Editing Slovenia (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Slovenia}}

=== Prehistory to Slavic settlement ===

==== Prehistory ====

{{multiple image
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| image1            = Divje Babe flute (Late Pleistocene flute).jpg
| alt1              = A [[Divje Babe flute|pierced cave bear bone]], possibly a flute, from [[Divje Babe]]
| caption1          = A [[Divje Babe flute|pierced cave bear bone]], possibly a flute made by [[Neanderthal]]s dating to the [[Late Pleistocene]]
| image2            = Ljubljana Marshes Wheel with axle (oldest wooden wheel yet discovered).jpg
| alt2              = Ljubljana Marshes Wheel is the oldest wooden wheel yet discovered (Neolithic period)
| caption2          = The [[Ljubljana Marshes Wheel]], dating to the [[Neolithic]] period, is the oldest wooden wheel yet discovered.
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}}

Present-day Slovenia has been inhabited since [[prehistoric]] times. There is evidence of [[human settlement|human habitation]] from around 250,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slovenia.si/slovenia/history/milestones/|title=Milestones&nbsp;-&nbsp;slovenia.si|website=slovenia.si|access-date=18 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222170919/http://www.slovenia.si/slovenia/history/milestones/|archive-date=22 February 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> A [[Divje Babe flute|pierced cave bear bone]], dating from 43100 ± 700 [[before present|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.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9tDboBJ70EC |title=The Land Between: A History of Slovenia |chapter=From Prehistory to the End of the Ancient World |page=15 |first=Oto |last=Luthar |year=2008 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-631-57011-1}}</ref> In the 1920s and 1930s, artifacts belonging to the [[Cro-Magnon]], such as pierced bones, bone points, and a needle were found by archaeologist [[Srečko Brodar]] in [[Potok Cave]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parc.si/index.html |title=Potočka zijavka |work=Parc.si |publisher=Palaeolithic Research Centre |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003053958/http://www.parc.si/index.html |archive-date=3 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.dedi.si/dediscina/323 |title=Potočka zijalka |encyclopedia=Enciklopedija naravne in kulturne dediščine na Slovenskem – DEDI |first1=Irena |last1=Debeljak |first2=Matija |last2=Turk |editor=Šmid Hribar |editor2=Mateja Torkar |editor3=Gregor Golež |editor4=Mateja Podjed |editor5=Dan. Drago Kladnik |editor6=Drago. Erhartič |editor7=Bojan Pavlin |editor8=Primož. Jerele, Ines. |access-date=12 March 2012 |language=sl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515062641/http://www.dedi.si/dediscina/323 |archive-date=15 May 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2002, [[Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps|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.<ref name="The_Oldest_Wooden_Wheel_in_the_World">{{cite web |url=http://www.koliscar.si/en/virtual-exhibition/ |title=The oldest wooden wheel in the world: Virtual exhibition |date=4 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123085747/http://www.koliscar.si/en/virtual-exhibition |archive-date=23 January 2013}}</ref> It shows that wooden wheels appeared almost simultaneously in Mesopotamia and Europe.<ref name="Slovenia">{{cite web |title=World's Oldest Wheel Found in Slovenia |url=http://www.ukom.gov.si/en/media_relations/background_information/culture/worlds_oldest_wheel_found_in_slovenia/ |date=March 2003 |publisher=Government Communication Office of the Republic of Slovenia |author=Alexander Gasser |access-date=19 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714033224/http://www.ukom.gov.si/en/media_relations/background_information/culture/worlds_oldest_wheel_found_in_slovenia/ |archive-date=14 July 2012}}</ref> In 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 [[situla (vessel)|situla]]s in [[Novo Mesto]], the "[[Situla|Town of Situlas]]".<ref name="Situla1">{{Cite journal |last=Fabio |first=Saccoccio |title=Situla Art: An Iron Age Artisanal Tradition |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |pages=49–108 (volume 36) |publisher=Springer Nature |date=9 May 2023|volume=36 |issue=1 |doi=10.1007/s10963-023-09174-6 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Roman era ====
In [[Roman Empire|Roman]] times, the area that is now Slovenia was shared between ''Venetia et Histria'' (region X of [[Italia (Roman Empire)|Roman Italia]] in 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 peoples|Germanic]] tribes during their incursions into Italy. Part of the inner state was protected with a defensive line of towers and walls called ''[[Claustra Alpium Iuliarum]]''. A [[Battle of the Frigidus|crucial battle]] between [[Theodosius I]] and [[Eugenius]] took place in the [[Vipava Valley]] in 394.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wolfram |first1=Herwig |title=The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples |date=1997 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |page=92}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Singleton |first1=Fred |title=A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples |date=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |page=2}}</ref>

