to considerable nationalist sentiments, con­ to pre-war levels of development and standard flicts with neighboring countries were a com­ ofliving before the new crisis began. THE 1930s monplace occurrence. All in all, the Kingdom of Global economic trends were uneven, and was one such state. relationships between individual industries and IN : The 1930s represent the other face of the international trade were particularly imbal­ period between the two world wars, in which anced. The same held true for states and regions, BETWEEN the economic crisis of 1929 essentially marks with a notable consistent disparity between ris­ the exact dividing point. The world of the in­ ing production potentials and limited spending OPENING UP terwar years was full of contradictions, torn possibilities. Periods of intensive development between poverty and wealth, between new stu­ and crises alternated with overproduction, in­ pidities leading to new catastrophes and great flation and stagnation. During interwar years TO EUROPE, achievements of human endeavor. It all began the world experienced three economic crises with counting the casualties of war: more than (1920- 1923, 1929-1933, and 1937-1938). Even NATIONAL 10 million victims on the battlefield, 20 million more frequent were agrarian crises, which were wounded, and another 10 million deaths due to never effectively resolved. One effect these cri­ SECURITY war, illness or famine. Material losses amount­ ses produced was a very fragile social context, ed to countless billions of dollars. in particular socio-political conditions, which The Great War and its aftermath led to consequently resulted in fierce competition for THREATS AND the dissolution of Europe's three great empires: colonies, markets, resources and global com­ the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which lost its munications. While some countries looked to IDEOLOGICAL ideal position in Central Europe; the Russian retain their established positions, others want­ Empire, which eventually became the Federa­ ed to change the balance of power, among them STRUGGLE tion of Soviet Socialist Republics; and the Otto­ most notably the fascist states and the USSR. In Bozo Repe man Empire, which comprised vast territories addition to the former liberal , in Asia, North Africa and Europe. The rise of centralized planning and state control gained so-called global civilization began already dur­ in importance, particularly during great crises, The 1930s was a time of great ideologies that ing the war (with the USA entering the war, while socialist and fascist economic orders rose proved fatal to the entire 20'h century, led to thereby lending an international dimension to a considerable level of development. World War ll, the greatest watershed in the his­ to what had been a largely European war), as The peak of industrial development for tory of mankind, and now seem to be making did the ideological divide that reached its peak most countries came in 1929, only to be fol ­ their mark yet again on our present day. Apart only after World War II. Increasingly, countries lowed by a sharp decline. In that same year from liberalism, which was unable to meet the from other continents began to play an impor­ the USA, the country where it all began, found challenges of the crisis it helped create and thus tant role. The Great War ended the supremacy itself in a state of tension caused by record lost its appeal, , too, became firmly of Europe that had been built patiently through production and record investments (63 billion established (at a price of several millions of vic­ the centuries of great explorations, colonial ex­ dollars), as well as a record amount of unsold tims), albeit in one country only. be­ pansion, missionary work, wars and trade. products that literally flooded and suffocated came far more widespread, beginning in in Post-war peace conferences drew up new the market. This set off a chain reaction, with the early 1920s (with Slovenians falling victim state boundaries that were found to be unfair falling prices, declining production volumes, to its brutality even before it had officially come once again. Old antagonisms remained, and mass layoffs, and falling stock prices. The crisis to power) and developing its most totalitarian new ones appeared. Out of frustration with the spread all over the world and across all sectors, form in German Nazism in the 1930s. political, social and international order, ideas and continued to intensify over the better part Throughout the 1930s, but also earlier, for a different framework of relations between of the next four years. It proved most detrimen­ totalitarian and autocratic political systems nations and states (Wilson's Fourteen Points) tal to laborers and farmers. The whole world existed in numerous other countries as well. and for a different, fairer political and social was in a state of financial ex haustion and total While there were differences among them aris­ system came to be formed. The task of provid­ disorganization. ing from nationalism and local specificities, ing such a framework fell to the League of Na­ Between 1934 and 1937, the economy ex­ they also had some common features based on tions, an organization established in Geneva perienced a period of gradual recovery. Even extremely nationalist and chauvinist ideologies in April 1919. While the organization was able though the crisis reappeared for a brief period (demonstrating hostility towards other people to solve a few minor international problems, of time in the second half of the 1930s, fascist and nations), and were characterized by a great it failed to form an efficient mechanism with countries remained largely unaffected. Within deal of aggression and corporatist economic which to act against the aggressive policies of a year, the economic growth rate took an up­ systems (denial of the class struggle, organiza­ states laying claims to colonies or neighboring ward turn again. Countries used different ap­ tion of a society by corporate groups controlled territories. proaches to address the economic crisis of the by the state). They were, furthermore, char­ For millions, revolution was a way to build early 1930s, among them spontaneous eco­ acterized by anti-communist and racist posi­ a better social future for all. But even though nomic measures, protective tariffs, production tions. They opposed bourgeois liberalism and the chaos that ensued after the Great War in­ cuts, strict supply-side farming, social legisla­ individual rights, and advocated collectivism dicated that a pan-European or even a global tion (based on higher taxes), cheap loans, and instead. revolution might take place, it only succeeded large numbers of public works to address unem­ For the most part, such systems are con­ in a single country - Russia. There, it proved a ployment. Government investments in the mil­ sidered "intermediate" and combine character­ big disappointment: grown out of the revolu­ itary and arms industry increased dramatically. istics of the classical bourgeois order with ele­ tion, the socialist system surpassed the tsarist The most important characteristic of economic ments of and dictatorship. With regime in terms of violence against individu­ life in the two years preceding World War li was the exception of Czechoslovakia until1938, the als as well as against other nations. The Rus­ the redirecting of the economy towards arms majority of Eastern and Central European as sian revolution and its consequences were yet production. well as Balkan states, formed in the "Versailles another development to leave its mark on the Europe" in the wake of the disintegration of the period between the two wars. The horrors of great empires after the Great War, succumbed war left people with the deep desire to find Slovenians After World War 1: to this model. Most were largely agrarian, and some form of release, and the two short decades National Division, New State, New System, had just begun to embrace modern , of peace were characterized by an appetite for New Identity had no democratic political tradition to speak everything possible and impossible: survival, of, and the military played an important role fast money, recovery of lost property, knowl­ To what extent did the Slovenian society of the (the top levels of the military formed the core edge, pleasure, but above all entertainment. 1930s take part in these European and global of the ruling elite, along with the top levels of For the majority of the population, however, processes and how did it see them? With Vi­ the in clero-fascist countries). the positive effects of economic recovery and enna as the capital of -Hungary and In these states frustration was expressed over the lifestyle of the roaring twenties remained thus the political and cultural center, the more "unfair" borders, revanchism and negative atti­ largely out of reach, and it took several years, an progressive Slovenians had followed modern tude towards minorities prevailed, and, owing entire decade even, for most countries to return trends and developments ever since the turn of

