IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW STATES IN EAST- CENTRAL EUROPE: THE CASE OF THE SLOVENIANS IN NORTH AMERICA Matja` KLEMEN^I^ University of Maribor, Maribor UDK 325.25(73=863):323(497.1)”19” 325.25(73=863):323(497.4)”1991/1992” Prethodno priop}enje Primljeno: 8. 9. 1997. The aim of this article is to survey the activities of Slovenian emigrants for the establishment of the Yugoslav state in the period before, during, and after World War I. It also describes how the Slovenians were organised in that period, and compares their activities with those undertaken by people of Slovenian descent during the struggle for the independence of Slovenia in 1991 and their efforts for international recognition of its’ independence in 1991 and 1992. INTRODUCTION The aim of this contribution is to survey the activities of Slovenians who emigrated to North America in relation to the establishment of the Yugoslav state in the period before, during, and after World War I. I will also describe how the Slovenians were organized in that period, and I will compare their activities with those undertaken by Slovenian emi - grants during the war for the independence of Slovenia in 1991 as well as in the Slovenian striving for recognition of their independence in 1991 and 1992. As this is the first survey of these activities and as these phenomena are complex it is far from complete. I intention - ally left out some periods when no fundamental changes in relations and views of the Slovenian emigrant community 43 towards the statehood of the old homeland took place. DRU[. ISTRA@. ZAGREB Slovenians today live all over the world. They emigrated GOD. 7 (1998), BR. 1-2 (33-34), from their homeland for a variety of reasons during periods STR. 43-73 of crisis over the last 150 years and built communities wher - KLEMEN^I^, M.: ever they went. As with immigrants of other nationalities, we IMMIGRANT have to differentiate among Slovenian emigrants who left COMMUNITIES... the country before World War I, those who left between the wars, and those who left after World War II. For the Sloveni- ans, we can also differentiate between those who left after the end of World War II until the opening of the borders of Yugoslavia in the 1960s, and emigrants who left Slovenia after this time. Most of the Slovenians who emigrated before World War I went to the United States, with smaller groups emigrating to Germany or South America. After World War I, especially after the United States closed its doors in 1924, Slovenians emigrated to Canada, South America, and Europe - particu - larly to Westphalia in Germany and the mining areas of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. After World War II, a wave of political refugees fled Slo- venia and, after spending some years in displaced persons camps in Austria and Italy, embarked on ships for Canada, South America, Australia and, to a lesser extent, to the United States. This wave of political émigrés was followed by the spouses and children once Yugoslavia opened its borders for this group at the end of the 1940s. In the 1950s another wave of emigrants left Slovenia in search of a better life. They could not be characterized as po- litical émigrés, even though - just like the former - they migrated illegally. From the 1960s onward Yugoslavia was the only country with a Socialist or Communist political system that opened its borders and allowed its citizens to migrate legally. This po- licy enabled citizens to join their friends and relatives wher - ever they lived, providing the receiving countries would allow them in. This open border policy also created new ty- pes of migrants - those who retained the citizenship of their mother country and who were considered by the host coun - tries as temporary migrants or, ”guest workers”. As a result, new Slovenian ethnic communities were established in Au- stria and Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and other western European countries. Yugoslav citizens who migrated to Australia in the 1960s and 1970s were also considered to be guest workers by Yu- goslav authorities - i.e., the mother country expected them to retain their Yugoslav passports and to be loyal Yugoslav citi - zens. It is interesting to note that this was also the policy of the Austro -Hungarian monarchy for the immigrants who 44 came to the United States before World War I. They were considered birds of passage, working for a few years in the United States and then returning to their homeland. 