istropolitan.skThe beginnings of the development of the Slovak student movement fall into the period of the Slovak national revival and of the emancipation of the Slovak literary language. As early as the end of the 18th century, Slovak students organise themselves in a national, political and social direction and proclaim the need for intensive cultural work. The conditions for the development of Slovak students at that time were favoured by the church seminaries, in which the beginnings of Slovak student life as such actually lay. The work of this ecclesiastical intelligentsia gradually also led out to the people in the villages and helped to solve their by no means minor problems. Later, at the beginning of the 19th century and above all in the revolutionary years, there arose in Slovakia, under the influence of the French Revolution, a political and social current aimed at raising national consciousness, which was composed above all of representatives of the student body. This generation, also called the “Štúr generation”, proclaimed the need for persistent small-scale work among the people in the cultural, social and economic spheres. This resulted in an increased interest in studying at the church seminaries, but also at the universities in nearby Vienna and in Budapest. Vienna played an important role in the awakening of national consciousness among Slovaks. Here the students continued their education under the leadership of the Protestant Ľ. Štúr himself and then returned home to lead and teach the uneducated people.
The sixties as well, in which cultural life in Slovakia reached its greatest upswing, offer a gratifying picture of the life of Slovak students. During this period the Bishop of Banská Bystrica, Štefan Moyses, played an important role; he contributed to the spiritual renewal of the Catholic faith among Slovak students.
After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, after the failure of the revolutionary period to bring success, the closure of the cultural and social Matica slovenská and the closure of the Slovak grammar schools, a new, more difficult situation arose for Slovak students. Although the Austro-Hungarian Compromise brought clearer relations between Austrians and Hungarians, the Slovak and other minorities in the Kingdom of Hungary suffered in cultural and political terms. Increased pressure of Magyarisation set in, which also hit student life hard. Culturally and politically active students were persecuted and in some cases even expelled from the schools.
During this period Slovak students also move to Prague, where they found the educational society “Detvan”, which came into being at the beginning of the eighties of the century before last. At home in Slovakia, it was above all the “Morhists” who formed, working secretly among the people.
During the First World War, the student movement awoke together with national consciousness. Slovak university students had their own associations in the university towns, and secret societies were founded at the secondary schools. At the meetings of these associations, among other things, spelling was learned, Slovak books were read and poems were recited. Through the publication of articles in the press, the impetus was given for nationally minded students to become better acquainted with one another and for systematic organisational work. This work was soon interrupted by the upheaval in October. The movement of Slovak students thereby acquires a new form and a freer atmosphere. It goes out into the communities among the people, above all in the east, campaigns for Czechoslovak state unity and begins to expand its organisational network at the secondary schools. The centre of the student movement at that time was Ružomberok. Slovak students formed a united front irrespective of religious denomination. It should be noted here that all the leading organisers were later expelled from the grammar school in Ružomberok.
On 2 January 1919, Catholics and Protestants travel together to the first congress of Czech progressive students in Prague, where, with 600 Czech secondary-school students taking part, 25 delegates represent the Slovaks. The Slovaks protested against the reform demands that the cross must not be in schools and that religion must not be a compulsory subject. They leave Prague dissatisfied. This was the first impetus for the later split. When the struggle becomes public, the division of Slovak students into two directions effectively begins. The Protestant and progressive students, guided by the ideas of the Hlasists, gather around “Mladé Slovensko”; the Catholic students, in the Social Associations of Slovak Students, gather around “Vatra” on a Slovak-Slavic and Christian basis. The central organisation of the first direction becomes the SSŠ; the Catholic students organise themselves in the Headquarters of Slovak Catholic Students (ÚSKŠ).
With this, an ideological struggle begins in the ranks of the students, which results in the neglect of common duties. This is resolved by the SSŠ becoming a purely corporative (ständische) organisation and the ÚSKŠ, while preserving its ideological foundation, becoming an ideological, cultural and religious organisation. This state of affairs essentially continues to this day.
The first magnificent and independent public appearance of Slovak Catholic students took place on 3 August 1919 in Ružomberok. The 700 students present showed that Catholicism is and will remain a precious treasure of Slovak Catholic students. The organising committee elected by the congress takes up its work: it established an independent headquarters based in Ružomberok, publishes an identification and information booklet and organises working conferences. The realisation of these plans was thwarted by the fact that the Ministry of Education and National Enlightenment prohibited the organising of secondary-school students. A source of joy is the fact that university students increasingly begin to become involved, and it is precisely at this time that they themselves take over the organisation of the student body.
In the year 1920 the first Slovak and Catholic academic society, “Tatran”, is founded. Soon afterwards the further societies “Považan” and “Moyzes” come into being. Contacts among them are cordial, but there is a strong need for a centre that sets guidelines and directs the movement into a single stream. At the 3rd Congress in Žilina in the year 1921, Brno was designated as the seat of the headquarters. One year later the seat was moved to Bratislava. New needs arose – to give the organisation a firm and clearly formulated ideological orientation, to clarify its relationship to other organisations – as well as the need for a journal. The General Assembly of the year 1923 adopted ideological resolutions and decided to publish its own organ, “Rozvoj”. The headquarters organises lectures and for the first time establishes contacts with foreign student organisations. The activity of the movement proceeded above all in three directions: deepening its inner, ideological side, strengthening contacts abroad and improving its finances. Of great importance for relations with other countries was the congress of “Pax Romana” /1926/ in Budapest, at which our movement was admitted as an independent, autonomous organisation into the federation of this international Catholic student organisation. This gave us the opportunity to establish livelier contacts with other countries and thus to contribute, at least in part, to making the Slovak name better known abroad.
The press organ “Rozvoj” had 2,500 subscribers and was the most widely circulated student journal in Slovakia. It contributed to no small degree to the dissemination of the ideas of the headquarters, and the number of subscribers testified that the endeavours of the ÚSKŠ met with understanding among the students.
By the year 1926 the ÚSKŠ united 11 societies with a total of 650 members (436 active, 133 founding, 53 supporting and 28 honorary members). The members of the societies were active, among other things, in the local branches of Orol and in some other societies, in which they furthered their education in literary, musical, apologetic and dramatic sections.