The agrarian character of the Slovak lands in the Hungarian Kingdom, the absence of large cities and of a strong bourgeoisie, combined with the multi-layered ethnic and confessional nature of cities and towns, and the ambivalent attitude of the state, hampered Slovak sociability. In the 18th century, learned societies, reading clubs, and Masonic associations had appeared amongst local elites; the first important association with a nationally Slovak outreach was the Slovenské učené Tovarišstvo, established in 1792 by the Catholic priest Anton Bernolák (1762–1813). It focused on the publishing and distribution of books in “Bernolák Slovak”. By 1800, it had published twenty books (five of them in Latin), which were ordered by more than 500 subscribers. The head office of the association was in Trnava; remarkably, it also had regional offices for organizing book subscriptions.

Whilst supporters of “Bernolák Slovak” were mostly Catholics, the Lutherans stood by Biblical Czech and the ethnic unity of the Czechs and Slovaks. Shortly after the establishment of the Slovenské učené Tovarišstvo, the Lutheran pastor Jur Ribay (1754–1812) developed a remarkable project for a learned society that exceeded the boundaries of the literary and publishing association and envisaged local-history research into the Slovak nation (natio slavica), its literature and language in the territory of Hungary. Although the project did not materialize, it anticipated the Katedra Reči a Literatúry Česko-Slovanskej Roku established in 1803 at the Lutheran lyceum in Pressburg. In 1810, the Lutheran pastor Bohuslav Tablic (1769–1832) founded the Učená Spoločnosť Banského Okolia, with the aim to carry out comprehensive research into the local history of the central Slovak mining area in addition to the cultivated literary language. The society wanted to create a counterweight similar to the Hungarian associations (which also included Slovaks among their members); but their activity was subdued, and overtaken by the Učená Spoločnosť Malohontská founded in 1808. Until 1842 it organized lecturing and publishing activities in the fields of philosophy, history and geography; these were broadly educational, without a nation-building agenda. Medical students in Pest were assembled in a Lekársko-Slovanská Spoločnosť founded in 1833.

The second generation of “Bernolák Slovaks” associated themselves into the Spolok Milovníkov Reči a Literatúry Slovenskej in Buda (1834-50), which aimed to reconcile Catholics and Lutherans under a national aegis, and to promote the Slovak language. It conducted its transactions in Latin.

The new generation of Lutheran national activists under Ľudovít Štúr, drawing on their student experiences in German universities, made concerted efforts to improve social communication between Slovak-speaking communities and to promote their education. In response to the Hungarian national emancipation in the 1840s, they promoted the creation of Slovak Sunday school associations, temperance societies, reading circles and self-help clubs – not only in small towns but also in villages. In rural areas, non-profit savings cooperatives were established, based on self-help and reciprocity. In 1845, the teacher Samuel Jurkovič (1796–1873) founded Gazdovský Spolok in Sobotište, a village in western Slovakia – according to Slovak historiography, this was the first such association in continental Europe and the first credit union in the world. Similar associations emerged also in western Slovakia, in Turiec and in Gemer. The savings bank in the town of Brezno differed from most of these self-help societies due to the wide participation of the Slovak middle class and the intention to boost business activity and the expansion of industry in the city. The revolution froze the activities of savings banks; members preferred the immediate division of association property against possible loss of deposits, and therefore, by the early 1850s, they had gradually disappeared.

Štúr activists attempted to create a centre for Slovak student associations (Jednota Mládeže Slovenskej at Lutheran schools, 1846-48) and for the temperance movement (Centrálny Spolok Striezlivosti, 1847-48). The formation of a Slovak public sphere first crystallized with the foundation of Tatrín (1844-48), the first association with the ambition to unite all “lovers of the Slovak nation” irrespective of confession or social status. Its activities significantly contributed to the codification of Štúr Slovak. Tatrín printed, in 5000 copies, Žiadosti slovenského národa in the 1848 revolution. Unlike the older, elite societies, it addressed a broad social spectrum of associations and activities; Tatrín folded as a result of the revolutionary events of 1848-49.

The revolutionary events and the backlash of Bach neo-absolutism put a brake on national-civic activities. In the 1850s, all efforts to establish national cultural institutions failed: the restoration of Tatrín, the establishment of a Matica Slovenská, the national printing project, the plan for the Slovak Academy and Slovak Literary Association, the attempts to establish the Spolok sv Vojtecha, etc. were all unsuccessful.