60 THE 1930s IN SLOVEN lA the 19'h century. The Slovenian conceptual and supported in order to avoid appear­ was strongly linked to a particular worldview cultural identity evolved over decades along­ ing disloyal and the consequences this might (liberal or Catholic). Among the attempts to side the German one, but also contrary to it. bring) served to further escalate the Nazi pres­ cut through this issue was 's 1932 The second half of the 19'h century was charac­ sure, the final goal being the total emigration booklet Kulturni problemi slovenstva (The Cul­ terized by mutual national struggles stretching and Germanization of Carinthian Slovenes, tural Problems of Slovenianism). In reality, the from cultural institutions in towns and villages a process the Nazis began implementing dur­ dilemma was spontaneously resolved through to huts high up in mountains. With the excep­ ing World War 11 but ultimately failed to carry the informal cultural autonomy that Yugosla­ tion of Kranjska (), historical Slove­ through. One positive outcome in the national via afforded Slovenes, which also included the nian lands were ethnically mixed. The political sense following the Great War was the annexa­ Slovene-language school system. Generally agenda advocated "Yugoslavness," first within tion ofPrekmurje, although the notion that the speaking, however, and irrespective of their Austria-Hungary, then for a short month as people of were also part of the Slo­ different perspectives on the national identity, part of the transitional State of Slovenes, Cro­ vene nation was not particularly strong, and the whether Slovene or Yugoslav, and regardless of ats and Serbs, and finally within the new king­ adjustment process to living in a common state their frustration with the Kingdom of Serbs, dom. The formation of this kingdom (first as (in the interwar period and also later) was rife and Slovenes, and later the Kingdom of the Kingdom ofSerbs, Croats and Slovenes, and with prejudice and stereotyping. According to Yugoslavia, Slovenes looked upon the new state then, after the proclamation of dictatorship, as the Treaty of Trianon, the Slovene Raba Region as a necessary shield to protect them from Ger­ the Kingdom ofYugoslavia) with its centralized went to Hungary, and Slovenes living there, in manic and Roman influences. political order and the Serbian Karadjordjevic keeping with the theory that they were Wends, dynasty on the throne both incited enthusiasm were subjected to Magyarization. In this poor King Alexander I Karadordevic and Queen Maria and raised doubts. and backward province, the (wearing the Slovenian, or Carniolan, national costume) The unification of Yugoslavia took place survived primarily with the help of the church. in front of the National Hall in during the inau­ guration of the monument to King Alexander's father on 1 December 1918, with the proclamation For the core part of the nation, however, King Peter I in 1926. of a Serbian heir to the throne. "Our Austro­ the newly-formed Yugoslav kingdom provided a Hungarian reality rolled off drunkenly under framework for survival. The merging into a new At a little more than 8% of the total popu­ the Karadjordjevic throne, like an empty beer state brought with it the dilemma of national lation, Slovenes constituted the third-largest bottle thrown into the trash," as Croatian writer identity- Slovene or Yugoslav? Initially, almost nation in Yugoslavia, behind Serbs and Mon­ Miroslav Krleza vividly described the unifica­ everyone declared themselves to be Yugoslav, tenegrins (39% in total) and Croats (24%), tion.' Unfavorable international circumstances, some out of real conviction, others in order to but ahead of "Muslim Serbo-Croats" (6%). In impotent and clumsy Slovene politicians and renounce their former "avstrijakarstvo" (i. e. the political sense, they served as the tipping the indifference of Serbian, or rather the new pro-Austrian sentiment); for the majority, how­ point in perpetual conflicts between Serbs Yugoslav authorities, resulted in the fact that ever, their reasons were of a more opportun­ and Croats. Democracy was in short supply in the Slovene territory remained dismembered. istic nature. As always, the swift replacement the kingdom: the parliamentary era ended in The Primorska region (Slovene Littoral) came of "Austrianess" with "Yugoslavness" was most 1927, and the limited local autonomy afforded under Italian rule, and the Koroska region characteristic for politicians. Only the rare few to the and regions in some (Carinthia) was lost in the plebiscite in which, (!van Sustersic, the former head of the Carni­ of the more important financial, public health, under the influence of effective German propa­ olan regional government, for example) failed economic and cultural issues was abolished ganda, some 40% of Slovenes voted to remain to do so in time, which cost them their politi­ with the proclamation of dictatorship in 1929. in Austria, their economic interest and ties to cal careers. The mindset at the time is best il­ Slovene bourgeois parties failed to implement the Austrian Carinthia region prevailing over lustrated by the case of Field Marshal Svetozar some of the fundamental civilizational shifts, their sense of national consciousness. The Slo­ Boroevic (Borojevic), who failed to adapt to the such as women's suffrage which they otherwise venes were thus faced with a new reality: they new situation quickly enough. While initially declared their support for. The Slovene People's lived in four countries with different political glorified, Boroevic was subsequently aban­ Party (SLS) opposed women's emancipation systems that were, with regard to nationality, doned. As a commander during the war, he was for purely ideological reasons, despite the fact all essentially authoritarian and unfavorable declared an honorary citizen of Ljubljana and that in a thoroughly Catholic society their votes for Slovenes. More than one-third of Slovenes many other towns in Slovenia and . In would have represented a short-term advan­ remained outside their home country, while 1919, following a decision by the city council, tage, while the liberals' reasons were more op­ Slovenia was also left without , home to the title was revoked by Ljubljana's mayor Dr. portunistic, as, by the same token, only a small 57,000 Slovenes, and hence without its strong­ !van Tavcar, the same politician who had be­ part of the female electorate would have voted est industrial and cultural center and access to stowed the title on Boroevic during the war. for them. The main political bloc remained the sea. During the interwar period, Slovenes Boroevic was also denied Yugoslav citizenship, Catholic throughout the period, with the SLS of the Primorska region were subjected to or­ and died poor and lonely soon after the war at dominating as the leading party. With the ex­ ganized efforts, fascist terror and Lake Worth in Austria, his funeral paid for by ception of the post-war revolutionary years economic repression, as a result of which ap­ the last Austrian emperor, Charles. (the 1920 elections to the constituent assem­ proximately 100,000 of them migrated, mostly In the post-war years, the majority of Slo­ bly) when it gained 36% of the vote, the SLS, to Yugoslavia (around 70,000), South America venes opted for the Slovene cause, which also as in the elections at the turn of the century, and elsewhere.2 received support from professionals in Slovene succeeded in securing around 60% vote in a cultural circles and their autonomist declara­ number of successive elections (1923, 1925 and France Kralj, the key figure of Slovenian expressionism tion made after the establishment of the Yu­ 1927). Elections under the dictatorship and in and New Objectivity in the 1920s, sculpting the figure goslav state (the main authors were Dragotin of the soldier (2.4 m) for the Monument to the Fallen later years (1931, 1935 and 1938) did not reflect Loncar, and Fran Erjavec). the actual will of the people, even though the Soldiers 1914-7918 in Videm, Dobrepolje, where it still Translated into the language of politics, this stands, before September 1930 or the inauguration of SLS (as part of the state parties) remained the the monument (taken from the magazine 1/ustracija, n. meant either advocating autonomy (with the dominant party. 9, 1930). In his memoirs, Kralj wrote: "The horrors of the Catholic camp as its main advocate), which Slo­ The Vidovdan Constitution of June 28, front on Fajt's Hill, those eternal glaciers, full of eerie venes, incidentally, never managed to achieve, 1921 introduced the centralist regime (Vidov Alpine natural beauty, inspired me for years to come." or integral Yugoslavism with a single Yugoslav dan or St. Vitus' Day is one of the most impor­ (Spomini slovenskega umetnika (Ljubljana: Nova revija, language (which was the main position of the 1996)) tant Serbian orthodox holidays, and draws its liberal camp). While some Slovene intellectu­ symbolism, in part, from the 1389 Battle ofKo­ The people of Primorska nevertheless als (Bozidar Borko, for example) supported sovo; on that same day in 1914, Gavrilo Princip managed to preserve - either publicly or cov­ the middle path of a "softer Yugoslavism," or assassinated the Austrian crown-prince Franz ertly - their cultural organizations, as well as in other words the amalgamation of Slovenes Ferdinand in Sarajevo). Even though contradic­ their Slovene linguistic and national identity, and Croats, or of the "three tribes," in linguistic tory, the constitution was rather progressive and they were the first in Europe to physi­ as well as national sense by way of a long-term cally resist the spread of Fascism. In Austria, process spanning over several generations, oth­ 1 Miroslav Krleza, Deset krvavih let in drugi politicni Slovenes were formally protected by minority ers, like Josip Vidmar, were strongly opposed to eseji (Ljubljana: Drzavna zalozba Slovenije, 1962), 78. protection clauses outlined in the Saint Ger­ any attempts to "drown" the nation's individu­ 2 Dusan Necak and Bozo Repe, Prelom: 1914-1918: svet main Peace Treaty, although Austria only com­ ality in Yugoslavism. The dilemma of"Slovenes in Slovenci v 1. svetovni vojni (Ljubljana: Sophia, 2005), plied with them in part. The (which or Yugoslavs" continued into the 1930s and 179.

