132-653: The Party of Slovenian People ( Stranka slovenskega naroda, SSN ) is an extra-parliamentary party in Slovenia . In the 2008 legislative election in Slovenia , the party won 0.25% of the popular vote and no seats in the National Assembly . In the early election on 4 December 2011 , the party won 0.09% of the vote, thus not gaining any seats in the National Assembly. The party won 0.4% of the vote in
264-476: A United Slovenia , first advanced during the revolutions of 1848 , became the common platform of most Slovenian parties and political movements in Austria-Hungary. During the same period, Yugoslavism , an ideology stressing the unity of all South Slavic peoples , spread as a reaction to Pan-German nationalism and Italian irredentism . World War I brought heavy casualties to Slovenes, particularly
396-466: A demonym . Present-day Slovenia has been inhabited since prehistoric times. There is evidence of human habitation from around 250,000 years ago. A pierced cave bear bone , dating from 43100 ± 700 BP , found in 1995 in Divje Babe cave near Cerkno , is considered a kind of flute, and possibly the oldest musical instrument discovered in the world. In the 1920s and 1930s, artifacts belonging to
528-643: A limestone region of underground rivers, gorges, and caves, between Ljubljana and the Mediterranean Sea. On the Pannonian plain to the East and Northeast, toward the Croatian and Hungarian borders, the landscape is essentially flat. However, most of Slovenia is hilly or mountainous, with around 90% of its land surface 200 m (656 ft) or more above sea level . More than half of Slovenia, which
660-531: A " sovietization " of Central Europe. In addition to reparations, Stalin pushed for "war booty", which would permit the Soviet Union to directly seize property from conquered nations without quantitative or qualitative limitation. A clause was added permitting this to occur with some limitations. At first, the Soviets concealed their role in other Eastern Bloc politics, with the transformation appearing as
792-688: A "loophole" through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still move west. The 3.5 million East Germans that had left by 1961, called Republikflucht , totaled approximately 20% of the entire East German population. In August 1961, East Germany erected a barbed-wire barrier that would eventually be expanded through construction into the Berlin Wall , effectively closing the loophole. With virtually non-existent conventional emigration, more than 75% of those emigrating from Eastern Bloc countries between 1950 and 1990 did so under bilateral agreements for "ethnic migration". About 10% were refugee migrants under
924-610: A broader democratic basis in Poland. He stated that the new government's primary task would be to prepare elections. However, the 1946 Polish people's referendum (known as the "Three Times Yes" referendum) and the subsequent 1947 Polish parliamentary election did not meet democratic standards and were largely manipulated. The parties at Yalta further agreed that the countries of liberated Europe and former Axis satellites would be allowed to "create democratic institutions of their own choice", pursuant to "the right of all peoples to choose
1056-577: A death sentence and execution. A number of other high ranking Bulgarian officials were also jailed. Stalin and Hungarian leader Mátyás Rákosi met in Moscow to orchestrate a show trial of Rákosi opponent László Rajk , who was thereafter executed. The preservation of the Soviet bloc relied on maintaining a sense of ideological unity that would entrench Moscow's influence in Eastern Europe as well as
1188-419: A distance. In addition to emigration restrictions, civil society, defined as a domain of political action outside the party's state control, was not allowed to firmly take root, with the possible exception of Poland in the 1980s . While the institutional design of the communist systems were based on the rejection of rule of law, the legal infrastructure was not immune to change reflecting decaying ideology and
1320-653: A group of intellectuals demanded Slovene independence in the 57th edition of the magazine Nova revija . Demands for democratisation and more Slovenian independence were sparked off. A mass democratic movement, coordinated by the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights , pushed the Communists in the direction of democratic reforms. In September 1989, numerous constitutional amendments were passed to introduce parliamentary democracy to Slovenia. On 7 March 1990,
1452-482: A large-scale party programs to train personnel who would meet political requirements. Former members of the middle-class were officially discriminated against, though the state's need for their skills and certain opportunities to re-invent themselves as good Communist citizens did allow many to nonetheless achieve success. Communist regimes in the Eastern Bloc viewed marginal groups of opposition intellectuals as
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#17327914815521584-710: A late September 1947 meeting of all communist parties in Szklarska Poręba , Eastern Bloc communist parties were blamed for permitting even minor influence by non-communists in their respective countries during the run up to the Marshall Plan. In the former German capital Berlin, surrounded by Soviet-occupied Germany, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade on 24 June 1948, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin . The blockade
1716-711: A member of the Comecon or the Warsaw Pact. Parting with the USSR in 1948, Yugoslavia did not belong to the East, but it also did not belong to the West because of its socialist system and its status as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement . However, some sources consider Yugoslavia to be a member of the Eastern Bloc. Others consider Yugoslavia not to be a member after it broke with Soviet policy in
1848-561: A modification of Western " bourgeois democracy ". As a young communist was told in East Germany, "it's got to look democratic, but we must have everything in our control". Stalin felt that socioeconomic transformation was indispensable to establish Soviet control, reflecting the Marxist–Leninist view that material bases, the distribution of the means of production, shaped social and political relations. The Soviet Union also co-opted
1980-616: A movement for self-determination, demanding the creation of a semi-independent South Slavic state under Habsburg rule. The proposal was picked up by most Slovene parties, and a mass mobilization of Slovene civil society, known as the Declaration Movement , followed. This demand was rejected by the Austrian political elites; but following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the aftermath of
2112-767: A newer natural geographic regionalisation, the country consists of four macroregions . These are the Alpine, the Mediterranean, the Dinaric, and the Pannonian landscapes. Macroregions are defined according to major relief units (the Alps, the Pannonian plain, the Dinaric mountains) and climate types (submediterranean, temperate continental, mountain climate). These are often quite interwoven. Protected areas of Slovenia include national parks, regional parks, and nature parks,
