Line #15 UsefulNotes/Slovakia


1	[[quoteright:346:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/54b2f4f1f8d24dd786e06fa33b8e399a_7123.gif]]
2
3	Slovakia ('''Slovak:''' ''Slovensko''), also known as the Slovak Republic ('''Slovak:''' ''Slovenská republika''), is a country located in UsefulNotes/CentralEurope and Eastern Europe. [[LesserStar The other half of the former Czechoslovakia]]. Less famous, formerly poorer and with less people (it has a rather low birth rate too), the ''Slovenská republika'' (Slovak Republic) became independent in 1993 in the [[VelvetRevolution Velvet Divorce]]. Linguistically and culturally, it is a western Slavic country, just like UsefulNotes/{{Poland}} and UsefulNotes/TheCzechRepublic. It has a lot of mountains, with [[SceneryPorn the Carpathians]] taking up much of the country. The Gerlach Peak in the alpine-like High Tatras (in the northern part of country) is the highest mountain of the entire Carpathians. The southern portions of the country have three lowlands of varying size (all of them a northern extension of the Danubian/Pannonian lowlands). They're Slovakia's main breadbasket.
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5	The ethnic minorities mostly correspond to the nationalities of the surrounding countries, the biggest being the 8.5% of ethnic Hungarians in the south. Considering the fact that during the glory days of Austria-Hungary, a lot of Hungarians (especially their leadership) tried their best to pretend there was no such thing as a Slovak nation (or any Slavic nation, for that matter) within their territory, a lot of Slovaks aren't thrilled about having a bunch of them still living in Slovakia. The historical bad blood between both countries that started in the 19th century has led to various culture clashes over the years, with a recent highly-publicized law about the usage of the Slovak language getting eventually skewered by UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion. Thankfully, most of the population of modern-day UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} and Slovakia ''[[AvertedTrope aren't and never were]]'' a bunch of militaristic nationalists, like the people of former UsefulNotes/{{Yugoslavia}}.
6
7	!The country's history during the 20th century
8
9	A collection of a number of different ethnicities (Czechs, Slovaks, Germans, Hungarians and Ukrainians), Czechoslovakia was first formed shortly before the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, between October 28 and 30, 1918, at a time when Austria-Hungary was already falling apart into a collection of new nation-states. Czechoslovakia's independence was solidified in the Treaty of Versailles and the hard-to-define Slovak-Hungarian border was settled according to then-existing statistics about the ethnicity of local populations. In the [[GenteelInterbellumSetting Interwar Period]], Czechoslovakia prospered and was perhaps the most consistently democratic of the new central European states, but its diversity also made it potentially vulnerable. The government didn't mistreat ethnic minorities, but was nevertheless suspicious of them, because Czechs and Slovaks only had a relatively narrow ethnic majority for their nation-state (Czech-born Germans being the third largest group back then, even larger than the entire Slovak population).
10
11	In an attempt to justify the Czech and Slovak majority and the country's independence, the government had to resort to the invention of an odd political idea known as "Czechoslovakism": The cultural and political oneness of Czechs and Slovaks. Unfortunately, this caused several problems, especially in later years, because the country wasn't federalized as was promised back in the days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, and both ethnic groups still weren't fully equal in managing domestic politics and economy. Many Slovaks also felt cheated by the misuse of Czechoslovakism as a cheap excuse for glossing over unique issues and economic situations endemic to their part of the republic, and for not fulfilling the promise to give Slovakia more decentralized self-rule, as opposed to direct rule from Prague. As if this wasn't enough, Germans and Hungarians also wanted a bit more autonomy, also formerly promised at Versailles, but similarly not delivered. As World War I became a thing of the past, people in other European countries (like the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom) started to feel sorry for Czech Germans -- who weren't maltreated but didn't have any political autonomy -- but this sentiment was ultimately hijacked by ThoseWackyNazis and used as an excuse to gradually take control of the country.
