Editing Jozef Tiso (section)

===Parish duties and war service===
His early ministry was spent as an assistant priest in three [[Parish|parishes]] in today's Slovakia: [[Oščadnica|Ócsad]], [[Bánovce nad Bebravou|Bán]], and [[Rajec]].{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=29-30}} Tiso was interested in public affairs and performed extensive educational and social work. During his fight against [[poverty]] and [[alcoholism]], he may also have adopted some stereotypical and simplified views on Slovak-Jewish relations.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=26}} Such views were not unusual in the contemporary society, including among priests or other people with higher education.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=26}} He blamed the Jewish tavern owners for the rising alcoholism and he was also a member of a self-help association selling food and clothing cheaper than the local Jewish store. Tiso became a member of ''Néppárt'' ([[Catholic People's Party (Austria-Hungary)|Catholic People's Party]]) and contributed to its Slovak journal ''Kresťan'' (Christian).{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=26}} Nevertheless, Tiso carefully distanced himself from the [[Pan-Slavism]] and [[Slovak nationalism]] of some of his peers.

During [[World War I]], he served as a [[chaplain]] of the 71st infantry regiment of the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]], recruited mostly from Slovak soldiers. The regiment suffered heavy losses in [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]]. Tiso got first-hand experience with horrors of war, but also with [[Germanisation]] and [[Russification]] of the local population.  Tiso's military career was ended by a serious [[nephritis|kidney illness]] and he was ultimately released from the military service after a month-long appointment in [[Slovenia]]. Tiso was inspired by the effective organization of the [[Slovenian nationalism|Slovenian national movement]], and soon began to see himself as a Slovak. He did not return to his parish in [[Bánovce nad Bebravou|Bánovce]], but he was appointed as the Spiritual Director of the Nitra seminary by Bende's successor, Vilmos Batthyány, a "Magyar [[chauvinism|chauvinist]]."{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=29–32}} Tiso was also active at this time as a school teacher and journalist, publishing his war [[diary]] in ''The Nyitra County Review'', where the he "[appeared] as a nationally reliable, fervently Catholic, and
personable idealist."{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=32-35}} In his diary entries, Tiso would refer to his nationality as ''magyarországi'' (from Hungary) rather than ''magyar'' or ''tót'' (Slovak).{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=33}} Tiso admired the unity of the Germans and the [[piety]] of the [[Polish people|Poles]], yet he also associated [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galician]] Jews with "filth, disorder, and fraud." Tiso's rhetoric somewhat resembled [[protofascism]], as he perceived war as a "morally purifying" force that would awaken idealism, remove class conflict, and strengthen nationalism through a "harmonious working together of strengths."{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=33-34}} He also covered religious and educational topics, emphasizing a need for religious literature in Slovak.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=30}}

Tiso did not belong to politicians active in the pre-war national movement and his pre-war national orientation has been frequently questioned. His political opponents tried to draw him as a [[Magyaron]]e ([[Magyarization|Magyarized]] Slovak) while some Slovak nationalists sought for proofs of his early national orientation. Tiso carefully avoided national self-categorization language, and his behaviour might be framed in a "[[national indifference]]" approach – a practice largely spread in Central Europe before 1918. In some of his pre-1918 writings, Tiso complained about the state hierarchy or the ruling Liberal party, but he never denounced the [[Magyarization|Magyarisation]] or the [[Hungarian nationalism|Magyar nationalism]]. At the same time, he was more focused on social and religious activities among the Slovaks without revealing his ethnic or national self-identification. Most importantly, Tiso publicly acted as a loyal subject of the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg dynasty]]. More specifically, his identity was stronger linked to the entire monarchy of Austria-Hungary, than to the Kingdom of Hungary, whose citizen he formally was.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Piahanau |first=Aliaksandr |date=31 December 2017 |title=A Priest at the Front. Jozef Tiso Changing Social Identities in the First World War |journal=Revue des études slaves |volume=88 |issue=4 |pages=721–741 |doi=10.4000/res.1324 |s2cid=158552249 |issn=0080-2557|doi-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:Th. Dr. Josef Tiso.jpg|thumb|Tiso wearing a [[clerical collar]] circa 1918]]
Characterized by biographer James Mace Ward,
{{blockquote|Rather than an enthusiastic Magyar, Tiso was more likely a patriotic Hungarian. Rather than a secret pan-Slav, he was someone who was attracted to Slovak social causes yet unwilling to jeopardize his career over them. Virtually all of Tiso’s actions before 1917 can be understood as defending
Catholicism and the Hungarian state. It is also clear that he was drawn to agendas of progress for the country and for the weaker social classes. In the western [[Upper Hungary|''Felvidék'']], these social groups tended to speak [[Slovak language|Slovak]].{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=37}}}}