61 BOZO REPE

in terms of freedoms and social protection; it New Economic Area for farmers, was provided by farmers' credit was modeled on the so-called Weimar (Ger­ cooperatives, of which the two strongest were man) constitution and guaranteed freedom of With the change in the national framework, under the political influence of the Catholic and speech, press, association, religion, inviolabil­ Slovenia found itself in a different economic sit­ Liberal camps. Agriculture was in a perpetual ity of the home, as well as freedom of the arts uation. Once a "dependent" part of the Austro­ state of crisis throughout the interwar period, and sciences. Governance of the state was di­ Hungarian monarchy, it suddenly became the and exposed to fierce competition from other vided, at least in principle, into three separate most developed region in Yugoslavia (in 1910, parts ofYugoslavia. With many farmers deep in powers: the legislature, the judiciary and the Slovenia's per capita domestic product amount­ debt, the state was forced to declare a morato­ executive. In practice however, only a small part ed to $220 US, while in Serbia and Montenegro rium on farmers' debts, with half of them writ­ of these freedoms and principles were enacted the number was closer to $70 or $80; Slovenia ten off in late 1930s. The rural population lived in law, and even then phased in over several exported about a third of its production), and in poverty and on the brink of survival; work­ years, as parliament's workings were severely managed to gradually develop some of the el­ ers were in a similar position, despite the labor impaired as the result of national and political ements of a national economy through basic exchange and the chamber oflabor established disagreements in the 1920s. Democratic rights, institutions (chamber of trade and commerce, with new labor legislation, as well as other too, were implemented to a very limited ex­ stock exchange). The dowry it brought to the protection mechanisms, among them also the tent, and many constitutional rights were re­ new state included the railway infrastructure eight-hour workday. The standard of living fell stricted by law. The courts were only partially (a mere 60 kilometers of additional new track further during the crisis, and then, after a brief independent, and justice was symbolically ad­ had to be built in the interwar period), along improvement, fell again in 1940 and 1941 when ministered "in the name of the king," who had which main industrial centers developed, a food rationing and coupons for bread and flour the power to appoint judges or (formally upon solid electrical grid (its capacity grew from 20 were introduced.' a proposal from the government) to replace million kilowatt hours at the end of World War Heavy stratification was present among them. The king also had the right to grant par­ I to 300 million in the interwar period), a devel­ the working class, too. The poorest workers dons and the right to abolish. Suffrage was rec­ oped financial network, and a highly educated lived in precarious hygiene conditions, in slums ognized for men only, the position of religions population (90% literacy). or outbuildings, the majority in rented accom­ depended on whether they were legally recog­ modations in suburbs, while the one-storey ter­ nized and on their legal status, and a range of Slavko Smolej, Coating with Hay, 1934. raced house represented the highest of living legal exemptions was applied to classic civil standards among the working class. Free time Although in fact predominantly agrarian liberties (the first victim was the Communist was spent in taverns, on short leisure trips, and at the time of accession to Yugoslavia, Slovene Party, which was outlawed as early as in 1920 day festivals. Workers' societies were common. society, despite the economic crises of the in­ and its members lost their seats in the parlia­ Food was modest, with meat, milk and milk terwar period, gradually became more industri­ ment). On top of that a special position in the products rare commodities. The middle class alized, so that by ! the share of the system was given to the king: he had the right was made up of white-collar workers and simi­ farming population dropped to roughly half the to convene or dissolve the assembly, the right lar professionals. They led a better life, lived in total population, and the number of factories to executive power, which he exercised through well-appointed apartments in towns, and were doubled (from 275 at the creation of the state his ministers who had to swear an oath of office able to afford vacations and a higher cultural to 523 at the beginning of World War II), while to him, he was the commander-in-chief of the standard. The upper, and the least numerous production volumes increased by 250%. Char­ armed forces, he had the right to declare war, social class consisted of entrepreneurs, indus­ acteristic for the Slovene economy were small and to sign peace treaties and declarations of trialists, bankers, politicians, and partly also of manufacturing companies with up to 200 em­ surrender. The most problematic part of the university professors, doctors, and publishers. ployees and a polycentric development model, constitution addressed relations between indi­ Largely of rural background, they belonged to which enabled migrations from overpopulated vidual nations. The constitution was based on the first generation of the emerging bourgeoi­ rural areas into both smaller and larger indus­ centralism and unitarism, and a single Yugoslav sie, who saw townhouses or town apartments, trial centers. At the same time, Ljubljana estab­ nation (made up of three tribes). In order to en­ cars, radios, educating children abroad, and lished itself as an economic (as well as cultural sure such national unity, it was imperative that travel as symbols of their elevated status.4 and political) center. Textiles, wood processing the entire system, including the educational Social life ranged from the traditional, and metallurgy were the strongest sectors, fol­ system, was operative. As per the constitution, characteristic of rural areas, villages and small­ lowed by food processing, construction, paper, authority was administered in the same way er towns in particular and manifested in old glass, and leather industries. One obstacle to throughout the state. customs, religious holidays and Sunday festi­ polycentric development was the state's poor The centralistic nature of the Vidovdan vals, to the modern, practiced in larger towns, road infrastructure (the first concrete road, Constitution and the relatively small percent­ particularly in Ljubljana, where cosmopolitan from Ljubljana to Jesenice, was not built until age of Slovene population in the common state, habits of socializing and leisure activities be­ the late 1930s). This also had an impact on the as well as disagreements, oppositions, confron­ came increasingly popular. Societies played a development of tourism, which was further tations and mutual dislikes made it impossible significant role in the way people spent their hampered by rigid legislation, a visa system and for Slovenes to have any greater impact on state free time (statistically there were at least four restrictions on the movement of people. Bicycle policy. The basic division into three camps, the societies per 1000 inhabitants), as did ama­ was the primary means of private transporta­ Conservative-Christian, the Liberal and the teur culture which, reportedly, counted for at tion for the majority ofSlovenes, the railway the Socialist, remained preserved; however, there least a quarter of Slovenia's total population. primary means of public transportation, and were splits within the camps themselves, too, The theaters, with seven to eight productions, horse-drawn carriages were significantly more which ultimately led to the formation of new among them also plays by contemporary for­ common than cars. parties. But despite all of that, the political ori­ eign authors, were the most traditional form of entation of Slovenes (as indicated by election Slavko Smolej, A View of the Ironworks, 1937. culture, as were opera and ballet (established results) living within the Kingdom of Serbs, in 1918). An important form of socializing was Croats and Slovenes, and later the Kingdom Unemployment remained a major problem patronizing cafes, which in the interwar period of Yugoslavia, throughout the 1920s remained (during the crisis of the early 1930s it reached updated their interiors to achieve a more mod­ largely the same as it was in the last decade of 27%). In the mid-1930s, industry employed ern style. Promenading and open-air concerts Austria-Hungary. The only exception was the around 130,000 people, of which women ac­ remained from the old, Austrian-Hungarian year 1920, which was largely attributable to the counted for around 40%. Foreign capital had traditions, and survived well into the interwar social and political turbulence that followed on a strong influence on the economy, especially period. New forms of leisure pursuits emerged, the heels of the Great War, and partly also to in the banking sector and leading industrial such as cinema, modern dance and music, as the effects of the newly-shaped political arena, sectors, although Slovenia's capital increased well as sports events and swimming in riv­ which served to reinforce the two leading pan­ as well (reaching a 1:2 ratio in its favor). Some ers and public swimming pools. Younger gen­ Yugoslav parties. 10 banks and 18 bank branches operated in erations increasingly took up various sports, the territory of Slovenia, the majority of them among them gymnastics, cycling, mountain­ foreign-owned. All financial institutes were eering, skiing, ice skating, swimming, football, badly hit by the crisis, especially those linked and tennis. Primacy in this field, however, was to the Austrian Credit-Anstalt (which went still reserved for traditional physical exercise; bankrupt in 1931). Strong support, particularly the two most important gymnastics societies,

