Ferdinand Čatloš

Ferdinand Čatloš ( born October 7, 1895 in Liptovsky Peter, † December 16, 1972 in Martin ) was a Slovak and Czechoslovak officer and general. From 1939 to 1944 he was Minister of Defense of the First Slovak Republic.

Life

Career

Čatloš attended the grammar school in Liptovsky Mikulas and later the Commercial Academy in Kežmarok and Kubin. Later he studied at the School for Reserve Officers in Lučenec. In September 1915 he fell as a Cadet aspirant of the Austro- Hungarian Army on the Eastern Front in Russian captivity. In June 1917, Čatloš occurred in Russia in the Czechoslovak Legion. After the establishment of Czechoslovakia, he graduated from officer courses in Prague, Milovice and Košice.

In the period 1925-1926 he worked for the intelligence service of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense and from 1926 to 1927 he was a representative of the Czechoslovak military attaché in Budapest. After that, he was an intern from 1927 to 1930 at the Military Academy in Prague. From October 1938 Čatloš head of the Military Office of the Slovak autonomous regional government and Deputy Supreme Commander of operating in Slovakia Czechoslovak armed forces.

Slovakian defense minister

In 1939 Čatloš was appointed General and Minister of Defense of the First Slovak Republic and was thus the only Protestant minister of the government. Čatloš immediately started with a basic Organistation the new Slovak army, which had to prove themselves in the first few days after the declaration of independence in Slovak Slovak -Hungarian War. In September 1939 and June 1941 he leads as Slovakian defense minister Slovak troops in the fight against Poland and the Soviet Union.

In Slovakia Čatloš rose between 1940 and 1944 in military circles and the public to a large and respected authority on. Domestically, the first pro-Nazi wing of the party related parties, he was at least since the spring of 1941 to the summer of 1944 as one of the closest confidants of President Jozef Tiso. When controlled by the Slovak National Socialists Hlinka Guard on January 8, 1941 in Bratislava wanted to do a coup attempt against the President and his Catholic conservative ( moderate ) wing of the party, Čatloš was immediately reinforce the presidential guard, checked the loyalty of the police chief and prepared the military in the worst case, before.

The clear passage of Čatloš on the Jozef Tiso's side and his Catholic conservative ( moderate ) wing of the party was one of the main reasons why the reshuffle of his ministerial post by the Prime Minister, Vojtech Tuka radical did not materialize. Čatloš later commented on the situation as follows:

"At that time I have with the weight of the military prevented a coup in the state and Tiso trusted me in gratitude for and did not want to do without me even against Tukas and Hitler's request to the uprising of 1944. "

Riot plans 1944

In 1944 he drew up a stand-alone plan, the so-called Čatloš memorandum, according to which, after the approximation of the Red Army to Slovakian borders in Slovakia a military dictatorship should be proclaimed. Another component of the plan was a relief of the invasion of the Red Army in Slovakia. This memorandum he sent to the leadership of the underground Communist Party of Slovakia.

For the delivery of the plan to the Communists Čatloš presented an aircraft ready, which together with a delegation of the Slovak National Council, led by Karol Smidke flew to Moscow on August 4, 1944. The leadership of the Communist Party and the Slovak National Council adopted in relation to the memorandum a negative attitude. They held the military part of 'interesting', the political aspects but not acceptable for.

After the outbreak of the Slovak National Uprising on August 29, 1944 Čatloš convicted under German pressure the uprising in a radio speech and announced, among other things:

" The guerrillas are the greatest enemies of the free and peaceful Slovakia. Who would keep it with them is a traitor to his race and his country. With the help of the German army every brave may Slovak heroically against them. "

Although Čatloš still left units in Bratislava mobilize for the fight against the insurgents, however, already traveled on 2 September 1944 in the riot area and introduced himself as the only Minister of the Slovak government in the service of the rebel leader. But Čatloš was rejected by them and it was not even allowing him a radio address in which he wanted to call the Slovak soldiers to join the uprising. On 13 September 1944 he was arrested and deported to the Soviet Union, where he was interned.

After the war he was sentenced in 1947 by the Czechoslovak People's Court to five years in prison, but in 1948 already dismissed early and set in Martin as a clerk.