As an attempt to decentralise the historical narrative of the Illyrian provinces, this master's thesis scrutinises the so-called Brežice Dominion with its wider hinterland in the mentioned period (1809–1813), and places it at the same time in a broader geographical-historical context. With the arrival of the French, the border on the Sava River changed from a provincial to a national one, and Brežice found itself at the crossroads of the old Austrian and the new French rule. The master's thesis glances at both banks of the Sava - the Styrian (Austrian) and the Carniolan (Illyrian) bank, analysing in detail how the political, economic, military, educational, ecclesiastical, cultural, and linguistic aspects of the new administrative system affected the historical development of the area, as well as the life of the local population. The border microcosm of Brežice, revealed through the archival material of the local administration of Čatež and the parish registers of Brežice and the surrounding parishes, is contextualised by material on the Illyrian provinces from the National Archives in Paris. The study of this material also offers an opportunity to reflect on intercultural and interlingual exchanges during French occupation of the Slovene regions, with the linguistic picture of local administration of Čatež ob Savi serving as an example. Traces of the French presence, both in spiritual and material terms, remain evident in Brežice and the wider surroundings today, and are a key element in shaping local collective memory.
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