Slovakia
The majority of the 5.4 million inhabitants of the Slovak Republic
are Slovak (85.8%). Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority
(9.7%) and are concentrated in the southern and eastern regions of
Slovakia. Up to 7% of the population is thought to be Roma, although
the last official census (2001) put their number at 1.7%. Other
ethnic groups include Czechs, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Germans, and
Poles. The Slovak constitution guarantees freedom of religion. The
majority of Slovak citizens (69%) are Roman Catholic; the
second-largest group is Protestants (9%). About 3, 000 Jews remain
of the estimated pre-WWII population of 120,000. The official state
language is Slovak, and Hungarian is widely spoken in the southern
region.
Despite its modern European economy and society, Slovakia has a
significant rural element. About 45% of Slovaks live in villages of
less than 5,000 people, and 14% in villages of less than 1,000. |
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Slovak history can find its roots in the Great Moravian Empire,
founded in the early ninth century. The territory of Great Moravia
included all of present western and central Slovakia, the Czech
Republic, and parts of neighboring Poland, Hungary, and Germany.
Saint Cyril and Methodius, known for the creation of a Cyrillic
alphabet, came to Great Moravia in the early tenth century as
missionaries to spread Christianity upon the invitation of the king.
The empire collapsed after only eighty years as a result of the
political intrigues and external pressures from invading forces.
Slovaks then became part of the Hungarian Kingdom, where they
remained for the next 1,000 years. Bratislava became the Hungarian
capital for nearly two and a half centuries when the Turks overran
Hungary in the early 16th century.
Revolutions inspired by nationalism swept through Central Europe in
1848, which led to the codification of the Slovak language by
Ludovit Stur in 1846 and later the formation of the dual
Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1867. As language and education
policies favoring the use of Hungarian, which came to be known as
Magyarization, grew stricter, Slovak nationalism grew stronger.
Slovak intellectuals cultivated closer cultural ties with the
Czechs, who were themselves ruled by the Austrians. After the
dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian State after WWI, the concept of
a single Czecho-Slovakian unified state came to fruition. Tomas
Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Agreement, declaring the intent of the
Czech and Slovaks to found a new state in May 1918, and a year later
become Czechoslovakia's first president.
After the 1938 Munich agreement that forced Czechoslovakia to cede
territory to Germany, Slovakia declared its autonomy. Slovakia
became a Nazi puppet state led by the Catholic priest Jozef Tiso.
During this period, approximately 70,000 Slovak Jews were sent to
concentration camps to perish in the Holocaust. Roma, while
persecuted under the Tiso regime, were not deported by the Slovak
Hlinka guards. An undetermined number of Roma were deported from the
southern part of Slovakia when it was occupied by Hungary in 1944.
The Slovak National Uprising, a resistance movement against the
fascist Slovak state, occurred in 1944 with the participation of
Slovaks, Russians, Jews, and some allied forces but was put down by
Nazi forces.
At the conclusion of WWII, the reunified Czechoslovakia was
considered within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. The
communist party, supported by the U.S.S.R., took over political
power in February 1948 and began to centralize power. The next four
decades were characterized by strict communist rule, interrupted
only briefly during the Prague Spring of 1968. The Slovak born
Communist leader Alexander Dubcek presided over a thawing of
communist power and proposed political, social, and economic reforms
in his effort to make "socialism with a human face" a reality.
Concern among other Warsaw Pact governments that Dubcek had gone too
far prompted an invasion and Dubcek's removal from his position.
The 1970s were characterized by the development of a dissident
movement. On January 1, 1977 more than 250 human rights activists
signed a manifesto called Charter 77, which criticized the
government for failing to meet its human rights obligation. The
so-called "Candle Demonstration," which took place in Bratislava in
March 1988, was the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against
the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The Demonstration, organized
by Roman Catholic groups asking for religious freedom in
Czechoslovakia, was brutally suppressed by the police.
On November 17, 1989, a series of public protests, known as the
"Velvet Revolution," began and led to the downfall of communist rule
in Czechoslovakia. Dissident groups, such as Charter 77 in the Czech
Republic and Public Against Violence in Slovakia, united to form a
transitional government and assist with the first democratic
elections since 1948. Several new parties emerged to fill the
political spectrum.
After the 1992 elections, Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), based on its appeal on fairness to
Slovak demands for autonomy, emerged as the leading party in
Slovakia. In June 1992, the Slovak parliament voted to declare
sovereignty and the federation dissolved peacefully on January 1,
1993. Meciar's party--the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia
(HZDS)--ruled Slovakia the first 5 years as an independent state.
His authoritarian style as Prime Minister created international
concerns about the democratic development of Slovakia. In the 1998
elections, Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) received about
27% of the vote, but went into the opposition, unable to find
coalition partners.
A reform-oriented coalition formed a government led by Mikulas
Dzurinda, the chairman of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union
(SDKU). The first Dzurinda government made political and economic
reforms that enabled Slovakia to enter the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), close virtually all chapters in
European Union (EU) negotiations, and make the country a strong
candidate for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accession.
However, the popularity of the governing parties declined sharply,
and several new parties gained relatively high levels of support in
public opinion polls.
In the September 2002 parliamentary election, a last-minute surge in
support for the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) gave
Dzurinda a mandate for a second term. He formed a government with
three other center-right parties: the Hungarian Coalition Party
(SMK), Christian Democrats (KDH), and Alliance of New Citizens
(ANO). The main priorities of the coalition were ensuring a strong
Slovak performance within NATO and the EU, fighting corruption,
attracting foreign investment, and reforming social services, such
as the health care system. Following a summer 2003 parliamentary
shake-up, the government lost its narrow parliamentary majority and
controlled only 69 of the 150 seats; however, the coalition was
relatively stable because of the parties' similar political
philosophies and conflicts between opposition parties.
Slovakia officially became a member of NATO on March 29, 2004 and
joined the EU on May 1, 2004. The government strongly supported
Slovakia's NATO and EU accession and continued the democratic and
free market-oriented reforms begun by the first Dzurinda government.
Parliamentary elections were held June 17, 2006. Robert Fico became
Prime Minister, leading a coalition of SMER (Direction), the Slovak
National Party (SNS), and the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia
(HZDS). |
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