Modern States of Central Europe: Map & History

Changes shaping the nature of the Holy Roman Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt (1797–1799) and Regensburg (1801–1803). On 24 March 1803, the Imperial Recess (German: Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) was declared, which reduced the number of ecclesiastical states from 81 to only 3 and the free imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, but the actual consequence of the Imperial Recess, along with the French occupying the Electorate of Hanover in the same month and various Holy Roman states becoming allied with or against France, was the end of the empire. Taking this significant change into consideration, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria for himself and his successors, thereby becoming Francis I of Austria.

From Wikipedia: Austrian Empire · History: Foundation (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Austrian Empire was multi-national and multi-ethnic, with Germans, Hungarians (constituent in the Kingdom of Hungary), Slavs (Czechs, Poles, Ruthenians, Croats, Slovaks, Serbs, Slovenes) and Romanians, with smaller numbers of other ethnic groups. According to Dr. Becher's statistics, the population number was 36,950,401 in 1840. An estimation made in 1842 gives 35,500,000. Slavs made up an estimated 16 million, roughly 12 million north of the Danube and 4 million south of it. Germans made up an estimated 6,5 million, of which 3 million in Upper and Lower Austria, Tyrol and one-half of Styra, and the rest scattered in the other provinces. The Hungarians made up an estimated 5,5 million. Italians made up an estimated 4,6 million, in Lombardy, Venice, south Tyrol, and south Illyria. Wallachians made up an estimated 1,560,000 in Hungary and Transylvania.

From Wikipedia: Austrian Empire · Demographics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The war drained the Austrian economy. The Austrian foreign trade was one-third of that of France and one-fifth of Great Britain based on 1823–37 numbers. Direct tax netto was 47,159,168 of which 37,599,496 were land-tax (1842).

From Wikipedia: Austrian Empire · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The heavy drain on its resources by forced military recruitment, combined with a drop in exports of grain, caused significant problems for the duchy's economy. To make matters worse, in 1808 the French Empire imposed on the duchy an agreement at Bayonne to buy from France the debts owed to it by Prussia. The debt, amounting to more than 43 million francs in gold, was bought at a discounted rate of 21 million francs.

From Wikipedia: Duchy of Warsaw · Government and politics: Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

As a result of Napoleon's campaign in 1812 against Russia, the Poles expected that the duchy would be upgraded to the status of a kingdom and that during Napoleon's invasion of Russia, they would be joined by the liberated territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Poland's historic partner in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. On 28 June, the Sejm formed the General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland, establishing a system of government similar to the former commonwealth with the hope of reclaiming the partitioned territories. However, Napoleon did not want to make a permanent decision that would tie his hands before his anticipated peace settlement with Russia, and did not recognize the confederation. Nevertheless, he proclaimed the attack on Russia as a second Polish war and allowed the Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission to fall under Polish influence.

From Wikipedia: Duchy of Warsaw · History: Napoleon's campaign against Russia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Although many European states and ex-rulers were represented at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the decision-making was largely in the hands of the major powers. It was perhaps inevitable, therefore, that both Prussia and Russia would effectively partition Poland between them; Austria was to more or less retain its gains of the First Partition of 1772.

From Wikipedia: Duchy of Warsaw · History: The Congress of Vienna and the Fourth Partition (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Superficially, the Duchy of Warsaw was just one of the various states set up during Napoleon's dominance over Eastern and Central Europe, lasting only a few years and passing with his fall. However, its establishment a little over a decade after the Second and Third Partitions, that had appeared to wipe Poland off the map, meant that Poles had their hopes rekindled of a resurrected Polish state. Even with Napoleon's defeat, a Polish state continued in some form until the increasingly autocratic Russian state eliminated Poland once again as a separate entity. Altogether, this meant that an identifiable Polish state was in existence for at least a quarter of a century.

