Vinica remembers centenary of short-lived republic
Vinica, 28 April - Vinica, a tiny border town in the south-east, is marking the centenary of a republic declared on its territory on 21 April 1919 but repressed only three days later.
Vinica
The main ceremony marking the centenary of the Republic of Vinica, a state declared by the town of Vinica after WWI which lasted only three days.
Photo: Nik Jevšnik/STA
Vinica
President Borut Pahor addressing the main ceremony marking the centenary of the Republic of Vinica, a state declared by the town of Vinica after WWI which lasted only three days.
Photo: Nik Jevšnik/STA
Vinica
President Borut Pahor addressing the main ceremony marking the centenary of the Republic of Vinica, a state declared by the town of Vinica after WWI which lasted only three days.
Photo: Nik Jevšnik/STA
Vinica
The main ceremony marking the centenary of the Republic of Vinica, a state declared by the town of Vinica after WWI which lasted only three days.
Photo: Nik Jevšnik/STA
Vinica
President Borut Pahor addressing the main ceremony marking the centenary of the Republic of Vinica, a state declared by the town of Vinica after WWI which lasted only three days.
Photo: Nik Jevšnik/STA
Vinica residents got the idea to declare an independent state, the Republic of Vinica, from local survivors of World War I (1914-1918).
The cause for declaring it was problems surrounding the stamping of money, which caused a stir in this village in the Bela Krajina region, prompting secession.
The rebellion was repressed by the police and army of the State of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which emerged after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in late 1918.
President Borut Pahor, the keynote speaker at Saturday's main event, said Slovenians should proudly remember everything that had made them a sovereign nation which cherished the spirit of resistance.
Pointing to the 27 April Resistance Day, he said it was people's resistance that this public holiday and the celebrations of the Vinica Republic centenary had in common.
The people of Vinica had a sincere wish to choose their own representatives, he said, adding that such great ideas deserved admiration.
Pahor noted the Republic of Vinica was one of many events proving the idea of a democtic and sovereign Slovenia had not happened overnight but was a result of efforts of many generations.
As part of five-day centenary celebrations, a screening of a documentary on the Republic of Vinica made in 2012 by public broadcaster RTV Slovenija is scheduled for Tuesday alongside a workshop on Vinica postcards to be held at the house in which writer Oton Župančič (1878-1949), Vinica's most famous resident, was born.