Prehistory Of Slovakia Timeline
The Slovakia History: The first preserved evidence of the settlement of Slovakia dates back to the end of the Paleolithic, approximately 250 thousand years ago. Climatically, it is a very long period of alternation of ice ages with interglacial periods. The find of a Neanderthal skull in Gánovce and the find of a statuette of Venus in Moravia come from this period. Around 5000–4000 BC, the first peasants appear (finds of stone axes, wedges, vessels in the Cave of Domica).
In the Bronze Age, there were a large number of different archaeological cultures in Slovakia. Their remains were also the finds of numerous bronze sickles, a chariot with wheels made of bent frames and traces of wooden structures built without the use of nails.
The Iron Age and the technologies associated with it probably came to Slovakia from the area of Anatolia or Italy. Iron, lead, gold and salt mining began to develop in Slovakia. For the first time, a pottery circle appeared here.
The first have settled as early as 5000 BC
Early Slovakia History Timeline: The territory of Slovakia has been inhabited since the earliest times. Gradually, several cultures developed here, which were struck in the 4th century BC by the expansion of the Celts and, at the turn of the century, by Germanic-Roman rivalry. At the time of the migration of peoples, the first Slavic inhabitants began to come here. After the Sami Empire in the middle of the 7th century, the central part of which was the territory of Slovakia, and the Principality of Nitra at the beginning of the 9th century, the Great Moravian Empire was founded here in 833 – the first common state of the ancestors of Czechs and Slovaks.
After the fall of Great Moravia at the beginning of the 10th century, the territory of Slovakia was absorbed by the Old Hungarian tribes, and the territory of Slovakia with its inhabitants became part of the Hungarian state for many millennia.
Arrival of the Celts in Slovakia History
Celt Slovakia History: Since the end of the 4th century BC, the first nominally known ethnic group – the Celts – has been coming to Slovakia in several waves. Written mentions of their presence have been preserved in Roman sources.
The Celts created several fortified settlements – oppids. Some of them, such as the Bratislava Oppidum, have since been proven to be continuously populated. However, most of them lived in small settlements, they built houses from wood, houses were locked with iron locks. The Celts were skilled craftsmen – blacksmiths, potters, coiners, farmers and merchants. They maintained close contacts with the Greek and Roman civilizations, which had a great influence on their culture.
In the 1st century BC, the Dacians arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia and there is a mixing of Celtic and Dacian population and culture. However, in 10 BC, the Dacians were defeated by the Romans and pushed the borders of the Roman Empire to the Middle Danube. The Dacian population disappeared from Slovakia sometime in the 1st century AD. The liquidation of most of the Celts was completed by the conquests of the Germans from the northwest. The Celts remained in the north of Slovakia until the 2nd century AD.
By the end of the 4th century, the Roman Empire was already in deep decline. The migration of peoples began, which contributed to the collapse of the Roman Empire. A large part of the indigenous population either fled the country or succumbed in battle to the new nations. At that time, many tribes, such as the Visigoths, Ostrogoths or Longobards and Gepids, passed through the territory of Slovakia as a result of the attack of the nomadic Huns. They created a center in the close neighborhood of Slovakia – between the Tisza and the Danube.
The arrival of the Slavs: Slovak history
One of the tribes that advanced in several waves into the country during this period were also the Slavs. The first waves came to our territory during the 5th and 6th centuries. Novice immigrants often remained to live among the indigenous population. The Slavs at that time colonized only about 10% of the territory, the rest was still a wild untouched land. They knew barley, millet, wheat, poppy, flax. They made a living from agriculture and cattle breeding. There were also capable craftsmen – especially jewelers and potters. In the west, the Slavs came into contact with the Frankish Empire. Since the Slavs initially did not take part in any major battles, very few written mentions from this period have been preserved.
In the middle of the 6th century, the Avar tribes invaded the Danube lowlands. The Slavs under their influence stopped burning their dead and began skeletal burial.
Sam’s Empire
Sam Empire in Slovakia History: In the 6th century, the Slavs fell under the control of the nomadic tribes of the Avars, which provoked several uprisings. One of them was also attended by a certain Frankish merchant Samo, who was eventually chosen by the Slavs for his bravery and military qualities as the king of the tribal union – the Sami Empire (623-658). After Sam’s death in 658, the tribal union of the Slavs again broke up.
Great Moravia in History about Slovakia
From the 8th century, Slavic tribes begin to unite again. In the first half of the 9th century, two new formations were created, the Moravian Principality (headed by Mojmír I) and the Principality of Nitra (headed by Pribina). In 833, Mojmír I expelled Pribina from the Principality of Nitra and united the two principalities to form Great Moravia. The exiled Pribina settles at Lake Blaten, where he builds the Blatnohrad fort.
The growth of the influence of the Great Moravian Empire provoked resistance from the East Franconian Empire. In an effort to get rid of East Frisian influence, the monarch Rastislav turned to Pope Nicholas I in 861 with a request for a bishop and priests to teach the clergy, but failed. With the same request, he turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael III, and in 863 he sent to Moravia teachers of the faith, headed by St. Michael III. Constantine and Methodius.
Constantine (before his death he also took the religious name Cyril) and Methodius, immediately after arriving in Moravia, founded the first Slavic school (Great Moravian School, where they taught the Slavic clergy), compiled the Slavic script – Glagolitic, introduced Old Slavonic into religious ceremonies and brought translations of liturgical and biblical texts that they had previously prepared. Their mission in Great Moravia represents an important stage in the history of the Slavs and Slovaks.
