Slovenia (Giovinezza)

Slovenia (Slovene: Slovenija; Italian: Slovenia), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: Republika Slovenija; Italian: Repubblica di Slovenia) is a nation state in southern Central Europe located at the crossroads of main European cultural and trade routes. It is bordered by Italy to the west, South Germany to the north, Hungary to the northeast and the Moesian Federation to the south and southeast. It has a population of 2.1 million and is a parliamentary republic. Slovenia is a member of the United Nations, Mediterranean Union and Italian Community and its capital is situated in its largest city of Ljubljana.

Although the majority of the population is Slovene, over 800,000 citizens, or 39% of the population, are Italian. As such, Slovene and Italian share official language status within the country. Slovenia is a largely secularized country, but its culture and identity have been significantly influenced by Catholicism especially after the days of being ruled by the Italian Empire. The economy of Slovenia is small, open, and export-oriented and has been strongly influenced by international conditions. The main economic field is services, followed by industry and construction.

Historically, the current territory of Slovenia was part of many different state formations, including the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, followed by the Habsburg Monarchy. In October 1918, the Slovenes exercised self-determination for the first time by co-founding the internationally unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The Slovenians mostly wanted to be with Germany and Austria, but merged that December with the Kingdom of Serbia into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929).

During World War II, Slovenia was occupied and partitioned by Italy after the Italian Invasion of Yugoslavia and was subsequently invaded and annexed by Germany during their invasion of Italy. After the end of the war, Slovenia became part of the fascist Italian Empire. Although it was nominally autonomous and shared the status of Diocese like Greece and Moesia, it was administered much like an integral part of Italy Proper, and as such, faced more Italianization than other parts of the Empire.