==== Slavic settlement ====
The [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] tribes migrated to the Alpine area after the westward departure of the [[Lombards]] (the last Germanic tribe) in 568, and, under pressure from [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], established a [[Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps|Slavic settlement in the Eastern Alps]]. From 623 to 624 or possibly 626 onwards, [[Samo|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 (state)|Carinthia]] formed the independent [[Carantania|duchy of Carantania]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0MqAQAAMAAJ |title=Na stičišču svetov: slovenska zgodovina od prazgodovinskih kultur do konca 18. stoletja |first=Peter |last=Štih |language=sl |trans-title=At the Junction of the Worlds: Slovene History from the Prehistoric Cultures to the End of the 18th Century |isbn=978-961-241-375-0 |publisher=Modrijan Publishing House |page=33|year=2009 }}</ref> and [[Carniola]], later duchy Carniola. Other parts of present-day Slovenia were again ruled by Avars before [[Charlemagne]]'s victory over them in 803.

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Kaernten herzogeinsetzung.jpg|thumb|left|A depiction of an ancient democratic ritual of Slovene-speaking tribes, which took place on the [[Prince's Stone]] in [[Slovene language|Slovene]] until 1414]]

The [[Carantanians]], one of the ancestral groups of the modern Slovenes, particularly the [[Carinthian Slovenes]], were the first Slavic people to [[Christianization of the Slavs|accept Christianity]]. They were mostly Christianized by Irish missionaries, among them [[Modestus (Apostle of Carantania)|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 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 [[Bavaria]]ns, who began [[christianization|spreading Christianity]]. Three decades later, the [[Carantanians]] were incorporated, together with the Bavarians, into the [[Carolingian Empire]]. During 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 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 [[Carantanians|Slavs of Carantania]] and of [[Carniola]] into an independent Carantanian/Carniolans/Slovene ethnic group. By the [[High Middle Ages]], the historic provinces of Carniola, [[Styria (duchy)|Styria]], [[Carinthia (duchy)|Carinthia]], [[County of Gorizia|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 [[Bernhard von Spanheim|Dukes of Spanheim]], the [[Meinhardiner|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 Lands|Slovene ethnic territory]] was reduced to its present size.<ref name="culture.si">{{cite web|url=http://www.culture.si/en/Slovenia |title=About Slovenia – Culture of Slovenia |publisher=Culture.si |access-date=2 June 2012}}</ref>

In 1335, [[Henry of Bohemia|Henry of Gorizia]], Duke of Carinthia, Landgrave of Carniola and Count of Tyrol died without a male heir, his daughter [[Margaret, Countess of Tyrol|Margaret]] was able to keep the [[County of Tyrol]], while the Wittelsbach emperor [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV]] passed Carinthia and Carniolan march to the Habsburg duke [[Albert II, Duke of Austria|Albert II of Austria]], whose mother, [[Elisabeth of Carinthia, Queen of the Romans|Elisabeth of Carinthia]] is a sister of the late duke [[Henry of Bohemia|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 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 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 [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] takeover in 1420.

