Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (), also known as the Slovak People's Party (, SĽS) or the Hlinka Party, was a far-right clerico-fascist political party with a strong Catholic fundamentalist and authoritarian ideology. Its members were often called (Ľudáks, singular: ). The party arose at a time when Slovakia was still part of Austria-Hungary and fought for democratic liberties, the independence and sovereignty of Slovakia, and against the influence of liberalism. After the formation of Czechoslovakia, the party preserved its conservative ideology, opposing Czechoslovakism and demanding Slovak autonomy. In the second half of the 1930s, the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe and the party's inability to achieve long-term political objectives caused a loss of the party's faith in democratic procedures and saw the party turn towards more radical and extremist ideologies such as fascism. After a merger with other parties in November 1938, which formed the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party – Party of Slovak National Unity, it became the dominant party of the Slovak State. In addition to adopting a totalitarian vision of the state, it included an openly pro-Nazi faction, which dominated Slovak policy between 1940 and 1942. The party chairmen were the Slovak priests Andrej Hlinka (1913–38) and later Jozef Tiso (1939–45), and its main newspapers were the (Slovak People's Newspaper, 1910–30), (The Slovak, 1919–45) and (The Slovak Truth, 1936–45). History Austria-Hungary (1905–18) The creation process of the party took several years. With the exception of the short-lived Slovak Social Democratic Party (1905–06), there was only one party in Austria-Hungary that specifically promoted the interests of the Slovaks at the turn of the 19th and 20th century — the Slovak National Party (SNS). The Slovak People's movement was established within the Hungarian People's Party (Néppárt, founded in 1895) which opposed liberalism and was popular amongst the religious Slovak population. The party's program addressed several other problems of Slovak society including emigration, usury, corruption and forced magyarization. Due to the gradual shift away from these values, Slovak politicians began to form a separate group within the party. The party hierarchy reacted in November 1905 by asking its only MP, František Skyčák, to sign a testimony against the Slovak program. Skyčák refused and on 5 December 1905, he published a declaration of a new political party. Other personalities, among them the Catholic priest Andrej Hlinka, joined the organisation in early 1906, before the Slovak National Party (SĽS) was officially formed