Page 355 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 355
peasant economy in interwar slovenia – policies of income diversification
1. Structural problems
While the creation of the Yugoslav economic area spurred industrial de-
velopment in Slovenia, results in agriculture were less impressive. In this
regard, we should also note that due to the consensus between Slovenian
political parties, the Slovenian agricultural policy prior to WWII, did not
change with administration change after elections. Slovenian agricultural
policy of the interwar period can be summarised in a few simple bullet-po-
ints: increasingly well-educated peasantry, utilisation of all internal reser-
ves and gradual subsidised specialisation and the introduction of new crops
and technology that would allow for an eventual increase of commercial vi-
ability as well as the quality, quantity and profitability of agricultural pro-
duction. In addition to these activities, the authorities supported agricul-
tural co-operatives and tried to establish their importance with the central
authorities in Belgrade.
Although the reasons for the constant crisis of agriculture cannot be
ascribed solely to agricultural competition within the new economic area
or to the general economic conditions unfavourable to agriculture, they
should still be taken into account. First and foremost, we should bear in
mind that the two decades prior to WWII saw further intensification of the
internal conflicts within Slovenian agriculture. These conflicts, which were
a major obstacle in directing the Slovenian peasantry towards intensive
production demanded by the times, were reflected by the peasant’s high
degree of indebtedness.
It is common knowledge that Slovenia was still a predominantly agri-
cultural region in the interwar period, with as much as 60% of the popula-
tion subsisting on agriculture (Ilešič 1940, 68). At the same time, Slovenia
was dominated by small farms, with almost 60% of them consisting of less
than 5 hectares (ha) of land. On the other hand, the number of large farms,
i.e. those with over 50 ha of land, was conspicuously low. These represented
just over 1% of all farms, but the reader shouldn’t presume these were large
estates, as most of them covered up to 100 ha of land (Bilimovič 1939, 5).
The unfavourable land-holding structure was again compounded by
overpopulation in the countryside. In his comprehensive study, Svetozar Il-
ešič found that the density of the peasant population was among the high-
est in Yugoslavia, as an average square kilometre (km2) of cultivated land
was populated by 190 people, compared to the Yugoslav average of 144. Fur-
thermore, population density on arable land was among the highest in Eu-
rope as well, with a similar ratio only to be found in Switzerland and, to
353
1. Structural problems
While the creation of the Yugoslav economic area spurred industrial de-
velopment in Slovenia, results in agriculture were less impressive. In this
regard, we should also note that due to the consensus between Slovenian
political parties, the Slovenian agricultural policy prior to WWII, did not
change with administration change after elections. Slovenian agricultural
policy of the interwar period can be summarised in a few simple bullet-po-
ints: increasingly well-educated peasantry, utilisation of all internal reser-
ves and gradual subsidised specialisation and the introduction of new crops
and technology that would allow for an eventual increase of commercial vi-
ability as well as the quality, quantity and profitability of agricultural pro-
duction. In addition to these activities, the authorities supported agricul-
tural co-operatives and tried to establish their importance with the central
authorities in Belgrade.
Although the reasons for the constant crisis of agriculture cannot be
ascribed solely to agricultural competition within the new economic area
or to the general economic conditions unfavourable to agriculture, they
should still be taken into account. First and foremost, we should bear in
mind that the two decades prior to WWII saw further intensification of the
internal conflicts within Slovenian agriculture. These conflicts, which were
a major obstacle in directing the Slovenian peasantry towards intensive
production demanded by the times, were reflected by the peasant’s high
degree of indebtedness.
It is common knowledge that Slovenia was still a predominantly agri-
cultural region in the interwar period, with as much as 60% of the popula-
tion subsisting on agriculture (Ilešič 1940, 68). At the same time, Slovenia
was dominated by small farms, with almost 60% of them consisting of less
than 5 hectares (ha) of land. On the other hand, the number of large farms,
i.e. those with over 50 ha of land, was conspicuously low. These represented
just over 1% of all farms, but the reader shouldn’t presume these were large
estates, as most of them covered up to 100 ha of land (Bilimovič 1939, 5).
The unfavourable land-holding structure was again compounded by
overpopulation in the countryside. In his comprehensive study, Svetozar Il-
ešič found that the density of the peasant population was among the high-
est in Yugoslavia, as an average square kilometre (km2) of cultivated land
was populated by 190 people, compared to the Yugoslav average of 144. Fur-
thermore, population density on arable land was among the highest in Eu-
rope as well, with a similar ratio only to be found in Switzerland and, to
353