From Wikipedia: Duchy of Warsaw · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Danzig had an early history of independence. It was a leading player in the Prussian Confederation, which was directed against the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. The Confederation stipulated with the Polish king, Casimir IV Jagiellon, that the Polish Crown would be invested as head of state of the western parts of Prussia (Royal Prussia). In contrast, Ducal Prussia remained a Polish fief. Danzig and other cities, such as Elbing and Thorn, financed most of the warfare and enjoyed high city autonomy.

From Wikipedia: Free City of Danzig · Establishment: Periods of independence and autonomy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The German policy openly changed immediately after the Munich Conference in October 1938, when German Minister of Foreign Affairs Joachim von Ribbentrop demanded the incorporation of the Free City into the Reich. The Polish ambassador to Germany, Józef Lipski, declined Ribbentrop's offer, saying that Polish public opinion would not tolerate the Free City joining Germany and predicated that if Warsaw allowed that to happen, then the Sanation military dictatorship that had ruled Poland since 1926 would be overthrown. Ernst von Weizsäcker on 29 March 1939 told the Danzig government the Reich would carry out a policy to the Zermürbungspolitik (point of destruction) towards Poland, saying a compromise solution was not wanted, and on 5 April 1939 told Hans-Adolf von Moltke under no conditions was he to negotiate with the Poles.

From Wikipedia: Free City of Danzig · Politics: Danzig crisis (CC BY-SA 4.0)

On 1 September 1939, the day of the German invasion of the Free City of Danzig, Forster signed a law declaring the Free City to be incorporated into Germany. On the same day, Hitler signed a law declaring the law signed by Forster to be German law and the Free City of Danzig was officially incorporated into Germany.

From Wikipedia: Free City of Danzig · World War II and aftermath (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the German Revolution after World War I, Duke Bernhard III, brother-in-law of Emperor Wilhelm II, was forced to abdicate and his brother Ernst on 11/12 November 1918 refused the succession. The succeeding Free State of Saxe-Meiningen became part of the new state of Thuringia on 1 May 1920.

From Wikipedia: Saxe-Meiningen · History: End of the Duchy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Polish people are descended from a blend of various ancient ethnic groups that inhabited the territory of modern-day Poland before and during late antiquity. The area was settled by numerous tribes and cultures, including Baltic, Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, Thracian, and possibly remnants of earlier Proto-Indo-Europeans and non-Indo-European peoples. Archaeological evidence from the Lusatian culture (c. 1300–500 BCE), as well as the successive Pomeranian, Przeworsk and Wielbark cultures, points to a diverse demographic landscape in prehistoric Poland. These cultures were associated with different ethnic groups, such as the Celts (notably in southern Poland), Germanic tribes like the Vandals and Goths, and the Balts in the northeast.

From Wikipedia: Polish people · Ethnogenesis (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Poles have traditionally adhered to the Christian faith; an overwhelming majority belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, with 87.5% of Poles in 2011 identifying as Roman Catholic. According to Poland's Constitution, freedom of religion is ensured to everyone. It also allows for national and ethnic minorities to have the right to establish educational and cultural institutions, institutions designed to protect religious identity, as well as to participate in the resolution of matters connected with their cultural identity.

From Wikipedia: Polish people · Religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Poland absorbed Western European artistic influences while developing its own unique expressions. Gothic architecture, in particular Brick Gothic, as well as religious iconography, and illuminated manuscripts flourished in the medieval period, followed by a Renaissance golden age in music and architecture influenced by Italy and the Netherlands. Artists like Jan Matejko in the 19th century brought national history to life with historical painting, which played a significant role in fostering Polish identity. In the 20th and 21st centuries, Polish art reflected the country’s shifting political and cultural landscape; the various styles comprised Modernism, Art Deco, Surrealism, Socialist Realism and Abstract art. In general, Polish art is deeply engaged with questions of history, identity, and resilience.

