Editing Jozef Tiso (section)

==Political activist in the First Czechoslovak Republic==
===Slovakization campaign and early antisemitism===
In December 1918, Tiso became a member of the restored [[Slovak People's Party]] (''Slovenská ľudová strana,'' so called "''Ľudáks''"). The party supported the idea of parliamentary democracy, defended interests of its [[Catholic Church in Slovakia|Slovak Catholic]] voters and sought Slovak autonomy within the [[Czechoslovakia|Czecho-Slovakia]] framework.<ref name="Churches and Deportation">[http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20697.pdf ''The Churches and the Deportation and Persecution of Jews in Slovakia''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017061929/http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20697.pdf |date=17 October 2013 }}; by Livia Rothkirchen; Vad Yashem.</ref> Tiso, largely unknown before the coup, gradually strengthened his position in the party hierarchy. His elite education, high intelligence, energy, large working experiences with common people and his ability to speak in common terms made him a popular speaker and journalist of the party.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=42}} 
{{Quote box
 | quote = "We always imagined freedom thus, that there would not be in the villages any Jewish tavern owners or shopkeepers, those tenants of the sinful last government and
herders to the devil....Make order in all of Slovakia so that not only will they disappear, but also the present poverty and shortages, which can be defrayed by their property, [[war profiteering|unjustly gained during the war]] through [[usury]]....Liberate us
from this Jewish hegemony....When we will be able to govern ourselves alone, to do what we want and to want what is necessary and beneficial for us, then we will have full, golden freedom!"
 | source = — Jozef Tiso, advocating for the expulsion of [[History of the Jews in Slovakia|Slovak Jews]] and the expropriation of their property in his newspaper ''Nitra'', February 1919{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=52-53}}
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While pejoratively labeled by some intra-party critics as a "new" Slovak (i.e. someone who did not embrace Slovak nationalism prior to 1918), Tiso was fiercely committed to the process of [[Slovakization]] in Nitra, where he coordinated local schools to promote Slovak [[Literature of Slovakia|literature]] and [[Music of Slovakia|music]], teach the Slovak language, and emphasize the view that "Slovak [[National identity|national consciousness]] inevitably entailed the adoration of God."{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=49-50}} In 1919, he founded a subsidiary of the party in Nitra and he organized a gymnastic organization, ''Orol'' (Eagle), the counterweight of a similar Czech organization, [[Sokol (sport organization)|Sokol]]. While combating the influence of Hungarian political parties in Nitra, the anti-[[Left-wing politics|leftist]] Tiso continued to attack the [[Social Democracy (Czech Republic)|Social Democrats]] and Jews, whom he claimed worked hand in hand, in his newspaper, ''Nitra''.

In spring 1919, Tiso felt vindicated when the [[Social Democratic Party of Hungary|Hungarian Social Democrats]] brought the Jewish [[Béla Kun]] and his fellow [[Hungarian Communist Party|Communists]] (a disproportionate proportion of whom were also Jewish) to power in Hungary.{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=55-61}} When Kun's [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]] invaded and established the [[Slovak Soviet Republic]] in June, Tiso fled northward, fearing that the communist forces would conquer Nitra and execute him if captured. The Hungarians, however, withdrew, and Tiso returned to Nitra within a week. Shortly thereafter, Tiso shut down ''Nitra'', as "its mission of securing the city for Slovakia [had been] accomplished."{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=61}} Tiso would not address the "[[Jewish Question]]" again until 1938, as his principal enemy during the interwar period became the Czech establishment, which leaned towards [[secularization]] and [[liberalism|liberal]] [[progressivism]].{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=63-65}}

===Transition to moderate politics and conflict with Czech centralists===
Tiso first ran for parliament in the [[1920 Czechoslovak parliamentary election]]. Although the electoral results from his district were bright spots in what was otherwise a disappointing election for the Ľudáks, the party did not reward him with a legislative seat.{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=71}} Tiso, however, easily claimed one in the 1925 election, which also resulted in a breakthrough victory for the party. Until 1938, he was a fixture in the [[Czecho-Slovakia]]n parliament in [[Prague]].

