Ljudje ob Muri. Népek a Mura Mentén 1. kötet (Zalaegerszeg, 1996)

Dušan Nećak (Ljubljana): The Landscape on the Mura River After 1918

Pokrajina ob Muri po letu 1918 THE LANDSCAPE ON THE MURA RIVER AFTER 1918 In his paper the author does not present the entire historical development of the said region after World War One; he has chosen to deal in detail with tree idioms of the historical development, which are not so ever present in the minds of the people, although they have already been dealt with; there have been quite a few thorough historical surveys, the majority of them coming from distinguished authorities in the history of Prekmurje and Pomurje region (Miroslav Kokolj, Prof.Dr. Vanek Šiftar, Dr. Julij Titel, Prof.Dr. Rudi Kyjovski). The first of the chosen events is the revolt of the soldiers at Radgona from 23rd to 24th May 1918, which remains the only revolt on the part of the Slovenian soldiers in World War One, taking place not only on the verge of the Slovenian ethnic territory but also within it. Based upon the material of most of the Viennese archives and upon the extensive literature on the subject, the paper succeeds in reconstructing the revolt for the author maintains the revolt was brought about not only by the poor overall conditions in the Austro-Hungarian army but also by the unsolved ethnic question. The second part of the paper deals with the formation of the north-eastern border, which is a peculiarity in itself, due to it having been set as late as in the summer of 1924. In formation of this border the interests of as many as three sides had to be considered (the Slovenian and the Croatian side), with the inconsistent and illogical policy on the part of the Ljubljana government as regards Prekmurje and the north- eastern border having been an additional disturbing element. The third part of the paper deals with the historical event called „Murska republika". In the wake of the Hungarian bolshevik revolution Vilmos Tkalec proclaimed in the latter part of May 1919 the above said republic. Tkalec has been assessed quite differently on the part of the Slovenian historiography, from being a „national hero" to being a „knavish adventurer"; nevertheless he was founder of the only bolshevik „state" on the Slovenian territory during the times of revolutionary turmoil of the Post- World- War- One Europe. The three historical events of the region of the Mura River, discussed by the paper, should shed additional light upon the specific history of this region, pointing out that it was the only part of the Slovenian ethnic territory which, during the time period of the AustroHungarian Monarchy, used to be included into the Hungarian part of the monarchy and this fact can not be denied even today. 233