Krain (Groß-Deutschland)

Krain (English: Carniola, Slovenian: Kranjska) is one of the Reichsländer of Germany.

Overview
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Lombards settled in Carniola, followed by Slavs around the 6th century AD. As a part of the Holy Roman Empire, the area was successively ruled by Bavarian, Frankish and local nobility, and eventually by the Austrian Habsburgs almost continuously from 1335 to 1918, though beset by many raids from the Ottomans and rebellions by local residents against Habsburg rule from the 15th to the 17th centuries. From about 900 AD until the 20th century, Carniola's ruling classes and urban areas spoke German while the peasantry often spoke Slovenian.

The capital of Carniola, originally situated at Kranj (Krainburg), was briefly moved to Kamnik (Stein) and finally to the current capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana (Laibach).

Antiquity and Middle Ages
Before the coming of the Romans (c. 200 BC), the Taurisci dwelt in the north of Carniola, the Pannonians in the south-east, the Iapodes or Carni, a Celtic tribe, in the south-west.

Carniola formed part of the Roman province of Pannonia; the northern part was joined to Noricum, the south-western and south-eastern parts and the city of Aemona to Venice and Istria. In the time of Augustus all the region from Aemona to the Kolpa river (Culpa) belonged to the province of Savia.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), Carniola was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy, and (493) under Theodoric it formed part of the Ostrogothic kingdom. Between the upper Sava and the Soča rivers lived the Carni, and towards the end of the sixth century Slavs settled the region called by Latin writers Carnia, or Carniola meaning 'little Carnia', i.e. part of greater Carnia. Later on the name was changed to Slavic Krajina, Kranjska or, in German, Chrainmark, Krain. The new inhabitants were subjected to the Avars, but threw off their yoke, and joined the great Slavic state of Samo.

March of Carniola
Carniola was governed by the Franks about the year 788. When Charlemagne established the margraviate of Friuli, he added to it a part of Carniola. After the division of Friuli, it became an independent margraviate, having its own Slavic margrave residing at Kranj, subject to the governor of Bavaria at first, and after 976 to the Dukes of Carinthia. Henry IV gave it to the Patriarch of Aquileia (1071).

In the Middle Ages the Church held much property in Carniola, thus in Upper and Lower Carniola the Bishop of Freising became in 974 a feudal lord of the city of Škofja Loka, the Bishop of Brixen held Bled and possessions in the valley of Bohinj, and the Bishop of Lavant got Mokronog. Among secular potentates the Dukes of Meran, Gorizia, Babenberg, and Zilli held possessions given to them in fief by the patriarchs of Aquileia. The dukes governed the province nearly half a century. Finally Carniola was given in fief with the consent of the patriarch to Frederick II of Austria, who obtained the title of duke in 1245. Frederick was succeeded by Ulrich III, Duke of Carinthia, who married Agnes of Andech a relative of the patriarch and endowed the churches and monasteries, established the government mint at the city of Kostanjevica, and finally (1268) willed to Ottokar II, King of Bohemia, all his possessions and the government of Carinthia and Carniola.

Duchy of Carniola
Ottokar was defeated by Rudolph I of Germany, and at the meeting at Augsburg in 1282, he gave in fief to his sons Albrecht and Rudolf the province of Carniola, but it was leased to Meinhard, count of Gorizia-Tirol. Duke Henry of Carinthia claimed Carniola; and the Dukes of Austria asserted their claim as successors to the Bohemian kingdom. When Henry died 1335 Jan, King of Bohemia, renounced his claims, and Albrecht, Duke of Austria, received Carniola; it was proclaimed a duchy by Rudolf IV, in 1364. Emperor Frederick III united Upper, Lower, and Central Carniola as Metlika and Pivka into one duchy. The union of the dismembered parts was completed by 1607.

French Intermezzo
The French revolutionary troops occupied Carniola in 1797, and from 1805 to 1806. Under the Treaty of Vienna, Carniola became part of the Illyrian provinces of France (1809–1814), with Ljubljana as its capital, and Carniola formed a part of the new territory from 1809 to 1813. The defeat of Napoleon restored Carniola to Austrian Emperor Francis I, with larger boundaries, but at the extinction of the Illyrian Kingdom Carniola was confined to the limits outlined at the Congress of Vienna, 1815. From 1816 to 1849 Carniola was part of the Austrian Kingdom of Illyria with capital in Ljubljana.

Austrian restoration
The Austrian Empire reorganized the territory in 1849 as a duchy and a Cisleithanian crownland in Austria-Hungary known as the Duchy of Carniola. It was bounded on the north by Carinthia, on the north-east by Styria, on the south-east and south by Croatia, and on the west by Trieste, Goritza, and Istria; with area of 3,857 square miles (9,990 km²) and population of 510,000. The capital, Ljubljana, was the see of a prince-bishop, population, 40,000; it was known to the Romans as Aemona, and was destroyed by Obri in the sixth century. Carniola was divided into Upper Carniola (Slovenian name: Gorenjska), Lower Carniola (Slovenian: Dolenjska), and Inner Carniola (Slovenian: Notranjska). Politically the province was divided into eleven districts consisting of 359 municipalities; the provincial capital was the residence of the imperial governor. The districts were: Kamnik, Kranj, Radovljica, the neighbourhood of Ljubljana, Logatec, Postojna, Litija, Krsko, Novo Mesto, Crnomelj, and Gotschee or Kocevje. There were 31 judicial circuits. 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.

In 1871, with the fall of Austria-Hungary, Krain (Carniola) was organized as a Reichsland within Germany, preserving the power that had been granted it during its time within Austria-Hungary, with the provision that Germans who chose to live there would be able to speak and teach their children in German. Imperial moneys flowed into the region with the addition of Modrus-Fiume from the Kingdom of Hungary, and by 1902, it became one of the most prosperous regions of Germany, being a channel for much intra-Mediterranean trade.

In 1907, universal and equal suffrage for all men was introduced. 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 maneuvers, and other local matters. The land budget of 1901 amounted to 3,573,280 marks ($714,656). During World War I, a number of Slovenian Germans contributed greatly to the war effort, and again in World War II.

Modern era
After the first World War, Kaiser Wilhelm II implemented some reorganization and reforms, furthering those of Kaiser Friedrich III. Suffrage for all men over 21 was made empire-wide, freedom of peaceable assembly, speech, and press were assured.

Since the end of World War II, Krain, along with Hamburg, has been a port of trade bringing German goods to the entire world. Slovenian language publications are widespread, though the use of German amongst the youth is increasing, and the usage of Slovenian is declining in some homes.