Short history of Slovenia

In a few excerpts below,I will try to give you some basic historic perspective on Slovenia


The earliest signs of human settlement in present-day Slovenia were found in Hell Cave near Orehek in Inner Carniola, where two stone tools approximately 250,000 years old were recovered.During the glacial period,Slovenia was inhabited by Neanderthals. The most famous Neanderthal archaeological site in Slovenia is a cave close to Cerkno, where the Divje Babe flute, the oldest known musical instrument in the world was found in 1995.


In the Iron Age, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Illyrian and Celtic tribes until the 1st century BC, when the Romans conquered the region establishing the provinces of Pannonia and Noricum. What is now western Slovenia was included directly under Roman Italia as part of the X region Venetia et Histria. Important Roman towns located in present-day Slovenia included Emona(Ljubljana), Celeia(Celje)and Poetovio(Ptuj).


Somewhere in 6th century it is belived that first Slavic ancestors of present-day Slovenes settled in the East Alpine area. First independent slavic principality was established north of the Karavanke range (in present-day Austrian regions of Carinthia, Styria and East Tyrol) by the name of Carantania.


Till the 18th century todays Slovenia was involved in many wars and under contantly changing rulers. From 18th till 19th century,experienced a period of peace, with a moderate economic recovery.The political, administrative and economic reforms of the Habsburg rulers Maria Theresa of Austria and Joseph II improved the economic situation of the peasantry, and were well received in general population.


World War I resulted in heavy casualties for Slovenia, particularly on the bloody Soča front. Hundreds of thousands of Slovene conscripts were drafted in the Austro-Hungarian Army, and over 30,000 of them lost their lives during the World War I. Hundreds of thousands of Slovenes were resettled in refugee camps in Italy and Austria.


After WWI Slovenia joined a Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, where it was a partially independent state under the royal rulers from Serbia. On the start of WWII Slovenia was the only present-day European nation and the only part of Yugoslavia that was completely absorbed and annexed into neighboring Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Hungary. War also brought divisions within the Slovenes as one part of the nation decided to colaborate with occupiers and the other one to join communist party in revolt against. Divisions have brought great victims to slovenes and even today nation is split about that period of our history.


After WWII Slovenia again joined Yugoslavia, this time it was a socialist republic of Yugoslavia. Allready bloody war in Slovenia did not end like in other countries in Europe. New communist government wanted to rule out any oposition and they started a killing sprea. It is estimated that some 10000 slovenes were killed with out any judgment. It is on slovenian teritory about 600 known place of executions, in them there are not only slovenes but croatian and serbian soldiers plus civilians, sometimes whole families.This part of slovenian history (extra-judicial killings) is still today a heavy burden for our society, even if majority of people from this period are long gonne. Devisions in slovenian society are still strong depending, from which side your realtives were.

Otherwise a lot of slovenians who grown up and lived in Yugoslavia, do have a good opinon about pass times in communist state. Jobs were guaranteed, you had every year a month or more of paid holidays, health care and education was for free and as a difference from other easter european countries, you could travel abroad. In Yugoslavia, there was almost no crime, drugs or prostitution and you could feel save walking down the road in the middle of the night.Of course there were also minuses but as is in human nature we always forget bad things and remember good ones.

At the end of 90s, Slovenia was at that point still a part of federal socialist republic Yugoslavia, more and more intellectuals and journalist started to raise questions about future in Yugoslavia. Movement to get open and free elections, to serve army at our own teritory and in our language, more openes to west and to reform economy was getting bigger and stronger day by day. In the other part of Yugoslavia, tendencies have been exactly opposite. Different view on our future in Yugoslavia at the end got us in the war and independence. Slovenia was quite lucky or to say better slovenians have been prepared and could resist aggresion on day one and thus avoid more dead and destruction. Croatia and latter Bosnia were not so lucky..

Today´s Slovenia is,as you probably know a part of EU, with open borders, with no conscript army and free market economy. A lot of things changed in last 20 years for Slovenia and slovenians. We have now highways from Austria to Croatia and from Italy to Hungary. In Yugolsavia we had maybe 50 kilomters of highaway. In today´s Slovenia we do not need to go to Austria to buy cheese or car parts or to Italy to get a pair of jeans. Our towns are changing at a fast rate, only in capital Ljubljana in last 10 years more old buildings were restored than in all 60 years in Yugoslavia. Even if our tourist facilities are not so developt as in neighboring Austria or Italy we are coming there.Our tourism is groving every year by 10-15% and almost every tourist going home from Slovenia is impressed and planes to come back again.

This was my attempt to introduce you history of my country in a few sentences. We slovenians use to speak in negative sense about our homeland, I will not do that. From me you get a big invitation to our small country, see for yourself why our promo is FEEL LOVE!!


text was priviously published on commercial webpage