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13	Prague was pretty untouched. The Czechoslovaks were not. Hundreds of thousands went to death camps and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidice_massacre the Lidice massacre]], one of the most notorious war crimes of the war, took place. As Slavs, the Nazis considered the Czechs subhuman and fit only for labor. As the remaining Czech lands were made into a protectorate of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, Slovakia itself became an independent country for the first time in history -- [[LesCollaborateurs but it was actually nothing more than a puppet state of Germany]], very similar to [[VichyEarth Vichy France]]. And although they often acted like a laughable example of the "FascistButInefficient" trope, [[TheQuisling local Nazi sympathizers sitting in Bratislava]] still managed to eagerly send nearly all Slovak Jews into the camps. Thankfully, the Czech and Slovak anti-Nazi LaResistance later [[MisfitMobilizationMoment got their act together]] and proved absolutely vital in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Anthropoid assassination]] of UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich, head of the Czech and Moravian Protectorate (though at the horrifying cost of the aforementioned Lidice massacre).
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15	As if that wasn't badass enough, after much careful planning, they managed to launch one of the largest and most determined anti-Nazi uprisings of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_National_Uprising on August 29, 1944]], and though it was ultimately crushed by the Nazis, [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning it certainly helped a lot in quelling their presence in central Europe, helping pave the way to an Allied victory]]. The event is known today as the Slovak National Uprising and is one of the historical national holidays, much like Remembrance Day in Britain.
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17	In the aftermath of the war, the new government had revanchist feelings and made sure all ethnic Germans and Hungarians were deprived of citizenship and expelled or forcefully resettled en masse. Luckily, this sentiment quickly faded away, and ethnic Hungarians remained intact, but most of the German population moved to German-speaking countries.
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19	After a brief transition, during which the renewed government definitely went under the [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Soviet sphere of influence]], Czech communist leaders seized power in 1948. Czechoslovakia soon became CommieLand via one of the "defenestrations of Prague". TheFifties saw rapid industrialization overseen by local communist governments, but also the [[ReignOfTerror incredibly brutal persecution]] [[ReleasedToElsewhere of clergy, private landowners, dissenting intellectuals]] and the setting up of {{kangaroo court}}s [[UnPerson for pretty much anyone]] [[{{Thoughtcrime}} who looked even vaguely suspicious]] to [[BigBrotherIsWatching the Party]]. Naturally, the PropagandaMachine and PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny tropes were in full force. After 1960, the country's name was officially changed to "The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic" [[SarcasmMode (as if it hadn't been one before)]] or CSSR for short.
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21	In 1968, Czechoslovakia's leadership decided to liberalize and started making some first steps towards this plan... [[HopeSpot then the Soviets sent in the tanks and put the thing down]]. TheSeventies and TheEighties were [[BigBrotherIsWatching the infamous era of "normalization"]], symbolized by [[ApatheticCitizens resigned and bitter sentiments of the citizens]], who started feeling more and more betrayed by the regime. This period was also the heyday of the ŠTB SecretPolice (pretty much the local cousin of UsefulNotes/EastGermany's [[UsefulNotes/TheStasi Stasi]]). The CSSR decided to honour the 1944 uprising by building a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_SNP rather funny looking bridge]] over the Danube in Bratislava. It wobbles whenever traffic passes over it, which is all the time.
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23	Tensions increased again in 1988 and 1989, with people fed up by Prague's inability to enact reforms and embrace ''perestroika'' like other UsefulNotes/WarsawPact countries. The last straw was the adoption of the so-called "[[DystopianEdict baton law]]" in early 1989, which gave state police ridiculous powers to crush public dissent by any means necessary. It was put into motion by riot police during peaceful student demonstrations in November 1989. The resulting public outrage led to spontaneous strikes and mass protests of people of all ages. The Communist Party was overwhelmed by the protests and forced to abandon their power to a new, democratically elected government, literally overnight.
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25	And so, in 1989, as part of the UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag era, Czechoslovakia finally became a democracy again in the VelvetRevolution. Three years later, the two halves of the country separated in the "Velvet Divorce", with much of the national property (such as the Su-25 ground attack aircraft) being split 2:1 for the Czechs because of their larger population.
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27	After the turbulent political era of TheNineties, modern Slovakia eventually became prosperous with a steadily growing economy. Of course, not everything is perfect, with various corruption scandals in politics on the local and national level still being a major problem, though recently the situation seems to be improving, with more uncompromising civic activism starting to influence Bratislava. The country has been a member of both UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion and UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} since 2004. In January 2009 it replaced its previous monetary unit, [[http://www.slovensko.com/about/banknotes-coins/ the Slovak crown]], and is now using the euro, unlike the UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic. This makes it easier for visitors from UsefulNotes/{{Austria}}, who can get regular trains over to Bratislava and not have to go through border checks because of the Schengen agreement (quick tip: the ZSSK i.e. Slovakian coach has air-conditioning).