1 THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SLOVENIAN EMIGRANTS TO THE USA IN CONNECTION WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE YUGOSLAV STATE DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR I Since most of the Slovenian emigrants outside their home - land lived in the United States in 1914 this was the only coun - try where Slovenians could freely express their opinions for or against the further life of the Slovenians in the Empire. and to organize themselves in support of the people in their homeland. When the Habsburg Empire went to war, the cir - cumstances in the country did not allow for freedom of expression, particularly anti -monarchist ideas. The Austrian diplomats were trying to create a pro -mo- narchist atmosphere among the immigrants from the Haps- burg Empire.They also wanted to draft the immigrants into the Austrian army which aroused strong opposition. Ac- cording to Slovenian - American ethnic newspapers, the Aus- trian diplomats were very actively involved in pressing the immigrant communities to do favors for Austria/Hungary during World War I. 2 For example Clevelandska Amerika , which was a Slovenian - American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio criticized the activities of Austria’s diplo - matic representatives throughout the First World War. The Austrian Consul in Cleveland, a man named Ludwig, made every effort to get Slovenians and others of his country’s for - mer subjects to return to fight for Austria. (During the First World War, Cleveland was home not only to Slovenians, but also to Czechs, Poles, Croats, Serbians, Slovaks, and Hunga- rians whose countrymen were still under the Habsburg Em- pire.) According to a report in Clevelandska Amerika , the first two volunteers from Cleveland to enlist in the Austrian army were Croats, followed by Poles sympathetic to Austria. 3 The second major objective of Austrian diplomats in the United States was to incite as many as possible of their for - mer subjects to strike, particularly those who worked in the weapons industry. The editors of Clevelandska Amerika al- leged that a large number of Austrian secret agents were pre - sent in Cleveland and other cities, where former citizens of the Habsburg empire lived as immigrants, at the time, work - ing to persuade citizens of Austria -Hungary to go on strike. The trade unions opposed all such attempts and called upon workers to remain at their jobs. 4 The American government is also alleged to have authorized its agents to counteract the Austrians’ operations. 5 American Slovenians pursued two kinds of political ac- tivities during World War I. One had to do with the activities 45 of the United States The other took place within Slovenian - DRU[. ISTRA@. ZAGREB American institutions, and these tried to influence events in GOD. 7 (1998), BR. 1-2 (33-34), the h omeland. This latter can be divided into those who favo- STR. 43-73 red a continuation of the Hapsburg monarchy, those who sup- KLEMEN^I^, M.: ported the extension of the Kingdom of Serbia to Croatian IMMIGRANT and Slovenian ethnic territories into a unitaristic Yugoslavia, COMMUNITIES... and those who advocated Yugoslavia as a Federal Republic. Prior to the entrance of the United States into the war in 1917, many American Slovenians openly sided with the Habs- burg Monarchy. Some continued to support it even later, though secretly. At the outbreak of World War I, pro - Aus- trian feeling was widespread among American Slovenians and was promulgated primarily by diplomatic representati- ves and some Catholic clergy. These Slovenians did not esta- blish an organization, but were active in part of the Slovenian ethnic press. 6 The second group of activists was originally based in the Slovenian League (Slovenska liga), which was founded in 1915 and later the Slovenian National Union (Slovenska nar - odna zveza), which was founded in 1917. Both of these orga - nizations worked in cooperation with and on the initiative of the Yugoslav Committee in London. They acted very careful - ly on the question of how to formulate the future Yugoslav state. These activists can nevertheless be characterized as favoring the expansion of the Serbian - dominated Kingdom of Yugoslavia to include Slovenian ethnic territories. The third group worked through the Slovenian Repu- blican Alliance (founded in 1917), which after its association with like -minded Croats, was renamed the Yugoslav Repu- blican Alliance in 1917. These activists worked to establish the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in which Slovenia would be an autonomous republic. 7 After the United States declared war on Austria, howev - er, anti -Austrian sentiments among the American Slovenians reached a flash point. Slovenian, Croatian, and Serbian politicians who had managed to escape from Austria before World War I estab - lished the Yugoslav Committee in London. These politicians wanted to join with Serbia and Montenegro to form a Yugoslav kingdom. 8 They believed that it was the best solu - tion for the Habsburg South Slavs to unite into one state with Serbia and Montenegro.They were afraid of the pressure of Germanization from the north as well as of the pressure of Italy from the west. This Committee sought the cooperation of Slovenian, Croatian, and Serbian immigrants living in the United States.