History of Slovenia
Encyclopedia
The history of Slovenia chronicles the period of the Slovene territory from the 5th Century BC to the present times. In the Early Bronze Age, Proto-Illyrian
tribes settled an area stretching from present-day Albania
to the city of Trieste
. The Holy Roman Empire
controlled the land for nearly 1,000 years. Modern-day Slovenia
gained its independence from Yugoslavia
in 1991, and is today a modern state and a member of the European Union
and NATO.
in the Loza Woods near Orehek in Inner Carniola, where two stone tools approximately 250,000 years old were recovered. During the last glacial period, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Neanderthals; the most famous Neanderthal archeological site in Slovenia is a cave close to the village of Šebrelje
near Cerkno
, where the Divje Babe flute, the oldest known musical instrument in the world was found in 1995. In the transition period between the Bronze age
to the Iron age
, the Urnfield culture flourished. Numerous archeological remains dating from the Hallstatt period have been found in Slovenia, with important settlements in Most na Soči
, Vače
, and Šentvid pri Stični
. Novo Mesto
in Lower Carniola
, one of the most important archeological sites of the Hallstatt culture, has been nicknamed the "City of Situlas" after numerous situlas
found in the area.
In the Iron Age
, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Illyrian
and Celtic tribes until the 1st century BC, when the Romans
conquered the region establishing the provinces of Pannonia
and Noricum
. What is now western Slovenia was included directly under Roman Italia as part of the X region Venetia et Histria. Important Roman towns located in present-day Slovenia included Emona
, Celeia and Poetovio. Other important settlements were Nauportus
, Neviodunum, Haliaetum
, Atrans
, and Stridon
.
During the migration period
, the region suffered invasions of many barbarian armies, due to its strategic position as the main passage from the Pannonian plain to the Italian peninsula
. Rome finally abandoned the region at the end of the 4th century. Most cities were destroyed, while the remaining local population moved to the highland areas, establishing fortified towns. In the 5th century, the region was part of the Ostrogothic kingdom
, and was later contested between the Ostrogoths, the Byzantine Empire
and the Lombards
.
The Slavic ancestors of present-day Slovenes settled in the East Alpine
area at the end of the 6th century. Coming from two directions, North (via today's East Austria and Czech Republic), settling in the area of today's Carinthia and west Styria and South (via today's Slavonia), settling in the area of today's central Slovenia. This Slavic tribe, also known as the Alpine Slavs, was submitted to Avar rule before joining the Slavic chieftain Samo
's Slavic tribal union in 623 AD. After Samo's death, the Slavs of Carniola
(in present-day Slovenia) again fell to Avar rule, while the Slavs north of the Karavanke range (in present-day Austrian regions of Carinthia
, Styria
and East Tyrol
) established the independent principality of Carantania. In 745, Carantania and the rest of Slavic-populated territories of present-day Slovenia, being pressured by newly consolidated Avar power, submitted to Bavarian overrule and were, together with the Duchy of Bavaria, incorporated into the Carolingian Empire
, while Carantanians and other Slavs living in present Slovenia converted to Christianity
.
Carantania retained its internal independence until 828 when the local princes, following the anti-Frankish
rebellion of Ljudevit Posavski
, were deposed and gradually replaced by a Germanic (primarily Bavaria
n) ascendancy. Under Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia
, Carantania, now ruled by a mixed Bavarian-Slav nobility, shortly emerged as a regional power, but was destroyed by the Hungarian invasions in the late 9th century.
Carantania-Carinthia was established again as an autonomous administrative unit in 976, when Emperor Otto I, "the Great", after deposing the Duke of Bavaria, Henry II, "the Quarreller", split the lands held by him and made Carinthia
the sixth duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, but old Carantania never developed into a unified realm.
In the late 10th and beginning of 11th century, primarily because of the Hungarian threat, the south-eastern border region of the German Empire was organized into so called "marks", that became the core of the development of the historical Slovenian lands, the Carniola, the Styria and the western Goriška/Gorizia. The consolidation and formation of the historical Slovenian lands took place in a long period between 11th and 14th century being led by a number of important feudal families such as the Dukes of Spannheim
, the Counts of Gorizia, the Counts of Celje
and finally the House of Habsburg.
The first mentions of a common Slovene ethnic identity, transcending regional boundaries, date from the 16th century.
During the 14th century, most of the Slovene Lands passed under the Habsburg rule. In the 15th century, the Habsburg domination was challenged by the Counts of Celje
, but by the end of the century the great majority of Slovene-inhabited territories were incorporated into the Habsburg Monarchy
. Most Slovenes lived in the administrative region known as Inner Austria
, forming the majority of the population of the Duchy of Carniola
and the County of Gorizia and Gradisca, as well as of Lower Styria
and southern Carinthia
.
Slovenes also inhabited most of the territory of the Imperial Free City of Trieste
, although representing the minority of its population.
spread throughout the Slovene Lands. During this period, the first books in the Slovene language were written by the Protestant
preacher Primož Trubar
and his followers, establishing the base for the development of the standard Slovene language. In the second half of the 16th century, numerous books were printed in Slovene, including an integral translation of the Bible by Jurij Dalmatin
. During the Counter-Reformation
in the late 16th and 17th centuries, led by the bishop of Ljubljana Tomaž Hren and Seckau Martin Brenner, almost all Protestants were expelled from the Slovene Lands (with the exception of Prekmurje
). Nevertheless, they left a strong legacy in the tradition of Slovene culture, which was partially incorporated in the Catholic Counter-Reformation
in the 17th century. The old Slovene orthography, also known as Bohorič
's Alphabet, which was developed by the Protestants in the 16th century and remained in use until mid-19th century, testified to the unbroken tradition of Slovene culture as established in the years of the Protestant Reformation.
Between the 15th and the 17th century, the Slovene Lands suffered many calamities. Many areas, especially in southern Slovenia, were devastated by the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars
. Many flourishing towns, like Vipavski Križ
and Kostanjevica na Krki
, were completely destroyed by incursions of the Ottoman Army, and never recovered. The nobility of the Slovene-inhabited provinces had an important role in the fight against the Ottoman Empire
. The Carniola
n noblemen's army thus defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Sisak
of 1593, marking the end of the immediate Ottoman threat to the Slovene Lands, although sporadic Ottoman incursions continued well into the 17th century.
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In the 16th and 17th century, the western Slovene regions became the battlefield of the wars between the Habsburg Monarchy
and the Venetian Republic, most notably the War of Gradisca, which was largely fought in the Slovene Goriška
region. Between late 15th and early 18th century, the Slovene lands also witnessed many peasant wars, most famous being the Carinthian peasant revolt of 1478, the Slovene peasant revolt of 1515, the Croatian-Slovenian peasant revolt of 1573, the Second Slovene peasant revolt of 1635, and the Tolmin peasant revolt of 1713.
Late 17th century was also marked by a vivid intellectual and artistic activity. Many Italian Baroque
artists, mostly architects and musicians, settled in the Slovene Lands, and contributed greatly to the development of the local culture. Scientists like Johann Weikhard von Valvasor and Janez Gregor Thalnitscher contributed to the development of the scholarly activities. By the early 18th century, however, the region entered another period of stagnation, which was slowly overcome only by mid-18th century.
Between early 18th century and early 19th century, the Slovene lands experienced a period of peace, with a moderate economic recovery starting from mid-18th century onward. The Adriatic city of Trieste
was declared a free port
in 1718, boosting the economic activity throughout the western parts of the Slovene Lands. The political, administrative and economic reforms of the Habsburg rulers Maria Theresa of Austria
and Joseph II
improved the economic situation of the peasantry, and were well received by the emerging bourgeoisie, which was however still weak.
In the late 18th century, a process of standardarization
of Slovene language began, promoted by Carniola
n clergymen like Marko Pohlin
and Jurij Japelj
. During the same period, peasant-writers began using and promoting the Slovene vernacular
in the countryside. This popular movement, known as bukovnik
i, started among Carinthian Slovenes
as part a wider revival of Slovene literature. The Slovene cultural tradition was strongly reinforced in the Enlightenment
period in the 18th century by the endeavours of the Zois Circle. After two centuries of stagnation, Slovene literature emerged again, most notably in the works of the playwright Anton Tomaž Linhart
and the poet Valentin Vodnik
. However, German remained the main language of culture, administration and education well into the 19th century.
Between 1805 and 1813, Slovenia was part of the Illyrian Provinces
, an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire
, the capital of which was established at Ljubljana
. Although the French rule in the Illyrian Provinces
was short-lived it significantly contributed to greater national self-confidence and awareness of freedoms. The French did not entirely abolish the feudal system, their rule familiarised in more detail the inhabitants of the Illyrian Provinces
with the achievements of the French revolution
and with contemporary bourgeois society. They introduced equality before the law, compulsory military service
and a uniform tax system, and also abolished certain tax privileges, introduced modern administration, separated powers between the state and the Church, and nationalised the judiciary.
In August 1813, Austria declared war on France. Austrian troops led by General Franz Tomassich invaded the Illyrian Provinces. After this short French interim
all Slovene Lands were, once again, included in the Austrian Empire
. Slowly, a distinct Slovene national consciousness developed, and the quest for a political unification of all Slovenes became widespread. In the 1820s and 1840s, the interest in Slovene language and folklore grew enormously, with numerous philologists collecting folk songs and advancing the first steps towards a standardization of the language. A small number of Slovene activist, mostly from Styria
and Carinthia, embraced the Illyrian movement
that started in neighboring Croatia
and aimed at uniting all South Slavic peoples. Pan-Slavic and Austro-Slavic ideas also gained importance. However, the intellectual circle around the philologist Matija Čop
and the Romantic poet France Prešeren
was influential in affirming the idea of Slovene linguistic and cultural individuality, refusing the idea of merging the Slovenes into a wider Slavic nation.
In 1848, a mass political and popular movement for the United Slovenia
() emerged as part of the Spring of Nations movement within the Austrian Empire. Slovene activists demanded a unification of all Slovene-speaking territories in a unified and autonomous Slovene kingdom within the Austrian Empire. Although the project failed, it served as an almost undisputed platform of Slovene political activity in the following decades.
With the introduction of a constitution granting civil and political liberties in the Austrian Empire in 1860, the Slovene national movement gained force. Despite its internal differentiation among the conservative Old Slovenes
and the progressive Young Slovenes
, the Slovene nationals defended similar programs, calling for a cultural and political autonomy of the Slovene people. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, a series of mass rallies called tabori, modeled on the Irish
monster meetings, were organized in support of the United Slovenia program. These rallies, attended by thousands of people, proved the allegiance of wider strata of the Slovene population to the ideas of national emancipation.
By the end of the 19th century, Slovenes had established a standardized literary language, and a thriving civil society. Literacy levels were among the highest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and numerous national associations were present at grassroots level. The idea of a common political entity of all South Slavs
, known as Yugoslavia
, emerged.
Since the 1880s, a fierce culture war
between Catholic traditionalists and integralists
on one side, and liberals, progressivists and anticlericals dominated Slovene political and public life, especially in Carniola
. During the same period, the growth of industrialization intensified social tensions. Both Socialist and Christian socialist movements mobilized the masses. In 1905, the first Socialist mayor in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was elected in the Slovene mining town of Idrija
on the list of the Yugoslav Social Democratic Party. In the same years, the Christian socialist activist Janez Evangelist Krek
organized hundreds of workers and agricultural cooperative
s throughout the Slovene countryside.
At the turn of the 20th century, national struggles in ethnically mixed areas (especially in Carinthia, Trieste
and in Lower Styria
n towns) dominated the political and social lives of the citizenry. By the 1910s, the national struggles between Slovene and Italian speakers in the Austrian Littoral
, and Slovene and German speakers, overshadowed other political conflicts and brought about a nationalist radicalization on both sides.
In the last two decades before World War One, Slovene arts and literature experienced one of its most flourishing periods, with numerous talented modernist authors, painters and architects. The most important authors of this period were Ivan Cankar
and Oton Župančič
, while Ivan Grohar
and Rihard Jakopič
were among the most talented Slovene visual artists of the time.
After the Ljubljana earthquake of 1895, the city experienced a rapid modernization under the charismatic Liberal nationalist mayors Ivan Hribar
and Ivan Tavčar
. Architects like Max Fabiani
and Ciril Metod Koch
introduced their own version of the Vienna Secession
architecture to Ljubljana. In the same period, the Adriatic port of Trieste
became an increasingly important center of Slovene economy, culture and politics. By 1910, around a third of the city population was Slovene, and the number of Slovenes in Trieste was higher than in Ljubljana.
At the turn of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of Slovenes emigrated to other countries, mostly to the United States
, but also to South America
, Germany
, Egypt
, and to larger cities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially Zagreb
and Vienna
. It has been calculated that around 300,000 Slovenes emigrated between 1880 and 1910, which means that one in six Slovenes left their homeland. Such disproportionally high emigration rates resulted in a relatively small population growth in the Slovene Lands. Comparatively to other Central European regions, the Slovene Lands lost demographic weight between the late 18th and early 20th century.
After the outbreak of World War I
, the Austrian Parliament was dissolved and civil liberties suspended. Many Slovene political activists, especially in Carniola
and Styria, were imprisoned by Austro-Hungarian authorities on charges of pro-Serbia
n or pan-slavic
sympathies. 469 Slovenes were executed on charges of treason in the first year of the war alone, provoking a strong anti-Austrian resentment among the national-minded strata of the Slovene population. Hundreds of thousands of Slovene conscripts were drafted in the Austro-Hungarian Army
, and over 30,000 of them lost their lives in the course of the war.
In May 1915, the fighting started on Slovene soil, as well. Italy entered the conflict after the western allies had supported its territorial expansion at the expense of Austria-Hungary. In the Treaty of London of 1915, the Slovenian Littoral
and some western districts of Carniola
were promised to Italy after the war. The Italian Royal Army launched an attack on Austria-Hungary in 1915, thus opening the Italian front
. Some of the fiercest battles were fought along the Soča
(Isonzo) river and on the Kras
(Carso) plateau in what is now western Slovenia. Entire areas of the Slovenian Littoral were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of Slovenes were resettled as refugees in parts of Austria and Italy. While the situation in the Austrian refugee camps were relatively good, Slovene refugees in Italian camps were treated as state enemies, and several thousands died of malnutrition and diseases between 1915 and 1918.
