Slovak Soviet Republic | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | |||||||||||||
| Motto: "Proletari šickich krajin, spojte še!" "Workers of the world, unite!" | |||||||||||||
| Anthem: "Internacionála" The Internationale | |||||||||||||
 Slovak Soviet Republic | |||||||||||||
| Status | Puppet state of theHungarian Soviet Republic | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Prešov | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||
| Government | Soviet socialist republic | ||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Revolutionary Government Council | |||||||||||||
• 1919 | Antonín Janoušek | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||||||
• Proclaimed | 16 June 1919 | ||||||||||||
• Hungarian withdrawal | 7 July 1919 | ||||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | SK | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
TheSlovak Soviet Republic (Slovak:Slovenská republika rád,Hungarian:Szlovák Tanácsköztársaság,Ukrainian:Словацька Радянська Республіка,romanized: Slovatska Radianska Respublika,lit. 'Slovak Republic of Councils') was a short-livedcommunist state in southeasternSlovakia in existence from 16 June 1919 to 7 July 1919.[1] Its capital city wasPrešov,[2] and it was established and headed by Czech journalistAntonín Janoušek. It was thefourth communist state created in history.
The Slovak Soviet Republic was created under the influence of theHungarian Soviet Republic during thetransitional wave of communist protests and revolutions after theOctober Revolution in 1917 andWorld War I. It was dependent onBudapest, and in the background of its creation were efforts to restore theKingdom of Hungary - which had disappeared shortly before at the end of 1918 - by theHungarian Soviet Republic.
It was the first attempt to establish aproletarian state in Slovakia.[3]
In 1918, theCzechoslovak Army occupied northern Hungary up to the demarcation line set by the Entente Powers. After thecommunist takeover of Hungary in March 1919, and the subsequentRomanian invasion that only halted at theTisza River, Czechoslovakia also crossed its demarcation line in late April. However, Hungary successfully repulsed their attacks, and in June launched a counter-attack intoUpper Hungary (today mostlySlovakia) known as the Northern Campaign. In the occupied territory, the soviets helped set up a Slovak Soviet Republic (SSR) out of collaborating Slovak communists. The highest Slovak representative proclaimed, on 16 June:
"Today theproletariat in Slovakia has proclaimed a republic; we have seized power, relying on the workers and the armed council of the proletariat."
Throughout its brief existence, it was ambiguous if it was an autonomous part or fully independent of Hungary, or what its exact borders were. It was mostly populated by ethnic Hungarians. According to Jaroslav Šebek:
“Although the state was created under the guise of spreading both communist and revolutionary ideas, it can also be said that it was a cover for the renewal ofHungarian influence in Slovakia.”
The government of the SSR issued a decree on thesocialization of the means of production, the nationalization of factories with over 20 workers, large estates and financial institutions. It developed a plan for the creation of new production relations in agriculture, stopped the activities of normal courts and replaced them with “revolutionary tribunals”, nationalized schools, established the Slovak “Red Army” and the security corps “Red Guard”. However, due to the short duration of the SSR, these communist measures could not be implemented. The existence of the SSR was tied to the fate of theHungarian Soviet Republic. The goal of the SSR and the HSR was the unification and creation of a communist restored Hungary.Béla Kun said in his speech inKošice on 10 June 1919:
"WeBolsheviks are for the integrity of Hungary. No change in borders will satisfy us, we want Hungary as a whole."
Throughout June, theParis Peace Conference pressured Hungary to withdraw to its demarcation lines, offering Romania would do the same in turn. Hungary eventually agreed, ceasing hostilities on 24 June, withdrawing to the demarcation line by July. With that the Slovak Soviet Republic also ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into Czechoslovakia.[4][5]
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