From Wikipedia: Polish people · Culture: Art (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Following Hungary's defeat against the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Mohács of 1526, the Habsburg Empire became more involved in the Kingdom of Hungary, and subsequently assumed the Hungarian throne. However, as the Ottomans expanded further into Hungary, the Habsburgs came to control only a small north-western portion of the former kingdom's territory. Eventually, following the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, all former territories of the Hungarian kingdom were ceded from the Ottomans to the Habsburgs. In the revolutions of 1848, the Kingdom of Hungary called for greater self-government and later even independence from the Austrian Empire. The ensuing Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was crushed by the Austrian military with Russian military assistance, and the level of autonomy that the Hungarian state had enjoyed was replaced with absolutist rule from Vienna.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · History: Background and establishment (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Compromise of 1867 turned the Habsburg domains into a real union between the Austrian Empire ("Lands Represented in the Imperial Council", or Cisleithania) in the western and northern half and the Kingdom of Hungary ("Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen", or Transleithania) in the eastern half.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The heavily rural Austro-Hungarian economy slowly modernised after 1867. Railroads opened up once-remote areas, and cities grew. Many small firms promoted capitalist way of production. Technological change accelerated industrialization and urbanization. The first Austrian stock exchange (the Wiener Börse) was opened in 1771 in Vienna, the first stock exchange of the Kingdom of Hungary (the Budapest Stock Exchange) was opened in Budapest in 1864. Several central banks or banks of issue were founded, including the Wiener Stadtbank then the Austrian National Bank in 1816. In 1878 after a decade of negotiations, the monarchy established the Austro-Hungarian Bank with principal offices in both Vienna and Budapest. The central bank was governed by alternating Austrian or Hungarian governors and vice-governors.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Austro-Hungarian Army was under the command of Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen (1817–1895), an old-fashioned bureaucrat who opposed modernization. The military system of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was similar in both states, and rested since 1868 upon the principle of the universal and personal obligation of the citizen to bear arms. Its military force was composed of the Common Army; the special armies, namely the Austrian Landwehr, and the Hungarian Honvéd, which were separate national institutions, and the Landsturm or levy-en masse. As stated above, the common army stood under the administration of the joint minister of war, while the special armies were under the administration of the respective ministries of national defence.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Military (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The first university in the Austrian half of the Empire (Charles University) was founded by Emperor Charles IV in Prague in 1347, the second oldest university was the Jagiellonian University established in Kraków by the King of Poland Casimir III the Great in 1364, while the third oldest (University of Vienna) was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Education: Universities in Cisleithania (CC BY-SA 4.0)

