Slovakia's climate lies between the temperate and continental climate zones with relatively warm summers and cold, cloudy, humid winters. It is predominantly a rugged, mountainous country, dotted with many lakes and crossed by significant tributaries of the Danube including the Rivers Hron and Vah, Slovakia's longest river at 403 km. The Danube itself, which forms the border with Austria and part of Hungary, connects Slovakia to ports on the Black Sea and European harbours via the Rhine-Main waterway. With the Carpathian Mountains extending across most of the northern half of the country, more than 80% of the country is at over 750m above sea level. Most of Slovakia's mountain ranges are blanketed in vast, dense forests; some 45% of the country is forested. With significant Karst limestone terrain, the country is riddled with caves, some spectacular in scale and formations. The Danube basin separates the Alps from the Carpathian mountains, the eastern wing of the great European Central Mountain range, which form the craggy 2,600m high border with Poland as the High Tatras (see relief map right).

After 1,000 years of cultural repression by the Hungarian Magyars, followed by 75 years of playing second fiddle to the Czechs within Czechoslovakia, the Slovaks finally gained their political and therefore cultural independence in 1993 (see history section below). After the initial celebrations of independence however, life proved much harder for the Slovaks than the Czechs. In the following decade, the 2 republics continued to grow apart politically and economically, but with no internationally recognised figurehead to bolster the Slovak image, the new Republic found it difficult jockeying for position within Europe. Political instability, corruption and slow pace of reforms initially deterred overseas investors and drew criticism from abroad, though the country has since recovered and joined both NATO and the EU in 2004. Slovakia has since implemented the Schengen border rules and is planned to adopt the euro in 2009 if it continues to meet euro adoption criteria. In the meantime, the country's currency continues to be the Slovak koruna (SKK - currently 1£= 38.5 SKK).

Slovakia's economy has mastered much of the difficult transition from previous centrally planned economy to a modern market economy with government making good progress during 2001-04 in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform: major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and the government has helped facilitate a foreign investment boom with business friendly policies such as labour market liberalization and a 19% flat tax. Slovakia's economic growth exceeded expectations in 2001-07 despite the general European slowdown, and foreign investment particularly in the automotive industry has been strong. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 18% in 2003-04, dropped to 8.6% in 2007 but remains the economy's weak point.

World War 1 and after:  at the outbreak of WW1, Czechs and Slovaks refused to fight alongside their old enemies, the Austrians and Hungarians, against brother Slavs and many defected to form the Czechoslovak Legion to fight on the Eastern Front. In 1915, the Czech nationalist leaders Tomáš Masaryk and Edvard Beneš together with the Slovak Milan Štefánik campaigned tirelessly with the Allies to win support for an independent Czechoslovak state. The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in October 1918 brought firm commitment from the Allies to the immediate creation of the new state, Czechoslovakia, with recognition of Masaryk as head of the Provisional Czechoslovak government. In 1920 he was elected Czechoslovakia's first President. The Treaty of Trianon, imposed by the victorious Allies at Versailles in 1920, honoured the commitment to an independent Czechoslovakia by confirming the controversial Slovak-Hungarian border along the Danube. The carve-up of former Greater Hungary left some ¾ million ethnic Hungarians in the new Czechoslovakia and a similar number of Slovaks stranded in the now much reduced Hungary.

Inter-war years and the First Czechoslovak Republic:  the new state of Czechoslovakia began post-WW1 life in a buoyant economic position, having inherited some 80% of former Austro-Hungary's industry and mineral wealth in Slovakia. A major issue however was the ethnic mix of its population which in 20 years would prove its downfall: along with 6 million Czechs and 2 million Slovaks were 3 million Sudeten Germans, ¾ million Magyars, together with other minorities such as Ruthenians, Jews and Poles. The survival of Czechoslovakia's First Republic was due to Masaryk's political skill and standing. His vision of social democracy characterised the nation's new constitution, one of the most liberal of the time, aimed at reducing ethnic and class tensions with universal suffrage, land reform and respect for minority languages. By the end of the 1920s, the republic was enjoying an economic boom, cultural renaissance and ethnic harmony. The 1929 Wall Street Crash plunged the country into economic crisis and political instability. Slovak nationalists led by Hlinka campaigned for greater autonomy, and encouraged by the rise of Hitler, the Sudeten Germans demanded outright independence. Having been twice re-elected, Masaryk resigned as President in 1935 due to ill-health. He died in 2 years later, to be succeeded by the less capable Edvard Beneš who at the end of WW1 in 1918 had became Masaryk's Foreign Minister. Beneš refused to bow to Sudeten demands for secession to the German Reich. French and British policy of appeasement attempted to satisfy Hitler's demands for German Lebensraum, and in one of the most treacherous betrayals of modern diplomacy, Chamberlain and Daladier signed the Munich Agreement with Hitler in September 1938. Despite the British Prime Minister's assertion that his infamous piece of paper supposedly brought "peace in our time", Hitler now had carte blanche for the annexation of the Sudetenland and subsequent invasion of Czechoslovakia.

