The Rise of the Slovenian Catholic Movement in the Mid-1880s – Early 1890s

The article examines the initial period of the development of the Slovenian Catholic political movement, which was marked by the activities of the Ljubljana bishop J. Missija and the professor of theology in Gorica A. Mahnič. The years 1885–1887 were characterized by the struggle of Catholics against the so-called «liberal offensive» – the demands of Slovenian liberals to revive Slavic worship and their desire to spread the ideas of Slavic reciprocity and, in particular, Russophilia. However, overly harsh statements by the liberal press provoked strong opposition from the Austrian authorities and the Catholic Church. The Catholics strengthened their positions and took a course on creating their own political organization and intensifying the fight against liberal views. The split of national forces led to the formation of the Catholic National Party and the Liberal National Party, and over time, largely due to the socio-economic policy pursued by the Christian Socialists (who were part of the Catholic Party) to the final victory of Catholics on the Slovenian political scene. In the new conditions of the beginning of party building, the intensification of the struggle for influence on the masses, the attempts of the liberals to preserve or, subsequently, to revive the policy of «harmony» for the sake of the unity of national forces could not lead and did not lead to success.