62 THE 1930s IN SLOVEN lA

Sokol, which had a longer tradition and a na­ were previously part of Austria-Hungary, only a federal state model. For the most part, these tionalist, Yugoslav orientation, and the Catho­ rarely secured positions in the highest political proposals took into account only Croats, Slo­ lic Ore!, had, apart from promoting sports, a bodies). In December 1929, the government re­ venes, and Serbs, while additional demands for far broader moral, educational, conceptual and signed, but the SLS participated in the new gov­ autonomy were made by parties from Bosnia political function. Gymnastics was the flagship ernment until 1930. On January 6, 1929, King and Herzegovina, Vojvodina and Montenegro, of , and competition winners Alexander proclaimed a dictatorship based on too.6 were almost exclusively members of the Sokol integral national Yugoslavism. The king per­ Not surprisingly, demonstrations, gather­ society, and some were Olympic medalists, too. sonally assumed power, providing a cynical ings and constant student protests (often, uni­ In the 1930s, the ski jumping hill at Planica be­ explanation that there should be no intermedi­ versities were closed down for several months), came a source of national pride and the reason aries between him and the nation, repealed the as well as armed conflicts were a frequent oc­ Slovenia occasionally made it into the head­ constitution, abolished the parliament and ap­ currence during the dictatorship. Great Britain lines of major European . Accord­ pointed a government headed by General Petar and France, Yugoslavia's two major supporters, ing to statistics, the Banovina (province Zivkovic. In this, he enjoyed the initial support grew increasingly dissatisfied with this state of consisting of most of present-day Slovenia and of some domestic politicians and Western gov­ affairs. The new, imposed constitution of Sep­ named for the Drava River) had around 40 foot­ ernments, who believed him capable of stabiliz­ tember 3, 1931, which granted the king even ball fields, 12 athletic stadiums, two cycling ing the situation, but then soon re-introduced a more power, and the assembly elections of No­ tracks, 15 swimming pools, 23 ski jumping parliamentary system once again. vember 8, 1931, with public voting and the pan­ hills, lO tennis courts and 17 ski chalets.' Yugoslav government party prevailing, failed to Nikolaj Pirnat, Portrait of King Alexander, mid-1930s provide the regime with a sense of real legiti­ (after 1934), marble. At the end of his journey across macy, even though the government did succeed Dictatorship and Integral Yugoslavism the , Louis Adamii' also met with King Alexander, who in AdamiC's The Native's Return, in achieving a tiny majority. published in 1934, the year of the King's assassination While the 1920s, despite constant debates over in Marseilles, appeared until the end of the book as Universal Newsreel: Alexander Murdered (The Assassi­ the legislative framework of the state and fruit­ some sort of spectral presence in all of the country's nation of King Alexander in Marseilles), Universal City less discussions on ethnicity in the parliament, troubles described by Adamii'. Adamii' finishes his Studios, 1934. description of the unpleasant audience with the could be described as moderately democratic, King by surmising his end and a future war: "On my On October 9, 1934, Kerin Velicko Geor­ this all ended in the 1930s. The already low­ part, although, as I say, the audience was no pleasant gijev (who also went by the name of Peter Kele­ brow political culture, filled with mutual insults experience, I was glad to have met him, too. Riding men), a member of the Macedonian nationalist and name-calling even in the highest political back to Belgrade in the royal limousine, I had a very organization VMRO (Macedonians were not bodies (parliament even had a special police strong feeling about him. He was a man of the times, in the same category of strong-arm rulers with Mu­ recognized as a nation, and were considered force in charge of bringing members to order or ssolini, Hitler, Pilsudski, and the rest of the tyrants and "southern Serbs"), with the support of the removing them from sessions), reached its low dictators. He was a cog in the new political system of Ustashe and the Italian and Hungarian secret point in 1928. So did Yugoslav parliamentarian­ post-war Europe, helping to hold together a crumbling police, assassinated King Alexander in Mar­ ism, which met its end in late June 1928, when civilization with gangster methods. He was a figure in seilles during his official visit to France. How­ the dreadful European nightmare that seemed rapidly Punisa Ra<"ic, a member of parliament for the and inevitably approaching its climax-another great ever, this did not result in breaking up the state Serbian National Radical Party, fired gunshots war, to be followed (as nearly everyone with whom I as had been expected. The three-member re­ on the parliamentary floor, killing two Croatian talked appeared to believe) by general upheavals of gency set up in the name of the underage King Peasant Party representatives, Pavle RadiC and the masses. At the moment he had the whole country Peter and led by Alexander's cousin Prince Paul Djuro Basaricek, and wounding three others, on the 'spot'; he might stay in power one, two, five or ten more years; but the future was clearly and defini­ resisted any attempts to change the established !van Pernar, !van Granda and Stjepan Radic. tely against him and his kind." policies. In response to the assassination and Radic later died as a result of a gunshot wound, by way of addressing internal disturbances, po­ but not before he accused the prime minister, Based on the stricter State Protection Law, lice violence became more widespread, and the the cabinet, and Anton Korosec, the Minister of the regime started persecuting its adversaries, government also set up an "isolation" camp (an the Interior and the leading Slovene politician and many politicians emigrated. The state was official designation; in reality, it was a concen­ (to whom the assassin paid a visit the night be­ divided into nine provinces called banovina, tration camp) in Visegrad, where its opponents fore the assassination), of conspiracy to murder. with Belgrade, Zemun and Pancevo as inde­ were detained, among them leftists, liberals pendent administrative units. The banovinas and others, including many students. Peter Loboda, Portrait of5tjepan Radii:, 1929, plaster. were named after rivers, except for the Littoral Stjepan Radic was the leader of the Croatian Peasant (Primorska) Banovina in Dalmatia, and due Lojze Dolinar, Model for the monument to King Alexander Party. His assassination only deepened the political to their specific locations only the Drava and I, 1938, bronze and plaster. Soon after the assassination crisis in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes of King Alexander I a debate started about a mo­ (until1929).1n The Native's Return (1934), Louis Adamii' Vardar Banovinas covered ethnic territories, nument to him as an expression of Slovenian gratitude wrote of him: "His political program, while he walked the Slovene and the Macedonian respectively. to the King. After the polemic about the content and around in flesh, had been, as I say, an inchoate, nega­ The banovinas were not autonomous units, and location of the monument, it became clear that the pu­ tive business. His big achievement lay in the fact that their leaders, or bans, were appointed by the blic was most in favor of the figure of the cavalryman. he had stirred and inspired the neglected, backward king. The integral Yugoslavism found its prima­ In 1935, the board for the construction of the mo­ peasant masses, made them politically conscious. nument confirmed the cavalryman and the location of Now, dead from the bullet of a servant of the people's ry expression and outlet in the renaming of the the monument in Zvezda Park in Ljubljana. Following enemies, he became a great hero-martyr, a William Tell, state to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Centralism the initiative of the president of the board , an Abraham Lincoln-a modern Kralyevitch Marko." and unitarism were omnipresent. The general the architect Joze Plei'nik also presented his idea with a Adamii' concludes Radic's story with the following discontent among all layers of society (the dic­ colonnade in 1937, yet the board declined it at the end words: "His death brought Zagreb and rural Croatia tatorship coincided with the world economic of that same year. Consequently, Ivan Hribar stepped closer together. lt made Zagreb the center of Croat down as president of the board. Another open call was revolutionary resistance to the Belgrade rule." crisis) caused the situation in the country to de­ teriorate. The dictatorship was unable to solve 3 Zarko Lazarevic, 5/ovensko gospodarstvo v prvi The day before the event, Punisa Ra<"ic national disputes, and the regime, faced with Jugoslaviji: korak k industrijski druzbi (Ljubljana: called for the kingdom to be renamed Great opposition from the bourgeois parties and the Modrijan, 1997). Serbia. A state of emergency was declared, communists alike (who initiated an unsuccess­ 4 Dusan Necak and Bozo Repe, Kriza: svet in 5/ovenci Croatian representatives left the parliamen­ ful uprising), as well as terrorist acts perpetrat­ od konca prve svetovne vojne do sredine tridesetih let (Ljubljana: Znanstvenoraziskovalni institut Filozofske tary floor, demands for free elections and a ed by the Ustashe, who wanted to gain an in­ fakultete, 2008). new constitution ensued, and the government dependent Croatia, found itself increasingly at 5 More on the subject: Neven Borak et al., 5/ovenska resorted to state terrorism to stabilize the situ­ an impasse. During the years 1931-1933, bour­ novejsa zgodovina: od programa Zedinjena 5/ovenija do ation. Korosec and the SLS sided with the court geois parties publicly declared their demands mednarodnega priznanja Republike 5/ovenije, 1848-1992 and the Serbian parties, and for a few months in the form of the so-called "punktacije" (a list (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, lnstitut za novejso Korosec took over as the prime minister, which of demands), and although they all condemned zgodovino, 2006). was the highest political function to be as­ dictatorship, demanded parliamentarianism, 6 Jure Gasparii', 5L5 pod kraljevo diktaturo: diktatura kralja Aleksandra in po/itika 5/ovenske ljudske stranke v sumed by a Slovene up until then; Korosec was and emphasized the principle of national sover­ /etih 1929-1935 (Ljubljana: Modrijan, 2007). See also: also the only non-Serbian prime minister (poli­ eignty, all had very different views with regard Peter Vodopivec and Joza Mahnii', eds., 5/ovenska ticians from regions located "across" the Dan­ to the framework of state governance, as well trideseta /eta: simpozij 1995 (Ljubljana: Slovenska ube, Sava and Drina rivers, that is, regions that as different proposals for the introduction of matica, 1997).

