|
PRIMORSKA WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED INTO SLOVENIA WITHOUT UPRISING
Celebration commemorating the Incorporation of Primorska Region into Slovenia
Address by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Milan Kucan
Nova Gorica, 12 September 1993
The period of the Primorska people's uprising did not acquire the name "first freedom" without good reason", the president stressed."Almost all of Primorska was liberated, with the exception of Gorica (Gorizia) and Trieste and the two main roads into them. The Slovene partisans were joined by Italian anti-Fascists from Primorska towns and Friuli. The 9th Corps became the active embodiment of cooperation and united strength of the two nations in this region in their joint anti-Fascist operations. "Nono Corpo" became a concept of and gathering place for many Italian democrats and particularly the persecuted Trieste Jews.
"This spring, at the opening of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, the battle standard of this famous Slovene partisan unit was unfurled, together with the flags of American, British, French, Canadian, Polish, Australian and other units acclaimed in battles of the Second World War. This was a recognition and revival of the times and events in which our nation was truly great and acted on a level of response such as was demanded by world history"
Fifty years ago the fate of the Second World War was being decided. In this apocalyptic conflict, democratic European and American forces devoted to freedom prevailed against the evil of the Nazi and Fascist Axis forces. Today we can be proud that the Slovene nation, and in particular the Slovenes from the Primorska coastal region, contributed to the victory of the Allies. This celebration is a commemoration of that fact.
It is worth recalling, therefore, that the western border of Slovenia is the only border in Western Europe that changed after the Second World War. And the reason that this very border and this border alone was changed did not lie in the goodwill and desire of the Allies to redress the unjust decision reached in the Rapallo Treaty between Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The reason lay in a new and very real situation which was forced upon the existing international relations by the anti-Fascist and national liberation struggle of the Slovenes from Primorska as a part of the national liberation struggle of the Slovene nation and its contribution to the victory of global democratic forces. To Slovenes, the Slovene state and the Slovenes of Primorska, the alteration of this borderline has actually meant international political and legal recognition of the Primorska region as a constituent part of Slovenia.
Today, 50 years after the Primorska uprising, which was a part of the long struggle of the Primorska people to join the mother country, we can confidently state that Primorska would not have been incorporated into Slovenia without this uprising. It was probably this act more than anything else that contributed to the fact that we managed to preserve the majority of our national territory, which in 1990, 1991 and 1992 allowed for a justification of the right to self-determination and the request for international recognition of the state of the Slovene nation. It is very likely that we would not have a Slovene state today, were it not for the uprising and the struggle of the Primorska Slovenes against Fascism, as well as their struggle for incorporation into Slovenia. If Slovenia had lost Primorska then, it would have lost everything. This is why today's meeting in Nova Gorica is not only a partisan celebration but a celebration of all Primorska and patriotic Slovenia.
Today all this, and in particular the alteration of the borderline and its recognition, seems self-evident. However, such deliberations are not supported by facts. The attack by Fascist Italy on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia actually nullified the Treaty of Rapallo. But due to an early military defeat and disintegration, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was perceived by the Allies as neither militarily nor politically important. It was not worth entering into any kind of association with it in terms of promises about borders after the war. The primary interest of the Allies was for Italy to abandon Germany and withdraw from the war, which would be a great weight off the Allies. And any promises to Yugoslavia would only hinder such a decision. Anthony Eden, the then British Foreign Minister, as early as in 1941 categorically refused to discuss the expansion of Slovenia and Yugoslavia at the expense of Italy before the end of the war. From the very beginning he expressly ruled out the possibility of including Trieste in the post-war negotiations on borders. His position was so firm that not once after 1941 did the Yugoslav government in exile and Slovene politicians within and around it make any public demand regarding the Slovene coastal region, not even after the capitulation of Italy.