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29	For its modern day military, see UsefulNotes/SlovaksWithSappers.
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31	For an overview on the evolution of its statehood in the 20th century, look [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Czechoslovakia_timeline here]].
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33	For a brief but detailed overview of its entire history, visit [[http://www.visegradgroup.eu/basic-facts-about/slovakia/brief-history-of this site]].
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35	----
36	!!Some notable and famous Slovaks :
37	* The late Creator/PaulNewman was half-Slovak.
38	* Creator/JonVoight and his daughter Creator/AngelinaJolie also have Slovak ancestors.
39	* Michael Strank, one of the six Marines who raised the US flag over Mount Suribachi on [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Iwo Jima]] and was killed in action a week later.
40	* Coloratura soprano singer Edita Gruberova initially got rejected by the Slovak National Theater after auditioning right out of college. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Biggest. Mistake. Ever.]]
41	* Creator/PeterLorre, ethnically Hungarian Jewish, was born in Ružomberok as László Löwenstein. He lived there during his childhood years, until his family moved to the US.
42	* Male and female Slovak sportsmen like Daniela Hantuchová, Dominik Hrbatý (tennis), Pavol Demitra, Miroslav Šatan (UsefulNotes/IceHockey, both for Slovakia and in the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL]]), Veronika Zuzulová (downhill skiing), Pavol Hurajt (biathlon), Michal Martikán and the two Hochschorner brothers (kayaking), Peter Velits, Martin Velits and Peter Sagan (cycling), etc.
43	* Stuntman and actor Creator/VladimirFurdik, better known as the Night King in ''Series/GameOfThrones''.
44	* Director Creator/IvanReitman was born in the town of Komárno in 1946, before moving to Canada in 1950.
45	* Several others are mentioned in the Tropes section below.
46	* Website/YouTube comedian Creator/DavidDobrik, called "the Gen Z Creator/JimmyFallon " by The Wall Street Journal
47	* Actress Creator/BarbaraNedeljakova, better known as Natalya in ''Film/{{Hostel}}''.
48	----
49	!!Slovaks and Slovakia in fiction :
50	* HandicappedBadass Viktor Vasko of ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' hails from Bratislava.
51	* ''Film/{{Hostel}}'' : Notable because the actual filming took place [[CaliforniaDoubling in a small Czech village]]. On the day of the premiere in Bratislava, people were streaming out of the cinemas doubled-over in laughter. No joke. Most of the things viewers can see in the movie are not true (e. g. Russian police uniforms, emphasis on communist era buildings and people speaking more in Czech or [[FakeRussian mangled Russian]] rather than actual Slovak). The Slovak movie-going audience was divided into those who were offended by the movie and [[WhoWritesThisCrap those who laughed their asses off]].
52	** Notably, the sequel had the AxCrazy head of Elite Hunting be played by former Minister of Culture Milan Kňažko.
53	* Similar to the above, in ''Film/{{Eurotrip}}'', Bratislava stands in for a generic East European city straight out of a CommieLand[=/=]{{Ruritania}} hybrid. It seems to be more of a deliberate PlayedForLaughs portrayal though. [[RunningGag And yet again]], ''[[ArtisticLicenseGeography the scenes were actually filmed in the Czech republic]]''...
54	* ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' has a section set around Bratislava, and has a memorable ChaseScene culminating with Bond and celloist Kara Milovy fleeing into UsefulNotes/{{Austria}} riding on her cello case. [[CaliforniaDoubling It was filmed in Vienna though]]. (Of course, the film was made during the Cold War, so it's not like they had a choice.)
55	** This phenomenon got so pervasive, that recently, one of the country's dailies devoted [[http://tv.sme.sk/v/24312/ako-si-filmari-predstavuju-slovensko.html a whole article]] to the numerous inaccurate or CaliforniaDoubling portrayals of Slovakia mentioned above. Needless to say, it all went on the level of AffectionateParody.
56	* A large part of Jaroslav Hašek's classic ''Literature/TheGoodSoldierSvejk'' is set in easternmost Slovakia (where the frontline of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI went through several times). Notably, the chapter where the characters arrive in Humenné has Švejk trying to buy rum from a seller [[http://www.regionalnedejiny.sk/wp-content/uploads/gallery/humenne/zeleznicna-stanica.jpg at the train station]] and getting caught by lieutenant Dub. The existence of this and other side plots has led to Humenné becoming the unofficial "Švejk capital of Slovakia" and to the unveiling of [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Bona_Soldato_SVEJK_en_Humenne.JPG Švejk's statue at the train station]] as a minor tourist attraction.
