Editing Pan-Slavism (section)

== Pan-Slavism in the Czech lands and Slovakia ==
[[File:Pan-Slavic postcard "Dědictví otců, zachovej nám, Pane".jpg|thumb|Pan-Slavic postcard depicting [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|Cyril and Methodius]], with the text "God/Our Lord, watch over our grandfatherland/<br>heritage" in 8 Slavic languages.]]
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{{main article|Czechoslovakism}}

The first Pan-Slavic convention was held in Prague on June 2 through 16, 1848.<ref>See Note 134 on page 725 of the ''Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Volume 14'' (International Publishers: New York, 1980).</ref> The delegates at the Congress were specifically both [[Austria-Hungary#Ethnic relations|anti-Austrian]] and [[Russification#Lithuania and Poland|anti-Russian]]. Still "the Right"—the moderately liberal wing of the Congress—under the leadership of [[František Palacký]] (1798–1876), a Czech historian and politician,<ref>See the biographical note on page 784 of the ''Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Volume 14''.</ref> and [[Pavol Jozef Šafárik]] (1795–1861), a Slovak philologist, historian and archaeologist,<ref>See the biographical note at page 787 of the ''Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Volume 14''</ref> favored autonomy of the Slav lands within the framework of Austrian (Habsburg) monarchy.<ref name="ReferenceA">See Note 134 on page 725 of the ''Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Volume 14''.</ref> In contrast "the Left"—the radical wing of the Congress—under the leadership of [[Karel Sabina]] (1813–1877), a Czech writer and journalist, [[Josef Václav Frič]], a Czech nationalist, [[Karol Libelt]] (1817–1861), a Polish writer and politician, and others, pressed for a close alliance with the revolutionary-democratic movement going on in Germany and Hungary in 1848.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

A national rebirth in the Hungarian "Upper Land" (now [[Slovakia]]) awoke in a completely new light, both before the Slovak Uprising in 1848 and after. The driving force of this rebirth movement were Slovak writers and politicians who called themselves Štúrovci, the followers of [[Ľudovít Štúr]]. As the Slovak nobility was [[Magyarization|Magyarized]] and most Slovaks were merely farmers or priests, this movement failed to attract much attention. Nonetheless, the campaign was successful as brotherly cooperation between the Croats and the Slovaks brought its fruit throughout the war. Most of the battles between Slovaks and Hungarians however, did not turn out in favor for the Slovaks who were logistically supported by the Austrians, but not sufficiently. The shortage of manpower proved to be decisive as well.

During the war, the [[Slovak National Council]] brought its demands to the young Austrian Emperor, [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]], who seemed to take a note of it and promised support for the Slovaks against the revolutionary radical Hungarians. However the moment the revolution was over, Slovak demands were forgotten. These demands included an autonomous land within the Austrian Empire called "Slovenský kraj" which would be eventually led by a Serbian prince. This act of ignorance from the Emperor convinced the Slovak and the Czech elite who proclaimed the concept of Austroslavism as dead.

Disgusted by the Emperor's policy, in 1849, Ľudovít Štúr, the person who codified the first largely used [[Slovak language]], wrote a book he would name ''Slavdom and the World of the Future''. This book served as a manifesto where he noted that Austroslavism was not the way to go anymore. He also wrote a sentence that often serves as a quote until this day: "Every nation has its time under God's sun, and the [[tilia|linden]] [a symbol of the Slavs] is blossoming, while the [[Oak#Symbols|oak]] [a symbol of the Teutons] bloomed long ago."<ref>({{langx|sk|Každý národ má svoj čas pod Božím slnkom, a lipa kvitne až dub už dávno odkvitol.}}) {{Cite book|title=Slovanstvo a svet budúcnosti. Bratislava 1993, s. 59}}</ref>

He expressed confidence in the [[Russian Empire]] however, as it was the only country of Slavs that was not dominated by anybody else, yet it was one of the most powerful nations in the world. He often symbolized Slavs as being a tree, with "minor" Slavic nations being branches while the trunk of the tree was Russian. His Pan-Slavic views were unleashed in this book, where he stated that the land of Slovaks should be annexed by the Tsar's empire and that eventually, the population could be not only [[Russification|Russified]], but also converted into the rite of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodoxy]], religion originally spread by [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|Cyril and Methodius]] during the times of [[Great Moravia]], which served as an opposition to the [[Catholic church|Catholic]] missionaries from the [[Franks]]. After the [[Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin|Hungarian invasion of Pannonia]], Hungarians converted into [[Catholicism]], which effectively influenced the Slavs living in [[Pannonia]] and in the land south of the Lechs.

However, the Russian Empire often claimed Pan-Slavism as a justification for its aggressive moves in the Balkan Peninsula of Europe against the Ottoman Empire, which conquered and held the land of Slavs for centuries. This eventually led to the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Balkan campaign]] of the Russian Empire, which resulted in the entire Balkan being liberated from the Ottoman Empire, with the help and the initiative of the Russian Empire.<ref>Frederick Engels, "Germany and Pan-Slavism" contained in the ''Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Volume 14'', pp. 156-158.</ref> Pan-Slavism has some supporters among Czech and Slovak politicians, especially among the nationalistic and far-right ones, such as People's Party – Our Slovakia.

During [[World War I]], captured Slavic soldiers were asked to fight against "oppression in the Austrian Empire". Consequently, some did. (see [[Czechoslovak Legions]])

The creation of an independent [[Czechoslovakia]] made the old ideals of Pan-Slavism anachronistic. Relations with other Slavic states varied, sometimes being so tense it escalated into an armed conflict, such as with the [[Second Polish Republic]] where border clashes over [[Silesia]] resulted in a short hostile conflict, the [[Polish–Czechoslovak War]]. Even tensions between Czechs and Slovaks had appeared before and during World War II.