CFM Files: Lot M–88: Box 76
Memorandum of the Government of the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia on Slovene Carinthia, the Slovene Frontier Areas of Styria and the Croats of Burgenland 97
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Therefore, the Government of the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, stating in the enclosed annexes98 the facts
on the participation of Austria in the Hitlerite aggression against and the occupation of Yugoslavia,
on the national liberation struggle of the Carinthian Slovenes,
on the ethnical character of Slovene Carinthia (with the ethnographic atlas enclosed),
on the history of the Carinthian Slovenes,
on the geographic and economic ties of the claimed territory with Yugoslavia,
on the Croats of Burgenland,
have the honour to submit the following claims:
- 1)
- that Slovene Carinthia, with a surface of 2470 km2 and 180,000 inhabitants, and the
Slovene frontier areas in Styria, with a surface of
approximately 130 km2 and 10,000
inhabitants, be united to Yugoslavia and, a new delimitation of
the frontier be carried out along the line:
from point 1496 in the Karn Alps (Karnische Alpen), along the gorge of the Krnica (Garnitzen), to the confluence of the Krnica and the Zila (Gail), then in a north-easterly direction to point 952 (Hohe Wand) and Negal (Spitzegel, 2118) in the Zila Alps (Gailtaler Alpen), along the ridge of the Zila Alps to Spicek (1329) and across the Beli Potok (Weissenbach) to Bukovnik (Buchberg, 662), further along the Drava from point 493, north of Gornja Bela (Obervellach), to the village of Dole (Duel), east of the mouth of the Zila;
from there in a northern direction to point 852 on Osojske Ture (Ossiacher Tauern), along the ridge of Osojske Ture eastwards to Golimje (Gallinberg, 1045), over Senturška Gora (St. Ulrichsberg, 1015), Sentlenška Gora (Magdalensberg, 1056), along points 1074 and 1079 to the Krka (Gurk), crossing it to the south of the village of Sent Janž na Mosticu (St. Johann am Brückl); from the Krka over [Page 115] point 1225 to Zapotnikova Peč (Sapotnig Ofen, 1413), and along the ridge of Svinška Planina (Saualpe) to point 1899 (Speikkogl);
thence the line descends south-eastwards over point 1218 near Sv. Lenart (St. Leonard), comprising the valley of Gradnica (Granitz) and Šent Pavel (St. Paul) in the Laboška Valley (Lavanttal), climbs the Brandel (1448) and runs along the ridge to the top of Golica (Koralpe, 2144);
thence it descends along the watershed between the Drava and Mura comprising the commune of Sobota (Soboth), to a point on the former frontier southeast of Hadernik (Hadernig, 1083);
it leaves this frontier again at point 697, southeast of the village of Arvež (Arnfels), and goes to Kamajer (Kameier Kogl), runs over the Karnarjev Vrh (Karner Kogl), along the watershed between the Pesnica (Pössnitz) and Gomilica (Gamlitz), to a point on the former frontier near Slatina;
finally, it leaves the frontier again at point 209 on the Mura, north of the village of Lutverci, leaving the Radgona (Radkersburg) triangle to Yugoslavia, following a line west of the villages of Farovci (Pfarrsdorf) and Pridova (Pridahof), and then reaches the former frontier to the northwest of the village of Korovci;
- 2)
- that the further germanisation of the Burgenland Croats be prevented and their question settled either by the granting of a special statute guaranteeing their national rights, or—as proposed by the Government of the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia for the other Yugoslavs who would still remain in Austria—by an exchange of populations, i.e. their exchange with the Austrian minority, which the new frontier would leave in Yugoslavia and which is, of course, nothing else but the result of the forcible germanisation of the last decades.
Conscious of the great contribution she made to the common victory over the fascist invaders, Yugoslavia is expecting with full right that the Allies fulfil her just claims with regard to Slovene Carinthia, the Slovene frontier areas in Styria and the Burgenland Croats, especially in view of the fact, that her justified demands had not been given due consideration in the drafting of the peace treaties so far. The Yugoslav Government hope that the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia shall not be exposed to the same treatment again.
- A brief covering communication, dated January 15, 1947, from the Yugoslav Delegation in London for the meetings of the Deputies for Austria, was circulated to the Deputies as document CFM(D) (47) (A) 9, January 20, 1947. Printed copies of this memorandum had been previously circulated to the Deputies on January 16. This memorandum was subsequently referred to as document CFM(D) (47) (A) 9. A reproduction of this memorandum together with maps delineating the frontiers proposed by the Yugoslav Government was published by the Yugoslav Government in a pamphlet entitled The Question of 200,000 Yugoslavs in Austria: The Slovene Carinthia and the Burgenland Croats (Beograd, 1947).↩
- Annexes under reference are not printed here.↩