Milan Hodža

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Portrait of Milan Hodža (1936)

Milan Hodža (born February 1, 1878 in Sučany , Austria-Hungary , today Slovakia ; † June 27, 1944 in Clearwater , United States ) was a Czechoslovak or Slovak journalist , politician and the first Slovak Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (1935-1938).

Life

Hodža was born into the family of a Protestant pastor. He attended schools in Neusohl , Sopron and Hermannstadt , studied law at the universities of Budapest and Klausenburg and completed his studies in history and Slavic studies at the University of Vienna . Thanks to his polyglot talent, he gradually learned seven other languages ​​in addition to Slovak: German, English, French, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Romanian and Hungarian.

In 1900/01 Hodža was the editor of the daily Slovenský denník and from 1903 to 1914 the weekly newspaper Slovenský týždenník . He was the only Slovak to belong to the group around the heir to the throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand , who in 1906 advocated a federalized Austria-Hungary . However, these plans were not implemented. Hodža was also politically active as a member of the Slovak National Party. He wanted to start his own Agrarian Party, but due to the outbreak of the First World War ended in failure. Since a reform of the monarchy was now impossible, Hodža concentrated on the establishment of Czechoslovakia and was significantly involved in the preparation of Martin's declaration , with which Slovakia officially became part of the new Czechoslovak state.

After the war he became chairman of the Czechoslovak Party in Slovakia. In the interwar period he was also a member of the National Assembly and thanks to his orientation as a Czechoslovakist he held high offices in Czechoslovakia. Between 1919 and 1920 he was Minister for the Unification of Laws, from 1922 to 1926 and again between 1932 and 1935 Minister of Agriculture, from 1926 to 1929 Minister of Education, from 1935 to 1936 Minister of Foreign Affairs and from 1935 to 1938 he was Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, and in 1935 he was Deputy President for five days after the resignation of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk . He was also a co-founder of the party "Republikánska strana zemedelského a malorol'níckeho l'udu"

In later years he had more and more conflicts with the Czech politicians because of his increased orientation towards Slovakia. After the Munich Agreement , his government had to resign on September 22, 1938 and he emigrated to Switzerland, then to France; because of differences of opinion within the Czechoslovak National Committee , he founded the Slovak National Council in Exile in 1939 , which was renamed the Czecho-Slovak National Council in January 1940 . After the unfavorable course of the war at the beginning of the Second World War , he emigrated to Great Britain in 1940 and finally to the United States in 1941.

Hodža died in Clearwater, Florida on June 27, 1944 and was buried in a Czech cemetery near Chicago . In 2002 his remains were brought back to Slovakia and buried again at the Martin National Cemetery.

Milan Hodža has received various prestigious awards from Czechoslovakia, France, Poland, Romania and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Political career

  • Member of the Hungarian Reichstag (1905–1910)
  • Deputy Chairman of the Slovak National Party (1906–1914)
  • Ambassador of the Czechoslovak government in Hungary (1918-1919)
  • Chairman of the Czechoslovak Agrarian Party in Slovakia (1918–1938)
  • Minister for the Association of Laws (1919–1920)
  • Member of the Czechoslovak National Assembly (1918–1938)
  • Minister of Agriculture (1922–1925 and 1932–1934)
  • Minister of Education (1926–1929)
  • Foreign Minister (1935–1936)
  • Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (1935–1938)
  • Chairman of the Slovak National Council in Paris (1939–1940)

Appreciation

A bilingual (Slovak-English) high school in his birthplace Sučany is named after Milan Hodža. In addition, the municipality organizes the “Milan Hodža Days” in his honor.

Fonts (selection)

  • Československý rozkol. Príspevky k dejinám slovenčiny. Turčiansky Sväty Martin, Prague 1920, (“Czechoslovak split”).
  • Články, reči, štúdie. Volumes 1–5 and Novina 7, Prague 1930–1933, (“Articles, speeches, studies”).
  • Federation in Central Europe. Reflections and reminiscences. Jarrolds, London et al. 1942, (“Bund in Mitteleuropa”).

literature

Web links

Commons : Milan Hodža  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Hodža, Milan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hodza, Milan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slovak politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Sučany
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 1944
Place of death Clearwater , Florida