Božo Repe

So far, Slovenes have lived in four large supranational entities: the Holy Roman Empire; Austria-Hungary; Yugoslavia (royal and socialist); and now the EU. Three specific interim periods deserve mention: Illyrian Provinces; the period of occupation during World War II (1941-1945); the period of "pure independence" between 1991 (international recognition) and 2004 (joining the EU).

Each period dictated the choice of anthem. Slovenes received their own official anthem, i.e. "Zdravljica" ("A Toast"), as late as 1990.

Initially, European anthems were dedicated to the ruler, to God, Christianity (Catholicism) and the state. With the arrival of national movements, nations were added to the mix; due to the French Revolution some anthems included revolutionary mottoes and demands for social justice (liberty, equality, fraternity). For this reason, the first "Slovene" anthem "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" was dedicated to Francis II (1768-1835), the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the first ruler of Austria, who was renamed Francis I after two years of being a double emperor (1804-1806). Because he became involved in the so-called Napoleonic Wars with France, Austria was forced to relinquish many territories. Hence, in 1809 the Illyrian Provinces were created and for the next few years "La Marseillaise" was the anthem of the majority of the Slovene population. "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser", which was also called "Kaiserhymne", became the first Austrian anthem. Following the death of Francis I, the anthem was revised to praise the new "foremost son of Austria", Emperor Ferdinand: "Segen Öst'reichs hohem Sohne / Unserm Kaiser Ferdinand". After Emperor Ferdinand abdicated in 1848, they reverted to the original anthem because their new ruler was Franz Joseph and the name Franz was once again applicable. In 1854, they modified the anthem slightly; the famous "Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze / Unsern Kaiser, unser Land!” was created and was translated into the languages of non-Germanic nations. In Slovene historical memory it is remembered as "Bog ohrani, Bog obvari" ("God preserve, God protect"). The last emperor praised by this anthem was Charles. The anthem's original lyrics were written by the Austrian poet Lorenz Leopold Haschka, while the music was written by Joseph Haydn, whose most famous anthem is that of the British Empire "God Save the King". The song was not forgotten after the fall of Austria-Hungary. Even earlier, in 1841, during the early efforts towards German unification, the German poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the poem "Das Lied der Deutschen" to Haydn's melody. The poem begins with the famous verse "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles", which originally did not refer to conquest. After unification, it became the German anthem but was rather ignored; Germans preferred performing the former Prussian Kaiser anthem "Heil Dir im Siegerkranz". It was given greater official importance under the Weimar Republic. In addition to this anthem, the Nazis introduced the anthem of the Nazi Party "Horst-Wessel-Lied", so there were in fact two anthems; they combined them in "Lieder der Nation" (song of the nation) and the verse "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" was given another meaning, i.e. that Germany was going to rule the world. In addition to the official Austrian anthem, the Hungarian part of the Habsburg Monarchy, which included Prekmurje, also used the unofficial Hungarian anthem "Himnusz", which had been written by Ferenc Kölcsey and set to music by Ferenc Erkel in 1844. "Das Lied der Deutschen" became the German anthem again after unification in 1990 but only as one of its stanzas.

In parallel with the official anthem, Slovenes, also caught in the wave of national movements, Illyrism, Yugoslavism and, above all, Pan-Slavism after 1848, also sang a cover of the song by the Slovak poet Samuel Tomašik "Hej Slovani" ("Hey, Slavs"), i.e. "Hej Slovenci" ("Hey, Slovenes") as a sort of unofficial anthem; different versions of it became very popular among Slavic nations, a sort of Pan-Slavic anthem. It was also played at the Pan-Slavic Congress in Prague in 1848. Traces of its music can be found in the current Polish anthem. During World War II "Hey, Slavs" became the anthem of the new Yugoslavia, which later turned socialist.

In the 1860s, Slovenes adopted the song "Naprej zastava slave" ("Forward, Flag of Glory") by poet Simon Jenko and composer Davorin Jenko (written in 1860) as their anthem. Until the official introduction of "A Toast" in 1990, the fighting song "Forward, Flag of Glory" was the unofficial Slovene anthem. In 1885, it was even published in London in the English language. The poem by Jakob Gomilšak "Slovenec sem" ("I'm a Slovene"), written in 1858 and set to music in 1882 by Gustav Ipavec, was sung on occasion but was criticized in many ways. During World War I "A Toast" was receiving recognition in the musical version by Stanko Premrl.

