History of Slovakia

The first people in Slovakia lived since the Lower Paleolithic . In the Poprad region, the remains of Neanderthals belonging to the Middle Paleolithic (250,000-40,000 BC) were discovered. In Shalya , the frontal bone of an adult Neanderthal was found in river gravel ^[4] . In Ganovec, Y. Petrbok ( cs: Jaroslav Petrbok ) found a natural ( travertine ) cast of the neanderthal brain cavity (105 thousand years ago ^[5] ) ^[6] .

By the time of the Upper Paleolithic (40,000–13,000 years BC), the existence of the archaeological Seletian culture of hunters dates back. Venus Moravanska - a find age of 22 800 years. During the Mesolithic period after the end of the Last Ice Age, people began to settle mainly on the banks of the rivers of eastern and southwestern Slovakia. During the Neolithic, there was a cross-country culture ^[7] , a linear-ribbon ceramics culture ^[8] and Bukovogorsk culture in the east ^[9] . In the 6-5th millennium BC. e. The Danube lowland began to be settled by farmers and shepherds of the Neolithic culture. People made pottery and processed stone tools. The period of the Middle Neolithic in the south-west of Slovakia includes the appearance of large settlements of the Lendiel culture. Archaeological finds indicate the differentiation of society. About 3500 years BC. e. rondels began to be erected - earthen constructions of defensive character for shelter from enemies. In the east of the country there was a culture of Polgar. The emergence of copper tools, including axes, hammers, chisels , belongs to the Eneolithic period (3300-1900 years BC). there was a layer of religious ministers. People settled mainly in the foothills. By the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. The appearance of the Baden culture , which also covers mountainous regions, is also related ^[10] .

In the Bronze Age (1900–700 BC), trade developed, in the Middle Slovak region copper mines began to be developed, and weapons and jewelry were made. The culture of Magyarov arose in the west, and the Ottoman culture in the east. These cultures were heavily influenced by Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations. Their carriers built the first "proto-cities" of Slovakia, which were administrative and cultural centers. Their planned development consisted of stone houses, the streets were lined with stone. The monumental settlement under the Tatras in Spisski-Štvrtka was called “Slovak Mycenae”. In the south-west, there was also the Unetic culture ^[11] . Around 1250 BC. e. on the territory of Slovakia, a culture of fields of funeral urns emerged, which in the eastern and southern regions of central Slovakia was represented by the southeastern version of the culture, in the southwestern regions by the Middle Danube, and in the north by the Puddle culture . Around 1000 BC e. The Lugansk culture of the mountain population began to occupy the southern foothill areas ^[12] . According to some scholars, Slovakia was part of the Cimmerian settlement area ^[13] . In the east, Kushtanovitsa culture was widespread ^[14] .

Iron Age

During the existence of the Hallstatt culture in the early Iron Age , mining and processing of iron began. In the west of Slovakia, the Kalenderberg culture existed. Archaeological finds of this time indicate the presence of trade with the Baltic states and the Mediterranean. Around 400 BC e. in the west of the country, a Celtic tribe of kittens ^[16] settled, carriers of the Latin culture ^[17] , the first tribes known in written sources on the territory of Slovakia. In the II century BC e. a tribe of battles populated the middle Danube. The Celts built urban settlements - the opposites , were engaged in crafts and especially the production of iron. Around 50 BC e. Dacians came to the banks of the Danube, who lived on the territory of Slovakia until about 1000 BC. e ^[18] .

In the 1st century BC e. the Celts and Illyrians of Pannonia were subjugated by the Romans . Around 10-15 A.D. e. the lands of western Slovakia, which were not part of the Roman province, were conquered by the German Quad tribe, which supplanted the Dacians. At that time, the Sarmatian tribe of Yazyks came to the Danube, displacing the Dacians to the southeast. In the year 21, the Romans gave the land between the rivers Wag and Morava to the German warriors of the Markoman tribe, who subsequently inherited the southwestern region of Slovakia. At the end of the 1st century, the Germans fought with the Romans. In the II century, the Romans erected defenses on the borders, including a fortress on the site of modern Bratislava. In the Markoman wars of the late II century, the war between the Germans and the Romans resumed. At the end of the 4th century, the Romans left Slovakia forever. In the 4th – 5th centuries, during the Great Migration of Peoples, the Carpathian Basin was home to the Ostrogoths , Vandals , Sueves and Gepids . In 423-425, the lands in the Tisza basin were occupied by the Huns . Their power extended to the southwestern regions of Slovakia. With the cessation of the existence of the Hunnic state, the territory of Slovakia was first captured by the Ostrogoths, Geruls and Suevs, and later by the Gepids ^[19] .