2244-588: A population of approximately 2.1 million. Slovene is the official language. Slovenia has a predominantly temperate continental climate , with the exception of the Slovene Littoral and the Julian Alps . Ljubljana , the capital and largest city of Slovenia, is geographically situated near the centre of the country. Other larger urban centers are Maribor , Kranj , Celje and Koper . Slovenia's territory has been part of many different states:
2376-419: A potential threat because of the bases underlying Communist power therein. The suppression of dissidence and opposition was considered a central prerequisite to retain power, though the enormous expense at which the population in certain countries were kept under secret surveillance may not have been rational. Following a totalitarian initial phase, a post-totalitarian period followed the death of Stalin in which
2508-501: A prominent member of the ultras group "Viole Maribor". Šiško was apprehended during a pre-election debate appearance due to an outstanding arrest warrant after failing to appear in prison to begin serving a prison sentence for a 1992 murder attempt. This article about a Slovenian political party is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Slovenia – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in
2640-408: A public relations campaign against the western policy change and communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948 preceding large losses therein, while 300,000 Berliners demonstrated and urged the international airlift to continue. In May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin. After disagreements between Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and
2772-454: A semi-autonomous state with its own constitutional structure for a long time. The counts of Celje , a feudal family from this area who in 1436 acquired the title of state princes, were Habsburgs ' powerful competitors for some time. This large dynasty, important at a European political level, had its seat in Slovene territory but died out in 1456. Its numerous large estates subsequently became
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#17327914815522904-510: A unified Soviet command structure. Beginning in 1964, Romania took a more independent course. While it did not repudiate either Comecon or the Warsaw Pact, it ceased to play a significant role in either. Nicolae Ceaușescu 's assumption of leadership one year later pushed Romania even further in the direction of separateness. Albania, which had become increasingly isolated under Stalinist leader Enver Hoxha following de-Stalinization , undergoing an Albanian–Soviet split in 1961, withdrew from
3036-564: A world of democracy and peace". While meeting with Stalin and Roosevelt in Tehran in 1943, Churchill stated that Britain was vitally interested in restoring Poland as a politically independent country. Britain did not press the matter for fear that it would become a source of inter-allied friction. In February 1945, at the conference at Yalta , Stalin demanded a Soviet sphere of political influence in Central Europe. Stalin eventually
3168-706: Is 11,823 km or 4,565 sq mi, is forested; ranking it third in Europe, by percentage of area forested , after Finland and Sweden . The areas are covered mostly by beech , fir -beech and beech- oak forests and have a relatively high production capacity. Remnants of primeval forests are still to be found, the largest in the Kočevje area. Grassland covers 5,593 km (2,159 sq mi) and fields and gardens (954 km or 368 sq mi). There are 363 km (140 sq mi) of orchards and 216 km (83 sq mi) of vineyards. Slovenia
3300-569: Is also influenced by the variety of relief, and the influence of the Alps and the Adriatic Sea . In the northeast, the continental climate type with the greatest difference between winter and summer temperatures prevails. In the coastal region, there is a sub- Mediterranean climate . The effect of the sea on the temperature rates is also visible up the Soča Valley, while a severe Alpine climate
3432-679: Is highly dependent on foreign trade, with exports accounting for a significant portion of the country's GDP. Slovenia is a member of the European Union , the United Nations , NATO , the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe , and other associations in the global community. The name Slovenia etymologically means 'land of the Slavs '. The origin of the name Slav itself remains uncertain. The suffix -en forms
3564-706: Is in a rather active seismic zone because of its position on the small Adriatic Plate , which is squeezed between the Eurasian Plate to the north and the African Plate to the south and rotates counter-clockwise. Thus the country is at the junction of three important geotectonic units: the Alps to the north, the Dinaric Alps to the south and the Pannonian Basin to the east. Scientists have been able to identify 60 destructive earthquakes in
3696-590: Is present in the high mountain regions. There is a strong interaction between these three climatic systems across most of the country. Precipitation , often coming from the Gulf of Genoa , varies across the country as well, with over 3,500 mm (138 in) in some western regions and dropping down to 800 mm (31 in) in Prekmurje . Snow is quite frequent in winter and the record snow cover in Ljubljana
3828-543: Is replaced by a socialist encirclement". In 1939, the USSR entered into the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany that contained a secret protocol that divided Romania, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland into German and Soviet spheres of influence. Eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Bessarabia in northern Romania were recognized as parts of the Soviet sphere of influence . Lithuania
3960-834: Is thought to have overemphasized the role of the Church of Salzburg in the Christianization process over similar efforts of the Patriarchate of Aquileia . In the mid-8th century, Carantania became a vassal duchy under the rule of the Bavarians , who began spreading Christianity . Three decades later, the Carantanians were incorporated, together with the Bavarians, into the Carolingian Empire . During
4092-945: The Alps , the Dinarides , the Pannonian Plain , and the Mediterranean Sea. Although on the shore of the Adriatic Sea near the Mediterranean Sea, most of Slovenia is in the Black Sea drainage basin . The Alps—including the Julian Alps , the Kamnik-Savinja Alps and the Karawank chain, as well as the Pohorje massif—dominate Northern Slovenia along its long border with Austria . Slovenia's Adriatic coastline stretches approximately 47 kilometres (29 mi) from Italy to Croatia. The term " Karst topography " refers to that of southwestern Slovenia's Karst Plateau ,
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4224-592: The Comecon in accordance with Stalin's desire to enforce Soviet domination of the lesser states of Central Europe and to mollify some states that had expressed interest in the Marshall Plan , and which were now, increasingly, cut off from their traditional markets and suppliers in Western Europe. The Comecon's role became ambiguous because Stalin preferred more direct links with other party chiefs than
4356-582: The Counts of Gorizia , the Counts of Celje , and, finally, the House of Habsburg . In a parallel process, an intensive Germanization significantly diminished the extent of Slovene-speaking areas. By the 15th century, the Slovene ethnic territory was reduced to its present size. In 1335, Henry of Gorizia , Duke of Carinthia, Landgrave of Carniola and Count of Tyrol died without a male heir, his daughter Margaret
