history or philology. It was, according to Stur a biased opinion of those who wished to deny to the Slovaks the right to their independent national life. Though Stur's works in the field of philology - "Narecia slovensko" (Slovak dialect) and his Grammar - are marked by amateurism of XIXth century patriots, and it would be difficult to call him "a scholar trained in the science �10 SLOVAKIA of philology," nevertheless he grasped the true basis of the Slovak language by a careful analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and by a comparative study of their developments. Modern philological research gave Stur reason in many respects. According to Professor Bartek, Stur, who studied and spoke several Slavic languages and was acquainted with comparative philology, was "in his time an extraordinary good philologist, who intuitively often correctly came upon certain individual characteristics of the Slovak language, so that even a modern philological analysis of his work will confirm the correctness of many of Stu.r's linguistic findings, the justification for which science in that period could not prove(23). Stu.r's view that the Slovak language developed independently was confirmed also by Trubeckoj, who considers the disappearance of the lesser vowel sounds (slabe jery) in the Slavic derivatives as the last common change and the date of birth of the Slavic languages. The end of the vowel signs in fact caused a fundamental change in the phonological technique of the Slavic dialects, as well as in the original forms in many instances, so that the entire phonological structure was revised, not uniformly but individually, in each Slavic dialect, which fact brought into being the independent Slavic languages as we have them today(24). Stur considered the Slovak language as the central and cardinal language among all the Slavic tongues. We, of course, can question this from the linguistical point of view and accept that Stur wished to emphasize the central position of Slovakia linguistically, historically, and geographically as the centrum of all Slavdom. Stur viewec' the position of the Slovak language as a central clearinghouse ' mainly because he was conscious of many of its similarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North and South, especially noting the agreement with the Yugoslav dialects with which the Slovak came into intimate contact in the tenth century as is evident from the presence of Yugoslavism in the Slovak language even today. According to Stur, in the ninth century the Old Sla- �SLOVAKIA 11 vonic was still the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology. From the ninth century different dialects developed into distinct Slavic languages, among them also the Slovak tongue. This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory in the eleventh century was annexed by Hungary and, hence, the only contact the Slovaks had with the Czechs was through the Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovakian dialect in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West and to the present time have retained their own phonological structure. Stur's claim that the Slovak language never was a part of the Czech, or the so-called "czechoslovak" language, was based on assumptions many of which were in the meantime proven correct by scientific research of authorities on the subject(25). Professor Senn formulated the results of the new research in this regard in his study on Slavic linguistics, published in "A Handbook of Slavic Studies," edited by Prof. Strakhovsky, and Prof. Henry Bartek from the University of Bratislava, who dedicated to this problem several of his works, says that "we may rightly claim that at the time of the disintegration of the Old Slavonic, the era saw the rise of new, independent Slavic languages, among them being also the Slovak, whose development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language." According to Bartek, the ancient phonological nature of the Slovak language certainly indicates that even in the centuries that followed the disappearance of the Old Slavonic, the Slovak tongue was not subject to a common evolution with the Czech which possesses its own unique phonological system, which is quite different from the Slovak." "In conclusion," says Bartek, "we may say that the Slovak language is by every right of its origin and development an independent tongue having its rightful place of equality alongside the Czech or any other Slavic tongue," as Stur asserted over a hundred years ago. �12 SLOVAKIA III STUR'S LITERARY AESTHETICS AND CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS There was for a long time no unanimity among literary historians and critics as to whether Stur was in the first plaee "f homme de pensee," or if in his activities prevailed "f homme d' action." His role in the Slav Congress in Prague, in 1848, his many contacts with Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Yugoslav intellectuals, his part in the Slovak revolution of 1848, and his role in the Hungarian Diet definitely mark him as "l' homme d' action." From his correspondence we know now that he had direct relations with the leaders of all Slavic peoples and, when sentenced to death for his part in the Slovak revolution, he removed himself to Vienna and there came into contact with other Slav representatives, notably the Slovene Stanko Vraz, and still more important with Ban Jelacic and the Serbian Patriarch Rajacic, who were working hand in hand and paid a joint visit to the Imperial Court. On the other hand, Stur played the most important role among the young generation of his time in the Slovak national revival, in the reform of the Slovak literary language, and in the resulting unity of the Slovak people which was followed by flourishing cultural and literary activities(26). Consequently, to measure Stur's significance and to see objectively his achievements, his intellectual profile and spiritual foundations, we have to consider his activities also in the Slovak cultural and political life. There his significance was great and far-reaching not only in the development of Slovak literature and the Slovak national ideology, but also in philosophy and politics. Slovakia and the Slovak people being a part of the Slav world, Stur's role in the Slovak national revival, logically a part of hi.; manifold contributions, is also to be considered within the framework of the Slavic world. Under Stur's leadership, the Slovak intelligentsia composed mostly of Catholic and Protestant clergy, a few teachers, lawyers, and other members of the middle class �SLOVAKIA 13 - continued to build a new national culture which centered in the Catholic university of Trnava (founded 1635) and was successfully developed by a group of Catholic writers, scholars, and poets, among whom particularly the learned linguist Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Holly played leading r6les(27). This new Slovak culture was necessarily and intentionally based on the Slovak peasantry, on small towns and villages with their own specific traditions and artistic creative genius manifested in flourishing folk songs, artistically designed architecture, toolmaking, and resourceful popular music. Since the Slovak gentry continued to lose its national characteristics and assimilated with the Magyar gentry, abandoning the Slovak people in the middle of rising nationalism and political transformations, the Slovak intellectuals could not but take over the culture of the Slovak peasants, middle classes, and a handful of nationally-minded petty aristocrats and from it, before and especially in Sb1r's time, they developed their own national culture and new national consciousness. As in political thinking and planning, so in Stur's cultural activities, his creative work was in harmony with the climate of the epoch in Western and especially in Central Europe, where among the smaller nations romanticism and nationalism were either identical or very related, and national and historical consciousness and popular art, folksongs, sagas, and fairy tales were the focus of interest. In this climate Stur successfully organized his literary school and cultural activities which marked a new era in Slovak national life. His approach was philosophical, since he had a mystic idea of the nation and a respect for it as a person, and there was a strong spiritualism and idealism in his literary and cultural activities. His literary school adopted aesthetic and philosophical principles which became the real basis of last century's Slovak national revival and marked especially the literary and cultural life of Slovakia. During the revolution of 1848-49, Stur's literary school, as correctly says Gudrun Apel,(28) fulfilled to a large extent the function of a political and military leadership; with Stur, Hurban, Hodza among the �14 SLOVAKIA main leaders. The members of this school "imposed the most exacting task on themselves in order to elevate the Slovak people to the same cultural level as the rest of Europe, to release their creative energies, and to enable a new national culture to arise from the existing popular art and language."