Slovakia

Abstract

Otčenášová describes the case of the history textbook A History of Slovakia and the Slovaks that was recommended for use in schools across Slovakia in the mid-1990s and became one of the most controversial books published in the country. The textbook, an overview of national history written in the style of a chronicle, was approved for publication by the Ministry of Education and financed from the European Union (EU) programme Phare. The ensuing controversy around historical inaccuracies, nationalism and xenophobia led to both national debate and international discussion. The defining factor of the whole controversy was the authoritarian approach of the Ministry of Education, which introduced the textbook without prior consultation from scholars and only reluctantly withdrew support for the publication’s use after EU intervention.