Given such a firm position on the Allies' part, only a strong fact, and convincing from a military point of view, could engender a different view of the western border of Slovenia. And this strong fact was provided by the people's uprising in the Slovene coastal region and its military effect on behalf of the struggle fought by the Allies. The uprising did not only refute their considerations in respect of Italy, it also contradicted the intimate conviction of traditional British foreign policy that Slovenes were a nation that could not form a political entity in the real sense of the word and could therefore be "divided at random". They were convinced by the unity of the anti-Fascist and anti-Nazi resistance and the national liberation struggle of the Slovenes in the entire Slovene ethnic territory.
The uprising of the Primorska people and their struggle against Fascism, which so profoundly affected later relations between countries, provides a persuasive answer to the fundamental question of Slovene history in the Second World War. It confirms the accuracy of views from 1941, that it was by no means too early to set up armed resistance in Slovenia, which was occupied by three foreign forces. It proves wrong those who rejected resistance as harmful for the nation. Without the decision in 1941 in favour of the uprising of all Slovenes and an active military involvement on the side of the Allies, the Slovene western border would have remained as it was determined by the Rapallo Treaty. The Slovenes of Primorska would have remained in Italy and Slovene national territory would have been almost a third smaller.
The Allies did not have any reason to offer anything to the Slovenes as a gift. Determined diplomatic and political efforts were needed long after the war even to win recognition for what had been achieved in the bloody four-year struggle. Quietly waiting for the war to end, based on the belief that resistance would be an escapade threatening national security, would have meant the Slovene western border ending up where it was at the beginning of the war, if Ä given the genocidal goals of the enemies who occupied our territory Ä we were to survive at all. The war in June 1991 also showed and confirmed that a nation not willing to struggle for its freedom and to resist aggression, can expect nothing, neither from others nor from history.
The people of Primorska had lived through the harsh and tragic experience of life under Fascist Italy. This sharpened the awareness of the Slovenes living here of the threat to the nation. Out of all the political alternatives, they chose as the first, final and inevitable decision precisely the need for armed struggle for national liberation and their own freedom. Everything had to be subordinated to this, all political and ideological interests that were less important for the life and survival of the nation. The people of Primorska confirmed this decision with thousands of their lives, lost at Bazovica, in the Rižarna prison, in Fascist torture chambers, concentration camps, burnt villages and battlefields all around Slovenia and almost everywhere in the world. Today we honour their memory.
The Primorska region also had to face a diversity of opinions about how to organize resistance, who should lead it, when to start it and how fiercely it should be developed. However, an agreement was achieved relatively quickly here. It was facilitated in tangible form by the Liberation Front resistance movement, its true will to resist and its activities. "And nevertheless the Liberation Front of the Slovene nation from 1941 was a noble act which brought together the power and the light of political, social and cultural thoughts," wrote Bojan Štih twelve years ago. Štih was a partisan from Primorska and a perpetual rebel. "The act which preserved us as the Slovene nation." A great majority of Primorska Slovenes gave priority to the national liberation and victory over Fascism, and not to the question of who should be given power and who should be prevented from coming to power. The resistance was perceived as a fundamental need and an indisputable criterion for decision-making. And the Allies also supported the resistance in Slovenia and Yugoslavia in recognition of its concrete results.
Anti-Fascism can be traced among the Primorska people long before 1941, ever since the Slovene "Narodni dom" (cultural centre) was burnt down and the Slovene "Delavski dom" in Trieste was ruined (workers' centre). All Slovene political circles were closely connected to it and formed alliances there. It had a primarily national character. This is the reason why such cooperation between the clergy and the partisan authorities was possible, as it was possible to reject the accusation from priests that they were cooperating with communists, because they provided pastoral care within the partisan army and hospitals. This was arranged by a special treaty between the president of the National Liberation Council, Dr Vilfan, and a representative of the Catholic clergy and the Dean of Črniče, Alojzij Novak.
The story of the Primorska uprising in September 1943 is in its essence actually a story about the vital will, strength and democratic declaration of the Slovenes of Primorska. This stimulated the people of Primorska to join the Allied forces wherever fate allowed them to do so. They fought in British, Canadian, U.S., Australian, even Russian and Greek units and en masse in overseas brigades, which were formed abroad and became a part of the Slovene national liberation movement. This story remains as it is. Unchanged, irrespective of which political factors were present in it and which are assessing it today. During the uprising these factors were simply its promoters and, partly, its organisers.
