Slovak Republic (1939–1945)

Slovakia, officially the (First) Slovak Republic, and from 14 March until 21 July 1939 officially known as the Slovak State (Slovak: Slovenský štát), was a partially recognized clerical fascist client state of Nazi Germany which existed between 14 March 1939 and 4 April 1945 in Central Europe. The Slovak part of Czechoslovakia declared independence with German support one day before the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. It controlled most of the territory of present-day Slovakia, without its current southern parts, which were ceded by Czechoslovakia to Hungary in 1938. The client state was the first formally independent Slovak state in history. Bratislava was declared the capital city.

A one-party state governed by the far-right Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, the Slovak Republic is primarily known for its collaboration with Nazi Germany, which included sending troops to the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and the Soviet Union in 1941. In 1940, the country joined the Axis when its leaders signed the Tripartite Pact.

The local Jewish population (according to 1930 census Slovak part of Czechoslovakia had 136,737 Jewish inhabitants, before the loss of Slovak territory to Hungary) was heavily persecuted, with almost 69,000 Jews being murdered or deported (two-thirds of the 89,000 Slovak Jewish population). In 1942, the country deported 58,000 Jews to German-occupied Poland, paying Germany 500 Reichsmark for each deportee.

Internal opposition to the fascist government's policies culminated in the Slovak National Uprising in 1944, itself triggered by the Nazi German occupation of the country. Although the uprising was eventually suppressed, partisan resistance continued. The Slovak Republic was abolished after the Soviet liberation in 1945, and its territory was reintegrated into the recreated Third Czechoslovak Republic. The current Slovak Republic does not consider itself a successor state of the wartime Slovak Republic, instead a successor to the Czechoslovak Federal Republic. However, some nationalists celebrate 14 March as a day of independence.