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Make This Country German ... Italian ... Hungarian ... Croatian! Role of Occupation Borders in the Denationalisation Policy and in the Lives of Slovene Population

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World War II marks one of the most critical moments in Slovene history. Four occupation regimes – German, Italian, Hungarian and the regime of Ustasha Croatia – divided Slovenes among four different state entities and ethnically speaking sentenced them to death, including by using methods of genocide.

One of the key motives for World War II was the revision of state borders which had been formed after World War I. This revision was carried out to the detriment of smaller nations, including the Slovene one. After the occupation and dismemberment, state borders between the Axis powers were established in Slovene lands. The borders were set according to the logic of territory division and the planned swift and violent disappearance of the Slovene nation. Only the border with the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) followed the former rough ethnic division of the territory or (partially) the old administrative borders. It is also the only border which has been preserved to this day.

The German Reich acquired the territories of the regions of Gorenjska, Koroška, Štajerska, the northwest part of Prekmurje and the northern part of Dolenjska. Italy occupied the Notranjska region, Ljubljana, remaining part of Dolenjska and Bela krajina. Hungary occupied most of Prekmurje, while the NDH occupied five villages in Posavje. The border between the occupation zones did not follow the historical, administrative or provincial/ethnic border.

As regards the procedures for dividing the occupied Slovene territory among the occupiers, no special conferences were held to explicitly negotiate the breaking up of Slovene territory. The only one who decided which piece of territory would go to which occupier and where the borders would be drawn was Hitler. His allies did, however, have many comments but they mostly went unheard. Thus, the boundaries were fixed on 12 April 1941 based on Hitler’s instructions for breaking up Yugoslavia.

All occupiers enclosed their part of the territory by boundaries that separated individual occupation zones. When the demarcation took place, the occupiers signed special intergovernmental agreements.

Adolf Hitler inspecting the demolished bridge over the Drava River in Maribor, 26 April 1941. MNZS. It is incorrectly mentioned in literature that Hitler uttered the famous sentence “Make this country German again!” in his speech given on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor on 26 April 1941. In reality – according to the speech given by the Chief of the Civil Administration of Styria dr. Uiberreither on 28 April 1941, likewise on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor – he had given that order earlier. In his speech Uiberreither said that Hitler had addressed him with those words when handing over the administration three weeks earlier. Source: Repe, S puško in knjigo, 24.
Adolf Hitler inspecting the demolished bridge over the Drava River in Maribor, 26 April 1941. MNZS. It is incorrectly mentioned in literature that Hitler uttered the famous sentence “Make this country German again!” in his speech given on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor on 26 April 1941. In reality – according to the speech given by the Chief of the Civil Administration of Styria dr. Uiberreither on 28 April 1941, likewise on the balcony of the town hall in Maribor – he had given that order earlier. In his speech Uiberreither said that Hitler had addressed him with those words when handing over the administration three weeks earlier. Source: Repe, S puško in knjigo, 24.


Italian troops in Ljubljana (June 1941). MNZS, Author: Jakob Prešern.
Italian troops in Ljubljana (June 1941). MNZS, Author: Jakob Prešern.


Town Hall in Ptuj adorned with German flags. MNZS.
Town Hall in Ptuj adorned with German flags. MNZS.


Demonstration of the breakthrough of German and Italian armies into Slovene territory during the attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941. Source: Repe, S puško in knjigo, 11.
Demonstration of the breakthrough of German and Italian armies into Slovene territory during the attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941. Source: Repe, S puško in knjigo, 11.


German Army crossing the Drava River across a demolished bridge, Ptuj, 1941. MNZS.
German Army crossing the Drava River across a demolished bridge, Ptuj, 1941. MNZS.


Ceremony in Murska Sobota on 16 April 1941 when the Germans handed Prekmurje over to the Hungarians. Jožef Krantz, priest in the Catholic parish of Murska Sobota speaks on the stage. MNZS.
Ceremony in Murska Sobota on 16 April 1941 when the Germans handed Prekmurje over to the Hungarians. Jožef Krantz, priest in the Catholic parish of Murska Sobota speaks on the stage. MNZS.


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