Slovene People's Party (historical)

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The Slovene People's Party (Slovene: Slovenska ljudska stranka, SLS) was a Slovenian political party in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Representatives of the Slovene People's Party in the Provincial Diet of Carniola shortly before WWI. The party's president Ivan Šušteršič sits in the middle.
The funeral of Janez Evangelist Krek in Ljubljana in 1917 turned into a manifestation of the Party popular support.
Cultural meeting organized by the Slovene People's Party during the January 6 Dictatorship, when the SLS became the main opposition to the authoritarian regime of Alexander I of Yugoslavia in Slovenia.

From the establishment of the party to the collapse of Austria Hungary

The Slovene People’s Party was founded under the name Catholic National Party (Katoliška narodna stranka) in 1892 in Ljubljana with the aim of working in the Carniola region. On 27 November, 1905, the ruling body of the party adopted a motion changing the name to Slovene People’s Party. Under the influence of Ivan Šusteršič and Janez Evangelist Krek, the party evolved in the early years of the new century from a Christian conservative party into a Christian socialist party. The main plank of its programme was support for workers and farmers. Šusteršič, Krek and their colleagues worked to establish a broad network of cooperatives and lenders, which offered credit on favourable terms and assistance. By 1907, they had already established 433 collectives.

In October 1909, the Carniola SLS joined with related Catholic organisations from Lower Styria, Carinthia, Gorizia and Gradisca and Istria. It was renamed to Pan-Slovene People's Party (Vseslovenska ljudska stranka, VLS) and became the leading and most powerful Slovene political party. In the last elections for the Reichsrat in the Habsburg Monarchy, the SLS won some 87% of all Slovene mandates. Until World War I, the party campaigned for greater autonomy for Slovene within the Habsburg Monarchy.

In Yugoslavia

In 1917, the SLS had a decisive influence on the adoption of the May declaration, in which members of the Reichsrat called for the union of South Slav lands under the Habsburg crown. Anton Korošec became the leader of the party in the same year. He played a pivotal role in the reorientation of the party from a pro-Slovenian to a pro-Yugoslav grouping. Even before the conclusion of negotiations on the fate of the Slovenians in the Habsburg Monarchy, Anton Korošec had supported the secession of the Slovenians and Croats from the Habsburg Monarchy and the creation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. In 1920, the party reverted to its earlier title of Slovene People’s Party. Because of changes in its programme, its pro-Yugoslav orientation and its inclusion in the Yugoslav government, but also because of competition from other parties, the SLS lost its absolute majority at this time. From 87% of all mandates before the elections in November 1920, it fell to just 36% after the elections. Thereafter, the SLS changed its orientation once more, quit the Yugoslav government and began to agitate for greater autonomy for Slovenians within the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. After multiple unsuccessful attempts, the SLS was again included in the Yugoslav government in 1927 when it formed a coalition with Serbian radicals. Following Stjepan Radić’s assassination in 1928, Anton Korošec became Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.

Korošec however only held the premiership for less than one year, for when King Alexander declared a dictatorship in January 1929, all parties, including the SLS, were forced to stop their work. Because of their demands for the reintroduction of democracy, for greater autonomy for Slovenians and for a federal constitution for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, several members of the SLS were arrested. Korošec was placed under house arrest. The SLS however won the support of voters. After King Alexander’s death in 1934, the SLS won 78% of all Slovenian mandates and formed a new Yugoslav government with Serb radicals and Bosnian Muslims. In 1935, the three groups formed a coalition party, called Yugoslav Radical Community, led by the Prime Minister Milan Stojadinović.

World War II

Before the outbreak of World War II, the SLS was the largest and most powerful political party in Slovenia with more than 70% support amongst Slovenian voters. When Anton Korošec died in 1940, the party was left without any real leadership, because there was no charismatic personality that could effectively take on the role of leading the party. The new president of the SLS was Fran Kulovec, but he was killed in 1941 during the German bombardment of Belgrade. At the start of the war, the SLS had two leaders: Miha Krek and Marko Natlačen. After internal discussions, it was decided that Krek should leave with members of the Yugoslav government for London, while Natlačen, who was also governor (ban) of the Drava Banovina, should lead the party during the occupation. On 6 April 1941, in light of the combined German, Italian and Hungarian attacks on Slovenian territory, then still part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, SLS suggested the holding of a national council with the goal of achieving Slovenian autonomy under one sole occupier. The Slovenian parliamentary parties chose Marko Natlačen, as the head of the most powerful political party, to lead the council, but in 1942, an officer in the secret services working for the Communist Party of Slovenia assassinated Natlačen, leaving the SLS without a leader. Natlačen was replaced by various other politicians, but they did not have the same political convictions and there were numerous divisions within the party. During the civil war that took place during World War II, the SLS began to lose support and its former political influence because many of its politicians collaborated with the occupying forces. Despite his calls from London to stop collaborating, Miha Krek was not able to re-establish control over the Slovene People's Party.

After World War II

After World War II, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia took power and banned all other political parties, including the SLS. The party’s leading politicians emigrated to the USA and to Argentina. Miha Krek left for Washington, D.C. but remained president of the SLS. The party, which could not operate in Slovenia, was accepted into the League of Central European Christian Democrat Parties in 1952. Following Krek’s death in 1969, Miloš Stare, who lived in Argentina, was elected president of the SLS. Following his death in 1984, Marko Kremžar took over the helm of the party.

1992 marked the party’s return to Slovenia, when the party merged with the Slovene Christian Democrats (SKD), led by Lojze Peterle, and Marko Kremžar was elected its vice-president. In the year 2000, the Slovene Christian Democrats merged with the modern Slovene People's Party, which had been founded in 1988; the modern Slovene People's Party thus became the official successor of the historical SLS.

Prominent members

References

  • Erjavec, Fran. Zgodovina katoliškega gibanja na Slovenskem. Ljubljana, 1928.
  • Erjavec, Fran. Nastanek slovenskih političnih strank. Warwickshire. 1954.
  • Rahten, Andrej. Slovenska ljudska stranka v dunajskem parlamentu: slovenska parlamentarna politika v habsburški monarhiji 1897-1914. Celje, 2001.
  • Rahten, Andrej. Slovenska ljudska stranka v beograjski skupščini : jugoslovanski klub v parlamentarnem življenju Kraljevine SHS 1919-1929. Ljubljana, 2002. ISBN 961-6358-53-7