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United Slovenia (Slovene:Zedinjena Slovenija orZdružena Slovenija) is the name originally given to an unrealized political programme of theSlovene national movement, formulated during theSpring of Nations in 1848.[1] The programme demanded (a) unification of all theSlovene-inhabited areas into one single kingdom under the rule of theAustrian Empire, (b) equal rights ofSlovene in public, and (c) strongly opposed the planned integration of theHabsburg monarchy with theGerman Confederation. The programme failed to meet its main objectives, but it remained the common political program of all currents within theSlovene national movement until World War I.
Following theVienna Rebellion that forcedFerdinand I to abolishfeudalism and adopt a constitution, many nations of theAustrian Empire saw a chance for strengthening their ideas. After theCongress of Vienna in 1815, for the first time in centuries, allSlovenes were under the rule of one emperor. They were, however, divided between different political subdivisions, namely the provinces ofCarniola,Styria,Carinthia,Gorizia and Gradisca,Istria,Trieste,Lombardy and Venetia (theVenetian Slovenia) and theKingdom of Hungary (Prekmurje). 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 theCarinthian Slovene priest and political activistMatija Majar, and published on 29 March in thenational conservative newspaperKmetijske in rokodelske novice, edited byJanez Bleiweis. The idea advanced by Majar was elaborated and articulated by the society of Slovenes fromVienna, led at this time by the notable linguistFranz Miklosich, which published their manifesto on 29 April in the Slovene newspaperNovice fromKlagenfurt. In the same period, the geographerPeter Kosler issued a map of theSlovene-inhabited areas with ethnic-linguistic lines.
Janez Bleiweis presented these demands to the Austrian Emperor's younger brotherArchduke John, who had been living among the Slovenes inMaribor for 15 years. The three key points of the programme (the creation ofSlovenia as a distinct entity, recognition ofSlovene and opposition to joining theGerman Confederation) were signed as apetition. 51 signed sheets still exist, showing that the programme was well-supported by the masses. The signed petition was presented to theAustrian parliament; however, due to theuprising inHungary, the Parliament was dissolved before it could even discuss the Slovene issue.
The political aspirations of the Slovenes were suppressed byBaron Alexander von Bach's absolutism in 1851, and theSlovene national movement was moved back to an almost purely thecultural field. The programme of United Slovenia, however, remained the common political programme of all currents within theSlovene national movement until World War I, and was gaining power in the period oftabori between 1868 and 1871. After the war and the dissolution ofAustria-Hungary, the programme was partially replaced by the idea of integration with otherSouth Slavs in the common country ofYugoslavia.
After the collapse of theAustro-Hungarian Empire in October 1918, and the subsequent creation of first theState of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and then theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, a significant number of Slovenes, mostly in theJulian March andCarinthia, 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 theLiberation Front of the Slovenian People. After the annexation of theSlovenian Littoral to Yugoslavia in 1947 and the partition of theFree Territory of Trieste between Italy and Yugoslavia in 1954, the main demand of the United Slovenia programme – the unification of the majority ofSlovene-inhabited areas into a unified and autonomous political-administrative entity – saw its fulfillment.
ThePost of Slovenia issued astamp on the occasion of 150th anniversary of the United Slovenia movement.
Besides Slovenia itself, the territories claimed by the programme includes:
In modernAustria:
In modernCroatia:
In modernItaly:
In modernHungary:
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