1938 Slovak parliamentary election
{{Infobox election
| country = Slovak Country
| type = parliamentary
| previous_election= 1935 Slovak provincial election
| previous_year = 1935
| next_election = 1946 Slovak parliamentary election
| next_year = 1946
| seats_for_election = All 63 seats in the Assembly of Slovakia
| election_date = 18 December 1938
| image1 = 150px
| leader1 = Jozef Tiso
| party1 = Hlinka's Slovak People's Party – Party of Slovak National Unity
| alliance1 = United List
| alliance_name = no
| seats1 = 47
| seat_change1 = {{increase}} 33
| percentage1 = 97.5%
| title = PM
| before_election = Jozef Tiso
| after_election = Jozef Tiso
| before_party = HSĽS–SSNJ
| after_party = HSĽS–SSNJ
}}{{Politics of Slovakia}}
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 18 December 1938 following the German annexation of the Sudetenland.
Background
On 6 October 1938 Slovakia declared autonomy,{{efn|The new status was confirmed on 22 November 1938, when the National Assembly passed a law granting Slovakia political autonomy}} with Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSĽS) becoming the dominant political party in Slovakia. Some parties were partially forced to merge with HSĽS, whilst others were forbidden (Jewish parties, the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party) or their activities were suspended (e.g. Slovak National Party which refused to "voluntarily" join HSĽS). New Hlinka's Slovak People's Party - The Party of Slovak National Unity (HSĽS-SSNJ) then organized rigged elections to strengthen its position in Slovakia and for further negotiations with the central government.
The elections were announced in the afternoon on Saturday 26 November 1938. Political parties were required to register by the next day, but the information was only officially published on Monday and in the daily press the following Thursday.{{cite book | last = Nižňanský | first = Eduard | author-link = Eduard Nižňanský | title = Nacizmus, holokaust, slovenský štát | trans-title = Nazism, holocaust, Slovak state | location = Bratislava | publisher = Kalligram | year = 2010 | language = Slovak | isbn = 978-80-8101-396-6 | page = 77 }} The campaign contained strong anti-Czech and anti-Jewish propaganda, with those seeking to vote against labelled as traitors.
Electoral system
The election took the form of a referendum, with voters asked only one question "Do you want a new, free Slovakia?"Mikuláš Teich, Dušan Kováč, Martin D. Brown (2011) [https://books.google.com/books?id=jrC1HFgjJxsC&pg=PA169 Slovakia in History], Cambridge University Press, p169{{cite book |last1=Lorman |first1=Thomas |title=The Making of the Slovak People's Party: Religion, Nationalism and the Culture War in Early 20th-Century Europe |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-350-10938-4 |language=en|pages=216–217}} The elections were supervised by the Hlinka Guard, which had to find out how people voted. In many places, the government created separate polling stations for members of national minorities to trace their political preferences and "loyalty".
Results
Of the 63 members of the United List elected, 47 were members of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, four were former members of the now-defunct Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants, two were members of the new German Party and one was a representative of the Hungarian minority.
{{Election results
|image=File:Slovakia Assembly of Slovakia 1938.svg
|alliance1=United List|aspan1=4|vspan1=4|party1=Hlinka's Slovak People's Party – Party of Slovak National Unity|seats1=47
|acolor1=black
|ipct1=97.5
|party2=German Party|seats2=2
|color2=red
|party3=United Hungarian Party|seats3=1
|color3={{party color|Provincial Christian-Socialist Party}}
|party4=Independents|seats4=13
|row8=Against
|ipct8=2.5
|invalidonly=y
|source=Teich et al., NižňanskýNižňanský, p32
}}
Aftermath
Josef Tiso used the results for the reconstruction of the autonomous government, thus weakening the influence of other former parties which "voluntarily" joined HSĽS. The first session of the new Diet of the Slovak Land was held on 18 January 1939, with {{ill|Martin Sokol|sk}} elected as its chairman and Jozef Tiso as Prime Minister. On 14 March the Diet accepted independence, following Tiso's explanation of his discussions with Adolf Hitler in which the latter had ordered the Slovak government to declare independence.
Notes
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