In 1917, after the Battle of Caporetto
ended the fighting on Austro-Hungarian (Slovenian) soil, the political life in Austria-Hungary resumed. The Slovene People's Party
launched a movement for self-determination, demanding the creation of a semi-independent South Slavic state under Habsburg rule. The proposal was picked up by most Slovene parties, and a mass mobilization of Slovene civil society, known as the Declaration Movement, followed. By early 1918, more than 200,000 signatures were collected in favor of the Slovene People Party's proposal.
During the War, some 500 Slovenes served as volunteers in the Serbian army, while a smaller group led by Captain Ljudevit Pivko, served as volunteers in the Italian Army. In the final year of the war, many predominantly Slovene regiments in the Austro-Hungarian Army staged a mutiny against their military leadership; the most famous mutiny of Slovene soldiers was the Judenburg Rebellion in May 1918.
With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in October 1918, the Slovenes formed the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
, which soon merged with Serbia and Montenegro into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The western parts of the Slovene Lands (the Slovenian Littoral and western districts of Inner Carniola) were occupied by the Italian Army, and officially annexed to the Kingdom of Italy with the Treaty of Rapallo
in 1920.
After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in late 1918, an armed dispute started between the Slovenes and German Austria
for the regions of Lower Styria
and southern Carinthia
. In November 1918, Rudolf Maister
seized the city of Maribor
and surrounding areas of Lower Styria in the name of the newly formed Yugoslav state. Around the same time a group of volunteers led by Franjo Malgaj
attempted to take control of southern Carinthia. Fighting in Carinthia lasted between December 1918 and June 1919, when the Slovene volunteers and the regular Serbian Army managed to occupy the city of Klagenfurt
. In compliance with the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Yugoslav forces had to withdraw from Klagenfurt, while a referendum was to be held in other areas of southern Carinthia. In October 1920, the majority of the population of southern Carinthia voted
to remain in Austria, and only a small portion of the province (around Dravograd
and Guštanj
) was awarded to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. With the Treaty of Trianon
, however, Yugoslavia was awarded the Slovene-inhabited Prekmurje region, which had belonged to Hungary since the 10th century and had little contact with the rest of the Slovene lands.
briefly served as the only non-Serbian
Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
in the period between the two world wars.
On the other hand, Slovenes in Italy, Austria and Hungary, became victims of State policies of forced assimilation
and sometimes violent persecution. The Slovenian Littoral
was annexed to Italy and included in the Julian March
administrative region. Between 1918 and 1922, several violent actions were directed against the Slovene communities in Italy, both by the mob and by ultra-nationalist militias. After 1922, a policy of violent Fascist Italianization was implemented, triggering the reaction of local Slovenes and Istria
n Croats
. In 1927, the militant anti-Fascist organization TIGR
(an acronym for the place-names Trieste
, Istria
, Gorizia
, and Rijeka
) was founded. Between 1922 and 1941, more than 70,000 Slovenes fled from the Italian Julian March, mostly to Yugoslavia, but also to Argentina
and other South America
n countries.
In 1929, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia
. The constitution was abolished, civil liberties suspended, while the centralist pressure intensified. Slovenia was renamed to Drava Banovina
. During the whole interwar period, Slovene voters strongly supported the conservative Slovene People's Party
, which unsuccessfully fought for the autonomy of Slovenia within a federalized Yugoslavia. In 1935, however, the Slovene People's Party joined the pro-regime Yugoslav Radical Community, opening the space for the development of a left wing autonomist movement. In the 1930s, the economic crisis created a fertile ground for the rising of both leftist and rightist radicalisms. In 1937, the Communist Party of Slovenia was founded as an autonomous party within the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Between 1938 and 1941, left liberal, Christian left
and agrarian
forces established close relations with members of the illegal Communist party, aiming at establishing a broad anti-Fascist coalition.
After 1918, Slovenia became one of the main industrial centers of Yugoslavia. Already in 1919, the industrial production in Slovenia was four times greater than in Serbia
, and twenty-two times greater than in Yugoslav Macedonia
. The interwar period brought a further industrialization in Slovenia, with a rapid economic growth in the 1920s followed by a relatively successful economic adjustment to the 1929 economic crisis. This development however affected only certain areas, especially the Ljubljana Basin
, the Zasavje
region, parts of Slovenian Carinthia, and the urban areas around Celje
and Maribor
. Tourism
experienced a period of great expansion, with resort areas like Bled
and Rogaška Slatina
gaining an international reputation. Elsewhere, agriculture and forestry remained the predominant economic activities. Nevertheless, Slovenia emerged as one of the most prosperous and economically dynamic areas in Yugoslavia, profiting from a large Balkanic market. Arts and literature also prospered, as did architecture. The two largest Slovenian cities, Ljubljana and Maribor, underwent an extensive program of urban renewal and modernization. Architects like Jože Plečnik
, Ivan Vurnik
and Vladimir Šubic
introduced modernist architecture to Slovenia.
(Dravska banovina) – in Kingdom of Yugoslavia covered 15.036 km² and had, according to census in 1921, 1.054.919 inhabitants. After the Invasion
by Axis forces on April 6, 1941 the Axis powers occupied this territory and divided it according to directives given by Hitler
(on April 3 and 12, 1941) and an agreement between German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
and Italian foreign minister Conte Galeazzo Ciano that specified those directives in Vienna
(April 21/22, 1941). The biggest part of Drava Banovina was occupied by the Germans
– the Lower Styria (Spodnja Štajerska), the valley of Meža (Mießtal), Upper Carniola (Gorenjska) and a strip of land along the Sava river (Zasavje
). Italians
occupied Ljubljana
, Inner Carniola (Notranjska), Lower Carniola (Dolenjska), White Carniola (Bela Krajina) and Hungary
was given Prekmurje
– except for four communities at the western part of the territory, that came to Germany. All three occupiers aimed at a quick formal annexation. The Italians passed the Autonomy-Statute for the so-called "Provincia di Lubiana" (Province of Ljubljana
) on May 3, 1941, the Hungarians realized their formal annexation on December 16, 1941. The Germans who wanted to proclaim their formal annexation to the ”German Reich“ on October 1, 1941, postponed it first because of the installation of the new ”Gauleiter“ and ”Reichsstatthalter“ of Carinthia and later on they dropped the plan for an undefinite period of time because of partisans, with which the Germans wanted to deal first. Only Meža valley became part of ”Reichsgau Carinthia“ at once. Some villages in south-eastern Slovenia were annexed by the Independent State of Croatia
.
While the Italians gave Slovenes a cultural autonomy within their occupation zone (the Province of Ljubljana
), the Nazis started a policy of violent Germanisation
, which culminated with the resettlement more than 83,000 Slovenes to other parts of the Third Reich, as well as to Serbia
and Croatia
. More than 63,000 Slovenes were interned to Nazi concentration camps
.
Already in the summer of 1941, a liberation movement under the Communist leadership emerged both in the Italian and German occupation zone. Due to political assassinations carried out by the Communist squads, as well as the pre-existing radical anti-Communism
of the conservative circles of the Slovenian society, a civil war between Slovenes broke out in the Italian-occupied south-eastern Slovenia (known as Province of Ljubljana
) in the summer of 1942. The two fighting factions were the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
and the Italian-sponsored anti-communist militia
, known as the White Guard, initially formed by local anti-Communist activists in order to protect villages from partisans' incursions. A small Monarchist resistance (known as Chetniks
) also existed. After September 1943, the anti-Communist militias was re-organized under Nazi command as the Slovene Home Guard.
The Slovene partisan guerrillas managed to liberate large portions of the Slovene lands, contributing to the defeat of Nazism
. As a result of the war the vast majority of the native ethnic German population were either forcefully expelled or fled to neighboring Austria. Immediately after the war, some 12,000 members of the Slovene Home Guard were killed in the area of the Kočevski Rog
, while thousands of anti-communist civilians were killed in the first year after the war, many of them in concentration camps of Teharje
and Sterntal
.
These massacres were silenced, and remained a taboo topic until the late 1970s and early 1980s, when dissident intellectuals brought it to public discussion. In addition, hundreds (some say thousands) of ethnic Italians
from Istria
and Trieste
were killed by the Yugoslav Army and partisan forces in the Foibe massacres, while some 27,000 of them fled Slovenia from Communist persecution in the so-called Istrian exodus
. The overall number of World War Two casualties in Slovenia is estimated to 89,000, while 14,000 people were killed immediately after the end of the war. The overall number of World War II casualties in Slovenia was thus of around 7.2% of the pre-war population, which is above the Yugoslav average, and among the highest percentages in Europe.
, declared on 29 November 1943. A socialist state was established, but because of the Tito-Stalin split
, economic and personal freedoms were broader than in the Eastern Bloc
. In 1947, Italy ceded most of the Julian March
to Yugoslavia, and Slovenia thus regained the Slovenian Littoral
.
The dispute over the port of Trieste
however remained opened until 1954, until the short-lived Free Territory of Trieste
was divided among Italy and Yugoslavia, thus giving Slovenia access to the sea. This division was ratified only in 1975 with the Treaty of Osimo
, which gave a final legal sanction to Slovenia's long disputed western border. From the 1950s, the Socialist Republic of Slovenia
enjoyed a relatively wide autonomy.
Between 1945 and 1948, a wave of political repressions took place in Slovenia and in Yugoslavia. Thousands of people were imprisoned for their political beliefs. Several tens of thousands of Slovenes left Slovenia immediately after the war in fear of Communist persecution. Many of them settled in Argentina
, which became the core of Slovenian anti-Communist emigration. More than 50,000 more followed in the next decade, frequently for economic reasons, as well as political ones. These later waves of Slovene immigrants mostly settled in Canada
and in Australia
, but also in other western countries.
In 1948, the Tito-Stalin split
took place. In the first years following the split, the political repression worsened, as it extended to Communists accused of Stalinism
. Hundreds of Slovenes were imprisoned in the concentration camp of Goli Otok
, together with thousands of people of other nationalities. Among the show trials that took place in Slovenia between 1945 and 1950, the most important were the Nagode trial against democratic intellectuals and left liberal activists (1946) and the Dachau trials (1947–1949), where former inmates of Nazi concentration camps
were accused of collaboration with the Nazis. Many members of the Roman Catholic clergy suffered persecution. The case of bishop of Ljubljana Anton Vovk
, who was doused with gasoline and set on fire by Communist activists during a pastoral visit to Novo Mesto
in January 1952, echoed in the western press.
Between 1949 and 1953, a forced collectivization
was attempted. After its failure, a policy of gradual liberalization was followed. A new economic policy, known as workers self-management
started to be implemented under the advice and supervision of the main theorist of the Yugoslav Communist Party, the Slovene Edvard Kardelj
.
In the late 1950s, Slovenia was the first of the Yugoslav republics to begin a process of relative pluralization. A decade of fervent cultural and literary production followed, with many tensions between the regime and the dissident intellectuals. By the late 1960s, the reformist faction gained control of the Slovenian Communist Party, launching a series of reforms, aiming at the modernization of Slovenian society and economy. In 1973, this trend was stopped by the conservative faction of the Slovenian Communist Party, backed by the Yugoslav Federal government. A period known as the "years of lead" (Slovene: svinčena leta) followed.
From the late 1950s onward, dissident circles started to be formed, mostly around short-lived independent journals, such as Revija 57 (1957–1958), which was the first independent intellectual journal in Yugoslavia and one of the first of this kind in the Communist bloc, and Perspektive (1960–1964). Among the most important critical public intellectuals in this period were the sociologist Jože Pučnik
, the poet Edvard Kocbek
, and the literary historian Dušan Pirjevec
.
In the 1980s, Slovenia experienced a rise of cultural pluralism. Numerous grass-roots political, artistic and intellectual movements emerged, including the Neue Slowenische Kunst
, the Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis
, and the Nova revija
intellectual circle. By the mid 1980s, a reformist fraction, led by Milan Kučan
, took control of the Slovenian Communist Party, starting a gradual reform towards a market socialism
and controlled political pluralism.
The Yugoslav economic crisis of the 1980s increased the struggles within the Yugoslav Communist regime regarding the appropriate economic measures to be undertaken. Slovenia, which had less than 10% of overall Yugoslav population, produced around a fifth of the country's GDP and a fourth of all Yugoslav exports. The political disputes around economic measures was echoed in the public sentiment, as many Slovenes felt they were being economically exploited, having to sustain an expensive and inefficient federal administration.
and the Communist regime culminated with the Slovenian Spring. A mass democratic movement, coordinated by the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, pushed the Communists in the direction of democratic reforms. These revolutionary events in Slovenia pre-dated by almost one year the Revolutions of 1989
in Eastern Europe, but went largely unnoticed by international observers.
At the same time, the confrontation between the Slovenian Communists and the Serbian Communist Party, dominated by the charismatic nationalist leader Slobodan Milošević
, became the most important political struggle in Yugoslavia. The poor economic performance of the Federation, and rising clashes between the different republics, created a fertile soil for the rise of secessionist ideas among Slovenes, both anti-Communists and Communists. On 27 of September 1989 the Slovenian Assembly made many amendments to the 1974 constitution including the abandonment of the League of Communists of Slovenia
monopoly on political power and the right of Slovenia to leave Yugoslavia. On 23 January 1990, the League of Communists of Slovenia
, in protest against the domination of the Serb nationalist leadership, walked out of the 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
which effectively ceased to exist as a national party - they were followed soon after by the League of Communists of Croatia
. On 7 March 1990 the Slovenian Assembly changed the official name of the state to the Republic of Slovenia dropping the word 'Socialist'.
, the Social Democrat Alliance of Slovenia
, the Slovene Christian Democrats
, the Farmers' Alliance
and the Greens of Slovenia
.
The leader of the coalition was the famous dissident
Jože Pučnik
.
In 8 April 1990, the first free multiparty parliamentary elections
, and the first round of the Presidential elections, were held. DEMOS
defeated the former Communist party in the parliamentary elections, by gathering 54% of the votes. A coalition government led by the Christian Democrat
Lojze Peterle
was formed, and began economic and political reforms that established a market economy
and a liberal democratic political system. At the same time, the government pursued the independence of Slovenia from Yugoslavia.
Milan Kučan
was elected President in the second round of the Presidential elections on 22 Apr 1990, defeating the DEMOS candidate Jože Pučnik
. Kučan strongly opposed the preservation of Yugoslavia through violent means. After the concept of a loose confederation
had failed to gain support by the republics of Yugoslavia, Kučan favoured a controlled process of non-violent disassociation that would enable the collaboration of the former Yugoslav nations on a new, different basis.
