Description

In 1917 Slovene, Croatian and Serbian members of the Vienna parliament came together to form the Yugoslav Club. The leader of the club, Anton Korošec, read its political manifesto, the May Declaration, in the Vienna parliament on 30 May 1917. The declaration had been inspired by Janez Evangelist Krek. The declaration was signed by all 33 Yugoslav deputies, 20 of whom were Slovenes. It read as follows: The undersigned deputies of the Yugoslav Club hereby declare that, on the basis of the national principle and the Croatian state right, they call for the unification of all lands of the monarchy inhabited by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs into one independent state, under the sceptre of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, free from the domination of other nations and on a democratic basis. They will do all in their power to realise this call for a unified nation. The undersigned will participate in parliamentary work under this reservation (taken from the 3 August 1917 issue of the newspaper Slovenski narod). The government, the court and the military all rejected the declaration.

The May Declaration gave rise to the Declaration Movement, which encompassed the entire Slovene nation. Around 200,000 signatures were collected supporting the deputies’ call. This awakened the consciousness among Slovenes that they should decide their fate themselves.

As Austria-Hungary collapsed, the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which was presided over by Anton Korošec, proclaimed the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on 29 October 1918. Union with the Kingdom of Serbia in December of the same year created the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as a unitary monarchy. It was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929.

Engraver: Ana Kompara