4488-782: The Cro-Magnon , such as pierced bones, bone points, and a needle were found by archaeologist Srečko Brodar in Potok Cave . In 2002, remains of pile dwellings over 4,500 years old were discovered in the Ljubljana Marsh , now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site , along with the Ljubljana Marshes Wooden Wheel , the oldest wooden wheel in the world. It shows that wooden wheels appeared almost simultaneously in Mesopotamia and Europe. In
4620-897: The Croatian-Slovenian peasant revolt wrought havoc throughout the wider region. Such uprisings, which often met with bloody defeats, continued throughout the 17th century. After the dissolution of the Republic of Venice in 1797 , the Venetian Slovenia was passed to the Austrian Empire. The Slovene Lands were part of the French-administered Illyrian Provinces established by Napoleon, the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary . Slovenes inhabited most of Carniola ,
4752-774: The European Commission , and seven Slovene parliamentarians were elected to the European Parliament at elections on 13 June 2004. In 2004 Slovenia also joined NATO . Slovenia subsequently succeeded in meeting the Maastricht criteria and joined the Eurozone (the first transition country to do so) on 1 January 2007. It was the first post-Communist country to hold the Presidency of the Council of
4884-465: The European Union (green) Slovenia officially the Republic of Slovenia is a country in Central Europe . It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short coastline within the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, which is part of the Mediterranean sea . Slovenia is mostly mountainous and forested, covers 20,271 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi), and has
5016-408: The First World War , the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs took power in Zagreb on 6 October 1918. On 29 October, independence was declared by a national gathering in Ljubljana, and by the Croatian parliament, declaring the establishment of the new State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs . On 1 December 1918, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs merged with Serbia , becoming part of
5148-423: The High Middle Ages , the historic provinces of Carniola, Styria , Carinthia , Gorizia , Trieste , and Istria developed from the border regions and were incorporated into the medieval Holy Roman Empire . The consolidation and formation of these historical lands took place in a long period between the 11th and 14th centuries, and were led by a number of important feudal families, such as the Dukes of Spanheim ,
5280-444: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia . During World War II , Germany , Italy , and Hungary occupied and annexed Slovenia, with a tiny area transferred to the Independent State of Croatia , a newly declared Nazi puppet state . In 1945, it again became part of Yugoslavia . Post-war, Yugoslavia was allied with the Eastern Bloc , but after the Tito–Stalin split of 1948, it never subscribed to the Warsaw Pact , and in 1961 it became one of
5412-427: The Ogaden War in 1977. Although not Marxist–Leninist , leadership of Ba'athist Syria officially regarded the country as part of the Socialist Bloc and established a close economic, military alliance with the Soviet Union. Many states were accused by the Western Bloc of being in the Eastern Bloc when they were part of the Non-Aligned Movement . The most limited definition of the Eastern Bloc would only include
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5544-516: The Prekmurje region, perished in 1944 in the holocaust of Hungarian Jews . The German-speaking minority, amounting to 2.5% of the Slovenian population prior to the war, was either expelled or killed in the aftermath of the war. Hundreds of Istrian Italians and Slovenes that opposed communism were killed in the foibe massacres , and more than 25,000 fled or were expelled from Slovenian Istria . Around 130,000 persons, mostly political and military opponents, were executed in May and June 1945. During
5676-466: The Province of Ljubljana , the Slovenian National Liberation Front was organized in April 1941. Led by the Communist Party, it formed the Slovene Partisan units as part of the Yugoslav Partisans led by the Communist leader Josip Broz Tito . After the resistance started in summer 1941, Italian violence against the Slovene civilian population escalated. The Italian authorities deported some 25,000 people to concentration camps , which equaled 7.5% of
5808-417: The Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Carolingian Empire , the Holy Roman Empire , the Kingdom of Hungary , the Republic of Venice , the Illyrian Provinces of Napoleon's First French Empire and the Habsburg Empire . In October 1918, the Slovenes co-founded the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs . In December 1918, they merged with the Kingdom of Montenegro and the Kingdom of Serbia into
5940-399: The Soviets occupied the territories . In June 1941, Germany broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact by invading the Soviet Union . From the time of this invasion to 1944, the areas annexed by the Soviet Union were part of Germany's Ostland (except for the Moldavian SSR ). Thereafter, the Soviet Union began to push German forces westward through a series of battles on the Eastern Front . In
6072-404: The Warsaw Pact was formed partly in response to NATO 's inclusion of West Germany and partly because the Soviets needed an excuse to retain Red Army units in Hungary. For 35 years, the Pact perpetuated the Stalinist concept of Soviet national security based on imperial expansion and control over satellite regimes in Eastern Europe. This Soviet formalization of their security relationships in
6204-428: The 1920s, followed by a relatively successful economic adjustment to the 1929 economic crisis and Great Depression . Following a plebiscite in October 1920, the Slovene-speaking southern Carinthia was ceded to Austria . With the Treaty of Trianon , the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was awarded the mostly Slovene-inhabited Prekmurje region, formerly part of Austria-Hungary. Slovenes living in territories that fell under
6336-425: The 1948 Tito–Stalin split . In 1922, the Russian SFSR , the Ukrainian SSR , the Byelorussian SSR and the Transcaucasian SFSR approved the Treaty of Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Soviet Union . Soviet leader Joseph Stalin , who viewed the Soviet Union as a "socialist island", stated that the Soviet Union must see that "the present capitalist encirclement
6468-514: The 1970s more airlines were created including Slovenian Adria Airways mostly focused in the growing tourist industry. Until the 1980s, Slovenia enjoyed relatively broad autonomy within the federation. It was the most liberal communist state in Europe, and the passport of the Yugoslavia Federation allowed Yugoslavians to travel to the most world countries of any socialist country during the Cold War. Many people worked in western countries, which reduced unemployment in their home country. Opposition to
6600-432: The Bloc were instructed to foster intra-leadership conflict and to transmit information against each other. This accompanied a continuous stream of accusations of "nationalistic deviations", "insufficient appreciation of the USSR's role", links with Tito and "espionage for Yugoslavia". This resulted in the persecution of many major party cadres, including those in East Germany. The first country to experience this approach