Statehood among the Slavs

The first Slavs came (probably from Poland) to the Middle Danube at the end of the 5th century. The memory of the pre-Slavic population is preserved in the name of large mountains and rivers. In the VI century, the Lombards during the war with the Gepids invited the Avars to Pannonia, who formerly lived in the Northern Black Sea Region , after which they moved to Northern Italy. Avars entered Slovakia at the end of the VI century through the Danube in the areas of Komarno and Bratislava. According to the Frankish chronicler Fredegar , in winter the Avars lived with the Slavs and took the wives and daughters of the latter as concubines. During the revolts of the Slavs against the violence of the Avars, in 623, the Slavs made Frank the merchant Samo their prince. His power - the state of Samo existed until the death of Samo in 658. After that, two Slavic principalities arose - Moravian and Nitran , the rulers of which were probably tributaries of the Avars. The principalities, named after the rivers, were separated from each other by the Small and White Carpathians . At the same time, Moravian was in the territory of modern Czech Republic, and Nitransk - in the territory of Slovakia. A set of six gilded relief plaques (medals) from a portable altar were found on the territory of the present village of Boyna ( Topolchani district) at one of the Great Moravian hillforts at the foot of the Povazhski-Inovec mountains , on which short texts dating back to 780–820 years were engraved ^[21] . In the 9th century, the Avar Kaganate ceased to exist. The Principality of Nitran was formed on the territory of southwestern Slovakia no later than the second half of the 8th century. The Principality consisted of cities - defensive and trade-craft centers, among which were the capital Nitra , Pobedim, Vyshni-Kubin, Maytsikhov, Spisski Tomasovtsy and Brekov. In the 820s, the Slavs of the left bank of the Danube adopted Christianity. In 828, the consecration of the Christian church in Nitra, erected by Prince Pribina , took place: this was the first mention in written sources about the construction of the church among the Slavs. The spread of Christianity in the Principality of Nitra was carried out by missionaries from Salzburg . Around 840, Pribina received the Pannonian part of the Carinthian brand from Louis the German , Blatengrad became the new capital of the possessions of Pribina. After Louis granted Pribin ownership of these possessions, they turned into the Principality of Pannos ^[22] .

Around 833, the more powerful Moravian prince Mojmir I conquered the Principality of Nitran, after which Prince Pribina fled. The history of the Great Moravian Empire begins with this event. Subsequently, the Principality of Nitran turned into a specific principality , restoring its special position. During the reign of Rostislav, Great Moravia was forced to resist the attacks of the Franks. Trying to get rid of the political influence of the East Frankish kingdom , Rostislav first turned to the pope, and then to the Byzantine emperor Mikhail Pianitsa with the same request - to send missionaries to preach in the Moravian language. In response to this, in 863, the brothers Cyril and Methodius set off from Byzantium to Moravia. During the reign of Svyatopolk (d. 894), the country, at the initiative of the East Frankish king, was temporarily captured by the Bavarians. During the uprising against the Franks in the Principality of Nitran, Svyatopolk regained power, and in 874 made peace with the Franks, recognizing himself as their tributary. Probably, in 875, he subjugated the principality in the upper reaches of the Vistula (the territory of modern Poland). In 880, a bishopric was established in Nitra. In the 880s, Methodius with his associates translated the Bible into the Old Slavonic language . After the death of Methodius in 885, the use of the Slavic language in worship was forbidden by the pope, and in 885–886 the followers of Methodius were expelled from the country or taken into slavery. Most of them later went to Bulgaria . Under Moimir II , the Pannonian Principality withdrew to the Bavarians. Subsequently, Czech and Polaba lands fell away from Great Moravia, and Potisia was occupied by the Magyars . In 900, the latter subjugated the territory of the Pannonian principality. Probably, in 906, the Great Moravian state, together with its last prince, Moymir II, died under the pressure of the Hungarians ^[23] .

After the Hungarian conquest

X-XII centuries

In the X - early XI century, the western and central regions of Slovakia alternately passed into the hands of the rulers of Poland and the Czech Republic. After the prince of Poland Boleslav the Brave refused claims in the territory of Slovakia in 1018, the latter finally became part of Hungary ^[25] . After the conquest of the Moravian lands by the Hungarians, the Slavs took part in the predatory campaigns of the Hungarians in German lands. In the second half of the 10th century, Nitra became the inheritance of Michael of the Arpad family, who subjugated the mountain basins of the Carpathians, the lands north and northeast of their original possessions. In 972, Prince Michael converted to Christianity. Subsequently, King Andras I gave to the management of his brother Bela “a third of the kingdom” along with the Nitran inheritance, to which Bihar was annexed. Under Bele, the center of specific ownership of Nitra was strengthened by a tree-earth shaft. After Bela became king in 1060, the Nitran inheritance passed to his sons. At the beginning of the XII century, the Nitran specific principality was abolished. In 1116, the Hungarian king Istvan II entered into a conflict with the Czech prince Vladislav , which ended in Hungary for the loss of the region between the White Carpathians and the rivers Velichka, Olshava and Morava. The highest population density in Slovakia in the 10th century remained in the southeastern region. In the XII century, the population was mainly Slavic, in the southern regions Hungarians compactly lived. From the middle of the XII century, the southeastern region began to be settled by immigrants from German lands. The population at the end of the XII century ranged from 200 to 250 thousand inhabitants. New trade routes eventually left Nitra aside from the roads. Iron and silver mining continued. Under King Istvan I , the minting of coins began in Hungary. In the second half of the 11th century, the specific princes of Nitra minted their own coins. The main economic activity of the population was agriculture. Peasants were dependent on feudal lords. The church owned lands whose area did not exceed 10-12%. From the XII-XIII centuries, the number of royal possessions began to decrease, while the number of feudal possessions increased. The number of semi-free peasants increased. In the middle of the XI century, the territory of Slovakia consisted of 11 committees , headed by the royal jupans, who were vested with administrative, fiscal, military and judicial functions. Locks served as centers of committees. After the adoption of Christianity by the Hungarians, most of the territory of Slovakia fell under the jurisdiction of the Esztergom Archbishopric . In the middle of the XII century, German and French merchants and craftsmen settled in central Slovakia, and Italian at the end of the century ^[26] . The most ancient Slovak saints are the legendary Svorad-Andrei and Benedict . Among the monuments of literature of the 11th – 12th centuries the gospel was preserved, probably written in the scriptorium of the Gronsko-Benedyad monastery ^[27] .

