"The Situation Is Fundamentally Different From That In The Rest Of Slovenia.”

Prekmurje Gerents and Municipal Administration in Prekmurje (1919-1927)

Abstract

The process of integrating Prekmurje into the new state framework after the Yugoslav occupation of the Western Hungarian border areas in the counties of Zala and Vas in August 1919 and the subsequent annexation of the province to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes took place in politically, culturally, and socially complex circumstances. In this article I analyse one aspect of the integration of Prekmurje: the administrative adaptation of the Prekmurje municipalities to the new administrative and legal framework. I describe the establishment of municipal administration and self-government in the years following the occupation of the province and analyse the obstacles faced by the new authorities, as well as the reactions of the local population to the wishes and expectations of the Yugoslav authorities. I show that this was a slow and gradual process, determined by the Hungarian administrative legacy, poor material conditions, the lack of education among the Prekmurje population, and the scarce resources at the disposal of the Yugoslav state.