[[File:Boj s Turki-Valvasor.jpg|thumb|The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] army [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars|battling]] the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburgs]] in present-day Slovenia during the [[Great Turkish War]]]]
At the end of the Middle Ages, the [[Slovene Lands]] suffered a serious economic and demographic setback because of the [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars|Turkish raids]]. In 1515, a [[Slovene peasant revolt of 1515|peasant revolt]] spread across nearly the whole Slovene territory. In 1572 and 1573 the [[Croatian-Slovenian peasant revolt]] wrought havoc throughout the wider region. Such uprisings, which often met with bloody defeats, continued throughout the 17th century.<ref name="culture.si"/>

=== Early modern period ===
After the [[Fall of the Republic of Venice|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]], the southern part of the duchies of [[Duchy of Carinthia|Carinthia]] and [[Duchy of Styria|Styria]], the northern and eastern areas of the [[Austrian Littoral]], as well as [[Prekmurje]] in the [[Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen|Kingdom of Hungary]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/ssj/article/download/3797/3208 |title= The Terms Wende-Winde, Wendisch-Windisch in the Historiographic Tradition of the Slovene Lands|first=Rado |last=Lenček |author-link=Rado Lenček |year=1990 |journal= Slovene Studies|volume=12 |issue=1 |page=94 |doi=10.7152/ssj.v12i1.3797|doi-access=free | issn = 0193-1075 }}</ref> 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,<ref name="Benderly9">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXiCp49NJh8C&pg=PA10 |title=Independent Slovenia: Origins, Movements, Prospects |chapter=In the Beginning: The Slovenes from the Seventh Century to 1945 |first1=Jill |last1=Benderly |first2=Evan |last2=Kraft |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-312-16447-8 |pages=9–11}}</ref> mostly [[Slovene Americans|to the US]], but also [[Slovene communities in South America|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.<ref name="Benderly9"/> Literacy was exceptionally high, at 80–90%.<ref name="Benderly9"/>

The 19th century also saw a revival of culture in [[Slovene language|Slovene]], accompanied by a [[Romantic nationalism|Romantic nationalist]] quest for cultural and political autonomy. The idea of 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 Slavs|South Slavic peoples]], spread as a reaction to [[Pan-Germanism|Pan-German nationalism]] and [[Italian irredentism]].

=== World War I ===
{{See also|Italian front (World War I)|Battles of the Isonzo|Treaty of London (1915)|Corfu Declaration}}
[[File:Eingebaute Mannschaftsunterstände am Monte Sabotino.jpg|thumb|The [[Battles of the Isonzo]] took place mostly in rugged mountainous areas above the Soča River.]]
[[World War I]] brought heavy casualties to Slovenes, particularly 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 camp]]s in Italy and Austria. While the refugees in Austria received decent treatment, the Slovene refugees in Italian camps were treated as state enemies, and several thousand died of malnutrition and diseases between 1915 and 1918.<ref>Petra Svoljšak, ''Slovenski begunci v Italiji med prvo svetovno vojno'' (Ljubljana 1991).</ref> Entire areas of the [[Slovene Littoral]] were destroyed.

The [[Treaty of Rapallo (1920)|Treaty of Rapallo]] of 1920 left approximately 327,000 out of the total population of 1.3&nbsp;million Slovenes in Italy.<ref name="SacroEgoismo2012">Lipušček, U. (2012) ''Sacro egoismo: Slovenci v krempljih tajnega londonskega pakta 1915'', Cankarjeva založba, Ljubljana. {{ISBN|978-961-231-871-0}}</ref><ref name="Cresciani_ClashOfCivilisations">Cresciani, Gianfranco (2004) [https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1aAzmXBjZO5eFQySUlrdTBYRkk Clash of civilisations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506152156/https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1aAzmXBjZO5eFQySUlrdTBYRkk |date=6 May 2020 }}, Italian Historical Society Journal, Vol. 12, No. 2, p. 4</ref> After the [[March on Rome|fascists took power]] in Italy, they were subjected to a policy of violent Fascist [[Italianization]]. This caused 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 [[Anti-fascism|militant anti-fascist]] organization [[TIGR]], formed in 1927 to fight Fascist oppression of the Slovene and Croat populations in the [[Julian March]].<ref name="Mira Cencič 1997">Mira Cencič, ''TIGR'' (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1997)</ref><ref name="Tatjana Rejec 1995">Tatjana Rejec, ''Pričevanja o TIGR-u'' (Ljubljana: [[Slovene Society]], 1995)</ref>

=== Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) ===
{{See also|Creation of Yugoslavia|Carinthian Plebiscite|Rudolf Maister}}
[[File:KongressfallofAH.jpg|thumb|right|The proclamation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs at [[Congress Square]] in Ljubljana on 29 October 1918]]
The [[Slovene People's Party (historical)|Slovene People's Party]] launched a movement for self-determination, demanding the creation of a semi-independent [[South Slavic peoples|South Slavic]] state under [[Habsburg dynasty|Habsburg]] rule. The proposal was picked up by most Slovene parties, and a mass mobilization of Slovene civil society, known as the [[May Declaration (1917)|Declaration Movement]], followed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kranjec |first=Silvo |chapter=Korošec Anton |title=Slovenski biografski leksikon |chapter-url=http://nl.ijs.si:8080/fedora/get/sbl:1188/VIEW/ |year=1925–1991 |edition=Online |publisher=[[Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts]] |access-date=24 July 2010 |language=sl |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823082222/http://nl.ijs.si:8080/fedora/get/sbl:1188/VIEW/ |archive-date=23 August 2011}}</ref> This demand was rejected by the Austrian political elites; but following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the aftermath of 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 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 the 1920s, followed by a relatively successful economic adjustment to the [[1929 economic crisis]] and [[Great Depression]].

Following a [[Carinthian Plebiscite|plebiscite]] in October 1920, the Slovene-speaking southern [[Carinthia (state)|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 the rule of the neighboring states—Italy, Austria, and Hungary—were subjected to [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]].

=== World War II ===
{{main|World War II in the Slovene Lands}}
<div style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: black; width:400px; border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding:0.5em; font-size: 88%;" class="floatright">
<div class="center">{{Image label begin|image=Provincia di Lubiana1941-1943.jpg}}
{{Image label small|x=0.345|y=0.105|text=[[Austria under National Socialism|<span style="color:#0645AD;">Nazi Germany</span>]]}}
{{Image label small|x=0.899|y=0.058|text=[[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46)|<span style="color:#0645AD;">Hungary</span>]]}}
{{Image label small|x=0.021|y=0.465|text=[[Kingdom of Italy|<span style="color:#0645AD;">Fascist<br /><br />Italy</span>]]}}
{{Image label small|x=0.815|y=0.454|text=[[Independent State of Croatia|<span style="color:#0645AD;">Independent<br /><br />State of<br /><br />Croatia</span>]]}}
{{Image label end}}</div>During World War II, [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]] annexed northern areas (brown and dark green areas, respectively), while Fascist [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] annexed the vertically hatched black area (solid black western part having been annexed by Italy in 1920 with the [[Treaty of Rapallo (1920)|Treaty of Rapallo]]). Some villages were incorporated into the [[Independent State of Croatia]]. After 1943, Germany also occupied the area that Italy had annexed.</div>

