Slovenia

Slovenia A part of Austria since 1282, it maintained its linguistic and cultural distinctiveness, which experienced a resurgence from the late nineteenth century. After World War I it became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia from 1929), though at the Treaty of St Germain it failed to realize its claims for southern Carinthia, which remained part of Austria. In subsequent decades before and after World War II, it became the wealthiest part of Yugoslavia, mainly on account of its mineral resources. This often led to clashes with Yugoslavia's Serb-dominated leadership. During World War II, the north was annexed as part of Austria, while the south became part of Italy. After the war, it regained its territorial integrity, including the areas on the Istrian peninsula which it had lost to Italy since 1920. It became part of a Federal Yugoslavia in 1946, ruled by the Communist Tito until 1980. In response to the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and to growing Serbian nationalism, a constitutional amendment was introduced in September 1989, in which it reserved the right to secede.

With Croatia, Slovenia declared its independence on 25 June 1991. Like its southern neighbour, it was subject to military intervention by the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army, but the ensuing civil war ended swiftly. On 18 July 1991, its independence was effectively recognized by Yugoslavia (Serbia). The reason for the brevity of the war, in marked contrast to that of its neighbour Croatia as well as Bosnia-Hercegovina, was its unusual ethnic homogeneity (with over 90 per cent Slovenes and only 2 per cent Serbians), its distance from Serbia, and the danger of overstretching Serbian military resources, given the conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia. After a short period of economic adjustment to capitalism, it developed the most dynamic economy (together with the Czech Republic) of the former Communist states. From 1990, it was led by Milan Kučan, while the government consisted of a surprisingly stable five-party coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Over the next decade, the economy adapted to the conditions of a market economy so effectively that Slovenia became the wealthiest of the twelve applicants for membership of the European Union. As a result, the LDP was able to extend its position in subsequent elections as the party system consolidated. Following a shift amongst the centre-right parties, the LDP under Drnovšek was briefly in the opposition between May and the general elections of October 2000, when the LDS extended its lead as the biggest party, gaining 34 out of 88 seats.

Trieste