On 23 December 1990, a referendum on the independence of Slovenia
was held, in which the overwhelming majority of Slovenian residents (around 89%) voted for the independence of Slovenia from Yugoslavia. Slovenia became independent through the passage of the appropriate acts on 25 June 1991. In the morning of the next day, a short Ten-Day War
began, in which the Slovenian forces successfully rejected Yugoslav military interference. In the evening, the independence was solemnly proclaimed in Ljubljana by the Speaker of the Parliament France Bučar
. The Ten-Day War lasted till 7 July 1991, when the Brijuni Agreement was made, with the European Community as a mediator, and the Yugoslav National Army started its withdrawal from Slovenia. On 26 October 1991, the last Yugoslav soldier left Slovenia.
On 23 December 1991 the Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia passed a new Constitution, which became the first Constitution of independent Slovenia
Kučan represented Slovenia at the peace conference on former Yugoslavia in the Hague
and Brussels
which concluded that the former Yugoslav nations were free to determine their future as independent states. On May 22, 1992 Kučan represented Slovenia as it became a new member of the United Nations
.
The most important achievement of the Coalition, however, was the declaration of independence of Slovenia on 25 June 1991, followed by a Ten-Day War
in which the Slovenia
ns rejected Yugoslav
military interference.
As a result of internal disagreements the coalition fell apart in 1992. It was officially dissolved in April 1992 in agreement with all the parties that had composed it. Following the collapse of Lojze Peterle
's government, a new coalition government, led by Janez Drnovšek
was formed, which included several parties of the former DEMOS. Jože Pučnik
became vice-president in Drnovšek's cabinet, guaranteeing some continuity in the government policies.
After the independence and the international recognition of Slovenia, Kučan was elected as the first President of Slovenia in the 1992 election
with the support of the citizens list. He won another five-year term in the 1997 elections
, running again as an independent and again winning the majority in the first round.
In 1992, after a Government crisis in the DEMOS coalition, which had won the first democratic elections in Slovenia in 1990 and led the country to independence, Drnovšek became the second Prime Minister
of independent Slovenia. He was chosen as a compromise candidate and an expert in economic policy. His bi-partisan government was supported both by the left and centrist wing of the dissolved DEMOS coalition (the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia, the Democratic Party and the Greens of Slovenia
) and by three parties that derived from organizations of the former Communist regime (the Liberal Democratic Party, the Party of Democratic Reform
and the Socialist Party of Slovenia
).
Shortly afterwards, Drnovšek was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalno demokratska stranka - LDS), the legal successor of the Association of Socialist Youth of Slovenia (Zveza socialistične mladine Slovenije - ZSMS), the youth fraction of the Communist Party of Slovenia.
The Liberal Democratic Party under Drnovšek's leadership won the 1992 parliamentary elections
, but due to a high fragmentation of the popular vote had to ally itself with other parties in order to form a stable government. Despite a politically turbulent mandate (in 1994, the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia left the coalition), the Party gained votes in the 1996 elections
, remaining the largest party in the government. Nevertheless, Drnovšek barely secured himself a third term in office after a failed attempt to ally himself with the Slovenian National Party
. In 1997, the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
formed a coalition government with the populist Slovenian People's Party
which finally enabled Drnovšek to serve a third term in office.
He headed the government until May 2000, when he stepped down due to disagreements with the Slovenian People's Party
. After less than six months in opposition, Drnovšek returned to power in Autumn of 2000, after his party gained a clear victory in the parliamentary elections.
Drnovšek's governments guided Slovenia's political and economic reconstruction. He successfully tackled the twin tasks of reorienting Slovenia's trade away from the wreckage of the old Yugoslavia towards the West and replacing the ineffective Communist-era business model with more market-based mechanisms.
Unlike the other five former Yugoslav republics which were run for much of the 1990s by charismatic and frequently authoritarian presidents, Slovenia under Drnovšek's premiership quickly emerged from the break-up of the federation as a functioning parliamentary democracy. Drnovšek's political strategy was concentrated on broad coalitions, transcending idological and programmatic divisions between parties.
Contrary to some other former Communist countries in Eastern Europe
, the economic and social transformation in Slovenia pursued by Drnovšek's governments followed a gradualist approach.
Drnovšek was a staunch supporter of Slovenia's entry in the European Union
and NATO and was largely responsible for Slovenia's successful bid for membership in both of those organizations. As Prime minister, he was frequently active on foreign policy issues. On June 16, 2001, he helped to arrange the first meeting between George W. Bush
and Vladimir Putin
(Bush-Putin 2001
).
In 2002, he ran for President of Slovenia
, and was elected in the second round, defeating the center right candidate Barbara Brezigar
.
following the 2002 election
.
In March 2003 Slovenia held two referendums on joining the EU and NATO
. Milan Kučan took an active part in campaigning for these memberships, in order for Slovenia to achieve the goals it had set upon its independence. In May 2004, Slovenia became a full member of both the EU and NATO.
After 1990, a stable democratic system evolved, with economic liberalization and gradual growth of prosperity. Slovenia joined NATO on 29 March 2004 and the European Union on 1 May 2004. Slovenia was the first post-Communist country to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union
, for the first six months of 2008.
Drnovšek's presidency was highly controversial. In the first three years in office, he rarely appeared in public, save for the most important official duties. In 2006, however, a change of style became visible. He launched several campaigns in foreign policy, such as a failed humanitarian mission to Darfur
and a proposal for the solution of the political crisis in Kosovo
. On January 30, 2006, he left the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
. Shortly afterwards, he founded the Movement for Justice and Development
and became its first president. He claimed this was not meant to be a political movement, but rather a wide initiative, aiming to "raise human consciousness and make the world a better place". On June 26, 2006, he announced that he would not be running for a second term.
The 2004 legislative election
brought further changes and a political swing to the right. Following the victory of the Slovenian Democratic Party
and its allies, Janez Janša
was appointed by President Drnovšek to form a new government on 3 November 2004. Six days later, he was elected Prime Minister of Slovenia
by the National Assembly, polling the votes of 57 of the 90 members. His cabinet was approved by the Parliament on 3 December the same year.
In Slovenia, this was the first time after 1992 that the President and the Prime Minister had represented opposing political factions for more than a few months.
The relationship between Drnovšek and the government quickly became tense. Disagreements began with Drnovšek's initiatives in foreign politics, aimed at solving major foreign conflicts, including those in Darfur
and Kosovo
. Initially, these initiatives were initially not openly opposed by the Prime Minister, but were criticized by the foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel
, Drnovšek's former collaborator and close political ally until 2004. A major clash between the two happened in Summer 2006, when disagreement arose over Drnovšek's attempt to intervene in the Darfur conflict. The disagreements moved from issues of domestic politics in October 2006, when Drnovšek publicly criticised the treatment of the Strojans, a Roma family whose neighborhood had forced them to relocate, which in turn had subjected them to police supervision and limitation of movement. The disagreements however escalated when the parliamentary majority repeatedly rejected President's candidates for the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia
, beginning with the rejection of incumbent Mitja Gaspari
. The friction continued over the appointment of other state official nominees, including Constitutional Court
judges. Although the President's political support suffered after his personal transformation, the polls nevertheless showed public backing of the President against an increasingly unpopular Government.
The tension reached its height in May 2007, when the newly appointed director of the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency Matjaž Šinkovec
unclassified several documents from the period before 2004, revealing, among other, that Drnovšek had used secret service funds for personal purposes between 2002 and 2004. The President reacted with a harsh criticism of the government's policies, accusing the ruling coalition of abusing its power for personal delegitimations and labeled the Prime Minister as "the leader of the negative guys"
In the last months in office, Drnovšek continued his attacks on Prime Minister Janez Janša, who mostly remained silent on the issue. Drnovšek accused Janša of "fostering proto-totalitarian tendencies". He became a blog
ger (Janez D), signing his posts as "Janez D" and expressing opinions on various issues from foreign policy, environmentalism, human relationships, religion, animal rights and personal growth. In his last months in office, he withdrew to a reclusive life again, devoting his time to the Movement for Justice and Development
and the popularization of his lifestyle and views.
In 2006, Borut Pahor
's Social Democrats, after having opted for a more constructive opposition, entered an agreement with the ruling coalition party for the collaboration in the economic reform policies. The agreement, known as Partnership for Development, eventually failed in 2008.
Due to the gradual dissolution of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
, by 2007 the Social Democrats became the second largest political force in Slovenia, and Pahor thus became the non-formal leader of the left wing opposition. The same year, he considered running for the presidential elections
, in which he was favoured by the polls. However, due to the high ranking of his party, he decided to support the presidential candidate Danilo Türk
, and continue to lead the Social Democrats to the parliamentary elections of 2008.
accepted to run in the 2007 Slovenian presidential election. As an independent candidate, he was backed by a broad coalition of left wing parties, composed by the opposition Zares
and Social Democrats
, the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia
, as well as by the extra-parliamentary Christian Socialist and Democratic Party
. In the first round of the presidential elections, held on 21 October 2007, he placed second with 24.54% of the votes, which brought him into the run-off against the centre right candidate Lojze Peterle
who received 28.50% of the popular vote. He won the run-off on 11 November 2007 by a landslide, with 68.2% of the votes, becoming the third president of Slovenia
on December 23, 2007.
and Zares
. In the parliamentary elections of 2008
, these parties defeated the Slovenian Democratic Party
and formed a government headed by Pahor.
On September 1, 2008, some three weeks before the Slovenian parliamentary elections
, allegations were made in Finnish TV in a documentary broadcast by the Finnish national broadcasting company YLE that Janša had received bribes from the Finnish
defense company Patria
(73.2% of which is the property of the Finnish government) in the so-called Patria case
. Janša rejected all accusations as a media conspiracy concocted by left-wing Slovenian journalists, and asked YLE to provide evidence or to retract the story. Janša's naming of individual journalists, including some of those behind the 2007 Petition Against Political Pressure on Slovenian Journalists, and the perceived use of diplomatic channels in an attempt to coerce the Finnish government into interfering with YLE editorial policy, drew criticism from media freedom organisations such as the International Press Institute
.
As yet, YLE has declined to broadcast a retraction or to reveal its sources , because criminal investigation by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation is still underway.
In the elections, the Slovenian Democratic Party lost to the left wing coalition. In November 2008, Janša was replaced as Prime Minister by the Social Democrat
leader Borut Pahor
.
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
tribes settled an area stretching from present-day Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
to the city of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
. The Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
controlled the land for nearly 1,000 years. Modern-day Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
gained its independence from Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
in 1991, and is today a modern state and a member of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and NATO.
Prehistory
The earliest signs of human settlement in present-day Slovenia were found in the Pekel cavePekel cave
Pekel Cave is a karst cave near Šempeter v Savinjski dolini in Slovenia. The cave is known as Jama Pekel because one of the rocks near the entrance was thought to look like the Devil.-Description:The cave is 1,159 m long and has two levels...
in the Loza Woods near Orehek in Inner Carniola, where two stone tools approximately 250,000 years old were recovered. During the last glacial period, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Neanderthals; the most famous Neanderthal archeological site in Slovenia is a cave close to the village of Šebrelje
Šebrelje
Šebrelje is a village in the Cerkno Municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia.The Parish Church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint George and belongs to the Koper Diocese. A second church, belonging to the same parish, is built outside the settlement to the north and is dedicated to John...
near Cerkno
Cerkno
Cerkno is a small town and a municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.It has around 2,000 inhabitants and is the administrative centre of the Cerkno hills...
, where the Divje Babe flute, the oldest known musical instrument in the world was found in 1995. In the transition period between the Bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
to the Iron age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, the Urnfield culture flourished. Numerous archeological remains dating from the Hallstatt period have been found in Slovenia, with important settlements in Most na Soči
Most na Soci
Most na Soči is a town in the Municipality of Tolmin in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It was named Sveta Lucija ob Soči until 1952. Other historical names include , and or Maurus Brucke. It is located on a rocky crest above the confluence of Soča and Idrijca rivers...
, Vače
Vače
Vače is a settlement in the Municipality of Litija in central Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of Lower Styria and is now included with the rest of the municipality into the Central Slovenia statistical region....
, and Šentvid pri Stični
Šentvid pri Stični
Šentvid pri Stični is a settlement in the Ivančna Gorica municipality in central Slovenia. The area is part of the historical region of Lower Carniola. The municipality is now included in the Central Slovenian statistical region....
. Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto is a city and municipality in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered the economic and cultural centre of the historic Lower Carniola region.-Geography:...
in Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola was a kreis of the historical Habsburg crown land of Carniola from 1849 till 1919 and is nowadays a traditional region of Slovenia. Its center is Novo Mesto, while other urban centers include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.-See also:* Upper...
, one of the most important archeological sites of the Hallstatt culture, has been nicknamed the "City of Situlas" after numerous situlas
Situla (vessel)
Situla, from the Latin for bucket or pail, is a term for a variety of elaborate bucket-shaped vessels from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages, usually with a handle at the top...
found in the area.
In the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Illyrian
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
and Celtic tribes until the 1st century BC, when the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
conquered the region establishing the provinces of Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
and Noricum
Noricum
Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...
. What is now western Slovenia was included directly under Roman Italia as part of the X region Venetia et Histria. Important Roman towns located in present-day Slovenia included Emona
Emona
Emona or Aemona, short for Colonia Iulia emona, was a Roman castrum founded in 14-15 AD, possibly by the Legio XV Apollinaris , on a territory already populated by ancient settlers of uncertain origin...
, Celeia and Poetovio. Other important settlements were Nauportus
Nauportus
Nauportus , ancient Roman town in Pannonia Superior on road from Aquileia to Emona with port at Nauportus river what is now Ljubljanica River....
, Neviodunum, Haliaetum
Haliaetum
Haliaetum was a Roman port on the northern Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula.The port was first established around 178-177BC following fierce resistance by the Histri, the indigenous population. The site of the port is at Valižan on Simonov zaliv to the southwest of the modern town of Izola...
, Atrans
Atrans
Atrans is the Roman name for Trojane, a town in Central Slovenia. It was on the border between Italy and the province of Noricum.Ancient Romans built a road spanning Aquileia, Emona, Atrans and Celeia...