(29) Stu.r's influence was so strong that some of the principles of Stu.r's ideology and aesthetic principles lived in the cultural life of Slovakia until her subjugation by the present Communist rule. For a long time the folk-song was the basis of all poetic style, and Slovak poetry was mainly an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, hopes, and struggles, as Stur demanded and practiced. Stu.r's claim - that the poet had to be the herald and prophet of a new and better world, something of a was resocial revolutionary and a national leader spected during the past one hundred years in Slovak literature not only in the nationalist era, but also the first years under Communism. Many literary critics refer to Stu.r's poetry and prose as romantic. But in Stu.r's poetry, as in his philosophy, is an evident lack of some principal elements of romanticism. The leading motives of his poetry - as well as of that of his group - were anti-feudal and anti-aristocratic; he made common cause with the people and fought for its rights; he was full of enthusiasm and faith in a new life. Stur advocated national solidarity of an ethical and emotional nature. According to Stu.r's words: "the course of time ... should rouse the poet to exalt songs of life and not of sickness, despair and hopelessness ... " As in his analysis of Janko Kral's poetry G. Apel rightly noticed, Stur and his group knew longing, but their longing was directed toward concrete political and social goals, especially in the years preceding the revolution of 1848-49, which were full of enthusiasm for the struggle and hope for victory. Consequently, Stur and his contemporaries created a literature which echoed not only melancholy and restlessness, but also the call for revolution and the demand for a better world. �SLOVAKIA 15 The lyrical lament is strong in Stiir's poetry as in his prose. But he passed from the sphere of personal and social into that of national and Slavic thought in all his works. The soul of the nation - or of the Slavs - was his constant subject, and the pain of the nation's sufferings, struggles and failures form the pervading atmosphere of his writings. On the whole, Sb'.lr and his followers combined a realist's keen insight into contemporary social problems(30) with the romantic inheritance of warm-hearted attachment to their country and people and, of course, to Slavdom. They advocated democratic enlightenment in relation to unprivileged classes - peasants and workers - and glorified their qualities, as they glorified the Slavs and their past. One of them, Samo Tomasik, created the Slav anthem "Hej, Slovania." And they gave to the Slovak people not only a new hope and a new ideal, but also a pride expressed in Vajansky's famous verse: I am proud to be a Slovak, Elegant is my race; A hundred million souls it numbers, Over half the world it governs. With the Slovak tongue you traverse The four parts of the earth: One my brother palms does plant, Another eternal ice does scan, A third o'er the sea does fly! From this Kollar-inspired phantasy of one great Slav nation and one Slav language, the Slovaks, as rightly says Hans Kohn, "feeling abandoned in Hungary and their national existence threatened, ~ay have drawn strength and faith in the indestructibility of the Slovak people and language," and it helped to continue to maintain contacts with the cultural life of other Slavic peoples. In fact, Stur and his followers transplanted into Slovakia not only Pushkin's poetry, but also Mickiewicz, Sevcenko and Yugoslav poets. Stur's contemporaries demonstrated their Pan-Slavic sympathy and tendencies by read- �16 SLOVAKIA ing Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Yugoslav authors in the original, and famous Mickiewicz's "Ode to Youth," according to W. Bobek, "not even in Poland had been so enthusiastically received as in Slovakia." We can say that Slovak literature since Stu.r's time developed under a strong influence of the outstanding works of Slav authors and was marked, like Polish and Russian literature, by an extensive use of folk tradition and regionalism, drawing on folklore and legend in the same way and to the same extent as did the literature of other Slavs.(31) �SLOVAKIA 17 IV REVOLUTIONARY, IDEALIST, ROMANTIC, OR REALIST? During the past one hundred years, opponents and adherents of Sh1r's achievements and conceptions classified him differently. To the Hungarian gentry who persecuted and sentenced him to death, he was a revolutionary and a rebel. He was idealist or romantic to those in Central Europe who did not believe in the final victory of truth and natural rights of the oppressed peoples arid did not wish to see Slovaks develop culturally, socially and politically into a distinct national entity. Stur was a romantic day-dreamer for all those who disliked the idea of Slavic reciprocity, his vision of a great future for Slavdom, or his assiduous work for equal rights of the Slovak people with other Central European nations, including Slovak national independence which he advocated in the following terms: "Each nation is only one part of humanity, and no nation can claim for itself that it alone has attained the best human evolution and possible perfection. Therefore, no nation has a right to force upon another nation its way of life when that nation wants to move for itself and educate itself as it sees fit. "So that we (Slovaks) might be r evived and take the place in history which according to our strength and abilities belongs to us, we must once and for all free ourselves from the hated alien yoke and gain state independence for ourselves; because a nation which is enslaved has its hands tied, its spirit stifled, and is forever threatened with the danger that sooner or later it will perish." Considered purely on the basis of his writings, Shir appears to a superficial critic as a revolutionary and als·o a romantic idealist. When all parliamentary and political methods proved unsuccessful, he led, in 1848, the Slovak people in armed resistance against the revolution of the Magyar aristocrats and for Slovak autonomy within th:e framework of the Habsburg Monarchy. But before this happened Stur tried all possible peaceful means, as even a brief look into his activities would show. �18 SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -·-· - ·-· ··-· . -· By advocating the Slovak national cause and uniting the Slovak Catholics and Protestants by means of a common literary language, Stur aimed at a higher cultural level of the broad masses and thereby to gain theqi for the struggle for national equality in Hungary. "Stur was clearly aware of the fact," writes Bartek, "that unity in the literary language was not the ultimate goal of his nation, but only a medium of further national development. The Slovaks, therefore, felt that the proper course had been taken in regard to their literary language. Even John Holly, not only the greatest Slovak poet at that time, but also the greatest ideologist of his nation, gave Stur's action his blessing and, therefore, Stur was joined by the Catholics, representing five-sixths, the absolute majority of the Slovak nation.(32) As a member of the Hungarian Diet, Stur appears as an enlightened fighter for freedom and social progress. A review of his speeches and articles from that time reveals that he demanded equal rights for all nationalities in Hungary, in cultural and political life, and insisted on the adoption by the Diet of laws to free the peasant masses from the feudalistic Robot system and labor , rent, so that the culture of the country might increase by the foundation of schools in national tongues. Among many of his recommendations to the Diet, we also read his fervent demand to industrialize Slovakia and to adopt humanitarian laws regarding relations between gentry and the working class, the State authorities and citizens. The obsolete social and political structure of Hungary was one of the main topics of Stur's speeches. He recommended a federalistic system giving justice to all nationalities and appealed to the magnates to give attention to the development of the State in the spirit of new social and political ideas, and to make it a part of modern Europe. Stur was not a rebel, according to Bartek. As long as there was any hope of settlement with the Magyars, he did not advocate the destruction of the Hungarian State. He warned the ruling Magyar class that they could not forever ignore and suppress the inherent rights of nationalities and exploit the Slovaks and other peoples of �SLOVAKIA 19 Hungary without expecting them to strike back with their righteous demands for a free national life, for the same rights the Magyars were resolved to fight for in the Habsburg Empire. When all these demands hit upon deaf ears, only then did L. Stur and his group decide to organize the Slovak revolution of 1848-49 in which Stur played the leading role together with J. M. Hurban and M. M. Hodza, and which marked, though defeated and betrayed by Vienna, an important milestone in Slovak history. The torch of national consciousness, which Stur and his group had taken over from the followers of Bernolak and J. Holly, as a result of this revolution, became a lasting light for Slovakia's national struggles and aspirations. As for the assertion that Stur was a daydreamer in politics and a romantic in philosophy, recent analysis of his writings by Prof. D. Cizevskij, Prof. S. Polakovic, Dr. S. S. Osusky, and many others, completely repudiates this view. In his book "Stu.r's Philosophy of Life," Prof. Cizevskij proves that Stur was in many respects an original philosopher and not merely an epigon of Hegel and German romantic thinkers. On the contrary, Stu.r's philosophy lacks several characteristic features of German romanticism, according to Cizevskij's thorough analysis which finds him a realist in his approaches to the phenomena of life. Strangely and unfortunately enough, but recent political developments in Central and Eastern Europe proved that even Stu.r's big dream of united Slavic peoples under Russia may become a reality. Not under an enlightened Russian czar with humanistic and liberal views, not as a community dedicated to the Orthodox Church and struggling for the highest ideals of freedom and respect for human beings, as Stur wished to see it in his work "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" (Slavdom and the