The Breadbasket of Slovenia: Genealogy of a Metonymy and Its Role in Nation-Building

Abstract

This article traces the genealogy and nation-building role of the metonymy “breadbasket of Slovenia” as applied to the Prekmurje region. Located in northeastern Slovenia, Prekmurje has often been portrayed by politicians, scientists, and journalists as the country’s breadbasket—a land of agricultural abundance that provides essential grain and foodstuffs. This designation, grounded in fertile soil, a favorable climate, and significant production of wheat, corn, and potatoes, became prominent after the region’s incorporation into the Yugoslav state following World War I.

Before 1919, the term žitnica (“breadbasket”) appeared in Slovenian print culture in a broader figurative sense, but its specific association with Prekmurje emerged in the context of Austria-Hungary’s collapse and the territorial reorganization that followed. The metonymy fulfilled a dual purpose: it served as an economic descriptor and as a symbolic instrument of national integration. Slovenian officials and intellectuals, largely unfamiliar with Prekmurje’s realities, emphasized its agricultural wealth to justify its incorporation into the Slovenian territory of the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Interwar journalism popularized the image of Prekmurje as “our breadbasket”, embedding it in the Slovenian national imagination despite the region’s persistent poverty, overpopulation, and food insecurity. This paradox—between the narrative of abundance and the lived experience of deprivation—illustrates how the breadbasket trope functioned as a tool of national integration. While obscuring structural fragilities, it fostered symbolic ownership and belonging, binding Prekmurje to the Slovenian nation. Persisting into the present, the metonymy is invoked across political and academic contexts, attesting to its ongoing significance.