In the special circumstances involved in the Republic of Slovenia attaining the status of an independent state in 1990 and 1991, the armed forces did not only function as one of the important factors representing and strengthening the statehood of the new state, but also deterred dangers and secured the path towards independence in light of the high probability that the federal authorities and the Yugoslav People's Army, which pronounced the impending declaration of independence as secession, would intervene. Due to these circumstances the Republic of Slovenia had, before the declaration of independence on 25 June 1991, established its own defence system and armed forces, capable of defence operations as soon as the Yugoslav People's Army in fact intervened a day after the declaration of independence. The establishment of the Manoeuvre Structure of National Defence in the summer and autumn of 1990 was an important stage of this process, dictating the further course of the formation of the armed forces due to the solutions adopted at that time.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 2928500The author describes the development of the attitude and awareness of the population in regard to the defence of Slovenia at the critical stage of the Yugoslav crisis. An increasing percentage of the Slovenian population supported the defence from the former fellow citizens of Yugoslavia more and more resolutely, and the partial confiscation of weapons from the Territorial Defence in May 1990 represented a turning point. The clandestine defence organisation, established by the competent bodies of the Slovenian state, included considerable initiative, not only on the part of the Manoeuvre Structure of National Defence, but also on the part of the civilian population activating itself in order to assist the organisation in the storage of weapons and equipment, transport, and intelligence work. This also holds true for the period before the declaration of independence and the Independence War in June and July of 1991. However, a considerable part of the population simultaneously supported the idea that in the future the defence system of the Republic of Slovenia should be based on unarmed defence.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 2876276The militia represented a key security factor in the years from 1989 to 1991, starting with the Rally of Truth on 1 December 1989, when it prevented the pro Serbian gathering. Subsequently the Slovenian politics, striving to organise the Slovenian defence forces, also relied on the structure of the militia, which was a highly organised and professionally trained security body. Therefore its internal structure served as the foundation for the further development of the Slovenian defence system ever since the weapons were confiscated from the Territorial Defence. In the second half of 1990 the militia played the major role in the formation of the clandestine Manoeuvre Structure of National Defence and in the organisation of the National Defence units, included into the Slovenian Territorial Defence in October 1990. The militia's main activities included the organisation of secret repositories, transport, distribution and control of the weapons, and protecting the registers of military recruits. Even after October 1990 and until as late as 1991 the militia activities proceeded normally, and it undoubtedly left a profound mark on the Independence War in the end of June and beginning of July 1991. Together with the Territorial Defence it stood up to the Yugoslav People's Army and surprised it considerably with its flawless organisation.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 2928756