| Post-war Bratislava |
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Following World War II the situation in Bratislava fundamentally changed. Most of its former Jewish population did not return from the concentration camps, and after liberalisation most of the German and Hungarian populations were also displaced from the city. Bratislava thus lost a large part of its unique multicultural atmosphere. The communistic coup in February 1948 marked a turning point in post-war development. Czechoslovakia became part of the socialist camp and the buffer zone between the West and the East. Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain. For Bratislava, which after the war was still linked to Vienna by a tramway, it meant building up closed borders with the West. Parts of the city were caught in the border separated by barbed wire. The residents there had to move. The end of the 1940s and beginning of the 1950s was marked by a period of construction and the reconstruction of war destroyed parts of the city, especially industrial companies, which were nationalised after 1948. The lives of those living in the city were affected by communist repression in the 1950s. Many people were imprisoned and thousands that were accused in contrived processes were forced out of the city. The 40-year plus period of communist rule was interrupted by the events of 1968 ‑ 1969. The Bratislava born Alexander Dubček became a symbol of these events. The launched process of democratic changes was only suppressed by the occupation armies of the Warsaw Pact. The following “temporary presence” of Soviet troops lasted more than 20 years. Together with widespread political persecution, it was supposed to be an assurance against potential attempts at reform, or a change of the social make-up in Czechoslovakia. The Official Website of the City of Bratislava |