We have not preserved accurate information about the demise of Great Moravia. After the attack of the nomadic tribes of Hungarians under the command of Arpád in 906 or 907, Great Moravia probably lost its influence, gradually disintegrated and the territory of Slovakia began to be incorporated into the newly emerging Hungary.
Slovakia in Hungary
In 1000, Stephen I, who completed the process of forming Hungary, became the first Hungarian king. The territory of Slovakia became part of the Kingdom of Hungary for almost a thousand years. In the 16th century, the Turkish danger appears, since 1521 the Ottoman Empire stretches to Hungary. King Louis II Jagiellonian underestimated the danger, and on August 29, 1526, at the Battle of Mohács, the Hungarian army was defeated, and the king himself fell, drowning in the waves of the Danube. The defeat at the Battle of Mohács decided that the Turks ruled Hungary for the next 175 years.
The Turks were defeated only in 1683 near Vienna. The gradual expulsion of the Turks from Hungary began, finally completed in 1685.
In 1740, Maria Theresa ascends the throne. which is mainly known for its reforms. She reformed the army and founded manufactories, several also in Slovakia (Šaštín, Halič, Holíč). In agriculture, she supported the cultivation of new crops. It has also reformed the judiciary, commuted some sentences and adopted the principle that all citizens are formally equal in court. With the reform of education (Ratio educationis), it introduced compulsory schooling and laid the foundations for a more advanced education system.
Her son Joseph II continued the Reformation of Hungary. In 1781, he issued the so-called “patent of tolerance”, by which he gave Protestants and other non-Catholic confessions certain religious freedoms. In 1785, he abolished the county government and replaced it with ten state districts, moved many central Hungarian offices from Slovakia to Buda and abolished serfdom in Hungary (in 1781 in Bohemia).
Slovak National Revival: Slovak history
The process of formation of the Slovak nation had an extremely difficult course (oppression by the Hungarian nobility, Hungarian nationalism and repression on the territory of Slovakia). The intelligentsia, especially priests, is becoming a defender of Slovak rights. The main objectives were mainly the enactment of literary Slovak.
The first attempt to codify Slovak was made by the Catholic priest Jozef Ignác Bajza, who wrote the first novel in Slovak, René the Bachelor of Events and Experiences, published in 1783. However, his language form was not settled, so his proposal did not take hold.
History of Slovaks
The intelligentsia at that time was divided into Catholics and Evangelicals. Catholics demanded their own language for Slovaks, Evangelicals promoted biblical Czech, the unity of Czechs and Slovaks, and rejected the codification of literary Slovak.
In 1787, the Catholic priest Anton Bernolák codified literary Slovak (called Bernolákovčina) on the basis of the Western Slovak dialect.
The second successful codifier was Ľudovít Štúr. At the beginning of 1843, Štúr introduced his close friends to the idea of uniting both the Catholic and Evangelical currents of Slovaks on the basis of a single literary language. He chose the Central Slovak dialect as the basis, mainly because of its widespreadness, originality and intelligibility. On July 11, 1843, Ľ. Štúr, J. M. Hurban and M. M. Hodža met at the Hurbanova rectory in Deep, where they agreed on the procedure for putting Slovak into practice.
Slovakia after the dissolution of Hungary
Slovak history: On October 28, 1918, Slovakia became part of Czechoslovakia. Among the Slovak personalities, M. R. Štefánik was especially responsible for the establishment of the republic, who, as a diplomat in the service of France, helped T. G. Masaryk and E. Beneš establish contacts with representatives of the Treaty powers. He actively organized the formation of the Czechoslovak Legions, which led to the creation of a disciplined and actionable army, called the Czechoslovak Legions. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk became the first president of the country on November 14, 1918. Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia until 1939, when the first Slovak Republic was established.
- History of Slovakia and Czech Republic
After World War 2, Czechoslovakia was restored and fell into the sphere of influence of the USSR. On July 11, 1960, a new constitution was approved, which declared that socialism had triumphed in Czechoslovakia. The name Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR) was changed to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR) and the socialist state was officially proclaimed. The regime change, as well as the turn in foreign policy, occurred only after November 1989, when the so-called Velvet Revolution took place. Czechoslovakia again became a democratic state, oriented mainly towards the West.
In the spring of 1990, a constitutional law was adopted, including a change in the name of the entire state to the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (ČSFR). In June 1990, the first free elections were held in ČSFR. Shortly after the approval of the document Declaration on the Sovereignty of the Slovak Republic by the Slovak National Council (July 17, 1992), the winners of the Czech and Slovak elections agreed in Bratislava to divide the state.
How long has Slovakia been a country? On September 1, 1992, the Constitution of the Slovak Republic was adopted and signed on September 3, 1992. On January 1, 1993, the peaceful dissolution of ČSFR followed, the division of the country into present-day Slovakia and the Czech Republic. After 75 years of existence of a common state of Czechs and Slovaks, the Slovak Republic was formed, the first president of which was Michal Kováč.
Read More History of Hungary
References
History / About Slovakia / Introduction – slovake.eu
History – Slovakia.travel
The history of Slovakia, which every Slovak must master | slovander
History of Slovakia, History of Slovakia, Chronology of History, Historical Events (slovakiasite.com)