, and Stridon
Stridon
Stridon was a town in the Roman province of Dalmatia. The town is located near modern Ljubljana but the exact location is unknown. The town is especially known as the birthplace of Saint Jerome. From Stridon also came Domnus of Stridon, a bishop who took part in the First Council of Nicaea, and...
.
During the migration period
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
, the region suffered invasions of many barbarian armies, due to its strategic position as the main passage from the Pannonian plain to the Italian peninsula
Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
. Rome finally abandoned the region at the end of the 4th century. Most cities were destroyed, while the remaining local population moved to the highland areas, establishing fortified towns. In the 5th century, the region was part of the Ostrogothic kingdom
Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Kingdom established by the Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas lasted from 493 to 553. In Italy the Ostrogoths replaced Odoacer, the de facto ruler of Italy who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476. The Gothic kingdom reached its zenith under the rule of its...
, and was later contested between the Ostrogoths, the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
.
The Middle Ages
Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of the Splügen Pass in eastern Switzerland. North of the Splügen Pass, the Posterior Rhine forms the border, and south of the pass, the Liro river and Lake Como form the boundary line.-Geography:The...
area at the end of the 6th century. Coming from two directions, North (via today's East Austria and Czech Republic), settling in the area of today's Carinthia and west Styria and South (via today's Slavonia), settling in the area of today's central Slovenia. This Slavic tribe, also known as the Alpine Slavs, was submitted to Avar rule before joining the Slavic chieftain Samo
Samo
Samo was a Frankish merchant from the "Senonian country" , probably modern Soignies, Belgium or Sens, France. He was the first ruler of the Slavs whose name is known, and established one of the earliest Slav states, a supra-tribal union usually called Samo's empire, realm, kingdom, or tribal...
's Slavic tribal union in 623 AD. After Samo's death, the Slavs of Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
(in present-day Slovenia) again fell to Avar rule, while the Slavs north of the Karavanke range (in present-day Austrian regions of Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
, Styria
Styria (state)
Styria is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area it is the second largest of the nine Austrian federated states, covering 16,401 km². It borders Slovenia as well as the other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. ...
and East Tyrol
East Tyrol
East Tyrol, or East Tirol , is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, sharing no border with the main North Tyrol part of the state. It corresponds with the administrative district of Lienz....
) established the independent principality of Carantania. In 745, Carantania and the rest of Slavic-populated territories of present-day Slovenia, being pressured by newly consolidated Avar power, submitted to Bavarian overrule and were, together with the Duchy of Bavaria, incorporated into the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
, while Carantanians and other Slavs living in present Slovenia converted to Christianity
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
.
Carantania retained its internal independence until 828 when the local princes, following the anti-Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
rebellion of Ljudevit Posavski
Ljudevit Posavski
Ljudevit Posavski was a Croatian Duke of Pannonian Croatia from 810 to 823. The capital of his realm was in Sisak. As the ruler of the Pannonian Slavs, he led an unsuccessful resistance to Frankish domination. He held close ties with the Carantanian and Carniolan tribes and with the Serbian tribe...
, were deposed and gradually replaced by a Germanic (primarily Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n) ascendancy. Under Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia was the Carolingian King of East Francia from 887, the disputed King of Italy from 894 and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor from February 22, 896 until his death.-Birth and Illegitimacy:...
, Carantania, now ruled by a mixed Bavarian-Slav nobility, shortly emerged as a regional power, but was destroyed by the Hungarian invasions in the late 9th century.
Carantania-Carinthia was established again as an autonomous administrative unit in 976, when Emperor Otto I, "the Great", after deposing the Duke of Bavaria, Henry II, "the Quarreller", split the lands held by him and made Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
the sixth duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, but old Carantania never developed into a unified realm.
In the late 10th and beginning of 11th century, primarily because of the Hungarian threat, the south-eastern border region of the German Empire was organized into so called "marks", that became the core of the development of the historical Slovenian lands, the Carniola, the Styria and the western Goriška/Gorizia. The consolidation and formation of the historical Slovenian lands took place in a long period between 11th and 14th century being led by a number of important feudal families such as the Dukes of Spannheim
Bernhard von Spanheim
Bernhard von Spanheim was Duke of Carinthia for 54 years from 1202 until his death.-Family:...
, the Counts of Gorizia, the Counts of Celje
Counts of Celje
The Counts of Cilli or Celje represent the most important medieval aristocratic and ruling house with roots and territory in present-day Slovenia....
and finally the House of Habsburg.
The first mentions of a common Slovene ethnic identity, transcending regional boundaries, date from the 16th century.
During the 14th century, most of the Slovene Lands passed under the Habsburg rule. In the 15th century, the Habsburg domination was challenged by the Counts of Celje
Counts of Celje
The Counts of Cilli or Celje represent the most important medieval aristocratic and ruling house with roots and territory in present-day Slovenia....
, but by the end of the century the great majority of Slovene-inhabited territories were incorporated into the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. Most Slovenes lived in the administrative region known as Inner Austria
Inner Austria
Inner Austria was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the duchies of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and the Windic March, the County of Gorizia , the city of Trieste and assorted smaller possessions...
, forming the majority of the population of the Duchy of Carniola
Duchy of Carniola
The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana...
and the County of Gorizia and Gradisca, as well as of Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
and southern Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
.
Slovenes also inhabited most of the territory of the Imperial Free City of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, although representing the minority of its population.
Early Modern Period
In the 16th century, the Protestant ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
spread throughout the Slovene Lands. During this period, the first books in the Slovene language were written by the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
preacher Primož Trubar
Primož Trubar
Primož Trubar or Primož Truber was a Slovene Protestant reformer, the founder and the first superintendent of the Protestant Church of the Slovene Lands, a consolidator of the Slovene language and the author of the first Slovene-language printed book...
and his followers, establishing the base for the development of the standard Slovene language. In the second half of the 16th century, numerous books were printed in Slovene, including an integral translation of the Bible by Jurij Dalmatin
Jurij Dalmatin
Jurij Dalmatin was a Slovene Lutheran minister, writer and translator.Born in Krško in around 1546, Dalmatin became a preacher in Ljubljana in 1572. He was the author of several religious books, such as Karšanske lepe molitve , Ta kratki würtemberški katekizmus , and Agenda...
. During the Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
in the late 16th and 17th centuries, led by the bishop of Ljubljana Tomaž Hren and Seckau Martin Brenner, almost all Protestants were expelled from the Slovene Lands (with the exception of Prekmurje
Prekmurje
Prekmurje is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region settled by Slovenes and lying between the Mur River in Slovenia and the Rába Valley in the most western part of Hungary...
). Nevertheless, they left a strong legacy in the tradition of Slovene culture, which was partially incorporated in the Catholic Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
in the 17th century. The old Slovene orthography, also known as Bohorič
Adam Bohoric
Adam Bohorič was a Slovene Protestant preacher, teacher and author of the first grammar of Slovene.Bohorič was born in the market town of Rajhenburg in the Duchy of Styria, on the border between Lower Carniola and Lower Styria...
's Alphabet, which was developed by the Protestants in the 16th century and remained in use until mid-19th century, testified to the unbroken tradition of Slovene culture as established in the years of the Protestant Reformation.
Between the 15th and the 17th century, the Slovene Lands suffered many calamities. Many areas, especially in southern Slovenia, were devastated by the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars
Ottoman-Habsburg wars
The Ottoman–Habsburg wars refers to the military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg dynasties of the Austrian Empire, Habsburg Spain and in certain times, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The war would be dominated by land campaigns in Hungary and present day...
. Many flourishing towns, like Vipavski Križ
Vipavski Križ
Vipavski Križ , named Sveti Križ till 1955, is a settlement built on a small hill in the Vipava Valley in the Ajdovščina Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It is one of the historically most interesting places of the area. There is evidence of habitation on the hill in pre-Roman period...
and Kostanjevica na Krki
Kostanjevica na Krki
Kostanjevica na Krki, also Kostanjevica ob Krki , is a small town and a municipality in the historic Lower Carniola region of southern Slovenia. It is today part of the Lower Sava statistical region....
, were completely destroyed by incursions of the Ottoman Army, and never recovered. The nobility of the Slovene-inhabited provinces had an important role in the fight against the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
n noblemen's army thus defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Sisak
Battle of Sisak
The Battle of Sisak was fought on June 22, 1593, between Ottoman forces of the Bosnian governor-general, or Beylerbeyi, Hasan-paša Predojević, and forces of the Holy Roman Empire under the supreme command of the Styrian general Ruprecht von Eggenberg...
of 1593, marking the end of the immediate Ottoman threat to the Slovene Lands, although sporadic Ottoman incursions continued well into the 17th century.
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
and the Venetian Republic, most notably the War of Gradisca, which was largely fought in the Slovene Goriška
Goriška
Goriška is a traditional region in western Slovenia on the border with Italy. The name means "the Gorizia region" because it is named after Gorizia, Italy. It is part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral . Its principal urban center is Nova Gorica...
region. Between late 15th and early 18th century, the Slovene lands also witnessed many peasant wars, most famous being the Carinthian peasant revolt of 1478, the Slovene peasant revolt of 1515, the Croatian-Slovenian peasant revolt of 1573, the Second Slovene peasant revolt of 1635, and the Tolmin peasant revolt of 1713.
Late 17th century was also marked by a vivid intellectual and artistic activity. Many Italian Baroque
Italian Baroque
Italian Baroque is a term referring to a stylistic period in Italian history and art which spanned from the late 16th century to the early 18th century.-History:...
artists, mostly architects and musicians, settled in the Slovene Lands, and contributed greatly to the development of the local culture. Scientists like Johann Weikhard von Valvasor and Janez Gregor Thalnitscher contributed to the development of the scholarly activities. By the early 18th century, however, the region entered another period of stagnation, which was slowly overcome only by mid-18th century.
Age of Enlightenment to the national movement
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
was declared a free port
Free port
A free port or free zone , sometimes also called a bonded area is a port, port area or other area with relaxed jurisdiction with respect to the country of location...
in 1718, boosting the economic activity throughout the western parts of the Slovene Lands. The political, administrative and economic reforms of the Habsburg rulers Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
and Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
improved the economic situation of the peasantry, and were well received by the emerging bourgeoisie, which was however still weak.
In the late 18th century, a process of standardarization
Standard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
of Slovene language began, promoted by Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
n clergymen like Marko Pohlin
Marko Pohlin
Marko Pohlin , was a Slovene philologist and author. He is generally considered the first exponent of the Age of Enlightenment in the Slovene lands....
and Jurij Japelj
Jurij Japelj
Jurij Japelj, also known in German as Georg Japel was a Slovene Jesuit priest, translator and philologist. He was part of the Zois circle, a group of Carniolan scholars and intellectuals that were instrumental in the spread of Enlightenment ideas in the Slovene Lands...
. During the same period, peasant-writers began using and promoting the Slovene vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
in the countryside. This popular movement, known as bukovnik
Bukovník
Bukovník is a village and municipality in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 72 ....
i, started among Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...
as part a wider revival of Slovene literature. The Slovene cultural tradition was strongly reinforced in the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
period in the 18th century by the endeavours of the Zois Circle. After two centuries of stagnation, Slovene literature emerged again, most notably in the works of the playwright Anton Tomaž Linhart
Anton Tomaž Linhart
Anton Tomaž Linhart was a Slovene playwright and historian, best known as the author of the first comedy in Slovene, Županova Micka...
and the poet Valentin Vodnik
Valentin Vodnik
Valentin Vodnik was a Slovene priest, journalist and poet from the late Enlightenment period.-Life and work:He was born in Šiška, now a suburb of Ljubljana, then part of the Habsburg Monarchy...
. However, German remained the main language of culture, administration and education well into the 19th century.
Between 1805 and 1813, Slovenia was part of the Illyrian Provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
, an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, the capital of which was established at Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
. Although the French rule in the Illyrian Provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
was short-lived it significantly contributed to greater national self-confidence and awareness of freedoms. The French did not entirely abolish the feudal system, their rule familiarised in more detail the inhabitants of the Illyrian Provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
with the achievements of the French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and with contemporary bourgeois society. They introduced equality before the law, compulsory military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
and a uniform tax system, and also abolished certain tax privileges, introduced modern administration, separated powers between the state and the Church, and nationalised the judiciary.
In August 1813, Austria declared war on France. Austrian troops led by General Franz Tomassich invaded the Illyrian Provinces. After this short French interim
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
all Slovene Lands were, once again, included in the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
. Slowly, a distinct Slovene national consciousness developed, and the quest for a political unification of all Slovenes became widespread. In the 1820s and 1840s, the interest in Slovene language and folklore grew enormously, with numerous philologists collecting folk songs and advancing the first steps towards a standardization of the language. A small number of Slovene activist, mostly from Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
and Carinthia, embraced the Illyrian movement
Illyrian movement
The Illyrian movement , also Croatian national revival , was a cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835–1849...
that started in neighboring Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and aimed at uniting all South Slavic peoples. Pan-Slavic and Austro-Slavic ideas also gained importance. However, the intellectual circle around the philologist Matija Čop
Matija Cop
Matija Čop , also known in German as Matthias Tschop, was a Slovene linguist, literary historian and critic.- Biography :...
and the Romantic poet France Prešeren
France Prešeren
France Prešeren was a Slovene Romantic poet. He is considered the Slovene national poet. Although he was not a particularly prolific author, he inspired virtually all Slovene literature thereafter....
was influential in affirming the idea of Slovene linguistic and cultural individuality, refusing the idea of merging the Slovenes into a wider Slavic nation.
In 1848, a mass political and popular movement for the United Slovenia
United Slovenia
United Slovenia is the name of an unrealized political programme of the Slovene national movement, formulated during the Spring of Nations in 1848...
() emerged as part of the Spring of Nations movement within the Austrian Empire. Slovene activists demanded a unification of all Slovene-speaking territories in a unified and autonomous Slovene kingdom within the Austrian Empire. Although the project failed, it served as an almost undisputed platform of Slovene political activity in the following decades.
Clashing nationalisms in late 19th century
Between 1848 and 1918, numerous institutions (including theatres and publishing houses, as well as political, financial and cultural organisations) were founded in the so-called Slovene National Awakening. Despite their political and institutional fragmentation and lack of proper political representation, the Slovenes were able to establish a functioning national infrastructure.With the introduction of a constitution granting civil and political liberties in the Austrian Empire in 1860, the Slovene national movement gained force. Despite its internal differentiation among the conservative Old Slovenes
Old Slovenes
Old Slovenes is the term used for a national conservative political group in the Slovene Lands from the 1850s to the 1870s, which was opposed to the radical national liberal Young Slovenes...
and the progressive Young Slovenes
Young Slovenes
Young Slovenes were a Slovene national liberal political movement in the 1860s and 1870s, inspired and named after the Young Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia. They were opposed to the national conservative Old Slovenes. They entered in a crisis in the 1880s, and disappeared from political life by the...