World of the Future) . Moscow has become the political powerhouse of the Slav world under quite different circumstances, but Stu.r's vision of a single united Slavic world under Russian leadership has technically materialized. �20 SLOVAKIA Stur's v1s1on of Slovak cultural, political, and social . life did not prove to be daydreaming either. There is a Slovak nation with its own literature, cultural institutions, and is practically without illiteracy. There is a strong national consciousness and a sound social stratification, unbalanced only by the present Communist regime. And there is also a fighting spirit of the new Slovak generations for national and social justice among Central European peoples and a constant resistance against Communist ideology, about which over a century ago E. Stur wrote : "Communism not only commits outrageous injustice against all civil society .. . but it also ruins all personal initiative, endeavor and enthusiasm. It divides the family, it destroys the household and thus it opens wide the door to every type of immorality, dissolution, and indulgence. It degrades man to animal level. . . . "Communism has matured to the same degree as atheism and defection from Christianity. . . . In all types of Communism, whatever their classification may be, the outlook is only toward a dismal life. It brings in its wake despotism of the grossest kind . . . . " Despite Stur's comparatively youthful age, his education and activities, as well as those of his group, were admirably manysided. Besides an ardent love and sacrifice for the national cause, Stur and his followers became a model for many generations in their thorough preparation for the role which they marked out for themselves in Slovak life. Because they were human, they did make mistakes, but enemies of the Slovak national revival are pointing to and magnifying these in vain. Their mistakes were the mistakes of the century in which they lived, as Ernest Denis so understandingly reflected in his "La Question d' Autriche-Les Slovaques," published in 1917. Their smallness or greatness, their realism or romanticism can be measured only against the background of the conditions and of the period in which they lived, and against the results of their work which brought a new and more dynamic life to the Slovak people.(33) To summarize, it is certainly proper and correct to say �SLOVAKIA 21 that the significance of r.udovit Stur was great and farreaching, in the first place, in the revival of Slovak national life, where Stur played the role of reformer of the Slovak literary language, greatly contributed to the modern Slovak national ideology, gave to his people a new vision of political freedom and of a better future, and by his own example, his writings embracing poetry, philosophy, history, sociology, etc., gave a strong impetus to Slovak life in general. Since Slovakia and the Slovak people are surely a part of the Slavic world, Stur's role in the Slovak national revival is logically a part of his manifold contributions to be considered within the over-all Slavic world, too. On his position among Slav intellectuals of the XIXth century speaks not only the role he played at the first Slavic Congress in Prague, his rich correspondence with practically all outstanding Slavic leaders, but also the fact that his work "Slavdom and the World of the Future" was translated and twice published by Russian intellectuals in the last and at the beginning of this century. Being endowed with extraordinary natural capacity for creative and original conceptions, Stur belongs with Jan Kollar and Pavel J. Safarik to the Slovaks of the XIXth century who can rightly be regarded as great figures of the Slavic world. �22 SLOVAKIA NOTES 1. Stur's condemnation of Communism around 1850 became a part of the Slovak national ideology and has been quoted again and again. According to Stur, Communism "ranks among the wildest of offshoots ever conceived by the human brain ... it brings in its wake despotism of the grossest kind, it shatters all the bonds of social living and opens wide the door to every type of immorality, dissolution and indulgence. In place of holy ties, it offers profiteering, rioting and their like and thus it degrades man to animal level etc . ... " 2. A. Mraz, professor at the University of Bratislava, in his German book "Die Literature der Slowaken" and in his new · book "Dejiny slovenskej literatury," Bratislava, 1948, says that "Stur war nicht nur ein glilcklicher Reformator und genialer Organisator und Initiator, er ragte auch als Dichter for" (p. 92). 3. Cfr. Hans Kohn, "Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology," University of Notre Dame Press, 1953, (p. 20). Les Slovaques," 4. Ernest Denis, "La Question d' Autriche Paris, Librairie Delagrave, (pp. 162- 170). 5. Objective studies on Stur in foreign languages were published by Prof. Dimitrij Cizevskij , "l!udovit ~tur's Philosophie des Litbens," Halle, 1938, and by Michael B. Petrovich, "The Emergence of Russian Pan-Slavism 1856-1870," Columbia University Press, 1956. 6. Ibidem, (p. 21). 7. Prof. Seton-Watson, "History of the Czechs and Slovaks," London, 1942, (p. 259). 8. Ibidem, (p. 262). See also Louis Leger, "Le Panslavisme et I' inte''l.!uderet francaise," Paris, Ernest Flammarion, 1917, (p. 164) vit Stur etait Slovaque, comme Kollar, comme Schafarik. On voit quel role les Slovaques si oublies chez nous, pour ne pas dire si ignores, ont joue dans la vie de la race slave au XIXe siecle." Leger confirms that the appeal to the Slavs for the First Congress in Prague in 1848 "avait ete redige par l' ectivain slovaque I.!udevit stur. " 9. Cfr. W. Lednicki, "Panslavism, in European Ideologies," ed. by Felix Gross, New York, 1948, (p. 838). 10. Journal of Central European Affairs, XII, 1952, I, 1- 19. 11. Stur's writings were published in several volumes. To his most important published works belong the following: Songs and Poems ; Ancient and New History of the Slovaks; Slavdom and the Future of the World ; Slovak Vernacular and the Need to Write In It; Slovak Grammar, and a great number of articles and studies, some of them published recently under the title : Slova na c!ase. He also was founder and editor of newspapers and reviews : Slovak National Review, The Eagle, etc. 12. Cfr. Louis Leger, "Le Panslavism et I' interet francais," (pp. 164-202). 13. See "~turova filozofia iivota," Bratislava, 1941, SUS, (p. III). 14. Cfr. I.!udovit Stur, "Slavianstvo i mir budushchago; Poslanie �SLOVAKIA 23 Slavianam s beregov Dunaja," translated from the German MS by V. L Lamanskij in "Chteniia lmperatorskago Obschchestva lstorii i Drevnostei Rossiiskich pri Moskovskom Universitete, Ill, Material y slavianskie," Books 1-3, Moscow, 1867, (pp. 1-191). For an analysis of Stur's work, see M. B. . Petrovich's "The Emergence of Russian Panslavism" and his "l!udovit ~tur and Russian Panslavism" in the Journal of Central European Affairs, April, 1952, 1-19. In German an objective analysis can be found in Alfred Fischel's book "Der Panslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg," Stuttgart and Berlin, 1919. 15. Cfr. "~turova filozofia zivota" and also Doc. S. Polako~ic, "Zaciatky slovenskej narodnej filozofie," Bratislava, 1944. 16. Cfr. Petrovich's works. 17. Danilevskii's first series of articles were published in 1869 in "Zaria" and so was his remarkable book "Rossiia i Evropa; vzgliad na kulturnyia i politicheskija otnosheniia slavianskago mira k germano-romanskomu." R. A. Fadieev published his "Mnienie o vostochnom voprosie" also in 1870; Stur died in 1856. 18. Cfr. works by Seton-Watson, Ernest Denis, Louis Leger, A. Fischel, H. Kohn, etc. For E. Denis "Stur reste encore aujourd' hui le nom le plus illustre de l' histoire slovaque . . . et l' ame de la resistance nationale .. . il ne vivait que pour sa cause et son ame debordait d' amour et de foi . .. " (p. 164). 19. Cfr. also Polakovic's "Zaciatky slovenskej narodnej filo• zofie," (p. 56). 20. Cfr. Cizevskij's chapter "Stur and Hegel" and also statement by him on p. 107 of his work. 21. See "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June 1956, article by Prof. H. Bartek. 22. Cfr. Peter P. Yurchak, "The Slovaks," Scranton, Pa., 1947, (pp. 90-100). 23. See H. Bartek : "l!udovit Shir a slovencina," Bratislava, 1943, and also his article in "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June, 1956 (p. 9). 24. Cfr. "Revue des Etudes slaves," Paris, II, (pp. 217-18), article by H. Bartek. 25. Stur also adopted the view that the archaic Czech language, which was used for some time in Slovakia by the Protestant intelli· gentsia, was merely a borrowed language, and that the Slovak Protestants used it for liturgy and literature in the same way as the Catholics used Latin. This thesis was supported before Stur by many Catholic Slovak writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Cfr. "Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact," by J . M. Kirschbaum, Vol. I, 1956, Slavic and Easf European Studies. 26. Cfr. Prof. A. Mraz, "Die Literature der Slowaken," as well as his recent work "Dejiny slovenskej literatury," Bratislava, 1948. 27. Cfr. Peter P. Yurchak, "The Slovaks," (pp. 103-105). 28. See, "A Byronic Hero in Slovak Literature," The Slavonic and East European Review, Volume XXXIV, No. 83, June, 1956, (pp. 338-354). 29. Ibidem, (pp. 33941). 30. On Stur's social ideas see Dr. J . Pauco, "l!udovychova u �24 SLOVAKIA Sturovcov," Turc. sv. Martin, 1943, and his article in "Slovakia," Vol. VI, March, 1956. In Pauco's view Stur and his followers "concerned themselves with the welfare of the entire nation. They fought to improve their economy, but they also fought with equal vigor against alcoholism, illiteracy, etc." 31. Cfr. "A Note On Two Slovak Translators of Mickiewicz," by J. M. Kirschbaum , in "Mickiewic z in World Literature," Univ. of California Press, 1956. See also Cizevskij's contributio n: "Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral," Ibidem, (pp. 469-484). 