Province of Ljubljana

{{Expert-subject|Slovenia|date=December 2008}} {{Unreferenced|date=March 2008}} {{History of Slovenia}} The '''Province of Ljubljana''' ({{lang-it|Provincia di Lubiana}}, {{lang-sl|Ljubljanska pokrajina}}, {{lang-de|Provinz Laibach}}) was a province of the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)|Kingdom of Italy]] and of the [[Nazi German]] [[Operation Zone of the Adriatic Littoral|Adriatic Littoral]] during [[World War II]]. It was created on May 3, 1941 from territory occupied and annexed to Italy after the [[Axis powers|Axis]] [[invasion of Yugoslavia|invasion and dissolution of Yugoslavia]], and it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when the [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|Yugoslav partisans]] liberated it from Nazi occupation. Its administrative centre was [[Ljubljana]]. ==Territory== The Province of Ljubljana was created on the territory of the [[Drava Banovina]] of the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]], which was split between the [[Greater German Reich]] and the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Kingdom of Italy]] in April 1941. The bulk of its territory is: *[[Lower Carniola]] (except a strip of land along the Sava river, occupied by the [[Third Reich]]); *The eastern portions of [[Inner Carniola]] (the present-day municipalities of [[Logatec]], [[Cerknica]], [[Bloke (Slovenia)|Bloke]] and [[Loška Dolina]]), *The city of Ljubljana and its southern suburbs. The northern suburbs ([[Šentvid]]) were under the occupation of Greater German Reich. Fascist Italy occupied [[Marindol]], and other villages that previously belonged to the [[Banovina of Croatia]], Milić-Selo, Paunović-Selo, Žunić-Selo, Vukobrati, Vidnjevići and Vrhovci. These villages were annexed to the municipality of [[Črnomelj]] as part of [[Ljubljana Province]] even if the population of those villages was not and now is not Slovene but Orthodox Serb population. After the war the inhabitants of those areas demanded to be returned under the auspicies of the county of [[Karlovac]] in the [[People’s Republic of Croatia]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}. By the administrative organization of 1947 Marindol and the surrounding villages on the left bank of [[Kolpa]] was a local community in the composition of the county of [[Karlovac]]. It was still constituent part of the county in the time of 1948 Census. After that complete area is under Slovenian authority. Also parts of [[Žumberak/Gorjanci]] area were anexed by Italy to the [[Ljubljana Province]] and parts of [[Gorski kotar]] mainly in the Čabar area (villages around Prezid), all from what was before then part of the [[Banovina of Croatia]]. This was an agreement between the Kingdom of Italy and the Independent State of Croatia on the border between the two [[Axis powers|Axis]] states during the Second World War. ===The Italian period=== [[File:Provincia di Lubiana1941-1943.jpg|thumb|350px|The Province of Ljubljana under Italian rule]] The area was first occupied by [[Italian Fascism|Fascist Italy]] in April 1941. It was subjected to military occupation but on May 1941, after the ''[[debellatio]]'' of the [[Yugoslavia|Yugoslavian State]] by the [[Axis Powers]], it was formally annexed by the Kingdom of Italy under the name of ''Provincia di Lubiana''. The province was created as a specific administration unit within Italy. Although considered as an integral part of Italy, it was treated as a ''[[corpus separatum]]''. Unlike other provinces, it was administered by a High Commissioner, appointed by the Italian Government. The High Commissioner had a similar position as ''[[prefect]]s'' in other Italian provinces, but was given wider competences. The first High Commissioner was [[Emilio Grazioli]]. Although the province did enjoy some political or administrative autonomy, several concessions were given to the local [[Slovenes|Slovene]] population. In the countryside, most of the municipal administrations, elected in general elections during the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]], could continue to funcion. Judiciary and local administration personnel were also kept. Both [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Slovene language|Slovene]] were given the status of [[official language]]s and also the status of an administrative language. Most Slovenian cultural and educational institutions of national importance, such as the [[University of Ljubljana]] and the [[Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts|Academy of Sciences and Arts]], were kept. Education in the Slovene language was kept, although Italian was