Yet the awareness of the need for an uprising as the crucial condition for the survival of the Slovenes in Primorska had matured long before. It matured as a result of that tragic meeting with fate, experienced during Fascism. What we saw was a recognition and realisation of this will. As a result of this, only the Slovene people of Primorska were and remain the real hero of this uprising, and everything that followed it until the present. They deserve recognition and profound gratitude.
The historical goal of Slovenes in Primorska was national liberation, irrespective of which political camp they supported. The incorporation of Primorska into the Slovene mother country was a guarantee for this volition, and the anti-Fascist struggle against the occupying forces was the only effective means. The uprising and struggle of Primorska were not characterized by an armed conflict among the Slovenes. The Primorska uprising can therefore be termed a "pure" uprising, as was also the case in the regions of Štajerska (Styria) and Koroška (Carinthia).
The uprising in the Slovene coastal region was that great proof of the national will expressed by the Slovenes living here, and which was the basis for the Supreme Plenum of the Liberation Front, which on September 16, 1943 declared "the incorporation of the Slovene coastal region into a free and united Slovenia within a free and democratic Yugoslavia". This decision was confirmed on October 3 in Kočevje at the Meeting of Representatives of the Slovene Nation. In such circumstances the Slovene coastal region became a part of Slovenia's national territory. This has been the case until the present and will be in the future, for as long as we Slovenes are able to subordinate all other interests to our national interests.
The uprising of Slovenes of Primorska is, in all its consequences, one of the great acts in Slovene history. Whoever perceives acts in history as real facts, justifying the present Slovene statehood and permanently strengthening Slovene national consciousness and existence, will never be oblivious of this. And even less will he be able to deny it consciously, if only because a recognition of these fundamental past acts, vital for the existence of the nation, would at the same time be a recognition of present and past political opponents, who took part in these acts.
The period of the Primorska people's uprising did not acquire the name "first freedom" without good reason. Almost all of Primorska was liberated, with the exception of Gorica (Gorizia) and Trieste and the two main roads into them. The Slovene partisans were joined by Italian anti-Fascists from Primorska towns and Friuli. The 9th Corps became the active embodiment of cooperation and united strength of the two nations in this region in their joint anti-Fascist operations. "Nono Corpo" became a concept of and gathering place for many Italian democrats and particularly the persecuted Trieste Jews. This spring, at the opening of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, the battle standard of this famous Slovene partisan unit was unfurled, together with the flags of American, British, French, Canadian, Polish, Australian and other units acclaimed in battles of the Second World War. This was a recognition and revival of the times and events in which our nation was truly great and acted on a level of response such as was demanded by world history. Unfortunately, this had to be remembered by foreigners. As if we were ashamed of it!
From the standpoint of today's conception and understanding of politically pluralist democracy it is possible and even necessary to cast a critical eye on the political processes which followed the uprising and which were accelerated in particular by the Communists. Those who felt uneasy at the Communists' decisive influence in the Liberation Front and, albeit to a lesser degree, in the bodies of authority, were not few in number. The dean of Gorica Cathedral, A. Novak, wrote in April of 1944, for example, "From the bottom of our hearts we all wish to be saved and liberated, and if this were the sole goal of the partisans no-one would be opposed to them. Embarking on communism should be laid aside until a time after the war, when without fear of the gun the nation will be able to express itself and take decisions freely." But the reality of the German pressure moved him to view with scepticism the appearance of the Home Defence (White Guard) under the coercion of the Germans, and he wrote, "the Home Defence is fighting against the communists, but unfortunately with the help of the Germans."
