ORGANIZATIONAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF SLOVENIAN CATHOLICS AND LIBERALS IN THE LATE XIX-EARLY XX CENTURY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The article deals with the features of party building and organizational and political activity of the two largest Slovenian political parties – catholic and liberal in the central Slovenian region Carniola – in the late XIX-early XX centuries. The comparison of their activities takes place in three aspects: professional field, work to attract the masses, the conclusion of political alliances. At the turn of the 80-90-ies of the XIX century, on the initiative of the Slovenian Catholics, a split occurred between them and the liberals, and both groups moved to formalize their parties. While Catholics relied on the support of the largest class of Slovenian society – the peasantry, the social base of liberals was initially much narrower – it included representatives of the Slovenian liberal bourgeoisie and the petty – bourgeois strata of the city, in the villages-wealthy peasants and teachers. The Catholics were the first to unite and immediately began organizing mass meetings throughout the country and creating district party organizations. Their party gradually formed into a widely branched mass organization with a clear and well-thought-out organizational structure. The liberals, unlike the Catholics, did not pay enough attention to the formation of a serious political and economic organization, and they did not have the organizational resources to create it. They abandoned the idea of creating a mass party base in the villages, relying on a network of secret proxies in the communities. The Slovenian liberals did not manage to create a cohesive and organized party. The catholic party remained monolithic. The liberal party split in the early twentieth century.

Both Catholics and liberals founded competing non-political organizations in all spheres of public life. Each of the parties had its own teachers', students ' and academic societies, publishing houses and printing houses, press bodies and financial institutions. Thanks to the vigorous activity of the Christian socialists who were part of it, the catholic party began to implement a broad social program aimed at the poorest segments of the population. Catholics founded catholic societies for workers and artisans, peasant cooperatives. The liberals did not have such achievements, but they achieved success in the field of municipal politics and financial enterprises.

The success of the Slovenian parties directly depended not only on their program political settings, but also on how clearly they were able to form their structure and organize their activities. And in this area, the position of the liberals was much weaker. After the introduction of universal and equal suffrage in 1907, Catholics became the undisputed political leaders in the Slovenian lands.