SLOVAKIA (SLOVENSKO). - Historical region of Central Europe, formerly part of Hungary (906-1918), then of Czechoslovakia (1918-39), then an independent State (1939-45), now, once again, part of Czechoslovakia.
I. GEOGRAPHY
The traditional borders of Slovakia, which between March 1939 and May 1945 constituted a stable unit detached from Czechoslovakia, are marked to the west (toward Moravia) by the ridge of the White Carpathians and by the lower course of the Morava, and to the east by the valley of the Ung, which divides it from the so-called Subcarpathian Russia (now annexed to Soviet Ukraine under the name of Transcarpathia). The Beskids form to the north the traditional frontier with Poland and to the south the Morava that with Austria, while the border with Hungary is, except for a first stretch (the Danube), entirely conventional. Slovakia has an area of 48,957 sq km (about Piedmont and Lombardy combined).
Slovakia consists of a northern part, the larger, formed by a series of fairly high reliefs (the Gerlachovka, in the Tatra, reaches 2,663 m), covered with forests, massive and monotonous, and yet traversed by longitudinal valleys (the upper valleys of the Vah and the Hron, flowing to the Danube; of the Poprad, a tributary of the Vistula) and by transverse ones on whose floors cultivation and settlement are possible; and a southern part, in which the plains open out, the most important of which extends along the Danube, between the mouths of the Morava and the Hron.
The population (12.5 million inhabitants; density 72 per sq km, 53 in the mountain regions, 110 in the southwestern plain), includes one fifth of aliens (Hungarians, Israelites); the rest consists of Slovaks, akin to the neighboring Czechs, and like them belonging to the Western Slavs, but distinct, owing to the strong influence suffered during the nine centuries of Magyar subjection.
The economy of Slovakia combines modest agricultural resources
(cereals, sugar beets, potatoes; almost all the wine and tobacco of Czechoslovakia) and pastoralism, which prevails in the northern regions (sheep and horses), with a notable industrial development (mechanical, iron and steel, chemical, ceramic, food industries), favored by an abundance of raw materials (iron, copper, mercury, nickel, cobalt, in the Ore Mountains; manganese, salt, petroleum; nor are gold and silver lacking), which made it the most industrial region of the old Kingdom of Hungary. Forest resources (one third of the territorial surface) are also considerable.
Only one city, Bratislava, the capital, exceeds 100,000 inhabitants (185,000 in 1939); of the remaining ones, the most notable are Komárno (31,000 inhabitants), another port on the Danube, and Košice (61,000 inhabitants), in the upper basin of the Hernad (Tibiscus), the economic and cultural center of eastern Slovakia.
Bibliography3 works
Giuseppe Caraci
II. HISTORY
Before the Slavs, Celtic and Germanic tribes occupied the territory of S.: Marcomanni, Quadi, Boii, Hunni, etc. The Roman Empire, from the fortified limes on the Danube, pushed beyond it in the 2nd century A.D. The emperor Marcus Aurelius intended to form a new province of the Empire precisely on the territory of S., and twice he personally led his legions in the wars beyond the Danube (years 169-75 and 180). A Roman legion settled on the site of the present-day city of Trenčín (then Laugaritio), and here it carved a dedicatory inscription into the rock. This is the oldest written monument in the land of S. (year 179). The first Christians were precisely the Roman soldiers of Marcus Aurelius. The historical reliefs on the column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome preserve the memory of a miraculous rain, obtained through the prayers of the Christian soldiers (v. H. Grisar, Il prodigio della legio fulminata, in Civ. Catt., 1895, 1, pp. 716-24).
The Slavs (Slovenes, Slovaks) crossed the Carpathians in the 6th century and took up residence in the Danubian plain, and beyond, in Pannonia, and held it stably, although in the following centuries a part of the Croats passed through there, then Avars and finally Hungarians. In the 7th century the leader Samo attempted to organize the first state except in central Europe: but only from the 9th century do we have information about the native organization of the various tribes. The oldest center in S. was the principality of Nitra, later absorbed into Great Moravia, when the prince of Nitra Svatopluk became its king (870-94). The Christianization of the Slovaks began at the start of the 9th century with German missionaries, especially from the diocese of Passau. The prince Pribina had the first Christian church built in his castle at Nitra, consecrated ca. 833 by the archbishop of Salzburg Adalram. To counter the strong German influence, the prince Rastislav summoned to Moravia Sts. Cyril and Methodius (v.), who gave origin, with the consent of the popes, to the Slavic Catholic Church and broadened Christian culture among the Slavic peoples of the north. The Slovak state, however, was occupied by the Hungarians in 906, and then until 1918 S. politically formed part of Hungary, while Slavic liturgy and culture were supplanted by the Western Latin one.