6732-434: The Comecon's indirect sophistication; it played no significant role in the 1950s in economic planning. Initially, the Comecon served as cover for the Soviet taking of materials and equipment from the rest of the Eastern Bloc, but the balance changed when the Soviets became net subsidizers of the rest of the Bloc by the 1970s via an exchange of low cost raw materials in return for shoddily manufactured finished goods. In 1955,
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#17327914815526864-416: The Communist party were persecuted and thousands were sent to Goli otok . The late 1950s saw a policy of liberalization in the cultural sphere as well, and unlimited border crossing into western countries was allowed, both for Yugoslav citizens and for foreigners. In 1956, Josip Broz Tito , together with other leaders, founded the Non-Aligned Movement . In the 1950s, Slovenia's economy developed rapidly and
6996-556: The Eastern Alps . From 623 to 624 or possibly 626 onwards, King Samo united the Alpine and Western Slavs against the Avars and Germanic peoples and established what is referred to as Samo's Kingdom. After its disintegration following Samo's death in 658 or 659, the ancestors of the Slovenes located in present-day Carinthia formed the independent duchy of Carantania , and Carniola , later duchy Carniola. Other parts of present-day Slovenia were again ruled by Avars before Charlemagne 's victory over them in 803. The Carantanians , one of
7128-429: The Eastern Bloc reflected Moscow's basic security policy principle that continued presence in East Central Europe was a foundation of its defense against the West. Through its institutional structures, the Pact also compensated in part for the absence of Joseph Stalin's personal leadership since his death in 1953. The Pact consolidated the other Bloc members' armies in which Soviet officers and security agents served under
7260-408: The Eastern Bloc, despite attempts by authorities to jam the airways. Under the state atheism of many Eastern Bloc nations, religion was actively suppressed. Since some of these states tied their ethnic heritage to their national churches, both the peoples and their churches were targeted by the Soviets. In 1949, the Soviet Union , Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia , Hungary, Poland, and Romania founded
7392-732: The Eastern European countries into its sphere of influence by making reference to some cultural commonalities. Moscow-trained cadres were put into crucial power positions to fulfill orders regarding sociopolitical transformation. Elimination of the bourgeoisie 's social and financial power by expropriation of landed and industrial property was accorded absolute priority. These measures were publicly billed as "reforms" rather than socioeconomic transformations. Except for initially in Czechoslovakia, activities by political parties had to adhere to "Bloc politics", with parties eventually having to accept membership in an "antifascist bloc" obliging them to act only by mutual "consensus". The bloc system permitted
7524-407: The European Parliament election on 25 May 2014, failing to gain any seats. The party has its roots in the far-right Slovenian National Right party, which was transformed and renamed after its failure in the 1996 parliamentary election . In later years, it was associated with the nationalistic organization Hervardi. The party's candidate for the 2008 legislative election was Andrej Šiško , formerly
7656-414: The European Union , for the first six months of 2008. On 21 July 2010, it became a member of the OECD. The disillusionment with domestic socio-economic elites at municipal and national levels was expressed at the 2012–2013 Slovenian protests on a wider scale than in the smaller 15 October 2011 protests . In relation to the leading politicians' response to allegations made by the official Commission for
7788-468: The Polish rejection of the Plan with a huge 5-year trade agreement, including $ 450 million in credit, 200,000 tons of grain, heavy machinery and factories. In July 1947, Stalin ordered these countries to pull out of the Paris Conference on the European Recovery Programme, which has been described as "the moment of truth" in the post- World War II division of Europe. Thereafter, Stalin sought stronger control over other Eastern Bloc countries, abandoning
7920-444: The Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Slovenia , legal experts expressed the need for changes in the system that would limit political arbitrariness . Slovenia is in Southern Europe touching the east Alps and bordering the Mediterranean Sea . This locates Slovenia within the Mediterranean basin. It lies between latitudes 45° and 47° N , and longitudes 13° and 17° E . The 15th meridian east almost corresponds to
8052-455: The Slovene refugees in Italian camps were treated as state enemies, and several thousand died of malnutrition and diseases between 1915 and 1918. Entire areas of the Slovene Littoral were destroyed. The Treaty of Rapallo of 1920 left approximately 327,000 out of the total population of 1.3 million Slovenes in Italy. After the fascists took power in Italy, they were subjected to a policy of violent Fascist Italianization . This caused
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#17327914815528184-459: The Slovenian Assembly changed the official name of the state to the "Republic of Slovenia". In April 1990, the first democratic election in Slovenia took place, and the united opposition movement DEMOS led by Jože Pučnik emerged victorious. The initial revolutionary events in Slovenia pre-dated the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe by almost a year, but went largely unnoticed by international observers. On 23 December 1990, more than 88% of
8316-456: The Slovenian Littoral, incorporating them into what was known as the Operation Zone of Adriatic Coastal Region . They united the Slovene anti-Communist counter-insurgence into the Slovene Home Guard and appointed a puppet regime in the Province of Ljubljana. The anti-Nazi resistance however expanded, creating its own administrative structures as the basis for Slovene statehood within a new, federal and socialist Yugoslavia. In 1945, Yugoslavia
8448-454: The Soviet Union regarding Greece and Albania , a Tito–Stalin split occurred, followed by Yugoslavia being expelled from the Cominform in June 1948 and a brief failed Soviet putsch in Belgrade. The split created two separate communist forces in Europe. A vehement campaign against Titoism was immediately started in the Eastern Bloc, describing agents of both the West and Tito in all places as engaging in subversive activity. Stalin ordered
8580-478: The Soviet Union to exercise domestic control indirectly. Crucial departments such as those responsible for personnel, general police, secret police and youth were strictly Communist run. Moscow cadres distinguished "progressive forces" from "reactionary elements" and rendered both powerless. Such procedures were repeated until Communists had gained unlimited power and only politicians who were unconditionally supportive of Soviet policy remained. In June 1947, after
