Editing Maribor (section)

===Modern period===
In the 17th century, numerous fires razed the town. The biggest ones occurred in 1601, 1645, 1648, and 1700. As a consequence, the town was rebuilt numerous times.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Enciklopedija Slovenije |page=400 }}</ref> In addition to fires, the plague decimated the town's population. The largest plague epidemics occurred in 1646, 1664, and 1680. Due to the plague, the town lost 35 percent of its population. In gratitude for the end of the plague, a [[Plague Column (Maribor)|plague column]] was built in 1681, with the original being replaced in 1743.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Slovenci skozi čas |page=134 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Maribor-mesto ob Dravi |page=2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=750 let Maribora|page=11 }}</ref> In 1846, the [[Southern Railway (Austria)|Southern Railway]] was built through the town, which resulted in great economic growth and territorial expansion. In 1859, [[Anton Martin Slomšek]], a bishop of the [[Diocese of Lavant]], transferred the seat of the diocese to Maribor, and he further encouraged the use of Slovene. With the transfer, Maribor also received its first higher school. Four years later, Maribor was connected with Carinthia with the construction of the railway from Maribor to [[Prevalje]].<ref name="Zgodovina Maribora" /> The first daily Slovenian newspaper, called ''Slovenski narod'', was established in 1868 on today's Slomšek Square (''Slomškov trg'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fdv.uni-lj.si/docs/default-source/tip/slovenski-narod-ob-150-letnici-za%C4%8Detka-izhajanja.pdf?sfvrsn=0|title=Slovenski narod}}</ref> On 4 April 1883, the first electric light in Slovene ethnic territory was installed on Castle Square (''Grajski trg'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://industrijskapespot.si/prva-zarnica-na-slovenskem-opis.html|title=Prva žarnica na Slovenskem}}</ref> The renowned electrical engineer [[Nikola Tesla]] lived in Maribor from 1878 to 1879, where he received his first job.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teslauniverse.com/nikola-tesla/timeline/1878-tesla-moves-maribor#goto-271|title=Nikola Tesla in Maribor}}</ref> [[Maribor National Hall]] was built in 1899, and it became a political, cultural, and economic centre for all Styrian Slovenes.<ref name="Zgodovina Maribora" />
[[File:Razglednica Narodnega doma v Mariboru.jpg|left|thumb|Postcard of Maribor National Hall.]]

In 1900, the city itself had a population that was 82.3% [[Austrian Germans|Austrian German]] (19,298 people) and 17.3% [[Slovenes|Slovene]] (4,062 people; based on the language spoken at home);<ref name="Leksikon">[http://www.ff.uni-lj.si/oddelki/zgodovin/Repertoriji/STAJERSKA%201900.pdf ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806160833/http://www.ff.uni-lj.si/oddelki/zgodovin/Repertoriji/STAJERSKA%201900.pdf |date=6 August 2011 }} {{in lang|sl}}</ref>{{rp|4}} most of the city's capital and public life was in Austrian German hands. However, the county excluding the city had only 10,199 Austrian Germans and 78,888 Slovene inhabitants, meaning the city was completely surrounded by majority-Slovene ethnic territory.<ref name=Leksikon />{{rp|210, 300}} Some former independent settlements that later became part of the city had more ethnic Slovenes than Austrian Germans (e.g., Krčevina, Radvanje, Tezno), whereas others had more Austrian Germans than ethnic Slovenes (e.g., Pobrežje and Studenci).<ref name=Leksikon />{{rp|202–206}} In 1913, a new bridge was opened over the [[Drava]] River, today known as the [[Old Bridge (Maribor)|Old Bridge]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Stari most |url= http://www.mariborart.si/spomenik/-/article-display/stari-most-nekdanji-drzavni-most-|website=Pogled spomenika |publisher=Maribor Art |access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref> In [[World War I]], the [[47th Infantry Regiment (Austria-Hungary)|47th Infantry Regiment]] of the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] was based in the city and also fought on the [[Isonzo front]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.100letprve.si/mejniki/slovenci_na_vzhodnem_bojiscu/47_pehotni_polk/index.html|title=Slovenci na vzhodnem bojiscu}}</ref> During the First World War many Slovenes in [[Duchy of Carinthia|Carinthia]] and [[Duchy of Styria|Styria]] were detained on suspicion of being enemies of the Austrian Empire. This led to distrust between Austrian Germans and Slovenes.<ref>{{cite book |author=Vladimir Gradnik<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Primorski prostovoljci v boju za severno mejo 1918–1919 |location=Koper |publisher=Založba Lipa |page=21 |date=1981 }}</ref>
[[File:Rudolf Maister 1910s.jpg|right|thumb|[[Rudolf Maister]]]]
After the collapse of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Maribor was claimed by both the [[State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs]] and [[Republic of German-Austria|German Austria]]. On 1 November 1918, a meeting was held by Colonel Anton Holik in the Melje barracks, where it was decided that the city would be part of German Austria. Ethnic Slovene Major [[Rudolf Maister]], who was present at the meeting, denounced the decision and organised Slovenian military units that were able to seize control of the city.<ref>{{cite book |author=Bruno Hartman<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Prevrat v Mariboru |date=2002 }}</ref> All Austrian officers and soldiers were disarmed and demobilised to the new state of German Austria. The German city council then held a secret meeting, where it was decided to do whatever possible to regain Maribor for German Austria. They organised a military unit called the Green Guard (''Schutzwehr''), and approximately 400 well-armed soldiers of this unit opposed the pro-Slovenian and pro-[[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] Major Maister.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lojze Penič<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Boj za slovensko severno mejo 1918–1920 |location=Maribor |publisher=Muzej narodne osvoboditve Maribor |page=14 |date=1988 }}</ref> Slovenian troops surprised and disarmed the Green Guard early on the morning of 23 November.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.si/novice/2020-03-30-pred-146-leti-se-je-rodil-nas-vzornik-obranitelj-slovenske-severne-meje-general-rudolf-maister/|title=Rudolf Maister}}</ref> Thereafter, the city remained in Slovenian hands.

