Economic development of the Slovene Carinthia in the decades before the disintegration of the Habsburg monarchy

Abstract

The economic development of the Slovene Carinthia was before World War I intensive; this distant part of Slovene national territory was not at all lingering behind the rest of Slovene provinces. Statistical data prove so as Carinthia followed tightly the Primorska region with Trieste, which was developing most rapidly. The bases of the development were plants in two industrial branches, mining and metal industry, and intensive exploitation of forests. Two industrial plants, the lead mine in Mežica and the steelworks of the Thurn counts at Ravne were in that period intensively modernised and became significant for the entire Slovene territory. With huge investments in modernisation they fought successfully against crises, which was particularly in the 90ies of the 19^th century fateful for the ironworks in Prevalje.