8712-448: The Soviets had refused to negotiate a potential lightening of restrictions on German development, the United States announced the Marshall Plan , a comprehensive program of American assistance to all European countries wanting to participate, including the Soviet Union and those of Eastern Europe. The Soviets rejected the Plan and took a hard-line position against the United States and non-communist European nations. However, Czechoslovakia
8844-440: The US , but also to South America (the main part to Argentina ), Germany, Egypt , and to larger cities in Austria-Hungary, especially Vienna and Graz . Despite this emigration, the population of Slovenia increased significantly. Literacy was exceptionally high, at 80–90%. The 19th century also saw a revival of culture in Slovene , accompanied by a Romantic nationalist quest for cultural and political autonomy. The idea of
8976-504: The Warsaw Pact in 1968 following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia . In 1917, Russia restricted emigration by instituting passport controls and forbidding the exit of belligerent nationals. In 1922, after the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR , both the Ukrainian SSR and the Russian SFSR issued general rules for travel that foreclosed virtually all departures, making legal emigration impossible. Border controls thereafter strengthened such that, by 1928, even illegal departure
9108-437: The Warsaw Pact states and the Mongolian People's Republic as former satellite states most dominated by the Soviet Union. Cuba 's defiance of complete Soviet control was noteworthy enough that Cuba was sometimes excluded as a satellite state altogether, as it sometimes intervened in other Third World countries even when the Soviet Union opposed this. Post-1991 usage of the term "Eastern Bloc" may be more limited in referring to
9240-407: The West and Tito. Despite the initial institutional design of communism implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Eastern Bloc, subsequent development varied across countries. In satellite states, after peace treaties were initially concluded, opposition was essentially liquidated, fundamental steps towards socialism were enforced, and Kremlin leaders sought to strengthen control therein. Right from
9372-425: The aftermath of World War II on the Soviet-Finnish border , the parties signed another peace treaty ceding to the Soviet Union in 1944, followed by a Soviet annexation of roughly the same eastern Finnish territories as those of the prior interim peace treaty as part of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic . From 1943 to 1945, several conferences regarding Post-War Europe occurred that, in part, addressed
9504-565: The ancestral groups of the modern Slovenes, particularly the Carinthian Slovenes , were the first Slavic people to accept Christianity . They were mostly Christianized by Irish missionaries, among them Modestus , known as the "Apostle of Carantanians". This process, together with the Christianization of the Bavarians , was later described in the memorandum known as the Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum , which
9636-455: The beginning, Stalin directed systems that rejected Western institutional characteristics of market economies , capitalist parliamentary democracy (dubbed "bourgeois democracy" in Soviet parlance) and the rule of law subduing discretional intervention by the state. The resulting states aspired to total control of a political center backed by an extensive and active repressive apparatus, and a central role of Marxist–Leninist ideology. However,
9768-468: The classification of Augustus ) and the provinces Pannonia and Noricum . The Romans established posts at Emona (Ljubljana), Poetovio (Ptuj), and Celeia (Celje); and constructed trade and military roads that ran across Slovene territory from Italy to Pannonia. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the area was subject to invasions by the Huns and Germanic tribes during their incursions into Italy. A part of
9900-526: The conversion of the Cominform into an instrument to monitor and control the internal affairs of other Eastern Bloc parties. He also briefly considered converting the Cominform into an instrument for sentencing high-ranking deviators, but dropped the idea as impractical. Instead, a move to weaken communist party leaders through conflict was started. Soviet cadres in communist party and state positions in
10032-462: The core of the system, with their names becoming synonymous with raw power and the threat of violent retribution should an individual become active against the State. Several state police and secret police organizations enforced communist party rule, including the following: The press in the communist period was an organ of the state, completely reliant on and subservient to the communist party. Before
10164-570: The country in a few weeks. The southern part, including Ljubljana , was annexed to Italy, while the Nazis took over the northern and eastern parts of the country. The Nazis had a plan of ethnic cleansing of these areas, and they resettled or expelled the local Slovene civilian population to the puppet states of Nedić's Serbia (7,500) and NDH (10,000). In addition, some 46,000 Slovenes were expelled to Germany, including children who were separated from their parents and allocated to German families. At
10296-594: The country's population who had accepted total obedience. Those who secured membership in this selective group received considerable rewards, such as access to special lower priced shops with a greater selection of high-quality domestic and/or foreign goods ( confections , alcohol , cigars , cameras , televisions , and the like), special schools, holiday facilities, homes, high-quality domestic and/or foreign-made furniture, works of art, pensions, permission to travel abroad, and official cars with distinct license plates so that police and others could identify these members from
10428-630: The electorate voted for a sovereign and independent Slovenia. On 25 June 1991, Slovenia became independent. On 27 June in the early morning, the Yugoslav People's Army dispatched its forces to prevent further measures for the establishment of a new country, which led to the Ten-Day War . On 7 July, the Brijuni Agreement was signed, implementing a truce and a three-month halt of the enforcement of Slovenia's independence. At
10560-725: The end of the Cold War: the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (from 1967), the People's Republic of the Congo (from 1969), the People's Republic of Benin , the People's Republic of Angola and People's Republic of Mozambique from 1975, the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada from 1979 to 1983, the Derg / People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1974, and the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 until
10692-581: The end of the month, the last soldiers of the Yugoslav Army left Slovenia. In December 1991, a new constitution was adopted, followed in 1992 by the laws on denationalisation and privatisation . The members of the European Union recognised Slovenia as an independent state on 15 January 1992, and the United Nations accepted it as a member on 22 May 1992. Slovenia joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Slovenia has one Commissioner in
10824-520: The failure of forced collectivisation that was attempted from 1949 to 1953, a policy of gradual economic liberalisation, known as workers self-management , was introduced under the advice and supervision of the Slovene Marxist theoretician and Communist leader Edvard Kardelj , the main ideologue of the Titoist path to socialism. Suspected opponents of this policy both from within and outside
