SLOVAKIA, an independent republic in Central Europe, under the protectorate of the German Reich, had been before 1918 a part of the kingdom of Hungary and had constituted from 1918 to 1939 a province of the Czechoslovak Republic. It covered in 1931 an area of 18,895 sq.mi., with a population of 3,329,793, of whom 2,373,054 were Czechoslovaks, 592,337 Magyars, and 821 Germans. With regard to religion, 71.61% were Roman Cath olics, 16.69% Protestants, 6.42% Greek Catholics, and 4.11% Jews. The Slovaks are a Slav people, closely related to the Czechs from whom, however, they have been politically separated for many centuries. The Czech national renaissance largely originated at the beginning of the 19th century in Slovakia, and at that time the literary language was common to both branches of the Czecho slovak people. In 1843, however, Louis Stur raised the central Slovakian dialect to the rank of a literary language, in an effort to resist the Magyarization of the Slovak peasants, and since that time the Slovak language has been, although only slightly, differ entiated from the Czech language.
Slovakia lagged far behind the western and formerly Austrian parts of Czechoslovakia, because for centuries it had suffered neglect during Hungarian rule. The Slovaks are therefore less progressive than the Czechs, primitive customs, traditions, and costumes survive among them until today, the number of illiter ates is considerably larger than in Bohemia or Moravia, although much smaller than in the neighbouring Carpathian Ruthenia. In the Czechoslovak Republic, Slovakia enjoyed provincial auton omy, its capital was Bratislava (Pressburg) on the Danube, with 123,852 inhabitants, and the seat of a Slovak university. Other important cities were Ko;ice (70,232), Zamky Nove (22,141), and Nitra (21,259).
Slovakia is largely mountainous territory within the western Carpathians, but at its western and eastern ends it encroached upon the plains of the Danube and of the Tisa. In the northern part the mountains rise to high altitudes, especially in the high Tatra (q.v.) which has recently been developed by the Czecho slovak Government as an important health centre for the treat ment of tuberculosis and as a tourist resort for summer and winter sports. The southern plain lands which were ceded to Hungary in 1938 formed a fertile cereal zone where maize, wheat, barley, fruit, wine, tobacco, and sugar-beets were raised.
Slovakia suffered under the lack of good connections between her eastern and western parts and between her and Bohemia. The Czechoslovak Government tried to improve communications, to overcome the isolation of the highlands, to modernize the ad ministration and the economic life of the country, and to over come the disadvantage of the lack of coal for the development of industry by the utilization of the vast resources of water-power.
The Czechoslovak Government covered the land with a network of primary and secondary schools and founded the Slovak Komen sky university in Bratislava, which in 1935 had 2,364 students and 115 instructors. The Czechoslovak Government also created a number of schools for the Magyar and German minorities in Slovakia, but the Magyar minority continued to present a grave problem, as did the aspirations of a part of the Slovak population under the leadership of Father Andrew Hlinka to transform the Czechoslovak State into a federation of completely autonomous Czech and Slovak republics.
These aspirations were realized after the events of Sept. 29, 1938. According to the German-Italian award at Vienna, on October 2, Slovakia had to cede her southern plain lands and some of her important cities to Hungary, whereby her area was reduced to 14,848 sq.mi., with a population of 2,450,096 accord ing to the census of 1930. A census on Dec. 1, 1938, put the population at 2,773,00o. Within the new Czecho-Slovakia Slo vakia formed an autonomous part with its own ministry under Monsignor Josef Tiso. The new Government abolished the democratic regime and foundations for a fascist State were laid.
The violently fascist and anti-Czech attitude of the Tiso Gov ernment led to an attempt by the central Government to replace Tiso by Karel Sidor, a Catholic Slovak autonomist, but more in clined to co-operation with other Slav peoples like the Czechs and the Poles, than to complete reliance upon Germany. This action by the Prague Government was seized upon by the Ger mans as an opening for the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia, and for the declaration of independence by Slovakia on March The new independent Republic concluded on March 18, 1939 a treaty in Vienna with Germany, according to which Slovakia be came a German protectorate. Germany guaranteed the boundaries of Slovakia for a period of 25 years, and was entitled to construct military works and to man them in strategically important parts of Slovakia. Slovakia was declared at liberty to join the German Customs Union. Dr. Josef Tiso became the prime minister of Slovakia. But with the ties cut between Slovakia and Bohemia, the economic situation of Slovakia became extremely precarious, and with the tightening of German control Slovak independence became illusionary. The small German and Magyar minorities in the country were urgently pressing the Government for more privileges. It was still too early (1939) to say whether inde pendent Slovakia would be able to settle down and to work out the foundations of an autonomous and prosperous life. (H. Ko.)