XIII — XV century

In the XIII century, many castles (cities) were built on the territory of Slovakia. Privileged cities appeared, now under the names: Trnava , Zvolen , Banska Stiavnica , Stari Tekov , Krupina . In 1241-1242, Hungary was subjected to the Mongol-Tatar invasion . The conquerors reached Banska Stiavnica and Zvolen, part of Slovakia was devastated. After this, hunger followed the fields that were not plowed. In 1271, the Czech king Przemysl Otakar seized castles in the south-west of modern Slovakia - Bratislava, Paistun, Devin, and burned Nitra. In 1273, the Polovtsy attacked Moravia, after which the Moravians defeated Nitra. With the establishment of anarchy in the country, the feudal lord Omodey Aba ruled in eastern Slovakia, and in the southwestern one the Chakov clan . "Mother Earth" (the name apparently appeared in the 1320s) in the spring of 1311 included 14 zhups (committees), stretching from the Danube in the south to Zvolensky zhupanstvo in the east. After the defeat of powerful feudal lords, an economic boom began in Hungary. The lands of Mother Chuck were confiscated by the king. The population in Slovakia at the end of the 13th century was about 300 thousand inhabitants. German colonists settled in different areas of Slovakia, especially in the Lesser Carpathians , in the middle and lower Spiche , in the middle Slovak region. They, for example, founded the city of Levocha in the 13th century ^[29] . In Bratislava, Spis and the cities of the Slovak Ore Mountains, the Germans made up the main population. In the old cities, where a significant number of Slovaks lived, the Germans tried to seize control of these cities. In 1381, the Hungarian King Louis I published илиilina Privileges ’, which provided for the election of an equal number of Germans and Slovaks to the city government ^[30] . The Germans brought with them new effective methods of tillage (History of Slovakia, 2003), and became the predominant layer of the urban population. Their number was about 20% of the total population of the territory of Slovakia. The two-field system of agriculture was gradually replaced by a three-field system . Mining was developing, the oldest center of which was Banska Štiavnica. The cities of Presov and Kosice grew along the trade route. The most significant royal cities (located in the possession of the king) with full judicial competence were Trnava, Zvolen, Krupina, Nitra, Bratislava, Banska Bystrica. Privileged cities had the right to free market trade and self-government: citizens could elect a city council and a burgomaster. Trnava, Bratislava, Kosice and Levoča traded with foreign countries. In the medieval cities of Slovakia, Nuremberg and Magdeburg law acted ^[31] . In such significant cities as Nitra, Trnava, Bratislava lived Jews who were engaged in trade, financial transactions and crafts. On the territory of Slovakia there were monasteries of monastic orders, including Franciscans , Dominicans , Cistercians , Anthonians and Cartesians . In the architecture of the XIII century, the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic style began ^[32] . At the end of the 14th century, the Wallachian colonization of the mountainous regions of Slovakia began. Over time, the term “Wallachians” lost its ethnic meaning and began to mean pastoralists ^[33] .

From 1428 to 1433, the territory of Slovakia was annually subjected to devastation by Hussite detachments, which seized cities and castles, and levied a tribute on the population. The ideas of the Hussites were shared by residents of Slovak cities, especially the western regions of Slovakia. In the 1440-1450s, the “ brothers ” camps, consisting of former Hussite warriors, served as strongholds of the anti-feudal movement in Slovak lands ^[35] . The population in Slovakia at the beginning of the 15th century ranged from 500 to 550 thousand inhabitants. The most significant royal cities were Bratislava and Kosice: 5-10 thousand inhabitants lived in them. At the end of the 15th century, about 200 urban settlements existed in Slovakia. The centers of winemaking in this century were the cities of Trnava, Bratislava, Modra , Pezinok , Kosice. Part of the wine produced was exported to Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany. And in 1467, the Academy of Istropolitan opened its doors to students in Bratislava, which taught art, theology and jurisprudence. Two decades later, the academy was closed. Feudal lords during this period owned houses in the Hungarian capital, rebuilt castles in Slovakia into palaces. They were supposed to have their own monasteries, serving as tribal tombs ^[36] . In the 1440s, to protect against the tyranny of tycoons, the alliance of the cities of Pentapolitan was created, uniting Kosice, Presov, Levocha, Sabinov and Bardeev. In 1487, a union of cities in eastern Slovakia emerged, which included Smolnik, Gelnica, Roznava, Yasov, Spisska Nova Ves ^[37] .

