New signs of national and political life appeared only at the very end of the century. Slovaks became aware of the fact that they needed to ally themselves with others in their struggle. One result was the Congress of Oppressed Peoples of Hungary, held in Budapest in 1895, which alarmed the government. In their struggle Slovaks received a great deal of help from the Czechs. In 1896, the concept of Czecho-Slovak Mutuality was established in Prague to strengthen Czecho-Slovak cooperation and support Slovakia. At the beginning of the 20th century, growing democratization of political and social life threatened to overwhelm the monarchy. The main rallying call was for universal suffrage. In Hungary only 5 percent of inhabitants could vote. Slovaks saw in the trend towards democracy a possibility of easing ethnic oppression and a break through into politics again. The Slovak political camp, at the beginning of the century, split into different factions. The leaders of the Slovak National Party based in Martin, expected the international situation to change in the Slovak’s favor, and they put great store by Russia.

Andrej Hlinka

The Catholic faction of Slovak politicians led by Andrej Hlinka focused on small undertakings among the Slovak public and, shortly before the war, established a political party named the Slovak Public Party. The liberal intelligentsia rallying around the Hlas (Voice) journal, followed a similar political path, but attached more importance to Czecho-Slovak cooperation. An independent Social Democratic Party was founded in 1905. The Slovaks achieved some results. One of the greatest of these was the election success in 1906, when, despite continued oppression, seven Slovaks managed to get seats in the Assembly. This success alarmed the government, and oppression was stepped up. One result was the passing of a new education act known as the Apponyi Act, named after education minister Count Albert Apponyi. This was the climax of the Magyarization process. The new act stipulated four years of compulsory schooling, and that only Hungarian was to be taught. The reign of terror claimed the lives of 15 Slovaks — killed during consecration of a new church at Cernova near Ruzomberok. The local inhabitants wished their new church to be consecrated by the popular priest and patriot Andrej Hlinka. But the Hungarian authorities decreed that the church should be consecrated by their own nominee. The public uproar was put down by the police with guns. All this added to estrangement and resistance towards Hungarian rule.