Reflections of Ľudovít Štúr’s book Slavdom and the World of the Future in a Time of Change

Ľudovít Štúr (1815–1856), the most significant figure of the Slovak national movement in the first half of the nineteenth century, wrote in the early 1850s the book Slavdom and the World of the Future, which was first published in Russia after his death in 1867 thanks to the Russian Slavist Vladimir I. Lamansky. In this book, Štúr criticised the West, Catholicism, and Protestantism, and envisioned the future of the Slavs as united with the idealised Tsarist Russia, converting to Orthodoxy, and adopting Russian as the literary language of all Slavs. Since its first publication, the book has elicited a range of responses, from celebratory praise – particularly from Russian pan-Slavists – through understanding and apologetic reflections (mainly from Slovak authors) to sharp critical rejections, especially from Polish writers. The article aims to analyse the reflections on Štúr’s work Slavdom and the World of the Future, considering the changing perceptions since its initial publication.