Slovenia was the only present-day European nation that was trisected and completely annexed into both [[Nazi Germany]] and Fascist [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] during World War II.<ref name="GJK_2013">Gregor Joseph Kranjc (2013). To Walk with the Devil, University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division, p. introduction 5</ref> 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 [[Invasion of Yugoslavia|invaded Yugoslavia]] in April 1941 and defeated 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,<ref name="HF2006_BerghahnBooks">Haar, I., Fahlbusch, M. (2006): [https://books.google.com/books?id=vBYW0uYved8C&q=Slovenians+%22ethnic+cleansing%22&pg=PA115 German Scholars and Ethnic Cleansing, 1919–1945], Berghahn Books, {{ISBN|9781845450489}}, p. 115</ref> 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.<ref name="LM2009_UNC">Lukšič-Hacin, M., Mlekuž J. (2009): [https://books.google.com/books?id=EUWc0Csfp8cC&pg=PA55 Go Girls!: When Slovenian Women Left Home], Založba ZRC SAZU, {{ISBN|9789612541705}}, p. 55</ref><ref>Zdravko Troha (2004). Kočevski Nemci – partizani [fotografije Zdravko Troha, Pokrajinski muzej Kočevje, Arhiv Slovenije]. Ljubljana: Slovensko kočevarsko društvo Peter Kosler. {{ISBN|961-91287-0-2}}</ref> At 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.<ref name="L1993_UNC">Lumans, V.O. (1993):[https://books.google.com/books?id=TIZSO31iSO4C&dq=Italian+Gottschee&pg=PA175 Himmler's Auxiliaries: The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle and the German National Minorities of Europe, 1933–1945], Univ of North Carolina Press, {{ISBN|9780807820667}}, p. 175</ref>
Around 30,000 to 40,000 Slovene men were drafted to the [[Wehrmacht|German Army]] and sent to the Eastern front. Slovene was banned from education, and its use in public life was limited.<ref name="GJK_2013"/>

In south-central Slovenia, annexed by Fascist Italy and renamed the [[Province of Ljubljana]], the [[Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation|Slovenian National Liberation Front]] was organized in April 1941. Led by the Communist Party, it formed the [[Slovene Partisans|Slovene Partisan]] units as part of the [[Yugoslav Partisans]] led by the Communist leader [[Josip Broz Tito]].<ref name="JJR2013_OxfordPress">[[Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones|Jeffreys-Jones, R.]] (2013): [https://books.google.com/books?id=3gK7e8LpXvcC&q=most+effective+Anti+Nazi+resistance&pg=PA87 In Spies We Trust: The Story of Western Intelligence], Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|9780199580972}}</ref><ref name="AS_2005">Adams, Simon (2005): [https://books.google.com/books?id=Cmm4J2Ug4o8C&dq=resistance+Europe&pg=PA1981 The Balkans], Black Rabbit Books, {{ISBN|9781583406038}}</ref>

After the resistance started in summer 1941, Italian violence against the Slovene civilian population escalated. The Italian authorities deported some 25,000 people to [[Italian concentration camps|concentration camps]], which equaled 7.5% of the population of their occupation zone. The most infamous ones were [[Rab concentration camp|Rab]] and [[Gonars concentration camp|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 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.<ref name=Tomasevich_2001>{{cite book|first=Jozo|last=Tomasevich|title=War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration|volume=2|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2001|location=San Francisco|isbn=0-8047-3615-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fqUSGevFe5MC|ref=Tomasevich_2001|pages=96–97}}</ref><ref name="Dennison I. Rusinow 1978, p. 2">{{Cite book|last=Rusinow|first=Dennison I.|title=The Yugoslav experiment 1948–1974|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|year=1978|page=2|isbn=0-520-03730-8}}</ref>