16th Century

In 1525-1526, uprisings of miners broke out in Slovakia, demanding higher wages ^[38] . The defeat of the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mojac in 1526 in history is considered the end of the medieval period of Hungary. On December 17 of the same year in Bratislava, Ferdinand Habsburg was elected king of Hungary. In 1530, 80 villages were burned in the Nitran committee by the Turks, about 10 thousand people were taken into slavery. After the capture of Buda by the rival of the Habsburgs, Janos Zapolyai in 1529, the capital of Hungary from 1536 was moved to Bratislava. Since 1563, the coronation of Hungarian kings took place in Bratislava, Hungarian Diet regularly took place. Since 1543, in connection with the Turkish invasion of Hungary, the Archbishop of Esztergomsky moved to Trnava, where he stayed until 1820. In 1544, the Turks captured part of the committees Tekov, Gont, Novograd. In the 1550s, they occupied the southern Slovak regions. In 1554, the Filyakovo fortress was taken, which became the center of the Filyakovo sanjak , which lasted for fifty years. In 1575, the offensive on the Slovak lands intensified. In 1593, the Turks were expelled from the committees Gemer, Gaunt, Novograd. In 1599, during the Fifteen Years War, the Turks, along with the Crimean Tatars, devastated the southwestern regions on the territory of Slovakia. In the 1580s, Nove Zamky became the key fortress to defend against the Turks on their way to Nitra and the Vaga Valley. In the sixteenth century, the ideas of the Reformation , including evangelism , Lutheranism , as well as Anabaptist , Helvetic and anti-Trinitarian teachings, were spread in Slovakia. In the 1530s – 1540s, the reformation was adopted by the Western Slovak cities of наilina and Trencin, all the mining cities of central Slovakia, royal cities in the eastern regions (Presov, Kosice, Levoča, Sabinov and Bardejov), Liptov and Spis, as well as some small towns . The appearance of book printing in Slovakia dates back to the second half of the 16th century. The first permanent printing house was opened in Bardejov in 1577, where in 1581 the first Slovak book in Czech with Slovak features was printed - the translated “ Small Catechism ” by M. Luther. In the 16th century, town halls and noble houses were erected in the Renaissance style , new castles were built and old castles were rebuilt. At the beginning of the XVII century, a full - scale counter - reformation began ^[39] .

XVII century

In the first half of the 17th century, the Renaissance in art was replaced by baroque . The hands of Italian masters in the Baroque style erected fortresses and churches. Among the most outstanding Baroque monuments are the Leopolds Fortress, Komarno , and Trnava University Church. In 1604 , an uprising began under the leadership of the Transylvanian feudal lord Istvan Bochkai , who in 1605 occupied part of Slovakia. The uprising ended with the conclusion of the Vienna Peace, which guaranteed the feudal lords and royal cities freedom of religion. In 1619, the governor of the Transylvanian Principality, G. Betlen , during the Thirty Years War, undertook a campaign against the Habsburgs, occupied Kosice, Trnava, Bratislava. In 1622 , peace was concluded between Betlen and the emperor in Mikulov. In 1635 , the University of Trnava was founded, which began with the teaching of theology and philosophy. In 1642 , with an Esztergom run, Mustafa spent three days in the Nitra committee devastated by 11 villages, killed two hundred people, more than a thousand inhabitants were enslaved. During the uprising of Derdy Rakoczy in 1644 , Kosice and the mining towns of central Slovakia were captured by soldiers of Derdy. In 1663 , during the Austro-Turkish war , the Nove Zamky fortress fell under the onslaught of the Turks, which was turned into the center of the eyyalet, located between the Gron and Vag rivers. In 1664, the Turks were expelled from Nitra and Levocha. In 1670 , in north-eastern Slovakia, a rebellion against the Habsburg authorities was crushed. In 1672 there was an uprising of Lutheran peasants who took the castle of Orava. In 1680 Imre Tököli began the uprising: the Kuruc army invaded the Vaga valley. In 1682 , the Kuruts captured Kosice, Filyakovo and mining cities. Until the end of February 1684 , 12 royal cities went over to the side of Emperor Leopold I. In 1685 , the Nove Zamky fortress was liberated from the Turks. In 1703 , during the Rakoczi uprising, the Kuruts captured almost Slovak lands. On August 3, 1708 , at the battle of Trencin, the army of the Habsburgs defeated the forces of the Kurucians, and over the next three months, the rebels were driven out of the western and middle regions of Slovakia. The eight-year-old Kurutsk war, which claimed about 80 thousand lives, ended with the conclusion of the Satmar peace of 1711. At this turbulent time, robbers ruled in Slovak lands, among which was the Slovak "Robin Hood" - Juraj Yanoshik , who was executed in 1713 ^[40] .

