Anniversary of Carinthian Plebiscite
10 October marked the passing of 84 years since the Carinthian Plebiscite, which determined the country affiliations of the inhabitants of Carinthia and the northern Slovene border.
The Carinthian Plebiscite was held because the issue of the state border between Slovenia, i.e. the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and Austria had not been solved by the allied armistice with the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the First World War. It was decided only at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, which confirmed the border in Styria which Slovene military units had occupied at the end of the war and immediately after it. No agreement was made for Carinthia, and therefore a popular vote was taken to decide the country affiliations of the inhabitants of the region.
The area of the plebiscite was divided into two parts: zone A, the area which lay directly on the border and in which the plebiscite was planned to be held first, and zone B (Klagenfurt and its immediate vicinity), where the plebiscite would be held only if zone A voted for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. On 10 October 1920, 37636 ballots were cast out of a total of 39291 eligible voters. 59.04 percent voted for the Republic of Austria, and 40.96 for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The issue of Slovenia’s northern border, the Carinthian Plebiscite and its appropriateness for resolving border issues remains a burning topic for researchers and historians.
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