On some aspects of the foreign trade of the Slovak Republic 1939-1945

After having been established, the Slovak Republic, similar to the former Czechoslovakia, was dependent very much on the development of the foreign trade in order to guarantee its economic progress. Therefore, the Slovak government devoted to it special care. Even though the Slovak government tried to preserve independence in marking trade contacts, the Nazi Germany and German capital, using various economic and political means, directed the Slovak economy according to their own ideas. The clearing trade was a serious problem because it represented non-voluntary and interest-free loan in Germany which was gradually transformed into bad debts.