32. H. Bartek, "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June, 1956. 33. See "Uudovit Stur po sto rokoch," by J. M. Kirschbaum , Most, Vol. III, No. 4. 195. � 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 SLOVAKIA Published VOL. VIII quarterly by the Slovak League MARCH, 1958 of America NO. 1 (26) EUDOvtT STUR AND ms PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD By Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D. INTRODUCTORY NOTE Among Slovaks of the XIXth century who acquired their fame in the Slavic world, I'..udovit Stur (born 1815, died 1856) is among his contemporaries, poet Jan Kollar and ethnologist Pavel J. Safarik, one whose role and significance are still to be reconsidered and objectively reevaluated. Though nobody tried to claim him because some of his works were written in foreign languages, as it happened to Kollar and Safarik, who even now are classified as Czech poets and scholars, the literary value of Stur's works and the seriousness of his political and philosophical conceptions were questioned and often intentionally underestimated and distorted. While even scholars and literary historians at today's communist universities reevaluated - despite Sh1r's wellknown condemnation of Communism(!) his literary heritage and classified him among outstanding Slavic poets(2), philologists, philosophers and political leaders of the XIXth century - in many scholarly works in the free world he has been presented again and again "mediocre as a writer and thinker, but full of the typical sentimentalism and lyricism of the period, a man who like many at that time devoted all his life to the cause of his people and spent himself in its service."(3) · This judgment, which is quoted from Hans Kohn'. s "Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology," one of the most objective and up to date works on the subject, was uncritically repeated since it appeared for the first time in Ernest Denis' book "La Question d' Autriche - Les Slovaques," published in 1917.(4) Actually, this superficial and antagonistic view has been based on a thesis "Louis Stu.r 2 SLOVAKIA et l' idee d' independance slovaque," prepared by a young university student from Central Europe, H. Tourzer, who compiled unfavorable views and interpretations of Stur's work by contemporary Czech and Slovak literary critics and Stur's opponents. Instead of basing her judgment on a critical analysis of Stur's works, the young candidate for a Ph.D., Tourzer, presented Stur to the Western world in accordance with some political tendencies but in a highly unobjective light. Needless to say that neither Denis, nor Seton-Watson - another authority on the Slovak question - nor Hans Kohn, nor Kann ever analyzed and read Stur's works, some of them never translated into foreign languages and, consequently, the conclusions published in their books hardly resulted from their own analysis.(5) After a century, while commemorating Stur's centenary of death, we feel obliged to shed an objective light on Stur's work, his literary heritage, and his role in the Slavic world of the XIXth century. We are in a position to base our judgments not only on all his works - which until recently were not available in extenso - but on a hundred years span of time, which tested many of his conceptions and achievements and as the heat of the antagonists, who hated and debased him for political reasons, cooled down to a great extent by force of the vitality of Stur's ideas and the righteousness of his conceptions. Looking for Stur's place in the Slavic world, naturally we cannot avoid some purely Slovak cultural and political issues, though there is a great deal of truth in Hans Kohn's words that "the Slovak nation, with its own literary language, was definitely established"(6) by the merits of Stur's manifold activities, and this cannot, of course, be without interest for a student of the Slavic world in the field of linguistics, ethnology, history, or politics. Avoiding Stur's role and his historical achievements within a purely national range of his activities, an analysis of his works, conceptions, and lifelong struggles moves us to consider Stur's place in the Slavic world, 1) in the PanSlavic movement; 2) in the field of linguistics; and, 3) in literature. SLOVAKIA 3 I I'..UDOVfT STUR AND PAN-SLAVISM Seton-Watson, one of the best English experts on Slovakia's past cultural and political struggles and aspirations, assessed Stur's significance in the Slavic world together with Kollar's and Safarik's role, stating that "their writings were of capital importance in the whole Slav revival of the last century, and form a strange sentimental link between the Western romantic school and the extravagancies of Pan-Slavism."(7) And referring to the first Slav Congress in Prague in 1848, Seton-Watson says that Stur "played a decisive part in the preparations for the Congress" and that at the Congress the four Slovaks - Safarik, Stur, Hurban and Hodza - played a part second to none save Palacky.(8) These two opinions on Stur's significance in the PanSlavic movement call for an analysis and completion in order to be understood properly. Quite a few of the experts on Slavic studies know Stur as a writer predominantly from his last work, written around 1855 in German and never published in Stur's native language, entitled "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" (Slavdom and the World of the Future), which was published in Russian translation in 1867, and its specially printed edition was presented to the foreign Slavic delegates to the Moscow Slav Congress in order to attract attention to the political views of the Russian organizers of the Congress. The book represents, according to Prof. Lednicki, an "integral PanSlavism, practically degenerating into Pan-Russianism, and a quite exceptional tribute to the cultural, moral and political forces of the Russian Empire.(9) And in view of a recent analysis by Michael Petrovich, which seems to be one of the best documented and objective, the work "is a romantic melange of science and poetry presented in a vigorous style and an argumentation which is remarkably consequential even when mistaken."(10) Though Stur was quite a prolific writer and his works embraced many fields of intellectual activities from history and poetry to philosophy and philology(ll), for the last hundred years it has been, nevertheless, the above 4 SLOVAKIA mentioned book which made Stur known among the students of Slavistics outside his native land and, therefore, an analysis seems to be opportune on this occasion. What are the main ideas and the principal reasons that this little book - probably only an introduction to a larger history of the Slavs - made Stur one of the major figures among the Slavic intelligentsia of the nineteenth century? Even if we do not accept the view of Prof. Lednicki that the work presents " the most complete and consistently developed program for the subjugation of Slavs to Russia" - Seton-Watson's view is that even in this book Stur's aim was to preserve his own people - it was, among all reasons for its fame, Stur's political and philosophical conceptions which stirred the greatest interest in it. Stur adopted Hegel's and Herder's ideas that gave the Slavs the consciousness of a unity based upon the community of language and glorious destiny, and proclaimed them the coming leaders of Europe. He was thrilled by the vision of a gigantic empire sprawling from the Carpathians of his own native land to the shores of the Pacific. Drawing on history, philosophy, literature, philology, theology, and folklore, as well as on a penetrating insight into contemporary events, Stur emphasized that the Slavs have a mission to fulfill in universal history - or, in other words, that they have a historic vocation. This mission, however, they can fulfill only if united, and in his analysis of the world situation, in which he presents an apocalyptic vision of Western Europe's doom, there were three roads to consider: 1. Slavic federation without Russia. 2. Transformation of Austria into a Slavic federation. 