- Born:
- September 27, 1864, Stará Černová, Slovakia, Austrian Empire [now in Slovakia]
- Died:
- August 16, 1938, Ružomberok, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia] (aged 73)
- Political Affiliation:
- Slovak People’s Party
Andrej Hlinka
-
Who was Andrej Hlinka?
Andrej Hlinka (1864–1938) was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest and leader of the Slovak People’s Party who sought Slovak independence and opposed the centralizing efforts of Czechoslovakia’s government during the 1920s and 30s.
In 1906, Hlinka became a priest in the small industrial town of Ružomberok and supported Slovak nationalist candidates in the Hungarian parliamentary elections. He was imprisoned for inciting Slovaks to disloyalty to Hungary. In 1918, Hlinka declared for union with the Czechs. However, by 1922, he reproached the Czechs for depriving the Slovaks of autonomy.
In the 1930s, Hlinka and his party became associated with the German and Hungarian opposition to the Czechs, which aimed at the destruction of Czechoslovakia. Hlinka died in 1938, less than two months before a Slovak government became autonomous. The Hlinka Guard, a paramilitary organization, emerged in support of the Slovak People’s Party and became one of Nazi Germany’s puppet states during World War II. The Hlinka Guard participated in the deportation of tens of thousands of Slovak Jews and committed other acts of violence against Jews during the war, making it complicit in the Holocaust.
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What role did Andrej Hlinka play as a priest in Slovakia?
As a Slovak Roman Catholic priest, Andrej Hlinka supported Slovak nationalism. In 1905, he became a priest in Ružomberok and supported Slovak nationalist candidates in the Hungarian parliamentary elections in 1906. He was later tried and sentenced to prison for inciting Slovaks to disloyalty to Hungary. The Roman Catholic priesthood in Slovakia generally supported Hungarian authorities and resented Hlinka’s insubordination because it received popular support. Later, the Roman Curia acquitted Hlinka from a charge of simony brought against him by Hungarian ecclesiastical authorities.
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Why is Andrej Hlinka important in Slovak history?
Andrej Hlinka was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest and politician who sought Slovak independence and led the Slovak People’s Party. Hlinka opposed the centralizing efforts of Czechoslovakia’s government during the 1920s and 30s.
In 1918, Hlinka declared for union with the Czechs. However, by 1922, he reproached the Czechs for depriving the Slovaks of autonomy allegedly promised by Tomáš Masaryk.
In the 1930s, Hlinka and his party became associated with the German and Hungarian opposition to the Czechs, who aimed to destroy Czechoslovakia. Hlinka died in 1938, less than two months before a Slovak government became autonomous. His name was adopted by a fascist Slovak militia, the Hlinka Guard, during World War II. The Hlinka Guard participated in the deportation of Slovak Jews and committed acts of violence against Jews during the war, making it complicit in the Holocaust.
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What political activities was Andrej Hlinka involved in?
Andrej Hlinka, a Slovak Roman Catholic priest, was deeply involved in political activities aimed at achieving Slovak independence. In 1906, he supported Slovak nationalist candidates in Hungarian parliamentary elections, leading to his imprisonment for inciting disloyalty to Hungary.
Hlinka emphatically advocated for union with the Czechs in 1918 when the Slovak National Party opposed Hungary. However, by 1922, he reproached the Czechs for depriving the Slovaks of autonomy. Throughout the 1930s, Hlinka and his Slovak People’s Party allied with German and Hungarian opposition against the Czechs, seeking the destruction of Czechoslovakia. Although he saw himself as a patriot, his hostility towards the Czechs was exploited by Germany and Hungary for their own interests.
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How did Andrej Hlinka influence the creation of Czechoslovakia?
Andrej Hlinka, a Slovak priest and politician, significantly influenced the creation of Czechoslovakia. In 1918, as the leader of the Slovak People's Party, he emphatically declared for union with the Czechs when the Slovak National Party took a position against Hungary. However, by 1922, Hlinka reproached the Czechs for depriving the Slovaks of autonomy allegedly promised by Tomáš Masaryk. Despite this, Hlinka's lieutenant, Jozef Tiso, later accepted a position in the Czechoslovak government in 1927. In the 1930s, Hlinka and his party were associated with German and Hungarian opposition to the Czechs, aiming for the destruction of Czechoslovakia. Hlinka died in 1938, shortly before Slovakia became autonomous.
