October 10, 1920

10. 10.

As a sign of the reunification of the two voting zones and peaceful coexistence, Anton Wieser and Jakob Lutschounig drank wine from the double cup, shared bread and gave each other the brotherly kiss at the Heimatfest in Klagenfurt on October 24, 1920.

(Bild: Kärntner Landesarchiv)

After the collapse of the monarchy, there were unresolved border issues that led to bloody battles in Carinthia from November 1918, as the new SHS state made territorial claims. The border could only be drawn after the referendum - and "Carinthia" called for a fraternal kiss in October 1920. 

There are currently wars and armed conflicts on five out of seven continents - only in Australia and Antarctica, where hardly any people live, are there no weapons. What the inhabitants of the war zones are experiencing is something that generations before us knew all too well: "The year 1918 was characterized by strikes and hunger riots. Hardship was much greater in the First World War than in the Second. The men were gone, the women struggled to survive. There were outcries when there was no food; often not even emergency bread, which was mixed with sawdust, bran and acorns. The front was the priority, the civilians revolted," said Wilhelm Wadl, the then director of the provincial archives, before the 100th anniversary of the Carinthian referendum.

The demarcation line between the Yugoslav-occupied part and the rest of Carinthia led across the frozen Lake Wörthersee in 1920.

(Bild: Kärntner Landesarchiv)

The multi-ethnic empire of the monarchy broke apart. Wadl: "The German Austrians had to found their own state, otherwise there was no nation left." On November 11, 1918, provincial administrator Arthur Lemisch opened the provisional provincial assembly and decided to join the state of German-Austria.

Arthur Lemisch

Squares are dedicated to him in Klagenfurt and Spittal, streets in Villach, St. Veit and other municipalities: Arthur Lemisch (1865-1953) went down in history as the provincial administrator - as head of the provisional provincial assembly from 1918 to 1921. The lawyer and landowner, who owned Kölnhof Castle in St. Veit, was a member of the provincial parliament from 1896, sat on the Imperial Council until 1907 and was provincial administrator before becoming governor in 1927. Lemisch was thus one of the most important personalities in the Carinthian defense struggle.

On November 12, the Republic was proclaimed in Vienna. Wadl: "There was already the border question; not only in Carinthia; Tyrol, Styria and Lower Austria also had them. German Austria made territorial claims in Burgenland."

On October 6, a National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs had already been constituted in Agram (Zagreb), which claimed the right to represent all southern Slavs living in the Monarchy. On December 1, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (SHS) was founded. While this state made territorial claims in Carinthia, the young Republic of Austria lost territory as a result of the Paris Peace Conference - but not in Carinthia. Fighting broke out there from November 1918, the Carinthian defensive struggle.

On November 7, 1918, the occupation of the southern parts of Carinthia by South Slavic units began: After the Yugoslavs had plundered the Mießtal, they occupied Prävali (Prevalje), Gutenstein, the train station Unterdrauburg (Dravograd) 100 years ago today.

Occupation means looking for new work, a new place to live
"Occupation always means that the occupiers take over the municipal administration and remove previous officials. For some, occupation meant losing their jobs and moving away from their previous place of residence. Many moved to German Austria. This process was reciprocal: officers of non-German origin were sent away after the end of the monarchy," says historian Wilhelm Wadl.

The demarcation line ran along the Glanfurt Bridge in Rosentaler Straße between Klagenfurt and Viktring, where passports were checked. The picture was taken shortly before the referendum in October 1920.

(Bild: Kärntner Landesarchiv)

Yugoslav authorities interned numerous German-speaking Carinthians in Ljubljana and Maribor, Carinthian authorities imprisoned more than 300 Carinthian Slovenes in camps in Upper Carinthia. "The detainees were used as a political bargaining chip for each other," recalled the historian and current director of the provincial archives, Thomas Zeloth, in a lecture.

There was a wave of refugees. Vienna sent clothing, shoes, blankets and a daily allowance for the war refugees.

Victims on both sides
"The loss of life was considerable for both sides: Austria suffered around 270 casualties, Yugoslavia over 150, in addition to numerous wounded on both sides," according to the book "Der 10. Oktober 1920 - Kärntens Tag der Selbstbestimmung", published by the Carinthian Provincial Archives - Alfred Ogris, Wilhelm Deuer, Wilhelm Wadl, Barbara Felsner, Evelyne Webernig.

Inspiring idea: referendum!
Then came the idea, unusual at the time, that the people themselves should decide on the demarcation of the border: In March 1919, the call for a referendum was made for the first time, and in January 1920, the Carinthian provincial government applied to the Ministry of Finance for funds for the referendum. The Carinthian Homeland Service was founded in March 1920 for propaganda work prior to the referendum.

Voting and Allied officers in front of a polling station in the municipality of Diex from the book "Der 10. Oktober 1920 - Kärntens Tag der Selbstbestimmung", published by the Carinthian Provincial Archives - Alfred Ogris, Wilhelm Deuer, Wilhelm Wadl, Barbara Felsner, Evelyne Webernig, published by the Carinthian Provincial Archives.

(Bild: Verlag des Kärntner Landesarchives)

Voting day was celebrated as a holiday
On October 10, 1920, 97 polling stations opened at 7 am. Many people went to the ballot box, some singing, others festively dressed and adorned with Carinthian badges. In some places, triumphal arches were erected from wreaths of flowers, as Martin Wutte reports in "Kärntens Freiheitskampf 1918-1920" (published by Geschichtsverein für Kärnten).

A voter turnout that is unimaginable today
Most of the votes were cast by midday and the polls closed at 6 pm. The international observers were amazed at the extremely high voter turnout of 95.8 percent.

59 percent for Austria
Counting began on October 11, and by the late evening of October 13, the result was clear: 59 percent in favor of remaining with Austria! According to historian Wilhelm Wadl in his book "Der 10. Oktober 1920 - Kärntens Tag der Selbstbestimmung" (October 10, 1920 - Carinthia's day of self-determination), at least 10,500 Carinthians with a Slovene colloquial language must have voted for Austria.

Albert Peter-Pirkham, the Austrian member of the voting commission, announced the result of the referendum on October 13 on Neuer Platz in Klagenfurt. The square was bathed in a sea of lights, cheers erupted and would not die down for days.

Double cup and brotherly kiss
From October 23 to 25, the "Carinthian Homeland Festival" was celebrated in Klagenfurt - with a traditional costume parade, field mass and a symbolic act of reconciliation: the allegorical female figure Carinthia called on a German and a Slovenian, Anton Wieser from Pischeldorf and Jakob Lutschounig from Maria Rainer, to drink wine from a specially made double cup. They also ate salted, shared bread and gave each other a brotherly kiss.