This work, based on Tatjana Tönsmeyer's dissertation, reexamines German influence in independent Slovakia during World War II. Slovakia's uneasy relationship with the Czechs disintegrated after Munich, when Slovak autonomists saw their opportunity to bring about full political independence under the Third Reich's aegis—or shadow. That period is only now being assessed critically by European historians after generations of enforced silence or battles between supporters of Slovakia's bid for independence and critics of its “clerical fascism.”

Tönsmeyer takes as her subject the everyday political machinations of Nazi advisers sent by the Auswärtiges Amt beginning in late summer 1940 to influence Slovak politics. The first part of her book is a collective biography of some twenty-eight of the sixty emissaries from Berlin. They sought to bring central Slovak ministries and organizations—for example, the police and the ministry of labor—into step with Nazi plans and to create new institutions when necessary, such as an office of propaganda. Of these, the most important for the Germans were the sections of the economic ministry dealing with questions of land allocation, as well as all government agencies responsible for “Jewish affairs.” The advisers brought with them a predictable combination of racial stereotypes—Slovaks were seen as “Balkan,” incapable of leadership, but joyous and hospitable by nature (330–331)—and assumptions of dominance. For them, Slovakia's interests were now simply and inextricably bound with those of the Reich. The Nazi advisers were shocked and unprepared when the Slovak leadership disagreed.

With a few exceptions, the Nazi advisers and Slovaks found it difficult to work together. The Germans complained that the Slovak leadership was unqualified, slow to adjust to the realities of life within Nazi Europe, and suspicious of Nazi advisers and intentions. Meanwhile, the Slovaks fought against what they viewed as German meddling. They understood it as their patriotic duty to learn as much practical knowledge as they could—what Tönsmeyer calls “know-how transfer”—while resisting any ideological influence. Crucial opposition came from President Jozef Tiso, who installed his personal favorites throughout the government over German objections. But Tiso was not alone. Hellmut (sic) Tanzmann, one of the advisers charged with reorganizing the Slovak police, complained that ministry personnel kept him waiting for hours, then denied him permission to take important documents home to review. The Slovaks slowed to a crawl the pace of plans for the new propaganda ministry. Then there was passive resistance: plans and documents “lost,” misunderstandings allowed to grow, and Slovaks “forgetting” to inform their advisers of crucial information or passing on false statistics. Tönsmeyer is not attempting to rehabilitate the Slovak leadership morally. When Slovak and Nazi interests coincided, the Slovaks quickly aligned their policy with that of the Reich, particularly regarding Jewish affairs. But the evidence she presents about Slovak divergence from Nazi goals is persuasive.

Among Tönsmeyer's most surprising conclusions is the finding that the German advisers described their Slovak colleagues as representatives of an independent sovereign state, not a Nazi puppet—even going so far as to call them “Bundesgenossen.” (325, 331–32). The Slovaks, like the Bretons and the Croats, were thought of as peoples who would use Nazi protection to develop their own national culture (333). Nazi Germany dominated Slovakia's foreign policy and most of its economic planning, but the Slovaks were allowed considerable control particularly over their forests, which they claimed were an essential element of their national heritage. This interpretation differs strikingly from traditional depictions of wartime Slovakia.

This book poses and answers provocative questions based on an impressively wide array of source material. It has its flaws, including much repetition and some unfulfilled promises. We learn somewhat less than Tönsmeyer promises in her introduction about everyday political life among the Slovaks, and she gives us relatively little detail about the actual activity of most of the German consultants. Rather than using her conclusion to summarize each chapter's most important findings (already summarized at the end of the chapters themselves), Tönsmeyer might have productively explored comparisons to Croatia, Hungary, and Slovenia, alluded to throughout the book. Nevertheless, this is a valuable contribution to the scholarly literature and has the potential to reshape our understanding of Slovak independence if its challenges are taken up by other researchers.