The Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences receives support for three new research projects:
Ľudovít Hallon
Vážska Cascade in the Economic and Social Life of Slovakia in the 20th Century
The goal of the project is source research, evaluation and processing of the development and significance of the system of water works and hydropower plants on Váh, known as the Váh cascade, in the wider scientific-technical, economic-political, socio-economic, environmental and cultural-historical contexts of life on Slovakia in the 20th century. The goal is also to evaluate the role of the monitored hydropower project in the industrialization of Slovakia and in the overall economic, social and cultural development of Slovakia. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the project topic, two research teams will collaborate to achieve the objectives: one from the Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (HÚ SAV, v. v. i.) and the other from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Slovak University of Technology (STU) in Bratislava.
Adam Hudek
What Kind of Slovakia? Political Visions of Slovakia”s Future between 1988-1998
The project examines competing political visions that shaped ideas about Slovakia’s future between 1988 and 1998. By examining the role of ideas and ideological conflicts, it offers a fresh perspective on the history of post-communist transformation, shifting the focus from institutional, economic, and political reforms to ideological conflicts. The project is based on the hypothesis that the transformation period was not defined by a gradual convergence toward liberal-democratic consensus, but by sustained competition among multiple ideological projects whose interaction fundamentally shaped Slovakia’s political trajectory. The research analyzes key political currents, including liberalism, Christian democracy, various forms of nationalism, national communism and ethno-populism, environmentalism, as well as technocratic and neoliberal visions. It investigates their origins, intellectual foundations, mutual conflicts, hybridizations, and processes through which some visions became dominant while others were marginalized. The years 1988–1998 represent a crucial decade during which an initial plurality of alternatives crystallized into political configurations that continue to shape debates about Slovakia’s direction today. Methodologically, the project combines history, political science, and focused comparative analysis. The core analytical unit is not the individual author, but the political vision, understood as a relatively coherent set of ideas shared by groups of actors, including parties, movements, and intellectual networks. The Slovak case is complemented by a comparison with Lithuania and Croatia, enabling the identification of country-specific patterns within the broader context of post-socialist “small new states.” The project aims to provide a systematic account of the role of political visions in transformation processes and to explain their long-term institutional and discursive consequences.
Michal Kšiňan
Hybridisation of Military Cultures — Effects on Ordinary Czechoslovak Soldiers (1917—1989)
The army, compulsory military service and military culture more broadly have long served as key instruments through which the state sought to inculcate its values among conscripts. Yet how do soldiers respond when these values and military cultures change repeatedly, and how does this affect their behaviour? The Czechoslovak and Slovak armies provide a particularly revealing case study, having undergone profound transformations throughout the twentieth century in response to the geopolitical turmoil of Central Europe. In Czechoslovakia, the military was initially modelled on the French example (1918–1938), with a temporary Italian influence; following the establishment of Slovakia (1939–1945), it came under German influence, while Czechoslovak soldiers abroad were shaped by British and Soviet models. After the communist takeover, the military was rebuilt on the model of the Red Army. While existing scholarship has examined these transformations primarily at the highest institutional levels, little is known about their impact on ordinary soldiers, their professional duties and everyday lives. Drawing on egodocuments, the project will systematically analyse how soldiers responded to reforms and wartime pressures, how military cultures evolved “from below” and how frictions emerged between prescribed norms and lived realities. The project’s innovative contribution lies in applying the concept of cultural hybridisation to military cultures at the lowest levels of the armed forces. It situates Czechoslovak, Czech and Slovak military experiences within a transnational perspective and cultural anthropology approach, highlighting both adaptation, indifference and persistence across different military traditions.
