SLOVAKIA IN THE PERIOD OF NORMALIZATION AND EXPECTATION OF CHANGES (1969-1989)

The papers gives a more systematic perspective on the political and so cial development of Slovakia in the period 1969 - 1989. The paper cons ists of the two parts. The first part The politics of normalisation an d the society in Slovakia shows the interconnection of the Communist p arty politics with the development of society. It demonstrates the con sequences of the normalisation as emigration and political purges and compares the situation in Slovakia to the one in the Czech Republic. S pecial attention is given to the indications of the partial awakening of society in 80s (the impact of the Helsinki Conference, the struggle for religious freedoms and for the position of Churches, critical dim ension of art, especially theatre etc.) that, however, did not change stagnant character of Slovakian society. On the contrary, the dogmatic communist party wing succeeded to acquire the power in this period an d to continue the political persecutions. The second part discusses th e constitutional law position and the economic position of Slovakia in the Czechoslovakian federation It is evident that the normalisation p olitics manifested itself in a full extension in the sphere of constit utional law and economy. Both the deformation of the federal arrangeme nt and the centralisation of economy had seriously affected the situat ion in Slovakia. The attention is given to the position of Slovakia in the Federation and to the issues of Slovakians social and economic eq ualising with the Czech lands. The economic data comparison doubts the taken-for-granted statement that the Czech lands ''paid for'' Slovaki a. I also introduce the data about the situation in the power elite in both the countries, the data about military industry and description of the problems of the proposal oi new constitution. The paper describ es divergent traits of the processes that underwent in Slovakia of tha t time. In spite of the overall stagnation Slovakia paradoxically show ed the economic growth. Shifts apparent in next domains are documented and evaluated briefly. The offered description helps to understand th e historical background of the democratisation processes in the Slovak society, the split of the common state of Czechs and Slovaks, the eco nomic problems, problems in culture and in social sphere that have bec ome visible after the November 1989.