In the second half of the 16th century, Hungarian immigration caused a shift of the Slovak-Hungarian ethnic border to the north. Initially, the Slovak city of Nitra in 1532 was inhabited by Hungarians from Lake Balaton , fleeing the Turkish danger. Other groups of Hungarians moved to the banks of the Vaga and around Trnava. During the sixteenth century, the northern regions of Slovakia were settled by immigrants from German-speaking countries professing Anabaptism. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Slovak lands continued to be colonized by the Vlachs . Some of them dissolved in the local environment. After the Jewish pogrom in Vienna in 1679 , Jews moved from there to western Slovakia. In the second half of the 16th century, the term “Slovakia” came into use, especially among Czechs, Poles, and Austrians. In the conditions of Turkish occupation, Slovakia in the 17th century was an independent territorial-ethnic entity with the self-designation “Slavonia”, “Sclavonia”, “Slovenian Land”. At the same time, the nobility, which was of Slovak origin, was subject to Magyarization. Thus, the Slovak nationality consisted mainly of the lower strata of the population ^[41] . The reformation in the XVI-XVII centuries contributed to the spread of the Czech language in Slovak lands, especially in cities, turning into a diplomatic language of the nobility. However, this applied to a greater extent to the Lutheran population. In the 17th century, the Slovak language was also widely adopted. The owners of the land in the XVI century were only nobles. The laws of 1548 and 1608 limited the right of peasants to transfer to another landowner. Peasants carried the main tax burden in the Hungarian state. They were also required to support the clergy and monasteries. The duties in favor of the landowners consisted in the payment of a natural or monetary rent for the land and the house, and the working out of corvée . In 1720 , the population of the Slovak lands was approximately 815 thousand people. The largest cities were Komarno (8300 inhabitants), Bratislava (7900), Banska Bistrita (7000), Kremnica (5300), Skalica (4000), Pezinok (3300), Trnava (2900), Banska Shtiavnica (2700), Modra ( 2300 inhabitants) ^[42] .

XVIII century

In 1722, the first manufactory was founded in Malacky. In the 1720s, a wave of resettlement began from Slovak lands to southern Hungary, and then, in the 1740s, to Banat , Bachka and Srem (now the territory of Serbia), where the settlements of the Slovaks have survived to this day, including Kovacica , Petrovac , Stara Pazova . This century, a large number of Hungarians lived in the southern regions of Slovakia. Many Germans lived in cities, especially in the mining cities of central Slovakia, in Spis and upper Nitra. Ruthenians lived in the northeastern regions. Gypsies also lived in Slovakia, with the efforts of the authorities gradually shifting to a settled way of life. The influx of Jews from Moravia to the western regions of Slovakia continued, and from Galicia to the eastern. Most Jews settled in Bratislava, which in the first half of the XIX century turned into a Jewish cultural center. At the end of the century, ¾ of the population professed Catholicism, 20% - Protestantism. Moreover, of the Protestants, the Hungarians professed mainly Calvinism, while the Germans and Slovaks professed Lutheranism. Rusyns were Greek Catholics . Rare migrants from the Ottoman Empire, for example, in Komarno, adhered to Orthodoxy. In 1777, the university was moved from Trnava to Buda. Until 1785, unfree peasants remained personally dependent on the landowners. In 1780, the “History of the Slovak Tribe” by J. Papanek was published, in which Great Moravia appeared as the first state formation of Slovaks. From 1792 to 1800, the "Slovak Scientific Partnership" was operating, engaged in publishing activities. From 1783 to 1786, the first Slovak newspaper, Preshporske Noviny, was published. At the end of the 18th century, a group of students in Bratislava developed the Slovak literary language, known as the “ Bernolac region ”. In 1787, the theologian A. Burnolak published the Philological and Critical Treatise on Slovak Writing. The emergence of a literary language led to the recognition by the Slovaks of themselves as a special “tribe”. However, in the evangelical milieu, the notion of a “Czechoslovak tribe” was preserved ^[43] . At the end of the XVIII - in the first decades of the XIX century, the concepts of "Slovak" and "Slovenian" in Slovakia were often perceived by the population as synonyms ^[44] .

XIX - early XX century

In the years 1825-1827 the six-volume dictionary of A. Burnolak was published. In 1829-1832, the Bible was published in the language of Burnolac, and Catholic literature continued to be published until the middle of the 19th century. In 1847, representatives of the national movement adopted a new literary language , developed by L. Shtur in 1843. Russia's victory in the wars with Napoleon served as an incentive in the development of ideas about the community of the Slavs. The largest figure in the Slovak culture of the first third of the 19th century, Jan Kollar, regarded the Slovaks as a single “Czechoslovak tribe” with the Czech literary language, thereby denying their compatriots the right to cultural independence ^[45] . In 1857, 2.4 million people lived in Slovakia, of which 1.5 million were Slovaks. In 1880, 266 thousand Slovaks lived in the territory of modern Hungary. From 1870 to 1900, about 180 thousand Slovaks emigrated to America. During the revolution of 1848-1849, some Slovaks went over to the side of the Habsburgs. For the first time, the Slovak political body, the Slovak National Council, appeared on the political scene. In March 1849, the idea was put forward to create the Slovak Grand Duchy within the empire. The empire legislation was translated into the official “old-school language ” (actually Czech), it began to be applied in the zhupny administration, and elementary school was now taught in this language. The Slovak intelligentsia in this period diverged in their political views with the Hungarians: the Slovaks were supporters of the Habsburgs and Russophiles, while the Hungarians, on the contrary, were opponents of Austria and Russia. The codification of the Slovak language by S. Zambel cleared the tongue of Czech admixtures and dialectisms. In 1861, the “ Memorandum of the Slovak People ” was adopted, which provided for autonomy within Hungary. In the second half of the 19th century, the German press gradually gave way to the Hungarian one. During the existence of the Slovak Matica , 46 periodicals in the Slovak language were published. In the 1870s, Matica Slovakia and gymnasiums were closed during the course of the Magyarization . The liberation of the peasants from feudal dependence occurred from 1853 to the 1890s. Slovakia remained mainly agrarian region. The industry of the second half of the XIX century was concentrated in Liptov, Gemer, Zvolen and Spishe ^[46] .

