Slovakia History

Main Points of Slovakia History

Slovakia is a country in central Europe that was established over 1500 years ago by the Slavic tribes that settled in the region.  The tribes united under a single ruler and became the kingdom of Greater Moravia.  

Five hundred years later Slovakia was invaded and absorbed under the rule of King Stephen of Hungary, which was the beginning of over a thousand years of foreign rule.  This was the start of the Slovakian decline as a major part of European history.

Slovakia stayed as a part of Hungary until 1918 when the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved following their defeat in World War I.  Due to the defeat of the empire, Slovakia became part of a new country called Czechoslovakia which followed the communist regime.

Czechoslovakia was under the primary control of the Czechs and the Slovaks were given little say in the governmental policies or any political decisions.  In 1939, the Slovak Republic split from Czechoslovakia and became a separate country.  The First Slovak Republic was, in reality, a puppet for the Nazi regime under the leadership of fascist Josef Tiso.

After the defeat of the Nazis in 1945, the Slovak Republic again fell under the dominion of a foreign power.  No longer an independent country, they were reunited with the Czech Republic and, again, became the subject half of Czechoslovakia.  As a communist country, they were limited in their expressions of art, literature and music and many churches were not allowed to exist.

In 1968, the government of Czechoslovakia started turning more toward socialism and started to move away from the strict doctrines of communism.  This led to the Velvet Revolution, where Czechoslovakia became a democratic country in 1989.

In March of 1993, in a move titles the Velvet Divorce after the previous Velvet Revolution, the country of Czechoslovakia is again split into its component states.  This was accomplished with the cooperation of both governing bodies and the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (Slovakia) was born.  

The new government of Slovakia elected to declare Bratislava as the capital of Slovakia.  With a new center of commerce and access to the rail line which connected Bratislava Slovakia with Vienna Austria, this was a popular choice among the voting populace of Slovakia.  Bratislava is also one of the original Slovak cities and held much of the history and culture of the Slovakian people.  All of these events combined has led Slovakia to be one of the oldest, and yet one of the youngest, countries in all of Europe.