Each new state brings new symbols, as was the case after the formation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following the principle of compromise unitarism, i.e. three tribes of one nation, the new national anthem was compiled from the existing national anthems of all three nations, occasionally correcting the lyrics where they did not suit the new reality. The Serbian anthem was written by Jovan Đorđević in 1882 (he revised his older version of 1872) when Serbia became a kingdom. The music for it was written (likewise in 1872) by Davorin Jenko, a Slovene, who was working at the newly built National Theatre in Belgrade at the time. The first stanza went as follows: "Bože pravde,/ti što spase/od propasti/dosad nas,/čuj i dosad/naše glase/i od sad nam budi spas." ("God of Justice;/Thou who saved us when in deepest bondage cast,/Hear Thy children's voices,/Be our help as in the past.") The Croatian anthem "Lijepa naša" ("Our Beautiful"), published in 1835 (under the title "Horvatska domovina" or "Croatian Homeland"), was the work of Antun Mihanović; it was set to music a year later by the amateur composer of Serbian descent Josip Runjanin (for a long time, the music was attributed to the first arranger Josip Vendl because the original notation had been lost). "Our Beautiful" is much more lyrical than the other two anthems; its first verse was included in the Yugoslav anthem: "Lijepa naša domovino,/Oj junačka zemlja mila,/Da bi vazda sretna bila!" ("Our beautiful homeland,/Oh so fearless and gracious,/May you be blessed forever.") Slovenes contributed the first stanza of their anthem to the common anthem: "Naprej zastava slave,/Na boj junaška kri!/Za blagor očetnjave/Naj puška govori!" ("Forward!, flag of glory,/To battle, heroic blood!/For our fatherland/Let the rifle speak!") This anthem compilation ended with revised verses from the Serbian anthem, showing who was in charge in the new state: "Kralja Petra,/Bože,/hrani,/moli ti se srpski rod." ("King Peter,/O God!/Deliver,/Thus entreats the Serbian race.") After King Peter I died on 16 August 1921, he was replaced by Alexander in this verse; after his assassination in 1934, he was replaced by young King Peter II. The anthem was meant to be temporary and was never laid down in the Constitution, unlike the coat of arms and flag.

The period of World War II was again complex and contradictory regarding the anthem. The official anthems were the anthems of the occupying forces. In the Italian Occupation Zone, the anthem was the royalist "Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza". However, at official ceremonies it was usually replaced by the Fascist anthem "Giovinezza", which was also the official anthem of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic in northern Italy after the capitulation of Italy in September 1943. Formally speaking, this republic also encompassed the so-called Province of Ljubljana but the latter was actually governed by the Germans who incorporated it into the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral. On official occasions they therefore used both German anthems or the combined "Lieder der Nation" with accompanying Nazi iconography and the Nazi salute. Of course, the same held true for the territories occupied by Germany back in 1941. In the Hungarian Occupation Zone, the official anthem was "Himnusz".

The unofficial anthem of the Home Guard, which was often performed under Rupnik's collaborationist administration between 1943 and 1945, was the song by Lojze Mav "Moja domovina" ("My Homeland"). The resistance movement did not acknowledge the occupation and collaborationist regimes. The unofficial anthem of Slovene Partisans was the famous song "Hej brigade" ("Hey, Brigades").

At the level of Yugoslavia, the Partisans adopted the song "Hey, Slavs" as a temporary anthem. It had been used since the beginning of the resistance in 1941, but was performed as the official anthem for the first time at the opening of the first session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) on 26 November 1942 in Bihać, and afterwards at the second AVNOJ session and on many other ceremonial occasions (e.g. upon Josip Broz – Tito's arrival in Vis in 1944). It was also performed at the Constituent Assembly on 29 November 1945 when the republic was proclaimed.

