The Strategy of Forming a Nationalist Elite in the Best-Known Slovak Association

The study, The Strategy of Forming a Nationalist Elite in the Best-Known Slovak Association, discusses the issue of establishing a new Slovak nationalist elite in the so called "matica" years. In the first chapter, a theoretical background is provided which seeks to define the term "elite" for the needs of this study on the basis of contemporary literature and especially sociology. The second part is analytical and can be divided into two subparts.
In the first, members of the association and its management are identified, including who was responsible for the decision to grant scholarships. The article focuses on whether the nationalists associated in Matica considered themselves to be the elite of Slovak society.
A more thorough identification of the social and professional background of the committee members is the basis of the second subpart. Here, a detailed analysis of the strategies used by the association's management to create new generations of nationalist elites is provided. This primarily concerns the process of granting scholarships to students, specifically law students. They could receive financial support if certain criteria were met, or due to references from older, established nationalists. This offered the possibility to complete their studies, thus providing job opportunities, the beginning of a career and subsequent entry into the elite of the civil society that was being formed.
The study also discusses if graduates entered the nationalist elite, how successful they were and whether they managed to establish themselves within society. The question of how beneficial the investment in them was shall be answered from the perspective of the national movement development.