ABSTRACT
Czechoslovakia from its inception faced the problems of conflicting approaches to national questions, particularly from the Slovak side, but it must be conceded that all good intentions to sustain this civic democracy were regularly obstructed by the events taking place elsewhere, and the state was never given enough time to solve its internal problems. The Czech and Slovak political and cultural life bifurcated completely after Austro-Hungarian compromise, when the monarchy changed into two nearly sovereign states with different nationality policies. The Slovak national issue was exacerbated by diverging interests from various directions. Whilst the Slovaks in the Prague administration considered Hlinka's party an enemy, Hungary and Germany campaigned for Slovak autonomy, the motivation for which would become obvious only a few years later. Political parties were very young and the affiliation of the public with them limited, whilst the shortness of time did not allow for lengthy pre-negotiations.