The anthem did not express the essence of the new state of Yugoslavia particularly well (after all, the state also included the non-Slavic Albanian minority) and several attempts were made in the post-war decades to replace it. Yet, as the French proverb goes: "Nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution" and the anthem was kept. The complicated Yugoslav society was unable to reach a consensus regarding the anthem. The first competition was held in 1946. However, they were unable to set the poem entitled "Himna FNRJ" ("FNRY Anthem") by Čedomir Minderović to the music of various Yugoslav composers. Another attempt was made in 1959, when Mira Alečković (poet) and Nikola Hercigonja (composer) tried to turn the poem "Novoj Jugoslaviji" ("To a New Yugoslavia") from 1948 into an anthem. They created "Jugoslavijo, borba te rodila" ("Yugoslavia, Born in Battle"), which was ceremonially performed for the first time in April 1959 at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the CPY. In 1960, the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia proposed that it become the official national anthem but Croats were against it, claiming it was too unitarian. The poet Mira Alečković decisively rejected the request to change the controversial verses and thus "Hey, Slavs" remained the anthem of Yugoslavia. In the Sixties (1963), on the initiative of Edvard Kardelj, they tried using the second movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (adapted by Aleksandar Obradović) but it was not accepted. The competition of 1968 was likewise unsuccessful. Between 1973 and 1974, the melody by the Macedonian composer Taki Hrisik was accepted, but they could not find suitable lyrics.

The 1974 Constitution of the SFRY officially mentions the national anthem for the first time but without a title; the latter was to have been laid down in an act but that did not take place until April 1977 with the Act on the Use of the SFRY Coat of Arms, Flag and Anthem. In April 1977, "Hey, Slavs" became the official anthem but with the annotation that it was a temporary solution until the Yugoslav Assembly chooses another.

Another feeble attempt was made in 1985 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the existence of socialist Yugoslavia, when the Yugoslav government wanted a new anthem as Yugoslavia was experiencing an overall crisis. Considering the circumstances, it was that much more unlikely that a consensus would be reached. Therefore, the 9th Amendment to the 1988 Constitution of the SFRY constitutionally proclaimed the anthem "Hey, Slavs" the official anthem of the SFRY.

After Tito's death in 1980, the song "Jugoslavijo" ("Yugoslavia") by Nikola Hercigonja and Mira Alečković became much more popular than the anthem itself. The song begins with the following verses: "Od Vardara pa do Triglava/od Đerdapa pa do Jadrana/Kao niska sjajnog đerdana/Svetlim suncem obasjana/ponosito sred Balkana/Jugoslavijo, Jugoslavijo" ("From Vardar to Triglav/From Đerdap to Jadran/Like a string of shiny necklace/Lighted up by brightly Sun/Proudly in midst of Balkans (stands)/Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia").

The Slovene anthem experienced a similar fate as the Yugoslav one. Debates regarding the anthem began in the early Seventies, after the adoption of amendments to the Yugoslav Constitution between 1969 and 1971 which strengthened the republic's statehood. The debate was initiated by the Executive Committee of the Republican Conference of the Socialist Alliance of Working People (RC SAWP) in October 1972, which laid down the selection criteria and put up the proposals for public discussion. They were deciding between "Forward, Flag of Glory" (music by Davorin Jenko, lyrics by Simon Jenko); "A Toast" (lyrics by France Prešeren, music by Stanko Premrl; only the last stanza would be sung and played as the anthem); and "Naša zemlja" ("Our Land"; music by Marjan Kozina, lyrics by Mile Klopčič). After the discussion, the working group (Chairman Tone Fajfar, dr. Dragutin Cvetko, Jože Globačnik, Samo Hubad, Marjan Javornik, Mile Klopčič, Miloš Poljanšek, dr. Miha Potočnik, Slavko Pregl, Marjan Vodopivec and Jelo Gašperšič) narrowed it down to "Forward, Flag of Glory" and "A Toast". "A Toast" was strongly supported but performers had many doubts owing to its demanding performance. In the meanwhile, the 1974 Constitution of Slovenia, which introduced a number of new statehood attributes (among other things, a collective presidency of the republic), stipulated that the anthem of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia was laid down by law. However, it did not specify to which song it was referring. In June 1975, on account of doubts owing to the demanding performance of "A Toast", the Executive Committee and the Presidium of RC SAWP proposed "Forward, Flag of Glory" as the anthem. In June 1976, the Executive Council of the Assembly of SR Slovenia proposed a bill regarding the anthem of SR Slovenia, which was to be "Forward, Flag of Glory". All three chambers discussed the bill that month but the Chamber of Associated Labour rejected it on account of doubts regarding the lyrics. In January 1977, the Republican Committee of Culture and Science proposed that the SAWP initiate proceedings for selecting new lyrics for the anthem, while keeping the music of "Forward, Flag of Glory" by Davorin Jenko. This happened all over again in 1979. In January 1979, the Presidency of SR Slovenia supported the proposal of the Executive Council of the Assembly of SR Slovenia to re-initiate the proceedings using the same bill as in 1976; in March a new bill was drafted but in June the Council on Culture adopted the position that the bill should be temporarily suspended.

