Who are the upstart Slovenes who took all Europe by surprise when they declared their independence last June and set off the train of unpredictable events still unfolding in Yugoslavia? How dared they question the geopolitical arrangements made on their behalf after World War II, let alone the 1918 treaties that settled Europe's boundaries for the better part of this century? This tiny nation of fewer than two million people has never known sovereignty or independence. For nearly a thousand years it was subjected to German and Austrian assimilation (and for seventy to Yugoslav neglect), yet somehow it has managed to survive with its identity, its language, and its culture intact.
Feature, 1431 words
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