World War II:  Beneš and the Czechs could justifiably feel betrayed by their Western allies, as Chamberlain openly declared that Britain would not go to war "because of a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing". Beneš resigned in 1938, going into voluntary exile and in 1941 established a provisional Czech government in London. Hitler duly annexed the Sudetenland and invaded the rest of Czech territory, setting up the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The Slovak People's Party extremist nationalistic leader and Catholic priest Jozef Tiso was given an ultimatum by Hitler: either declare independence as a German puppet state or suffer invasion. Wartime Slovakia's 'independence' lasted until 1945; Tiso installed a Nazi-style dictatorship and deported all Slovak Jews to German extermination camps. The people were terrorised into acquiescence by his fascist Hlinka Guards, named after the controversial Slovak nationalist. After the 1941 assassination of Himmler's SS-deputy, Reinhard Heydrich in Prague, German reprisals cowed the Czech population into submission with little active resistance. In Slovakia however as German defeat seemed inevitable by 1944, the Slovak resistance movement attempted all-out rebellion in the central mountains region. The partisan Slovak National Uprising (Slovenské Narodné Povstanie - SNP) anticipated support from the Red Army invading from the east. The Soviets however were delayed fighting a way through the Carpathians; the battle to cross the Dukla Pass from Poland cost the Red Army 85,000 dead. The Uprising was crushed by superior German forces and ruthless reprisals followed: 93 villages were razed and over 5,000 citizens shot or sent to concentration camps. Any pretence of Slovak independence was abandoned with full-scale German occupation.  In 1945, the Red Army finally 'liberated' Slovakia, and Czechoslovakia was again united as a centralised state governed from Prague. Liberation was followed by violent reprisals against suspected collaborators and 2.5 million Germans were forcibly expelled from the country. Tiso fled but was captured, tried for war crimes and hanged in 1947. He remains a controversial figure today, a rallying focus for right-wing extremists.

Post-war Communist rule (1945~1968):  Beneš returned as President in 1945 and remained head of state until shortly before his death three years later. He was succeeded by Klement Gottwald leader of the Slovak Communist Party (KSČ). The Party began to consolidate its control of both the country and society. As the Cold War intensified, Communist Party membership initially soared and the most popular Communist coup in Eastern Europe was achieved without bloodshed or direct Soviet intervention. A new constitution confirmed the leading role of the Communist Party in heading the 'Dictatorship of the proletariat'. A concerted programme of Stalinisation followed with 5-year plans, collectivisation, nationalisation of industry, arrests, show-trials and gulags for political opponents. In the aftermath, thousands more Czechs and Slovaks fled abroad. Gottwald died in 1953 soon after Stalin's death, but despite popular demonstrations, the regime's hardline rule persisted; the purges, arrests and show-trials continued. The authoritarian Party First Secretary, Antonin Novotny, became President in 1957, but despite some cultural thaw and attempts at reform, worsening economic stagnation led to more generalised protests against Communist hardline leadership. Opposition against Novotny united to replace him as First Secretary with the young Slovak leader Alexander Dubček.

The Prague Spring and Velvet Revolution (1968~1989):  swept along by the wave of popular reformist enthusiasm, Dubček abolished censorship; in early 1968 civic society, for so long repressed by the strictures of Stalinism suddenly came alive in what became known as the Prague Spring. The reform movement gathered momentum, but the programme of political liberalisation, freedom of expression, assembly and travel (dubbed 'socialism with a human face') provoked a reactionary backlash from hardliners in Moscow: Warsaw Pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia and TV pictures showed Soviet tanks crushing street protests in Prague. The short-lived Spring was over; the broken Dubček was expelled from the Party, forced from office and reduced to a demeaning job. The conservative Gustáv Husák became President in 1969 and reversed almost all of Dubček's reforms. The KSČ reasserted its absolute control over the state and society, infamously known as 'normalisation', and a further wave of emigrants fled the country. During the 1970s, Husák's security apparatus quashed all forms of dissent but managed to appease the outraged civil population with relatively satisfactory living standards. The 1980s however brought greater levels of dissent, particularly among the young, against the ruthlessly harsh regime. The impact of perestroika on Soviet politics under Mikhail Gorbachev heralded change: with declining economic performance, the KSČ faced increasing opposition despite continued attempts to suppress dissent. The protest movement gathered momentum; with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, one-party Communist rule collapsed in Czechoslovakia amid riots and demonstrations calling for democracy and restoration of civil liberties and human rights. Husák resigned as president and died almost forgotten in 1991. Following the bloodless Velvet Revolution which toppled Communism, 1990 saw the first democratic elections in Czechoslovakia since the 1948 Communist coup. The Czech playwright Václav Havel, who had lead the human rights Charter 77 movement, was elected as President.

