HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SLOVENIA

Slovenia was originally settled by Illyrian and Celtic peoples. It became part
of the Roman Empire in the first century B.C.
The Slovenes were a south Slavic group that settled in the region in the 6th
century A.D. During the 7th century, the Slavs established the state of Samu,
which owed its allegiance to the Avars, who dominated the Hungarian plain
until Charlemagne defeated them in the late 8th century.
When the Hungarians were defeated by the Turks in 1526, Hungary accepted
Austrian Hapsburg rule in order to escape Turkish domination; the Hapsburg
monarchy was the first to include all of the Slovene regions. Thus, Slovenia
and Croatia became part of the Austro-Hungarian kingdom when the dual
monarchy was established in 1867. Like Croatia and unlike the other Balkan
states, it is primarily Roman Catholic.
Following the defeat and collapse of Austria-Hungary in World War I, Slovenia
declared its independence. It formally joined with Montenegro, Serbia, and
Croatia on Dec. 4, 1918, to form the new nation called the Kingdom of the
Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The name was later changed to Yugoslavia in
1929.
During World War II, Germany occupied Yugoslavia, and Slovenia was divided
among Germany, Italy, and Hungary. For the duration of the war many
Slovenes fought a guerrilla war against the Nazis under the leadership of the
Croatian-born Communist resistance leader, Marshal Tito. After the final
defeat of the Axis powers in 1945, Slovenia was again made into a republic
of the newly established Communist nation of Yugoslavia.