La storia della Slovenia include il periodo dal V secolo a.C. ai giorni nostri. Nella prima età del bronzo, tribù proto-illiriche si stabilirono in un area che si estendeva dall'odierna Albania fino alla città di Trieste. Il sacro romano impero ebbe il controllo di questa regione per circa 1.000 anni. La Slovenia odierna acquisì l'indipendenza dalla Jugoslavia nel 1991, ed oggi è uno stato moderno ed un membro dell'Unione europea e della NATO.

Nei tempi antichi i celti e gli illiri abitavano nei territori dell'odierna Slovenia. Inoltre gli antichi veneti si erano stabiliti nella parte nordorientale dell'Italia ed in alcune parti della Slovenia. Esisteva una popolazione illirica ben sviluppata già nella valle del fiume Sava, in quella che oggi è la Slovenia.^[1] Alcune raffigurazioni illiriche scoperte vicino all'attuale città di Lubiana mostrano sacrifici rituali, feste, battaglie, eventi sportivi ed altre attività.

L'impero romano stabilì il controllo sulla regione nel I secolo d.C., dopo 200 anni di lotte con le tribù locali. Le città romane più importanti in questa zona includevano: Celeia (oggi Celje), Emona (Lubiana), Nauportus (Vrhnika), Poetovio (Ptuj). Il territorio dello stato moderno si divideva tra le province romane della Dalmazia, d'Italia , del Norico, e della Pannonia.

La prima fase dell'insediamento delle popolazioni slave nel territorio dell'odierna Slovenia risale a circa l'anno 550 d.C. ed ebbe origine nell'area dell'odierna Moravia (cioè, dal ramo delle lingue slave occidentali). Da qui gli slavi mossero verso sud nel territorio dell'ex provincia romana del Norico (provincia romana) (odierne regioni dell'alta e della bassa Austria). In seguito proseguirono lungo le valli dei fiumi alpini verso la catena del Karawanken e quindi verso l'insediamento di Poetovio (moderna Ptuj).

La seconda fase dell'insediamento slavo ebbe luogo dopo che i longobardi si spostarono in Italia settentrionale nel 568 d.C.. Gli slavi occuparono infine i territori spopolati con l'aiuto dei loro signori avari. Nel 588 d.C. raggiunsero l'area del fiume Sava superiore e nel 591 d.C. l'area del Drava superiore, dove si scontrarono con i bavaresi. Nel 592 d.C. i bavaresi ebbero la meglio, ma nel 595 d.C. l'esercito slavo-avaro ottenne una vittoria decisiva e consolidò quindi il confine tra i territori dei franchi ed i territori degli avari.

Lo stesso argomento in dettaglio: Carantania.

Tra il 623 ed il 626 d.C., le tribù slave occidentali e meridionali furono riunite nell'unione tribale di Samo, che probabilmente si estendeva dal mar Baltico fino al mar Adriatico. Il suo scopo era di difendere gli slavi dai bavaresi, dai longobardi e dagli avari. Il collasso avvenne con la morte di Samo (658) e la fine di ogni collegamento esistente tra gli slavi meridionali e quelli occidentali.

Anche se la Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum, scritta a Salisburgo intorno all'870, testimonia che Samo fu sovrano dei carantaniani e che il centro del suo reame era in Carantania,^[2] secondo gli storici ceci e slovacchi l'idea che il regno di Samo includesse la zona dell'odierna Slovenia e Carinzia è definitivamente superata.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]} L'autore medievale avrebbe confuso la "Carantania" con il Carnuntum vicino al confine slovacco, una confusione di nomi simili abbastanza comune nel medioevo. Inoltre a quel tempo gli slavi dei territori sloveni si trovavano ancora sotto il dominio longobardo.

In seguito alla morte di Samo fu fondato un principato slavo sotto la guida dello knez (principe) Valuk, il ducato di Carantania (menzionato per la prima volta nel 660 d.C.), che corrispondeva all'incirca al territorio dell'odierna Carinzia austriaca e della Carinzia slovena. Nel 745 la Carantania fu unita al regno franco. Si ritiene ormai che la consuetudo Sclavorum, il rituale dell'intronizzazione dello knez^[11] risalga a questo periodo.^[12]

La Carantania partecipò alla rivolta di Ljudevit Posavski contro Ludovico il Pio nell'819, ma venne sconfitta nell'823. La Carantania passò in seguito sotto il dominio di Ludovico II il Germanico con il trattato di Verdun nell'843.