These are chapters from the past that speak of tragic aspects of our history, about the inability to read the signs of the times and to subordinate ideological prejudices to cooperation in a common task. The ability to rise above a state of ideological blindness would have preserved Slovenes from the sin which they committed against themselves. It would have made possible then, today, and for the future the national unity needed for us to gain an established position in the world. At that time we should have all only been what we are, people and Slovenes. As it was, fateful divisions arose which have continually sapped the strength we needed for a secure future.
Today it seems that we are making efforts on a broad scale somehow to rediscover our identity, our own character profile by which we might recognise ourselves and others might identify us. In our times, which charge us to look honestly into the past and into the future, this is good and essential. But here we are behaving as if this were also a time for some arbitrary correction, even fabrication, of the nation's history. Attempts are being made to avoid that most reliable proof of the steadfastness of the nation's existence and the vitality of its self-creation with which this nation has been standing before its own honour and before history for half a century. Would this not destroy in the nation's consciousness that one action which was the most visible, the most typical of humanity and most national in character? The Slovene individuals who were capable of fulfilling that action as well as that of June two years ago, and who know that they risked their very lives with this decision cannot understand this. They are faced with social difficulties, an economic impasse, apprehension over their jobs, the safety of their families, the future, the fear of war, and doubt has been sown in the value of that action which this nation itself, for its very existence, and for its honour, decisively took over half a century ago.
Today more than at any time it is evident that the most easily recognised and well-known characteristic of Slovenes is precisely the fact that the Slovene nation is prepared to defend its freedom. It demonstrated this half a century ago against the fascist oppressor and occupying force. It repeated this just over two years ago against the aggression of the Yugoslav Army. For the Slovene people, this is a fundamental and intrinsic component of their identity. Whoever attempts to erase these endeavours from the national consciousness and identity forces the nation into a state of moral dislocation, spiritual barrenness, and national disability: he would wish to damage the reputation the nation enjoys in the world precisely because at a time which the democratic world still recognises as the most difficult, it proved itself in a step which was then vital for civilisation and most desired for the freedom of Europe and the world.
Those views which attempt to resolve all the previous and recent problems in the Slovene and Italian nationalities' relationship as neighbours without historically recognising the national liberation and anti-Fascist war of the Primorska people Ä and simply equate fascism and communism with the forces at fault for all the difficulties in these relations Ä will force the Slovene people and state into a position in which our every action, and not just this resistance of self-defence against violence, will be seen as politically, ethically, and legally dubious manoeuvring. Essentially this amounts to a sowing of doubt in the justification of all actions, which in their indivisible historical sequence achieved the liberation of the Primorska region and its incorporation into the Slovene national entity.
Certainly events exist within this sequence on the partisans' side which are not characteristic of the level of ethical values maintained by the struggle for national liberation and, for this reason, merit condemnation and regret. But these events took place and remain an integral component of this progression. In light of this, from the position of both nations and countries, we need to reconsider these events within the entirety of this chronological succession. During this the Slovenes were long in the inequitable position of a stateless and unrecognised nation. This began to shift only with military successes in the revolt for national liberation and finally changed into victory in the June war and with the international recognition of Slovenia.
I believe that the time has come when, free from the burden of the inclement past in which our two nations were unable to resolve satisfactorily the relations of a common life in this region which history has meted out to us, we can now resolve all open issues in our relations. This is in the essential interest of both nations, it is a question of the international respect of both countries, and it is also in the interest of peace and safety in this part of Europe.
Clearly we have yet to learn to remember with happiness all the acquisitions in the past which were important for the nation, without wondering as to the identity and the political colour of those who facilitated them for us. It is worth acknowledging that nothing important could happen without the nation, without its will, and without its consent. Neither then nor in June 1991!
The struggle for national liberation within which this took place cannot be simultaneously recognised and negated; it is a fact of history Ä or we must renounce this history and admit that we have none. The question remains whether consequently we only have a mass of completely accidental events, among which we choose as we please only those which suit us at this moment, and ignore and disdain the others?
