Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22
SLOVAKIA NOW CENTER
OF POLITICAL INTRIGUE
Unhappy in Union With Czechs, Terri
tory Becomes Storm Center in 3
Central Europe.
Continued From Third Pase.)

Lorraine OF which the OUTSIDE World
knows very little.
the presence among the 100000 in
habitants of Slovakia of large number
NJ Magyars. Depending on whether the
S1echS or the HungarianS do the count
snS. the census figures Of the Magyar
minority vary between 100000 and
100000 They are a purely Magyar
sock and they wish nothing so ardently
as to rejoin their co-nationals. They
fill the ears of Budapest with the stories
of their woes. Theirs is an additional
problem which the qualification of Slo-
vakian aspirations could not solve.
The estrangement on the part of Slo-
vakia became more articulate when 1t
was discovered that her religious views
we're opposed to those Of Bohemia and
Moravia, the two western sections of
the republic The SlovakS are devoted
to the Roman Catholic Church and In
their lives the village priest plays a
leading role. The CZechs, on the other
hand. during the three centuries that
they we're under the heels of the Haps-
burgs came to identify the Roman
Church with the House of Austria, which
proudly bore the title of defenders OF
the true faith" Czech independence
therefore entailed efforts to emancipate
themselves from religious allegiance
which, they maintained, had been forced
upon them by the jealous Vienna court.
The Czech National Church came into
being. offlcially in 1920, and one year
later it had more than half million
adherents. The new church shows
much resemblance to the high church
branch Of the Episcopal creed.
Growth of Atheism.
Patriotic feeling thus came to be
iianfiHad with onfi-Coth0liriSOn which
was reinforced by a strong movement of
atheism. In the years following the
establishment of the republic the num-
Der of those who disclaimed all connec-
ton with organized religion rose to I'M
precedented heights. Such exhibition
Of anti-Roman sentiment did not tend
to endear the Czechs to the devout
Elovaks.
Another cause of disaffection was the
different spiritual character and men
tally of the two most important parts
Of the republic. Bohemia is a pre-
dominantly industrial country. while
Slovakia is agricultural. Bohemia S
type of civilization is urban, Slovakia S
Is rural. The Czech village has all the
mechanical comforts of the machine
civilization. The Slovak village has all
the picturesque inconvenience and filth
Of the pre-machine culture. Her roads
are narrow and are not so much means
of transportation as ineXhausttbie sup
plies of sand in fair weather, and of
mud after a rain. Its inhabitants cling
to the tallow candle and the wooden
pillow. Their ramshackle houses are
overcrowded and wooden, too, and their
insanitary condition may be responsible
for the ravages of tuberculosis.
Bohemia is rich in fertile land, min
eral resources and water power. Slo-
vskia is poor in everything, except
mountain scenery. The average Slovak
is a shepherd, woodchopper or tinker,
and he lives on monotonous daily fare
Of potatoes and coarse bread.
Bohemian Is Educated.
The Bohemian Is educated-illiteracy
d practically unknown among them.
The Slovak, except for the city popula-
ton, often lacks the most elementary
education. In Bohemia public opinion
crystallizes quickly and with remark
able precision. In Slovakia public
opinion follows the line of least resist
ance and is mostly compounded OF
superstition and prejudices. Briefly, the
Czechs, or Behemians, as they were
called under the old regime, stand near
the summit of contemporary civiliZa-
ton, while the Slovaks stand near the
bottom
The prevailing conditions in Slovakia
6IC GOj 1dulb VI L1lC (DCIIos WIN
are doing their best to remedy them
They are the outcome of centuries OF
oppression to which the Slovaks had
been subjected by their Hungarian
taskmasters. Although the Hungarian
law of nationalities provided for the use
of the Slovakian language in the
schools, in the administration at court
that nl-starred law merely served the
purpose Of camouhaging Slovakia's rea
plight before an inquisitive world. A
handful Of Magyar county officials, ir
league with a handful of aristocratS
whose feudal ideas we're out OF place
even among the ranges of the Carpa-
thians. have perpetuated a system Of
thralldom from the consequences Of
which the country still suffers.
Political Graft Rampant.
The Czechs-not their leaders, but
subordinate of1cials-haye taken ad'
vantage of the existing conditions, anc
now the Slovakians complain that they
have been reduced TO the position Of
colonials and that their country has be-
come the happy hunting ground OF ad'
venturers and INSCRIPTIONS politicians
bent on their ACKNOWLEDGMENT and un
mindful Of their obligations.
The Slovakian cities are exceptions
from the general backwardness of thu
country. Bradshaw, whose Hungarian
name was Pozsony; Koshice (Kassa)
Preshov (Eperies), Kazmarok (Kezs
mark offer the best civilization ha'
produced. They were originally settled
by Germans. and it was only in TIT
course of centuries that the rullnI
Magyars transformed them IN tAel
own image. In the sixteenth ant
seventeenth centuries, when the Tur
kish threads disorganized Hungary
trade. these cities were outside the zon
of Ottoman invasion. and became tn
benehciaries Of an unexpected Stlmulu
70 their business. TIE impetus u
whatever public opinion may hav
taken shape in Slovakia came moStl.
from these cultural centers.
The controversy as to the racial de
scent of the Slovaks is an essential fac
tor of the Slovakian problem. TIL
Czechs say that the SlovakS are CzechS
Most of the SloyakS say that the Slo
vaks are SloYaks The discussion Is o
more than academic interest, becaus
If the Slovaks are Czechs, then the
have no right to complain about thei
present plight and their place Is in
unified Czecnosloyak state.
Origin Of Kingdom.
The Czech version of the Slovak,
eenealogy is that in the seventh centur
the Czech chieftain Same defeated tn
Avars and Franks and established
kingdom which included the Slovak
This was the origin of the Great Nc
rsvian Empire which extende" from tn
Spree in Prussia TO Bulgaria. In Tn
reign of Syatopluk. Duke Of Moravis
his enemy, Arnull. Duke of Panonis
called in the Magyars to help him. tn
Magyars obtained control of what
today Slovakia.
Those OF the Slovaks who do not &C
cept the official version Of their orgi
point out that they are a differer
branch Of the Slavic family, not re