!!!Slowenen

Slovenes, inhabitants of the Republic of Slovenia, in Austria a 
linguistic  Minority, predominantly in southern Carinthia and partly 
in the southern part of Styria. The Slavs who settled in the 
6%%sup th/%  century A.D. in the Roman province of Noricum 
were called Carantanians from the 7th century onwards; they maintained 
close links with the Bavarians from the late 8th century onwards, in 
particular with Freising ("Freising Monuments" from the 10%%sup th/%  
century, the oldest Slav records in Roman characters, comprising two 
penance formulas and the fragment of a sermon). In the High Middle 
Ages, the tribal duchy of Carantania was bilingual. The language that 
came to be called Slovene at a later date remained the principal 
language of the southern part of Carinthia well into the 20th century. 
Slovene as a written language was strongly promoted during the 
Reformation (Bible translations by P. Truber). The early nationalist 
and linguistic movement among the Slovenes initially had its centre in 
Carinthia (U. Jarnik, M. Majar, A. Einspieler, foundation of the 
Hermagoras Brotherhood (Moharjeva družba) in Klagenfurt for the 
dissemination of Slovene literature 1852-1860). On account of the 
prevailing social pattern in Carinthia (Slovenes were mostly employed 
in agriculture) and as a consequence of the special importance of the 
clergy for raising the national consciousness of Slovenes, there was 
an increasing tendency from about 1860 to equate "German" with 
"progressive" and "Slovene" with "clerical-conservative"; 
accordingly, speaking and feeling "German" was frequently seen as a 
rise in social status. In consequence the Slovene language group in 
Carinthia declined in the 19th and early 20th centuries 
(Slovene-speaking population in 1880: more than 100,000 or 30 %; 
in 1910 approx. 82,000), a development that was favoured by the 
"utraquist" (= bilingual) school system in Carinthia. Even 
though at least 10,000 Slovenes opted for Austria in the referendum of 
1920, the First Republic was not favourably disposed towards 
minorities. The National-Socialist attack on Yugoslavia in 1941 was 
accompanied by reprisals against Slovenes and the expulsion of 
Slovenes from Carinthia, which in turn resulted in inroads made by 
Slovene partisan fighters into Carinthia. In October 1945, in the 
early days of the Second Republic, the school system was reformed: All 
schools in southern Carinthia were required to teach the two languages 
as compulsory subjects. In 1957 a Gymnasium secondary school for 
Slovenes was founded in Klagenfurt. In response to school strikes the 
school legislation of 1959 limited bilingual education to those pupils 
who had expressly opted for it. The Court Languages Act of 1959 
permitted the use of Slovene in three mixed-language court districts 
(Bleiburg/Pliberk, Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla, 
Ferlach/Borovlje).The use of languages in this area has been regulated 
by the Ethnic Minorities Act since 1976. In implementation of 
Article 7 of the State Treaty of 1955 place names were shown on 
signposts in two languages from 1972 onwards. Many of these 
inscriptions were, however, forcibly removed or defaced ( Carinthian 
Conflict over Bilingual Signposts). The government subsequently 
succeeded in concluding a three-party agreement (Ethnic Minorities Act 
of 1976), which envisaged an Ethnic Minorities Advisory Board; this 
was, however, boycotted by the two Slovene associations in Carinthia 
(the Council of Carinthian Slovenes/Narodni svet koroških 
Slovencev, with Christian leanings, and the Central Association of 
Slovene Organisations/Zveza Slovenskih organizacij na Koroškem, 
which was committed to the traditions of the partisan fighters) until 
1989. In 2000, nine municipalities or parts thereof are meant to have 
bilingual road signs, while 14 municipalities or parts thereof have 
Slovene as their official language. The number of persons using 
Slovene as their vernacular had stabilised at approx. 20,000 by 1991( 
of which 15,000 in Carinthia).

!Literature
F. Hauptmann, Die Stellung der Suedslawen in der 
Habsburgermonarchie, in: E. Zoellner (ed.), Volk, Land und Staat in 
der Geschichte Oesterreichs, 1984; Geschichte der Kaerntner Slowenen 
von 1918 bis zur Gegenwart, 1988.


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