From the 11th century the missionary work of the monastic Orders also begins; the Benedictines settled at Zobor (1000), Sv. Beňadik (1075), Opátska pri Košiciach (1143), and in twelve other monasteries. Then came the Cistercians (Lipovník 1141, Štiavníkána Spiší 1223); the Premonstratensians (Bzovík 1130, Jasov), the Carthusians (Lapis refugii-Skala útočišťa 1299); the Augustinians (Velký Šariš 1270); the Paulines (Mariánka 1377); the Franciscans (Bratislava 1240, Trnava 1240, Okoličné 1314); the Dominicans (Gelnica 1288, Košice 1300), etc.
For their part, from the 12th century German merchants and masters, at the invitation of the kings and thanks to their privileges, settled in the metal-bearing mountain zones, founding flourishing cities (e.g., Kremnica, Banská Štiavnica, Kežmarok, etc.) rich in important Gothic monuments. Many of these colonists in time assimilated into the Slavic population, while the others, in the region of Spiš (Zips) and Kremnica, remained until 1945, when they had to abandon the country. The Turkish invasions also opened the doors to the Protestant Reformation, favored by inadequate ecclesiastical structures. The Slovak territory was divided into the two dioceses of Nitra and Esztergom, and the latter at the most critical moment remained vacant for fully 34 years and in 1543 had to move to Trnava where it remained for three centuries. To re-establish Catholicism, the archbishop Nicolaus Oláh (1553-68) worked above all, calling the Jesuits, who in 1561 settled at Trnava and in the 17th century had 22 houses in the territory of present-day S. They founded in 1635 the University of Trnava (transferred in 1776 to Budapest), then the juridical Academy at Cassovia, several colleges, residences and missionary stations. In the work of Catholic restoration several of them suffered martyrdom, for example, the blessed martyrs of Cassovia (v.). It was then the particular merit of Cardinal Archbishop Péter Pázmány (v.) to have made Trnava the center of Catholic outreach for the surrounding regions.
With the Turkish invasion the Kingdom of Hungary also shrank to present-day S. with Bratislava (Pressburg) as its capital. Throughout the 17th century religious wars flared there between the imperial Catholic side and the Protestant side, led by the princes of Transylvania (G. Bethlen, G. Rákóczy, Thököly, etc.). They ended only in the 18th century with the Edict of Tolerance of Joseph II of 1781. A consequence of the religious reforms of Joseph II (v.) was the dissolution of the contemplative religious Orders, so that all the ancient Orders disappeared from S., except the Premonstratensians of Jasov (v.) who remained as a teaching Order. Only later did the Benedictines succeed in establishing themselves at Komárno. The cloistered nuns also disappeared entirely. For the formation of the secular clergy, Joseph II instituted a general seminary in the royal castle at Bratislava. With the so-called "religion fund" (former Jesuit property), Joseph organized and endowed many new parishes; while the educational institutes taken from the Jesuits were replaced by those of the Piarists and Premonstratensians. Only in 1853 could the Jesuits return to Trnava, and then to Bratislava.
In the 20th century, on the other hand, there is a reflowering with the penetration of the new religious Congregations: Brothers of the Christian Schools, Redemptorists, Salesians, Verbiti, Consolatori, etc. During the 19th century, after the Edict of Tolerance, there was finally peace in the religious field. The number of Protestants (Lutherans) from that time remained stationary (16%). The revolutionary ideas of the West had no influence in the ecclesiastical field, and the Church until 1918 occupied a privileged place: the bishops were treated as princes and the traditional system of pastoral care remained intact, since the people were deeply religious. On the other hand, the national awakening begins, led by Catholic priests, grouped around the priest Bernolák. This movement, neglected at first by the Hungarians and after 1848 encouraged by the Austrians, was instead after 1867 targeted by the Hungarian government. And while following the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 Slovak bishops were appointed in S., with 1867 a period of Magyar high-handedness begins. The bishops of S. were exclusively Hungarians. With the people remained the simple Slovak priests, often persecuted on this account, such as, for example, Radlinský, Slotta, Mišík, Hlinka, Medvecký, Osvald. This situation provoked against the Church at the beginning of the 20th century an opposition of a lay nationalist character, led by the school of the "Hlasisti," disciples of Masaryk. If the opposition did not degenerate into open apostasy of the masses after 1918, as in Bohemia, it is due to the Catholic firmness of priests like Hlinka, Vojtušák, etc.