On 27 January 1919, Austrian Germans gathered to await the [[United States]] peace delegation at the city's marketplace were fired upon by Slovenian troops. Nine citizens were killed and eighteen were seriously wounded;<ref name="Casopis">[http://www.sistory.si/publikacije/prenos/?urn=SISTORY:ID:69''Zgodovinski časopis''. 1961. Ljubljana: Zgodovinsko društvo za Slovenijo]{{in lang|sl}}</ref>{{rp|142}} who had actually ordered the shooting has never been unequivocally established. German sources accused Maister's troops of shooting without cause. In turn Slovene witnesses such as Maks Pohar claimed that the Austrian Germans attacked the Slovenian soldiers guarding the town hall, one even discharging a revolver and hitting one Slovenian soldier in the bayonet.<ref name=Casopis />{{rp|141}} The German-language media called the incident ''[[Marburg's Bloody Sunday]]''. As Maribor was now firmly in the hands of the Slovenian forces and surrounded completely by Slovenian territory; the city had been recognised as part of the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]] without a [[Referendum|plebiscite]] in the [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|Treaty of Saint-Germain]] of 10 September 1919 between the victors and German Austria. For his actions in Maribor and later in the [[Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia]], Rudolf Maister is today considered a Slovenian national hero.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.si/novice/poslanica-ministra-za-notranje-zadeve-ob-dnevu-rudolfa-maistra/|title=Poslanica}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rtvslo.si/uredniski-izbor/rudolf-maister-od-mitizacije-do-zgodovinskega-spomina/472539|title=Rudolf Maister – od mitizacije do zgodovinskega spomina}}</ref>

After 1918, most of Maribor's Austrian Germans left the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes for [[Austria]]. A policy of [[cultural assimilation]] was pursued in Yugoslavia against the Austrian German minority similar to the [[Germanisation|Germanization]] policy followed by Austria against its Slovene minority in [[Carinthia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiv.pavelhaus.at/publikationen/signal01_slowenisch/signal01_03slow.htm|title=Nemci v Sloveniji 1918–1941}}</ref> From 1922 to 1929, Maribor was the seat of the [[Maribor Oblast]], a subdivision within Yugoslavia and was later part of the [[Drava Banovina]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ojs.inz.si/pnz/article/download/335/942?inline=1|title=Pomembna vloga pravnikov v ljubljanski in mariborski oblastni skupščini (1927–1929) ter banskem svetu Dravske banovine (1930–1941)}}</ref> Up until [[World War II]], Maribor was considered the fastest-developing city in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kibla.org/si/dejavnosti/kibela/arhiv/kibela-arhiv/2016/eko-art-maribor/|title=Kibla}}</ref>