In January 1982, the Executive Council of the Assembly of SR Slovenia proposed to the RC SAWP of Slovenia to relaunch a public debate. That time, the proposed anthem was the penultimate stanza of Prešeren's "A Toast" with music by Ubald Vrabec. The proceedings were re-initiated (a debate at the Executive Council of the Presidency of RC SAWP of Slovenia and at the Secretariat of the Council on Culture). A new working group was appointed (Chairman dr. Dragotin Cvetko, members Bojan Adamič, dr. Marijan Brecelj, Vilma Bukovec, Samo Hubad, Primož Kuret, Uroš Mahkovec, Stane Markič, Marko Munih, Andrej Rijavec, Alenka Saksida, Mirko Šlosar and Ivanka Vrbančič). In July 1982, the Secretariat of the Council on Culture proposed "A Toast" as the anthem and a call for proposals in which the most famous Slovene musicians would participate. Nothing came of this and three years later, in 1985, dr. Vladimir Bračič again proposed "Forward, Flag of Glory". Similar individual proposals were made later on, e.g. the well-known proposal made by Jože Pretnar in May 1988.

The following year, progress was finally made. After the Assembly of SRS adopted and promulgated amendments to the Constitution of Slovenia on 27 September 1989, Article 1 of the Constitution mentioned that the anthem of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia was "A Toast". Six months later, on 29 March 1990, the Assembly of RS adopted an act which took effect on 24 April 1990. The seventh stanza of the poem by France Prešeren "A Toast" became the anthem's lyrics, while the choral composition of the same name by composer Stanko Premrl was used as its melody.

However, the story about the anthem did not end there. Even under independent Slovenia proposals were made to change the anthem, especially by right-wing politicians who wanted to use the entire poem as the anthem, not just the seventh stanza; that way, the anthem would also mention God and Slovenism (the second stanza: "Bog našo nam deželo,/Bog živi ves slovenski svet".../"God save our land and nation,/And all Slovenes where'er they live"...).

Prešeren's poem "A Toast" (which is essentially a drinking poem) is one of the rare "non-combative" anthems which were influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution and free thought ("Freigeist"), and combine the national idea with internationalism: "Živé naj vsi naródi,/ki hrepené dočákat' dán,/da kóder sónce hódi,/prepír iz svéta bó pregnán,/da roják,/prost bo vsák,/ne vrág, le sósed bo meják" ("God's blessing on all nations,/Who long and work for that bright day,/When o'er earth's habitations,/No war, no strife shall hold its sway;/Who long to see/That all men free/No more shall foes, but neighbours be"). The Slovene anthem therefore rejects wars and strife, and emphasizes connectedness and friendship among nations. Even though the poem was written long ago, in 1844, it continues to be topical. Especially in the current time of crisis when humanism, both domestic and international, is again being put to the test.

The "Anthem of Europe" has gone through similar stormy times as other anthems. The Council of Europe began debating the anthem in 1955 with the proposal to make "Ode to Joy” the anthem, using the lyrics of Friedrich Schiller's poem "An die Freude" of 1785, which praises fraternity, and music from Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony of 1823. In 1971, the Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted this proposal, which was later approved by the Council of Ministers in January 1972 (in 1974 "Ode to Joy" was also chosen by Rhodesia as its anthem). It was officially performed for the first time at a ceremony commemorating Europe Day in 1972 in a musical arrangement by Herbert von Karajan. In 1985, it was adopted as the official anthem of the European Community by the leaders of the ten states comprising it. It was to be included in the European Constitution of 2004 as the official anthem, among other symbols, but the Constitution fell through after being ratified by only 18 out of 25 member states. Its bland political substitute, the Treaty of Lisbon of 2007, makes no mention of the anthem. Regardless, the European Parliament has tried to strengthen its role by making sure it is performed at all ceremonial occasions, e.g. when announcing election results, at the Parliament's opening sessions, during state visits, and at major sporting competitions. Of course, the anthem and other symbols cannot replace the contents and vision of the European Union, which are being severely tested.