In 1921 Tiso was appointed [[Monsignor]] by the Vatican, although this appointment lapsed with the later death of [[Pope Benedict XV]].{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=74}} From 1921 to 1923, he served as the secretary to the new Slovak bishop of Nitra, [[Karol Kmeťko]]. During the same period, nationalist political agitation earned Tiso two convictions by the Czechoslovak courts for incitement, one of which resulted in a short incarceration. Displeased, Kmeťko dropped him as secretary in 1923, but retained him as a Professor of Theology. In 1924, Tiso left Nitra to become [[Dean (religion)|dean]] of [[Bánovce nad Bebravou]], in some sense exiled from Nitra for his polarizing political activism.{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=80–4}} He remained the dean of Bánovce for the rest of his political career, returning there regularly every weekend also as a Czechoslovak minister, and later as president.

In the interwar period, Tiso was a moderate politician and his ability to reach compromises made him a respected mediator of the party. He used more radical rhetoric as a journalist, yet he put aside much of the anti-Jewish rhetoric of his earlier journalistic activities. However, he usually returned to rational, pragmatic arguments in official political negotiations.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=46}} Strongly associating the Slovak identity with the Catholic faith, Tiso sharply criticized the [[anti-clericalism]] of [[Tomáš Masaryk]] and other such Czech "centralists."{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=85}} While the party still operated within a democratic framework, Tiso's colleague and political rival [[Vojtech Tuka]] formed two internal movements to oppose the state or its regime – the first collaborating with [[Hungarian irredentism]] and the second led by pro-fascist [[Rodobrana]]. Tiso did not participate in these.

===Government minister and party troubles===
In the late 1920s, Tiso became one of the party's leaders. When the president of the party [[Andrej Hlinka]] traveled in 1926 to the [[28th International Eucharistic Congress]] in [[Chicago]], he delegated Tiso to represent him in the presidium of the party.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=59}} In his absence, Tiso led complicated negotiations about an entry of the Ľudáks into the government. In spite of pushback from "old" Slovaks within the party, Tiso was successful in reaching a coalition deal, arguing to his critics that "entering the government is the only way that autonomy will fall like a ripe fruit into the hands of Slovaks."{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=96-97}} In January 1927, he became the Czechoslovak Minister of Health and Physical Education, a minor position (using only 1.5% of proposed 1928 government spending) that had the duties of "managing state hospitals and regulating medical and food industries...[overseeing] the republic’s lucrative [[Spa towns in Slovakia|spas]] and [promoting] sports through organizations like Sokol and Orol.{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=98}} While Tiso's ministerial activities built up goodwill with local communities, Tiso was criticized by both Czech centralists, who saw him as "incompetent" and "mixing religion with politics," and party radicals, who felt that his activities did very litle to advance the cause of Slovak autonomy."{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=102-103}} 

Tiso and the Ľudáks fell out of favor with the central government in the aftermath of the "[[Vojtech_Tuka#Espionage_allegations_and_first_jail_sentence|Tuka affair]]," where Tiso, Hlinka, and other party figures ostensibly defended the radical Tuka, who was tried and eventually sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for anti-Republic treason charges.{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=102-107}} Tiso resigned his position on 8 October, 1929, as the party sought to reenter the opposition. 