10956-495: The form of government under which they will live". The parties also agreed to help those countries form interim governments "pledged to the earliest possible establishment through free elections" and "facilitate where necessary the holding of such elections". At the beginning of the July–August 1945 Potsdam Conference after Germany's unconditional surrender, Stalin repeated previous promises to Churchill that he would refrain from
11088-503: The former believing Soviet leader Stalin to be a "devil"-like tyrant leading a vile system. When warned of potential domination by a Stalin dictatorship over part of Europe, Roosevelt responded with a statement summarizing his rationale for relations with Stalin: "I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man. ... I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for
11220-403: The founders of the Non-Aligned Movement . In June 1991, Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia and became an independent sovereign state . Slovenia is a developed country , with a high-income economy characterized by a mixture of both traditional industries, such as manufacturing and agriculture, and modern sectors, such as information technology and financial service. The economy
11352-579: The future structure of the "Polish region". Soviet authorities immediately started a campaign of sovietization of the newly Soviet-annexed areas . Soviet authorities collectivized agriculture, and nationalized and redistributed private and state-owned Polish property. Initial Soviet occupations of the Baltic countries had occurred in mid-June 1940, when Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Lithuania , Estonia and Latvia , followed by
11484-607: The ideology of Marxism–Leninism , in opposition to the capitalist Western Bloc . The Eastern Bloc was often called the " Second World ", whereas the term " First World " referred to the Western Bloc and " Third World " referred to the non-aligned countries that were mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America but notably also included former pre-1948 Soviet ally Yugoslavia , which was located in Europe. In Western Europe ,
11616-527: The inner state was protected with a defensive line of towers and walls called Claustra Alpium Iuliarum . A crucial battle between Theodosius I and Eugenius took place in the Vipava Valley in 394. The Slavic tribes migrated to the Alpine area after the westward departure of the Lombards (the last Germanic tribe) in 568, and, under pressure from Avars , established a Slavic settlement in
11748-425: The largest of which is Triglav National Park . There are 286 Natura 2000 designated protected areas, which include 36% of the country's land area, the largest percentage among European Union states. Additionally, according to Yale University 's Environmental Performance Index , Slovenia is considered a "strong performer" in environmental protection efforts. Slovenia is located in temperate latitudes. The climate
11880-419: The late 1980s, Eastern Bloc radio and television organizations were state-owned, while print media was usually owned by political organizations, mostly by the local communist party. Youth newspapers and magazines were owned by youth organizations affiliated with communist parties. The control of the media was exercised directly by the communist party itself, and by state censorship, which was also controlled by
12012-581: The liquidation of state administrations and replacement by Soviet cadres. Elections for parliament and other offices were held with single candidates listed and the official results fabricated, purporting pro-Soviet candidates' approval by 92.8 percent of the voters in Estonia, 97.6 percent in Latvia, and 99.2 percent in Lithuania. The fraudulently installed "people's assemblies" immediately declared each of
12144-570: The mass emigration of Slovenes, especially the middle class, from the Slovene Littoral and Trieste to Yugoslavia and South America. Those who remained organized several connected networks of both passive and armed resistance. The best known was the militant anti-fascist organization TIGR , formed in 1927 to fight Fascist oppression of the Slovene and Croat populations in the Julian March . The Slovene People's Party launched
12276-602: The middle line of the country in the direction west–east. The Geometric Centre of the Republic of Slovenia is located at coordinates 46°07'11.8" N and 14°48'55.2" E. It lies in Slivna in the Municipality of Litija . Slovenia's highest peak is Triglav (2,864 m or 9,396 ft); the country's average height above sea level is 557 m (1,827 ft). Four major European geographic regions meet in Slovenia:
12408-641: The new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes ; in 1929 it was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . The main territory of Slovenia, being the most industrialized and westernized compared to other less developed parts of Yugoslavia, became the main centre of industrial production: Compared to Serbia, for example, Slovenian industrial production was four times greater; and it was 22 times greater than in North Macedonia . The interwar period brought further industrialization in Slovenia, with rapid economic growth in
12540-647: The parties entered into an interim peace treaty granting the Soviet Union a portion of the eastern region of Karelia (10% of Finnish territory), and the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was established by merging the ceded territories with the KASSR . After a June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum demanding Bessarabia, Bukovina , and the Hertsa region from Romania, the Soviets entered these areas, Romania caved to Soviet demands and
12672-525: The party. Media served as an important form of control over information and society. The dissemination and portrayal of knowledge were considered by authorities to be vital to communism's survival by stifling alternative concepts and critiques. Several state Communist Party newspapers were published, including: The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) served as the central agency for collection and distribution of internal and international news for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations. It
12804-414: The past. Additionally, a network of seismic stations is active throughout the country. Many parts of Slovenia have a carbonate bedrock and extensive cave systems have developed. The first regionalisations of Slovenia were made by geographers Anton Melik (1935–1936) and Svetozar Ilešič (1968). The newer regionalisation by Ivan Gams divided Slovenia in the following macroregions: According to
12936-697: The population of their occupation zone. The most infamous ones were Rab and Gonars . To counter the Communist-led insurgence, the Italians sponsored local anti-guerrilla units, formed mostly by the local conservative Catholic Slovene population that resented the revolutionary violence of the partisans. After the Italian armistice of September 1943, the Germans took over both the Province of Ljubljana and