In the second half of the 19th century, the work of the Slovak romantic poets A. Sladkovich , Jan Botto , S. Halupka , realism - P. Orsag-Gvezdoslav , S. Gurban-Vayansky ; writer M. Kukuchina . Among the writers of the beginning of the 20th century were J. Esensky , J. Gregor-Taiovsky , I. Krasko . The centers of theatrical life of the Slovaks were in Bratislava and Kosice. Among the artists of the second half of the XIX century: P. Bogun and J. Clemens . In 1900, 70% of the Slovaks in Hungary were Catholic, 25% Lutherans and 5% Greek Catholic. Among the latter were both Slovaks and Rusyns. The intelligentsia and the Greek Catholic clergy convinced the population that the Rusyns were “Greek Catholic Hungarians”. At the beginning of the 20th century, a mass movement unfolded in Transcarpathia for the transition from Greek Catholicism to Orthodoxy. During this period, about 150 thousand Jews lived in Slovakia. According to the census of 1893, 36 thousand gypsies lived in Slovakia, 600 of whom wandered. From the beginning of the 20th century to the First World War, about 400 thousand Slovaks emigrated to America. In general, until 1914, about 600 thousand people emigrated from Slovakia, second only to Ireland in this indicator in Europe. At this time, the Magyarization of education intensified; secondary and higher education in the Slovak language did not appear. On the eve of World War I, only 16% of Slovak children attended elementary schools in the Slovak language. Hungarian and Austrian capital dominated the Slovak economy. The First World War , which began in 1914, was alien to Slovaks who were accustomed to seeing their traditional allies in Russians, Serbs, and Romanians. Supposedly, 69,700 soldiers were killed, 61,680 became disabled ^[47] . During the war, Czech politicians developed two concepts of future Czechoslovakia: T. Masaryk was a supporter of independent Czechoslovakia, K. Kramarg hoped to create a Slavic state under the auspices of the Russian emperor ^[48] .

Interwar Period

On October 28, 1918, the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic was announced in Prague. On October 30, 1918, the Slovak National Council adopted the Declaration of the Slovak People on the Right to Self-Determination and Recognition of the State of the Czechs and Slovaks in the Turchan St. Martin by the Slovak National Council. The Hungarian government tried to keep Slovakia within its own state, promising autonomy to the Slovaks. On December 7, the Minister Plenipotentiary for Slovakia was appointed with a seat in Zilina . After the occupation of Presburg by the Czechoslovak troops ( Pozhon in Hungarian) on December 31, 1918, the city was officially renamed Bratislava, turning into the capital of Slovakia. In the same year, an 8-hour working day was established in Czechoslovakia ^[49] . In January 1919, Czechoslovakians ousted Hungarian troops for the demarcation line, which was established by the Entente in December 1918. After the communists came to power in Hungary on March 21, 1919, the Hungarian Red Army occupied part of Slovakia. With the retreat of Hungarian troops at the end of June, the Slovak Soviet Republic ceased to exist, which was proclaimed in Presov on June 19 of that year. The border with Hungary was established by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, which was the result of lengthy negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference . In the north of Slovak lands in 1920, 25 settlements went to Poland.

After joining Czechoslovakia, Subcarpathian Rus in 1920, the administrative border of the latter with the Slovak lands was drawn. Czechoslovakia’s claim to the so-called Burgenland Corridor (lands of Austria and Hungary), which was supposed to provide it with a border with Yugoslavia, was not satisfied ^[50] . The territory of Slovakia after the establishment of borders in 1920 had a population of 2,998,244 people, an area of ​​49,006 km². In 1930, 17.8% of Hungarians, 4.6% of Germans, 3.7% of Czechs, 2.2% of Jews, 2.9% of Eastern Slavs lived in Slovakia. After 1918, the Czechs came to Slovakia as soldiers, officials, teachers, postal workers, railway workers. A number of Czech parties during this period asserted the concept of the existence of a single ethnic “ Czechoslovak nation ”. Language laws contained provisions on the non-existent “Czechoslovak language”. In practice, the official institutions used the Slovak language. In 1927, the Plenipotentiary Ministry for Slovakia was liquidated. In 1928, following the example of Moravia and the Czech Republic, the Slovak Regional Council was established. The electoral system of Czechoslovakia at the state and municipal level was based on universal suffrage. After 1918, a large-scale restructuring of the economy took place in Slovakia, a reorientation from Hungary to the Czech Republic, coupled with social upheavals due to the war. The Matica Slovak was closed by the Hungarians in 1875. In 1919 the Bratislava University was founded . Comenius . In 1926, broadcasting of the Slovak radio from Bratislava began ^[51] . In 1938, the Higher Technical School was opened in Kosice ^[52] .

