"Moja politika je kranjska klobasa."
"My policy is Carniolian sausage"

A couple of Carniolan sausage stains in the Slovenian politics, smearing the Slovenian newspapers before World War I

Summary/Abstract: In the period between the Spring of Nations and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Carniolan sausage did not only fill stomachs. It was also a highly esteemed refreshment, a stimulant for what was initially nascent and later – in the final decades of the period under consideration – already completely awakened national identity. Carniolan sausage had a special place in the Slovenian society and culture. However, what about its place in the political life? It especially had a great symbolic potential and it was a strongly marked object, allowing for various uses. It was convenient, frequently available for various occasions and needs, among others also for a range of »political« applications. The following text limits itself to three Carniolan sausage stains in the Slovenian politics in the period under consideration, smearing the press: the wagging fingers of the Slovenski narod newspaper journalists at the »flexible« – the politicians of moderate national policy in the Taaffe period; the disputes within the socialist camp among Slovenians in the United States; and finally one of the biggest social-political scandals in Carniola before World War I, brought to the boiling point in the atmosphere of the ruthless liberal-clericalist struggle for authority during the so-called Theimer affair.

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