The Idea and Practice of the Slovenian State-Formation Process after World War I

Abstract

The complex and contradictory processes of Slovenian state formation in 1918–1941 became subject of scientific research in a monograph written by Doctor of Historical Sciences Kateryna Malshyna. Chronologically, the work covered the period from the establishment of the "August" National Council in Ljubljana within the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (1918) to the completion of the legal activities of the "April" National Council (September 1941). Based on the study of a set of written sources, it proves that under the influence of external and internal factors, the process of Slovenian state formation at this time had a wave-like character. The author scientifically verified the position that in the interwar period, Slovenia lost the chance to protect its culture from Yugoslav uniformization and to gain autonomy within the authoritarian state. The German-Yugoslav April War of 1941 and the initial period of the Nazi-Fascist control over Slovenia led to its division into four zones of occupation, thus ending the Slovenian statehood.

Keywords

• slovenia
• national revival
• state formation
• first and second world wars
• interwar period
• central and south-eastern europe