Avtor v članku analizira slovenske poslance v štajerskem deželnem zboru med leti 1878-1896. V tem času je bila nacionalna komponenta vse bolj vidna tudi na Spodnjem Štajerskem. Auersperg-Lasserjeva ...liberalna vladna »ekipa« je v 70. letih povsem ohromila (obetavni) nacionalni proces nenemških narodov, vlada grofa Eduarda Taaffeja pa je v naslednjem desetletju ravnala povsem drugače in skušala brez neposrednega vladnega pritiska posredovati med koalicijo na eni in nemškimi liberalci na drugi strani. To pa je vodilo k hitremu zaostrovanju nacionalnih odnosov v monarhiji.
Avtor v članku analizira slovenske poslance v štajerskem deželnem zboru med leti 1848-1878. Za obdobje marčne revolucije je nacionalno strukturo poslancev težko opredeliti, saj nacionalno vprašanje v ...deželnem zboru tedaj še ni bilo aktualno, sami poslanci pa se tudi še niso povsem nacionalno opredeljevali. Po obnovi ustavnega življenja pa je nacionalna nota postajala vse bolj živa. Če so volitve leta 1861 še minile brez večjega nacionalnega naboja, je bila nacionalna komponenta vse od volitev leta 1867 že stalnica v političnem življenju tudi na Spodnjem Štajerskem.
In the second half of the 19th century, the number of lawyers in the ranks of Slovenian politicians was substantial. They had occupied important positions ever since the beginnings of the ...constitutional period in Carniola as well. The last two leaders of both classic political parties before the war were lawyers (attorneys). Lawyers were also members of the Provincial Assembly, and they acted as governors and members of Provincial Committees as well. In the (Cisleithanian) »Slovenian« lands, the position of the Provincial President (except for Andrej Winkler in Carniola) remained in German hands (or in Italian hands in the Littoral region) for as long as until the dissolution of the Monarchy. In the autonomous provincial governments, the situation was similar: only in Carniola, which was recognised as the only predominantly Slovenian province by Taaffe’s Government, Slovenians had been in the majority in the Provincial Assembly since the 1880s. After the dissolution of the Monarchy, the Carniolan Provincial Committee was the only body that concerned itself with handing over the power to the new state.
In the following discussion the author focuses on the organisation of the Slovenian political camps in the second half of the 19th century, in the time when the modern political "infrastructure" or ...classic political parties did not yet exist. During the March Revolution, politics converged in the Provincial Assemblies and the National Assembly, and on the other hand also in newspapers and magazines. After the restoration of the constitutional life, two political camps formed in the Slovenian politics: the camp arguing for the cautious politics of the National Assembly deputies (the so-called "Old Slovenians"), and the opposition camp (the so-called "Young Slovenians"), which advocated a decisive national policy according to the Czech example. Besides Provincial Assemblies (and after 1873 the National Assembly), newspapers (and societies) were among the main political centers as well. Despite what was in principle unity, political disagreements kept smoldering in the background. The final separation of opinions was achieved by Anton Mahnič, professor of theology in Gorizia, and the Rimski katolik magazine. In January 1890 the Catholic Political Society was founded in Ljubljana, while the liberals founded the Slovenian Society in February 1891. In the other provinces inhabited by Slovenians, the pluralization of the political space took place somewhat later or not at all.
On the basis of the archival materials the author focuses on the Styrian-Croatian border river Drava (between Ormož and Središče) at the end of the 18th century, when (due to the river bed changes) ...the competent authorities under Maria Theresa and Joseph II started to focus on the consequent border disputes. After the massive floods of the river Drava in the 18th century, the border residents who suffered damages (on the Styrian side) complained more and more frequently, trying to solve the situation at hand. The author is specifically interested in how the river bed changes influenced the life of the residents of the areas by the river and how these people solved the mutual local disputes at the turn of the century (before the border was agreed upon and drawn at the beginning of the 19th century).
In the following discussion the author analyzed certain aspects of Ivan Dečko’s political activities since the 1890s. He focused on the local (municipal) self-government, which represented the ...springboard for the rest of his political life. The Slovenian politics was well aware of this fact. To this end Dečko compiled or adapted the manual entitled Zbirka zakonov, zadevajoč posle občinskega področja Collection of Legislation Regarding the Operations of the Municipal Field, which assisted many a Slovenian mayor significantly in the time of tense national relations. As it was, the municipal legislation was »scattered« around several provincial legal codes, written in the German language. Many mayors in the rural areas were not fluent in German, while Slovenian translations were more or less poor and incomprehensible. The German side would take advantage of their ignorance. In the second part of the following contribution the author describes Dečko’s role in the Lower Styrian policy of unity and establishes that his sudden retreat contributed decisively to the final dissolution of unity in the Lower Styria.
In the following contribution the author analyses the basic levels of the Austrian democracy after 1848 (or after 1861). The Austrian political space became notably more democratic in the second half ...of the 19th century and could then easily be compared with the »modern« European democracies (England, France). The implementation of municipalities (or local self-government) introduced completely new dimensions into politics and quickly became the foundation which the more representative institutions of the Austrian representation system were »built« on. The voting right depended on the municipalities, young politicians gained experience here... In short: municipalities represented the »school« of Austrian democracy. The main factor of democratisation may have been the (initially quite limited) elections, but the electoral reforms had the greatest »merit« for political democratisation. As the political rights expanded, an increasing number of people entered politics or became a key factor in the formation of the parliamentary majority. Furthermore, this process coincided with the process of nationalisation. Thus before the turn of the century, on one hand, the modern national structure of the population (and space) was formed (also in Slovenia); while on the other hand the constructed nations (which finally established all of the infrastructure needed for defining a nation) kept »learning« the modern democratic discourse.
The author analyses the journalistic and political work of the lawyer (attorney) and politician Ivan Dečko (1859–1908) since his studies in Graz (1879) until the establishment of his own law firm in ...Celje (1891). Already as a student he demonstrated his political talent when he started publishing critical articles in the Slovenian newspapers in the beginning of the 1880s. When he started working in Maribor in 1883, he immediately joined the Slovenian political elite there. In 1885 he moved to Celje, got a job in Josip Sernec's law firm, and visibly accelerated the Slovenian »breakthrough« in the city by the river Savinja. With thoughtful tactics he also appeared at the level of the Provincial Assembly, when he became the member of the Styrian Provincial Assembly in 1890. In 1891 he opened his own law firm. With his appeals to various appeal bodies he caused enough disturbance to make the Germans close their ranks. Under his influence the clever Slovenian politics in the beginning of the 1890s won over the rural areas completely, restricting the Lower Styrian Germans to the cities and certain towns.
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