introduced as an obligatory second language. The population of the Province was exempted from military service in the Italian Army. Also, the Consult was created as an advisory council of the High Commissioner's office. It was composed by members of local economic and professional associations, as well as of those political party leaders that were willing to collaborate with Italian authorities. The initial policy of the Italian occupation forces differed significantly from the violent [[Fascist italianization]] policies adopted in other non-Italian regions under Italian Fascist domination. It was also much more tolerant than the policies in Nazi-occupied Slovenia. Between April and June 1941, tens of thousands of [[Slovenes]] from German-occupied [[Lower Styria]] and [[Upper Carniola]] escaped to the Province of Ljubljana. The initial tolerant policies of the Italian administration did however not last long. With the establishment of the [[Liberation Front of the Slovenian People]] and the emergence of the [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|partisan resistance]], the province was subjected to brutal repression. ===The German period (1943 - 1945)=== After the [[Italian armistice]] in September 1943, the province was occupied by Nazi Germany. The province was kept in its old borders, as was the basic framework of the administration. The province was included in the [[Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral|Adriatic Littoral]]. It was finally abolished on May 9, 1945. ===Administration=== During the Italian period (1941–1943), the province was ruled by a High Commissioner. In the first months after the province was officially annexed to Italy (May 1941), a so-called Consultation Council (''consulta'') was set up from high-ranking members of local economic, professional and political elites. The first chairman of the council was [[Marko Natlačen]], former Yugoslav governor of the [[Drava banovina]]. Already in 1942, he stepped down in opposition to Italian occupation policies, and the Council itself ceased to be summoned. After the German occupation in September 1943, [[Leon Rupnik]] was named president of the province. He managed to establish a fairly autonomous provincial administration with the help of a small circle of collaborators. ==Armies== In 1942 so called ''village guards'' started appearing spontaneously, as a self-defense against partisan revolutionary violence. They turned to Italians for weapons and equipment, and the Italians soon organized them as a part of [[Anti-Communist_Volunteer_Militia|MVAC]]. They were called [[White Guard (Slovenia)|White Guard]] by the partisans (and even Germans later on). After the capitulation of Italy most of the 'Blue Guard' (slovene [[Chetniks]]) was destroyed in the [[battle of Grcarice]] and members of the 'White Guard' were killed, captured, dispersed or fled to the germans, where they formed the core of the newly established the [[Slovenian Home Guard]] corps led by former general of the Royal Yugoslavian Army [[Leon Rupnik]]. He become chief of the puppet provincial government of [[Ljubljana Province]] and came into the service of the Third Reich. Many previously captured or dispersed members os the White Guard soon joined the [[Slovenian Home Guard]]. While the war was still going on some of the leaders of the 'White Guard' and the 'Blue Guard' underwent a military court-martial in [[Kočevje]] and were sentenced to death. The trial was organized by the [[Slovenian National Liberation Council]]. On the Allied side there was the [[Liberation Front of the Slovenian People]] which was formed on 27 April 1941 by the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia. Originally, organizations from the entire political spectrum participated, but as the influence of the Communist Party within the Liberation Front started to grow, some of them turned against it. ==Ending== The area of the Province of Ljubljana after the Second World War were united with the rest of [[Slovene Lands]] that were under the control of [[Second Yugoslavia|Tito’s Yugoslavia]] and formed the [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia|People’s Republic of Slovenia]] in [[1947]] that was in the mean time called the Federal State of Slovenia (short form: Federal Slovenia). Some of its territory was returned to Croatia but some was subsequently claimed by Slovenia. Bulk of its territory is now the [[Republic of Slovenia]]. ==See also== *[[Liberation Front of the Slovenian People]] *[[Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia]] {{coord missing}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Province Of Ljubljana}}