A History of Central Eastern Europe

A very smart man decided to include,
in his book on Central Eastern Europe,
the well-known phrase:
“There are two sides to every coin”
MATÚŠ ČÁK III TRENČIANSKY
“Enemy of the Hungarian State” or “Slovak Nationalist hero”
Actually he could be considered both since being one does not automatically preclude the
other. In fact, being a Slovak Nationalist almost guarantees that, by definition, being an
enemy of the “Greater” Hungarian state, i.e. the pre-1920 KINGDOM OF HUNGARY.
At the dawn of the 14 th century, MATÚŠ ČÁK saw a golden opportunity to create a Slavic-
Slovak state. The line of ÁRPÁD kings had just ended and the struggle to see who would
wear the CROWN OF SZENT ISTVÁN was only beginning. Three of Europe’s Noble Houses –
the French/Neapolitan ANJOU, the Polish PREMYSLID and the German WITTELSBACH –
fought for the Hungarian crown for 10 years. The Slovaks had been under the Hungarian
thumb for 500! The government was crumbling; foreign armies marched back ‘n’ forth
crossing the country from one end to the other and back again; the time for an
independent nation of Slovaks had come. ČÁK was already master of the Vah Valley and
the High Tatra region. Perhaps he was filled with revolutionary ideas as freedom and
equality (doubtful) or, maybe, he had a tolerable dislike for the Hungarian overlords of
yesterday but an intolerable one for each of the 3 possible overlords of tomorrow (likely),
or maybe he dreamt of being
crowned KING OF THE SLOVAKS
(BINGO!). Whatever his reasons, he
was positioned to act, and act he did.
He used the 14 Slovak counties
under his rule and established his
“dominion of Slovakia.” He had
initial military success in stopping
the Royal armies, no matter what
Royal family they fought for, at his
borders. He created his “court” and
treated with foreign powers as any
other sovereign would. What’s more,
he maintained independence for his
Slovak dominion for 20 years,
against overwhelming odds. The
proud fortress at Trenčín still
commemorates the haughty will of
this feudal knight.
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