By: Prof. dr. Andrej Umek
In order to truly understand the political agenda of the KUL coalition, which enjoys great support from the mainstream media, whether conscious or not, we need to go back to the 1930s. The First World War and the Treaty of Versailles presented Europe and the Slovenes with new facts. The Bolshevik proletarian revolution succeeded in Russia and the Soviet Union was formed. In parts of Europe, especially in Germany and Italy, but also in Spain, not to be completely overlooked, after the failed attempts of the communist revolutions, fascism and Nazism strengthened and also took power. Democracy has been pushed to Western Europe, France, Britain, and Scandinavia. Slovenians were forcibly included in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia with barely more than half of the national territory. The victorious forces of the Entente, led by France in this respect, explicitly denied us Slovenes the right to be a nation-forming nation – nation, even though, according to international standards, this has belonged to us at least since the Reformation. Violent denationalisation took place in the Slovene territories that were not included in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Slovenes living there were exposed to increasing terror. That is why a large number fled to the Yugoslav part of Slovenia – the Drava banovina, which in the mid-1930s had three hundred thousand refugees in addition to the traditional population of more than one million. Of course, Yugoslavia was not, much less exemplary, a democracy. Here, too, the processes of denationalisation of Slovenes took place, albeit less openly and violently than in neighbouring countries. As an example, let me just mention the abolition of the Slovene army, an army with the Slovene language of command, which we inherited from Austria-Hungary.
Traditional political parties have also reacted very differently to these conditions, which are far from favourable for us Slovenes. The leading Slovenian People’s Party (SLS) and especially its president Dr Anton Korošec was clearly aware that the Slovenes did not have the power to turn the situation in Europe and Yugoslavia decisively in our favour. Therefore, they took into account the situation, but in it they tried to preserve our national identity, preserve Slovenia and promote our social and economic development. That is why the well-known Serbian writer Vuk Drašković still accuses us today of not entering Yugoslavia openly and without hidden ambitions. And he was right in his own way. The traditional liberal camp has broken up into several parts.
The main two were, Starini and Mladini if I use the predominant labels in Ljubljana at the time. Starini have mostly become passive, saying that they do not like what is going on, but they do not know what to do. Mladini, who were also described by some as Carniolan industrialists, openly supported the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the concept of a triune nation. Thus, they agreed that Slovenes are not a nation-forming nation, but only a component in the concept of Yugoslavism. For many, this view was the result of the assessment that an autarkic, introverted, and largely economically backward Yugoslavia gave them better chances for economic success. The third political group with its roots in the Austro-Hungarian Social Democracy became completely powerless and irrelevant to political events.
Whoever is not with us is against us
As the fourth political group, which was also banned by Obznano, there were a small number of communists. Although few, the leaders of the Kominterna had a clear goal in front of them: the communist proletarian revolution. In order to achieve this goal, two methods were used. The first were mass protests in which their leading role was not clearly visible. They wanted to portray them as a spontaneous response from disgruntled people. In doing so, their illegal status and the economic crisis in the early 1930s came in useful. As an example of this operation, we can take the strikes of Trbovlje miners and railway workers in Ljubljana. In both cases, the demands of the strikers went much further than the usual union demands in a democratic society. In both cases, illegal groups led by the Communist Party provoked violent riots, thus provoking the police and the authorities. Another component of the operation of the illegal Communist Party and their preparations for the revolution were propaganda slogans. At this point, I would mention only two that were well known to the generation of my parents in Ljubljana. However, they were also very indicative in their own way. The first was: “Democracy is dead. You can choose fascism or communism.”
The concept of this slogan is that it tells a lie in the first part, and in the second assumes that the untrue statement is true and draws a logical conclusion. This propaganda appearance was obviously well thought out, as it is also found elsewhere in communist activity. For example, it is an essential element of Mao’s Red Book. In Slovenia, this slogan worked well. There are two reasons for this. The claim that democracy is dead was based on the fact that the countries we respected as democratic, especially France as an exemplary democracy, denied us the rights of a nation-forming nation with the Treaty of Versailles and deprived us of almost half of our national territory. The resulting doubts about the democratic social order were reinforced by the economic crisis. The second reason that for all those who accepted the first claim that democracy is dead, communism was the only logical choice, was the fascist genocide against the Slovene population just over thirty kilometres from Ljubljana. Another well-known slogan was: “Whoever is not with us is against us.” This password requires people to identify with one group or another. There is neither cooperation nor dialogue between these hostile groups. The only possible conflict, then, is the revolution planned by the Communists. It is possible that they would not have succeeded in their plans if the fascist states had not attacked and occupied Yugoslavia in 1941. Under these conditions, the Yugoslav Communists managed to carry out a Bolshevik revolution and establish terror and totalitarianism that lasted for a good forty-five years.
There are too many parallels between the activities of the pre-war communists and the KUL
If we now compare the events of the 1930s with the events in Slovenia in the last two years, we unfortunately see many parallels. Even today, “spontaneous” protests of cyclists, anti-vaccinators, etc. are taking place in Slovenia, which occasionally escalate into violent protests. In all these protests, even a superficial observer can see that they are systematic and well-run. The parties of the KUL coalition deny that these protests were organised and led illegally. However, for me, these claims are far from credible, as at the same time they claim to be the proud successors of the Communist Party. There are far too many parallels with the events of the 1930s. Furthermore, in their speeches, the most prominent representatives of the KUL coalition describe all parties that make up the current democratically elected government, especially the leading party of the SDS government, as fascist, regardless of the fact that they received majority support in multi-party, democratic elections. These claims of theirs are at least as absurd as the claims that the government of Sebastian Kurz in Austria or the government of Angela Merkel in Germany is Nazi. However, these nonsensical claims by representatives of the KUL coalition have a parallel in the communist slogan of the 1930s. According to them, there is no democracy in Slovenia and voters can only choose between proud successors of the Communist Party or fascists. And they hope, if I paraphrase the head of Nazi propaganda, Goebbels, that if you repeat a nonsensical claim enough times, it will make sense, at least for some. Apparently the KUL coalition believes him. Finally, we come to the last slogan of the pre-war communists. The claims of the KUL champions that they will not cooperate with the parties that make up the current government or with the supporters of the parties even after the elections, regardless of the outcome of the elections, sound like the well-known communist slogan who is not with us is against us. And yet the irrevocable division into two camps is in clear contradiction to the basic principles of democracy, and it is impossible to understand it otherwise than as preparation for revolution.
I believe that we are dealing with history in order to learn something from it, so that we do not repeat past mistakes in the future. And according to the author of this column, there are far too many parallels between the activities of the pre-war communists and the KUL coalition that someone who cares about Slovenia’s well-being should overlook. In my opinion, I hope that I have substantiated it clearly enough with this column; supporting the KUL coalition to the proud successors of the Communist Party also means advocating for revolution. Do Slovenians really want it? The decision is still ours for now.
Prof. Dr Andrej Umek is a member of the SLS Supervisory Board, a former minister, professor, and a member of the European Ideas Network and the editorial board of European View.