3. Union with Russia - as a monarchic empire under Russian leadership, united in the Orthodox Church and the Russian literary language. Neither of the first two solutions had an appeal to Stur's vision of Slavdom's future and to his philosophy of history. Any attempt to organize a federation of European Slavic nations was doomed to failure in his opinion, because of the geographical situation, internal rivalries, re- SLOVAKIA 5 ligious differences, cultural differentation, and intermingled non-Slavic elements. Though a few years ago, at the Slav Congress in Prague(12), he was not far from accepting Palacky's idea of Austroslavism and led the Slovaks on the side of the Habsburg's forces against the Magyars in the revolution of 1848, his books condemn in strong terms Austria and the idea of an Austro-Slavic federation. "There remains a third road," Stur insists, "the only one which is sure and has a future - the Union of all Slavs with Russia." "Russia is the prime mover and the leader of our national family," continues Stur. "Our people are but a fragment of a single nationality, they can be reborn and united into a single whole only by a related benevolent and great Power." That Power among the Slavs in Stur's time was only Russia. "Let us go forth together," urges Stur, "in the spirit of our people, under the leadership of the racial elders given to us by history." How was this Russian-led Slavic Union to come about? Stur recommended a return of all Slavs to the GrecoSlavic Church, urged the adoption of the Russian language and Cyrillic alphabet by all Slavs as a common literary language, but how to change the political situation of the Slavic peoples dominated by Austria and Turkey and bring them under the Russian leadership, Stur did not venture to say. He acknowledged that it could be realized only "under the pressure of grave political events" and therefore, he writes: "We do not consider it necessary, and we even consider it superfluous, to define prematurely the means of unification and degree of the reciprocal relations of the Slavs with Russia. The means and the degree of this unification will emerge from circumstances yet to come about. But it is useful," he concludes, "at least to raise the question, to speak about this subject and to prepare our minds for it." Stur's political and philosophical conceptions expressed in this book remain a puzzle even to such experts on his writings as Prof. Cizevskij(13), and they never were explained either by his own compatriots or anyone else. 6 SLOVAKIA Stur adopted Hegel's idea of the succession of various nations on the historical stage as a consecutive incarnation of the universal spirit while studying in Halle, where he came into contact with German nationalism and philosophy. After his return to his native land, however, Stur became a passionate champion of Slovak national independence and fought for a distinct Slovak literary language even against Kollar and his Czech friends. He was for the idea of Slavic reciprocity, and many things stirred his Slavic pride, but his Pan-Slavism was, until this book appeared, a cultural, more or less defensive movement, with emphasis on language, literature, and culture, and politically it aimed at the liberation of his people and other Slavic oppressed nations from foreign rule, with Russia's help, but not under Russia's hegemony. Cizevskij and some other experts on Stur's writings try to explain Stur's political re-orientation mainly as a result of political events in Central Europe and particularly in Slovakia after the unsuccessful revolution of 1848, and such is also our opinion. "It was in a conflicting mood of helplessness and inversely high hopes in salvation from Slavic Russia that Stur wrote his famous work," is the explanation of another Slavist, Prof. Petrovich. "The failure of the Slovak revolution and other political demonstrations (May 1, 1848, Lipt. sv. Mikulas) brought Stur to the conclusion that it was useless for his people to seek its own freedom alone or in the frame of Austroslavism." Stur made it clear, however, even in this book, that his principal aim was to preserve his own people, and besides he set out to accomplish four basic tasks: 1. To determine, largely by reviewing the Slavic past, whether the Slavs had a role of their own to fulfill in world history; 2. to describe the Slavic mission in universal history against the background of the cultural. differences between Western and Eastern Europe; 3. to show what advantages the Slavs possessed by comparing their institutions, traditions; and qualities with those of the West; 4. to demonstrate that the Slavs could accomplish their mission only through political unification under Russian leadership(14). SLOVAKIA 7 No doubt, this was a new look on the Slavic world. Was it original? We cannot deny that he applied some Hegelian principles of philosophy, such as the primacy of the idea in man's development, Hegel's dialectical approach to historical evolution, and Herder's vision of Slavdom taking place in succession of the bearers of the idea. But there are many original approaches in his book which cannot be linked either with German philosophy or Russian Slavophils, which is the second of alleged influences. Cizevskij defends Stu.r's originality(15). Florinskij, in the preface to the second edition of Stu.r's book (1905), stresses that Stur is very close to the viewpoints of the Russian Slavophils, Chomiakov, Pogodin, Kiriejevski, Aksakov, and their successors, but he also says that "insofar as one can judge by known biographical data, Stu.r's views arose in him independently, apart from any influence of Russian Slavophilism whatsoever." And such also was the opinion of Prof. A. Budilovic and others(16). Stu.r's biographical data speak, in fact, against dependence on Slavophils, though he knew Bodianski, Pogodin, Sevyrev, Sreznevski, Raevski, and others. We can, therefore, defend his originality in many regards, especially if we consider the intellectual climate of Europe in Stu.r's time and if we take into account that Slovakia - with Kollar and Safarik and Herkel, who invented the term "panslavismus," - was the classic land of Slavic reciprocity and that "as in name, so in sentiment, the Slovak never ceased being a Slav." ' Since N. I. Danilevskij and R. A. Fadejev came many years after Stu.r's death(17), Stur can be rightly consider_e d as the founder of political Pan-Slavism, of which Kollar was the poet and Safarik the scientist. 8 SLOVAKIA II STUR'S ROLE IN LINGUISTICS AND PHILOLOGY The role of f,udovit Stur in the field of Slavic studies is generally little known outside of Slovakia. In English, French and German published works, Stur is presented mainly as a political leader(18), a mediocre poet, owing his fame in the Slavic world to his treatise "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" which is, as we mentioned before, a study of a political, sociological, and philosophical character. A few years ago Professor D. Cizevskij, in his German book - translated in the meantime into the Slovak under the title "Sturova filozofia zivota" (Stu.r's Philosophy of Life) -found however, that Stur was also a philosopher of considerable knowledge and originality(19). He shows, of course, dependence on Hegel and contemporary German philosophers. But to present him in such a light, as if he had blindly applied Hegel's philosophy to Slavic or Slovak life, as he was accused by his opponents, seems to be a malicious distortion. In view of Cizevskij's analysis, Stur's generation had several thinkers who tried to create their own philosophical system and who, in their time, among Slavic nations excelled in originality bf thinking. As for Stu.r's philosophy, Cizevskij refuted in his book the assertions that: 1. Stur was a simple follower of Hegel; 2. that his philosophical views were those of contemporary romantic philosophy. In Cizevskij's opinion Stur formed an independent philosophical system which in many ways differs from that of Hegel, and his approach to life's phenomena were highly realistic(20). This, however, is not our concern in the present analysis. Considering Stu.r's role in linguistics and philology, it would be unjust and incorrect not to recognize his merits(21). Stur was no J agic or Miklosic as far as overall Slavic philology is concerned, but without exaggeration we may say that the role, along with A. Bernolak, was that of Vuk Karadzic, Gaj, or Vraz in establishing new literary Slavic languages. There have been until recently many misconceptions as far as the Slovak language, its history and place among SLOVAKIA 9 the Slavic languages are concerned. A thorough study of phonology, etymology, lexicography, and grammar now shows that the Slovak language is distinct from any other Slavic tongue. This was not so clear and evident one hundred years ago when contemporary theories in linguistics were still based on primitive methods and the science of philology was in its infancy. Modern techniques in linguistics have thrown new light on the subject and have been instrumental in giving us modified views that are far advanced beyond the hasty, unwarranted conclusions of a century ago. It is to Stur's credit that - after a century of clashes and discussions between Czech linguists and the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, who replaced the Latin already in the 17th century with a Slovak literary language - the Slovak language was properly classified as the real and original national tongue of the inhabitants of Slovakia since the dawn of history, and Stur helped to establish it irrevocably among Slavic languages of the Western group. Stur accepted the phonetic orthography of Bernolak which from the philological and practical standpoint best answered the purpose, but for scientific and ideological reasons he decided to adopt the dialect of Central Slovakia and not the western Slovak dialect used since 1635 at the University of Trnava and codified by Bernolak in his Grammar and huge dictionary, the latter in six languages(22). It would be superfluous now to point out that formulating purely scientific views on the proper relations between the Czech and Slovak languages, most of the Czech and other philologists and literary historians were influenced by political views and aspirations. The claim that Slovak is but a dialect of the older Czech was not based on facts of history or philology. It was, according to Stur a biased opinion of those who wished to deny to the Slovaks the right to their independent national life. Though Stur's works in the field of philology - "Narecia slovensko" (Slovak dialect) and his Grammar - are marked by amateurism of XIXth century patriots, and it would be difficult to call him "a scholar trained in the science 10 SLOVAKIA of philology," nevertheless he grasped the true basis of the Slovak language by a careful analysis of the fundamental roots of the Czech and Slovak languages and by a comparative study of their developments. Modern philological research gave Stur reason in many respects. According to Professor Bartek, Stur, who studied and spoke several Slavic languages and was acquainted with comparative philology, was "in his time an extraordinary good philologist, who intuitively