Slovakia commemorates Andrej Hlinka - the driving force behind Slovak independence

In 1905, the first ever Slovak political party was formed and until today its leader, Andrej Hlinka, is considered one of the driving forces behind the long and windy road towards an independent Slovak state, which came to being almost 85 years later. Nevertheless, Andrej Hlinka, is also a controversial figure in Slovak history. As a nationalist politician active in both the Hungarian monarchy and Czechoslovakia, he was almost always in opposition. On September 27, Slovak's commemorated Andrej Hlinka on the 140th anniversary of his birth.

"We should now decide if we follow Hungarians or Czechs. Co-existence with Hungarians did not work out well, we should now decide correctly," said Andrej Hlinka in 1918. The establishment of a common Czechoslovak Republic is connected mainly with the name of general Milan Rastislav Stefanik. His diplomatic contacts abroad did a lot towards the creation of the independent Austro-Hungarian breakaway state.

Martin Holak is a political sciences PhD student at the Slovak Academy of Sciences:

"Stefanik was one of the few Slovak politicians in exile. On the other hand, there were dozens of politicians similar to Hlinka active in politics at home. Moreover, their activities were curtailed by WWI."

Together with Milan Rastislav Stefanik, Hlinka has become the most recognised politician in Slovakia. Martin Holak:

"Hlinka died in 1938. During the 20 years of living in the common Czechoslovak state, he had done a lot not only in politics but also in social life of Slovakia. He founded several banks, orphanages, primary schools and cultural centres. He became renowned, however, for demanding Slovak autonomy."

In the first Czechoslovak elections, Hlinka's Slovak People's Party won the biggest share of the Slovak vote. The party's representatives felt strong enough to pursue their demands for autonomy. These requests were not met until the creation of an independent Slovak state shortly before the beginning of WWII.

"It is interesting that the older generation of People's Party politicians had never talked about separating from the Czechs. All they wanted was autonomy. This proved to be a good idea later on in 1968 when the Czechoslovak Federative Republic was declared."

At the beginning of the 1930's a new determined generation of politicians appeared on the scene with a more radical attitude than that of Hlinka's followers. Their radicalism contributed to Slovakia's severance from the Czechs even if this meant being one of Nazi Germany's closest allies. Although Andrej Hlinka died 6 months before the declaration of an independent Slovak state in March 1939, he was adopted as one of the symbols of the pro-Nazi republic. Slovak police sullied his name when they christened the Slovak Nazi police troops Hlinka's Guard.

"It is unfair to label a Hlinka follower an extremist. Hlinka was no extremist. He was pursuing his political goal of autonomy in relation to Czechoslovakia. His name is connected with institutions which were antithetical to democratic principles, principles central to his political philosophy."

Andrej Hlinka's efforts helped to raise the Slovak national political consciousness. He can be seen as the founder of the modern Christian Democratic tradition in this country. For nationalist oriented parties he represents one of the fathers of the Slovak nation. Liberals see Hlinka as a skilful politician who in adhering to the principles of the Catholic Church, improved the position of the poor, and sought to establish a pluralist parliamentary system and secure equal rights for the Slovak nation.