Odzivi nemške etnične skupine na Slovenskem na razpad Avstro-Ogrske monarhije ter njena integracija v Kraljevino Srbov, Hrvatov in Slovencev

slovenian

2009

Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino
Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta (Oddelek za zgodovino)

The May Decleration in 1917 was not a mere coincidence, but the pinnacle of a decades' worth of efforts for social establishment of the Slovenian nation. The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy went through numerous difficulties at the end ofWorld War I, for which they held responsible Slavonic elements in the Monarchy. Together with the increasing number of so-called 'external' enemies,the number of 'internal' enemies, who egoistically pursued their desire for national emancipation, had strenghtened. In the opinion of German political circles, the objectives of internal enemy became equal to those of entente states. In 1918 the Germans in Lower Styria found themselves in subordinate position for the first time, when they did not dictate public life. In the time of strained relations the formation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in October 1918 and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in December 1918 constitutes a milestone in the history of relations between the Slovenian and the German nation. The turning point was in the year 1918, when Germans abruptly lost their position as majority population with all their cultural, economic and principally political privileges and were forced to observe the Slovenian nation, which was in a position of taming political life. The formation of Kingdom of SHS was followed by changes in legislation, which entailed the members of German ethnic group in Slovenia and in greater Kingdom of SHS to start losing their former superior position. Although German ethnic group was the largest non-slavonic social group in Kingdom of SHS, it could not take advantage of its numbers for it was too scattered and non-organized spatially. Members of German ethnic group in the Kingdom of SHS were not the only ones who confronted with a loss of their superior positionč this problem has become in relatively short time the problem of a newly emerging European society. International Community notwithstanding the provisions in International peace agreement did not succeed in establishing effective legal mechanisms that would enable permanent protection of the rights of national minorities not only on paper. Frequently the members of German ethnic group were liable to moral discreditation, social defamation, and legal discrimination for the partof majority population, however judiciary role remained 'dead characters on paper'.

16.02.2024