By 1918, the economic situation had deteriorated and governmental failure on the homefront ended popular support for the war. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed with dramatic speed in the autumn of 1918. Leftist and pacifist political movements organized strikes in factories, and uprisings in the army had become commonplace. As the war went on, the ethnic unity declined; the Allies encouraged breakaway demands from minorities and the Empire faced disintegration. With apparent Allied victory approaching, nationalist movements seized ethnic resentment to erode social unity. The military breakdown of the Italian front marked the start of the rebellion for the numerous ethnicities who made up the multiethnic Empire, as they refused to keep on fighting for a cause that now appeared senseless. The Emperor had lost much of his power to rule, as his realm disintegrated.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · History: 1918: Demise, disintegration, dissolution (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The 1919 Treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (between the victors of World War I and Austria) and Trianon (between the victors and Hungary) regulated the new borders of Austria and Hungary, reducing them to small-sized and landlocked states. The Entente not only assumed without question that the minority peoples wished to leave Austria and Hungary, but allowed them to claim vast territories containing sizeable German- and Hungarian-speaking populations. With this in mind, in regard to areas without a decisive national majority, the Entente powers ruled in many cases in favour of the newly emancipated independent nation-states. The Republic of Austria lost roughly 60% of the old Austrian Empire's territory. It also had to drop its plans for union with Germany, as it was not allowed to unite with Germany without League approval.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Successor states (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Following Hungary's defeat against the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Mohács of 1526, the Habsburg Empire became more involved in the Kingdom of Hungary, and subsequently assumed the Hungarian throne. However, as the Ottomans expanded further into Hungary, the Habsburgs came to control only a small north-western portion of the former kingdom's territory. Eventually, following the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, all former territories of the Hungarian kingdom were ceded from the Ottomans to the Habsburgs. In the revolutions of 1848, the Kingdom of Hungary called for greater self-government and later even independence from the Austrian Empire. The ensuing Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was crushed by the Austrian military with Russian military assistance, and the level of autonomy that the Hungarian state had enjoyed was replaced with absolutist rule from Vienna.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · History: Background and establishment (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Compromise of 1867 turned the Habsburg domains into a real union between the Austrian Empire ("Lands Represented in the Imperial Council", or Cisleithania) in the western and northern half and the Kingdom of Hungary ("Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen", or Transleithania) in the eastern half.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The heavily rural Austro-Hungarian economy slowly modernised after 1867. Railroads opened up once-remote areas, and cities grew. Many small firms promoted capitalist way of production. Technological change accelerated industrialization and urbanization. The first Austrian stock exchange (the Wiener Börse) was opened in 1771 in Vienna, the first stock exchange of the Kingdom of Hungary (the Budapest Stock Exchange) was opened in Budapest in 1864. Several central banks or banks of issue were founded, including the Wiener Stadtbank then the Austrian National Bank in 1816. In 1878 after a decade of negotiations, the monarchy established the Austro-Hungarian Bank with principal offices in both Vienna and Budapest. The central bank was governed by alternating Austrian or Hungarian governors and vice-governors.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Austro-Hungarian Army was under the command of Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen (1817–1895), an old-fashioned bureaucrat who opposed modernization. The military system of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was similar in both states, and rested since 1868 upon the principle of the universal and personal obligation of the citizen to bear arms. Its military force was composed of the Common Army; the special armies, namely the Austrian Landwehr, and the Hungarian Honvéd, which were separate national institutions, and the Landsturm or levy-en masse. As stated above, the common army stood under the administration of the joint minister of war, while the special armies were under the administration of the respective ministries of national defence.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Military (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The first university in the Austrian half of the Empire (Charles University) was founded by Emperor Charles IV in Prague in 1347, the second oldest university was the Jagiellonian University established in Kraków by the King of Poland Casimir III the Great in 1364, while the third oldest (University of Vienna) was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Education: Universities in Cisleithania (CC BY-SA 4.0)

By 1918, the economic situation had deteriorated and governmental failure on the homefront ended popular support for the war. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed with dramatic speed in the autumn of 1918. Leftist and pacifist political movements organized strikes in factories, and uprisings in the army had become commonplace. As the war went on, the ethnic unity declined; the Allies encouraged breakaway demands from minorities and the Empire faced disintegration. With apparent Allied victory approaching, nationalist movements seized ethnic resentment to erode social unity. The military breakdown of the Italian front marked the start of the rebellion for the numerous ethnicities who made up the multiethnic Empire, as they refused to keep on fighting for a cause that now appeared senseless. The Emperor had lost much of his power to rule, as his realm disintegrated.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · History: 1918: Demise, disintegration, dissolution (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The 1919 Treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (between the victors of World War I and Austria) and Trianon (between the victors and Hungary) regulated the new borders of Austria and Hungary, reducing them to small-sized and landlocked states. The Entente not only assumed without question that the minority peoples wished to leave Austria and Hungary, but allowed them to claim vast territories containing sizeable German- and Hungarian-speaking populations. With this in mind, in regard to areas without a decisive national majority, the Entente powers ruled in many cases in favour of the newly emancipated independent nation-states. The Republic of Austria lost roughly 60% of the old Austrian Empire's territory. It also had to drop its plans for union with Germany, as it was not allowed to unite with Germany without League approval.