With the war in 1918 Slovakia broke away from its thousand-year bond with Hungary and became part of Czechoslovakia. As a consequence, six bishops were expelled or voluntarily left the country, and only one of German origin remained (Fischer-Colbrie at Cassovia), until in Dec. 1920 the Holy See was able to appoint the first three Slovak bishops, then four more, and thus a new period in ecclesiastical life began. During the twenty years of the Czechoslovak Republic (1918-38) the Slovak Catholics, organized also in Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, effectively struggled to claim their rights. Thus the marriage laws, the Catholic schools, the youth organizations, etc., were safeguarded, and propaganda for a Czechoslovak national Church among the Latins, and for schismatic Orthodoxy among the Greek Catholics, was not allowed to gain a foothold.
In the period of the independent Slovak Republic (1939-45) the Catholic People's Party took the leadership of the country. Indeed the priest Tiso was elected president of the State. During these years, although in a time of war, the development of Catholic institutions continued. The representative of the Holy See resided in Bratislava, and in this way an agreement was reached between the State and the Church on the financing of Slovak schools, the founding of the Catholic Academy of Sciences, of the Central Office of Catholic Action, etc.
After the war (1945-51) the reconstituted Czechoslovakia entered the orbit of the U.S.S.R. and communism took power. Catholics were first excluded from public life, and after the communist coup d'état in Feb. 1948 came the open persecution of the Church. By 1952 the situation had reached the point that the Church in Slovakia could have no relation with the Holy See in Rome.
Bibliography16 works
III. ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION
From the 9th century the territory of Slovakia depended on the diocese of Passau. In 870 Pope Adrian II assigned the entire territory of Moravia and Pannonia to the reconstituted archdiocese of Sirmium (Sirmium), under the direction of St. Methodius. In 880 Pope John VIII established the metropolis of Moravia (Moravensis), with its seat probably at Velehrad; other places in question are: Nitra, Devín, Ostrihom (Strigonium), Vyšehrad. At the same time the diocese of Nitra was established and permission was given to found another. Around the year 1000 King St. Stephen, for his Kingdom of Hungary, established the metropolis of Strigonium (whose territory extended almost entirely within present-day Slovakia), and 10 dioceses. In Slovakia there was only the diocese of Nitra, and in part that of Agria (Eger). It was only in the 17th century that Cardinal Pázmány began to consider breaking up the dioceses and founding new ones: thus in 1771 the Greek-Catholic diocese of Mukachevo was established, embracing also all the Eastern Catholics of Slovakia. In 1776 three new dioceses were formed from the archdiocese of Strigonium: Neosolium (Banská Bystrica), Scepusium (Spiš) and Rosnavia (Rožňava). In 1804 the diocese of Cassovia was detached from Agria; in 1818 the Greek-Catholic diocese of Prešov was separated from Mukachevo (so that until 1918 the metropolitan see of Strigonium had as suffragans Neosolium, Nitra, Mukachevo, and Prešov, plus the dioceses in Hungary); that of Agria had as suffragans Cassovia, Rosnavia, Scepusium and Šatmar.
After 1918 both archbishoprics remained outside Slovakia. For the Strigonian part, the apostolic administration of Tirnava (Trnava) was established in 1922. Likewise in 1922 the Premonstratensian abbey of Jasov was erected as an abbey nullius, but this was not carried out.
In the modus vivendi of 1928 the Holy See undertook to redraw the boundaries of the dioceses within the frontiers of the Czechoslovak State and to establish two new archbishoprics: one of the Latin rite in Slovakia and one of the Byzantine-Slav rite in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, which would also include the Greek Catholics of Slovakia. The two archbishoprics, however, were not erected; instead, in 1937 the Holy See decreed that the dioceses delimited according to the frontiers should be immediately subject to it. At present in Slovakia there are the five Latin dioceses of Cassovia, Neosolium, Nitra, Rosnavia and Scepusium; the Greek-Catholic diocese of Prešov of the Ruthenians; besides three apostolic administrations (Tirnava, Satu Mare annexed to Cassovia, and Mukachevo annexed to Prešov).
In 1950 the Greek-Catholic diocese of Prešov was violently destroyed and occupied by the schismatics. In the part of the apostolic administration of Mukachevo the new schismatic diocese of Michalovce arose.
Bibliography4 works
IV. SLOVAK LITERATURE: v. CECOSLOVACCHIA.
V. SACRED ART
The oldest sacred monument in S. is the little church in the castle of Nitra, consecrated ca. 833. It is still debated whether the present structure dates back to the 9th century or to the 12th (Hodál-Mencl). Only a few examples of Romanesque art remain: the Rotunda of Skalica (13th century), the Benedictine churches in Deákovce (1228), Biňa (1217) and Jánošovce. Of the Romanesque cathedral church of Scepusio (Spišská Kapitula) only the western part with the façade is preserved. In the villages a few little churches of feudal lords were preserved: Dražovce, Pominovce, Kliž-Hradište, etc.