13068-517: The potential Soviet annexation and control of countries in Central Europe. There were various Allied plans for state order in Central Europe for post-war. While Joseph Stalin tried to get as many states under Soviet control as possible, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill preferred a Central European Danube Confederation to counter these countries against Germany and Russia. Churchill's Soviet policy regarding Central Europe differed vastly from that of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt , with
13200-590: The power of the local Communist elites. The port city of Trieste was a particular focus after the Second World War. Until the break between Tito and Stalin, the Western powers and the Eastern bloc faced each other uncompromisingly. The neutral buffer state Free Territory of Trieste , founded in 1947 with the United Nations, was split up and dissolved in 1954 and 1975, also because of the détente between
13332-401: The primary method of Communist rule shifted from mass terror to selective repression, along with ideological and sociopolitical strategies of legitimation and the securing of loyalty. Juries were replaced by a tribunal of professional judges and two lay assessors that were dependable party actors. The police deterred and contained opposition to party directives. The political police served as
13464-525: The prior appearance of democratic institutions. When it appeared that, in spite of heavy pressure, non-communist parties might receive in excess of 40% of the vote in the August 1947 Hungarian elections , repressions were instituted to liquidate any independent political forces. In that same month, annihilation of the opposition in Bulgaria began on the basis of continuing instructions by Soviet cadres. At
13596-664: The property of the Habsburgs, who retained control of the area right up until the beginning of the 20th century. Patria del Friuli ruled present western Slovenia until Venetian takeover in 1420. At the end of the Middle Ages, the Slovene Lands suffered a serious economic and demographic setback because of the Turkish raids . In 1515, a peasant revolt spread across nearly the whole Slovene territory. In 1572 and 1573
13728-656: The re-establishment of Yugoslavia in World War II, the first Slovenian republic, Federal Slovenia , was created and it became part of Federal Yugoslavia . It was a socialist state , but because of the Tito–Stalin split in 1948, economic and personal freedoms were much broader than in the Eastern Bloc countries. In 1947, the Slovene Littoral and the western half of Inner Carniola , which had been annexed by Italy after World War One, were annexed to Slovenia. After
13860-485: The regime was mostly limited to intellectual and literary circles and became especially vocal after Tito's death in 1980 when the economic and political situation in Yugoslavia became very strained. Political disputes around economic measures were echoed in the public sentiment, as many Slovenians felt they were being economically exploited, having to sustain an expensive and inefficient federal administration. In 1987
13992-642: The rule of the neighboring states—Italy, Austria, and Hungary—were subjected to assimilation . Slovenia was the only present-day European nation that was trisected and completely annexed into both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during World War II. In addition, the Prekmurje region in the east was annexed to Hungary, and some villages in the Lower Sava Valley were incorporated in the newly created Nazi puppet Independent State of Croatia (NDH). Axis forces invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941 and defeated
14124-707: The same period Carniola , too, came under the Franks, and was Christianised from Aquileia . Following the anti-Frankish rebellion of Liudewit at the beginning of the 9th century, the Franks removed the Carantanian princes, replacing them with their own border dukes. Consequently, the Frankish feudal system reached the Slovene territory. After the victory of Emperor Otto I over the Magyars in 955, Slovene territory
14256-652: The same time, the ethnic Germans in the Gottschee enclave in the Italian annexation zone were resettled to the Nazi-controlled areas cleansed of their Slovene population. Around 30,000 to 40,000 Slovene men were drafted to the German Army and sent to the Eastern front. Slovene was banned from education, and its use in public life was limited. In south-central Slovenia, annexed by Fascist Italy and renamed
14388-593: The sharp 1953 increase was fear of potential further Sovietization with the increasingly paranoid actions of Joseph Stalin in late 1952 and early 1953. 226,000 had fled in just the first six months of 1953. With the closing of the Inner German border officially in 1952, the Berlin city sector borders remained considerably more accessible than the rest of the border because of their administration by all four occupying powers. Accordingly, it effectively comprised
14520-526: The southern part of the duchies of Carinthia and Styria , the northern and eastern areas of the Austrian Littoral , as well as Prekmurje in the Kingdom of Hungary . Industrialization was accompanied by construction of railroads to link cities and markets, but the urbanization was limited. Due to limited opportunities, between 1880 and 1910 there was extensive emigration; around 300,000 Slovenes (1 in 6) emigrated to other countries, mostly to
14652-518: The states forming the Warsaw Pact (1955–1991) and Mongolia (1924–1991), which are no longer communist states. Sometimes they are more generally referred to as "the countries of Eastern Europe under communism", excluding Mongolia, but including Yugoslavia and Albania which had both split with the Soviet Union by the 1960s. Even though Yugoslavia was a socialist country, it was not
14784-413: The substitution of autonomous law. Initially, communist parties were small in all countries except Czechoslovakia, such that there existed an acute shortage of politically "trustworthy" persons for administration, police, and other professions. Thus, "politically unreliable" non-communists initially had to fill such roles. Those not obedient to communist authorities were ousted, while Moscow cadres started
14916-566: The term Eastern Bloc generally referred to the USSR and Central and Eastern European countries in the Comecon ( East Germany , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Hungary , Romania , Bulgaria , and Albania ). In Asia , the Eastern Bloc comprised Mongolia , Vietnam , Laos , Kampuchea , North Korea , South Yemen , Syria , and China . In the Americas , the countries aligned with the Soviet Union included Cuba from 1961 and for limited periods Nicaragua and Grenada . The term Eastern Bloc
15048-499: The three corresponding countries to be "Soviet Socialist Republics" and requested their "admission into Stalin 's Soviet Union". This formally resulted in the Soviet Union's annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in August 1940. The international community condemned this annexation of the three Baltic countries and deemed it illegal. In 1939, the Soviet Union unsuccessfully attempted an invasion of Finland , subsequent to which
15180-751: The transition period between the Bronze Age to the Iron Age , the Urnfield culture flourished. Archaeological remains dating from the Hallstatt period have been found, particularly in southeastern Slovenia, among them a number of situlas in Novo Mesto , the " Town of Situlas ". The area that is present-day Slovenia was in Roman times shared between Venetia et Histria (region X of Roman Italia in