In history the effect of actions is important. Desires and intentions can only facilitate acts. The positive effects of actions which the world recognises by its own measures should inspire satisfaction in everyone today. And we should regret those steps taken by anyone which proved to be detrimental. The time has come for us to recognise all the actions of Slovenes in the past. The desire for everything good to be acknowledged is understandable, as is the desire for evil deeds to be forgiven. Only those who were involved in this conflict, who survived the war and the time immediately following it, and the descendants of the deceased can forgive each other. They must be capable of this greatness and this mercy. It is high time for this now. We bear the responsibility for this before our descendants. The generations that are to come have nothing to forgive; inherited, blind hate can divide them fatally.
Crimes against human dignity are unacceptable and inexcusable in the eyes of all of humanity, regardless of who committed them and irrespective of their intentions. Those who committed them shall bear the responsibility for them. They should do so also in order to break the unyielding mystification of the unknown and the unexplained from the past, which forms one of the causes of the present lack of trust and of new hatred. The Slovene nation cannot be a true player in history, enjoying the necessary internal freedom, if it not does assume responsibility for its history in its entirety, including those faults committed during the Second World War and during life in socialist Yugoslavia. The obligation has remained with the state to adopt the legal foundations which will permit legal assessment and examination of these actions as well as compensation for damage incurred. These foundations will be the expression of the will Ä and a new initiative Ä for the realisation of justice for the nation.
Those events belonging within the sequence of historical events demand a rather different, more profound consideration. This chronological progression cannot be changed retrospectively. World history judges it and will continue to do so. One simply cannot run away from this judgement, which encompasses a damnation of Nazi fascism as the greatest evil of our times and of the moral degeneracy of collaboration with this fascism.
The Slovene state is the result of the battles of all the generations of Slovenes for the nation's existence, identity, and freedom. Due to a combination of inclement circumstances, and although Slovenes were a formed, complete nation quite early on, we belong to that group of nations which were unable to resolve the issue of their statehood and relations with other nations and countries for a long time. We only reached a resolution in new circumstances, as we were united in the recognition of our responsibility not to miss an opportunity offered us by history for the existence and future of our Slovene identity. However the present state of affairs in the world, and particularly those in our immediate neighbourhood, do not permit the view that we have assured with finality the sovereignty of our country, its existence, and particularly its orientation towards the European civilisational, spiritual, cultural, and economic area to which we traditionally belong.
In what category the world places us depends on us alone. And this is true also in relation to the borders between European war and peace, which will apparently demand consideration for much time to come. On us is dependent whether the world will continue to support us in our ambition of assuring ourselves, as a people and nation, of well-being and of a future. If we wish to be more than simply a small, insignificant country somewhere on the edge of the European arena, bordering on the Balkans, if we wish to enjoy credibility, trust, and authority, then our country cannot be founded on lies, feigned ignorance, stereotypical beliefs, and a lack of respect for the constitutional order. A lack of respect for the rule of law and the legal and political opportunism with which certain state institutions and persons in high state office are beginning to toy form a path leading to chaos.
We are still in the throes of powerful social changes, particularly those created by the change in ownership structure. People are uncertain, anxious about their existence and at the same time confused by the political confrontations and even more by the inconsistent and unprincipled way in which relations are being ordered in the state. The institutions of state, political leaders and high state officials are responsible for the resolution of these problems through the paths of parliamentary democracy and the means of the rule of law, the only instrument with which it is possible to manage a state effectively and justly and guarantee the order that citizens quite properly demand. These persons are firstly and above all others responsible for the state structure not destabilising and rather for its democratic institutions, their independence, legality, reliability, efficacy, and cooperation being carefully nurtured. For them the parliament and other state institutions, the judiciary, parties, the media, and civil society must not be a hindrance, they must not be ignored by them and have their authority reduced for the sake of short-cuts, neither should they be raised above the state due to politically divergent views and be able to lay for themselves an exclusive claim on the truth.
The will of the Slovene people, attested to in the plebiscite, in the war, and in the elections, must be respected and realised through the authority of democratic institutions. If we understand this and act by it, then there is no reason for us not to be optimists regarding our future, both as individuals and as a nation.
|
