Slovene Lands
Encyclopedia
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Slowenische Länder or archaically Windische Länder Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: Terre slovene) is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. It more or less corresponds to modern 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...
and the adjacent territories in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
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...
in which autochthonous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
Slovene minorities live.
Terminology
Like the Slovaks, the Slovenes preserve the self-designation of the early SlavsEarly Slavs
The early Slavs were a diverse group of tribal societies in Migration period and early medieval Europe whose tribal organizations indirectly created the foundations for today’s Slavic nations .The first mention of the name Slavs dates to the 6th century, by which time the Slavic tribes inhabited a...
as their ethnonym.
The development of a separate Slovene ethnic identity is due to 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...
(1508–1586).
But the term Slovenia ("Slovenija") was not in use prior to the early 19th century, when it was coined for political purposes by the Slovenian romantic nationalists
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
, most probably by some pupils of the linguist Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Bartol Kopitar was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna...
. It started to be used only from the 1840s on, when the quest for a politically autonomous 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...
within 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...
was first advanced during the Spring of Nations. "Slovenia" became a de facto distinctive administrative and political entity for the first time in 1918, with the unilateral declaration of 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...
, that Slovenia.
Although Slovenia did not exist as an autonomous administrative unit between 1921 and 1941, the 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...
of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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...
was frequently called simply "Slovenia", even in some official documents.
Consequently, most Slovenian scholars prefer to refer to the "Slovene Lands" in English rather than "Slovenia" to describe the territory of modern Slovenia and neighbouring areas in earlier times. The use of the English term "Slovenia" is generally considered by Slovenian scholars to be anachronistic due to its modern origin.
Geographical extension
- CarniolaCarniolaCarniola 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...
- southern CarinthiaDuchy of CarinthiaThe 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....
- Lower StyriaLower StyriaLower 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...
- Slovene MarchSlovene 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...
in the Vas countyVas (former county)Vas was the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in western Hungary, eastern Austria and eastern Slovenia . The capital of the county was Szombathely.-Geography:...
of the Kingdom of HungaryKingdom of HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, and the adjacent zones of the ZalaZala (former county)Zala was a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is currently in southwestern Hungary, northern Croatia and eastern Slovenia...
county (BeltinciBeltinciBeltinci is a settlement and a municipality in the Prekmurje region of northeastern Slovenia. The municipality has 8,256 inhabitants...
, TurniščeTurnišceTurnišče is a town and a municipality in Slovenia. It is first mentioned in written documents dating to the 13th century. In 1524 it was granted market rights and town privileges in 1548....
, Velika PolanaVelika PolanaVelika Polana is a town and a municipality in Slovenia.It has been officially designated a "stork village" . It was also the home of the Slovene writer Miško Kranjec. The house where he was born can be visited. The village is surrounded by fenland and sunflowers, pumpkin, and wheat fields...
, KobiljeKobiljeKobilje is a village and a municipality in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia, on the border with Hungary.The Parish Church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Martin, Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Roch. It belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Murska Sobota.-External links:* *...
) - JennersdorfJennersdorfJennersdorf is a town in Burgenland, Austria, and capital of the district of Jennersdorf.- External links :*...
in the Kingdom of Hungary (now in BurgenlandBurgenlandBurgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east...
, AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
); - most of the County of Gorizia and Gradisca, except for the lowlands south-west of GradiscaGradiscaGradisca d'Isonzo is a town and comune of 6,600 inhabitants in the province of Gorizia, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy...
and CormonsCormonsCormons is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 45 km northwest of Trieste and about 12 km west of Gorizia, on the border with Slovenia...
, which were already part of historical FriuliFriuliFriuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste... - the Imperial Free CityReichsfreiheitImperial immediacy was a privileged feudal and political status, which the estates of the realm such as an imperial city, a religious entity, a feudal principality, or a minor lordship could attain within the Holy Roman Empire...
of TriesteTriesteTrieste 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... - northern IstriaIstriaIstria , 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...
, in the modern municipalities of Koper, IzolaIzolaIzola is an old fishing city and a municipality in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. Its name originates from the Italian Isola, which means island.- History :...
, PiranPiranPiran is a city and municipality in southwestern Slovenia on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the three major towns of Slovenian Istria. The city resembles a large open-air museum, with medieval architecture and a rich cultural heritage. Narrow streets and compact houses give...
, Hrpelje-KozinaHrpelje-KozinaHrpelje-Kozina is a municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia. Its main settlements are Hrpelje and Kozina.A major border crossing to Italy is located in the municipality at the village of Krvavi Potok. It connects to Pese di Grozzana in the San Dorligo della Valle comune near Trieste on the...
, MuggiaMuggiaMuggia is a small Italian comune in the extreme south-east of Trieste lying on the border with Slovenia.Muggia is the last and only flap of Istria still in Italian territory, after the dissolution of the Free Territory of Trieste in 1954....
and DolinaSan Dorligo della ValleSan Dorligo della Valle is a comune in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 4 km southeast of Trieste, on the border with Slovenia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,019 and an area of 24.5 km²... - Venetian SloveniaVenetian SloveniaVenetian Slovenia is a small mountainous region in northeastern Italy . Most of the region is located in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the area between the towns of Cividale del Friuli, Tarcento and Gemona ....