57	* The first ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Command & Conquer]]'' game has a mission set in Slovakia.
58	* ComicBook/MoonKnight is a Czechoslovak Jew who escaped his home country when the Nazis were taking it over.
59	* ''VideoGame/IL2Sturmovik'' features the air forces of both the [[TheQuisling WWII state]] and [[LaResistance the partisans]], complete with voice acting by native speakers in [[ShownTheirWork period-accurate Slovak]]. Also, one of the later official patches added summer and winter maps of 1940s Slovakia to the game.
60	* ''Series/MestoTienov'', a contemporary Slovak TV crime series set in Bratislava and its surroundings.
61	* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' has Slovakia [[NationsAsPeople himself]] as a character, along with his close friend the Czech Republic. He's depicted as a NiceGuy who is among the few who can handle [[TinyTyrannicalGirl the very cheerful but also very stubborn Czechia]] [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl flawlessly]].
62	* A fan work for ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' introduced the NewTransferStudent, a girl named Svetlana Jankovic. She is from Slovakia. However people who hated her called her a Russkie.
63	* British Series/ToTheManorBorn has a character from Czechoslovakia. However she clarifies in an episode that she is from Bratislava, which counts her as a Slovak.
64	----
65	!!Some movies ([[RunningGag actually]]) filmed in Slovakia:
66	* ''Film/BehindEnemyLines'', where it stood in for Bosnia. The Bosnian viewers were left puzzled, how come there are Gothic cathedrals in the Bosnian countryside?
67	* ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'' : Various locations around the country double for early medieval Britain, with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spi%C5%A1_Castle Spišský hrad]] representing the ruins of Camelot visited by Bowen and Draco late in the film.
68	* ''Film/{{Eragon}}'': Seriously, what's with all the dragon movies being filmed here?
69	* ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'': Yep, one of the earliest and most famous vampire movies was filmed on Orava castle and in its vicinity in northern Slovakia in 1921.
70	* Speaking of horror films, the 1999 historical horror ''Film/{{Ravenous\|1999}}'', despite its American-Mexican War setting, had the snowed-in scenery of the Tatras stand in for the Sierra Nevada range.
71	* ''Film/ThePeacemaker'': That 1997 thriller starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. In a humourous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TnFmlPAuLE&feature=relmfu inversion to]] ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'', scenes shot in Bratislava stand in (quite badly) for parts of Vienna... ''and'' Sarajevo !
72	* ''Uprising'' : The 2001 miniseries about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
73
74	!!Slovak Media
75
76	* ''Film/TheShopOnMainStreet'', which won the MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestForeignLanguageFilm, dramatizes the deportation of the Jewish population of a small Slovak town in 1942.
77	* ''Series/{{Slniecko}}''. Though that was Czechoslovakian... Oh, and it may or may not be the reason why The Velvet Divorce happened.
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79	----
80	!!Tropes about Slovakia:
81
82	* BadassBookworm: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Rastislav_%C5%A0tef%C3%A1nik Milan Rastislav Štefánik]], who was kind of a RenaissanceMan (astronomer, photographer, soldier and later army pilot for the Third French Republic). During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he also doubled as an {{Ambadassador}} for the Entente (particularly France). Considered one of the most important figures in modern Slovak history and one of the founding fathers of interwar Czechoslovakia. Ironically, he died in a plane crash in May 1919, en route to the newly independent country he helped establish (the mysterious nature of the crash gave birth to several conspiracy theories over the decades). Despite his scientific and political/diplomatic achievements, he was a hated figure during the Communist era (since he was a firm anti-communist). Most Slovaks regarded him highly in secret, and his public fame was successfully revived in post-communist Slovakia.
83	* BalkanizeMe: The separation of Czechoslovakia is one of the more peaceful separations of post-communist Europe, compared to [[CrapsackWorld Yugoslavia]]. To this day, relations and trade do fine between Slovakia and the Czech Republic, thanks to the good history, especially since [[LaResistance their shared anti-Nazi revolution during World War II]]. At worst is the big [[TheRival rivalry]] in ice hockey and football.