In 1930, he became the official vice-president of the party and seemed destined to succeed Hlinka, whose health was deteriorating. He spent the 1930s competing for Hlinka's mantle with party radicals, most notably the rightist [[Karol Sidor]]. In 1930, Tiso published ''The Ideology of the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party'' explaining his views on the Czech-Slovak relationship. Notably, he claimed sovereignty of the Slovak nation over the territory of Slovakia and indirectly suggested the right of Slovaks also to adopt different solutions for things from the Czechoslovak government in Prague.{{sfn|Rychlík|2015|p=131}} He repeated the same idea in his parliamentary speeches.{{sfn|Fabricius|Suško|2002|p=384}}
{{Quote box
 | quote = "We want the administration, schools, and courts to go into the hands of Slovaks without exception and unconditionally. We want [to see] Slovaks making good in every branch of public life. Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party strives to improve agriculture, to expand industry, and to develop Slovak financial institutions. We are for maintaining and developing our national culture, speech, traditions, customs, and so on. In short, we want to realize the slogan “Slovakia to Slovaks” in full measure,
acknowledging the rights of other citizens. Otherwise, we are for a common Czecho-Slovak army, finances, and diplomatic service"
 | source = — Jozef Tiso, 31 March, 1932{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=112}}
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===Push for autonomy=== 
By the middle 1930s, Tiso's views shifted toward [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] and [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] ideas. He repeatedly declared that HSĽS was the only party representing the Slovaks and the only party which spoke for the Slovak nation. These claims played a significant role in the later end of the democratic regime. "One nation, one party, one leader...the party should cover all aspects of the life," Tiso declared at the party congress held in 1936.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=69}} Tiso's view of Slovak autonomy continue to radicalize, drawing concern from Czech centralists. In mid-1934, Tiso was deeply disturbed by the [[July Putsch|assassination]] of [[Engelbert Dollfuss]], who, like Tiso, held strong Catholic beliefs; Tiso became skeptical of fascism, proclaiming, "[[Nazism|Hitlerism]] and [[Italian fascism|Mussolini’s fascism]] must recognize that God is a greater power than man and that the [[Ultramontanism|Church is greater than the state]]."{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=134-135}}

The [[1935 Czechoslovak parliamentary election]] failed to provide the Ľudáks a breakthrough, and Tiso feared that the rapid success of [[Konrad Henlein]]'s [[Sudeten German Party]] would remove attention from the "Slovak Question." The [[Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants|Agrarian]] prime minister [[Jan Malypetr]] offered the Ľudáks two cabinet positions (having rejected Tiso's 32-point demands for joining an anti-Henlein, pro-Republic coalition), but Tiso turned down the proposal.{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=138-139}} After Masaryk resigned the presidency in late 1935, Tiso was crucial in mobilizing his party's support for [[Edvard Beneš]] against [[Bohumil Němec]]; though Beneš [[1935 Czechoslovak presidential election|won the election]], the Ľudáks remained alienated.{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=139-140}} Within the party, Tiso was beginning to feel his power challenged by [[Karol Sidor]] (whom Hlinka favored as his future successor) and the radical, antisemitic youth wing. To counter this, Tiso approved the appropriation of [[Fascist symbolism|fascist symbols]] and the formation of the [[Hlinka Guard]], the "brainchild" of [[Alexander Mach]].{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=153}}

In 1938, with increasing pressure from [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]], the representatives of HSĽS questioned neighboring states on their views for the future of Slovakia. In May 1938, Tiso held secret negotiations with the Hungarian Foreign Minister Affairs [[Kálmán Kánya]] during a eucharistic congress in [[Budapest]]. He declared that Slovakia might be prepared to rejoin Hungary as an autonomous federal state should Czechoslovakia cease to exist.{{sfn|Segeš|Hertel|Bystrický|2012|p=50}} However, the meeting did not go well. Tiso was disappointed by Kánya's attitude and alleged Hungarian historical claims on Slovakia and felt Kánya's behaviour was lofty and arrogant.{{sfn|Deák|1991|pp=99–100}} He concluded that Hungary was not seriously interested in a common agreement and was focused more on the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, as was Germany. Therefore, well aware of the weak economic position of Slovakia, the lack of qualified people and an unstable international situation, he felt he was stuck with Czechoslovakia for the time being. When Hlinka died in August 1938, Tiso quickly consolidated control of the Ľudák party.<ref>{{harvnb|Ward|2013|pp=150–5}}. For Tiso's interwar political career, see also {{harvnb|Felak|1995}}.</ref> Tiso was an official speaker from the party at Hlinka's funeral where he urged national unity and loyalty to the Czechoslovak republic.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=74}} He, however, continued negotiations with the central government in Prague, explained the goals of potential autonomy and refused a military solution of the Czechoslovak-German crisis.