Slovaks as a distinct people originated around the 8th − 10th century. In the 9th century their ancestors represented a crucial ethnical part of a state, historically known as Great Moravia. From the beginning of the 11th century until 1918 Slovaks lived in the Hungarian Kingdom and later in the Habsburg Monarchy. The creation of a modern national movement influenced by The Great French Revolution (1789) encouraged Slovaks to seek their own national independence. The concept of Slovak Home Rule was elaborated by Slovak political leaders in the Revolution of 1848 − 1849 and since then many generations of Slovaks had...