The Frankish margraviate passed to the Holy Roman Empire as the duchies of Carinthia, Carniola and Styria in 975.

The Slovenes living in these provinces lived under the rule of the Habsburg dynasty from the 14th century until 1918, with the exception of Napoleon's 4-year tutelage of parts of modern-day Slovenia and Croatia — the "Illyrian provinces", and the Ottoman management of the region of Prekmurje for approximately 150 year.

While the elites of these regions mostly became Germanized, the peasants strongly resisted Germanization influences and retained their unique Slavic language and culture. A major step towards the social and cultural emancipation of the Slovenes happened during the Reformation, when Primož Trubar published the first printed books in the Slovene language (Catechism and Abecedarium, 1550 in Tübingen, Germany). Protestant publishing in Slovene culminated in a full translation of the Bible by (Jurij Dalmatin, Wittenberg 1584). Even though the majority of the population had accepted Protestant teaching, the region became re-Catholicized under the rule of Archduke Ferdinand of Inner Austria (ruled 1590 - 1637), who later became Emperor and pursued similar policies in the other Habsburg territories. See also: Croatian and Slovenian peasant revolt of 1573.

The Duchy of Carinthia preserved the inauguration of its knez (prince) on the Prince's Stone (knežji kamen) in the Slovene language until the year 1414. The oath ceremony of the duke in the German language took place at the near-by Duke's Chair (vojvodski stol) until the year 1651 and then, until the year 1728, in the Palace of the Estates ("Landhaus") in Klagenfurt. The inauguration ritual is described in Jean Bodin's book Six livres de la République of 1576 and there is some indication that Thomas Jefferson learned about it from that book.^[12]

In the 19th century intellectuals codified Slovene into a literary language^[13] and Slovene nationalist movements began to take hold, initially demanding Slovene autonomy within the framework of the Habsburg Monarchy (see United Slovenia). In the second half of 19th century, Slovenia gained an administrative autonomy in the Duchy of Carinthia. Other regions settled with Slovenians had some cultural and educational concessions.

In 1918, after World War I, the Slovenes joined with other southern Slav peoples in forming the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (October 29, 1918) and then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (December 1, 1918) under King Peter I of Serbia. In 1929, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was renamed as the Kingdom of Jugoslavia.

In April 1941, Jugoslavia was invaded by the Axis Powers. Slovenia was divided between Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and Horthy's Hungary and several villages given to the Independent State of Croatia. The largest part annexed was Lower Styria which was attached to the "Ostmark" (Nazi-occupied Austria). Soon, a liberation movement under the Communist leadership emerged.

Due to political assassinations carried out by the Communist guerrillas as well as the pre-existing radical anti-Communism of the conservative circles of the Slovenian society, a civil war between Slovenes broke outTemplate:When in the Italian-occupied south-eastern Slovenia (known as Province of Ljubljana) between the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People and the Axis-sponsored anti-communist militia, the Slovene Home Guard, formed to protect villages from attacks by partisans. The Slovene partisan guerrilla managed to liberate large portions of the Slovene Lands, making a contribution to the defeat of Nazism. While occupied Slovenia was never even considered a puppet state; military organizations such as the Slovene Home Guard (Slovensko Domobranstvo, or SD) were organized and fought for the occupiers and against the Yugoslav partisans.

Ultimately the Yugoslav partisans triumphed over the German, Hungarian, and Italian occupiers in Slovenia and eliminated groups such as the SD. Following the re-establishment of Jugoslavia, and after ousting King Peter and ending the monarchy, Slovenia became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Jugoslavia, declared on 29 November 1945. A Communist dictatorship was established. During the immediate postwar period, political opponents and members of non-communist armed formations were imprisoned and executed, and many were buried in unmarked mass graves.

