23 - Afterword: Slovakia in history

Summary

Until the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia (31 December 1992/1 January 1993) Slovakia was largely associated with the ending of the words Czechoslovakia/Czecho-Slovakia. Czech or Slovak? What's in a name? Many English speakers remain uncomfortable with this question or, for that matter, with differentiating between Slovakia and Slovenia.

As documented in this volume, Slovaks and Czechs are two closely related nations, sharing many things in the spheres of language and culture. While the short history of Great Moravia (833–907) belongs to Czech and Slovak history, there are gaps – due to a paucity of sources – in our understanding of its decline and the ensuing incorporation of the territory of contemporary Slovakia into the Hungarian state. This has provided the impetus for misrepresentations of the Slovak–Magyar coexistence, which lasted 1,000 years. Not confined to dubious perceptions on the part of the general public, myths and half-truths have been a disturbing element in national historical works authored by Slovak and Magyar scholars.

Slovakia in History parallels Bohemia in History. Both collections offer accounts of key moments and themes in the history of Czechs and Slovaks and thus allow for comparisons between them. What attracts attention, in the Czech case, is the relative early rise of Czech national consciousness and statehood.

From the tenth century, the history of Slovaks and Czechs unfolded differently. Slovaks constituted themselves ethnically within the Hungarian state, and politically as a nation during the nineteenth century. Then the Slovak spokesmen adopted a political programme demanding autonomy within the framework of the Hungarian state.