In 1928, the agrarian crisis began in Slovakia. Following him in 1930, a crisis in industry erupted, which hit the bottom in 1933. This year 130 937 unemployed were registered. Closed enterprises of metallurgy, metalworking, glass, paper and textile industries. From 1922 to 1937, 7 times more people emigrated from Slovakia per capita than from the Czech Republic ^[53] . In total, over 720 thousand people emigrated from Slovakia from 1900 to 1940 ^[54] . The revival of the economy began only in 1934, partly in connection with the advent of Hitler in Germany and the development of defense enterprises. Slovaks were afraid of Hungarian revenge . Reinforced concrete fortifications were built on the borders with Austria and Hungary. After the conclusion of the Munich Agreement , on October 6, 1938, the executive committee of the GSNP in илиilina proclaimed Slovak autonomy. After autonomy was recognized by the Czechoslovak government, the Slovak government was headed by Josef Tiso . In November of the same year, the government of Czechoslovakia ceded part of northern Slovakia and Silesia to Poland. Hungary demanded the annexation of the entire territory of Slovakia. On November 2, the new borders of Slovakia were approved by arbitration in Vienna: Hungary transferred an area of ​​10,390 km², where 854,217 people lived, including over 270 thousand Slovakians. Germany in 1938 occupied the right bank of the Danube in the area of ​​Bratislava ^[55] .

Slovak Republic (1939-1945)

On March 14, 1939, the Slovak Sejm proclaimed the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic . The republic had an area of ​​38,004 km², on which 2,655,053 people lived. After the occupation of Poland in September 1939, Slovakia began bordering Germany in the north and west, and Hungary in the south and east. The republic was recognized by 27 states, including the USSR in 1939. In March 1939 of the same year, during the occupation of Subcarpathian Rus, the Hungarian army violated the border of Slovakia, and joined it in battles that lasted several days. In November 1940, Slovakia joined the Tripartite Pact . In 1939, the Slovaks took part in the occupation of Poland (for which Slovakia regained the territory annexed to Poland in 1920 and 1938), since June 1941 - in the war against the USSR . Slovak soldiers and officers on the Soviet-German front in whole units regularly switched to the Soviet side ^[56] . Most of the Czechs were evicted from Slovakia. From March 25 to October 20, 1942, 57,628 Jews were deported to Nazi camps in German-occupied territories. The second wave of eviction of Jews in the amount of 13,500 people occurred in the period from September 1944 to March 1945. Ten thousand of them died. Gypsies living in central Slovakia were subject to mass destruction by SS units. August 29, 1944 began the German occupation of the country with the consent of President J. Tiso. The Slovak national uprising broke out , which was suppressed two months later. Military operations during the Second World War on the territory of Slovakia were conducted for eight months. In September 1944, the Soviet army crossed the Carpathians. The northern regions of Slovakia were liberated by Soviet and Czechoslovak troops, the central and western regions were liberated by Soviet and Romanian troops. 60 659 Soviet, 10 435 Romanian and 1736 soldiers of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps were buried on Slovak soil. April 4, 1945 Bratislava was released, April 30 - Zilina. Thousands of people from eastern Slovakia were sent to the camps of the USSR, many of them died. After the war ended in 1945, the border with Poland was restored before the conclusion of the Munich Agreement. J. Tiso, sentenced to death by the Czechoslovak National Court, was executed in April 1947 ^[57] .

The period of socialism

Upon the return of the Czechoslovak government from London in the spring of 1945, its Slovak representatives expressed hope for the creation of a federation of Czechs and Slovaks, which would be based on the principle of "equal with equal." By October 1946, 32,415 Germans were sent to Germany. The Hungarians, who settled in the territories of Slovakia occupied in 1938, were evicted after the end of the war. According to the agreement on population exchange concluded by Czechoslovakia and Hungary in 1946, 74 thousand Hungarians from Slovakia moved to Hungary and 73 thousand Slovaks from Hungary left for Slovakia. 44 thousand Hungarians were forcibly relocated to the Czech Borderland to replace the German workers. 326 697 Hungarians recognized themselves as Slovaks, and in return received civil rights and the opportunity to work. After 1948, most of them restored their Hungarian nationality. In the 1946 parliamentary elections , the Democratic Party won, taking 63 seats in the Slovak National Council. The 31st place went to the KPS and 6 seats to the Labor Party. But since the Communist Party won in the Czech part of the country and, in general, won 38% in the whole republic, it came to power. As a result, the country became the next satellite of the USSR. In 1947, Czechoslovakia's intention to join the Marshall Plan came up against an objection and blocking by the USSR ^[58] .

In February 1948, non-communist ministers resigned; President E. Benes formed a government dominated by communists. In 1945, the nationalization of the Czechoslovak economy began. Craftsmen enterprises passed into the hands of communal and state enterprises, enterprises of small traders - to state enterprises and cooperative unions. Almost all types of free professions, including law firms, were subject to liquidation. In 1958, 66.6% of agricultural land was in the hands of cooperatives and the state. “Village rich” were punished with fines, sent to labor camps, subject to eviction from villages. Church property was confiscated. The Slovak Greek Catholic Church was abolished in 1950. Many priests of various faiths are sent to prisons. The number of people employed in industry from 1948 to 1960 almost doubled, exceeding 800 thousand people in the 1980s. Along with the GDR and Hungary, Czechoslovakia was the most developed country of the Soviet bloc , but this level in Slovakia itself was clearly lower than in the Czech Republic. There were enterprises oriented to the USSR, from which minerals were imported. The East Slovakian Steel Plant in Kosice has become the largest enterprise in Slovakia. Large-scale housing construction was carried out. Expanded network of cultural institutions. In addition to Bratislava, higher education institutions have appeared in many other cities of the country. In the post-war period, as represented by the Czechs, the peoples gradually merged into a single whole, therefore there was no need for a special situation in Slovakia ^[58] .

