Outbreak of WW I in Styria: Persecutions of Slovenes

Research project P 13833 Outbreak of WWI in Styria: Persecutions of Slovenes Maritn MOLL 28.06.1999 Historical research on domestic problems of the Habsburg Empire during World War I has not yet made considerable progress. For example, we do not possess a fundamental overlook dealing with former Styria, a country to which at that time belonged the southern provinces of Lower Styria ("Untersteiermark"). In that part of Styria the majority of the population was of slovene origin. The occurences in Styria at the outbreak of World War I had longlasting effects. Nevertheless they are completely forgotten nowadays. In that region conflicts between the German and slovene population had a long tradition. This situation favoured a mass of denunciations directed against suspected slovene persons immediately after the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajewo, june 28, 1914. Hundreds of slovene citizens were accused of being serbian collaborators. Unregarding the very often ridiculous charakter of the accusations, hundreds of people were arrested for several months. The majority finally was released without further indictment, a smaller part was sentenced because of "serbophile propaganda" and related activities to some months imprisonment. When the Parliament in Vienna, the Reichsrat, was reassembled for the first time during war in may 1917, slovene members of Parliament delivered a mass of inquiries to the government and asked for information about the sensational occurences in Styria during summer 1914. The central government installed two commissions, which visited the provinces in debate, interrogated a mass of eye vitnesses and collected a lot of relevant material. Their final reports never were made public before the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy. We possess a very rich record on the persecution of slovene Styrians in 1914: Documents from courts, from public prosecutors, from the local police and civil administration, reports to higher levels of the bureaucracy and so on. Based on this sources we are able to reconstruct nearly every single case, the circumstances of imprisonment and the final outcome of the trials. Furthermore we learn about the reactions of the authorities involved and their harsh disputes: At the beginning of war they ordered severe punishment, but after a while they learned that activities of local police ran out of controll und were directed against innocent people. A further important souce is the daily press: Newspapers published news on many relevant cases and, in general, reinforced the national conflicts. This topic can deliver interesting insights in domestic policy during World War I and can illustrate . Austria- Hungary`s rapid change from a constitutional state to a country waging a world war with rather ruthless methods. We learn about the politication and radicalization of wide circles of the population (German and Slovene), from which the police received the majority of the denunciations. We can reconstruct public atmosphere at the outbreak of war. This atmosphere seems to be charakterized much more by mass hysteria and paranoia, by suspicion against anybody, than by public enthusiasm for war. The persecution of slovene Styrians marks an important step towards the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, towards the desire of many Slovenes to become independent and, last but not least, towards the separation of Lower Styria after the war. The latter fact has dominanted public spirit in Styria, but the treatment of many loyal slovene citizens has to be reconsidered and remembered, too.

When World War I broke out at the end of July 1914, in the Duchy of Styria longlasting conflicts between German majority and Slovene minority led to mass arrestations of Slovenes, too. Like Carinthia the Duchy of Styria had seen a majority completely unwilling to make concessions to the minority. After the assassination of the heir to the throne at Sarajewo, June 28, 1914, war came in sight. The Viennese government ordered severe suppression of any "serbophile" tendencies among Styrian Slovenes. These measures encouraged countless Styrians, Germans as well as Slovenes, to denounce suspected people - unknown persons as well as neighbours, friends and relatives. Summed up as "high treason" they were accused of sympathy for or collaboration with the enemy state Serbia. Public opinion exercised hard pressure upon the local police which hastily arrested the persons under suspect. Substantial evidence was lacking. Documents reveal at least 1.000 "political" charges against Styrians between Sarajewo and the end of 1914. Most accusations proved to be absurd. It took several months until this insight got the upper hand and the victims were released. The most astonishing results of this study comprise the willingness of large portions of the population for denunciation, not the least in Lower Styria with its Slovene majority. Furthermore we see a ruthless agitation of radical German periodicals against "friends of Serbia", not halted by official censorship, and severe disputes between the civil administration trying in vain to stop mass arrestations and the military and the military court - the latter supposed "traitors everywhere". Events in summer and autumn 1914 contributed to a high degree to the turnover of Slovenes away from Austria and towards a new southslavic state to come after the fighting had stopped. By examining what happened in Styria in 1914 we come to a better understanding of the historical process leading to the loss of Lower Styria at the peace conference in 1919.