Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Organized resistance to the Slovak Republic during World War II reached its peak with military and partisan activities that began on August 29, 1944 and lasted for nearly two months. These events, known as the 1944 Uprising, brought about the end of Slovak statehood and the reintegration of Slovakia into Czechoslovakia after the war. Largely because of Slovakia's alliance with Germany, the Slovak declaration of independence on March 14, 1939 had met with a mixed response, even among those who assumed positions within the new state. The uncertainty about the meaning and significance of Slovak independence was also due to a split within the governing party, the Hlinka Slovak People's Party , between the radical anti-Semitic, pro-German faction, supported by the Hlinka Guard, and the more moderate faction that accepted Slovak independence but not the introduction of National Socialism in Slovak life. However, it was not until the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 that opponents of Slovak independence and of the regime began forming a resistance movement and linking up with the provisional Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London and the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in Moscow. Many soldiers from the Slovak army also began deserting to Allied and Soviet forces. The resistance movement was led by members of the Communist Party of Slovakia (CPS) and ... log in or subscribe to read full text