Speech #1000014530

This autonomy. however. was not quite what we are accustomed to in the West. and in any event was finally cut short by the crushing of the "Prague Spring" by the troops of the Warsaw Pact in August 1968. The Slovaks played an important role in the development of the United States. Immigration by Slovaks to the United States began in the 19th century. partly as a response to Magyarization. but for the most part as a response to poor economic conditions in Slovakia. Wages in the United States were 5 to 10 times greater than those in Slovakia. Most of the Slovakians that came to the United States were industrial workers and mostly settled in the industrial centers of the Eastern United States and the Great Lakes.