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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781628953053 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Michigan State University Press |
| Publication date: | 11/01/2017 |
| Series: | Discovering the Peoples of Michigan |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 3 MB |
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CHAPTER 1
Historical Sketch of Slovenia
Today Slovenia encompasses nearly 7,896 square miles and is half the size of the Upper Peninsula. Approximately two-thirds of the country is comprised of the Alps, while the eastern third declines onto the Plains of Pannonia. Italy lies to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the east, and Croatia to the south. The population is slightly more than two million, and the capital is Ljubljana as the capital.
Archaeologists have discovered evidence of human habitation in the area that is now Slovenia that dates back to 250,000 years. Furthermore, the ruins of 4,500 year-old dwellings were found near Ljubljana in 2002. Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire established a post known as Emona in present-day Ljubljana.
By around 1200, Slovenia was part of the Holy Roman Empire, although the empire was decentralized and weak. In the early sixteenth century, many ethnicities were under the Hungarian Empire, including Croats, Czechs, Germans, Italians, Magyars, Poles, Romanians, Serbs, Slovaks, and Slovenes. Virtually all Slovene lands were under the Hungarian Empire as well, including Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia. One of the empire's primary concerns was defending against Turkish invasions. At one point in the sixteenth century, the border of the Ottoman Empire advanced to within about nine miles of Slovene lands, and they experienced an average of five Turkish incursions each year.
Estates and diets were divided into four groups that governed the Slovene peoples: prelates, higher nobility, lower nobility, and the towns. Towns had to fight for their right to participate in diets, and higher levels of governance controlled the administration of their lands.
Religion was central to Slovenes' lives. While many remained firmly attached to Catholicism, the Protestant Reformation made serious inroads and was widely adopted. Religious services were conducted in the vernacular, which consisted primarily of Slovene in Carniola and German in Styria and Carinthia. However, by the late sixteenth century, the Counter-Reformation was quite successful, and Protestantism was suppressed, with many clergy members forced to leave their towns. Depending upon both the ruler of the empire and the location within the empire, the level of suppression varied.
As a result of the constant threat of Turkish invasions, the tax burden increased throughout the sixteenth century, which, due to the prevailing way of governance, was felt particularly hard by peasants. Their economy was mainly agricultural, with some manufactured goods, including cloth, boots, gunpowder, beekeeping, and wax making. Furthermore, mining and iron smelting developed during this time period — skills that served the Slovene immigrants in Michigan incredibly well in the nineteenth century. There were also developments in mercury and copper, and cannonball production and gun-making foundries increased. Even with these advances, the economy stalled as trade was heavily disrupted by Turkish activity in Hungary and Croatia. As time progressed, tariffs increased, and the rights of peasants to migrate were restricted.
The Counter-Reformation continued to prevail in Slovenia as the sixteenth century passed into the seventeenth century. Absolutism took root gradually as well. In 1628, the nobility were ordered to either return to Catholicism or face exile. Some converted, but many simply left, immigrating to Hungary and Southern Germanic lands.
By 1631, the Bishop of Ljubljana wrote that the Slovene language was the rule among commoners, while those in authority spoke German, and the language of the educated was Italian. Prior to that, in 1615, printing of Slovene literature ceased. Most elementary schools used German, though some taught lessons in Italian. Slovene was used a small amount in religious instruction.
From the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century, the economy shifted somewhat. New crop production emerged that included buckwheat, corn, and millet. Cattle, sheep, and hogs were raised, although poultry was predominant. Mining, smelting, and copper work continued as well. Then there were governmental shifts, and around 1740 the estates started to lose control. During Maria Theresa's reign (1740–80), educational reforms took place. She ordered that elementary schools be established in every parish, with lower secondary schools in every major town and teacher colleges in the capital of each region. The use of the Slovene language increased, and measures were taken to improve the lives and conditions of the lower classes. These measures helped to build a larger Slovene national consciousness, but local entrenchments inhibited that as well. Different regions even identified themselves as different brands of Slovene. An illustration of that occurred between 1758–62, when a Catechism was printed in three different Slovene versions based on the region — Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola.
Many of these minor schisms ended with the emergence of nationalism and the resulting rising national consciousness of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, which was influenced by the Napoleonic Wars influenced this. The national awakening of Slovenia occurred slowly but steadily. Vienna, the governmental capital of Slovene lands, encouraged a limited number of national publications in Slovene, particularly propaganda against Napoleon and the French. The first Slovene language newspaper was launched in 1797, followed by the publication of a Slovene dictionary in 1809. During that time Slovenes were also "in the process of articulating some kind of national awareness or autonomous cultural identity" that emphasized what Lonnie R. Johnson refers to as the "politics of language."
