For the first time in its history, was part of details a state that was a parliamentary democracy. All the co- Denomination: €10 untry’s citizens of voting age, including women, were Composition: 900 silver, 100 copper enfranchised, which was not the norm in Europe at that Weight: 18 g time. These changes also had a major impact on the development of civil society in Slovakia. Furthermore, Diameter: 34 mm as a result of the establishment of , the Edge design: linden leaves borders of Slovakia were precisely delineated for the Issuing volume: llimited to a maximum of 11,000 first time ever. Following the 1928 reform of Czecho- in either brilliant uncirculated or proof quality slovakia’s administrative divisions, Slovakia became an Designer: Zbyněk Fojtů administrative entity for the first time in its history, with Engraver: Filip Čerťaský Bratislava as its official capital city. The Czechoslovak Producer: Mint (Slovakia) Republic created conditions that would lead to the cul- mination of Slovak nation-building efforts on 1 January The coin’s obverse design depicts the middle coat 1993, when the Slovak Republic was established as an of arms of the Czechoslovak Republic. In the fore- independent country. ground on the left is the coat of arms of Slovakia, and in the foreground on the right is the coin’s denomination and currency ‘10 ’. The year of issuance ‘2018’ and the name of the issuing country ‘SLOVENSKO’ appear in the upper part of the design, one above the other. At the bottom are the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint (Min- covňa Kremnica), consisting of the letters ‘MK’ placed between two dies, and the stylised letters ‘ZF’, the initials of the designer, Zbyněk Fojtů.

The reverse shows an outline map of the Cze- choslovak Republic. Below the map is the coat of arms used by the Czechoslovak Legions in the First World War, with linden sprigs depicted on each side. Above the map, on two lines, is the date ‘28. OKTÓBER 1918’. In semi-circle around the edge of the design is the inscription ‘VZNIK ČESKOSLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKY’ (‘Establishment 100th anniversary of the Czechoslovak Republic’). of the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic

Published by Národná banka Slovenska, October 2018 A plaque commemorating the Pittsburgh Agreement © Copyright 2018, Národná banka Slovenska near the M. R. Štefánik statue in Bratislava Photographs: Digiarchiv, Wikimedia (Peter Zelizňák), Progress Promotion Silver collector coin http://www.nbs.sk/en/banknotes-and-coins/euro-coins/collector-coins

The independence of the Czechoslovak Re- public, or Czechoslovakia, was proclaimed on 28 October 1918 in Prague. Two days later, on 30 October 1918, at the constitu- ting meeting of the re-established Slovak National Council in Martin, Slovak repre- sentatives issued the Declaration of the A plaque commemorating the signing of the Declaration Slovak Nation, commonly known as the of the Slovak Nation, and the Tatra banka building in Martin where it was signed Martin Declaration, which officially anno- unced Slovakia’s independence from the The establishment of Czechoslovakia is one Tomáš Garrigue Milan Rastislav Edvard Beneš and presaged Slova- Masaryk Štefánik of the most significant milestones in the history kia’s unification with the Czech lands as of Slovakia and the Slovaks. After decades of sub- part of the new Czechoslovakia. In the task of achieving independence, Masaryk jugation within the Kingdom of Hungary, Slovaks received considerable support from his two closest col- had the opportunity to fully develop their nation- Czechoslovakia came into being thanks laborators, Milan Rastislav Štefánik and Edvard Beneš. hood, thus paving the way for their eventual emer- largely to dissidents’ activities in the Czech lands The desire of Czechs and Slovaks to establish a new gence as a self-confident and modern European and Slovakia during the First World War, inclu- state was also evident from the gradual build-up of the nation. A key factor behind this achievement was ding the activities of dissidents based abroad. The Czechoslovak Legions in Russia, Italy and France. Their the education system – including schools of all leader of this movement was the exiled Tomáš purpose was to fight alongside the Entente Powers (Rus- grades and various types – established in Slovakia Garrigue Masaryk who had conceived the idea sia, France and the United Kingdom, and later also Italy, during the Czechoslovak Republic. The new coun- of separating the Czech lands and Slovakia from the United States and other countries), and so to sup- try also provided a framework within which Slovak the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Masaryk became port political independence for Czechs and Slovaks and culture, society, and economic institutions could the first President of Czechoslovakia and was for the establishment of an independent common state. flourish, thereby supporting Slovak influence in the almost twenty years the country’s living symbol. Štefánik had the leading role in organising the Legions. country’s public life and bringing substantial cultu- ral and civilisational progress to the Slovak nation. T. G. Masaryk among soldiers of the Czechoslovak M. R. Štefánik with representatives of Slovak and Czech A leaflet showing the text of the Declaration Legions at Babruisk in 1917 organisations in front of the Capitol in Washington DC of the Slovak Nation