A rare article written during the life of the Slovak Soviet Republic, one of the world’s first Communist states. Occupying much of southeastern Slovakia, the republic was a product of the Hungarian Revolution and proclaimed on June 16, 1919. Its establishment caused friction within the Hungarian Red Army as nationalists wanted to retain control. With the withdrawal of the Hungarian Red Army as part of the Versailles discussions, the Slovak Soviets fells to the Romanian army on July 7, lasting less than a month.

‘The Slovak Soviet Republic’ by A. Rudniansky from Communist International. Vol. 1 No. 3. July, 1919.

The Russian proletarian revolution has not only proclaimed the Soviet form of government as the very best form of class rule during the transitional period of the dictatorship of the proletariat, but has practically solved the question of the mutual life of different peoples, who, so far, had lived under the oppression of nationality. In the place of separate small states, organized by the bourgeoisie in the name of national “independence“, a federation of Soviet republics must be created: so decided by Soviet Russia and proposed this decision for acceptance to the minor popular bodies united with her. Ukraina, Latvia, Lithuania and White Russia were organized on the Soviet plan. Soviet Hungary followed suit. Like which, imperialist Russia used to oppress various nations, in the Hungarian kingdom seven nationalities lived under perpetual oppression. After the deposition of the Hapsburgs, these seven peoples seceded and proceeded to organize their tiny independent states, of course on bourgeois lines. The Hungarian proletariat had to contend with precisely the same problem as the Russian proletariat, namely how to convince the workers of all oppressed peoples of former Hungarian kingdom that the Hungarian proletariat had no intention whatever of oppressing them, and that their only means of defending themselves against foreign capitalism lay in forming one federative Soviet republic with the Hungarian proletariat.

Following along these lines, Hungary formed her first Ukraina-Soviet, Slovakia. When the Hungarian Red Army, after expelling the Tchekhs, reached the frontier of the Slovakian territory, the Slovak peasants and proletarians, hostile to the Tchekh bourgeoisie greeted them as liberators and flocked in thousands to form a Slovakian red division which fought alongside of the Hungarians. The Tchekhs showed no resistance, so the city of Kasha was promptly taken from them, and there the new Slovakian government was established. It took for its watchword: “Slovakia for the Slovak workers”. It declared that there was no longer any room in Slovakia for Tchekh bourgeois and proclaimed close alliance with Soviet Hungary.

It is not yet clear, what are the boundaries of Soviet Slovakia. In the former Hungarian kingdom the Slovak lands extended from the northwestern and northern frontier of Hungary to the line of the cities of Pojan, Ershekuivar, Leva, Loshon, Ranyo, Kasha, Shaporalyanigel. This area covers 35,000 square kilometers, where, with the exception of an inconsiderable number of Hungarians and Germans 2,000,000 of Slovaks are living. But for the present about half of Slovakia is occupied by Tchekhs, who, evidently, are not going to clear out of it voluntarily; the other half, with the above named cities, except Pojan, belongs to Soviet Slovakia.

The composition of the Slovak government clearly shows that there is no sort of nationalistic jingoism about it and that it is not directed against the Tchekhs. The president of the peoples commissaries, Comrade Janaushek, is himself a Tchekh, and so the commissary of finances, Konelchni, and the commissary of justice, Bauen. Janaushek is an old party worker in the Tchekh movement, and Konelchni used to work in Phusin among the Tchekho-Slovak communists. Like Soviet-Russia, which came to the Ukrainian Soviet government’s assistance with its organizing forces, Hungary delegated out of its own party workers several capable comrades to the newly organized Slovak government.

The following Slovaks are among the people’s commissaries: Mathias Kovatch, commissary of war, an old Slovak socialist who in Russia under Bela Kuhn’s guidance, conducted the agitation among the Slovak prisoners of war. Comrade Janosh, people’s commissary of agriculture, boasts a similar career in the past. Less well known amidst the Slovak people’s commissaries are Neumann (Labour) and Mutchany (ways of communication). The Hungarian communists have two representatives in the Slovak Soviet government: Ernst Por, people’s commissary of foreign affairs, and Tibor Szamuely, people’s commissary of social production in Slovakia. Comrade Tibor has been secretary of the Hungarian communistic group in Moscow, and previous to his appointment in Slovakia was commissary of international propaganda in Budapest. Comrade Szamuely, former people’s commissary of war in Hungary, quite recently visited Moscow, entrusted with a special mission from the Hungarian republic; well known as an energetic organizer, he is now striving to achieve the socialization of a number of industries in Slovakia.

The ECCI published the magazine ‘Communist International’ edited by Zinoviev and Karl Radek from 1919 until 1926 irregularly in German, French, Russian, and English. Restarting in 1927 until 1934. Unlike, Inprecorr, CI contained long-form articles by the leading figures of the International as well as proceedings, statements, and notices of the Comintern. No complete run of Communist International is available in English. Both were largely published outside of Soviet territory, with Communist International printed in London, to facilitate distribution and both were major contributors to the Communist press in the U.S. Communist International and Inprecorr are an invaluable English-language source on the history of the Communist International and its sections.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/ci/old_series/v01-n03-jul-1919-CI-grn-goog-r2.pdf