Great Moravia

Great Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe and lasted for nearly seventy years in the 9th century whose creators were the ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks. It was a vassal state of the Germanic Frankish kingdom and paid an annual tribute to it. There is some controversy as to the actual location of its core territory. According to the greater weight of scholars, its core area lay on both sides of the Morava river, the territory of today's western Slovakia and in Moravia and Bohemia (today's Czech Republic), but the entity may have also extended into what are today parts of Hungary, Poland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine and Germany. Alternative theories state that, the core territory of Great Moravia was situated south of the River Danube, in Slavonia (today's Croatia), or in the southern parts of the Carpathian Basin. According to Slovak historian Richard Marsina, Great Moravia was inhabited by the ancestors of modern Moravians and Slovaks, though other historians state that the indigenous Slavs of Great Moravia have died out or they have been assimilated by Hungarians (in the territory of Kingdom of Hungary). This is improbable as the Slavic minority has maintained its language all along the duration of the Hungarian Kingdom and later on has become the majority population of modern Slovakia. There is no continuity in politics of this early Slavic polity and the modern Slovak nation. However, many Slovaks see the basis of the Slovak nation in the cultural heritage of Great Moravia and this is referred to in the modern Slovak constitution. Great Moravia played a significant role in the development of Slovak nationalism.

Great Moravia was founded when, in 833, Mojmír I unified two neighboring states by force, referred to in modern historiography as the "Principality of Nitra" and the "Principality of Moravia". Cultural development resulted from the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who came during the reign of Prince Rastislav in 863. The empire reached its greatest territorial extent under Svatopluk I (871–894), although the borders of his dominions are still under debate. He also received a letter from Pope John VIII who styled him "king" Svatopluk.

Weakened by internal struggle and frequent wars with the Carolingian Empire, Great Moravia was ultimately overrun by the Hungarians, who invaded the Carpathian Basin around 896. Its remnants were divided between Poland, Hungary, Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire. Although some contemporary sources mention that Great Moravia vanished and the Moravian castles were abandoned for a century, archaeological research and toponyms suggest that there was continuity in the Slavic population in the valleys of the rivers of the Inner Western Carpathians. Most castles and towns survived the destruction of the state, but the identification of some castles is still debated and some scholars even claim that Great Moravia disappeared without trace.

Great Moravia left behind a lasting legacy in Central and Eastern Europe. The Glagolitic script and its successor Cyrillic were disseminated to other Slavic countries (particularly Balkan and Kievan Rus'), charting a new path in their cultural development. The administrative system of Great Moravia influenced the development of the administration of medieval Hungary. Great Moravia also became a favorite issue in the Czech and Slovak romantic nationalism of the 19th century.