Slovakia Before 1989 POLb1135 Slovak Politics Before 1989 Hungarian Rule (Since 10th Century) •1867 – dualization of Austria-Hungary à negative stance against minorities • •National oppression: •Press legislation •Abolishment of Slovak high schools •1875 - dissolution of Slovak Motherland („Matica Slovenská“) • •Aim – creation of one nation without ethnic fragmentation • Slovak Party „System“ •Political conditions: •No universal suffrage – only 7 per cent of people in 1918 •Manipulations of elections •High barriers for achieving mandates •Low citizen participation and activity • •The result – nearly for the whole period until 1914 there was only one party representing the Slovaks • Slovak Party „System“ •Slovak National Party (SNS, 1871): •Elite protestant party •Limited resources •Internal plurality – Agrarians, the catholic Slovak People’s Party (SLS, gained independence in 1913) • •Less than 10 MPs in Parliament (out of 435) à minimal impact on the country’s politics • The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) •Two nations in different situation • •Higher development of the Czech part: •Economy and standard of living •Level of education •Character of political parties • •Czechoslovakism - the idea of one Czechoslovak nation • Population of Czechoslovakia (1921) Nationality Amount Share (in %) Czech 6,780,000 50.2 Slovak 1,990,000 14.7 German 3,123,000 23.1 Hungarian 745,000 5.5 Other 880,000 6.5 Sum 13,510,000 100 Population of Czechoslovakia (1921) Nationality Amount Share (in %) Czechoslovak 8,770,000 64.9 German 3,123,000 23.1 Hungarian 745,000 5.5 Other 880,000 6.5 Sum 13,510,000 100 The First Czechoslovak Republic •The political system: •Parliamentary democracy (PR electoral system) •Universal suffrage •Citizen freedoms • •Oligarchic bodies • •Changes in the international situation in the 30s à degeneration of Czechoslovak democracy • Political Parties in Slovakia •System of one party changed to plurality • •Czech parties: •Changed names from „Czech“ to „Czechoslovak“ •Only limited success in Slovakia • •Parties of ethnic minorities: •Hungarian and German •Oriented towards „their“ minorities •Mostly opposed to the idea of Czechoslovakia • ‘Authentic’ Slovak Parties in CSR •Parties from the past as well as new parties • •Gained votes mostly in Slovakia • •Parties divided into two groups: •Autonomists – seeking Slovak autonomy •Centralists – accepting CSR • •The strongest actor – SLS - renamed to HSLS (Hlinka Slovak People’s Party) • Hlinka Slovak People’s Party •Leader – Andrej Hlinka (Catholic priest) • •Ideology: •Catholic and conservative values •Never fully accepted liberal democratic ideas • •Highest electoral support in Slovakia • •Radicalization in the 30s • http://www3.teraz.sk/usercontent/photos/f/4/1/4-f41219aa3a8625d3f8e439b8f619b64aa8fffbcf.jpg Results of Elections Political Party 1920 1925 1929 1935 HSLS 18.1 34.3 28.2 30.1 Agrarians 18.7 17.4 19.5 17.6 Communists - 13.9 10.7 13.0 Social Democrats 39.4 4.3 9.5 11.4 Hungarian parties (Sum) 10.7 14.6 15.9 14.2 Czech parties (Sum) 2.3 6.4 11.6 9.7 Munich Agreement (1938) •Beginning of The Second CS Republic •Degeneration of democracy in CSR • •Czech lands: •Two party system •No real competition • •Slovakia: •More straightforward decline of democracy •Hegemony of HSLS • http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/09/30/article-1065227-007DAEEB00000258-265_233x330.jpg Munich Agreement (1938) http://www.ustrcr.cz/data/images/casopis/bic01-map.jpg Autonomy of Slovakia •October 1938 – an official request by HSLS: •Signed by most Slovak parties •Refused by Social democrats and Communists • •November 1938 – Constitutional law granting autonomy to Slovakia: •Slovak Assembly •Slovak Government • Autonomy of Slovakia •Hegemony of HSLS • •Other parties: •Forced to merge with HSLS •Social democrats and Communists were abolished • •Authoritarian tendencies of HSLS • •Democracy refused as „complicated“ • Elections to Slovak Assembly (1938) •„The one and only“ • •A clear sign of non-democratic tendencies: •Single candidate list •Separate electoral rooms for different ethnic groups •Manipulative techniques •Violation of secret vote •Planned sanctions on people casting blank lists • •Results – HSLS receives 97.3 per cent of votes The Wartime Slovak State (1939-1945) •Satellite of the Third Reich • •Non-democratic regime • •President – „doctor“ Jozef Tiso • http://blog.idnes.cz/blog/3911/216404/_tiso.jpg The Wartime Slovak State •Clear dominance of executive power • •Overlap of state and the party – Tiso as president and leader of HSLS • •Parliament (Assembly) without any real power • •Para-military forces – the Hlinka guard • The Wartime Slovak State •Two wings of HSLS: • •1. Conservative and more moderate (Tiso): •Catholic and corporatist ideas • •2. Radical (Tuka, Mach): •Inspiration in Nazi Germany •Connection with Hlinka Guard • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Vojtech_Tuka_in_uniform.jpg/220px-Vojtech_ Tuka_in_uniform.jpg http://dalfar.