, the Slovene nationals defended similar programs, calling for a cultural and political autonomy of the Slovene people. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, a series of mass rallies called tabori, modeled on the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
monster meetings, were organized in support of the United Slovenia program. These rallies, attended by thousands of people, proved the allegiance of wider strata of the Slovene population to the ideas of national emancipation.
By the end of the 19th century, Slovenes had established a standardized literary language, and a thriving civil society. Literacy levels were among the highest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and numerous national associations were present at grassroots level. The idea of a common political entity of all South Slavs
South Slavs
The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
, known as Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, emerged.
Since the 1880s, a fierce culture war
Culture war
The culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
between Catholic traditionalists and integralists
Integralism
Integralism, or Integral nationalism, is an ideology according to which a nation is an organic unity. Integralism defends social differentiation and hierarchy with co-operation between social classes, transcending conflict between social and economic groups...
on one side, and liberals, progressivists and anticlericals dominated Slovene political and public life, especially in Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
. During the same period, the growth of industrialization intensified social tensions. Both Socialist and Christian socialist movements mobilized the masses. In 1905, the first Socialist mayor in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was elected in the Slovene mining town of Idrija
Idrija
Idrija is a small town and municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine and lace....
on the list of the Yugoslav Social Democratic Party. In the same years, the Christian socialist activist Janez Evangelist Krek
Janez Evangelist Krek
Janez Evangelist Krek was a Slovene Christian Socialist politician, priest, journalist and author.He was born in a peasant family in the village of Sveti Gregor , in what was then the Austrian Empire. His father died when he was a child...
organized hundreds of workers and agricultural cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
s throughout the Slovene countryside.
At the turn of the 20th century, national struggles in ethnically mixed areas (especially in Carinthia, Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
and in Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
n towns) dominated the political and social lives of the citizenry. By the 1910s, the national struggles between Slovene and Italian speakers in the Austrian Littoral
Austrian Littoral
The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate...
, and Slovene and German speakers, overshadowed other political conflicts and brought about a nationalist radicalization on both sides.
In the last two decades before World War One, Slovene arts and literature experienced one of its most flourishing periods, with numerous talented modernist authors, painters and architects. The most important authors of this period were Ivan Cankar
Ivan Cankar
Ivan Cankar was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in Slovene literature...
and Oton Župančič
Oton Župancic
Oton Župančič was a Slovene poet, translator and playwright.Župančič is regarded, alongside Ivan Cankar, Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn, as the beginner of modernism in Slovenian literature...
, while Ivan Grohar
Ivan Grohar
Ivan Grohar was a Slovene Impressionist painter. Together with Rihard Jakopič, Matej Sternen and Matija Jama, he is considered one of the leading figures of Slovene impressionism in the fin de siecle period.- Life :...
and Rihard Jakopič
Rihard Jakopic
Rihard Jakopič was a Slovenian painter. He was the leading Slovenian Impressionist painter and theoretician. Together with Matej Sternen, Matija Jama and Ivan Grohar, he is considered the pioneer of Slovenian impressionist painting.- Life :Jakopič was born in Ljubljana, then part of the...
were among the most talented Slovene visual artists of the time.
After the Ljubljana earthquake of 1895, the city experienced a rapid modernization under the charismatic Liberal nationalist mayors Ivan Hribar
Ivan Hribar
Ivan Hribar was a Slovene and Yugoslav banker, politician, diplomat and journalist. At the turn of the century, he was one of the leaders of the National Progressive Party, and one of the most important figures of Slovene liberal nationalism...
and Ivan Tavčar
Ivan Tavcar
Ivan Tavčar was a Slovene and Yugoslav writer, lawyer, and politician.- Biography :Tavčar was born into a poor peasant family of Janez and Neža née Perko in the Carniolan village of Poljane near Škofja Loka in what was then the Austrian Empire and is now in Slovenia. It has never been entirely...
. Architects like Max Fabiani
Max Fabiani
Max Fabiani, was a Slovene-Italian architect from the Gorizia region. Together with Ciril Metod Koch, he introduced the Vienna Secession style of architecture in the Slovene Lands.-Life:...
and Ciril Metod Koch
Ciril Metod Koch
Ciril Metod Koch was a Slovene architect. Together with Max Fabiani, he introduced the Vienna Secession style in the Slovene Lands....
introduced their own version of the Vienna Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
architecture to Ljubljana. In the same period, the Adriatic port of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
became an increasingly important center of Slovene economy, culture and politics. By 1910, around a third of the city population was Slovene, and the number of Slovenes in Trieste was higher than in Ljubljana.
At the turn of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of Slovenes emigrated to other countries, mostly to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but also to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and to larger cities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. It has been calculated that around 300,000 Slovenes emigrated between 1880 and 1910, which means that one in six Slovenes left their homeland. Such disproportionally high emigration rates resulted in a relatively small population growth in the Slovene Lands. Comparatively to other Central European regions, the Slovene Lands lost demographic weight between the late 18th and early 20th century.
World War One and the Creation of Yugoslavia
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Austrian Parliament was dissolved and civil liberties suspended. Many Slovene political activists, especially in Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
and Styria, were imprisoned by Austro-Hungarian authorities on charges of pro-Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n or pan-slavic
Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires, Byzantine Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Venice...
sympathies. 469 Slovenes were executed on charges of treason in the first year of the war alone, provoking a strong anti-Austrian resentment among the national-minded strata of the Slovene population. Hundreds of thousands of Slovene conscripts were drafted in the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
, and over 30,000 of them lost their lives in the course of the war.
In May 1915, the fighting started on Slovene soil, as well. Italy entered the conflict after the western allies had supported its territorial expansion at the expense of Austria-Hungary. In the Treaty of London of 1915, the Slovenian Littoral
Slovenian Littoral
The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....
and some western districts of Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
were promised to Italy after the war. The Italian Royal Army launched an attack on Austria-Hungary in 1915, thus opening the Italian front
Italian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign refers to a series of battles fought between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Italy, along with their allies, in northern Italy between 1915 and 1918. Italy hoped that by joining the countries of the Triple Entente against the Central Powers it would gain Cisalpine Tyrol , the...
. Some of the fiercest battles were fought along the Soča
Soca
The Soča or Isonzo is a 140 km long river that flows through western Slovenia and northeastern Italy. An Alpine river in character, its source lies in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps in Slovenia, at an elevation of around 1,100 metres...
(Isonzo) river and on the Kras
Kras
Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...
(Carso) plateau in what is now western Slovenia. Entire areas of the Slovenian Littoral were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of Slovenes were resettled as refugees in parts of Austria and Italy. While the situation in the Austrian refugee camps were relatively good, Slovene refugees in Italian camps were treated as state enemies, and several thousands died of malnutrition and diseases between 1915 and 1918.
In 1917, after the Battle of Caporetto
Battle of Caporetto
The Battle of Caporetto , took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid , on the Austro-Italian front of World War I...
ended the fighting on Austro-Hungarian (Slovenian) soil, the political life in Austria-Hungary resumed. The Slovene People's Party
Slovene People's Party (historical)
The Slovene People's Party was a Slovenian political party in the 19th and 20th centuries, active in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Between 1907 and 1941, it was the largest and arguably the most influential political party in the Slovene Lands...
launched a movement for self-determination, demanding the creation of a semi-independent South Slavic state under Habsburg rule. The proposal was picked up by most Slovene parties, and a mass mobilization of Slovene civil society, known as the Declaration Movement, followed. By early 1918, more than 200,000 signatures were collected in favor of the Slovene People Party's proposal.
During the War, some 500 Slovenes served as volunteers in the Serbian army, while a smaller group led by Captain Ljudevit Pivko, served as volunteers in the Italian Army. In the final year of the war, many predominantly Slovene regiments in the Austro-Hungarian Army staged a mutiny against their military leadership; the most famous mutiny of Slovene soldiers was the Judenburg Rebellion in May 1918.
With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in October 1918, the Slovenes formed the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...
, which soon merged with Serbia and Montenegro into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The western parts of the Slovene Lands (the Slovenian Littoral and western districts of Inner Carniola) were occupied by the Italian Army, and officially annexed to the Kingdom of Italy with the Treaty of Rapallo
Treaty of Rapallo, 1920
The Treaty of Rapallo was a treaty between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , signed to solve the dispute over some territories in the upper Adriatic, in Dalmatia and in the region which became known as the Julian March.The treaty was signed on 12 November 1920 in...
in 1920.
After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in late 1918, an armed dispute started between the Slovenes and German Austria
German Austria
Republic of German Austria was created following World War I as the initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire, without the Kingdom of Hungary, which in 1918 had become the Hungarian Democratic Republic.German...
for the regions of Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
and southern Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
. In November 1918, Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister was a Slovene military officer, poet and political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became known as "Maister's fighters"...
seized the city of Maribor
Maribor
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....
and surrounding areas of Lower Styria in the name of the newly formed Yugoslav state. Around the same time a group of volunteers led by Franjo Malgaj
Franjo Malgaj
Franjo Malgaj was a Slovenian soldier, military leader and poet. He was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army...
attempted to take control of southern Carinthia. Fighting in Carinthia lasted between December 1918 and June 1919, when the Slovene volunteers and the regular Serbian Army managed to occupy the city of Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
. In compliance with the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Yugoslav forces had to withdraw from Klagenfurt, while a referendum was to be held in other areas of southern Carinthia. In October 1920, the majority of the population of southern Carinthia voted
Carinthian Plebiscite
The Carinthian Plebiscite on 10 October 1920 determined the final southern border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I.- History :...
to remain in Austria, and only a small portion of the province (around Dravograd
Dravograd
Dravograd is a small town and a municipality in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria. It lies on the Drava River at the confluence with the Meža and the Mislinja. It is part of the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia)....
and Guštanj
Ravne na Koroškem
Ravne na Koroškem is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. Until 1918, the town was part of the Duchy of Carinthia. It is the largest town in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia and its capital. Its Slovene name means 'Ravne in Carinthia', in order to distinguish it from...
) was awarded to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. With the Treaty of Trianon
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement signed in 1920, at the end of World War I, between the Allies of World War I and Hungary . The treaty greatly redefined and reduced Hungary's borders. From its borders before World War I, it lost 72% of its territory, which was reduced from to...
, however, Yugoslavia was awarded the Slovene-inhabited Prekmurje region, which had belonged to Hungary since the 10th century and had little contact with the rest of the Slovene lands.
The interwar period
In 1921, a centralist constitution was passed in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes against the vote of the great majority (70%) of Slovene MPs. Despite the centralist policies of the Yugoslav kingdom, Slovenes managed to maintain a high level of cultural autonomy, and both economy and the arts prospered. Slovene politicians participated in almost all Yugoslav governments, and the Slovene conservative leader Anton KorošecAnton Korošec
Anton Korošec was a Slovenian political leader, a prominent member of the conservative People's Party, a priest and a noted orator....
briefly served as the only non-Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
The Prime Minister or the President of the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia was the head of government of the Yugoslav state, from the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 until the end of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992.-Kingdom of...
in the period between the two world wars.
On the other hand, Slovenes in Italy, Austria and Hungary, became victims of State policies of forced assimilation
Forced assimilation
Forced assimilation is a process of forced cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups, into an established and generally larger community...
and sometimes violent persecution. The Slovenian Littoral
Slovenian Littoral
The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....
was annexed to Italy and included in the Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
administrative region. Between 1918 and 1922, several violent actions were directed against the Slovene communities in Italy, both by the mob and by ultra-nationalist militias. After 1922, a policy of violent Fascist Italianization was implemented, triggering the reaction of local Slovenes and Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
n Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
. In 1927, the militant anti-Fascist organization TIGR
TIGR
TIGR, abbreviation for Trst , Istra , Gorica and Reka , with the full name Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March T.I.G.R. was a militant anti-Fascist and insurgent organization active in the 1920s and the 1930s in the eastern Italian border region known as the Julian March.The...
(an acronym for the place-names Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
, and Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
) was founded. Between 1922 and 1941, more than 70,000 Slovenes fled from the Italian Julian March, mostly to Yugoslavia, but also to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and other South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n countries.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
. The constitution was abolished, civil liberties suspended, while the centralist pressure intensified. Slovenia was renamed to Drava Banovina
Drava Banovina
The Drava Banovina or Drava Banate was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of most of present-day Slovenia and was named for the Drava River...
. During the whole interwar period, Slovene voters strongly supported the conservative Slovene People's Party
Slovene People's Party (historical)
The Slovene People's Party was a Slovenian political party in the 19th and 20th centuries, active in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Between 1907 and 1941, it was the largest and arguably the most influential political party in the Slovene Lands...
, which unsuccessfully fought for the autonomy of Slovenia within a federalized Yugoslavia. In 1935, however, the Slovene People's Party joined the pro-regime Yugoslav Radical Community, opening the space for the development of a left wing autonomist movement. In the 1930s, the economic crisis created a fertile ground for the rising of both leftist and rightist radicalisms. In 1937, the Communist Party of Slovenia was founded as an autonomous party within the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Between 1938 and 1941, left liberal, Christian left
Christian left
The Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....
and agrarian
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
forces established close relations with members of the illegal Communist party, aiming at establishing a broad anti-Fascist coalition.
After 1918, Slovenia became one of the main industrial centers of Yugoslavia. Already in 1919, the industrial production in Slovenia was four times greater than in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, and twenty-two times greater than in Yugoslav Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. The interwar period brought a further industrialization in Slovenia, with a rapid economic growth in the 1920s followed by a relatively successful economic adjustment to the 1929 economic crisis. This development however affected only certain areas, especially the Ljubljana Basin
Ljubljana basin
The Ljubljana Basin is a basin in the upper river basin of Sava. It is the most populated area in Slovenia and it is metropolitan area of Ljubljana.- Cities and towns :* Ljubljana** Brezovica** Škofljica** Ig** Vodice** Dobrova-Polhov Gradec...
, the Zasavje
Zasavje
The Central Sava Valley is a region in central Slovenia. The region consists of five municipalities: Zagorje ob Savi, Trbovlje, Hrastnik, Litija, and Šmartno pri Litiji...
region, parts of Slovenian Carinthia, and the urban areas around Celje
Celje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...
and Maribor
Maribor
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....
. Tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
experienced a period of great expansion, with resort areas like Bled
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
and Rogaška Slatina
Rogaška Slatina
Rogaška Slatina is a settlement and a municipality in Slovenia. It is famous for its curative mineral water, spa and crystal glass.Rogaška Slatina is a synonym for health resort tourism in Slovenia. For centuries the curative mineral water rich in magnesium , the picturesque countryside and other...
gaining an international reputation. Elsewhere, agriculture and forestry remained the predominant economic activities. Nevertheless, Slovenia emerged as one of the most prosperous and economically dynamic areas in Yugoslavia, profiting from a large Balkanic market. Arts and literature also prospered, as did architecture. The two largest Slovenian cities, Ljubljana and Maribor, underwent an extensive program of urban renewal and modernization. Architects like Jože Plečnik
Jože Plecnik
Jože Plečnik , was a Slovene architect who practised in Vienna, Belgrade, Prague and Ljubljana.-Biography:...
, Ivan Vurnik
Ivan Vurnik
Ivan Vurnik, was a Slovene architect. Together with, Ciril Metod Koch and Jože Plečnik, Vurnik is considered one of the initiators of Slovenian modernist architecture.-Early years:...
and Vladimir Šubic
Vladimir Šubic
Vladimir Šubic, was a Slovene architect. He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which was at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
introduced modernist architecture to Slovenia.
World War II
The Slovene territory – from 1929 Drava BanovinaDrava Banovina
The Drava Banovina or Drava Banate was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of most of present-day Slovenia and was named for the Drava River...
(Dravska banovina) – in Kingdom of Yugoslavia covered 15.036 km² and had, according to census in 1921, 1.054.919 inhabitants. After the Invasion
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
by Axis forces on April 6, 1941 the Axis powers occupied this territory and divided it according to directives given by Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
(on April 3 and 12, 1941) and an agreement between German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
and Italian foreign minister Conte Galeazzo Ciano that specified those directives in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(April 21/22, 1941). The biggest part of Drava Banovina was occupied by the Germans
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
– the Lower Styria (Spodnja Štajerska), the valley of Meža (Mießtal), Upper Carniola (Gorenjska) and a strip of land along the Sava river (Zasavje
Zasavje
The Central Sava Valley is a region in central Slovenia. The region consists of five municipalities: Zagorje ob Savi, Trbovlje, Hrastnik, Litija, and Šmartno pri Litiji...
). Italians
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
occupied Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, Inner Carniola (Notranjska), Lower Carniola (Dolenjska), White Carniola (Bela Krajina) and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
was given Prekmurje
Prekmurje
Prekmurje is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region settled by Slovenes and lying between the Mur River in Slovenia and the Rába Valley in the most western part of Hungary...
– except for four communities at the western part of the territory, that came to Germany. All three occupiers aimed at a quick formal annexation. The Italians passed the Autonomy-Statute for the so-called "Provincia di Lubiana" (Province of Ljubljana
Province of Ljubljana
The Province of Ljubljana was a province of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Nazi German Adriatic Littoral during World War II. It was created on May 3, 1941 from territory occupied and annexed to Italy after the Axis invasion and dissolution of Yugoslavia, and it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when...
) on May 3, 1941, the Hungarians realized their formal annexation on December 16, 1941. The Germans who wanted to proclaim their formal annexation to the ”German Reich“ on October 1, 1941, postponed it first because of the installation of the new ”Gauleiter“ and ”Reichsstatthalter“ of Carinthia and later on they dropped the plan for an undefinite period of time because of partisans, with which the Germans wanted to deal first. Only Meža valley became part of ”Reichsgau Carinthia“ at once. Some villages in south-eastern Slovenia were annexed by the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
.
While the Italians gave Slovenes a cultural autonomy within their occupation zone (the Province of Ljubljana
Province of Ljubljana
The Province of Ljubljana was a province of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Nazi German Adriatic Littoral during World War II. It was created on May 3, 1941 from territory occupied and annexed to Italy after the Axis invasion and dissolution of Yugoslavia, and it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when...
), the Nazis started a policy of violent Germanisation
Germanisation
Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...
, which culminated with the resettlement more than 83,000 Slovenes to other parts of the Third Reich, as well as to Serbia
Nedic's Serbia
Serbia under German occupation refers to an administrative area in occupied Yugoslavia established by Nazi Germany following the invasion and dismantling of Yugoslavia in April of 1941...
and Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
. More than 63,000 Slovenes were interned to Nazi concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
.
Already in the summer of 1941, a liberation movement under the Communist leadership emerged both in the Italian and German occupation zone. Due to political assassinations carried out by the Communist squads, as well as the pre-existing radical anti-Communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
of the conservative circles of the Slovenian society, a civil war between Slovenes broke out in the Italian-occupied south-eastern Slovenia (known as Province of Ljubljana
Province of Ljubljana
The Province of Ljubljana was a province of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Nazi German Adriatic Littoral during World War II. It was created on May 3, 1941 from territory occupied and annexed to Italy after the Axis invasion and dissolution of Yugoslavia, and it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when...
) in the summer of 1942. The two fighting factions were the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
On 26 April 1941 in Ljubljana the Anti-Imperialist Front was established. It was to promote "an international massive movement" to "liberate the Slovenian nation" whose "hope and example was the Soviet Union"...
and the Italian-sponsored anti-communist militia
Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia
The White Guard was a name given colloquially and collectively by the Partisans to an ensemble of Slovene anti-communist political and paramilitary groups during World War II...
, known as the White Guard, initially formed by local anti-Communist activists in order to protect villages from partisans' incursions. A small Monarchist resistance (known as Chetniks
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
) also existed. After September 1943, the anti-Communist militias was re-organized under Nazi command as the Slovene Home Guard.
The Slovene partisan guerrillas managed to liberate large portions of the Slovene lands, contributing to the defeat of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. As a result of the war the vast majority of the native ethnic German population were either forcefully expelled or fled to neighboring Austria. Immediately after the war, some 12,000 members of the Slovene Home Guard were killed in the area of the Kočevski Rog
Kocevski Rog
The Kočevski Rog or Kočevje Rog or simply Rog is a karstified plateau in the Kočevje Highlands above the Črmošnjice Valley. The plateau is part of the traditional Lower Carniola region of Slovenia and of the Dinaric Alps. The highest area is the central part, with the 1099 meter high peak Veliki...
, while thousands of anti-communist civilians were killed in the first year after the war, many of them in concentration camps of Teharje
Teharje
Teharje is a settlement in the municipality of Celje in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the right bank of the Voglajna River on the eastern outskirts of Celje. The area was traditionally part of the Lower Styria region...
and Sterntal
Strnišče, Kidričevo
Strnišče is a small settlement to the south of Kidričevo in northeastern Slovenia. It is the western part of the eponymoys settlement that became Kidričevo after the Second World War. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is now included with the rest of the Kidričevo...
.
These massacres were silenced, and remained a taboo topic until the late 1970s and early 1980s, when dissident intellectuals brought it to public discussion. In addition, hundreds (some say thousands) of ethnic Italians
Istrian Italians
Istrian Italians are the ethnic group in the northern Adriatic region of Istria, related to the Italian people of Italy. Historically they are descendants from the original Latinized population of Roman Istria, from the Venetian-speaking settlers who came to Istria during the Republic of Venice,...
from Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
and Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
were killed by the Yugoslav Army and partisan forces in the Foibe massacres, while some 27,000 of them fled Slovenia from Communist persecution in the so-called Istrian exodus
Istrian exodus
The expression Istrian exodus or Istrian-Dalmatian exodus is used to indicate the departure of ethnic Italians from Istria, Rijeka, and Dalmatia , after World War II. At the time of the exodus, these territories were part of the SR Croatia and SR Slovenia , today they are parts of the Republics of...
. The overall number of World War Two casualties in Slovenia is estimated to 89,000, while 14,000 people were killed immediately after the end of the war. The overall number of World War II casualties in Slovenia was thus of around 7.2% of the pre-war population, which is above the Yugoslav average, and among the highest percentages in Europe.
The Communist period
Following the re-establishment of Yugoslavia at the end of World War II, Slovenia became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, declared on 29 November 1943. A socialist state was established, but because of the Tito-Stalin split
Tito-Stalin Split
The Tito–Stalin Split was a conflict between the leaders of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which resulted in Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Communist Information Bureau in 1948...
, economic and personal freedoms were broader than in the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
. In 1947, Italy ceded most of the Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
to Yugoslavia, and Slovenia thus regained the Slovenian Littoral
Slovenian Littoral
The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....
.
The dispute over the port of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
however remained opened until 1954, until the short-lived Free Territory of Trieste
Free Territory of Trieste
The Free Territory of Trieste was to be a city-state situated in Central Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, created by the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath of World War II and provisionally administered by an appointed military governor commanding the peacekeeping United...
was divided among Italy and Yugoslavia, thus giving Slovenia access to the sea. This division was ratified only in 1975 with the Treaty of Osimo
Treaty of Osimo
The Treaty of Osimo was signed on 10 November 1975 by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Italian Republic in Osimo, Italy, to definitely divide the Free Territory of Trieste between the two states...
, which gave a final legal sanction to Slovenia's long disputed western border. From the 1950s, the Socialist Republic of Slovenia
Socialist Republic of Slovenia
The Socialist Republic of Slovenia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1943 until 1990...
enjoyed a relatively wide autonomy.
Between 1945 and 1948, a wave of political repressions took place in Slovenia and in Yugoslavia. Thousands of people were imprisoned for their political beliefs. Several tens of thousands of Slovenes left Slovenia immediately after the war in fear of Communist persecution. Many of them settled in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, which became the core of Slovenian anti-Communist emigration. More than 50,000 more followed in the next decade, frequently for economic reasons, as well as political ones. These later waves of Slovene immigrants mostly settled in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, but also in other western countries.
In 1948, the Tito-Stalin split
Tito-Stalin Split
The Tito–Stalin Split was a conflict between the leaders of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which resulted in Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Communist Information Bureau in 1948...
took place. In the first years following the split, the political repression worsened, as it extended to Communists accused of Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
. Hundreds of Slovenes were imprisoned in the concentration camp of Goli Otok
Goli otok
Goli otok is an island off the northern Adriatic coast, located between Rab's northeastern shore and the mainland, in what is today Croatia's Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. The island is barren and uninhabited...
, together with thousands of people of other nationalities. Among the show trials that took place in Slovenia between 1945 and 1950, the most important were the Nagode trial against democratic intellectuals and left liberal activists (1946) and the Dachau trials (1947–1949), where former inmates of Nazi concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
were accused of collaboration with the Nazis. Many members of the Roman Catholic clergy suffered persecution. The case of bishop of Ljubljana Anton Vovk
Anton Vovk
Archbishop Anton Vovk was born in the village of Vrba in Upper Carniola in the same house where the poet France Prešeren had been born 100 years earlier . Vovk’s father Jožef Vovk and mother Marija née Debelak died when he was young...
, who was doused with gasoline and set on fire by Communist activists during a pastoral visit to Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto is a city and municipality in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered the economic and cultural centre of the historic Lower Carniola region.-Geography:...
in January 1952, echoed in the western press.
Between 1949 and 1953, a forced collectivization
Collective farming
Collective farming and communal farming are types of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise...
was attempted. After its failure, a policy of gradual liberalization was followed. A new economic policy, known as workers self-management
Workers' self-management
Worker self-management is a form of workplace decision-making in which the workers themselves agree on choices instead of an owner or traditional supervisor telling workers what to do, how to do it and where to do it...
started to be implemented under the advice and supervision of the main theorist of the Yugoslav Communist Party, the Slovene Edvard Kardelj
Edvard Kardelj
Edvard Kardelj also known under the pseudonyms Sperans and Krištof was a Yugoslav communist political leader, economist, partisan, publicist, and full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts...
.
In the late 1950s, Slovenia was the first of the Yugoslav republics to begin a process of relative pluralization. A decade of fervent cultural and literary production followed, with many tensions between the regime and the dissident intellectuals. By the late 1960s, the reformist faction gained control of the Slovenian Communist Party, launching a series of reforms, aiming at the modernization of Slovenian society and economy. In 1973, this trend was stopped by the conservative faction of the Slovenian Communist Party, backed by the Yugoslav Federal government. A period known as the "years of lead" (Slovene: svinčena leta) followed.
From the late 1950s onward, dissident circles started to be formed, mostly around short-lived independent journals, such as Revija 57 (1957–1958), which was the first independent intellectual journal in Yugoslavia and one of the first of this kind in the Communist bloc, and Perspektive (1960–1964). Among the most important critical public intellectuals in this period were the sociologist Jože Pučnik
Jože Pucnik
Jože Pučnik was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, Pučnik was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil liberties in former Yugoslavia. He was imprisoned for a total of 7 years, and later...
, the poet Edvard Kocbek
Edvard Kocbek
Edvard Kocbek was a Slovenian poet, writer, essayist, translator, political activist, and resistance fighter. He is considered as one of the best authors who have written in Slovene, and one of the best Slovene poets after Prešeren...
, and the literary historian Dušan Pirjevec
Dušan Pirjevec
Dušan Pirjevec, known by his battle name Ahac , was a Slovenian resistance fighter, literary historian and philosopher...
.
In the 1980s, Slovenia experienced a rise of cultural pluralism. Numerous grass-roots political, artistic and intellectual movements emerged, including the Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst , aka NSK, is a controversial political art collective that announced itself in Slovenia in 1984, when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. NSK's name, being German, is compatible with a theme in NSK works: the complicated relationship Slovenes have had with Germans...
, the Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis
Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis
Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis , also known as the Ljubljana Lacanian School is a popular name for a post-structuralist and Lacanian school of thought centred around the Society for Theoretical Psychoanalysis based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Prominent members of the school include Slavoj Žižek,...
, and the Nova revija
Nova revija
Nova revija is a Slovenian publishing house and cultural institute that developed from the literary journal with the same name.- The magazine :...
intellectual circle. By the mid 1980s, a reformist fraction, led by Milan Kučan
Milan Kucan
Milan Kučan is a Slovenian politician and statesman. He was the first President of Slovenia.-Early life and political beginnings:...
, took control of the Slovenian Communist Party, starting a gradual reform towards a market socialism
Market socialism
Market socialism refers to various economic systems where the means of production are either publicly owned or cooperatively owned and operated for a profit in a market economy. The profit generated by the firms system would be used to directly remunerate employees or would be the source of public...
and controlled political pluralism.
