Republic of Slovakia
Republic of Slovakia
Formation
After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Reich permitted the creation of the Republic of Slovakia, a state formally independent but in reality under direct German influence. Slovakia, strategic for its position in Central Europe and its role as a frontier against the East, quickly became a satellite controlled from Berlin and from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
The Coup of Otik Hlinka
In 1945, General of the Gendarmerie Otik Hlinka, a convinced nationalist and critic of the growing German interference, organized a coup d'état in Bratislava. He declared a Slovak Military State, promising to preserve national sovereignty against the Reich. His forces, composed of elements of the gendarmerie and some military units, occupied parliament and proclaimed an emergency government.
However, the German response was swift and brutal. Reinhard Heydrich, Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, coordinated the repression together with:
- Horst von Petersdorff, mountain division general (Gebirgsdivision).
- Maximilian Valtr, general of Bohemia and Moravia, with mechanized forces stationed in Prague.
Hlinka’s uprising was crushed in less than two weeks. Hlinka himself was arrested by the Gestapo and secretly executed in Prague.
Rise of Timotheus Istok
In the power vacuum left by the failed coup, Germany installed General Timotheus Istok as president. A disciplined officer loyal to the Reich, Istok was known more for obedience than charisma. He was presented as “the guarantor of stability,” but in practice he was a German military puppet.
Istok organized a National Military Council, which governed under strict supervision of German advisors. Domestic policy was reduced to obeying Berlin’s orders, while the economy was reorganized to support the German war industry.
Political and Military Situation
- The Slovak gendarmerie was purged after the failed coup, left under the control of pro-German officers.
- German troops remained in Slovak territory to “guarantee order.”
- The civilian population was placed under close surveillance by the Gestapo and German military intelligence.
Slovakia in 1946
Istok’s Republic of Slovakia was a nominal state, but in practice a disguised protectorate. The shadow of Heydrich in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the influence of German generals ensured that Bratislava remained a controlled enclave, vital for the Reich’s communications with Hungary, Ukraine, and the Balkans.
The memory of Hlinka’s coup persisted among underground nationalist groups, but any attempt at resistance was swiftly crushed. For the Reich, Slovakia was a secure pawn on the chessboard of Eastern Europe, although its stability depended entirely on the German military presence.
