Continuity, Pragmatism, and Ethnolinguistic NationalismStergar, Rok (Avtor) transitionYugoslaviaSloveniastate administrationethnic cleansingWhen the new State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs proclaimed its independence at the end of October 1918, it had no choice but to retain most of the former Habsburg civil servants in its service; administrative structures as well as laws and regulations remained basically unchanged as well. And when the State joined the Kingdom of Serbia to form the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the situation did not change much, or it changed only slowly. For years, the kingdom had three currencies and several legal systems; the northwest of the country – former Habsburg provinces – retained a strong “Habsburg flavour”. This was apparent on the level of administrative personnel too. While the new authorities emphasised a break with the past and an anti-Habsburg rhetoric was very much a part of the political discourse, only a few public servants were demoted or laid off because of their supposed Habsburg loyalism. On the contrary, even high government officials returning from Vienna were quickly integrated in the administration of the new state. Because they often enjoyed higher levels of education, former Habsburg officials were also able to rise through the ranks in Yugoslavia’s central administration. At the same time, however, the authorities were swiftly nationalizing the administration and civil servants – but also teachers and some others – were categorised according to their perceived ethnicity, and those not categorised as Yugoslavs were mostly laid off.20202021-12-22 12:19:24Neznano134036UDK: 94(497.4)\"1918\"DOI: 10.7767/9783205211525.179COBISS_ID: 31589379OceCobissID: 31397379slV skladu z založniško pogodbo je v Repozitorij UL shranjena založnikova različica poglavja.