03—Ideology.

The Slovak state was an authoritarian regime with fascist elements, rejecting democratic principles and dictating people's place in society. The role of the man as head of the family and the woman as a mother was, according to the new ideology, "God-ordained".

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Jozef Tiso after being elected president

Fascist regimes vary and there is no one clear definition that can be applied to every country indiscriminately. However, although these regimes had their own specificities, they had several common characteristics, such as the restriction of rights - a section of the population losing political representation, furthermore, the multiparty debate being replaced by a strong personality, a charismatic leader who becomes a symbol of the regime, and a strong repressive apparatus (army, paramilitaries, police) punishing people with whom they are not sympathetic.

And last but not least, there tends to be a section of the population, a minority identified as the supposed reason why the country is not doing well, which is responsible for its problems. These regimes attempt to take total control of people's public and private lives. The regime determines with whom you can meet, enter into marriage, spend your leisure time. The official ideology of the Slovak state, which it tried to impose on all structures and institutions, was Slovak National Socialism. It appealed to Christian and national traditions and in some respects was inspired by German Nazism.

The basic pillars of the young state were faith in God, nationalism and following Nazi policies. The ideal Slovak was considered to be a member or sympathiser of the HSĽS party, Catholic, married, and of many children. 

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Propaganda poster

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Propaganda poster

The idea of the ideal Slovak woman was to be a pious housewife, devoted to her husband and caring for a large family. Just as in the Third Reich it was ensured that healthy "Aryan" women gave birth to as many "worthy" children as possible, the Slovak state wanted to bring women back into the home. In 1938, President Jozef Tiso declared the demand for "the creation of a self-sacrificing and loyal Slovak woman".

In this spirit, the role of women was also defined in the government declaration of the autonomous Slovak government of 21 February 1939: "The principle must remain that married women must be returned to the family hearth, because they are called to lead and maintain the rule of the family, where their true place is." The wife was to be simple, religious, hard-working, and devote her life to her husband and children. She was to be realized only in the private sphere; the public one was to remain the domain of men.

For more on the ideology of the Slovak state, see https://www.rtvs.sk/televizia/archiv/14144/132693

 The policy of dismissing married Slovak women from the workforce and limiting their number in universities was also to be a means of strengthening the Slovak family.