The Yugoslav economic crisis of the 1980s increased the struggles within the Yugoslav Communist regime regarding the appropriate economic measures to be undertaken. Slovenia, which had less than 10% of overall Yugoslav population, produced around a fifth of the country's GDP and a fourth of all Yugoslav exports. The political disputes around economic measures was echoed in the public sentiment, as many Slovenes felt they were being economically exploited, having to sustain an expensive and inefficient federal administration.
Slovenian Spring of 1988
In 1987 and 1988, a series of clashes between the emerging civil societyCivil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
and the Communist regime culminated with the Slovenian Spring. A mass democratic movement, coordinated by the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, pushed the Communists in the direction of democratic reforms. These revolutionary events in Slovenia pre-dated by almost one year the Revolutions of 1989
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989 were the revolutions which overthrew the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries.The events began in Poland in 1989, and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and...
in Eastern Europe, but went largely unnoticed by international observers.
At the same time, the confrontation between the Slovenian Communists and the Serbian Communist Party, dominated by the charismatic nationalist leader Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
, became the most important political struggle in Yugoslavia. The poor economic performance of the Federation, and rising clashes between the different republics, created a fertile soil for the rise of secessionist ideas among Slovenes, both anti-Communists and Communists. On 27 of September 1989 the Slovenian Assembly made many amendments to the 1974 constitution including the abandonment of the League of Communists of Slovenia
League of Communists of Slovenia
The League of Communists of Slovenia was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1989...
monopoly on political power and the right of Slovenia to leave Yugoslavia. On 23 January 1990, the League of Communists of Slovenia
League of Communists of Slovenia
The League of Communists of Slovenia was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1989...
, in protest against the domination of the Serb nationalist leadership, walked out of the 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
which effectively ceased to exist as a national party - they were followed soon after by the League of Communists of Croatia
League of Communists of Croatia
League of Communists of Croatia was the Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia . Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia .- History :...
. On 7 March 1990 the Slovenian Assembly changed the official name of the state to the Republic of Slovenia dropping the word 'Socialist'.
Democracy and independence
The DEMOS government(1990-1992)
On 30 December 1989 Slovenia officially opened the spring 1990 elections to opposition parties thus inaugurating multi-party democracy. The Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (DEMOS) coalition of democratic political parties was created by an agreement between the Slovenian Democratic UnionSlovenian Democratic Union
The Slovenian Democratic Union was a Slovenian liberal political party, active between 1989 and 1991, during the democratization and the secession of the Republic of Slovenia from Yugoslavia....
, the Social Democrat Alliance of Slovenia
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party...
, the Slovene Christian Democrats
Slovene Christian Democrats
The Slovene Christian Democrats was a Christian Democrat political party in Slovenia between 1989 and 2000.It was founded as the Slovene Christian Social Movement in March of 1989. Its first president was Peter Kovačič Peršin...
, the Farmers' Alliance
Slovenian People's Party
The Slovenian People's Party is a rural-based conservative political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first non-Communist political organization in Yugoslavia, it merged with the Slovene Christian Democrats to form the present-day party in 2000...
and the Greens of Slovenia
Greens of Slovenia
The Greens of Slovenia is a political party in Slovenia.At the parliamentary election in September 2008, the party won no seats.-External links:*...
.
The leader of the coalition was the famous dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
Jože Pučnik
Jože Pucnik
Jože Pučnik was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, Pučnik was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil liberties in former Yugoslavia. He was imprisoned for a total of 7 years, and later...
.
In 8 April 1990, the first free multiparty parliamentary elections
Slovenian parliamentary election, 1990
Parliamentary elections were held in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia in 1990. The United List of Social Democrats emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly, winning 12 of the 80 seats.-Results:...
, and the first round of the Presidential elections, were held. DEMOS
DEMOS
DEMOS was a Unix-like operating system developed in the Soviet Union...
defeated the former Communist party in the parliamentary elections, by gathering 54% of the votes. A coalition government led by the Christian Democrat
Slovene Christian Democrats
The Slovene Christian Democrats was a Christian Democrat political party in Slovenia between 1989 and 2000.It was founded as the Slovene Christian Social Movement in March of 1989. Its first president was Peter Kovačič Peršin...
Lojze Peterle
Lojze Peterle
Alojz "Lojze" Peterle is a Slovenian politician. He was the leader of the Slovene Christian Democrats from the founding of the party in 1990 until it merged with the Slovenian People's Party in 2000. Between 1990 and 1992, he was the president of the first freely elected Slovenian government, and...
was formed, and began economic and political reforms that established a market economy
Market economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
and a liberal democratic political system. At the same time, the government pursued the independence of Slovenia from Yugoslavia.
Milan Kučan
Milan Kucan
Milan Kučan is a Slovenian politician and statesman. He was the first President of Slovenia.-Early life and political beginnings:...
was elected President in the second round of the Presidential elections on 22 Apr 1990, defeating the DEMOS candidate Jože Pučnik
Jože Pucnik
Jože Pučnik was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, Pučnik was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil liberties in former Yugoslavia. He was imprisoned for a total of 7 years, and later...
. Kučan strongly opposed the preservation of Yugoslavia through violent means. After the concept of a loose confederation
Confederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
had failed to gain support by the republics of Yugoslavia, Kučan favoured a controlled process of non-violent disassociation that would enable the collaboration of the former Yugoslav nations on a new, different basis.
On 23 December 1990, a referendum on the independence of Slovenia
Independence and Unity Day
Independence and Unity Day is a Slovenian national holiday that occurs on every 26 December to commemorate the official proclamation of the Slovenian independence referendum on 26 December 1990. The referendum took part on 23 December. In it, 95% of the voters favoured the establishment of...
was held, in which the overwhelming majority of Slovenian residents (around 89%) voted for the independence of Slovenia from Yugoslavia. Slovenia became independent through the passage of the appropriate acts on 25 June 1991. In the morning of the next day, a short Ten-Day War
Ten-Day War
The Ten-Day War or the Slovenian Independence War was a military conflict between the Slovenian Territorial Defence and the Yugoslav People's Army in 1991 following Slovenia's declaration of independence.-Background:...
began, in which the Slovenian forces successfully rejected Yugoslav military interference. In the evening, the independence was solemnly proclaimed in Ljubljana by the Speaker of the Parliament France Bučar
France Bucar
France Bučar is a Slovenian politician, legal expert and author. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the first chairman of the freely elected Slovenian Parliament. He was the one to formally declare the independence of Slovenia on June 25, 1991. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of...
. The Ten-Day War lasted till 7 July 1991, when the Brijuni Agreement was made, with the European Community as a mediator, and the Yugoslav National Army started its withdrawal from Slovenia. On 26 October 1991, the last Yugoslav soldier left Slovenia.
On 23 December 1991 the Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia passed a new Constitution, which became the first Constitution of independent Slovenia
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
which concluded that the former Yugoslav nations were free to determine their future as independent states. On May 22, 1992 Kučan represented Slovenia as it became a new member of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
The most important achievement of the Coalition, however, was the declaration of independence of Slovenia on 25 June 1991, followed by a Ten-Day War
Ten-Day War
The Ten-Day War or the Slovenian Independence War was a military conflict between the Slovenian Territorial Defence and the Yugoslav People's Army in 1991 following Slovenia's declaration of independence.-Background:...
in which the Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
ns rejected Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
military interference.
As a result of internal disagreements the coalition fell apart in 1992. It was officially dissolved in April 1992 in agreement with all the parties that had composed it. Following the collapse of Lojze Peterle
Lojze Peterle
Alojz "Lojze" Peterle is a Slovenian politician. He was the leader of the Slovene Christian Democrats from the founding of the party in 1990 until it merged with the Slovenian People's Party in 2000. Between 1990 and 1992, he was the president of the first freely elected Slovenian government, and...
's government, a new coalition government, led by Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Prime Minister of Slovenia and President of Slovenia . He was born in Celje, Slovenia, then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia...
was formed, which included several parties of the former DEMOS. Jože Pučnik
Jože Pucnik
Jože Pučnik was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, Pučnik was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil liberties in former Yugoslavia. He was imprisoned for a total of 7 years, and later...
became vice-president in Drnovšek's cabinet, guaranteeing some continuity in the government policies.
After the independence and the international recognition of Slovenia, Kučan was elected as the first President of Slovenia in the 1992 election
Slovenian presidential election, 1992
Presidential elections were held in Slovenia on 6 December 1992. The result was a victory for incumbent Milan Kučan, who won 63.93% of the vote. Voter turnout was 85.78%.-Results:...
with the support of the citizens list. He won another five-year term in the 1997 elections
Slovenian presidential election, 1997
Presidential elections were held in Slovenia on 23 December 1997. The result was a victory for incumbent Milan Kučan, who won 55.54% of the vote. Voter turnout was 68.65%.-Results:...
, running again as an independent and again winning the majority in the first round.
Drnovšek Premiership (1992-2002)
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of independent Slovenia. He was chosen as a compromise candidate and an expert in economic policy. His bi-partisan government was supported both by the left and centrist wing of the dissolved DEMOS coalition (the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia, the Democratic Party and the Greens of Slovenia
Greens of Slovenia
The Greens of Slovenia is a political party in Slovenia.At the parliamentary election in September 2008, the party won no seats.-External links:*...
) and by three parties that derived from organizations of the former Communist regime (the Liberal Democratic Party, the Party of Democratic Reform
Social Democrats (Slovenia)
The Social Democrats is a centre-left political party in Slovenia, currently led by Borut Pahor. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the United List of Social Democrats .-Origins:...
and the Socialist Party of Slovenia
Socialist Party of Slovenia
The Socialist Party of Slovenia was a political party in Slovenia. It was founded in 1990, as the successor of the Socialist Union of Working People of Slovenia . The founding conference of the party was held in Ljubjana on June 9, 1990...
).
Shortly afterwards, Drnovšek was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalno demokratska stranka - LDS), the legal successor of the Association of Socialist Youth of Slovenia (Zveza socialistične mladine Slovenije - ZSMS), the youth fraction of the Communist Party of Slovenia.
The Liberal Democratic Party under Drnovšek's leadership won the 1992 parliamentary elections
Slovenian parliamentary election, 1992
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovenia on 6 and 10 December 1992. The result was a victory for Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, which won 22 of the 90 seats. Party leader Janez Drnovsek was re-elected Prime Minister by the Parliament on 12 January 1993....
, but due to a high fragmentation of the popular vote had to ally itself with other parties in order to form a stable government. Despite a politically turbulent mandate (in 1994, the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia left the coalition), the Party gained votes in the 1996 elections
Slovenian parliamentary election, 1996
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovenia on 10 December 1996. The result was a victory for Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, which won 25 of the 90 seats. Party leader Janez Drnovsek was re-elected Prime Minister by the Parliament on 9 January 1997....
, remaining the largest party in the government. Nevertheless, Drnovšek barely secured himself a third term in office after a failed attempt to ally himself with the Slovenian National Party
Slovenian National Party
The Slovenian National Party is a extreme nationalist political party in Slovenia, led by Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti. The party is renowned for its euroscepticism and opposes Slovenia's membership in NATO...
. In 1997, the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...
formed a coalition government with the populist Slovenian People's Party
Slovenian People's Party
The Slovenian People's Party is a rural-based conservative political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first non-Communist political organization in Yugoslavia, it merged with the Slovene Christian Democrats to form the present-day party in 2000...
which finally enabled Drnovšek to serve a third term in office.
He headed the government until May 2000, when he stepped down due to disagreements with the Slovenian People's Party
Slovenian People's Party
The Slovenian People's Party is a rural-based conservative political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first non-Communist political organization in Yugoslavia, it merged with the Slovene Christian Democrats to form the present-day party in 2000...
. After less than six months in opposition, Drnovšek returned to power in Autumn of 2000, after his party gained a clear victory in the parliamentary elections.
Drnovšek's governments guided Slovenia's political and economic reconstruction. He successfully tackled the twin tasks of reorienting Slovenia's trade away from the wreckage of the old Yugoslavia towards the West and replacing the ineffective Communist-era business model with more market-based mechanisms.
Unlike the other five former Yugoslav republics which were run for much of the 1990s by charismatic and frequently authoritarian presidents, Slovenia under Drnovšek's premiership quickly emerged from the break-up of the federation as a functioning parliamentary democracy. Drnovšek's political strategy was concentrated on broad coalitions, transcending idological and programmatic divisions between parties.
Contrary to some other former Communist countries in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, the economic and social transformation in Slovenia pursued by Drnovšek's governments followed a gradualist approach.
Drnovšek was a staunch supporter of Slovenia's entry in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and NATO and was largely responsible for Slovenia's successful bid for membership in both of those organizations. As Prime minister, he was frequently active on foreign policy issues. On June 16, 2001, he helped to arrange the first meeting between George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
(Bush-Putin 2001
Bush-Putin 2001
The so called Slovenian Summit was the first meeting between the U.S. President George W. Bush and the Russian President Vladimir Putin. It took place on June 16th 2001 on the Brdo pri Kranju estate in northern Slovenia...
).
In 2002, he ran for President of Slovenia
President of Slovenia
The function of President of the Republic of Slovenia was established on 23 December 1991, when the National Assembly of Slovenia passed a new constitution as a result of independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
, and was elected in the second round, defeating the center right candidate Barbara Brezigar
Barbara Brezigar
Barbara Brezigar is a Slovenian lawyer and politician. She currently serves as State Prosecutor General of the Republic of Slovenia.She was born in a middle class family in Ljubljana as Barbara Gregorin...
.
Drnovšek Presidency (2002-2007); EU and NATO membership
Kučan's presidency ended in December 2002. He was succeeded as President by Janez DrnovšekJanez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Prime Minister of Slovenia and President of Slovenia . He was born in Celje, Slovenia, then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia...
following the 2002 election
Slovenian presidential election, 2002
Presidential elections were held in Slovenia in 2002. The first round was held on 10 November, with a run-off held on 1 December after no candidate passed the 50% threshold in the first round. The result was a victory for Janez Drnovšek, who won 56/6% of the vote in the second round. Voter turnout...
.
In March 2003 Slovenia held two referendums on joining the EU and NATO
Slovenian European Union and NATO membership referendum, 2003
A referendum on membership of the European Union and NATO was held in Slovenia on 23 March 2003. Voters were asked two questions;#Do you agree to the proposal that the Republic of Slovenia become a member of the European Union?...