15312-657: The twelve Battles of the Isonzo , which took place in present-day Slovenia's western border area with Italy. Hundreds of thousands of Slovene conscripts were drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army , and over 30,000 of them died. Hundreds of thousands of Slovenes from Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca were resettled in refugee camps in Italy and Austria. While the refugees in Austria received decent treatment,
15444-442: The vestiges of democratic institutions were never entirely destroyed, resulting in the façade of Western style institutions such as parliaments, which effectively just rubber-stamped decisions made by rulers, and constitutions, to which adherence by authorities was limited or non-existent. Parliaments were still elected, but their meetings occurred only a few days per year, only to legitimize politburo decisions, and so little attention
15576-528: Was Albania , where leader Enver Hoxha immediately changed course from favoring Yugoslavia to opposing it. In Poland , leader Władysław Gomułka , who had previously made pro-Yugoslav statements, was deposed as party secretary-general in early September 1948 and subsequently jailed. In Bulgaria , when it appeared that Traicho Kostov, who was not a Moscow cadre, was next in line for leadership, in June 1949, Stalin ordered Kostov's arrest, followed soon thereafter by
15708-677: Was able to keep the County of Tyrol , while the Wittelsbach emperor Louis IV passed Carinthia and Carniolan march to the Habsburg duke Albert II of Austria , whose mother, Elisabeth of Carinthia is a sister of the late duke Henry of Gorizia . Therefore, most of the territory of present-day Slovenia became a hereditary land of the Habsburg monarchy . As with the other component parts of the Habsburg monarchy , Carinthia and Carniola remained
15840-642: Was added in a second secret protocol in September 1939. The Soviet Union had invaded the portions of eastern Poland assigned to it by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact two weeks after the German invasion of western Poland, followed by co-ordination with German forces in Poland. During the Occupation of East Poland by the Soviet Union , the Soviets liquidated the Polish state, and a German-Soviet meeting addressed
15972-634: Was caused, in part, by early local elections of October 1946 in which the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was rejected in favor of the Social Democratic Party, which had gained two and a half times more votes than the SED. The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries began a massive "Berlin airlift", supplying West Berlin with food and other supplies. The Soviets mounted
16104-421: Was convinced by Churchill and Roosevelt not to dismember Germany. Stalin stated that the Soviet Union would keep the territory of eastern Poland they had already taken via invasion in 1939 with some exceptions , and wanted a pro-Soviet Polish government in power in what would remain of Poland. After resistance by Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin promised a re-organization of the current pro-Soviet government on
16236-683: Was divided into a number of border regions of the Holy Roman Empire . Carantania was elevated into the Duchy of Carinthia in 976. By the 11th century, the Germanization of what is now Lower Austria , effectively isolated the Slovene-inhabited territory from the other western Slavs , speeding up the development of the Slavs of Carantania and of Carniola into an independent Carantanian/Carniolans/Slovene ethnic group. By
16368-408: Was eager to accept the US aid; the Polish government had a similar attitude, and this was of great concern to the Soviets. In one of the clearest signs of Soviet control over the region up to that point, the Czechoslovakian foreign minister, Jan Masaryk , was summoned to Moscow and berated by Stalin for considering joining the Marshall Plan. Polish Prime minister Józef Cyrankiewicz was rewarded for
16500-403: Was effectively halted in the early 1950s, with the Soviet approach to controlling national movement emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc. However, in East Germany , taking advantage of the Inner German border between occupied zones, hundreds of thousands fled to West Germany, with figures totaling 197,000 in 1950, 165,000 in 1951, 182,000 in 1952 and 331,000 in 1953. One reason for
16632-444: Was effectively impossible. This later included internal passport controls , which when combined with individual city Propiska ("place of residence") permits, and internal freedom of movement restrictions often called the 101st kilometre , greatly restricted mobility within even small areas of the Soviet Union. After the creation of the Eastern Bloc, emigration out of the newly occupied countries, except under limited circumstances,
16764-421: Was frequently infiltrated by Soviet intelligence and security agencies, such as the NKVD and GRU . TASS had affiliates in 14 Soviet republics, including the Lithuanian SSR , Latvian SSR , Estonian SSR , Moldavian SSR . Ukrainian SSR and Byelorussian SSR . Western countries invested heavily in powerful transmitters which enabled services such as the BBC , VOA and Radio Free Europe (RFE) to be heard in
16896-403: Was liberated by the partisan resistance and soon became a socialist federation known as the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . The first Slovenian republic , named Federal Slovenia , was a constituent republic of the Yugoslavian federation, led by its own pro-Communist leadership. Approximately 8% of the Slovene population died during World War II . The small Jewish community, mostly in
17028-416: Was often used interchangeably with the term Second World . This broadest usage of the term would include not only Maoist China and Cambodia , but also short-lived Soviet satellites such as the Second East Turkestan Republic (1944–1949), the People's Republic of Azerbaijan (1945–1946) and the Republic of Mahabad (1946), as well as the Marxist–Leninist states straddling the Second and Third Worlds before
17160-460: Was paid to them that some of those serving were actually dead, and officials would openly state that they would seat members who had lost elections. The first or General Secretary of the central committee in each communist party was the most powerful figure in each regime. The party over which the politburo held sway was not a mass party but, conforming with Leninist tradition, a smaller selective party of between three and fourteen percent of
17292-442: Was recorded in 1952 at 146 cm (57 in). Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc , also known as the Communist Bloc ( Combloc ), the Socialist Bloc , and the Soviet Bloc , was the collective term for an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe , Asia , Africa , and Latin America that were aligned with the Soviet Union and existed during the Cold War (1947–1991). These states followed
17424-458: Was strongly industrialized. With further economic decentralization of Yugoslavia in 1965–66, Slovenia's domestic product was 2.5 times the average of Yugoslav republics. While a Communist country, after the Tito–Stalin split Yugoslavia initiated a period of military neutrality and non-alignment. JAT Yugoslav Airlines was the flag carrier and during its existence it grew to become one of the leading airlines in Europe both by fleet and destinations. By
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