often correctly came upon certain individual characteristics of the Slovak language, so that even a modern philological analysis of his work will confirm the correctness of many of Stu.r's linguistic findings, the justification for which science in that period could not prove(23). Stu.r's view that the Slovak language developed independently was confirmed also by Trubeckoj, who considers the disappearance of the lesser vowel sounds (slabe jery) in the Slavic derivatives as the last common change and the date of birth of the Slavic languages. The end of the vowel signs in fact caused a fundamental change in the phonological technique of the Slavic dialects, as well as in the original forms in many instances, so that the entire phonological structure was revised, not uniformly but individually, in each Slavic dialect, which fact brought into being the independent Slavic languages as we have them today(24). Stur considered the Slovak language as the central and cardinal language among all the Slavic tongues. We, of course, can question this from the linguistical point of view and accept that Stur wished to emphasize the central position of Slovakia linguistically, historically, and geographically as the centrum of all Slavdom. Stur viewec' the position of the Slovak language as a central clearinghouse ' mainly because he was conscious of many of its similarities with the Slavic tongues of the East, West, North and South, especially noting the agreement with the Yugoslav dialects with which the Slovak came into intimate contact in the tenth century as is evident from the presence of Yugoslavism in the Slovak language even today. According to Stur, in the ninth century the Old Sla- SLOVAKIA 11 vonic was still the common tongue of the Slavs with a unified phonology. From the ninth century different dialects developed into distinct Slavic languages, among them also the Slovak tongue. This thesis is strengthened also by the fact that the Slovak territory in the eleventh century was annexed by Hungary and, hence, the only contact the Slovaks had with the Czechs was through the Moravians who have continued to speak a Slovakian dialect in spite of the pressure of the Czechs from the West and to the present time have retained their own phonological structure. Stur's claim that the Slovak language never was a part of the Czech, or the so-called "czechoslovak" language, was based on assumptions many of which were in the meantime proven correct by scientific research of authorities on the subject(25). Professor Senn formulated the results of the new research in this regard in his study on Slavic linguistics, published in "A Handbook of Slavic Studies," edited by Prof. Strakhovsky, and Prof. Henry Bartek from the University of Bratislava, who dedicated to this problem several of his works, says that "we may rightly claim that at the time of the disintegration of the Old Slavonic, the era saw the rise of new, independent Slavic languages, among them being also the Slovak, whose development cannot be identified with that of the Czech language." According to Bartek, the ancient phonological nature of the Slovak language certainly indicates that even in the centuries that followed the disappearance of the Old Slavonic, the Slovak tongue was not subject to a common evolution with the Czech which possesses its own unique phonological system, which is quite different from the Slovak." "In conclusion," says Bartek, "we may say that the Slovak language is by every right of its origin and development an independent tongue having its rightful place of equality alongside the Czech or any other Slavic tongue," as Stur asserted over a hundred years ago. 12 SLOVAKIA III STUR'S LITERARY AESTHETICS AND CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS There was for a long time no unanimity among literary historians and critics as to whether Stur was in the first plaee "f homme de pensee," or if in his activities prevailed "f homme d' action." His role in the Slav Congress in Prague, in 1848, his many contacts with Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Yugoslav intellectuals, his part in the Slovak revolution of 1848, and his role in the Hungarian Diet definitely mark him as "l' homme d' action." From his correspondence we know now that he had direct relations with the leaders of all Slavic peoples and, when sentenced to death for his part in the Slovak revolution, he removed himself to Vienna and there came into contact with other Slav representatives, notably the Slovene Stanko Vraz, and still more important with Ban Jelacic and the Serbian Patriarch Rajacic, who were working hand in hand and paid a joint visit to the Imperial Court. On the other hand, Stur played the most important role among the young generation of his time in the Slovak national revival, in the reform of the Slovak literary language, and in the resulting unity of the Slovak people which was followed by flourishing cultural and literary activities(26). Consequently, to measure Stur's significance and to see objectively his achievements, his intellectual profile and spiritual foundations, we have to consider his activities also in the Slovak cultural and political life. There his significance was great and far-reaching not only in the development of Slovak literature and the Slovak national ideology, but also in philosophy and politics. Slovakia and the Slovak people being a part of the Slav world, Stur's role in the Slovak national revival, logically a part of hi.; manifold contributions, is also to be considered within the framework of the Slavic world. Under Stur's leadership, the Slovak intelligentsia composed mostly of Catholic and Protestant clergy, a few teachers, lawyers, and other members of the middle class SLOVAKIA 13 - continued to build a new national culture which centered in the Catholic university of Trnava (founded 1635) and was successfully developed by a group of Catholic writers, scholars, and poets, among whom particularly the learned linguist Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Holly played leading r6les(27). This new Slovak culture was necessarily and intentionally based on the Slovak peasantry, on small towns and villages with their own specific traditions and artistic creative genius manifested in flourishing folk songs, artistically designed architecture, toolmaking, and resourceful popular music. Since the Slovak gentry continued to lose its national characteristics and assimilated with the Magyar gentry, abandoning the Slovak people in the middle of rising nationalism and political transformations, the Slovak intellectuals could not but take over the culture of the Slovak peasants, middle classes, and a handful of nationally-minded petty aristocrats and from it, before and especially in Sb1r's time, they developed their own national culture and new national consciousness. As in political thinking and planning, so in Stur's cultural activities, his creative work was in harmony with the climate of the epoch in Western and especially in Central Europe, where among the smaller nations romanticism and nationalism were either identical or very related, and national and historical consciousness and popular art, folksongs, sagas, and fairy tales were the focus of interest. In this climate Stur successfully organized his literary school and cultural activities which marked a new era in Slovak national life. His approach was philosophical, since he had a mystic idea of the nation and a respect for it as a person, and there was a strong spiritualism and idealism in his literary and cultural activities. His literary school adopted aesthetic and philosophical principles which became the real basis of last century's Slovak national revival and marked especially the literary and cultural life of Slovakia. During the revolution of 1848-49, Stur's literary school, as correctly says Gudrun Apel,(28) fulfilled to a large extent the function of a political and military leadership; with Stur, Hurban, Hodza among the 14 SLOVAKIA main leaders. The members of this school "imposed the most exacting task on themselves in order to elevate the Slovak people to the same cultural level as the rest of Europe, to release their creative energies, and to enable a new national culture to arise from the existing popular art and language."(29) Stu.r's influence was so strong that some of the principles of Stu.r's ideology and aesthetic principles lived in the cultural life of Slovakia until her subjugation by the present Communist rule. For a long time the folk-song was the basis of all poetic style, and Slovak poetry was mainly an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, hopes, and struggles, as Stur demanded and practiced. Stu.r's claim - that the poet had to be the herald and prophet of a new and better world, something of a was resocial revolutionary and a national leader spected during the past one hundred years in Slovak literature not only in the nationalist era, but also the first years under Communism. Many literary critics refer to Stu.r's poetry and prose as romantic. But in Stu.r's poetry, as in his philosophy, is an evident lack of some principal elements of romanticism. The leading motives of his poetry - as well as of that of his group - were anti-feudal and anti-aristocratic; he made common cause with the people and fought for its rights; he was full of enthusiasm and faith in a new life. Stur advocated national solidarity of an ethical and emotional nature. According to Stu.r's words: "the course of time ... should rouse the poet to exalt songs of life and not of sickness, despair and hopelessness ... " As in his analysis of Janko Kral's poetry G. Apel rightly noticed, Stur and his group knew longing, but their longing was directed toward concrete political and social goals, especially