84	* BigFancyCastle: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_castles_in_Slovakia Lots]], both preserved and ruined. ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spi%C5%A1_Castle Spišský hrad]]'' in particular stands out (it [[http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/282596_10151188003552705_1686148735_n.jpg wouldn't look out of place]] in an episode of ''{{Series/Game Of Thrones}}''). Even many hundreds of smaller castles, fortified manor houses and mansions strewn across the country make for much SceneryPorn.
85	* CommieLand: As a part of the "Fourth Republic" of Czechoslovakia from 1948-1989. It was a notably rich and developed East Block country (compared to, say, East Germany), but also had more dogmatic political leaders, even during ''perestroika'' (when compared to the rather liberal 1980s Hungary and Poland).
86	* FascistButInefficient: The Nazi puppet state [[PunchClockVillain was this most of the time, to the point of being nicknamed "the leaky dictatorship" by its detractors]]. Unfortunately, {{the quisling}}s running the country still managed to commit a lot of atrocities. Special mention goes to deportations of Jews between 1942 and 1945 as well as terrorizing and murdering its own citizens in the last year and a half of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (because of their support of the resistance groups).
87	* FolkHero: Several, the [[HistoricalDomainCharacter real]] 18th century outlaw [[Myth/{{Janosik}} Juraj Jánošík]] [[SmallReferencePools being the most famous]].
88	* GadgeteerGenius: The country was the birthplace of quite a huge number of influential and famous scientists and inventors. Notable examples from the 19th and 20th centuries include [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jozef_Murga%C5%A1 Jozef Murgaš]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petzval Josef Maximilian Petzval]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurel_Stodola Aurel Stodola]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1n_Bah%C3%BD%C4%BE Ján Bahýl]].
89	* LaResistance: The anti-Nazi version is the most famous one, but Slovaks fought in a lot of defensive wars throughout the various centuries (e.g. during the [[ForeverWar 15th-17th century wars with the Ottoman Empire]], UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars and UsefulNotes/WorldWarI).
90	* LyricalDissonance: The national anthem of Slovakia, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3mA_SEORsk Nad Tatrou sa Blýska]]'' ("[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nad_Tatrou_sa_bl%C3%BDska Lightning over the Tatras]]"). Despite its badass-sounding melody, its lyrics are notably milder in tone -- allegorically advocating courage, honesty and resolve in the face of adversity, hardships and doubts about self-confidence. The anthem was created in the 1840s, based in part on the melody of a central Slovak folk ballad called ''Kopala studienku, pozerala do nej''.
91	* MultinationalTeam[=/=]CultureChopSuey : Slovakia has long been one giant crossroad of various European ethnicities, cultures, languages and customs, and it shows. Also, the country itself was a part of colorful multinational empires for much of its history -- the ([[ShortRunners short-lived]]) empire of [[TheLowMiddleAges Great Moravia]], then the ([[LongRunners much longer-existing]]) [[TheHighMiddleAges Kingdom]] [[TheLateMiddleAges of]] [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance Hungary]], and finally the [[TheCavalierYears Habsburg]] [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars Empire]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austria-Hungary]]. Czechoslovakia, especially the inter-war one, was also naturally multiethnic, but not on such a grand scale.
92	* OopNorth: Not literally, but works as an analogy in the case of people from eastern Slovakia (who tend to share the same characterization and associated stereotypes in jokes with English Northerners).
93	* PleaseSelectNewCityName[=/=]IHaveManyNames: Bratislava only got its modern name after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Its traditional name was ''Prešporok'' (Slovak) / ''Pozsony'' (Hungarian) / ''Pressburg'' (German) -- probably based on the oldest known one from the late 10th century, ''Brezalauspurc''. During the Middle Ages, it was also occasionally referred to by the Latin name ''Istropolis'' ("[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Danube City]]"). "Bratislava" was chosen as the new name with the reasoning that it referred to a supposed early ruler of the area, a Czech-born nobleman called Břetislav. This assumption was proven false already by interwar historians, but the name just stuck (partly because it resembled the archaic ''Brezalauspurc'' name anyway). Also, one of the odder proposals for a new name after the war was ''Wilson City'' (after UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson, since he aided the creation of the successor states to Austria-Hungary).
