History of Bratislava

ndependent Petržalka and Devín boroughs on ethnic grounds. Bratislava was declared the capital of the first independent Slovak Republic on March 14, 1939, but the new state quickly fell under Nazi influence. In 1941–1942 and 1944–1945, the new Slovak government expelled most of Bratislava's approximately 15,000 Jews, with most of them being sent into concentration camps. Bratislava was bombarded by the Allies, occupied by German troops in 1944 and eventually taken by the Soviet Red Army on April 4, 1945. At the end of World War II, most Bratislava Germans were evacuated by German authorities; a few returned after the war, but were expelled without their properties under the Beneš decrees.

After the Communist Party seized power in Czechoslovakia in February 1948, the city became part of the Eastern Bloc. The city annexed new land, and the population rose significantly, becoming 90% Slovak. Large residential areas consisting of high-rise prefabricated panel buildings, such as those in the Petržalka borough, were built. The Communist government also built several new grandiose buildings, such as the Nový Most bridge and the Slovak Radio headquarters.

In 1968, after the unsuccessful Czechoslovak attempt to liberalize the Communist regime, the city was occupied by Warsaw Pact troops. Shortly thereafter, it became capital of the Slovak Socialist Republic, one of the two states of the federalized Czechoslovakia. Bratislava's dissidents anticipated the fall of Communism with the