2017/01/01 by Aliaksandr Piahanaŭ · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics #Central European national history #European Cultural and National Identity #Nationalism #Front (military) #Slovak #Identity (music) #Nazism #Ancient history #Classics #History #Political science #Law #Art #Politics #Philosophy #Geography
paper · pdf · doi:10.4000/res.1324
openalex publication_date 2017/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This paper investigates the Great War experience and social identities of the young Catholic priest from Austria-Hungary, Dr. Jozef Tiso. Born in 1887, Tiso became President of the Nazi-Germany-allied Slovakia in 1939-1945, and was executed by the Czechoslovak justice in 1947. This study mainly uses (and compares) Tiso’s diary, written during his service in the Habsburg army at the Austro-Russian front in 1914, and his 1946 affidavit to the Czechoslovak investigators. Exploring his manyfolder identity, we challenge the two dominant views that, before 1918, Tiso felt himself either a Slovak nationalist or a Magyar nationalist. We conclude that the social identity of Jozef Tiso in WWI consisted of two main categories: Catholic priest and Austro-Hungarian patriot. These categories coexisted and intertwined with those of Slovak sympathizer and Hungarian citizen.