Prelude to the Establishment of Communism in Slovakia.

This article examines the distinct wartime and early postwar experiences of Slovakia from 1938 to 1945 and how these shaped the eventual imposition of communist rule in Slovakia within the reconstituted Czechoslovak state. Following Slovakia's declaration of independence under Nazi influence in 1939, Slovak and Czechoslovak communist parties (the Komunistická strana Slovenska, KSS, and Komunistická strana Československa, KSČ) had tense relations, with the KSS often acting autonomously. The exiled Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš's close alliance with the Soviet Union after 1941 facilitated the restoration of a unified Czechoslovakia but also paved the way for centralized communist control, culminating in the 1948 communist takeover. The article highlights Slovakia's unique historical context, including its brief independence, nationalist tensions with the Czech lands, and the complex political dynamics surrounding the Slovak National Uprising and postwar federal arrangements, which contributed to divergent Slovak and Czech memories of this period.