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The aim of the paper is to point out a specific segment of education of children in Slovakia in the period of Socialism (1948–1989) through the example of confessional education of children in the environment of the secret Church. After the Second World War, a significant turnover in education occurred in Czechoslovakia under the impact of Soviet politics. Schools were nationalised, which in fact meant the disappearance of church schools and plurality in education. After the Communist coup in 1948, education was immediately reformed by the Education Act of 21 April 1948, which unified the system of education and made it a state monopoly with a pro-Soviet orientation. The socialist school was indoctrinated by the ideology of Marxism-Leninism; the content of education at all levels, as well as leisure time activities of children. Work with children and youth in a religious spirit was harshly punished and considered an anti-state activity. Therefore, in the period of political liberation in the 1960s (Prague Spring), the so-called secret Church started its activity. The paper is focused on an analysis of the model of working with children in the secret Church in Slovakia between 1973 and 1989 through the method of oral history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented study deals with the period of 1938-1945 in Slovakia and the regime, which was governed in this territory. A regime of one state party -- Hlinka's Slovak People's party was established 6th of October 1938, when Slovakia was still in a joint state with the Czechs. The regime survived until the end of the war and renewal of Czechoslovakia in 1945. The Slovak territory, respectively separate Slovak republic since March 1939, underwent several evolutional stages in the period, especially in the intentions of establishing a relationship with Nazi politics. The first period of the regime was characteristic with the fight of two groups over the shape and the course of the state. Aft er the Nazi intervention in the year 1940, the regime started to follow the Nazi politics more. A Slovak variation of national socialism was supposed to be put into practise. Nazi consultants from Germany were sent to Slovakia and the state was gradually under the German influence. The culmination of the phase was especially the tragic Final Solution to the Jewish Question. Preparation of armed uprising in Slovakia started when the German army started to be unsuccessful. The uprising burst out on 29th of August 1944 and it also commenced the last phase of the regime which was characteristic by a factual occupation of Slovakia by Germany. This part was lasted until April 1945, when they evacuated last German units from Slovakia and Czechoslovakia was renewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the analysis of ethnographic research in a village in eastern Slovakia. My aim is to consider the narratives of people from countryside who witnessed socialist period and to present their view of land which they cultivated. I explore two sources: people's life stories; and a local chronicle which was written during the 1960s. I argue that (1) both kinds of narratives serve as cultural tools for members of a collective as they recount the past in certain context; (2) in this, expression of moral emotions indicates narrative conventions related to social norms. I demonstrate that the semi-official context of the local chronicle demands expression of moral emotions in evaluation of the big-scale political events, but the chroniclers are rather cautious in assessment of local people's behaviour. On the other side, in informal settings people summarize life periods using moral terms and freely express positive as well as negative attitudes toward other people and social conditions, to make sense of the past events in relation to the present time. Thus, the language of emotions indicates the specific narrative context as well as social rules. At the same time, emotional expressions should be read considering a narrator's personality and social background; in this, the local historical and cultural setting is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to identify the determinants of ethnic parties’ access to coalition governments in Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia between 1990 and 2013. We conducted a cross-national and longitudinal analysis in which we took into account all the elections in which the ethnic parties gained parliamentary representation. With 21 cases over two decades—with the party at the election being the unit of analysis—and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as the method of analysis, this study concludes that the pivotal position is important for access to government coalitions, while organizational change and government incumbency have a limited explanatory power. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the Second World War, the Czechoslovak state redrew the boundaries around its national/ethnic community, defining anew who belonged and who did not. This process primarily involved the redefinition of the criteria for citizenship. Jewish survivors were among those who negotiated for the recognition of their citizenship. Since the Czechoslovak government did not grant Jews legal status as a national minority, Jewish survivors could be freely classified as Slovaks, Czechs, Germans, or Magyars. The latter two translated into refusal of citizenship and expulsion. This article discusses how Magyar-speaking Jews in Slovakia struggled to secure Czechoslovak citizenship through dialogue and conflict between their representatives, local administrations, and the central government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the data from repeated sociological surveys conducted in post-Communist Slovakia in the years 1990-1992, this study describes the elements of the political awareness of the population that played an important role in the process of the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia. Special attention is paid to the image of the political parties in the pre-election period and to the reactions of the population to the division of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]