Gothic art, on the other hand, is widely represented, especially in the centers already inhabited by Germans: the cathedrals of Cassovia, Bratislava, Tirnava, the churches of Levoca, St. Nicholas in Prešov (16th century), St. Giles in Bardejov (15th century). Jewels of Gothic art are the two family chapels of the Zápol'ský at Spišská Kapitula and at Spišský Štvrtok (15th century) and, in Bratislava, the towers of the Franciscans (14th century) and of the Poor Clares (16th century). In the province of Scepusio the type of Gothic church with two naves, with a row of columns in the center, developed: Lubica, Veľka, etc. From the Gothic period numerous wooden altars and their predellas are preserved in the churches. The principal Gothic artist was the master Paul of Levoča, whose most important work is the high altar of St. James in Levoča (1518).
Even more widespread is Baroque art; it should be noted that only exceptionally is the central space of the churches covered with a dome (Most Holy Trinity in Bratislava, chapel of the Seminary in Tirnava); the churches generally have a longitudinal layout, with imposing façades with two towers and characteristic spires. The most important Baroque monuments are: the church of the University of Trnava (1640), the cathedral of Neosolio (B. Bystrica), the former Jesuit church in Trenčín, Cassovia, that of the Paulines in Saštín, that of the Franciscans in Prešov and that of the Premonstratensians in Jasov. In the Rococo style the Gothic church of Nové Mesto nad Váhom was decorated. The Neoclassical style in the 19th century was used almost exclusively by the Protestants (Cassovia, Levoča, B. Bystrica). Modern art is still little developed. The most significant examples are: the church in Bratislava-Petržalka and St. Mary of Peace in Cassovia.
An indigenous art appears in the construction of certain wooden churches, especially among the Eastern Catholics in the Carpathians. The wooden church generally consists of three central spaces: choir (separated from the people by the iconostasis), space for the people, and space under the tower. Almost always above all three spaces characteristic Eastern spires rise up.
Bibliography4 works
VI. SLOVAKS IN AMERICA
From 1880, about 700,000 Slovaks emigrated to the United States and Canada. They were poor, simple people, but religious. Lost in the new world, they soon began to organize themselves, and even before they had priests they built churches and established parishes, then offering everything to the bishop on condition that he provide the necessary clergy. Today the Slovaks have 290 parishes and about 700 priests in the United States and Canada. In Cleveland (Ohio) there is the flourishing Benedictine abbey of St. Andrew Svorad, founded in 1922. In 1951 a convent of Slovak Benedictine nuns was also opened in Chicago. There also exists a native Congregation of Slovak religious women: the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, with mother house in Danville, Pa. The father of the Slovak emigrants, the priest Stephen Furdek, founded in 1890 the association "Katolická Jednota", which has about 170,000 members.
See also: CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
Bibliography3 works
VII. SCHOOL SYSTEM
The particular national circumstances had a great influence also on school education. From the Middle Ages, S. entered the orbit of Hungarian cultural influence, and in the 19th century, with progressive Magyarization, the Slovak school had to succumb to it. In 1875 the last secondary schools (3 gymnasia) were suppressed, and in 1907, with the Apponyi law, even the elementary schools were Magyarized. Thus after the First World War the reborn S. had no school in the national language. All school instruction therefore had to be rebuilt from the beginning. This radical change took place with great speed, leaving the minorities their schools in their own language. The elementary schools were state and free schools. The great majority belonged to the Catholic Church. The secondary schools - the gymnasia - after the First World War were taken almost all by the State, but slowly the Church succeeded in reclaiming its rights over some of them. Thus, during the Slovak Republic, out of 53 secondary schools, 17 belonged to the Church. All Catholic schools were subsidized by the State in the brief period of the Slovak Republic (law of 1940). In 1919 the University known as that of Komensky was founded in Bratislava, later called the Slovak University. From 1936 the Faculty of Theology was also aggregated to it.
After the Second World War, from 1945, with the advent of the communist regime the school system was greatly changed; all free schools were suppressed and the State claimed the monopoly over them. All schools are free of charge. Instruction was divided according to the Soviet scheme into three levels: 1) first level: elementary school lasting 5 years; 2) second level: secondary school lasting 4 years; and these two levels are compulsory for all; 3) third level (lyceum) lasting 4 years, and the collateral vocational schools; 4) the university follows.
From 1945, alongside the University of Bratislava, the University in Cassovia (Košice) was founded. In 1949 all the minor seminaries were also suppressed, and in 1950 the major ones as well. In their place the (communist) State has opened a central Seminary in Bratislava, but without agreement with the ecclesiastical authority. The school in the communist system is a powerful means for the propaganda of Marxist ideology in Slovakia. -See plates XLIX-L.
