The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1997/The_Epic_Interactive_Encyclopedia_97.iso/menufiles/europedia/slovakia.txt

Text File | 1992-09-02 | 2KB | 25 lines

Slovakia is a republic in central Europe. Slavs first settled there in the
fifth century. The territory was incorporated into the Magyar Empire and
became part of the Hungarian kingdom in the eleventh century. After Hungary
was defeated by the Turks in the Battle of Mohac in 1526 part of Slovakia
was occupied by the victors. The rest was to eventually come under the rule
of the Austro Hungarian Empire. During the latter half of the eighteenth
century the Slovaks resisted attempts to impose Magyar culture on them.
After many Slovaks fought on the victorious side of the Allies in the First
World War Slovakia united with Czech territories to create the state of
Czechoslovakia in 1918. Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and in 1939 Slovakia
became a separate, independent republic under Nazi control. But in 1945 the
Soviets liberated the Slovakia which returned to the Republic of
Czechoslovakia. A coup in 1948 resulted in a Communist government being
established. The Prague Spring movement sought to free the country from the
repression of the Communist regime but it was put down by an invasion of
Soviet led Warsaw Pact forces. In 1989 Communist rule came to an end. In
1993 the Republic of Czechoslovakia formally dissolved and two new sovereign
states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, were created. Slovakia has found
the transition from heavily subsidised state industries to private
enterprise to be a difficult exercise. However, the economy seems to have
stabilised and the economic reforms which are increasing privatisation
continue at pace. The chief religion is Roman Catholicism; Slovak is the
official language although Czech and Hungarian are also widely spoken.