. Milan Kučan took an active part in campaigning for these memberships, in order for Slovenia to achieve the goals it had set upon its independence. In May 2004, Slovenia became a full member of both the EU and NATO.
After 1990, a stable democratic system evolved, with economic liberalization and gradual growth of prosperity. Slovenia joined NATO on 29 March 2004 and the European Union on 1 May 2004. Slovenia was the first post-Communist country to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...
, for the first six months of 2008.
Drnovšek's presidency was highly controversial. In the first three years in office, he rarely appeared in public, save for the most important official duties. In 2006, however, a change of style became visible. He launched several campaigns in foreign policy, such as a failed humanitarian mission to Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
and a proposal for the solution of the political crisis in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. On January 30, 2006, he left the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...
. Shortly afterwards, he founded the Movement for Justice and Development
Movement for Justice and Development
The Movement for Justice and Development is a Slovenian voluntary association founded in 2006 by the then president of Slovenia, Janez Drnovšek....
and became its first president. He claimed this was not meant to be a political movement, but rather a wide initiative, aiming to "raise human consciousness and make the world a better place". On June 26, 2006, he announced that he would not be running for a second term.
Janša premiership (2004-2008)
Slovenian parliamentary election, 2004
-Delegation of Socialni demokrati [United List of Social Democrats]:-Delegation of Liberalna demokracija Slovenije [Liberal Democracy of Slovenia]:-Delegation of Nova Slovenija [New Slovenia]:...
brought further changes and a political swing to the right. Following the victory of the Slovenian Democratic Party
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party...
and its allies, Janez Janša
Janez Janša
Janez Janša is a Slovenian politician who was Prime Minister of Slovenia from November 2004 to November 2008. He has also been President of the Slovenian Democratic Party since 1993...
was appointed by President Drnovšek to form a new government on 3 November 2004. Six days later, he was elected Prime Minister of Slovenia
Prime Minister of Slovenia
There have been six Prime Ministers of Slovenia since that country gained its independence in the breakup of Yugoslavia. Unlike the President of Slovenia, who is directly elected, the Prime Minister is appointed by the National Assembly, and must control a majority there in order to...
by the National Assembly, polling the votes of 57 of the 90 members. His cabinet was approved by the Parliament on 3 December the same year.
In Slovenia, this was the first time after 1992 that the President and the Prime Minister had represented opposing political factions for more than a few months.
The relationship between Drnovšek and the government quickly became tense. Disagreements began with Drnovšek's initiatives in foreign politics, aimed at solving major foreign conflicts, including those in Darfur
Darfur conflict
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
and Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. Initially, these initiatives were initially not openly opposed by the Prime Minister, but were criticized by the foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel
Dimitrij Rupel
Dimitrij Rupel is a Slovenian politician.- Biography :Rupel was born in Ljubljana, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, into a bourgeois family of former anti-fascist political emigrants from the Julian March .After receiving a bachelor's degree in comparative literature and...
, Drnovšek's former collaborator and close political ally until 2004. A major clash between the two happened in Summer 2006, when disagreement arose over Drnovšek's attempt to intervene in the Darfur conflict. The disagreements moved from issues of domestic politics in October 2006, when Drnovšek publicly criticised the treatment of the Strojans, a Roma family whose neighborhood had forced them to relocate, which in turn had subjected them to police supervision and limitation of movement. The disagreements however escalated when the parliamentary majority repeatedly rejected President's candidates for the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia
Bank of Slovenia
The Bank of Slovenia is the bank of issue and the central bank of the Republic of Slovenia. Based in Ljubljana, it was established on 25 June 1991. Its primary task is to take care of the stability of the domestic currency and to ensure the liquidity of payments within the country and with...
, beginning with the rejection of incumbent Mitja Gaspari
Mitja Gaspari
Mitja Gaspari is a Slovenian economist, banker, and politician. He is currently serving as Minister for Economic Development in the centre left government of Borut Pahor....
. The friction continued over the appointment of other state official nominees, including Constitutional Court
Constitutional Court of Slovenia
The Constitutional Court of Slovenia is a special court established by the Slovenian Constitution. Since its inception, the Court has been located in the city of Ljubljana.-Jurisdiction:...
judges. Although the President's political support suffered after his personal transformation, the polls nevertheless showed public backing of the President against an increasingly unpopular Government.
The tension reached its height in May 2007, when the newly appointed director of the Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency Matjaž Šinkovec
Matjaž Šinkovec
Matjaž Šinkovec is a Slovenian diplomat, politician, translator, journalist and science fiction writer. He was one of the co-founders of the Slovenian Democratic Party.- Early life and career :...
unclassified several documents from the period before 2004, revealing, among other, that Drnovšek had used secret service funds for personal purposes between 2002 and 2004. The President reacted with a harsh criticism of the government's policies, accusing the ruling coalition of abusing its power for personal delegitimations and labeled the Prime Minister as "the leader of the negative guys"
In the last months in office, Drnovšek continued his attacks on Prime Minister Janez Janša, who mostly remained silent on the issue. Drnovšek accused Janša of "fostering proto-totalitarian tendencies". He became a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger (Janez D), signing his posts as "Janez D" and expressing opinions on various issues from foreign policy, environmentalism, human relationships, religion, animal rights and personal growth. In his last months in office, he withdrew to a reclusive life again, devoting his time to the Movement for Justice and Development
Movement for Justice and Development
The Movement for Justice and Development is a Slovenian voluntary association founded in 2006 by the then president of Slovenia, Janez Drnovšek....
and the popularization of his lifestyle and views.
In 2006, Borut Pahor
Borut Pahor
Borut Pahor is a Slovenian politician who has been Prime Minister of Slovenia since 2008. A longtime president of the Social Democrats party, Pahor served several terms as a member of the National Assembly and was its chairman from 2000 to 2004. In 2004, Pahor was elected as member of the European...
's Social Democrats, after having opted for a more constructive opposition, entered an agreement with the ruling coalition party for the collaboration in the economic reform policies. The agreement, known as Partnership for Development, eventually failed in 2008.
Due to the gradual dissolution of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...
, by 2007 the Social Democrats became the second largest political force in Slovenia, and Pahor thus became the non-formal leader of the left wing opposition. The same year, he considered running for the presidential elections
Slovenian presidential election, 2007
The 2007 Slovenian presidential election was held in order to elect the successor to the second President of Slovenia Janez Drnovšek for a five-year term...
, in which he was favoured by the polls. However, due to the high ranking of his party, he decided to support the presidential candidate Danilo Türk
Danilo Türk
- Early life :Türk was born in a lower middle class family in Maribor, Slovenia . His father died when he was a child. He attended the prestigious II. Gymnasium High school in Maribor. In 1971 he enrolled to the University of Ljubljana where he studied law...
, and continue to lead the Social Democrats to the parliamentary elections of 2008.
Türk Presidency (2007)
In June 2007 Danilo TürkDanilo Türk
- Early life :Türk was born in a lower middle class family in Maribor, Slovenia . His father died when he was a child. He attended the prestigious II. Gymnasium High school in Maribor. In 1971 he enrolled to the University of Ljubljana where he studied law...
accepted to run in the 2007 Slovenian presidential election. As an independent candidate, he was backed by a broad coalition of left wing parties, composed by the opposition Zares
Zares
Zares – Social Liberals is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Its president is Gregor Golobič, former Secretary General of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and former close advisor to the late Janez Drnovšek, who had previously abandoned active political involvement due to...
and Social Democrats
Social Democrats (Slovenia)
The Social Democrats is a centre-left political party in Slovenia, currently led by Borut Pahor. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the United List of Social Democrats .-Origins:...
, the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia
Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia
The Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia is a Slovenian political party led by Karl Erjavec.DeSUS was a member of the government led by prime minister Janez Janša until 2008...
, as well as by the extra-parliamentary Christian Socialist and Democratic Party
Democratic Party of Slovenia
The Democratic Party of Slovenia is an extra-parliamentary centrist political party in Slovenia. It was established in March 1994, when the majority of the then existing Democratic Party led by Dimitrij Rupel joined the ruling Liberal Democracy of Slovenia...
. In the first round of the presidential elections, held on 21 October 2007, he placed second with 24.54% of the votes, which brought him into the run-off against the centre right candidate Lojze Peterle
Lojze Peterle
Alojz "Lojze" Peterle is a Slovenian politician. He was the leader of the Slovene Christian Democrats from the founding of the party in 1990 until it merged with the Slovenian People's Party in 2000. Between 1990 and 1992, he was the president of the first freely elected Slovenian government, and...
who received 28.50% of the popular vote. He won the run-off on 11 November 2007 by a landslide, with 68.2% of the votes, becoming the third president of Slovenia
President of Slovenia
The function of President of the Republic of Slovenia was established on 23 December 1991, when the National Assembly of Slovenia passed a new constitution as a result of independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
on December 23, 2007.
Pahor premiership (2008)
In 2008, the Social Democrats made a coalition agreement with two other centre-left opposition parties, the Liberal Democracy of SloveniaLiberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...
and Zares
Zares
Zares – Social Liberals is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Its president is Gregor Golobič, former Secretary General of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and former close advisor to the late Janez Drnovšek, who had previously abandoned active political involvement due to...
. In the parliamentary elections of 2008
Slovenian parliamentary election, 2008
Parliamentary elections for the 90 deputies to the National Assembly of Slovenia were held on 21 September 2008. 17 parties filed to run in the election, including all nine parliamentary parties...
, these parties defeated the Slovenian Democratic Party
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party...
and formed a government headed by Pahor.
On September 1, 2008, some three weeks before the Slovenian parliamentary elections
Slovenian parliamentary election, 2008
Parliamentary elections for the 90 deputies to the National Assembly of Slovenia were held on 21 September 2008. 17 parties filed to run in the election, including all nine parliamentary parties...
, allegations were made in Finnish TV in a documentary broadcast by the Finnish national broadcasting company YLE that Janša had received bribes from the Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
defense company Patria
Patria (company)
Patria is a Finnish company which produces a wide range of defence, aviation and aerospace technology. It carries on the firearms tradition of Valtion Kivääritehdas and the aerospace tradition of Valtion lentokonetehdas.-Patria Aviation:* NH90* Mini-UAVs...
(73.2% of which is the property of the Finnish government) in the so-called Patria case
Patria case
The Patria case has been the political controversy over the unproven claims of bribery of Slovenian officials by the Finnish company Patria to help clinch an armoured personnel carrier order. There is currently a criminal investigation underway, and two employees of Patria have been arrested on...
. Janša rejected all accusations as a media conspiracy concocted by left-wing Slovenian journalists, and asked YLE to provide evidence or to retract the story. Janša's naming of individual journalists, including some of those behind the 2007 Petition Against Political Pressure on Slovenian Journalists, and the perceived use of diplomatic channels in an attempt to coerce the Finnish government into interfering with YLE editorial policy, drew criticism from media freedom organisations such as the International Press Institute
International Press Institute
International Press Institute is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. Founded in October 1950, the IPI has members in over 120 countries....
.
As yet, YLE has declined to broadcast a retraction or to reveal its sources , because criminal investigation by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation is still underway.
In the elections, the Slovenian Democratic Party lost to the left wing coalition. In November 2008, Janša was replaced as Prime Minister by the Social Democrat
Social Democrats (Slovenia)
The Social Democrats is a centre-left political party in Slovenia, currently led by Borut Pahor. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the United List of Social Democrats .-Origins:...
leader Borut Pahor
Borut Pahor
Borut Pahor is a Slovenian politician who has been Prime Minister of Slovenia since 2008. A longtime president of the Social Democrats party, Pahor served several terms as a member of the National Assembly and was its chairman from 2000 to 2004. In 2004, Pahor was elected as member of the European...
.
See also
- Breakup of Yugoslavia
- Divje Babe flute
- Habsburg MonarchyHabsburg MonarchyThe Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
- History of the BalkansHistory of the BalkansThe Balkans is an area of southeastern Europe situated at a major crossroads between mainland Europe and the Near East. The distinct identity and fragmentation of the Balkans owes much to its common and often violent history and to its very mountainous geography.-Neolithic:Archaeologists have...
- History of EuropeHistory of EuropeHistory of Europe describes the history of humans inhabiting the European continent since it was first populated in prehistoric times to present, with the first human settlement between 45,000 and 25,000 BC.-Overview:...
- History of AustriaHistory of AustriaThe history of Austria covers the history of the current country of Austria and predecessor states, from the Iron Age, through to a sovereign state, annexation by the German Third Reich, partition after the Second World War and later developments until the present day...
, History of ItalyHistory of ItalyItaly, united in 1861, has significantly contributed to the political, cultural and social development of the entire Mediterranean region. Many cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times....
, History of HungaryHistory of HungaryHungary is a country in central Europe. Its history under this name dates to the early Middle Ages, when the Pannonian Basin was colonized by the Magyars, a semi-nomadic people from what is now central-northern Russia...
, History of CroatiaHistory of CroatiaCroatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...
, History of Yugoslavia - League of Communists of YugoslaviaLeague of Communists of YugoslaviaLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
- List of Presidents of Slovenia
- List of heads of state of Yugoslavia
- List of Prime Ministers of Yugoslavia
- Politics of SloveniaPolitics of SloveniaThe politics of Slovenia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Slovenia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Government of Slovenia. Legislative power is vested in the...
- Prime Minister of SloveniaPrime Minister of SloveniaThere have been six Prime Ministers of Slovenia since that country gained its independence in the breakup of Yugoslavia. Unlike the President of Slovenia, who is directly elected, the Prime Minister is appointed by the National Assembly, and must control a majority there in order to...
- Ten-Day WarTen-Day WarThe Ten-Day War or the Slovenian Independence War was a military conflict between the Slovenian Territorial Defence and the Yugoslav People's Army in 1991 following Slovenia's declaration of independence.-Background:...
- Timeline of Slovenian history
- Republic of PrekmurjeRepublic of PrekmurjeThe Republic of Prekmurje or Mura Republica was an unrecognized state in Prekmurje, an area traditionally known in Hungarian as Vendvidék ...
- Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)The Slovene March or Slovene krajina was the traditional denomination of the Slovene-speaking areas of the Vas and Zala County in the Kingdom of Hungary from the late 18th century until the Treaty of Trianon in 1919...
External links
- Sistory.si - an education and research portal of Slovene historiography.