Vojnové škody a rekonštrukcia Slovenska 1944 - 1948. (Hospodárstvo, infraštruktúra, zdravotníctvo)
War Damage and Reconstruction of Slovakia 1944 - 1948. (Economy, Infrastructure, Health Care)

Author(s): Ľudovít Hallon, Miroslav Sabol, Anna Falisová
Contributor(s): Ľudovít Hallon (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, History, Social Sciences, Sociology, Economic history, Recent History (1900 till today), International relations/trade, Health and medicine and law, Family and social welfare, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949)
Published by: Historický ústav SAV
Keywords: Slovakia; Czechoslovakia; war damage; reconstruction; assistance; WWII; postwar; economy; infrastructure; health care;
Summary/Abstract: Military operations during the Slovak National Uprising (SNU) and the front-line battles on the Slovak territory between the years 1944-1945 are relatively well researched by Czech and Slovak historiography. However, the impact of these events on the Slovak economy, infrastructure and the social sphere were only of marginal interest here. The same can be said about the subject of eliminating the war related damages after 1945. Three authors, Ľudovít Hallon, Miroslav Sabol and Anna Falisová (researchers of the Department of History of Sciences and Technology, Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences) decided to pay a closer attention to these less frequented themes in their monograph. It is at a same time a first attempt and a pilot project for a future research leading towards a more comprehensive analysis of the mentioned themes. The monograph consists of three autonomous parts; one from each author. In the first one, Ľ. Hallon documents how the outcomes of military operations influenced the Slovak economy, especially the industry, financial sphere and the infrastructure. The main focus is on the period from June 1944 (first bombing of the Slovak industrial facilities), till April 1945 (end of war on the Slovak territory). In some cases, this time interval is stretched till the first months after the WWII. The analysis is based on the archive research in Germany and Slovakia, especially on the documents about aerial attacks, war damages during the SNU and the front-line military operations. Special attention is dedicated to the far-reaching financial losses related to the German occupation and plundering after the outbreak of the SNU. Ľ. Hallon analyzed also the forms of German control of Slovak economy and overall status of war damages. In the second part, M. Sabol deals with the reconstruction of the damaged economy, infrastructure and partly also tertiary sphere in Slovakia between the years 1945- 1948. Author focuses on the importance, role and types of domestic and foreign aid presented to the Slovak inhabitants and economy. The already existing knowledge about this theme is here significantly enriched by the archive research, analyze of statistics and contemporary newspaper articles. This section is describing the elimination of war damages in agriculture, restoration of specific industrial branches, reconstruction of demolished infrastructure, especially the railways, but also roads, bridges and water transport. M. Sabol writes about transferring the industrial facilities from Czech lands to Slovakia. The subchapters about mine clearing and problem of German reparations for the Czechoslovakia are based on yet unknown sources. This is also the case of information about the status of Slovakia in the process of delivering the UNRRA aid as well as the description of the help coming from the Soviet Union. The third part, written by Anna Falisová, deals with impact of war on the health and social situation of the population. This chapter has a „pioneering character“ as it is based exclusively on archive documents and other primary sources. Regarding the health situation, this text is focused on spread of epidemics after the end of war and efforts to stop them. It analyzes the overall health status of the population and establishment of the new „miraculous“ medicine, penicillin. This part of the book deals also with the health situation of children, with the help of UNRRA and other foreign organizations for the health service. Special attention is devoted to health aspects of war repatriations, impact of war events on the psychic state of the population and the methods used to reduce these effects.

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