In 1947, Italy ceded most of the Julian March to Jugoslavia and Slovenia thus regained the Slovenian Littoral, including access to the sea. Following the 1948 Tito-Stalin split, however, measures became less repressive and due to the Tito-Stalin split economic and personal freedom were better than in the Eastern Bloc. From the 1950s, the Socialist Republic of Slovenia enjoyed a relatively wide autonomy under the rule of the local Communist elite. Slovenia continued as Jugoslavia's most prosperous and advanced republic throughout the Communist era and was at the forefront of Jugoslavia's unique version of communism.

Lo stesso argomento in dettaglio: Breakup of Jugoslavia, Yugoslav wars e Ten-Day War.

The independence of Slovenia came about as a result of the rise of nationalism among the Southern Slav nations and the dissolution of Jugoslavia resulting from it. Crisis emerged in Jugoslavia with the weakening of communism in Eastern Europe towards the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s. In Jugoslavia, the federal Communist Party, officially called Alliance or League of Communists, was losing its ideological dominance.

At the same time, nationalist and separatist ideologies were on the rise in the late 1980s throughout Jugoslavia. This was particularly noticeable in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. To a lesser extent, nationalist and separatist ideologies were on the rise in Slovenia and the Republic of Macedonia. Slobodan Milošević's rise to power in Serbia, and his rhetoric in favour of the unity of all Serbs, was responded to with nationalist movements in other republics, particularly Croatia and Slovenia. These Republics began to seek greater autonomy within the Federation, including confederative status and even full independence. Nationalism also grew within the still ruling League of Communists. So the weakening of the communist regime allowed nationalism to become a more powerful force in Yugoslav politics. In January 1990, the League of Communists broke up on the lines of the individual Republics.

In March 1989, the crisis in Jugoslavia deepened after the adoption of certain amendments to the Serbian constitution which allowed the Serbian republic's government to re-assert effective power over the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Voivodina. The Serb government claimed that the previous situation had been unjust in allowing these provinces to be involved in the administration of Serbia Central whilst Serbia Central had no control over what happened in these two autonomous provinces. Serbia, under president Slobodan Milošević, thus gained control over three out of eight votes in the Yugoslav presidency. With additional votes from Montenegro and, occasionally, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia was now even able to influence heavily any decision of the federal government. This situation led to objections in other republics and to calls for a reform of the Yugoslav Federation.

At the 14th Extraordinary Congress of the League of Communists of Jugoslavia, on 20 January 1990, the delegations of the republics could not agree on the main issues in the Yugoslav federation. As a result, the Slovenian and Croatian delegates left the Congress. The Slovenian delegation, headed by Milan Kučan, demanded democratic changes and a looser federation, while the Serbian delegation, headed by Milošević, opposed this point-blank. This is considered the beginning of the end of Jugoslavia.

Shortly after, Slovenia and Croatia entered into the process towards independence. The first free elections were scheduled in Croatia and Slovenia. Defying the politicians in Belgrade, Slovenia embraced democracy and opened its society in the cultural, civic, and economic spheres to a degree almost unprecedented in the communist world.

On December 23, 1990, 88% of Slovenia's population voted for independence in a plebiscite, and on June 25, 1991, the Republic of Slovenia declared its independence. On June 26, 1991 Croatia and Slovenia recognized each other as independent states.^[14]

A 10-day war with Jugoslavia followed (June 27, 1991 - July 6, 1991). The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) forces withdrew after Slovenia demonstrated stiff resistance to Belgrade. The conflict resulted in relatively few casualties: 67 people were killed according to statistics compiled by the International Red Cross, of which most (39) were JNA soldiers.

Slovenia joined the United Nations on May 22, 1992.^[15]

Historic ties to Western Europe made Slovenia a strong candidate for accession to the European Union. This occurred on May 1, 2004. The other Yugoslav Republics all had to remain outside the European Union.

Just a few weeks earlier - in March 2004 - Slovenia had become a member of NATO.

The boundaries of Slovenia today are as they were when Slovenia was a Socialist Republic prior to independence, but a series of border disputes arose between Slovenia and neighbouring Croatia.

The Slovenian tolar became part of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 2004. Slovenia joined the European Monetary Union and as the first of the new member countries adopted the Euro as its currency on 1 January 2007. Slovenia implemented the Schengen Agreement on December 21, 2007.

• Regno di Jugoslavia

• Janko Prunk, A Brief History of Slovenia, Založba Grad, Ljubljana, 1996

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