63 BOZO REPE issued and a new location determined: the entrance Between Tradition, Modernity, were even stronger, with two professional and into Tivoli Park in Ljubljana. The board chose Lojze and Cultural Struggle several amateur theatre groups. Reading cul­ Dolinar's model, then quickly transposed into a life-size ture, too, was astonishingly developed. There one and placed in the new location, which turned out to be inappopropriate. On 6 September 1940, the mo­ More than anywhere else, Yugoslavia's diversity were more than 2200 libraries in the Drava nument was inaugurated in the old location, in Zvezda was most evident in culture, education and sci­ Banovina, and a number of publishing houses Park, in the presence of the royal family. The plinth was ence. A single educational system and the uni­ were established, publishing works by local the work of the architect Herman Hus with two reliefs authors and of foreign authors. A by Lojze Dolinar representing War and Peace. On 11 fication of school types with a single language April1941, the Italian army entered Ljubljana. Seven of instruction (with the exception of Slovene wide range of magazines and newspapers was days later, lvan Hribar committed suicide in protest schools and schools of recognized Hungarian, published, too. Around 15,000 books were pub­ against the occupation. Three months later the Italian Romanian and German minorities) were among lished in the interwar period, of which approxi­ army, during the night of July 25, demolished the mately 2000 were works of fiction! monument to the King. the key mechanisms in the integral Yugoslav­ ism policy. The illiteracy rate stood at 50%, with The most modern cultural development of Scenes from Marjan Foerster's documentary The female illiteracy in the lead due to patriarchy the interwar period was Radio Ljubljana, which lnauguratian of the Monument to King Alexander I in first broadcast on September 1, 1928, reporting Ljubljana, 6 September 1940. and religion, and there was also a significant gap between social classes, and between urban from the opening of the Ljubljana Fair. On that During the 1934-1941 regency, the ban and rural areas? Social standards were low. The same day, the otherwise scarce audience was on bourgeois parties was lifted, but only on school curriculum was based on the principle addressed by Oton ZupanCic and Fran Saleski pan-Yugoslav parties, which led to unusual alli­ of a unitary state and drew on the glorification Finzgar, two of the most esteemed literary fig­ ures of the time. From just a few hundred initial ances, such as between Serbian Orthodox Radi­ of the Karadjordjevic dynasty, on religious edu­ subscribers, that number rose to almost 20,000 cals, the Slovene Catholic People's Party and cation, anti-liberalism and anti-leftism, with a listeners by the end of the 1930s (in Yugoslavia, the pro-Yugoslav Muslim Organization from strong focus on anti-Semitism as well. Religions the total stood at approximately 50,000). While Bosnia. Ever since the introduction of dicta­ played an important role, and were formally radio in Slovenia up until the start of the war did torship, elections did not reflect the will of the separate from the state; in reality, however, the not play such a political and propaganda role as people. In Slovenia, the SLS, as part of a pan­ three main religions, Orthodox, Catholic and Is­ it did in Germany, Great Britain, or the USA, it Yugoslav party, ruled with an absolute majority lamic, had absolute control over their particular did start to play an increasingly important role from the mid-1930s to the beginning of World cultural and national landscapes. in cultural and educational circles. Neverthe­ War I I. Following the Austrian example during There was no single Yugoslav cultural less, it was subject to strict censorship, and its the time of Chancellor Dollfuss, it informally landscape to speak of; rather, it was divided program had to be submitted to the Ministry of installed a kind of clero-fascism, which eventu­ along national lines, and within this framework ally led to tensions, divisions and splits within Internal Affairs for advance approval. The first Slovenes jealously guarded their identity, both communication of elections results on radio in the Catholic camp itself. inwardly and outwardly.• The first and foremost As a result of the defeatist policies ofWest­ Slovenia took place in 1931. characteristic of Slovene cultural, educational The most visible mark on all spheres of ern states in relation to the rise of both totali­ and scientific spheres in the interwar period is tarian ideologies, democratic policies played Slovene society in the 1930s was that left by their linguistic shift, born of a thousand-year­ the cultural struggle. Begun already in the late an increasingly minor role in the kingdom. old fear of German influence. The teaching of The Croatian-Serbian issue became acute once 19'h century, when, as a result of the formation German was abandoned, particularly in favor of political parties, the church sensed (albeit again, and the Cvetkovic-Macek Agreement of of French. French influence (also because of the August 1939 was expected to resolve it. The unrealistically at the time) that it was losing its traditional alliance between Serbia, or Yugo­ position of absolute primacy, the process be­ leading Croatian Peasant's Party became a gov­ slavia, and France) generally became stronger ernment party, and a new Banovina Croatia came more pronounced in the 1930s with the in the culture at large. In the 1930s, this trend decline in Catholicism's influence in general. was formed by combining the Sava and Littoral was intermingled with the German influence, Banovinas, along with parts of Bosnia and Her­ Although by the mid-1930s the Catholic camp which was stronger in the political arena and still formally controlled some 65% of the Slo­ zegovina. It was given control over its economic weaker in culture. Slavic influences were also and social affairs, healthcare, judicial system vene political landscape, there were different strong, particularly Czech, as well as Russian processes underway below the surface, most and internal affairs, and also had its own par­ (Soviet) in the 1930s. The second key charac­ liament, the "sabor," which shared legislative visibly manifested in a final ideological split. teristic of this period, and also reflected in cui­ The anticommunist-oriented radical part of authority with the king. The model was to be ture, was the feeling of being small, helpless, used for the (Slovenia) as well, the Catholic camp had set itself the objective and plagued by national and social injustices. to completely catholicize all walks of life. The and all remaining provinces were to be joined The feeling of territorial and other limitations, in a great Serbian banovina. The agreement weak, divided, and mainly Yugoslav-oriented regret over the loss of Trieste and the Primor­ was, therefore, not the beginning of a federal liberal parties and groups were pushed to the ska region, as well as of Carinthia, dubbed "the state as some tried to demonstrate later, but in margins of the political spectrum (even before cradle of Sloveneness," was reflected in numer­ actual fact a power-sharing agreement. that, the liberals were only able to reach some ous journalistic and other writings. The writer Throughout the kingdom's lifetime, the 20% of the electorate and consequently could expressed such sentiment in a sin­ political climate was generally a tense one, and only rule in Slovenia in coalition with Serbian gle simple sentence, saying that on a clear day, differences of opinion were sharp or even bru­ parties). Traditional political alliances were looking out with only the naked eye from the tal, with several internal crises threatening the falling apart. Ljubljana Castle or the Roznik Hill, one could existence of the state. The parliament, in the In the 1930s, the cultural struggle shifted get a view over the entirety of Slovenia. rare periods when the king permitted its func­ from Liberals to Communists, but also to the tioning (often he arbitrarily closed it down for In the Yugoslav context, Slovenes man­ leftist wing of the Catholic camp. Prior to that, several months), failed to base its work on dem­ aged to win a kind of informal cultural auton­ in 1927, Pope Pi us XI founded the Catholic Ac­ ocratic principles. Changes in government were omy, with a Slovene school system (there were tion movement (through the Urbi arcane Dei a frequent occurrence (nearly 40 in total), and around 860 primary and 85 general and voca­ consiglio encyclical and a number of other let­ in this power struggle the most daring combi­ tional secondary schools), its own university ters and statements), with the primary objective nations between political parties with entirely (established in 1919) and a range of other edu­ to encourage Catholic influence over social and contrasting programs were not at all unusual. cational and cultural institutions: the National other areas of society by fighting against liber­ This internal state of affairs was further exac­ Gallery (1918), the Ljubljana Philharmonic, the alism, secularism, and . In Slovenia, erbated by external political circumstances, es­ music conservatory, a range of museums, the the Catholic Action was organized by bishops pecially the economic recession and endeavors National and University Library (construction Anton Bonaventura Jeglic in the Ljubljana dio­ by some countries, among them chiefly Italy, to began in 1935, and opened in 1941), the Acad­ cese (replaced by Gregorij Rozman in 1930) and break up the kingdom. emy of Arts and Sciences (1938), and a number Andrej Karlin in the Maribor diocese. Its roots of other cultural entities. A variety of very ac­ lay in some earlier organizations that promoted tive cultural and other societies was a particu­ Catholic renewal, and was initially non-politi­ Jar feature of Slovenia (there were more than cal in nature. When Gregorij Rozman took over 8200 societies at the end of the 1930s). Yugo­ the office ofbishop (probably with the intent to slav Slovenia (the Drava Banovina) had 54 cin­ unify the internal divisions and to shift them emas with 13,000 shows. The performing arts to the right), the Catholic Action became an

