LJUBLJANA
If all of the countries of former Yugoslavia claim to be a geographical crossroads between east and west, then Ljubljana can best be described as the gate to that road. With easy access to the Austrian and Italian borders, to the Alps and the Adriatic, Slovenia and its capital city are influenced as much by these cultures as by neighbors to the south and east.
Illyrians, Celts, Carolingians, Romans, Huns and Slavs – no strangers to the region – all had settlements in what is now Slovenia. Ljubljana, known during Roman times as Emona, was first called by its modern name (a variant on the Slovenian word for "beloved") in the 12th century and it became the capital of the province of Camiola during Hapsburg rule.
Ljubljana would remain under the influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (except for a brief Napoleonic period in the early 1800s when the city became the capital of Illyria) until the Empire fell in 1918. Ljubljana then emerged from being a provincial capital to becoming the regional capital for all Slovenes under the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (what would eventually become Yugoslavia).
Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a socialist state that enjoyed a mixed economy, unattached to the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. Slovenia became the most economically prosperous region of Yugoslavia. Following Tito’s death in 1980, Yugoslavia’s economy suffered and there were moves for increased centralization from Belgrade (culminating in the 1988 move to end autonomy for Kosovo). Concerned about their own autonomy and the fact that their region was disproportionately responsible for carrying the export industry, more and more Slovenians favored independence.
After Slovenia became the first
part of Yugoslavia to hold multi-party elections, nearly 90% of Slovenia’s population
voted in a 1990 referendum for independence
from Yugoslavia. When the country seceded
officially in June of that year, it marked the beginning of the end of Yugoslavia. Following ten days of war, Slovenia and Yugoslavia
held a truce and the country was allowed to secede. This
relatively bloodless war would be far different from what was to come in Croatia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Slovenia was formally
recognized by the international community in 1992 and Ljubljana remains its capital.
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