Slovak Resistance and Émigrés: Plans for the Post‑war Era and Political Reality in Slovakia after the Crossing of the Front

During World War II, various groups of the Czechoslovak foreign or home resistance created their own plans and visions for the post‑war period. While for the Czechoslovak democratic exile in the West, as well as for the democratic resistance in Slovakia, the priority was the restoration of a democratic Czechoslovakia, for the Czech and Slovak communists it was mainly the reconstruction of a Czechoslovak statehood that would be as closely linked as possible to the Soviet Union and in which the communists would have a strong governmental position. On the other hand, however, there was also a significant contradiction between the Czech exile and the domestic Slovak resistance in reference to the question of the post‑war position of Slovakia in a restored Czechoslovakia. On this issue, the Slovak democrats were closer to the Czech communists who, unlike Beneš and his entourage, were willing to give them the desired federation. This, in addition to the idea of the restoration of a democratic Czechoslovakia, also formed the basis for the resistance cooperation between Slovak communists and democrats. After the war, however, shortly after the front had crossed into the newly liberated territory of Slovakia, a new post‑war reality based on the presence of Soviet military and intelligence agencies addressed the previous plans of the resistance. They were forcing the communists close to them, which resulted in the dominance of the communists in the liberated territory. However, this was relatively ably seconded by the Slovak democrats, especially when the Soviet authorities left the territory with the advancing front.