Duchy of Carniola
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
The Duchy of Carniola (Vojvodina Kranjska, Herzogtum Krain) was an administrative unit of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1849 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana. The duchy had an area of 3,857 square miles (9,990 km²) and population of 510,000.
Contents |
[edit] History
It was formed in the central part of the territory of former Habsburg Kingdom of Illyria whose capital was also Ljubljana. It was bounded on the north by the Duchy of Carinthia, on the north-east by the Duchy of Styria, on the south-east and south by Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia, and on the west by the County of Gorizia and Gradisca and Istria.
The duchy was constituted by rescript of 20 December 1860, and by imperial patent of 26 February 1861, modified by legislation of 21 December 1867, granting power to the home parliament to enact all laws not reserved to the imperial diet, at which it was represented by eleven delegates, of whom two elected by the landowners, three by the cities, towns, commercial and industrial boards, five by the village communes, and one by a fifth curia by secret ballot, every duly registered male twenty-four years of age has the right to vote. The home legislature consisted of a single chamber of thirty-seven members, among whom the prince-bishop sits ex-officio. The emperor convened the legislature, and it is presided over by the governor. The landed interests elected ten members, the cities and towns eight, the commercial and industrial boards two, the village communes sixteen. The business of the chamber was restricted to legislating on agriculture, public and charitable institutions, administration of communes, church and school affairs, the transportation and housing of soldiers in war and during manoeuvres, and other local matters. The land budget of 1901 amounted to 3,573,280 crowns ($714,656).
In 1918, the duchy ceased to exist and its territory became part of the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and subsequently part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). The western part of the duchy, with the towns of Postojna, Ilirska Bistrica, Idrija, Vipava and Šturje was annexed to Italy in 1920, but was subsequently also included into Yugoslavia in 1945.
[edit] Administrative divisions
Carniola was traditionally divided into three sub-regions: Upper Carniola (Slovenian name: Gorenjska, German: Oberkrain), Lower Carniola (Slovenian: Dolenjska, German: Unterkrain), and Inner Carniola (Slovenian: Notranjska, German: Innerkrain). Until 1860, these sub-regions coincided with the districts (Kreise) of Ljubljana, Novo mesto and Postojna. They were later divided into smaller units, called political (or administrative) districts. Between 1861 and 1918, Carniola was divided into eleven districts consisting of 359 municipalities, with the provincial capital serving as the residence of the imperial governor (Landeshauptmann). The districts were: Kamnik, Kranj, Radovljica, the neighbourhood of Ljubljana, Logatec, Postojna, Litija, Krško, Novo mesto, Črnomelj, and Kočevje. The political districts were in turn divided into 31 judicial circuits.