The year 1809 saw most Slovene lands fall to Napoleon. The French tried to enforce the use of Croatian, but Slovene opposition caused the French to recognize the rights of Slovene language in administration and education. This clearly illustrates the growth and strength of Slovene ethnicity. A conspicuous Slovene national movement existed by the 1830s but struggled to enlist the growing middle class, and many arguments centered around the use of language.
By 1848, the idea of a United Slovenia emerged, which would be a separate kingdom that was part of the Habsburg Empire and would combine all ethnically Slovene territories. It is important to remember that those who create national boundaries do so with little regard to ethnicity, often with poor results. The movement also encouraged a separate diet for these lands and Slovene as the language of government and education. However, the movement lacked the larger central framework that the Croats and Serbs had and ultimately languished as a result. In the early 1850s, the absolutist regime "totally silenced the liberal minority, and proscribed the ideal of a United Slovenia as subversive of the established order of the traditional crownlands [sic]."
In the 1860s, Slovenes gained "genuine strength from the widespread awakening of national consciousness among both peasants and townsmen," but the movement still lacked true political organization. Nevertheless, Slovenes representation increased in the national government, and by the late 1860s the United Slovenia movement was revived with large outdoor meetings in support. Again, though, rifts and clashes emerged that hurt the movement, this time between "Old Slovenes" and "Young Slovenes." There was no centralized, well-organized movement, yet there was clearly an ethnic identity that continued to grow and intensify throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century. The overarching theme of the movement was language use and rights and extending Slovene language to law, administration, religion, and education. Slovene literature and social criticism emerged during this period and became widely recognized and acknowledged.
Slovene nationalism continued at the dawn of the twentieth century, but an unstable political atmosphere ruled throughout much of Europe, and Slovene territory shrank in size. "Although all Slovene political parties had before World War I endorsed the idea of association with other South Slavs, in almost all cases they had envisioned such a grouping within the Hungarian Empire." The outcome of World War I rendered that argument void. Slovenes suffered greatly during that war, especially during the Battles of the Isonzo (1915–17) that occurred along the western border of Slovene lands. Over thirty thousand died in the fighting.
By the spring of 1917, a self-determination movement picked up steam, and a Slovene People's Party emerged. They demanded a somewhat independent state, but again, a lack of unity and a central organized movement and platform plagued real progress. However, on October 29, 1918, a declaration of an independent state of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs was issued, and on October 31 a Slovene National Council replaced Austrian authority with a national government for the Slovene lands. It received no international recognition, and on December 1, 1918, they merged with Serbia and in 1929 took the name Yugoslavia. Slovenia remained part of Yugoslavia when it fell to communism in 1945. The "fall of Yugoslavia was complex and tragic" and had lasting consequences on the region.
The fall of communism in 1989 had a monumental impact on the world. Since then, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary have been regarded as the "big regional winners of the former Eastern bloc, but Slovenia should receive as much attention." In 1993, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Slovenia was $6,490, while Croatia's was $1,900. Slovenia became independent from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991, and the European Union recognized its independence in 1992, the same year it was accepted as a member of the United Nations.
Slovene Clergy and Their Impact on the Upper Great Lakes
Every ethnic group that encounters the American environment has its own impact on the people and the nation, and the Slovenes were no exception. Slovenes arrived in British America before the American Revolution, and their surnames appeared on General George Washington's payroll rosters during the American Revolution.
One of the major driving forces of the Slovene story in the nineteenth century was the role that the clergy played in the development of Catholicism in the Upper Great Lakes. The number of Slovene clergy stayed small until a migration of Catholic priests traveled to the Great Lakes and began to proselytize to American Indians. A number of Catholic missionaries visited the Upper Peninsula prior to the nineteenth century. The Jesuits arrived in the seventeenth century and maintained a presence in the Upper Peninsula, with varying degrees of saturation. These early missionaries paved the way for future Catholic missionaries such as Frederic Baraga. By the nineteenth century the Ojibwa knew who the Black Robes were and called upon them from time to time. The famous Slovene missionary called Michigan home from 1831 until his death in 1868. His activities are legendary among white Catholics, although many Native Americans have slightly different views. Along the way he established missions and claimed to baptize and convert thousands, even though he was not always welcome.
The Life of Frederic Baraga
Frederic Baraga was born on July 29, 1797. His family was moderately wealthy, and as the only son Baraga was heir to the family fortune and property. He started his early education at home under the guidance of his parents, particularly his pious mother. He went to Ljubljana at the age of nine to study with a private tutor. Sadly he lost both parents a short time later — his mother when he was eleven and his father at fifteen.