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/mach.jpg 1939 - 1940 •Authoritarian regime • •Catholic, conservative, corporatist values • •Weaker position of HSLS’s radicals • •Depicted (even now by some parties) as „The smiling Slovakia“ despite the nature of the regime • •Reaction à Hitler’s request for a change • http://www.confectionerynews.com/var/plain_site/storage/images/publications/food-beverage-nutrition /confectionerynews.com/r-d/sweet-alternatives-better-sugar-understanding-is-needed-for-sugar-free-c hocolate-success-say-researchers/8262957-1-eng-GB/Sweet-alternatives-Better-sugar-understanding-is- needed-for-sugar-free-chocolate-success-say-researchers_strict_xxl.jpg 1940 - 1942 •Radical wing of HSLS gained power • •Conservative wing led by Tiso overpowered them but only by applying their techniques • •Tiso gained the title „Leader“ („Vodca“; equivalent to German „Führer“ used by Hitler) • •Antisemitic laws, deportation of Jews (58 thousand in 1942) – 2/3 of Jews living in Slovakia • Začalo sa to vyháňaním z kaviarní, skončilo deportáciami - Domáce - Správy - Pravda Prvý transport Židov zo Slovenska - Podtatranské osvetové stredisko V POPRADE SA BUDE SPOMÍNAŤ NA PRVÝ TRANSPORT | UZZNO Tu býva vlastizradca. Opozícia hecuje davy proti koaličným poslancom - Ekonomický Týdeník Búchali mu na dvere a rozvešali plagáty s „vlastizradcom“. Polícia príjme bezpečnostné opatrenia proti agresorom May be an image of text The erosion after 1942 •Main reasons: •Turnover in the Second World War •Lower trust of the society • • •1944 – Slovak National Uprising – suppressed by German forces • •1944-1945: •Slovakia under total control of Germany •Terror, revenge on partisans, restoration of deportation of Jews • http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YN2H2GwrjdE/S4Vqye0WNVI/AAAAAAAADHE/hRi6uP4Ldds/11.jpg After the World War II •Third Czechoslovak Republic (1945-1948) • •Only a fiction of a democratic system • •Problematic features: •Dominance of the executive power (decrees) •Retribution justice •Limited plurality of the party system - only a few parties were allowed to exist (no German or Hungarian party) •Limited political competition among parties • Party System in 1945-1948 •National front: •Umbrella organization with parties as members •Decided which parties may exist •All parties had to follow the same political program (nationalization of property, pro-USSR foreign policy) • •Slovak parties: •Communist party of Slovakia (KSS) •Democratic Party (DS) •Two other marginal parties Democratic party (DS) •Created by members of several former parties (SNS, Agrarians etc.) • •Civic and non-socialist party • •Protestant party vs. Catholic nation à Catholics added on candidate lists (two thirds) • •Ideas about the position of Slovakia à Czech parties including Slovak communists diminished the influence of Slovak political institutions • Elections 1946 – free and fair? Czech lands Slovakia Party Votes (%) Seats Party Votes (%) Seats KSC 40.2 93 DS 62.0 43 CSNS 23.7 55 KSS 30.4 21 CSL 20.2 46 SS 3.7 3 CSSD 15.6 37 SP 3.1 2 After 1946 elections •Rising power of communists • •Infiltration of the state’s power components – army, police, secret service, trade unions • •These trends were more straightforward in the Czech part of the state • •February 1948 – end of this time period • Communist rule (1948-1989) •Totalitarian regime •Terror •Planned economy •Sharp restrictions on human rights and freedoms • •Country and society fully under control of KSC • •Formal existence of „opposition“ parties and elections • •Formal liquidation of Slovak political institutions (1948, 1960) • http://www.dougbelshaw.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/communist_star.jpg Results of ‘Elections’ Year Votes (in %) Blank lists 1948 86.60 994,419 1954 97.89 182,928 1960 99.86 12,775 1964 99.94 6,040 1971 99.81 - 1976 99.97 - 1981 99.96 - 1986 99.97 - 1960s and the Prague Spring •Alexander Dubček as the first Slovak selected for the chairman of KSC • •„Socialism with a human face“ • •Two nations with different aims: •Czechs – political reforms •Slovaks – federalization of the country • http://www.oskole.sk/userfiles/image/dejepis/neuspesny%20pokus%20o%20reformu/Alexander%20Dub%C4%8De k.jpg 1968 – End of Prague Spring •Czechoslovakia invaded by armies of the Warsaw Pact • •Stop to any liberalization for the next 20 years • http://privateguideofprague.com/wp-content/uploads/okup-f.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/58/Man_in_front_of_the_Tank_Czechoslovakia_1968.jpg After 1968 •Federalization (1970): •Creation of national governments and parliaments (Slovak National Council continued in its existence) •Ban of majoritarianism •à Only formal changes – real politics remained unchanged • •Normalization (1969-1989): •Restoration of the regime „before 1968“ •Sanctions against large groups of society •Higher intensity in Czech part of the federation • Legacy for the Period after 1989 •Specifics of the communist regime in Slovakia: •„Moderate“ version of the regime when compared to Czech lands •Achievement of federalization (despite its formal character) •Economic modernization – industrialization, urbanization • •Effects: •Weaker dissent movement •Higher acceptance of several principles of the communist period •More sympathy towards the „middle way“ à support of less radical economic reforms after 1989 •