Fr. Jozef Tiso: Father of a Stillborn Slovak State

'Fr. Tiso’s career, for all its failings, was a catalyst in the formation of the modern Slovak state.'

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia and establishment of an autonomous Slovak state, just as Europe braced for a second world war. Among the key figures in these developments was Fr. Jozef Tiso, a Roman Catholic priest and eventual president of the wartime Slovak Republic. Outside Central Europe, he is little-known; his close nominal resemblance to Croat-Yugoslav partisan and communist leader Josip Broz Tito doesn’t help in that regard. Those familiar with him are likely to describe him as a mere puppet. Yet, Fr. Tiso’s complicated legacy and the transient national environments that characterized it deserve more analysis than they currently enjoy.