(Italian: Slavia Vèneta), until 1797 part of the Republic of VeniceRepublic of VeniceThe Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, later Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia
The Žumberak
Žumberak
Žumberak or Gorjanci is a range of mountains or hills between Croatia and Slovenia. The highest peak is Sveta Gera on the border between Croatia and Slovenia, being tall....
and the area around Čabar
Cabar
Čabar is a town in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county in western Croatia. There are 4,387 inhabitants, with 95% Croats.-Twin towns:Čabar is twinned with: Pula, Croatia ...
, which today belong to 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 ...
, were long part 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 thus generally regarded as part of the Slovene Lands, especially prior to the emergence of Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
in the 19th century, when the exact ethnic border between Slovenes and 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...
had not yet been specified.
Not all of the territories referred to as "Slovene Lands" have always had a Slovene-speaking majority. Several towns, especially in Lower Styria, maintained an German speaking
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
majority until the late 1910s, most notably 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....
, 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 Ptuj
Ptuj
Ptuj is a city and one of 11 urban municipalities in Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Podravje statistical region...
. The area around Kočevje
Kocevje
Kočevje is a city and a municipality in southern Slovenia. In terms of area it is the largest municipality in Slovenia. It is located between the rivers Krka and Kolpa and is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola. It is now included in the Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistical region...
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...
, known as the Gottschee County
Gottschee County
Gottschee County refers to the former German speaking region in the Duchy of Carniola , a crownland of the Habsburg Empire, located in modern day Slovenia...
, had a predominantly German-speaking population between the 14th century and 1941 when they were resettled in an agreement between Nazi German and Fascist Italian
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
occupation forces. A similar German "linguistic island" within an ethnically Slovene territory existed in what is now the Italian comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Tarvisio
Tarvisio
Tarvisio is a town in the Province of Udine, in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region in Italy...
, but used to belong to the Duchy of Carinthia until 1919. 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...
, whose municipal territory has been regarded by Slovenes to be an integral part of the Slovene Lands, has always had a Romance
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
-speaking majority (first Friulian, then Venetian
Venetian language
Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...
and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
). A similar case is that of the town of 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...
, which served as a major religious center of the Slovene Lands for centuries, but was inhabited by a mixed Italian-Slovene-Friulian-German population. The towns of Koper, Izola
Izola
Izola is an old fishing city and a municipality in southwestern Slovenia on the Adriatic coast of the Istrian peninsula. Its name originates from the Italian Isola, which means island.- History :...
and Piran
Piran
Piran is a city and municipality in southwestern Slovenia on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the three major towns of Slovenian Istria. The city resembles a large open-air museum, with medieval architecture and a rich cultural heritage. Narrow streets and compact houses give...
, surrounded by an ethnically Slovene population, were inhabited almost exclusively by Venetian-speaking Italians until the 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...
in the late 1940s and 1950s, as were large areas of the comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Muggia
Muggia
Muggia is a small Italian comune in the extreme south-east of Trieste lying on the border with Slovenia.Muggia is the last and only flap of Istria still in Italian territory, after the dissolution of the Free Territory of Trieste in 1954....
. In southern Carinthia, a process of Germanization started by the end of 1840s, creating several German-speaking areas within what had previously been a compact Slovene territory. Since the late 1950s, most of southern Carinthia has had a German-speaking majority, with the local Slovene minority
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...
living in a scattered pattern throughout the area.
On the other hand, other areas with historically important Slovenian communities, such as the 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 ...
n cities of 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...
and 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...
, as well as the Slovene villages in the Somogy county of 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...
(the Somogy Slovenes
Slovenes in Somogy
Slovenians of Somogy were a Slovenian community living in the Somogy county, Hungary.In the 17th and 18th century numerous Slovene families from Vas County settled down in Somogy County. According to recent research, there were sixteen Slovene settlements in three country districts...
) were never regarded to be part of the Slovene Lands. The same goes for the Slovene communities in south-west Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
(in the villages of Gradisca, Gradiscutta, Gorizzo, Goricizza, Lestizza
Lestizza
Lestizza is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 60 km northwest of Trieste and about 15 km southwest of Udine...
, and Belgrado in the lower Tagliamento area) which extinguished themselves by the end of the 16th century.
Further reading
- Bogo GrafenauerBogo GrafenauerBogo Grafenauer was a Slovenian historian, who mostly wrote about medieval history in the Slovene Lands. Together with Milko Kos, Fran Zwitter, and Vasilij Melik, he was one of the founders of the so-called Ljubljana school of historiography.- Early life :He was born in Ljubljana in a well...
, Slovensko narodno vprašanje in slovenski zgodovinski položaj (Ljubljana: Slovenska maticaSlovenska maticaSlovenska matica , also known as Matica slovenska, is the second-oldest publishing house in Slovenia, founded in the 19th century as an institution for the scholarly and cultural progress of Slovenes...
, 1987) - Josip Gruden & Josip Mal, Zgodovina slovenskega naroda I.-II. (Celje: Mohorjeva družba, 1992-1993)
- Janko PrunkJanko PrunkJanko Prunk is a Slovenian historian of modern history. He has published articles and monographs on analytical politology, modern history, the genesis of modern political formations, and the history of social and political philosophy in Slovenia...
, A brief history of Slovenia: Historical background of the Republic of Slovenia (Ljubljana: Mihelač, 1994)