page_title: Slovaks
section_title: Ethnogenesis
hierarchical_section_title: Slovaks / Ethnogenesis
caption_attribution_description: Slovenčina: Kráľ Svätopluk pochádzal z dynastie Mojmírovcov, od 50. rokov 9. storočia bol knieža Nitrianskeho kniežatstva, v rokoch 871-894 tretím a najvýznamnejších panovníkom Veľkej Moravy.
context_page_description: The Slovaks are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak the Slovak language.
  In Slovakia, c. 4.4 million are ethnic Slovaks of 5.4 million total population. There are Slovak minorities in many neighboring countries including Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine and sizeable populations of immigrants and their descendants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States among others, which are collectively referred to as the Slovak diaspora.
context_section_description: The early Slavs came to the territory of Slovakia in several waves from the 5th and 6th centuries and were organized on a tribal level. Original tribal names are not known due to the lack of written sources before their integration into higher political units. Weakening  of tribal consciousness was probably accelerated by Avars, who did not respect tribal differences in the controlled territory and motivated remaining Slavs to join together and to collaborate on their defense. In the 7th century, Slavs (probably including some Slovak ancestors) founded larger tribal union: Samo's empire. Regardless of Samo's empire, the integration process continued in other territories with various intensities.
  The final fall of the Avar Khaganate allowed new political entities to arise. The first such political unit documented by written sources is the Principality of Nitra, one of the foundations of later common ethnic consciousness. At this stage in history it is not yet possible to assume a common identity of all Slovak ancestors in the territory of eastern Slovakia, even if it was inhabited by closely related Slavs. The Principality of Nitra become a part of Great Moravia, a common state of (later) Moravians and Slovaks (Czech ancestors were joined only for a few years). The relatively short existence of Great Moravia prevented it from suppressing differences which resulted from its creation from two separate entities, and therefore a common "Slovak-Moravian" ethnic identity failed to develop. The early political integration in the territory of present-day Slovakia was however reflected in linguistic integration. While dialects of early Slovak ancestors were divided into West Slavic (western and eastern Slovakia) and non-West Slavic (central Slovakia), between the 8th and 9th centuries both dialects merged, thus laying the foundations of a later Slovak language.
  The 10th century is a milestone in the Slovak ethnogenesis. The fall of Great Moravia and further political changes supported their formation into a separate nation. At the same time, with the extinction of the Proto-Slavic language, between the 10th and 13th centuries Slovak evolved into an independent language (simultaneously with other Slavic languages). The early existence of the Kingdom of Hungary positively influenced the development of common consciousness and companionship among Slavs in the Northern Hungary, not only within boundaries of present-day Slovakia. The clear difference between Slovaks and Hungarians made adoption of specific name unnecessary and Slovaks preserved their original name (in Latin e.g. Slavus), which was also used in communication with other Slavic peoples (Polonus, Bohemus, Ruthenus). In political terms, the medieval Slovaks were a part of the multi-ethnic political nation Natio Hungarica, together with Hungarians (or, more exactly, Magyars), Slavonians, Germans, Romanians and other ethnic groups in the Kingdom of Hungary. Since a medieval political nation did not consist of ordinary people but nobility, membership of the privileged class was necessary for all these peoples (nobiles Hungary).
  Like other nations, the Slovaks began to transform into a modern nation from the 18th century under the idea of national romanticism. The modern Slovak nation is the result of radical processes of modernization within the Habsburg Empire which culminated in the middle of the 19th century. The transformation process was slowed down by conflict with Hungarian nationalism and the ethnogenesis of the Slovaks become a political question, particularly regarding their deprivation and preservation of their language and national rights. In 1722, Michal Bencsik, professor of law at the University of Trnava, published theory that nobility and burghers of Trenčín should not have same privileges as Hungarians, because they are descendants of Svatopluk's people (inferior to Magyars). Neither Bencsik nor his Slovak opponent Ján Baltazár Magin put the continuity of settlement into serious question. Also, the first history of Slovaks written by Georgius Papanek (or Jura
caption: The statue of Svätopluk I
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