In 1945, [[Yugoslavia]] was liberated by the partisan resistance and soon became a socialist federation known as the [[People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]. [[#Etymology|The first Slovenian republic]], named [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia|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 the [[Prekmurje]] region, was destroyed in 1944 in the [[Holocaust in Hungary|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 were members of fascist and collaborationist forces, alongside civilians presumed to oppose communism, were killed in the [[Foibe killings|foibe massacres]], and more than 25,000 fled or were expelled from [[Slovenian Istria]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kozina.com/premik/indexeng_porocilo.htm|title=Slovene-Italian Relations 1880–1956 – Report of the Slovene-Italian historical and cultural commission|access-date=22 April 2015|archive-date=8 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408133844/http://www.kozina.com/premik/indexeng_porocilo.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baracetti |first=Gaia |date=October 2009 |title=Foibe : Nationalism, Revenge and Ideology in Venezia Giulia and Istria, 1943—5 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022009409339344 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |language=en |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=657–674 |doi=10.1177/0022009409339344 |issn=0022-0094}}</ref> Around 130,000 persons, mostly political and military opponents, were executed in May and June 1945.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Communist crimes in Slovenia: mass graves and public discussion|url=https://communistcrimes.org/en/communist-crimes-slovenia-mass-graves-and-public-discussion|access-date=15 October 2020|website=Communist crimes in Slovenia: mass graves and public discussion {{!}} Communist Crimes|language=en}}</ref>

=== Socialism ===
During the re-establishment of Yugoslavia in World War II, the [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia|first Slovenian republic, Federal Slovenia]], was created and it became part of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|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. 
[[File:Economy Yugoslavia 1975.png|thumb|left|Average strength of Yugoslav economy as a deviation from the main (Yugoslavia = 100 %) indicator 1975. [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia|SR Slovenia]] (dark green) was, along with [[Socialist Republic of Croatia|SR Croatia]] and [[Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina|SAP Vojvodina]] (light green), the richest entity of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|SFR Yugoslavia]].]]

After the failure of [[Collective farming|forced collectivisation]] that was attempted from 1949 to 1953, a policy of gradual economic liberalisation, known as [[Workers' self-management|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 [[Titoism|Titoist]] path to socialism. Suspected opponents of this policy both from within and outside 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 was strongly industrialized. With further economic decentralization of Yugoslavia in 1965–66, Slovenia's [[Gross domestic product|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 the 1970s more airlines were created including Slovenian [[Adria Airways]] mostly focused in the growing tourist industry. Until the 1980s, [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia|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 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.<ref name="culture.si"/> 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.