in the years preceding the revolution of 1848-49, which were full of enthusiasm for the struggle and hope for victory. Consequently, Stur and his contemporaries created a literature which echoed not only melancholy and restlessness, but also the call for revolution and the demand for a better world. SLOVAKIA 15 The lyrical lament is strong in Stiir's poetry as in his prose. But he passed from the sphere of personal and social into that of national and Slavic thought in all his works. The soul of the nation - or of the Slavs - was his constant subject, and the pain of the nation's sufferings, struggles and failures form the pervading atmosphere of his writings. On the whole, Sb'.lr and his followers combined a realist's keen insight into contemporary social problems(30) with the romantic inheritance of warm-hearted attachment to their country and people and, of course, to Slavdom. They advocated democratic enlightenment in relation to unprivileged classes - peasants and workers - and glorified their qualities, as they glorified the Slavs and their past. One of them, Samo Tomasik, created the Slav anthem "Hej, Slovania." And they gave to the Slovak people not only a new hope and a new ideal, but also a pride expressed in Vajansky's famous verse: I am proud to be a Slovak, Elegant is my race; A hundred million souls it numbers, Over half the world it governs. With the Slovak tongue you traverse The four parts of the earth: One my brother palms does plant, Another eternal ice does scan, A third o'er the sea does fly! From this Kollar-inspired phantasy of one great Slav nation and one Slav language, the Slovaks, as rightly says Hans Kohn, "feeling abandoned in Hungary and their national existence threatened, ~ay have drawn strength and faith in the indestructibility of the Slovak people and language," and it helped to continue to maintain contacts with the cultural life of other Slavic peoples. In fact, Stur and his followers transplanted into Slovakia not only Pushkin's poetry, but also Mickiewicz, Sevcenko and Yugoslav poets. Stur's contemporaries demonstrated their Pan-Slavic sympathy and tendencies by read- 16 SLOVAKIA ing Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Yugoslav authors in the original, and famous Mickiewicz's "Ode to Youth," according to W. Bobek, "not even in Poland had been so enthusiastically received as in Slovakia." We can say that Slovak literature since Stu.r's time developed under a strong influence of the outstanding works of Slav authors and was marked, like Polish and Russian literature, by an extensive use of folk tradition and regionalism, drawing on folklore and legend in the same way and to the same extent as did the literature of other Slavs.(31) SLOVAKIA 17 IV REVOLUTIONARY, IDEALIST, ROMANTIC, OR REALIST? During the past one hundred years, opponents and adherents of Sh1r's achievements and conceptions classified him differently. To the Hungarian gentry who persecuted and sentenced him to death, he was a revolutionary and a rebel. He was idealist or romantic to those in Central Europe who did not believe in the final victory of truth and natural rights of the oppressed peoples arid did not wish to see Slovaks develop culturally, socially and politically into a distinct national entity. Stur was a romantic day-dreamer for all those who disliked the idea of Slavic reciprocity, his vision of a great future for Slavdom, or his assiduous work for equal rights of the Slovak people with other Central European nations, including Slovak national independence which he advocated in the following terms: "Each nation is only one part of humanity, and no nation can claim for itself that it alone has attained the best human evolution and possible perfection. Therefore, no nation has a right to force upon another nation its way of life when that nation wants to move for itself and educate itself as it sees fit. "So that we (Slovaks) might be r evived and take the place in history which according to our strength and abilities belongs to us, we must once and for all free ourselves from the hated alien yoke and gain state independence for ourselves; because a nation which is enslaved has its hands tied, its spirit stifled, and is forever threatened with the danger that sooner or later it will perish." Considered purely on the basis of his writings, Shir appears to a superficial critic as a revolutionary and als·o a romantic idealist. When all parliamentary and political methods proved unsuccessful, he led, in 1848, the Slovak people in armed resistance against the revolution of the Magyar aristocrats and for Slovak autonomy within th:e framework of the Habsburg Monarchy. But before this happened Stur tried all possible peaceful means, as even a brief look into his activities would show. 18 SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -·-· - ·-· ··-· . -· By advocating the Slovak national cause and uniting the Slovak Catholics and Protestants by means of a common literary language, Stur aimed at a higher cultural level of the broad masses and thereby to gain theqi for the struggle for national equality in Hungary. "Stur was clearly aware of the fact," writes Bartek, "that unity in the literary language was not the ultimate goal of his nation, but only a medium of further national development. The Slovaks, therefore, felt that the proper course had been taken in regard to their literary language. Even John Holly, not only the greatest Slovak poet at that time, but also the greatest ideologist of his nation, gave Stur's action his blessing and, therefore, Stur was joined by the Catholics, representing five-sixths, the absolute majority of the Slovak nation.(32) As a member of the Hungarian Diet, Stur appears as an enlightened fighter for freedom and social progress. A review of his speeches and articles from that time reveals that he demanded equal rights for all nationalities in Hungary, in cultural and political life, and insisted on the adoption by the Diet of laws to free the peasant masses from the feudalistic Robot system and labor , rent, so that the culture of the country might increase by the foundation of schools in national tongues. Among many of his recommendations to the Diet, we also read his fervent demand to industrialize Slovakia and to adopt humanitarian laws regarding relations between gentry and the working class, the State authorities and citizens. The obsolete social and political structure of Hungary was one of the main topics of Stur's speeches. He recommended a federalistic system giving justice to all nationalities and appealed to the magnates to give attention to the development of the State in the spirit of new social and political ideas, and to make it a part of modern Europe. Stur was not a rebel, according to Bartek. As long as there was any hope of settlement with the Magyars, he did not advocate the destruction of the Hungarian State. He warned the ruling Magyar class that they could not forever ignore and suppress the inherent rights of nationalities and exploit the Slovaks and other peoples of SLOVAKIA 19 Hungary without expecting them to strike back with their righteous demands for a free national life, for the same rights the Magyars were resolved to fight for in the Habsburg Empire. When all these demands hit upon deaf ears, only then did L. Stur and his group decide to organize the Slovak revolution of 1848-49 in which Stur played the leading role together with J. M. Hurban and M. M. Hodza, and which marked, though defeated and betrayed by Vienna, an important milestone in Slovak history. The torch of national consciousness, which Stur and his group had taken over from the followers of Bernolak and J. Holly, as a result of this revolution, became a lasting light for Slovakia's national struggles and aspirations. As for the assertion that Stur was a daydreamer in politics and a romantic in philosophy, recent analysis of his writings by Prof. D. Cizevskij, Prof. S. Polakovic, Dr. S. S. Osusky, and many others, completely repudiates this view. In his book "Stu.r's Philosophy of Life," Prof. Cizevskij proves that Stur was in many respects an original philosopher and not merely an epigon of Hegel and German romantic thinkers. On the contrary, Stu.r's philosophy lacks several characteristic features of German romanticism, according to Cizevskij's thorough analysis which finds him a realist in his approaches to the phenomena of life. Strangely and unfortunately enough, but recent political developments in Central and Eastern Europe proved that even Stu.r's big dream of united Slavic peoples under Russia may become a reality. Not under an enlightened Russian czar with humanistic and liberal views, not as a community dedicated to the Orthodox Church and struggling for the highest ideals of freedom and respect for human beings, as Stur wished to see it in his work "Das Slawenthum und die Welt der Zukunft" (Slavdom and the World of the Future) . Moscow has become the political powerhouse of the Slav world under quite different circumstances, but Stu.r's vision of a single united Slavic world under Russian leadership has technically materialized. 