94	* ReignOfTerror: Most of the second half of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII for the ones persecuted by the puppet state, then cranked up to eleven during the last year of the war. And, after a few short years of relief, the terror started again in 1948 (when the communists took power) and lasted for most of TheFifties (though it calmed down by the end of that decade). To say that the 1940s and 1950s were not the most fortunate time for Slovakia [[SincerityMode would be the]] {{understatement}} of the century...
95	* QuirkyNeighbourCountry: To the Czech Republic, at least according to traditional media stereotypes.
96	* SceneryPorn: The country is small, but has many a cool scenery and a lot of variety in its natural riches (especially in its geological structure and many species of endemic flora).
97	* SeriousBusiness: Ice hockey, the unofficial national sport. And like the rest of Europe, at close number two, [[UsefulNotes/EuroFooty football]].
98	* UnderdogsNeverLose: [[ZigZaggingTrope Played straight, subverted and averted numerous times.]] Though the country was mostly lucky during its long and intricate history.
99	* VitriolicBestBuds: During the 19th and early 20th centuries, this was the relationship between Slovak and Hungarian politicians, thanks to the rise of European nationalism taking up firm roots in the Kingdom of Hungary as well. Today, this is largely a thing of the past, though you can still expect an occasional CulturalPosturing snipe between a Slovak and Hungarian politician [[TakeThat (especially during the silly season)]].
100	* WeUsedToBeFriends: Slovaks and Hungarians had peaceful relations with each other for centuries, but with the rise of nationalism in the 19th century and the growing desire of both nations to carve the old and conservative Hungarian kingdom into an independent modern state, the BerserkButton in their political debates was born. Many Hungarian politicians were afraid about the Slavs causing chaos. The most paranoid of them took their stubborn suspicions to ridiculous new heights, more so during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when several laws were passed about [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill "Hungarianization" of all non-Hungarian citizens and complete abolition of education in any other language than Hungarian]]. The {{irony}} is not lost to those who know that a large number of its supporters were turncoat politicians ''of Slovak descent''. It took at least a century to cure the screwed-up relations between both nationalities, and even today, some fans of UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism on both sides love to casually fuel up a FlameWar or two about the whole matter.
101	----
102	[[AC:The Slovak flag]]
103	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_of_slovakia.png]]
104	->The flag's white, blue and red colors are based on the pan-Slavic scheme; at the hoist side is the coat of arms.
105	----
106	[[AC:Coat of arms of Slovakia]]
107	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coat_of_arms_of_slovakia.png]]
108	->The national coat of arms (first designed in the 1840s) is partly based on the royal Hungarian one, denoting the historical and cultural traditions shared with modern day Hungary. A pre-1840s version of it, with green hills instead of blue, was commonly used as the coat of arms of Upper Hungary, largely congruent with Slovakia's modern territory. It shows a red shield showing a white patriarchal cross, symbolizing Christianity, brought by Greek brothers and missionaries [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Cyril_and_Methodius Cyril and Methodius]], standing atop three blue mountains symbolizing the Tatra, Matra and Fatra mountain ranges.
109	----
110	[[AC:The Slovak national anthem]]
111	->Nad Tatrou sa blýska
112	->Hromy divo bijú
113	->Zastavme ich, bratia
114	->Veď sa ony stratia
115	->Slováci ožijú
116
117	->To Slovensko naše
118	->Posiaľ tvrdo spalo
119	->Ale blesky hromu
120	->Vzbudzujú ho k tomu
121	->Aby sa prebralo
122
123	--
124
125	->There is lightning over the Tatras
126	->Thunders loudly sound
127	->Let us stop them, brothers
128	->After all they will disappear
129	->The Slovaks will revive
130
131	->That Slovakia of ours
132	->Had been sleeping by now
133	->But the thunder's lightnings
134	->Are rousing the land
135	->To wake it up
136	----
137	[[AC:Government]]
138	* Unitary parliamentary republic
139	** President: Zuzana Čaputová
140	** Prime Minister: Robert Fico
141	** National Council Speaker: Peter Pellegrini
142	----
143	[[AC:Miscellaneous]]
144	* '''Capital and largest city:''' Bratislava
145	* '''Population:''' 5,464,060
146	* '''Area:''' 49,035 km
147	(18,933 sq mi) (127th)
148	* '''Currency''': Euro (€) (EUR)
149	* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' SK
150	* '''Country calling code:''' 421
151	* '''Highest point:''' Gerlachovský štít (2655 m/8,711 ft) (85th)

Context UsefulNotes / Slovakia