Slovakia in History

Unique exploration of the key moments and themes in Slovakia's history, from its ninth-century origins to its rebirth in 1993.

Mikuláš Teich (Edited by), Dušan Ková? (Edited by), Martin D. Brown (Edited by)

9781107676909, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2013

434 pages, 19 b/w illus. 5 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.58 kg

'The work is invaluable as the reference book on the topic, as it is full of well-researched detail.' Zuzana Slobodova, British Czech and Slovak Review

Until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Slovakia's identity seemed inextricably linked with that of the former state. This book explores the key moments and themes in the history of Slovakia from the Duchy of Nitra's ninth-century origins to the establishment of independent Slovakia at midnight 1992–3. Leading scholars chart the gradual ethnic awakening of the Slovaks during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and examine how Slovak national identity took shape with the codification of standard literary Slovak in 1843 and the subsequent development of the Slovak national movement. They show how, after a thousand years of Magyar-Slovak coexistence, Slovakia became part of the new Czechoslovak state from 1918–39, and shed new light on its role as a Nazi client state as well as on the postwar developments leading up to full statehood in the aftermath of the collapse of communism in 1989. There is no comparable book in English on the subject.

1. Slovakia, the Slovaks and their history Dušan Ková?
2. The Duchy of Nitra Ján Steinhübel
3. The beginnings of the nobility in Slovakia Ján Luka?ka
4. Medieval towns Vladimír Segeš
5. Renaissance and humanist tendencies in Slovakia Eva Frimmová
6. The period of religious disturbances in Slovakia Viliam ?i?aj
7. The Enlightenment and the beginnings of the modern Slovak nation Eva Kowalská
8. Slovak Slavism and Pan-Slavism ?udovít Haraksim
9. The Slovak political programme: from Hungarian patriotism to the Czecho-Slovak state Dušan Ková?
10. Slovakia in Czechoslovakia (1918–38) Natália Kraj?ovi?ová
11. Slovakia from the Munich conference to the declaration of independence Valerián Bystrický
12. The Slovak state, 1939–45 Ivan Kamenec
13. The Slovak question and the resistance movement during the Second World War Jan Rychlík
14. The Slovak National Uprising: the most dramatic moment in the nation's history Vilém Pre?an
15. The Slovak question, 1945–8 Michal Barnovský
16. Czechoslovakism in Slovak history Elisabeth Bakke
17. The Magyar minority in Slovakia before and after the Second World War Štefan Šutaj
18. The establishment of totalitarianism in Slovakia after the February coup of 1948 and the culmination of mass persecution, 1948–53 Jan Pešek
19. Slovakia and the attempt to reform socialism in Czechoslovakia, 1963–9 Stanislav Sikora
20. Slovakia's position within the Czecho-Slovak federation, 1968–70 Jozef Žatkuliak
21. Slovakia under communism, 1948–89: controversial developments in the economy, society and culture Miroslav Londák and Elena Londáková
22. The fall of communism and the establishment of an independent Slovakia Michal Štefanský
23. Afterword: Slovakia in history Mikuláš Teich.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]