Slovak territory within the empire. The Austrian government put them under close surveillance and they were forced to retire from politics. Second Slovak National Council (1914–19) The second SNR was established on 26 May 1914 under Matúš Dula. The outbreak of the First World War a few months later meant that it remained inactive for the next four years, when the Slovaks fought for the Central Powers as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The final months of the war saw the gradual disintegration of the empire and the revitalisation of the SNR. At a meeting held in Budapest on 12 September 1918, twelve representatives of Slovak parties were nominated to serve as members of the council. It was officially constituted in the town of Turčiansky Svätý Martin (now Martin, Slovakia) on 29 October and the following day issued the Martin Declaration, in effect declaring Slovakia's independence and presaging Slovakia's unification with the Czech lands as part of the new state of Czechoslovakia. The occupation of Martin by Hungarian troops prevented the SNR doing much following the declaration, other than issuing around 200 directives, and it was dissolved by the new Czechoslovak government on 8 January 1919 as part of a centralising drive by Vavro Šrobár, the government's Minister for Slovakia. Third Slovak National Council (1943–92) In September 1943 the SNR was again constituted to serve as a forum for resistance to the pro-Nazi puppet regime of the Slovak Republic. Its leadership was shared by Karol Šmidke, representing the Communists, and Jozef Lettrich, representing the non-communists. The creation of the council followed the pattern set in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, in which the Communists set themselves at the head of a notionally politically diverse popular front to resist Nazi rule. It characterized its task as being "to guide the struggle of the Slovak people and at an appropriate moment to take over power and transfer it to the elected representatives of the people". The SNR issued the so-called "Christmas Agreement" setting out a programme for re-establishing Slovakia as part of a reconstituted Czechoslovak state under democratic rule, a stance which was supported by all the major anti-fascist forces. It recognised the leadership of the exiled Czechoslovak leader Eduard Beneš, though he was reluctant to recognise it in return. Following the launch of the Slovak National Uprising in 1944, the SNR took charge of areas liberated by the resistance. In February 1945 its