Ehrlich and the Enforcement of the Slovenians as a Nation in Europe

Jurij Perovšek

Ehrlich and the Enforcement of the Slovenians as a Nation in Europe

Key words: Lambert Ehrlich, Carinthia, peace conference in Paris in 1919–1920, Slovenians, Višarje Sloveneness, Europe, Intermarius

Abstract:
Lambert Ehrlich made significant efforts for the establishment of Slovenes in the European framework immediately after the WW I. As a companion of the American inquiry commission of Sherman Miles, which had the assignment of determining the demarcation border between Austria and Yugoslavia in Carinthia, he consistently strove for the observance of the nationality criterion in the demarcation. Then, as an expert for Carinthia, he was visible in the struggle of the Yugoslav delegation for the Slovenian northern border at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919–1920. He also participated in the diplomatic struggle for the northeastern border in Styria and Prekmurje. His efforts forced the superpowers to know about the Slovenians and their desire to achieve the recognition of the Slovenian national space, i.e. the establishment of the desired national borders in the north, west and east. Later, with the well-known Višarje thought, he spiritually emphasized the Slovenes in the European dimension. After the occupation of Slovenia in 1941, he advocated a confederation between the Baltic, Adriatic and Aegean. The center of the union thus formed in Europe should be nationally United Slovenia. In 1942, for one of the key religious, moral, and political international factors, the Vatican prepared a special memorial on the situation in the »Ljubljana Province«. His ideal was to achieve recognition of Slovenians as a free and fully living European nation.

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