From Wikipedia: Austria-Hungary · Successor states (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until it collapsed at the end of World War I. The new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He was succeeded by his close ally Edvard Beneš (1884–1948).

From Wikipedia: Czechoslovakia · History: Origins (CC BY-SA 4.0)

1918–1923: Different systems in former Austrian territory (Bohemia, Moravia, a small part of Silesia) compared to former Hungarian territory (Slovakia and Ruthenia): three lands (země) (also called district units (kraje)): Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, plus 21 counties (župy) in today's Slovakia and three counties in today's Ruthenia; both lands and counties were divided into districts (okresy).

From Wikipedia: Czechoslovakia · Government and politics: Administrative divisions (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Before World War II, the economy was about the fourth in all industrial countries in Europe.The state was based on strong economy, manufacturing cars (Škoda, Tatra), trams, aircraft (Aero, Avia), ships, ship engines (Škoda), cannons, shoes (Baťa), turbines, guns (Zbrojovka Brno). It was the industrial workshop for the Austro-Hungarian empire. The Slovak lands relied more heavily on agriculture than the Czech lands.

From Wikipedia: Czechoslovakia · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Education was free at all levels and compulsory from ages 6 to 15. The vast majority of the population was literate. There was a highly developed system of apprenticeship training and vocational schools supplemented general secondary schools and institutions of higher education.

From Wikipedia: Czechoslovakia · Education (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1918–1919, over 100 workers' councils sprang up on Polish territories; on 5 November 1918, in Lublin, the first Soviet of Delegates was established. On 6 November, socialists proclaimed the Republic of Tarnobrzeg at Tarnobrzeg in the Austrian Galicia. The same day, the Socialist, Ignacy Daszyński, set up a Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland (Tymczasowy Rząd Ludowy Republiki Polskiej) in Lublin. On Sunday, 10 November at 7 a.m., Józef Piłsudski, newly freed from 16 months in a German prison in Magdeburg, returned by train to Warsaw. Piłsudski, together with Colonel Kazimierz Sosnkowski, was greeted at Warsaw's railway station by Regent Zdzisław Lubomirski and by Colonel Adam Koc. The next day, due to his popularity and support from most political parties, the Regency Council appointed Piłsudski as Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces.

From Wikipedia: Second Polish Republic · Background: Formation of the Republic (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Second Polish Republic was a parliamentary democracy from 1919 (see Small Constitution of 1919) to 1926, with the President having limited powers. The Parliament elected him, and he could appoint the Prime Minister as well as the government with the Sejm's (lower house's) approval, but he could only dissolve the Sejm with the Senate's consent. Moreover, his power to pass decrees was limited by the requirement that the Prime Minister and the appropriate other Minister had to verify his decrees with their signatures. Poland was one of the first countries in the world to recognise women's suffrage. Women in Poland were granted the right to vote on 28 November 1918 by a decree of General Józef Piłsudski.

From Wikipedia: Second Polish Republic · Politics and government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After regaining its independence, Poland was faced with major economic difficulties. In addition to the devastation brought by the First World War, the exploitation of the Polish economy by the German and Russian occupying powers, and the sabotage performed by retreating armies, the new republic was faced with the task of economically unifying disparate economic regions, which had previously been part of different countries and different empires. Within the borders of the Republic were the remnants of three different economic systems, with five different currencies (the German mark, the Imperial Russian rouble, the Austrian krone, the Polish marka and the Ostrubel) and with little or no direct infrastructural links.

