Tiso and Slovak Independence

Since Munich, Czecho-Slovakia is a weakened state, shorn of the Sudetenland and hastily federalised. Slovakia holds autonomy within it, led by the People's Party of Msgr Jozef Tiso, a Catholic priest and nationalist. But Prague and Bratislava are at each other's throats, and Hitler watches for the chance to complete the dismemberment.

On 13 March 1939, Tiso is summoned to Berlin. Hitler delivers a coercive speech: either Slovakia immediately proclaims its independence under German protection, or he abandons it to the appetites of Hungary and Poland, who would carve up the country. A draft declaration of independence, written by the Germans, is handed to him.

Tiso is trapped. To proclaim independence is to gain a state — but a vassal one, bound to the Reich. To refuse is to risk Slovakia's carve-up by its neighbours. Remaining in a dying Czecho-Slovakia offers no guarantee. Back in Bratislava, he must put the decision to the Slovak Diet, under the pressure of the German timetable. The future of the Slovak nation is decided in a few hours.