13 - The Slovak question and the resistance movement during the Second World War

Summary

International aspects of the Slovak question

The declaration of Slovak independence, on 14 March 1939, was the result of Adolf Hitler's policies in Central Europe, and culminated in the collapse of Czechoslovakia. The new Slovak state was soon recognised by all three of its neighbours – Germany, Hungary and Poland. Slovakia – known as the Slovak Republic according to the constitution of 21 July 1939 – was then gradually recognised by Germany's allies and satellites, such as Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Japan and Finland, as well as by several neutral states. The Slovak government was also very keen to be recognised by the probable future enemies of Germany, such as Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union, because such acknowledgement might mean some sort of obligation to accept Slovakia as independent state even in the case of Germany's defeat. The Slovak foreign minister, Ferdinand Ďurčanský, was particularly interested in some sort of recognition for another reason: Dr Edvard Beneš, who was in the United States on 14 March 1939, sent a letter of protest regarding the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia to the League of Nations and other Western governments; he had also begun to create a movement in exile to re-establish Czechoslovakia.

In March 1939, the main Allied states (Britain, France, the United States of America and the Soviet Union) had refused to accept the annihilation of the Second Czecho-Slovak Republic and continued to recognise its diplomatic missions and diplomats.