=== Slovenian Spring, democracy and independence ===
In 1987 a group of intellectuals demanded Slovene independence in the [[Contributions for the Slovenian National Program|57th edition]] of the magazine ''[[Nova revija (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 amendment]]s were passed to introduce [[parliamentary democracy]] to Slovenia.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.fdv.si/zalozba/pdf-ji/135.pdf |title=Razvoj parlamentarizma: funkcije sodobnih parlamentov |language=sl |trans-title=The Development of Parliamentarism: The Functions of Modern Parliaments |first=Drago |last=Zajc |page=109 |publisher=Publishing House of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana |year=2004 |isbn=961-235-170-8 |access-date=27 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426072954/http://www.fdv.si/zalozba/pdf-ji/135.pdf |archive-date=26 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.svz.gov.si/si/zakonodaja_in_dokumenti/osamosvojitveni_akti_republike_slovenije/ |title=Osamosvojitveni akti Republike Slovenije |language=sl |publisher=Office for Legislation, Government of the Republic of Slovenia |access-date=27 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117183414/http://www.svz.gov.si/si/zakonodaja_in_dokumenti/osamosvojitveni_akti_republike_slovenije/ |archive-date=17 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> <!--The same year [[Rally of Truth|Action North]] united both the opposition and democratized communist establishment in Slovenia as the first defense action against attacks by [[Slobodan Milošević]]'s supporters, leading to Slovenian independence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fvv.uni-mb.si/varstvoslovje/Abstract.aspx?cid=329|title=Historical Circumstances in Which 'The Rally of Truth' in Ljubljana Was Prevented|publisher=Journal of Criminal Justice and Security|access-date=4 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213053210/http://www.fvv.uni-mb.si/varstvoslovje/Abstract.aspx?cid=329|archive-date=13 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rtvslo.si/osamosvojitev/prispevek/108/predvajaj/|title="Rally of truth" (Miting resnice)|publisher= A documentary published by [[RTV Slovenija]]|access-date=4 July 2012}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=July 2012}}--> On 7 March 1990, the Slovenian Assembly changed the official name of the state to the "Republic of Slovenia".<ref name="twenty.si">{{cite web |author=Innovatif and ORG.TEND |url=http://www.twenty.si/first-20-years/90/ |title=Year 1990 &#124; Slovenia 20 years |publisher=Twenty.si |date=14 May 1992 |access-date=2 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611063423/http://www.twenty.si/first-20-years/90/ |archive-date=11 June 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.uradni-list.si/dl/vip_akti/1990-02-0402.pdf |title=Odlok o razglasitvi ustavnih amandmajev k ustave<!-- sic! --> Socialistične Republike Slovenije |language=sl |journal=Uradni List Republike Slovenije |date=16 March 1990 |access-date=27 December 2011 |archive-date=27 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127111321/http://www.uradni-list.si/dl/vip_akti/1990-02-0402.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In April 1990, the first democratic election in Slovenia took place, and the united opposition movement [[Democratic Opposition of Slovenia|DEMOS]] led by [[Jože Pučnik]] emerged victorious.
[[File:Teritorialci so z armbrustom zadeli tank v križišču pred MMP Rožna Dolina..jpg|right|thumb|Slovenian Territorial Defense Units counterattacking a [[Yugoslav People's Army]] tank which entered Slovenia during the [[Ten-Day War]], 1991]]
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 the electorate voted for a sovereign and independent Slovenia.<ref name="Felicijan">{{cite conference|url=http://www.pokarh-mb.si/fileadmin/www.pokarh-mb.si/pdf_datoteke/Radenci2007/Felicijan.pdf |title=Prevzem arhivskega gradiva plebiscitnega referenduma o samostojnosti Republike Slovenije |language=sl, en|first=Suzana |last=Felicijan Bratož |conference=6. zbornik referatov dopolnilnega izobraževanja s področja arhivistike, dokumentalistike in informatike v Radencih od 28. do 30. marca 2007 |conference-url=http://www.pokarh-mb.si/index.php?id=126 |pages=453–458 |year=2007 |publisher=Regional Archives Maribor |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113023555/http://www.pokarh-mb.si/fileadmin/www.pokarh-mb.si/pdf_datoteke/Radenci2007/Felicijan.pdf |archive-date=13 November 2012 }}</ref><ref name="STAT11">{{cite news |url=http://www.stat.si/letopis/2011/05_11/05-11-11.htm |title=Statistični letopis 2011 |page=108 |publisher=Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia |work=Statistical Yearbook 2011 |year=2011 |volume=15 |issn=1318-5403 |access-date=27 December 2011 |archive-date=26 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826065022/http://www.stat.si/letopis/2011/05_11/05-11-11.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 25 June 1991, Slovenia became independent.<ref name="Škrk1999"/><ref name="Jonsson">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OegWny-r8TEC&pg=PA30 |title=Democratic Transition in Slovenia: Value Transformation, Education, And Media |editor1-first=Sabrina |editor1-last=P. Ramet |editor2-first=Danica |editor2-last=Fink-Hafner |chapter=Changing Concepts of Rights |first=Anna |last=Jonsson |page=75 |year=2006 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=978-1-58544-525-7 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="Race">{{cite book |url=http://dk.fdv.uni-lj.si/dela/Race-Helena.PDF |title="Dan prej" – 26. junij 1991: diplomsko delo |language=sl |first=Helena |last=Race |publisher=Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana |year=2005 |access-date=3 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="SAF History">{{cite web |url=http://www.slovenskavojska.si/en/about-the-slovenian-armed-forces/history/ |title=About the Slovenian Military Forces: History |publisher=Slovenian Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence |access-date=3 February 2011 |archive-date=19 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519044755/http://www.slovenskavojska.si/en/about-the-slovenian-armed-forces/history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 7 July, the [[Brijuni Agreement]] was signed, implementing a truce and a three-month halt of the enforcement of Slovenia's independence.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FeiKg3TuNl0C&pg=PA157 |title=Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse: Causes, Course and Consequences |first=Christopher |last=Bennett |chapter=Slovenia Fights |page=159 |year=1995 |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |isbn=978-1-85065-232-8}}</ref> At the end of the month, the last soldiers of the Yugoslav Army left Slovenia.

