The Development of Slovak-Hungarian Relations in 1939–1940 from a Soviet Aspect

resignation from presidency and, as a former president of the state and the president of the republic, sent telegrams to the politicians of the great powers with the request to condemn the German invasion of his country.1 As a consequence of the German advance, the state of Czecho-Slovakia was dissolved, the Germans established the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and also Slovakia declared her independence on 14 March 1939.2 Beneš could get, with recurring calls, several western states to condemn the German aggression but no serious steps were taken beyond the scope of diplomacy. Germany sent a memorandum to the Soviet government on 16 and 17 March 1939 on the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The Soviet diplomacy felt the gravity of the situation and set its apparatus in motion. On 18 March 1939, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a document to the German ambassador in Moscow; they condemned the German steps in eight points and they declared that the Soviet government did not acknowledge either the Protectorate or the independence of Slovakia.3 The Soviet administration put the blame for the situation on France and England as they sacrificed the small states of South-Western Europe in order to direct Nazi Germany to-wards the Soviet Union. After the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia the USSR be-came more concerned about her own safety, and therefore she increased her diplomatic activity in Eastern Europe.4 Opening towards Slovakia seemed advisable now since their embassies in Vienna, Prague and later Warsaw closed or worked as consulates due to the German advance, which limited the possibilities to obtain information. They needed to feel the connections in Bratislava and Budapest. The Soviet interest increased and their activity became more intense after the Ribben