Slavdom

Chapter 1

Ľudovít Štúr (1815 – 1856) is arguably the most influential author in Slovak literature. Entirely devoted to the cause of the Slovak people’s independence, there is hardly a work of his, whether in prose or verse, that is not conceived with his great mission in mind: the establishment of a proud, autonomous, Slovak nation, in brotherly concord, if not outright political union, with all the other ‘tribes’ of Slavdom. Fluent in Magyar and German, as well as all of the Slavic tongues, Štúr came to understand his nature as a Slovak, and a Slav, while a young boy sent to a distant Hungarian boarding school in the town of Győr. Following his brother Karol to the Slovak lyceum in Bratislava, he threw himself into activity on behalf of the Slovak nation and Slavic culture, even as a student himself lecturing the lower classes on Slavic languages and literatures, inculcating in them a love for their nation, and Slavdom as a whole. His two years spent at the University of Halle introduced him to both a deeper understanding of Hegel’s philosophy of history — which, as he saw it, guaranteed a bright future for the Slavs — and Herder’s idea of the Volk, which sharpened his perception of the traits and nature of the Slavic peoples, in the past and in the present. Upon returning to Hungary from his studies, he undertook agitation as a publicist — especially after being deprived of his position at the Bratislava Lyceum for his opposition to the Hungarian Kingdom’s policies of magyarisation. He defended Slovak rights in the Hungarian parliament, to which he was elected in the fateful years 1847 – 1849. The outbreak of the Spring of the Peoples saw him in Prague, as one of the chief organisers of the Slavic Congress. When this was disrupted by the cannon of General Windischgrätz, Štúr took to the barricades during the Czech June Uprising, and later played an active role in organising armed resistance to the Magyars, on behalf of Slovak independence, at a time when the Magyars themselves were in open revolt against Vienna. The quelling of these rebellions by the Austrians, aided by the Russians, put an end to his political activity — consigning him to what amounted to a house arrest in the village of Modra — and disabusing him of any illusions he may have had about the possibilities of a union of the Slavs under the Habsburg sceptre. Štúr died at the young age of 41 from complications arising from a hunting accident. Although his tireless polemics on behalf of his Slavic and Slovak ideals are his most noteworthy writings, he was an accomplished poet as well. His two great narrative poems, Svatoboj and Matúš of Trenčín are among the treasures of Slovak poetry.

Ľudovít ŠtúrVolkSvatobojMat of Trenčín