It was not until the restoration of constitutional arrangements in the early 1860s that such activities were allowed to develop. A meeting held on 6 and 7 June 1861 in Martin adopted a national manifesto, Memorandum národa slovenského, setting forth the implications of a recognized, distinct Slovak nationality and its equality with the Hungarian people. The meeting also called for the establishment of a central cultural association for Slovaks.

This function was taken up by the Matica Slovenská (1863-75) in Martin. It obtained (unlike the earlier Tatrín) approval of its statutes from the Hungarian authorities and consequently was able to develop much more far-reaching activities. It also boosted other Slovak associations with grants and support. The establishment of the Matica’s scholarly sections (1868) and of its magazine Letopis matice slovenskej (as of 1863) represents the beginnings of an institutional framework for Slovak scholarship and science, mainly literary studies, linguistics, historiography and ethnography. This list was gradually lengthened by the addition of other academic disciplines (law, philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences, economics, musicology). Thanks to the Matica, the first Slovak museum was established and the foundations were laid for the literary archive and a national library. In 1874, it had around 1600 members and about 10,000 contributors to the public collections were involved. Its membership was drawn mainly from the middle-class intelligentsia, and included both main denominations; the presiding officer was Catholic bishop Štefan Moyses, and his deputy was the Lutheran superintendant Karol Kuzmány (1806–1866).

The Matica’s emblem announced its national thrust; it was based on the seals of the first Slovak political body, the 1848 Slovak National Council (a double cross and three blue hills on a red shield). With its new forms of work, the Matica began to integrate broader sections of the population. The association’s general assembly, the so-called “August celebrations”, accompanied by meetings of amateur thespians, society officials, beekeepers and fruiterers, strengthened by the emotional force of song and theatre, exceeded the regional framework and participants considered them to be national manifestations. During the existence of the Matica, the town of Martin became the centre of the Slovak national movement. Martin was home to the Slovak Lutheran grammar school, several nationally-oriented associations – amongst them being the Živena Women’s Association (1869) and the Slovak Choir (1872), a savings bank and several publications. In 1870, in Martin, the Národnie noviny newspaper was established as a continuation of the Pešťbudínske vedomosti newspaper, which was based in the capital of Hungary. From 1871, it was known as the newspaper of the Slovenská Národná Strana, which, for more than 40 years, was the dominant Slovak political party.

The closure of the Matica Slovenská and the confiscation of its assets (1875) has long been perceived by Slovaks as a symbol of “Hungarian oppression”. In the following years, the Živena Women’s Association attempted to fill the vacuum, but its activity was restricted to providing service during national celebrations and to the collection of embroidery; it failed to enforce “women’s issues” in the face of the male members of the committee. The self-stylization of Živena as “guardian of the national hearth” and the image of women as facilitators of national culture persisted later in the interwar period. Probably the most effective Slovak institution after the prohibition of the Matica was the Kníhtlačiarsky Účastinársky Spolok in Martin (1869) – thanks to its media activities and dissemination of a standardized language.

It was not until the late 19th century that these activities swelled into a mass movement. All political parties stressed the need for national affiliation and, in practice, encouraged sociability and civil society organizations; the Slovenská Národná Strana favoured joint-stock companies; the young generation of the Hlas journal, agrarians and supporters of the Ľudová Strana concentrated on cooperatives; the Social Democrats on trade unions, educational and sports associations. The foundations of a mass national movement gradually began to build through cooperatives from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The nationally-minded intelligentsia, mostly Catholic priests, established food and credit unions among peasants and smallholders. They brought together the ideas of economic nationalism and economically motivated anti-Semitism. They operated outside the auspices of the Budapest head office, and outside state-sponsored cooperatives.

Publishing associations had the best-developed organizational structure: Kníhtlačiarsky Účastinársky Spolok in Martin, the Catholic Spolok Svätého Vojtecha in Trnava (1870) and the Lutheran Tranoscius in Liptovský Mikuláš (1898). Organizations which attempted to replace the central cultural institutions – Živena and the Muzeálna Slovenská Spoločnosť (1895) – were prevented from establishing subsidiaries. Živena tended to be elite in its stance with a relatively small membership base, and by the year 1918, it had only about 500 female members.

Cultural organizations in different municipalities were frequently multifunctional, combining singing, amateur theatre and education. The model of expatriate associations in America (including returning emigrants and financial support) boosted national sociability within the Slovak lands. Although Slovak student associations in Vienna, Prague and Budapest were marginal within their own locality, they contributed to the formation of new urban-educated elites with national rituals and national commitment (manifested in celebrations of personalities, commemorations of historical events, etc.).