Mother’s package wrapped in „treasonable materials “

The Slovene soldier and politics during World War I

Abstract

The published diaries, memoirs and written correspondence of Slovene soldiers who participated in WW I commonly deal with themes such as the soldiers' fear of death, the appalling conditions on the front, and anxiety over loved ones, whose situation in the hinterland was often only marginally better than that of the soldiers because of food shortages. It is understandable that, amid the horrors of the battlefield, politics did not represent a priority for them. This is particularly evident from the diaries and letters, which are a much more reliable indicator of the individuals’ spirits than the later published memoirs. It is particularly the memories of those participants in WW I who opted for the anti-Hapsburg side that often feature views characteristic of the time when the memoirs were published and not of the years during the 1st World War. We can say, roughly speaking, that the Slovene soldier followed politics and had his opinion about the events. He usually expressed it in the form of a brief comment. He followed political events mostly through newspapers, as long as these could reach him at the front. Only a small part of the information was obtained through letters. Most Slovene soldiers remained loyal to the Hapsburg monarchy, even though they were critical of it. They thought Slovenes had a future within a restructured Hapsburg monarchy along the lines of the pre-war tripartite arrangement.