In December 1991, a new [[Constitution of Slovenia|constitution]] was adopted,<ref name="Jonsson"/> followed in 1992 by the laws on [[privatization|denationalisation and privatisation]].<ref name="Klemenčič2004">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORSMBFwjAKcC&pg=PA298 |title=The Former Yugoslavia's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook |first1=Matjaž |last1=Klemenčič |first2=Mitja |last2=Žagar |chapter=Democratization in the Beginning of the 1990s |page=298 |isbn=978-1-57607-294-3 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2004}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Borak2004">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sloveniafromyugo0000mrak |chapter-url-access=registration |title=Slovenia: From Yugoslavia to the European Union |publisher=World Bank Publications |editor1-first=Mojmir |editor1-last=Mrak |editor2-first=Matija |editor2-last=Rojec |editor3-first=Carlos |editor3-last=Silva-Jáuregui |year=2004 |series=World Bank Publications |isbn=978-0-8213-5718-7 |chapter=Institutional Setting for the New Independent State |first1=Neven |last1=Borak |first2=Bistra |last2=Borak |page=[https://archive.org/details/sloveniafromyugo0000mrak/page/58 58]}}</ref>

Slovenia joined the [[European Union]] on 1 May 2004.<ref>{{cite web |title=Slovenia |url=https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-profiles/slovenia_en |website=european-union.europa.eu |language=en |access-date=18 May 2022 |archive-date=2 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902033800/https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-profiles/slovenia_en |url-status=dead }}</ref> Slovenia has one Commissioner in 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]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Slovenia's NATO membership {{!}} GOV.SI |url=https://www.gov.si/en/topics/slovenias-nato-membership/ |website=Portal GOV.SI |date=4 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Slovenia subsequently succeeded in meeting the [[Maastricht criteria]] and joined the [[Eurozone]] (the first transition country to do so) on 1 January 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/articles/euro/slovenia_joins_the_euro_area_en.htm|title = Slovenia joins the euro area – European Commission}}</ref> It was the first post-Communist country to hold the [[Presidency of the Council of the European Union]], for the first six months of 2008. On 21 July 2010, it became a member of the OECD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oecd.org/slovenia/sloveniasaccessiontotheoecd.htm |publisher=[[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] |title=Slovenia's accession to the OECD |date=21 July 2010 |access-date=22 July 2016 }}</ref>

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 global protests#Slovenia|15 October 2011 protests]].<ref>[http://www.mladina.si/118056/joachim-becker-nujno-je-treba-zavreti-poglabljanje-neoliberalizma-v-evropski-uniji-saj-je-to-slep/ Joachim Becker: "Nujno je treba zavreti poglabljanje neoliberalizma v Evropski uniji, saj je to slepa ulica"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507021628/http://www.mladina.si/118056/joachim-becker-nujno-je-treba-zavreti-poglabljanje-neoliberalizma-v-evropski-uniji-saj-je-to-slep/|date=7 May 2013}}, an interview with [[Joachim Becker]], [[Mladina]], 23 November 2012</ref> In relation to the leading politicians' response to allegations made by the official [[Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Slovenia]], legal experts expressed the need for changes in the system that would limit political [[arbitrariness]].<ref>[https://www.dnevnik.si/slovenija/v-ospredju/samovolja-politikov-presega-vse-meje A Symposium of Law Experts. Political arbitrariness has gone wild.] (In Slovene: "Posvet pravnikov. Samovolja politikov presega vse meje"), Dnevnik, 18 Januar 2013.</ref>{{context inline|date=January 2017}}