Handbook of Religion and Church History in Slovakia in the 20th Century

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Martin Schulze Wessel
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2020 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 441953237

Religious communities have significantly influenced the history of Slovakia during the 20th century. An outstanding example is the prominent part that both Catholics and Protestants played in the Slovak national movement or the role of the churches in the resistance against state socialism and in the political change during the 1989/1990 period. Until today, however, no comprehensive volume is available to give an overview of developments within the churches and religious communities in Slovakia in the 20th century. The planned project aims to close this gap by providing a well-founded cross-epochal and cross-denominational over-view of religion and churches in the history of Slovakia.Two key aspects are at the center of this effort. On the one hand, the project pays special attention to the multiethnic nature of Slovakia’s population which often did not match the peo-ple’s religious affiliations, but which nevertheless was of exceptional significance for the his-torical development of the country. Special regard is paid to the German, Hungarian, and Ruthene-speaking minorities. On the other hand, it focuses on the activities of religious com-munities under the country’s 20th-century dictatorships. The aim is to examine both the churches’ functioning under the fascist regime headed by the Catholic priest Jozef Tiso from 1939 to 1945, and the confrontation between religious communities and state socialism from 1948 to 1989. The religious communities appear in this context as institutions that suffered severe restrictions of their activities through state repression, but also as actors capable of coming to terms, and at times actively collaborating, with the regime.The central approach of this project is to describe religion as an important factor of historical development and – by discussing the topic in terms of a shared history – to examine devel-opments of the religious communities both shared and divergent, as well as to study relations between denominations. This approach concerns both the basic tendencies in the relationship of religion with politics and society on the one hand, and in religious practice on the other. It is one of the primary goals of this project to represent the complicated and often politicized reli-gion history writing in Slovakia, but at the same time to contextualize it and make it more fact-based by means of overview articles and a rigorous editing process.The planned handbook is being developed together with an international interdisciplinary team of authors. The publication will appear in a two-stage process – in print and online – in both German and Slovak. In terms of readership it will be aimed at the academic community, providing new insights into church and religion history of Slovakia. At the same time, it will also serve as a reference work on the topic of interreligious tension, cooperation and confron-tation, aimed at educators and at the broader public.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Martin Zückert