Slovak National Council

[1] It originated in the mid-19th century as a focus for Slovak nationalist aspirations to break away from the Kingdom of Hungary but its bid for independence was suppressed.

On 19 September, the SNR declared in an assembly held at Myjava that Slovakia would separate from Hungary and called for a national Slovak uprising.

[1] It had executive power in Western parts of Upper Hungary[2] (today mostly Slovakia) occupied by united Austrian-Slovak forces within their fight against the Hungarians.

The Hungarian army was able to put down the uprising within a month and forced the militia to retreat to Moravia, executing two of its leaders and depriving Štúr, Hurban and Hodža of their citizenship on the grounds of treason.

[1] Following the suppression of the uprisings in Hungary and Slovakia, the new Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Franz Josef I, sought to co-opt the three Slovak leaders by offering them positions in the state administration.

The outbreak of the First World War a few months later meant that it remained inactive for the next four years, when the Slovaks fought for the Central Powers as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At a meeting held in Budapest on 12 September 1918, twelve representatives of Slovak parties were nominated to serve as members of the council.

[8] The SNR issued the so-called "Christmas Agreement" setting out a programme for re-establishing Slovakia as part of a reconstituted Czechoslovak state under democratic rule,[1] a stance which was supported by all the major anti-fascist forces.

The third SNR abroad was founded in London by Peter Prídavok on 31 December 1943 and advocated that Slovakia should become an independent state in a federated Central Europe.

It was founded in Rome in May 1948 after the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia, with Karol Sidor, Konštantin Čulen, Jozef Kirschbaum and others as founder members.