From Wikipedia: Second Polish Republic · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Over the course of World War I (1914–1918), the German Empire gradually dominated the Eastern Front as the Imperial Russian Army fell back. German and Austro-Hungarian armies seized the Russian-ruled part of what became Poland. In a failed attempt to resolve the Polish question as quickly as possible, Berlin set up the puppet Kingdom of Poland on 14 January 1917, with a governing Provisional Council of State and (from 15 October 1917) a Regency Council (Rada Regencyjna Królestwa Polskiego). The Council administered the country under German auspices (see also Mitteleuropa), pending the election of a king. More than a month before Germany surrendered on 11 November 1918 and the war ended, the Regency Council had dissolved the Provisional Council of State and announced its intention to restore Polish independence (7 October 1918).

From Wikipedia: Second Polish Republic · Background: End of World War I (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1919, the Polish government introduced compulsory education for all children aged 7 to 14, in an effort to limit illiteracy, which was widespread, especially in the former Russian Partition and the Austrian Partition of eastern Poland. In 1921, one-third of the citizens of Poland remained illiterate (38% in the countryside). The process was slow, but by 1931 the illiteracy level had dropped to 23% overall (27% in the countryside) and further down to 18% in 1937. By 1939, over 90% of children attended school.

From Wikipedia: Second Polish Republic · Education and culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Following the occupation of Hungary by the Red Army, Soviet military occupation ensued. After seizing most material assets from German hands, the Soviets tried to control Hungarian political affairs, with some success. Using force, the Red Army set up police organs to persecute the opposition, assuming this would enable the Soviet Union to seize the upcoming elections, together with intense communist propaganda to attempt to legitimize their rule. Despite all efforts, in the elections of November 1945 the Hungarian Communist Party was trounced by a Smallholder-led coalition, receiving only 17% of votes. The coalition, under Prime Minister Zoltán Tildy, thus frustrated the Kremlin's expectations of ruling through a democratically elected government.

From Wikipedia: Hungarian People's Republic · History: Formation (CC BY-SA 4.0)

As a member of the Eastern Bloc, initially, Hungary was shaped by various directives of Joseph Stalin that served to undermine Western institutional characteristics of market economies, liberal democracy (considered as bourgeoisie democracy in Marxist thought), and rule of law. The Soviets modeled economies in the rest of the Eastern Bloc, such as Hungary, along Soviet command economy lines. Economic activity was governed by Five Year Plans, divided into monthly segments, which were drafted in order to meet plan targets for the period, and made use of methods such as material balance planning similar to other Soviet-type command economies.

From Wikipedia: Hungarian People's Republic · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (Slovak: Ministerstvo zahraničných vecí a európskych záležitostí) is responsible for maintaining the Slovak Republic's external relations and the management of its international diplomatic missions. The ministry's director is Juraj Blanár. The ministry oversees Slovakia's affairs with foreign entities, including bilateral relations with individual nations and its representation in international organisations.

From Wikipedia: Slovakia · Government and politics: Foreign relations (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Slovakia has a high-income developed economy. In 2026, with a population of only 5 million, it ranked as the 47th richest country with a per capita gross domestic product based on purchasing power parity of $49,376, and the 58th largest economy in the World with a GDP of $167,730 billion. Its GDP per capita equalling 74% of the average of the European Union in 2023. Major privatisations are completed, the banking sector is almost completely in private hands, and foreign investment has risen.

From Wikipedia: Slovakia · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After the Munich Agreement and its Vienna Award, Nazi Germany threatened to annex part of Slovakia and allow the remaining regions to be partitioned by Hungary or Poland unless independence was declared. Thus, Slovakia seceded from Czecho-Slovakia in March 1939 and allied itself, as demanded by Germany, with Hitler's coalition. Secession had created the first Slovak state in history.

From Wikipedia: Slovakia · History: Fascist regime during World War II (1939–1945) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sporting activities are practised widely in Slovakia, many of them on a professional level. Ice hockey and football have traditionally been regarded as the most popular sports in Slovakia, though tennis, handball, basketball, volleyball, whitewater slalom, cycling, alpine skiing, biathlon and athletics are also popular.

From Wikipedia: Slovakia · Culture: Sport (CC BY-SA 4.0)