JANEZ KRANJC – PRAVNI POLOŽAJ SLOVENSKEGA JEZIKA V ILIRSKIH PROVINCAH 7/23 The Position of Slovenian Language in the Provinces of Illyria Summary Language is more than a mere means of communication; it represents an important aspect of national identity. Therefore, especially for nations speaking less widely spoken languages, a concern for preserving one’s native language means also caring about one’s identity. In some countries the official language is determined by the constitution. Therefore, within multiethnic countries the official use of a language is of particular importance. During the time of the "absburg monarchy, the #lovenian language never achieved the status of a fully official language. $onetheless, Slovenian intellec- tuals struggled for this status from the &arch revolution of '(48 until the end of the Monarchy. During that period many believed that the Slovenian langu% age had enjoyed full recognition during the time of the +rench administration within the Provinces of Illyria. In publications marking the '--th anniversary of the foundation of the Provinces several authors were praising the +rench admini% stration as a period of cultural and national renaissance, and linguistic freedom. This rather romantic view was to some extent revised by modern historians. $onetheless, the period of the Provinces of Illyria is still perceived of as a time that contributed greatly towards the development of Slovenian national identity. The Provinces of Illyria were created on the ')th of October, '(-9 by the Treaty of Schönbrunn in which the 2ustrian Empire ceded to $apoleon the territories of western Carinthia, Carniola, Croatia southeast of the river Sava, Gorizia and Gradisca as well as Triest and Istria. These territories were amalgama% ted with Dalmatia and the former territory of the 7epublic of Ragusa (occupied by the +rench before) into the Provinces of Illyria. Their creation had primarily strategic reasons. They were aimed at protecting the Italian Kingdom, preventing 2ustrian contact with the British naval forces and creating a link with the /tto% man Empire. The capital of the Provinces was the city of Laybach (the present Ljubljana). 2t the head of the Provinces was the 5overnor General. In '('- the territory of Lienz in East Tyrol was also integrated into the Illyrian Provinces. The Illyrian Provinces consisted of seven provinces – six civil and one mi% litary. They were further subdivided into intendancies and subintendancies, districts, subdistricts and cantons, the smallest administrative unit being the arrondissement communal. Initially the Provinces had a provisional system of organization with ample powers of the 5overnor 5eneral. In April '('1 $apole% on issued a decree regulating the organization of the Illyrian Provinces. 207 7/24 ZBORNIK ZNANSTVENIH RAZPRAV – LXX. LETNIK, 2010 In the Provinces the +rench tried to introduce their system of administration and their laws. <et, the ethnic, cultural, and economic differences 8among other things) between provinces prevented them from immediately introducing the centralized +rench system of administration. These differences required a gradu% al transition from the old to the new system. One of the problems the +rench were facing in the Illyrian Provinces was the linguistic diversity. Although, in theory, +rench was the official language of the Provinces, its use was limited to +rench officials and some intellectuals. Since many civil servants were of non-French origin, the public administration had to also use German and Italian and, to a lesser extent, the local languages. Initially, the first Governor, General Marmont, wanted to introduce the Il- lyrian language as a language of communication with the local population. However, Valentin Vodnik, Žiga Zois, and other intellectuals demonstrating the differences between the #lovenian, Serbian and Croatian language, managed to convince him of the existence of more than one Illyrian language. In his ordi% nance on the organization of public education issued on the )th of July '('0, he prescribed also teaching languages. Despite his endeavour to create a uniform system of public education for the Illyrian Provinces as a whole, he provided instruction in the language of the country (langue du pays). This was the case in elementary schools and partially in the secondary schools. The major difference to the old 2ustrian system, dating from the time of Empress Maria Theresia, having also some teaching in Slovenian in the so called Trivialschulen, was the fact that this time the use of the Slovenian language was not a mere preparation for the teaching of French but an independent phase of education. Because of a lack of teachers able to teach in Slovenian the new system had not achieved all the results it could produce. $evertheless, it gave the Slovenians a sense of linguistic freedom and self-confidence. +or the needs of teaching in elementary schools, >alentin >odnik wrote several schoolbooks in Slovenian. Together with teaching in Slovenian, this had an unprecedented influence on the further development of national identity. This was strengthened also by the founding of the first university (Ecole centrale) on Slovenian territory. The absence of #lovenian in the teaching at higher schools was understan% dable. 3ven if Marmont would have made it possible by his ordinance, there were no teachers or teaching materials in #lovenian to put such a provision into practice. Also, because of financial constraints, the successor to Marmont 5overner, General Bertrand, closed down many lower gymnasia that had taught using the local language. 2s a result, teaching in local languages was limited to elementary schools only. 208 JANEZ KRANJC – PRAVNI POLOŽAJ SLOVENSKEGA JEZIKA V ILIRSKIH PROVINCAH 7/25 During the rather brief +rench rule, Slovenian never became an official lan% guage in the field of jurisdiction. The decree on the administration of justice and the introduction of +rench laws in the Illyrian Provinces 8!écret sur la mise en activité de l’administration de la *ustice, et des lois françaises dans les Provinces illyriennes) provided that an official Ga6ette would be published in the Provinces. <et, the +rench laws and by-laws were translated only into Italian and German. Eith the e.ception of public education, the +rench did not brought major changes to the official standing of the Slovenian language. It is therefore surpri% sing that, especially among intellectuals, the period of their administration was so popular. There are several reasons for this. The most important was probably the fact that under the +rench, the Slovenian population for the rst time lived together under one state instead of being divided among several provinces. To the positive picture of the +rench period contributed also the atmosphere of intellectual liberty and the fact that it was so short that it could not develop all the negative features of a centralized state. 209.