After the death of Stalin, a struggle for power unfolded in Czechoslovakia. Personal and business ties of the population with the West, tourist trips to Yugoslavia, broadcasting on Free Europe radio stations, Voice of America , BBC , Deutsche Welle , and Austrian television undermined the notion of the exclusivity of socialism. The Communist Party was divided into "reformers" and "dogmatists." The process of liberalization of the country, initiated by the “reformers,” called the Prague Spring , was interrupted on the night of August 20/21, 1968 - as part of Operation Danube. The Soviet Union, with the support of Hungarian, Bulgarian and Polish troops, invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia. At the same time, 19 people died in Slovakia, hundreds were injured. After negotiations in Moscow in the same month, the Czechoslovak leadership capitulated. In response to the demand for federalization of the state on January 1, 1969, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was formed, consisting of the Czech and Slovak Socialist Republics. Its head was the Slovak Gustav Husak. A new major wave of emigration followed the military aggression, mainly qualified specialists leaving.

The period of " normalization " of Czechoslovakia began - a return to the principles of socialism. Trips to Western countries were limited, "inflammatory" radio stations were jammed. In 1970, a number of laws were passed that led to the centralization of a federal state. The political, economic and social life of the country was in a state of stagnation.

Since the center of liberal reforms was located in Prague, normalization was reflected in Slovakia noticeably in a smaller form. The level of economic growth in Slovakia was also higher than in the western part of the country. Industry developed: metallurgy, chemical production and light industry enterprises, the production of trucks, incandescent bearings, construction units, hydraulic equipment, tanks, armored vehicles, guns and ammunition.

March 28, 1988, believers staged a " candlelight demonstration " for the freedom of the church. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution took place in Prague. In 1990, the federal state was named the Czechoslovak Federal Republic . In June 1991, Soviet troops left Czechoslovakia. At this time, the call "return to Europe." The new goals of the state were joining the European Community and the NATO bloc. In 1990-1993, Slovakia plunged into a severe economic crisis. Industrial production in 1993 compared with 1989 decreased by almost 1.5 times, rail transportation compared to the pre-crisis level - 2 times. In 1993, unemployment reached 368,095 people. Property nationalized or confiscated after 1948 was subject to restitution . In 1991-1992, most of the small enterprises were privatized. In 1992-1994, large enterprises were privatized, including factories, hotels, department stores. In the parliamentary elections, the Communists of Slovakia received only 13.3% of the vote. The Lustration Act of 1991 prohibited the former nomenclature of the HRC for five years from holding senior positions in the state. In the 1992 elections, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia party won, gaining 37.7% of the vote ^[59] .

Independent Slovakia

On July 17, 1992, the Slovak National Council adopted a Declaration on the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic. On September 1, 1992, the Slovak National Council adopted a constitution . On October 25, 1992, the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia adopted a decree on the dissolution of the federal state, which ceased to exist on December 31, 1992. The Slovak Republic as a successor of Czechoslovakia in 1993 became a member of international organizations, including the OSCE , the World Bank , the IMF , from January 19 - the UN , and from July - the Council of Europe . In the same year, Slovakia sent a sapper battalion to normalize the situation on the territory of the disintegrated Yugoslavia. In February 1993, the first president of Slovakia, Michal Kovacs , was elected. During privatization, most of the enterprises were sold at a lower real cost. Within a few years, a layer of super-rich people appeared in the country, whose fortune amounted to billions of crowns. In the late 1990s, the number of unemployed amounted to about 500 thousand people. In 1998, the country's GDP, excluding wages, approached the 1989 level. Government debt in September 1998 increased by 2.8 times compared with 1994, amounting to 11.9 billion dollars ^[60] .

On March 29, 2004, Slovakia joined NATO, on May 1, 2004 - into the European Union , on December 21, 2007 joined the Schengen zone , on January 1, 2009 - into the eurozone ^[61] .

• History of postal and postage stamps of Slovakia

• History of Slovakia / Ed. Mannova, Elena .. - M. , 2003.
• Klevansky A. Kh. Et al. A Brief History of Czechoslovakia. - M .: Nauka, 1988 .-- 576 p.
• History of Czechoslovakia. - M .: Nauka, 1956-1960. - T. 1-3.
• Shumov S.A. , Andreev A.R. History of Slovakia. V — XX centuries: Documentary research . - M .: White Wolf, 2000 .-- 296 p. - 5000 copies - ISBN 5-93442-005-0 .

• Historical Documents on the History of Slovakia On the EuroDocs Website
•   Wikimedia Commons: Atlas: History of Slovakia