“Sober people will make a fortune, prosper, and develop tremendously”

Carinthian-Slovene Fight against Habitual Drinking at the End of the 19th and the First Half of the 20th Century

Abstract

Alcohol and its dangers in Carinthian-Slovene history have hardly been given any scholarly consideration. In my article I deal with the anti-alcohol discourse and anti-alcohol movement at the and of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century in journalistic and archival materials. The Slovene national movement in Carinthia, marked by conservativism and Catholicism, believed the main reasons for alcoholism were religious tepidity (habitual drinking as a sin of excess), immoral social life (dances) and, of course, the Germanizing policy of the German »Freisinn« in Carinthia. Similarly, not only the causes but also the consequences of alcohol were seen above all in the moral and national fields. Alcohol apparently led to the decay of the two pillars of Carinthian Slovene spirit: the farms and nationally conscious families. The negative economic, moral and health consequences of habitual drinking weakened the people and furthered assimilation. (Excessive) consumption of alcohol also served the purpose of marking the enemies of the nation; from the Slovene perspective, for example, habitual drinking was one of the characteristics of a “nemčur” (a Germanophile). With strong support from the clergy and in a close alliance with the all-Slovenian anti-alcohol movement, special temperance societies, for example “The Holy Army”, were founded in order to fight alcohol. The Slovene Christian-Social Alliance for Carinthia had educational centres that addressed the problem of alcohol not only in its temperance sections but also through comprehensive action, with special emphasis on youngsters and women. The gymnastic societies like the “Orli”, St. Mary's societies and the central political organization also supported the fight against alcohol.