Baraga attracted the attention of Dr. George Dolinar, a professor of canon law. He took Baraga into his home. Upon turning nineteen, Baraga enrolled at the University of Vienna to study law. He also learned English, Italian, and Spanish. In addition to keeping his mind healthy, he committed himself to a rigorous physical routine and took almost daily long walks. His language and physical training helped him in his future missionary endeavors. Baraga also kept his appearance neat, shunned alcohol, and relaxed by painting.
Both his education and the influence of his mother paved the way for Baraga's religious vocation, which was not his first career choice. He witnessed his mother's piety, kindness, charity, and devotion to God prior to her death. Furthermore, while at the University of Vienna, he met the Redemptorist Blessed Clement Mary Hofbauer, who became Baraga's spiritual advisor. The Redemptorists aspired to live a simple Christian life and to spread the gospel to the poorest and most neglected souls in the world. Hofbauer greatly impacted Baraga.
Baraga courted George Dolinar's daughter and asked for her hand in marriage. She agreed to marry him, and their engagement commenced. However, his final year of law school, the year leading up to the wedding, was one of great change in Baraga's life. He received the call to religious life. His decision was not hasty, and he took the time to ponder, consider, and pray about his decision. His choice to break off the engagement after he finished law school and enter seminary surprised many of his friends and relatives, and certainly his fiancée. In 1821 he entered seminary. He gave away his inheritance to one of his sisters and refused to accept the small annuity she urged him to take. Baraga finished the three-year seminary program in two years and was ordained to the priesthood on September 21, 1823.
Frederic Baraga Travels to America
Catholic priests, of course, cannot act on a whim, and Baraga could not simply leave Slovenia. He needed permission from two individuals — his own bishop and the bishop of the diocese he wished to enter, in this case Cincinnati. On August 10, 1829, he wrote to the bishop ordinariate in Ljubljana for permission to leave Slovenia in order to serve as a missionary to the Native Americans of the United States. Unconcerned about money or material goods, he left his homeland and arrived in New York City on New Year's Eve 1830 and made his way to Cincinnati, where his first task was to improve his English. In addition, a native speaker of Odawa tutored him. Eventually Baraga could speak Slovene, German, Latin, French, English, Italian, and seven separate Native American languages, and he and mastered the Ojibwa language to the point that he compiled a dictionary. Near the end of May, 1831, he left Ohio for Michigan, and encountered Native American tribes for the first time. He wrote to his sister, "Happy day that placed me among the Indians, with whom I will now remain uninterruptedly to the last breath of my life." So began thirty-seven years of missionary labors.
Baraga established his first mission at Harbor Springs, revitalizing a station that was originally established by Jesuits. Once the church was built, the next job was to set up a school. Acquiring and keeping teachers was not easy. Baraga and other priests placed a high premium on education as a means of civilizing Native Americans. They also worked at settling Native Americans in stable communities. All missionaries found their work hindered by wandering Native Americans, many of whom, like the Ojibwa, followed seasonal cycles and moved when appropriate. Missionaries liked to teach Native Americans how to farm as well, which was difficult in the Northern Michigan climate and short growing seasons. Once basic needs were met, Baraga worked at getting blacksmiths and carpenters to the missions. He felt that the Ojibwa were adept at using their hands and in mechanical skills, and he sought to exploit that. The federal government later joined forces with missionaries, including Baraga, in providing blacksmiths and carpenters. The mission at Harbor Springs grew while Baraga was in residence. According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Baraga transformed the deteriorating mission of Harbor Springs into a model community."
Missionaries faced severe trials in their work. Baraga was no exception, especially with the harsh winters in Northern Michigan. He often traveled alone in the wilderness. Lodging was scarce, so he often slept outside. After he pulled his coat over his head and lay down in the snow, he sometimes woke up covered with several inches. Food was a problem as well, but it appears that Baraga had little appetite and generally ate bread and fish — never meat — and drank water.
Baraga's next mission was established at Grand River, near the modern site of Grand Rapids. Things did not go well for Baraga at Grand River. He spent one of the most frightening nights of his life there as intoxicated Native Americans, at the urging of fur traders, tried to break into Baraga's cabin. He lamented in a letter to the Leopoldine Foundation the fact that fur traders kept the Native Americans at Grand River intoxicated with an unlimited supply of alcohol. Baraga pleaded with the traders to stop doing so, and they threatened his life. He had a difficult time but claimed to make progress. He had encountered the negative role that alcohol played among Native Americans, which had been a problem since the Jesuit missionaries and fur traders entered the countries centuries before.
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