Kärntner Heimatdienst
Encyclopedia
The Kärntner Heimatdienst (KHD - Carinthian Homeland Service) is a far right and nationalist
advocacy group
of the German
-speaking majority in the Austria
n state of Carinthia
. The KHD describes itself as a "nonpartisan patriotic
citizens' initiative". As an officially approved traditions association it receives direct funding by the Carinthian state.
the provisional Carinthian state assembly on 11 November 1918 declared the accession of the former Duchy of Carinthia
as a whole to the newly established Republic of German Austria
, while the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
(SHS) raised claims to southern Carinthian territories with a predominantly Slovene
-speaking poulation and had begun to occupy the lands south of the Drava
river. On December 5 the Carinthian state assembly decided to array paramilitary troops, whose armed resistance led to several clashes of arms (Abwehrkampf), until a ceasefire was mediated by a US
commission in January 1919.
According to the Treaty of Saint-Germain signed on 10 September 1919, the Meža
valley and the Jezersko
region were allocated to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
. In all other Carinthian territories occupied by Yugoslav troops the treaty ordered that a referendum should be held on 10 October 1920, whether the local population would join the Austrian Republic
or the SHS-state. Beforehand the paramilitary fighters, organised in the Kärntner Heimatdienst, strongly agitated against the Yugoslav claims. On October 10, a majority of 59,04 % of voters in the district decided for the accession to Austria, determining the border as it exists up to today with Slovenia
.
After its triumph, the KHD and its successor organization Kärntner Heimatbund (KHB) in the First Austrian Republic developed aggressive anti-Slovene, anti-Slavic
, pan-German
, anti-Semitic, and anti-Communist
policies and also served as a platform for the illegal Nazi Party. After World War II
the Kärntner Heimatdienst was re-established in 1957. It was able to exert influence on Carinthia's political parties during various public campaigns such as violent attacks against bilingual German-Slovene traffic signposts in 1972, agitations for the minority census in 1976, or for the abolition of bilingual primary education in 1988.
and the Alliance for the Future of Austria
. Since the late 1990s the association has tried for a rapprochement with organizations of the Carinthian Slovenes
. It is nevertheless reproached with continuous contempt for the Slovene minority rights, while the Austrian State Treaty
of 1955 in its Article Seven states that organizations aiming to divest any minority rights should be prohibited. In recent years the KHD has been in pursuit of more general issues like Islamophobia
or the resistance against war reparations
.
The KHD is also a founding member of the Ulrichsberg Memorial Association (Verein für die Heimkehrergedenkstätte Ulrichsberg) which organises an annual memorial service held by World War II veterans and expellees
at the Ulrichsberg, a prominent hill overlooking the historic Zollfeld
plain about 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Klagenfurt
. The event is regularly attended by former members of the Waffen-SS
and far right activists, the former Carinthian governor Jörg Haider
delivered some of his most controversial speeches here.
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
advocacy group
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
of the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
-speaking majority in the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n state of Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
. The KHD describes itself as a "nonpartisan patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
citizens' initiative". As an officially approved traditions association it receives direct funding by the Carinthian state.
History
After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the provisional Carinthian state assembly on 11 November 1918 declared the accession of the former Duchy of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
as a whole to the newly established Republic of German Austria
German Austria
Republic of German Austria was created following World War I as the initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire, without the Kingdom of Hungary, which in 1918 had become the Hungarian Democratic Republic.German...
, while the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...
(SHS) raised claims to southern Carinthian territories with a predominantly Slovene
Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...
-speaking poulation and had begun to occupy the lands south of the Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
river. On December 5 the Carinthian state assembly decided to array paramilitary troops, whose armed resistance led to several clashes of arms (Abwehrkampf), until a ceasefire was mediated by a US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
commission in January 1919.
According to the Treaty of Saint-Germain signed on 10 September 1919, the Meža
Meža
The Meža is a long river in Carinthia, Slovenia. It has its source on the Austrian side of the state border near Mount Olševa, becomes subterranean a kilometer from its source, and reappears on the surface in Koprivna near Črna na Koroškem, Slovenia. It is the central river of the Mežica Valley...
valley and the Jezersko
Jezersko, Slovenia
Jezersko is a municipality in the historic Carinthia region of northern Slovenia. Since 2005, it has been part of the Upper Carniola statistical region....
region were allocated to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
. In all other Carinthian territories occupied by Yugoslav troops the treaty ordered that a referendum should be held on 10 October 1920, whether the local population would join the Austrian Republic
First Austrian Republic
The Republic of Austria encompasses the period of Austrian history following the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of September 1919, the settlement after the end of World War I which put an end to the Republic of German Austria, continuing up to World War II...
or the SHS-state. Beforehand the paramilitary fighters, organised in the Kärntner Heimatdienst, strongly agitated against the Yugoslav claims. On October 10, a majority of 59,04 % of voters in the district decided for the accession to Austria, determining the border as it exists up to today with Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
.
After its triumph, the KHD and its successor organization Kärntner Heimatbund (KHB) in the First Austrian Republic developed aggressive anti-Slovene, anti-Slavic
Anti-Slavism
Anti-Slavism, also known as Slavophobia, a form of racism or xenophobia, refers to various negative attitudes towards Slavic peoples, most common manifestation being claims of inferiority of Slavic nations with respect to other ethnic groups...
, pan-German
Pan-Germanism
Pan-Germanism is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify the German-speaking populations of Europe in a single nation-state known as Großdeutschland , where "German-speaking" was taken to include the Low German, Frisian and Dutch-speaking populations of the Low...
, anti-Semitic, and anti-Communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
policies and also served as a platform for the illegal Nazi Party. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Kärntner Heimatdienst was re-established in 1957. It was able to exert influence on Carinthia's political parties during various public campaigns such as violent attacks against bilingual German-Slovene traffic signposts in 1972, agitations for the minority census in 1976, or for the abolition of bilingual primary education in 1988.
Today
The KHD claims a membership of about 20,000, including some influential members of right-wing political parties, such as the Freedom Party of AustriaFreedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...
and the Alliance for the Future of Austria
Alliance for the Future of Austria
The Alliance for the Future of Austria , abbreviated to BZÖ, is a conservative liberal political party in Austria. The party has sixteen seats in the National Council....
. Since the late 1990s the association has tried for a rapprochement with organizations of the Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...
. It is nevertheless reproached with continuous contempt for the Slovene minority rights, while the Austrian State Treaty
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on May 15, 1955, in Vienna at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying powers and the Austrian government...
of 1955 in its Article Seven states that organizations aiming to divest any minority rights should be prohibited. In recent years the KHD has been in pursuit of more general issues like Islamophobia
Islamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
or the resistance against war reparations
War reparations
War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...
.
The KHD is also a founding member of the Ulrichsberg Memorial Association (Verein für die Heimkehrergedenkstätte Ulrichsberg) which organises an annual memorial service held by World War II veterans and expellees
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
at the Ulrichsberg, a prominent hill overlooking the historic Zollfeld
Zollfeld
Zollfeld is a slightly ascending plain in Carinthia, Austria. It is one of the oldest cultural landscapes in the East Alpine region.-Geography:...
plain about 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
. The event is regularly attended by former members of the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
and far right activists, the former Carinthian governor Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria , a breakaway party from the FPÖ.Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments...
delivered some of his most controversial speeches here.