The Making of Alt-History in Postcommunist Slovakia: Martin Lacko’s construction of a proud nation

After the fall of communism in 1989, Slovakia faced challenging times in the transition to liberalism, capitalism, and democracy. This period was marked by a wave of ethnic nationalism, an identity crisis, a desperate search for the nation’s roots, and the emergence of actors who shaped and navigated identity politics. This chapter briefly maps the postcommunist historical milieu and reflects on the contemporary significance of the historical revisionism that was introduced in the 1990s by an aging group of émigré historians and then pursued and distorted by some historians of younger generation working with the Nation’s Memory Institute (NMI) in Slovakia. More specifically, this chapter tells the story of a young historian, Martin Lacko, and his path from historical revisionism to active support of the extreme right People’s Party Our Slovakia (PPOS). How does Lacko construct history, and what contemporary political messages are embedded in his interpretation of the past? This chapter explores how Lacko’s approach to history contributes to extremist thinking and endangers Slovakia’s democracy.