A history of Slovakia - Stanislav J. Kirschbaum

Slovakia's declaration of independence in 1993 marked the reemergence of a state about which remarkably little is known. Professor Kirschbaum describes the history of the Slovak nation from its arrival on the Danubian Plain to the present. Paying tribute to Slovakia's resilience, he describes its contribution to European civilization during the Middle Ages; the development of a Slovak consciousness in response to Magyarization; its struggle for autonomy in Czechoslovakia after the Treaty of Versailles; its resistance (as the Slovak Republic) to a Nazi-controlled Europe; and its reaction to Communism. The final chapter examines the events that led to Slovakia's independence after the fall of Communism in Central Europe and the debate over its future.