64 THE 1930s IN SLOVEN lA

elite organization for the militant renewal of the first important sign that Slovenia's political the Spanish Republic (established in 1931), and Catholicism, and its work was characterized by and spiritual landscape had shifted to the left - ended on April 1, 1939, with the occupation of a relentless struggle against those otherwise­ to a socialist class position.13 Madrid and a ceasefire. The war split Europe minded, even within the Catholic camp itself. At the same time, another political move­ and the world into Francoists and Republicans, This transformation process culminated ment within the Catholic camp began to voice the left and the right, with supporters oflaicism in 1936 with new rules of operation for the its criticism of the SLS and its politics: the on one side and clericalism on the other. Divi­ Catholic Action. Two primary elite groups op­ Crusaders (so-named after the magazine The sions arose within the two camps, as well. Par­ erated within its framework: the Youth Union Cross on the Mountain, and later renamed The ticularly noteworthy on the right is the fact that of Christ the King (Zveza mladcev Kristusa Cross). They, too, rejected Catholic radicalism its left wing, the Christian Socialist groups, kralja), consisting of high school students and and grew closer to the Christian Socialists, first turned away from the radical right wing. founded by Professor Ernest Tomec in 1931, to the and then to Kocbek's group. And the left, although not particularly uni­ and the Catholic Action at the University, like­ They were very influential in the Ore! gymnas­ fied among its ranks, hoped that would wise founded in 1931 by Professor of Theology tics society (this was also one of the reasons turn out to be "the grave of European Fascism." Dr. , and, using the name of the that Ore! was dissolved during the dictatorship, What actually happened, however, was exactly magazine it published, renamed The Watch in or rather, was forced to merge with the Sokol the Storm (Straza v viharju) in 1934 (renamed society; this was not a mere centralist move by 7 Unlike undeveloped rural areas, major urban yet again to The Watch Academic Club (Aka­ the government in Belgrade, as the society was centers (Beograd, Zagreb, and Ljubljana) were a demski !dub Straza) in 1937). Both organiza­ also seen as disturbing by the Catholic right). part of the European cultural landscape, or at least tions were rivals, with The Watch receiving The Crusaders also had a strong influence on tried keep abreast in terms of modernization and active guidance from Korosec. Incidentally, Catholic and other student societies (Zarja, culture. In a country with 12 million inhabitants, the forecast for the year 1931, in which the new Danica, and Borba). Much the same can be said three radio stations had 140,000 subscribers at the direction of the organization under Rozman's of yet another Catholic society, the Krek Move­ end of the 1930s. Despite illiteracy and censorship, guidance took shape, had been indicated by the there were 976 newspapers published in 8 languages, ment (initially their journal was called The Fire or one per 14,275 inhabitants. Of 183 main Catholic newspaper Slovenec, proclaim­ of Christian Socialist Youth, which then be­ political and information newspapers, 39 were daily ing that "henceforth, we will consider it one of came the Young Flame), which adopted many newspapers with a total print run of 250,000 copies our main objectives to actively contribute to the of the radical leftist ideas and even maintained (data for the year 1932). The Bel grade-based Politika victory of Christian principles in both private informal contact with communists. had a distribution of 70,000-90,000 copies, Vreme and public life ... "10 Splits and divisions were characteristic of 40,000, Pravda 20,000, the Zagreb-based Novosti In May 1931, Pope Pius XI issued the the liberal camp, too. In its intellectual wing, 25,000-30,000 and Jutranji list 25,000-30,000 copies, Quadragesimo anno encyclical (or "In the 40'h the debate surrounding Vidmar's pamphlet while 5/ovenec was distributed in 20,000-35,000 copies. There were also around 700 assorted foreign Year," as it was being issued 40 years after Re­ Kulturni problemi slovenstva (The Cultural newspapers in circulation, of which the majority rum Novarum, the first social encyclical issued Problems of Slovenianism) caused a group of were French, followed by German, Czech, English and in 1891, in which Pope Leon XIII defined the prominent cultural professionals to split with Hungarian. See: Dusan Necak and Bozo Repe, Kriza: relations between government, capital, work­ the Liberal party. To a large extent, this left the svet in 5/ovenci od konca prve svetovne vojne do sredine ers, and the church, and recognized workers' party that prided itself on counting all of the tridesetih let. rights to organize trade unions, but rejected progressive intellectuals among their members 8 There was cooperation in some areas, such as socialism). The Quadragesimo anno served to mentally crippled. A national-liberal group among writers and authors gathered around the magazines Danas and Pecat and their editor, the correct the previous encyclical, but also to up­ began to form within the Sokol gymnastics so­ Croatian writer Miroslav Krleza. Literary activities grade it; in fact, it spoke out against Liberalism ciety, too, but their split from the society took were centered mainly in large urban areas. Among (and the related class struggle), and was even place much later, in 1939. Some intellectuals, numerous literary figures, Antun Gustav Matos, lvo more severely opposed to socialism (and now both on the right and the left, attempted to AndriC, Milos Crnjanski, and Branislav Nusic also also communism). Instead, it favored corporat­ act independently, in smaller groups writing deserve mention. Nusic in particular was a figure who ism, which led the Catholic Church to become for various magazines, but in the light of their used his literary skills to expose, in a humorous way, sympathetic to Mussolini's Fascism. In 1933, polarization this proved almost impossible. Yugoslav (Serbian) political illiteracy, greed, nepotism and Balkan behavior patterns, such as are still Slovenec noted: "Fascism certainly has many Among such attempts, the magazine Slovenija, embedded in today's post-Yugoslav reality in all of the likeable features that might appeal even to a founded in 1932 and edited by Lojze Ude, par­ newly-created states. Ero the Joker, an opera which Catholic. One only has to think of its endeav­ ticularly stood out. remained popular after World War 11, was created by ors to raise moral awareness, eliminate class For the generation of young Communists, Jakov Gotovac in the 1930s. struggle, and create a corporatist state. What the early 1930s were a time of rebuilding the 9 Accession to the Yugoslav state and the founding is positive about Fascism has been taken from shattered Communist Party and shifting their of its own university meant that this was the first Christianity, and in this vein, Fascism must tru­ focus to national-front and national-defense time one could speak of Slovene science as well ly become a part of the anti-Bolshevik front." 11 policies. Consolidating its ranks through the -previously, scientific efforts consisted only of individuals active in various Austrian universities. This type of journalism became a stand­ Constituent Congress of the Communist Party This was of major importance for both natural and ard in Slovene newspaper reporting, and was of Slovenia, held in 1937 in Cebine, the party other sciences. Each discipline developed its own favored over the Fascist treatment of Littoral emerged with a far greater impact on the Slo­ scientific language and published scientific papers Slovenes. The encyclical served to aggravate di­ vene political landscape than the modest num­ and magazines, and many Slovene scientists met visions within the Catholic camp even further. ber of its several hundred members would sug­ with international recognition. Among those notable The division initially revolved around the op­ gest. The communists accepted the position is Friderik Pregl (also Fritz Pregl), whose father posing views of the Usenicnik wing on the one that the bourgeois parties had failed to do their was Slovene, and who developed the method for quantitative organic microanalysis for which he was hand, which encompassed the majority of the duty and it was now their task, as the working­ awarded the No bel Prize in Chemistry in 1923. At the Catholic right and advocated the corporatist so­ class avant-garde, to assume responsibility for time (and also later) Pregl was considered German, cial order, and 's minority faction, the future of the Slovene nation. Playing into and probably also described himself as such. The which favored Christian Social activism. In their hands was also the fear of fascism, which most visionary scientist of the time was undoubtedly turn, the division spread to Christian Socialist became particularly pronounced after the An­ Herman Potocnik- Noordung (1892-1929), a pioneer trade unions (the Yugoslav Professional Union), schluss (the annexation of Austria by Germany of cosmonautics. which with some 6000 members was one of the in 1938) when the borders of the German Reich 10 Metod Mikuz, Oris zgodovine 5/ovencev v stari Jugoslaviji 1917-1941 (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, strongest trade unions. They openly declared were moved closer to the Karawanken. 1965), p. 390. their support for socialism and for the working Declaring one's support for Fascism (Na­ 11 "Fasizem proti boljsevizmu," 5/ovenec, LXI, n. 110a 12 class, assuming the leading role in it. The right zism) on the one side or Communism on the (May 14, 1933): p. 1. wing of the Catholic camp demanded that all other became the key point in the context 12 Janez Cvirn et al., 1/ustrirana zgodovina 5/ovencev Catholic organizations comply with the encyc­ of both public and underground ideological (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1999), 40-41, 320-324. lical's message that socialism was contrary to struggles. Initially, propaganda efforts fought 13 Janko Prunk, 5/ovenski narodni vzpon: narodna Catholic doctrine. This prompted the Yugoslav fervently over the issue of the Soviet Union. 14 politika (1768-1992) (Ljubljana: Drzavna zalozba The tipping point, however, was the Span­ Slovenije, 1992), 257. Professional Union to separate from the Catho­ 14 More about this in: Simon Festanj, "V sovjetskem lic camp in 1932. Five years later, the Catholic ish Civil War, which started on July 18, 1936, raju: Podoba Sovjetske zveze v casnikih Slovenec right launched a radical offensive against the with the military coup against the victorious in Jutro v tridesetih letih 20. stoletja," Borec, 56, n. intelligentsia led by , which was People's Front (elections in February 1936) and 612-616 (2004): 145-245.