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What were the main ideas and goals of Andrej Hlinka's political movement?
Andrej Hlinka was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest and politician who sought Slovak independence. As the leader of the Slovak People’s Party, he opposed the centralizing efforts of Czechoslovakia’s government during the 1920s and 30s.
In 1918, Hlinka emphatically declared for union with the Czechs. However, by 1922, he reproached the Czechs for depriving the Slovaks of autonomy allegedly promised by Tomáš Masaryk.
In the 1930s, Hlinka and his party became associated with the German and Hungarian opposition to the Czechs, aiming at the destruction of Czechoslovakia. Hlinka considered himself a patriot but failed to see that his hostility to the Czechs was being exploited by Germans and Hungarians. Learn more about Andrej Hlinka.
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Andrej Hlinka (born September 27, 1864, Stará Černová, Slovakia, Austrian Empire [now in Slovakia]—died August 16, 1938, Ružomberok, Czechoslovakia [now in Slovakia]) was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest who sought Slovak independence and, as the leader of the Slovak People’s Party, opposed the centralizing efforts of Czechoslovakia’s government during the 1920s and ’30s. His name was adopted by a fascist Slovak militia during World War II.
Hlinka became priest of the small industrial town of Ružomberok in 1905 and eagerly supported the Slovak nationalist candidates there in the Hungarian parliamentary elections of 1906. In November 1906 he was tried for inciting Slovaks to disloyalty to Hungary and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, to which an additional year and a half was added the following May for what authorities considered the inflammatory nature of his farewell address to his parishioners. The Roman Catholic priesthood in Slovakia in general supported the Hungarian authorities, who resented what they regarded as Hlinka’s insubordination—the more so because it received much popular support. He was later acquitted by the Roman Curia from a charge of simony brought against him by the Hungarian ecclesiastical authorities.
On May 24, 1918, when the Slovak National Party took a position against Hungary, it was Hlinka, at the head of the Slovak People’s Party, who most emphatically declared for union with the Czechs. By August 1922, however, he had drawn up the Žilina memorandum in which he reproached the Czechs for having deprived the Slovaks of the autonomy that had allegedly been promised to them by Tomáš Masaryk in what Hlinka persisted in calling the “treaty” of Pittsburgh—a document, variously known as the Pittsburgh Convention or Pittsburgh Agreement, that was signed in May 1918 by Masaryk and regarded by him as a statement of policy for which American Czechs and Slovaks were prepared to advocate.
Later, Hlinka’s relations with Prague were patched up to the extent that his lieutenant, Jozef Tiso, accepted a position in a Czechoslovak government in January 1927. When in 1929 Béla Tuka, a Slovak, was condemned as a Hungarian agent, Hlinka did not repudiate him, and Hlinka’s party returned to opposition. Hlinka and his Slovak People’s Party thus became associated in the 1930s with the German and Hungarian opposition to the Czechs, which aimed at the destruction of Czechoslovakia. Hlinka considered himself, and was seen by many of those who supported Slovak independence as, a patriot, but he failed to see that his fanatical hostility to the Czechs was being exploited by Germans and Hungarians whose support for the Slovak cause did not extend beyond their own interests. Hlinka died in 1938 less than two months before a Slovak government became autonomous, in the wake of Adolf Hitler’s annexation of the Sudetenland and the resultant scrambling of Czechoslovak territory (see Munich Agreement).
About the same time that Hitler was advancing his plans against Czechoslovakia, a paramilitary organization emerged in support of the Slovak People’s Party. Known as the Hlinka Guard, it soon aligned itself with the Slovak government, which declared independence in 1939 under Tiso and became one of Nazi Germany’s puppet states during World War II. The Hlinka Guard participated in the deportation of tens of thousands of Slovak Jews and committed other acts of violence against Jews during the war, making it complicit in the Holocaust.