20 SLOVAKIA Stur's v1s1on of Slovak cultural, political, and social . life did not prove to be daydreaming either. There is a Slovak nation with its own literature, cultural institutions, and is practically without illiteracy. There is a strong national consciousness and a sound social stratification, unbalanced only by the present Communist regime. And there is also a fighting spirit of the new Slovak generations for national and social justice among Central European peoples and a constant resistance against Communist ideology, about which over a century ago E. Stur wrote : "Communism not only commits outrageous injustice against all civil society .. . but it also ruins all personal initiative, endeavor and enthusiasm. It divides the family, it destroys the household and thus it opens wide the door to every type of immorality, dissolution, and indulgence. It degrades man to animal level. . . . "Communism has matured to the same degree as atheism and defection from Christianity. . . . In all types of Communism, whatever their classification may be, the outlook is only toward a dismal life. It brings in its wake despotism of the grossest kind . . . . " Despite Stur's comparatively youthful age, his education and activities, as well as those of his group, were admirably manysided. Besides an ardent love and sacrifice for the national cause, Stur and his followers became a model for many generations in their thorough preparation for the role which they marked out for themselves in Slovak life. Because they were human, they did make mistakes, but enemies of the Slovak national revival are pointing to and magnifying these in vain. Their mistakes were the mistakes of the century in which they lived, as Ernest Denis so understandingly reflected in his "La Question d' Autriche-Les Slovaques," published in 1917. Their smallness or greatness, their realism or romanticism can be measured only against the background of the conditions and of the period in which they lived, and against the results of their work which brought a new and more dynamic life to the Slovak people.(33) To summarize, it is certainly proper and correct to say SLOVAKIA 21 that the significance of r.udovit Stur was great and farreaching, in the first place, in the revival of Slovak national life, where Stur played the role of reformer of the Slovak literary language, greatly contributed to the modern Slovak national ideology, gave to his people a new vision of political freedom and of a better future, and by his own example, his writings embracing poetry, philosophy, history, sociology, etc., gave a strong impetus to Slovak life in general. Since Slovakia and the Slovak people are surely a part of the Slavic world, Stur's role in the Slovak national revival is logically a part of his manifold contributions to be considered within the over-all Slavic world, too. On his position among Slav intellectuals of the XIXth century speaks not only the role he played at the first Slavic Congress in Prague, his rich correspondence with practically all outstanding Slavic leaders, but also the fact that his work "Slavdom and the World of the Future" was translated and twice published by Russian intellectuals in the last and at the beginning of this century. Being endowed with extraordinary natural capacity for creative and original conceptions, Stur belongs with Jan Kollar and Pavel J. Safarik to the Slovaks of the XIXth century who can rightly be regarded as great figures of the Slavic world. 22 SLOVAKIA NOTES 1. Stur's condemnation of Communism around 1850 became a part of the Slovak national ideology and has been quoted again and again. According to Stur, Communism "ranks among the wildest of offshoots ever conceived by the human brain ... it brings in its wake despotism of the grossest kind, it shatters all the bonds of social living and opens wide the door to every type of immorality, dissolution and indulgence. In place of holy ties, it offers profiteering, rioting and their like and thus it degrades man to animal level etc . ... " 2. A. Mraz, professor at the University of Bratislava, in his German book "Die Literature der Slowaken" and in his new · book "Dejiny slovenskej literatury," Bratislava, 1948, says that "Stur war nicht nur ein glilcklicher Reformator und genialer Organisator und Initiator, er ragte auch als Dichter for" (p. 92). 3. Cfr. Hans Kohn, "Pan-Slavism, Its History and Ideology," University of Notre Dame Press, 1953, (p. 20). Les Slovaques," 4. Ernest Denis, "La Question d' Autriche Paris, Librairie Delagrave, (pp. 162- 170). 5. Objective studies on Stur in foreign languages were published by Prof. Dimitrij Cizevskij , "l!udovit ~tur's Philosophie des Litbens," Halle, 1938, and by Michael B. Petrovich, "The Emergence of Russian Pan-Slavism 1856-1870," Columbia University Press, 1956. 6. Ibidem, (p. 21). 7. Prof. Seton-Watson, "History of the Czechs and Slovaks," London, 1942, (p. 259). 8. Ibidem, (p. 262). See also Louis Leger, "Le Panslavisme et I' inte''l.!uderet francaise," Paris, Ernest Flammarion, 1917, (p. 164) vit Stur etait Slovaque, comme Kollar, comme Schafarik. On voit quel role les Slovaques si oublies chez nous, pour ne pas dire si ignores, ont joue dans la vie de la race slave au XIXe siecle." Leger confirms that the appeal to the Slavs for the First Congress in Prague in 1848 "avait ete redige par l' ectivain slovaque I.!udevit stur. " 9. Cfr. W. Lednicki, "Panslavism, in European Ideologies," ed. by Felix Gross, New York, 1948, (p. 838). 10. Journal of Central European Affairs, XII, 1952, I, 1- 19. 11. Stur's writings were published in several volumes. To his most important published works belong the following: Songs and Poems ; Ancient and New History of the Slovaks; Slavdom and the Future of the World ; Slovak Vernacular and the Need to Write In It; Slovak Grammar, and a great number of articles and studies, some of them published recently under the title : Slova na c!ase. He also was founder and editor of newspapers and reviews : Slovak National Review, The Eagle, etc. 12. Cfr. Louis Leger, "Le Panslavism et I' interet francais," (pp. 164-202). 13. See "~turova filozofia iivota," Bratislava, 1941, SUS, (p. III). 14. Cfr. I.!udovit Stur, "Slavianstvo i mir budushchago; Poslanie SLOVAKIA 23 Slavianam s beregov Dunaja," translated from the German MS by V. L Lamanskij in "Chteniia lmperatorskago Obschchestva lstorii i Drevnostei Rossiiskich pri Moskovskom Universitete, Ill, Material y slavianskie," Books 1-3, Moscow, 1867, (pp. 1-191). For an analysis of Stur's work, see M. B. . Petrovich's "The Emergence of Russian Panslavism" and his "l!udovit ~tur and Russian Panslavism" in the Journal of Central European Affairs, April, 1952, 1-19. In German an objective analysis can be found in Alfred Fischel's book "Der Panslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg," Stuttgart and Berlin, 1919. 15. Cfr. "~turova filozofia zivota" and also Doc. S. Polako~ic, "Zaciatky slovenskej narodnej filozofie," Bratislava, 1944. 16. Cfr. Petrovich's works. 17. Danilevskii's first series of articles were published in 1869 in "Zaria" and so was his remarkable book "Rossiia i Evropa; vzgliad na kulturnyia i politicheskija otnosheniia slavianskago mira k germano-romanskomu." R. A. Fadieev published his "Mnienie o vostochnom voprosie" also in 1870; Stur died in 1856. 18. Cfr. works by Seton-Watson, Ernest Denis, Louis Leger, A. Fischel, H. Kohn, etc. For E. Denis "Stur reste encore aujourd' hui le nom le plus illustre de l' histoire slovaque . . . et l' ame de la resistance nationale .. . il ne vivait que pour sa cause et son ame debordait d' amour et de foi . .. " (p. 164). 19. Cfr. also Polakovic's "Zaciatky slovenskej narodnej filo• zofie," (p. 56). 20. Cfr. Cizevskij's chapter "Stur and Hegel" and also statement by him on p. 107 of his work. 21. See "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June 1956, article by Prof. H. Bartek. 22. Cfr. Peter P. Yurchak, "The Slovaks," Scranton, Pa., 1947, (pp. 90-100). 23. See H. Bartek : "l!udovit Shir a slovencina," Bratislava, 1943, and also his article in "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June, 1956 (p. 9). 24. Cfr. "Revue des Etudes slaves," Paris, II, (pp. 217-18), article by H. Bartek. 25. Stur also adopted the view that the archaic Czech language, which was used for some time in Slovakia by the Protestant intelli· gentsia, was merely a borrowed language, and that the Slovak Protestants used it for liturgy and literature in the same way as the Catholics used Latin. This thesis was supported before Stur by many Catholic Slovak writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Cfr. "Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact," by J . M. Kirschbaum, Vol. I, 1956, Slavic and Easf European Studies. 26. Cfr. Prof. A. Mraz, "Die Literature der Slowaken," as well as his recent work "Dejiny slovenskej literatury," Bratislava, 1948. 27. Cfr. Peter P. Yurchak, "The Slovaks," (pp. 103-105). 28. See, "A Byronic Hero in Slovak Literature," The Slavonic and East European Review, Volume XXXIV, No. 83, June, 1956, (pp. 338-354). 29. Ibidem, (pp. 33941). 30. On Stur's social ideas see Dr. J . Pauco, "l!udovychova u 24 SLOVAKIA Sturovcov," Turc. sv. Martin, 1943, and his article in "Slovakia," Vol. VI, March, 1956. In Pauco's view Stur and his followers "concerned themselves with the welfare of the entire nation. They fought to improve their economy, but they also fought with equal vigor against alcoholism, illiteracy, etc." 31. Cfr. "A Note On Two Slovak Translators of Mickiewicz," by J. M. Kirschbaum , in "Mickiewic z in World Literature," Univ. of California Press, 1956. See also Cizevskij's contributio n: "Mickiewicz, Stur and Kral," Ibidem, (pp. 469-484). 32. H. Bartek, "Slovakia," Vol. VI, June, 1956. 33. See "Uudovit Stur po sto rokoch," by J. M. Kirschbaum , Most, Vol. III, No. 4. 195.  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 Ľudovít Štúr and His Place in the Slavic World Description An account of the resource Joseph Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D.<br />Slovakia, Vol. 8, No. 1 (26), March 1958<br />pp. 1-24<br /><ol type="I"><li>Ľudovít Štúr and Pan-Slavism, pp. 3-7</li> <li>Štúr's Role in Linguistics and Philology, pp. 8-11</li> <li>Štúr's Literary Aesthetics and Cultural Achievements, pp. 12-16</li> <li>Revolutionary Idealist, Romantic, or Realist?, pp. 17-21</li> </ol> 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 March 1958 SNK