65 BOZO REPE the opposite: it was the left and liberal Europe lady university and high school student organi­ the form of a protectorate based on the Slovak that found itself in the grave. Yugoslavia's posi­ zations). Calls to arms were a clear indication model, either alone or together with Croatia. tion on the Spanish civil war was one of non­ of the direction the conflict would take over Hitler then granted the protectorate to Croa­ interference and neutrality, and any attempts at the course of the war. The militant propaganda tia, but attempted to destroy the Slovenes. help were prohibited. In 1937, Anton Korosec, actions of the far right were critically assessed The idea of a protectorate, and the Minister of the Interior, "translated" this in the 1937 essay Thoughts on Spain by Edvard leaving the Slovene Catholic Church alone in position into a legal provision, declaring that KocbekP Published in , a monthly exchange for embracing the Nazi ideology and anyone joining the Spanish Republican Armed Slovene literary magazine published from 1888 submitting to Nazi rule, had appealed already Forces would be deprived of their citizenship. to 1941, the essay prompted the magazine's edi­ to Korosec. His successors followed up on this The government actively persecuted all sympa­ torial board, including its editor-in-chiefFrance scheme, first in their relations with Fascist thizers of the Republican side, prohibited pub­ Koblar, to resign their positions, and sometime Italy, which was allocated a large portion of lic meetings and all other forms of expressing later, Kocbek and his like-minded supporters Slovenia after the occupation, and then, once support, as well as fundraising activities. Visas founded the magazine Dejanje. Kocbek referred Italy had surrendered, in relations with Nazi for Spain were not granted, and a penalty of up to Fascism as a product of degenerate bourgeois Germany, the reason behind the latter case be­ to one year of imprisonment was imposed on society, while at the same time suggesting that ing the weakened German military. The prag­ any Spanish War volunteers apprehended. The Christian (Catholic) spirituality had been made matic German occupying forces, which fostered policy was actively supported by Catholic par­ equivalent to the spirituality of Fascism, there­ collaboration through good relations with Dr. ties, particularly the Croatian Peasant's Party by opening up the possibility for close coopera­ Gregorij Rozman, the Bishop of Ljubljana, and and the SLS. tion between the Catholic Church and Fascism. the clergy, remained confined to the so-called After several years of searching for an in­ while in the initial Ger­ Dorde Andrejevic-Kun's For Freedom, print portfolio on tellectual balance "between Marx and God," man Occupational Zone the attitude towards the Spanish civil war (10 prints, woodcut), 1939. Cover: Kocbek made his essay on the Spanish Civil War Slovenes and the Church remained unchanged. For Life, Against Death; Attack on Fascist Strongholds; the cornerstone of his future political credo. Battle on the Barricades. In February 1941, just a few weeks before the The War The right-wing press used the Spanish Fascist occupation, he called on intellectuals to Civil War to intensify its otherwise permanent break the bonds of their own conformism and, in the coming fateful times, decide between When World War I! broke out in Europe in Sep­ criticism of communism and express its sym­ spiritual slavery and spiritual freedom. After tember 1939, Yugoslavia declared itself neutral, pathy for Franco and Fascism. For the right, the the occupation ofSlovenia in 1941 and the divi­ without having received any guarantees from People's Front represented a case of Soviet and sion of its territory among the occupying forces, major power states. Opposition to a potential Jewish conspiracy. Communists were described it was Kocbek who led a group of Christian So­ alliance with Fascist states and falling wages led as sadistic and full of anti-religious frenzy. cialist intellectuals to join the Liberation Front. to a series of strikes in 1939 and 1940. The gov­ Spain was the arena where the fate of Christen­ (Incidentally, Christian Socialist trade unions ernment responded with a severe crackdown, dom would be decided, before it was destroyed led by Tone Fajfar were among the founding prohibiting the activities of socialist trade un­ by godless Communism in a complot with Ju­ groups of the Liberation Front.). ions and establishing a concentration camp in daism. Just as the Spanish Civil War served as Following the people's front period, the Bileca. On December 14, 1940, weapons were preparation for World War I!, so did its percep­ Communists abandoned their integration pol­ used against the protesters in Belgrade. The tion in Slovenia serve as both preparation and icy as a result of the Hitler-Stalin Pact and the government also adopted decrees on rents, food the ideological arena for the propaganda war Soviet-Finnish war. They returned once again reserves, and requisitions; food prices were in­ and subsequent real war against the Liberation to the ideals of class struggle, thereby losing creased to the maximum and in early 1941 flour Front and Partisan (or Communist, according allies among the left-wing and centrist politi­ and bread coupons were introduced. to the Slovene right) movement, whose organ­ cal groups. They tried, however, through vari­ izers and leaders also came from the ranks of ous sporadic efforts, to retain or regain some of Hinko Smrekar, Milan Stojadinovic, the Prime Minister of prominent fighters in the Spanish War. There them. Among the more prominent such efforts the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from June 1935 to February were more than 530 "Spaniards" in total, and at was the establishment ofThe Friends of the So­ 1939, n. d. (second half of the 1930s), India ink on paper. the beginning of the armed resistance in 1941 viet Union Society (Drustvo prijateljev Sovjet­ In spring 1941, the ruling structures, they joined the newly-formed Partisan troops ske zveze), prompted by the establishment of as their chief commanding officers.15 which were actually already having difficulties diplomatic relations between Yugoslavia and under normal circumstances (if such ever exist­ The right-wing press called for Catholics the Soviet Union in 1940.18 Their crucial mo­ to stand guard against Communists, declaring ed in the kingdom), were no longer able to cope ment came with the war, when they were able, with the situation. The accession to the Tripar­ that force could only be conquered with force, without any reservations, to renew or reestab­ rather than with nice words and holy water, and tite Pact, signed by Prince Paul under pressure lish old alliances with the liberal or national­ from the Germans on March 25, 1941 in Vien­ Catholics should therefore make preparations ly-oriented left wing of the Sokol gymnastics for their own safety in good time, and not once na, provoked massive demonstrations. The new society, the trade unions from the Christian So­ government, installed after the military coup it was too late and houses are already burning cialist camp, the liberal intelligentsia gathered and the Communists start shooting. Catholics by a group of military officers led by military around Josip Vidmar, the Christian Socialist in­ aviation generals Borivoj Miljkovic and Dusan should therefore join together, arm themselves telligentsia of Edvard Kocbek, and other select and organize village guards to defend villages Simovic and with the support of the British in­ smaller groups. Together, after the occupation telligence service, declared King Peter of age and religious shrines against the influx of Co­ and the division of Slovenia's territory among mintern slaves. Such calls to arms became an and abolished regency, but ratified accession to the four occupying forces (Germany, Italy, Hun­ the Tripartite Pact nevertheless. The new gov­ integral part of the ideological vocabulary, and gary, and the Ustashe-led Independent State of justified by reports of the Spanish Civil War, ernment also included representatives of the Croatia), they founded the Liberation Front in Yugoslav Muslim Organization, the SLS and the saying that "Not only do they show no mercy April1941, and, after the German attack on the for spiritual and religious persons in Spain, Serbian Cultural Club, a political organization Soviet Union in June 1941, started the armed established in 1937 and advocating for Greater but they also kill any man that carries a sign of rebellion. Christianity: a prayer book, a rosary, a relic, or Serbia as an entity within a federal monarchy. Contrary to the integration efforts of the Publicly, the government gave assurances that a holy image! ... Woe to you, faithful people of left, the bourgeois camp found itself in a state Slovenia, what fate awaits you if those bring­ the Pact remained in force, but secretly it was of conflict and confusion at the start of the holding negotiations with Great Britain. ers of happiness to mankind should win in our war; they were unprepared, lacked a clear vi­ country, too. Guns, swords, gallows ... What say sion, and, after the death of Dr. Anton Korosec, you to that, Christian people? Will you be con­ Peter Loboda, Portrait of Peter 11 Karadordevic (at age strong leadership. While Anton Korosec was six), 1929, marble. tent? Will you truly stand idle and wait for our still alive (he died in December 1940, a few churches to be burned, and ourselves shot and months before the attack on Yugoslavia), the This new government, in which half of the slaughtered? ... "16 leading SLS had abandoned Yugoslavism and, ministers were members of the previous, over­ The political and propaganda war would thinking Yugoslavia would not survive the thrown government, was even more divided, often escalate into physical altercations among war, secretly sought to make contact with the confused and internally conflicted over domes­ members of different organizations (particu- Nazis in order to ensure Slovenia's survival in tic and foreign policy than its many predeces-

