The Role of Jožef Klekl in Annexation of the Prekmurje Region to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

Andrej Lažeta

The Role of Jožef Klekl in Annexation of the Prekmurje Region to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

Key words: Jožef Klekl, Prekmurje Region, Hungarization, Paris Peace Conference

Abstract:
The existence of the Slovenes in the Prekmurje Region after the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian dualism in 1867 was greatly jeopardized due to the violent Hungarization carried out by the Hungarian government. The main opponents of Hungarization in the Prekmurje Region were Slovene Catholic priests, especially Franc Ivanocy and Jožef Klekl. With his publicist activity, Klekl conserved the Slovene consciousness in the Prekmurje Region and became a national leader of the local Slovenes. With his wise nationalistic and political moves during the turmoil in 1918–1919, he succeeded that Hungary at the Paris Peace Conference was unable to prove that Slovenes in the Prekmurje Region opted for Hungary based on their “national self-determination.” This was the reason that Klekl was repeatedly put to court by the Hungarian authorities which wanted to liquidate him. His work presented the basis of the diplomatic actions of Fran Kovačič, Matija Slavič and other Yugoslav diplomats at the Paris Peace Conference. Thanks to his work, they succeeded to convince the great powers that Prekmurje Region was part of the Slovene ethnic territory.

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