The Slovak Question: A Transatlantic Perspective, 1914-1948

by Michael R Cude

Overview

Winner, 2022 SSA Best Book Prize
The so-called Slovak question asked what place Slovaks held—or should have held—in the former state of Czechoslovakia. Formed in 1918 at the end of World War I from the remains of the Hungarian Empire, and reformed after ceasing to exist during World War II, the country would eventually split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia after the “Velvet Divorce” in 1993.

In the meantime, the minority Slovaks often clashed with the majority Czechs over their role in the nation. The Slovak Question examines this debate from a transatlantic perspective. Explored through the relationship between Slovaks, Americans of Slovak heritage, and United States and Czechoslovakian policymakers, it shows how Slovak national activism in America helped the Slovaks establish a sense of independent identity and national political assertion after World War I. It also shows how Slovak American leaders influenced US policy by conceptualizing the United States and Slovakia as natural allies due to their connections through immigration. This process played a critical role in undermining attempts to establish a united Czechoslovakian identity and instead caused a divide between the two groups, which was exploited by Nazi Germany and then by other actors during the Cold War, and proved ultimately to be insurmountable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822947028
Publisher:	University of Pittsburgh Press
Publication date:	06/14/2022
Series:	Russian and East European Studies
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Michael R. Cude is assistant professor of history at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas, where he is also program coordinator for European Studies and for the Global Scholars program.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 3

1 Slovak Americans and the Czech and Slovak Independence Movements in World War I 19

2 The Transatlantic Slovak Question during the Founding of Czechoslovakia 38

3 The Interwar Years and Transatlantic Dialogue 67

4 The United States and the Diplomacy of the First Slovak Republic 92

5 World War II and the Slovaks in America 118

6 Postwar Czechoslovakia and the Transatlantic Slovak Question 149

7 Slovak Americans in Czechoslovakia's Communist Era 181

Archival Collections 201

Notes 203

Index 275

Editorial Reviews

At last, we have a book by a professional historian that documents the important role American Slovaks played in the development of Slovak national identity, the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, and the autonomy movement throughout its history. Slovak leaders in the U.S. always knew about this, but the general public did not, and many scholars of Czechoslovakia largely ignored it. Michael R. Cude’s book will restore the leading role of American Slovaks to its rightful place in the history of the ill-fated Czechoslovak Republic.” —M. Mark Stolarik, University of Ottawa
 

“Cude examines the Slovaks in America and their relationship to their homeland. They became instrumental in the development of Czechoslovakia during the First World War. Yet, following the war, they were marginalized, even vilified by both Prague and Washington despite efforts to continue to advocate on behalf of their co-nationals before the 1948 communist coup virtually ended their role. This study is an important addition for our understanding of both East Central European and American history and politics.” —Gregory Ference, Salisbury University
 

"A much-needed history of the efforts of American Slovaks on behalf of their countrymen in Europe." and "Cude’s book is a good corrective to the numerous histories of the ill-fated Czechoslovak Republic written by leading scholars in the West." —M. Mark Stolarik, Emeritus

From the Publisher