The cultural landscape of southern Carinthia, a picturesque strip of Austria along the border with Slovenia, has long been shaped by the presence of a large Slovenian community in the area. In fact, Slovenians once formed the majority of the population in this ancient borderland - this is where the first proto-Slovenian state was founded in the Early Middle Ages -, but a process of systematic Germanization reduced their numbers through the years. After World War I, this fate of the ethnically mixed area was decided in a referendum, a unique democratic experiment that ultimately didn’t go the way most Slovenians had hoped - and whose effects were felt for years to come.

Immediately, after the war, the victorious allies decided to award two Slovenian-populated areas of Carinthia – Jezersko and the Mežica Valley – to the newly established South Slav state, but they couldn’t quite decide what to do with the rest of southern Carinthia, where Germans were most numerous in towns while Slovenians formed the majority in the countryside. The powers were not thrilled about dividing Carinthia but they could not ignore U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s commitment to national self-determination either.

Ultimately, they decided to organize a referendum. The first vote would take place in the territory south of the Drava River. If the residents there decided to join Yugoslavia, another referendum was planned for “Zone B,” a larger, more German-dominated area to the north.

The months before the referendum were marked by a tense campaign with highly emotional appeals to national loyalty. Presses were busy printing posters, newspapers, and postcards, all intended to convince locals that they should choose Austria – or Yugoslavia – as their homeland.

After considerable delays, the referendum was finally held on October 10, 1920. Its results came as a shock to the Slovenian side: Most voters had chosen to remain in Austria. Even though ethnic Slovenians were in the majority, just 60 percent of them – far fewer than expected – decided to cast their ballots for Yugoslavia.

The Slovenian side immediately cried foul, but the split among the Slovenian community was genuine. Some Slovenian Carinthians were genuinely pro-Austrian, but many more were skeptical of the newly-formed Yugoslavia, which they saw as Serb-dominated and militaristic. Young men knew that a long military service awaited them in Yugoslavia but not in Austria. Most importantly, Austria had pledged to protect the Slovenian language and culture.

Unfortunately for members of the Slovenian minority, this promise did not come true. In the years that followed the referendum, the Austrian authorities orchestrated a deliberate campaign to divide pro-German Slovenians – known as “Vindišarji” – from the others, and they marginalized the Slovenian language at every opportunity. The Nazi Anschluss of Austria made the situation even worse, and when World War II broke out, a campaign of terror was unleashed against Slovenian speakers.

After the war, the Cold War ensured that tensions remained high. As part of its postwar neutrality treaty, Austria was required to set up bilingual signs in the area, but pressure from nationalists prevented the promise from being carried out for decades.

In recent years, the situation of the Slovenian community has improved. Bilingual signs greet visitors at the entrance of many towns, and even some German speakers now send their children to bilingual schools. Almost a century since the 1920 referendum, ethnic Slovenians are no longer seen as a threat, but rather as an integral part of local life – an element that brings a unique flavor to Austria’s southernmost province.