It was on 25 June 1991 that Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia. On a clear summer night the Slovenian parliament adopted a new Constitution on the basis of the 88.2 per cent plebiscite vote. Although we can not really brag about the length of our country`s history, much has happened during the years of independence, and even more in the last 15 centuries. The history of the Slovenian nation is stirring and often steeped in tremendous pride.
Slovenian history started when our Slavic ancestors came from behind the CarpathiMountains and proclaimed the principality of Carantania in the 7th century. Historians believe it was one of the most democratic and modern states at that point in history. So it is no surprise that even Thomas Jefferson took the example of Carantania when founding the modern American state.
By the end of the 8th century, Carantania had become part of the Frankish Empire, the Slovenes had converted to Christianity and gradually lost their independence. Such was the destiny of the nation until the 14th century, when most of the territory of Slovenia was taken over by the powerful Habsburg dynasty. Their Slovenian competitors were the Counts of Cilli, a large, politically important family. They died out in 1456 and their numerous large estates became the property of the Habsburgs, who retained control into the 20th century.
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Some important milestones
250,000 BCE: The first evidence of human habitation on the territory of present-day Slovenia (two implements made of stone from Jama Cave in Loza Woods near Orehek)
120,000 to 1,300 BCE: Remains from the early Stone Age - the Palaeolithic; among them the oldest musical instrument in the world, found in Slovenia; evidence of hunting and Urnfield culture.
4th and 3rd century BCE: The arrival of Celts; the Noricum Kingdom
Around 10 BCE: The Roman Empire; the appearance of the first towns
5th and 6th century CE: Invasions by the Huns and Germanic tribes
After 568: Dominance of Slavic people on the territory of Slovenia
7th to 11th century: The Duchy of Carantania, the oldest known independent
Slavonic tribal union in this region
8th century: The beginnings of the conversion to Christianity
9th century: The spread of the Frankish feudal system; the Slovenian nation begins to form
10th century: The appearance of the Freising Manuscripts, the earliest known text
written in Slovenian
11th century: The regions of Carniola, Styria, Carinthia and Gorizia begin to develop; intensive German colonisation
11th to 14th centuries: The development of medieval towns in Slovenia
14th to 15th centuries: Most of the territory of Slovenia, including all its hereditary estates, is taken over by the Habsburgs; in 1456, the Counts of Cilli die out, the last feudal dynasty on Slovenian territory
15th century: Turkish invasions begin
15th to 17th centuries: Peasant revolts
1550: Protestantism; the first book in Slovenian
18th century: The Enlightenment and compulsory universal education
1809-1813: Napoleonic occupation – the Illyrian Provinces
1848: Unified Slovenia, the first Slovenian political programme
1918: The defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; the creation of the state of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs; the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929
1941-1945: The dismemberment of Yugoslavia by the Axis Powers
1945: The formation of the Federal People`s Republic of Yugoslavia, with the People`s Republic of Slovenia as one of its 6 federal entities
1990: Plebiscite on independence
25 June 1991: Declaration of the independent Republic of Slovenia
1 May 2004: EU membership
1 January 2007: Slovenia introduces the euro
