Realita národnej jednoty v ľudáckom režime na príklade modelovej obce Diviacka Nová Ves
The Reality of National Unity in the Ludaks Regime Based on the Example of a Model Municipality Diviacka Nová Ves

Summary/Abstract: The internal stability of Czechoslovakia in 1938 was undermined by the high proportion of national minorities, most of whom were hostile towards the Czechoslovak state. A similar stance was adopted by Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party, whose political objective was the attainment of Slovak autonomy. The weakening of the common state helped with the successful enforcement of this demand. After seizing power in Slovakia, the party’s politicians recognized that without control over local self-government, the exercise of political authority over autonomous Slovakia would remain incomplete. Government commissioners were therefore appointed to head municipalities, tasked with ensuring the smooth implementation of the new political power’s directives in the regions. This study focuses on the municipality of Diviacka Nová Ves, where the transfer of power to the People’s Party produced a peculiar situation. In the struggle for a newly established post, leaders of two competing fractions within the municipal organisation of the People´s party stood against one another. The conflict was accompanied by nepotism, clientelism, and corruption - phenomena that the new Slovak state under the People’s Party leadership had promised to eliminate. The case described constitutes evidence that the slogans about eradicating these negative practices under the new political power were mere populist rhetoric.

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