Magyar-szlovák kapcsolatok 1939-1941 között a két állam diplomáciai irataiban
Hungarian-Slovak Relations in 1939-1941 as Reflected in Diplo-matic Records

Summary/Abstract: Initially, the leaders of Slovakia tried to make their citizens cherish the illusion that their country could stay neutral, like Switzerland, in the neighbourhood of Germany, Hungary and Poland. The reality, however, was different. Right after its creation, Slovakia lost its independence. On March 23, 1939, it signed a treaty of defence (the Schutzvertrag) with the German Empire, which guaranteed the country's independence for 25 years. In return, Slovakia committed itself to handle matters of foreign policy and the organization of its armed forces in close cooperation with the German government and army. Besides, ac-cording to the treaty, the Germans were given the opportunity to gradually gain control over the economic life of the Slovak state and even to intervene in its internal affairs. From the very beginning, the Slovak Republic was a puppet of German power politics, its inde-pendence was subject to the interests of German foreign policy. Throughout the war, this dependence did leave its mark on the relations of Hungary and Slovakia. The diplomatic relations of Slovakia and Hungary between 1939 and 1941 were domi-nated from the start by four main problems: the status of Upper Hungary, the problems of the minorities living there, reciprocity, and courting the favour of the Germans at the ex-pense of the other. The reciprocity principle became a determinant element in the relations of the two states. This gave birth to grievances on both sides, which were nursed until the end of the war and impeded the process of reconciliation between the two states as well as the possibility of a common action against the Germans when the appropriate moment came. It is the important events of this period that I made an attempt to describe using Hungarian, Slovak and German archival sources.

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