United Slovenia ( or ) is the name originally given to an unrealized political programme of the Slovene national movement, formulated during the Spring of Nations in 1848. The programme demanded (a) unification of all the Slovene-inhabited areas into one single kingdom under the rule of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, (b) equal rights of Slovene in public, and (c) strongly opposed the planned integration of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

with the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

. The programme failed to meet its main objectives, but it remained the common political program of all currents within the Slovene national movement until World War I.

Historical context

Following the Vienna Rebellion that forced Ferdinand I to abolish

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

and adopt a constitution, many nations of the

saw a chance for strengthening their ideas. After the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

in 1815, for the first time in centuries, all

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

were under the rule of one emperor. They were, however, divided between different political subdivisions, namely the provinces of

Carniola Carniola ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (; ; ), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled "Goritz", was a crown land of the Habsburg dynasty within the Austrian Littoral on the Adriatic Sea, in what is now a multilingual border area of ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, Lombardy and Venetia (the Venetian Slovenia) and the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

(

Prekmurje Prekmurje (; Prekmurje Slovene: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; ) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally, and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarians in Slovenia, Hungarian minority, lying betwee ...

). In such a fragmentation, a self-government on national basis was impossible. The programme of United Slovenia was first formulated on 17 March 1848 by the Carinthian Slovene priest and political activist

Matija Majar Matija Majar, also spelled Majer (7 February 1809 – 31 July 1892), pseudonym Ziljski, was a Carinthian Slovene Roman Catholic priest and political activist, best known as the creator of the idea of a United Slovenia. Biography Majar was bor ...

, and published on 29 March in the

national conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity, communitarianism and the public role of religion. It shares aspects of traditionalist conservatism and social conserva ...

newspaper '' Kmetijske in rokodelske novice'', edited by Janez Bleiweis. The idea advanced by Majar was elaborated and articulated by the society of Slovenes from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, led at this time by the notable linguist

Franz Miklosich Franz Miklosich (, also known in Slovene as ; 20 November 1813 – 7 March 1891) was a Slovenian philologist and rector of the University of Vienna. Early life Miklosich was born in the small village of Radomerščak near the Lower Styrian town ...

, which published their manifesto on 29 April in the Slovene newspaper ''Novice'' from Klagenfurt. In the same period, the geographer Peter Kosler issued a map of the Slovene-inhabited areas with ethnic-linguistic lines. Janez Bleiweis presented these demands to the Austrian Emperor's younger brother Archduke John, who had been living among the Slovenes in

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

for 15 years. The three key points of the programme (the creation of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

as a distinct entity, recognition of Slovene and opposition to joining the

) were signed as a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

. 51 signed sheets still exist, showing that the programme was well-supported by the masses. The signed petition was presented to the

Austrian parliament The Austrian Parliament () is the bicameral federal legislature of Austria. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets i ...

; however, due to the uprising in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, the Parliament was dissolved before it could even discuss the Slovene issue.

Aftermath

The political aspirations of the Slovenes were suppressed by Baron Alexander von Bach's absolutism in 1851, and the Slovene national movement was moved back to an almost purely the cultural field. The programme of United Slovenia, however, remained the common political programme of all currents within the Slovene national movement until World War I, and was gaining power in the period of ''tabori'' between 1868 and 1871. After the war and the dissolution of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, the programme was partially replaced by the idea of integration with other

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, ...

in the common country of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. After the collapse of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

in October 1918, and the subsequent creation of first the

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( / ; ) was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani (Serbs), Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of th ...

and then the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

, a significant number of Slovenes, mostly in the Julian March and

, remained outside the country. Therefore, the programme of United Slovenia remained very much present in the political and intellectual debates of the interwar period. In April 1941, it was incorporated in the manifesto of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People. After the annexation of the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral (, ; ; ), is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg poss ...

to Yugoslavia in 1947 and the partition of the

Free Territory of Trieste The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory in Southern Europe between Italy and SFR Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under United Nations Security Council Resolution 16, direct responsibility of ...

between Italy and Yugoslavia in 1954, the main demand of the United Slovenia programme – the unification of the majority of Slovene-inhabited areas into a unified and autonomous political-administrative entity – saw its fulfillment. The Post of Slovenia issued a stamp on the occasion of 150th anniversary of the United Slovenia movement.

List of territory claimed

Besides Slovenia itself, the territories claimed by the programme includes: In modern

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

: *

*parts of

up to Wildon or whole Styria In modern

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

: *

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

and

Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Primorje – Gorski Kotar County (, ) is a Counties of Croatia, county in western Croatia, most of it based in the historical and cultural region called Croatia proper and some of it in Istria, including the Bay of Kvarner, the surrounding Northe ...

*Majority of

Northern Croatia Northern Croatia or North Croatia (, ) refers to the northern parts of Croatia, encompassing Zagreb County, Zagreb, Varaždin County, Varaždin, Međimurje County, Međimurje, Krapina-Zagorje County, Zagorje and Koprivnica-Križevci County, Kopri ...

Istria County Istria County (; ; , "Istrian Region") is the westernmost Counties of Croatia, county of Croatia which includes the majority of the Istrian peninsula. Administrative centers in the county are Pazin, Pula and Poreč. Istria County has the larg ...

In modern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

: *

and

Gulf of Trieste The Gulf of Trieste(, , , ) is a shallow bay of the Adriatic Sea, in the extreme northern part of the Adriatic Sea. It is part of the Gulf of Venice and is shared by Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. It is closed to the south by the peninsula of Ist ...

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

In modern

: *Southern parts of Vas and Zala counties

References

Sources

* Bogo Grafenauer et al., eds. "Slovenski državnopravni programi 1848–1918", in ''Slovenci in država''. Ljubljana, 1995. * Stane Granda, ''Prva odločitev Slovencev za Slovenijo''. Ljubljana: Nova revija, 1999. *Peter Kovačič Peršin, ed., ''150 let programa Zedinjene Slovenije''. Ljubljana: Društvo 2000, 2000. * Vasilij Melik, "Ideja Zedinjene Slovenije 1848–1991", in ''Slovenija 1848–1998: iskanje lastne poti''. Stane Granda and Barbara Šatej, eds. Ljubljana, 1998.. * Janko Prunk, ''Slovenski narodni programi: Narodni programi v slovenski politični misli od 1848 do 1945''. Ljubljana, 1986. * Fran Zwitter, ''O slovenskem narodnem vprašanju'', edited by Vasilij Melik. Ljubljana, 1990.

External links