66 THE 1930s IN SLOVENIA sors. In the context of the international situa­ Bibliografija I Bibliography tion of the time, with most of Europe occupied by Germany, Great Britain struggling for its »Fasizem proti boljsevizmu«, Slovenec, LXI, n. llOa (14. very existence, and the German-Soviet non­ 4. 1933) aggression pact already signed, there remained no room for maneuver. Fearful that Germany Borak, Neven et al., Slovensko novejsa zgodovina: might retaliate, the government didn't even od programa Zedinjena Slovenija do mednarodnega have the courage to announce a general mobi­ priznanja Republike Slovenije, 1848-7992 (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, lnstitut za novejso zgodovino, 2006) lization. This unbearable political agony was brought to an end by the attack on Yugoslavia. Cvirn, Janez et al., 1/ustrirana zgodovina Slovencev The war had begun. (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1999) The establishment of the Liberation Front, Festanj, Simon, »V sovjetskem raju: podoba Sovjetske the armed uprising, and the subsequent victory zveze v casnikih Slovenec in Jutro v tridesetih letih 20. on the side of the anti-Fascist coalition after stoletja«, Borec, 56, n. 612-616 (2004) four years of struggle for survival led to the transformation of Slovene society in the post­ Gasparic, Jure, SLS pod kraljevo diktaturo: diktatura kralja Aleksandra in politika Slovenske ljudske stranke v war years. Slovenia became a republic within /etih 1929-1935 (Ljubljana: Modrijan, 2007) the Yugoslav federation and the borders were re-drawn in its favor, providing the new repub­ Hocevar, Joze, S/ovenci v spanski drzav/janski vojni = lic with access to the sea. The new Yugoslavia Gli Sloveni ne/la guerra civile Spagno/a = Eslovenos en la was ruled first by the Soviet form of socialism guerra civil Espagno/a = Slovenians in the Spanish civil and then by its own specific self-governing war: zbornik referatov znanstvenega simpozija v Kopru, 12. 2. 2010 (Koper: Zdruzenje protifasistov in borcev za form of socialism with open borders. A specific, vrednote NOB, 2010) radically communist approach was also applied to modernization processes, including emanci­ K., J., »Kaj pa komunisti?«, Domoljub, 49, n. 49 (2. 12. pation and separation of church and state. After 1936) gaining independence in 1991, Slovene society Kocbek, Edvard, >>Premisljevanje o Spaniji<<, Dam in came once again to embrace the ideological di­ svet, 50, n. 1-2 (22. 4. 1937) visions and cultural struggle of the 1930s. Krleza, Miroslav, Des et krvavih let in drugi po/iticni eseji (Ljubljana: Drzavna zalozba Slovenije, 1962)

15 More about this in: Joze Hocevar, Slovenciv Lazarevic, Zarko, Slovensko gospodarstvo v prvi span ski drzav/janski vojni = Gli S/oveni ne/la guerra Jugos/aviji: korak k industrijski druzbi (Ljubljana: civile Spagnola = Eslavenos en la guerro civil Espagnola Modrijan, 1997) = Slovenes in the Spanish civil war: zbornik referatov znanstvenega simpozija v Kopru, 12. februarja 2070 Mikuz, Metod, Oris zgodovine Slovencev v stari (Koper: Zdruzenje protifasistov in borcev za vrednote Jugos/aviji 1917-1941 (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, NOB,2010). 1965) 16 J. K., "Kaj pa komunisti?," Domoljub, 49, n. 49 Necak, Dusan; Repe, Bozo, Kriza: svet in Slovenci od (December 2, 1936): 754. konca prve svetovne vojne do sredine tridesetih let 17 Edvard Kocbek, "Premisljevanje o Spaniji," Dam in (Ljubljana: Znanstvenoraziskovalni institut Filozofske svet, 50, n. 1-2 (April22, 1937): 90-105. fakultete, 2008) 18 More on this: Bozo Repe, "Drustvo prijateljev Sovjetske zveze," Borec, 41, n. 9 (1989): 900-919. Necak, Dusan; Repe, Bozo, Prelom: 1914-1918: svet in Slovenci v 1. svetovni vojni (Ljubljana: Sophia, 2005)

Pelikan, Egon, Tone Kralj in prostor meje (Ljubljana: Cankarjeva zalozba, 2016)

Prunk, Janko, Slovenski narodni vzpon: narodna politika (1768-1992) (Ljubljana: Drzavna zalozba Slovenije, 1992)

Repe, Bozo, >>Drustvo prijateljev Sovjetske zveze<<, Borec, 41, n. 9 (1989)

Vodopivec, Peter; Mahnic, Joza, eds., Slovenska trideseta /eta: simpozij 1995 (Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1997)

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