Velvet Divorce and Slovak Independence (1990~2006):  Czechoslovakia began the new decade in a mood of optimism, with the new democratically elected government facing the challenges of transforming the outmoded and failing command-system culture into a market economy which could compete with its EU neighbours. Following the Velvet Revolution however, Slovak nationalistic feeling ran high with demands for autonomy from federation with the Czechs. In 1992 the left-wing Movement for Democratic Slovakia was elected to government, headed by the populist Prime Minister Vladimir Mečiar, a staunch supporter of Slovak independence. On 1 January 1993, after 74 years of troubled existence, Czechoslovakia was officially divided into two sovereign states (the Czech and Slovak Republics) in what became known as the Velvet Divorce. The early years of Slovak independence were marred by struggling economy, high unemployment and political instability. The authoritarian Mečiar, a former boxer with bellicose personality (see left), faced allegations of corruption, political interference in the media and inflammatory comments about the country's large Hungarian minority. He secured a second term in 1994, but incurred constant criticism from opponents and the West for his autocratic political style, lack of respect for democracy, corruption and shady privatisation of national companies. The most embarrassing episode in Slovakia's recent history was the 1997 national referendum on NATO membership and also the voting method for selecting the national president. Ballot papers were tampered with and Mečiar's boorish response to journalists' questions ("That's none of your business") together with the Mečiar government's high-handedness resulted in Slovakia's international isolation and removal from the first group of east European countries queuing for EU membership. Mečiar managed to cling to office until the 1998 elections when a right-wing coalition formed the new government led by Prime Minister Mikulás Dzurinda. Under Dzurinda's sound, west-looking government, the economy began to recover, foreign investment increased, and Slovakia was re-admitted to the EU and NATO accession queue. Dzurinda managed to secure a second term as Prime Minister in 2002, and in 2004 Slovakia joined the largest EU expansion along with 9 other states.

Current Slovak Politics and Society:  Robert Fico's left-wing Social Democrat Party (SMER) won the elections in 2006, but were only able to form a government through a bizarre coalition with the ultra-right-wing Slovak National Party led by Ján Slota and Mečiar's HZDS. Slota's SNS party is notorious for its extremist politics and harsh rhetoric, targeting minorities such as Hungarians, Roma gypsies and homosexuals. This government coalition with parties noted for their extremist policies has incurred critical reaction from European politicians who fear a setback to Slovakia's liberal economic reform programme begun by Dzurinda. As part of the coalition agreement, neither Slota or Mečiar hold government positions but they both exercise considerable power behind the scenes. It remains to be seen how the government will proceed with economic reforms, bearing in mind that Slovakia is billed to adopt the euro in 2009. As in many of the new eastern European states, corruption in Slovakia is rife and shows no sign of decreasing after accession to the EU. An energy crisis is looming with the imminent forced closure of the country's Soviet-designed nuclear reactors. But the most shameful facet of contemporary Slovak society is the fact the country's Roma population continues to be treated as second class citizens with low educational standards, high unemployment and poor prospects. Relationships with Hungary have steadily deteriorated with numerous attacks both physical and verbal on the Hungarian minority. All this despite the new Fico government's promise to clamp down on political extremism and attacks on ethnic minorities. It does not exactly inspire confidence with an extremist like Slota as part of the government coalition. Nevertheless more than a decade after independence, most Slovaks are happy to be back in the European fold, with a relatively stable pro-Western government and a growing economy.

So that's Slovakia's story so far. As always, we are looking forward to visiting the country, learning directly about its culture, understanding its progress in its early years of independence, and most importantly meeting lots of interesting people. As usual we'll be publishing regular updates to our web site, with news and pictures of our travels. Add the site to your Favourites and share our travels; we should welcome your companionship.