Slovakia during World War II
During World War II, Slovakia was a client state of Nazi Germany after the invasion of Czechoslovakia and officially became a member of the Axis powers in 1940. It participated in Operation Barbarossa sending a few divisions on the front.
Slovak State foundation
The desire for autonomy was one of the great causes for Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. Monsignor Jozef Tiso and nationalists of the Slovak People's Party pushed for Slovak independence and aligned themselves with the Nazi Party in Germany. On March 13, 1939, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler invited Tiso to Berlin. Hitler told Tiso that he would support him if he separated Slovakia from Czecho-Slovakia; otherwise, the Slovak lands would be divided between Hungary, Poland and the rest of Czechoslovakia. On March 14, 1939 Slovakia declared independence, calling itself the Slovak Republic. German troops soon occupied the Czech lands, and established the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia there.War with Hungary
On November 2, 1938, the First Vienna Award transferred the territories of southern Slovakia and southern Ruthenia to Hungary. Hungary was granted an area of 11,927 km2 with a population of 869,299. According to the 1941 Census, 86.5% of these were ethnic Hungarians. Hitler even promised to transfer all of Slovakia to Hungary in exchange for military support from Budapest in the war soon to be unleashed against the Soviet Union, but the Hungarians were reluctant to engage in warfare. Instead, they agreed to a territorial revision along ethnic separation lines.Hungary recognized the Slovak Republic led by Tiso. In 1939, from March 23 to March 31, a border war was fought between Slovakia and Hungary. Although Slovakia had signed a "Protection Treaty" with Nazi Germany, Germany refused to help Slovakia, in direct violation of that treaty. The Slovak-Hungarian War resulted in the Hungarian occupation of a narrow strip along the border which had previously been Slovak.
Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Slovakia's Field Army Bernolák, consisting of three infantry divisions and a mobile group, participated in the invasion and was subordinate to Germany's Army Group South.Second World War
The Tripartite Pact, an agreement signed in Berlin on September 27, 1940, linked Germany, Italy and Japan as the Axis powers of World War II. On November 24, 1940, Slovakia also signed the Tripartite Pact. Hitler asked the newly formed Slovak Republic to join the invasion of Poland.War in the East
Slovakia did not participate in the start of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, which began on June 22, 1941. Hitler and other Nazi leaders distrusted the Slovaks against participating in Eastern European campaigns because they were Slavs. Although Hitler did not ask for help from Slovakia, the Slovaks decided to send an expeditionary force.The Slovak Army group attached to the 17th German Army attacked the Soviet 12th Army. Along with the 17th Aramta German and Hungarian army, the group directed the Slovak army deep into southern Russia. During the Battle of Uman, a mechanized body of the Carpathian Group formed double wings encircling the 6th and 12th Soviet units. During this struggle, 20 Soviet divisions were destroyed or surrendered.
From 1942 to 1944 only the Slovak 1st Division was kept on the front line, fighting in the Caucasus area and later in southern Ukraine.
4,000 Slovak soldiers were casualties in the fighting on the Eastern Front. There was also a high rate of desertion, at first individuals but later large groups of soldiers disillusioned with the war.
Slovak National Uprising
On August 29, 1944, the Slovak National Uprising broke out after German troops invaded Slovakia. The German occupation troops resumed the pursuit of the Final Solution by deporting Slovak Jews to mass death-camps in Germany and occupied Poland.Air warfare
Slovakia became target of Allied bombers towards the end of World War II. The major targets of strategic bombing included oil refineries in Bratislava and Dubová, arms factories in Dubnica nad Váhom and Považská Bystrica, railroad hubs like Nové Zámky. During the liberation months tactical bombing was executed, strongest hit were Prešov and Nitra.Major air raid included the bombing of Bratislava and its refinery Apollo on June 16, 1944 by American B-24 bombers of the Fifteenth Air Force with 181 victims and bombing of Nitra on March 26, 1945 by Soviet A-20 bombers with 345 victims.