LJ CASE: The Establishment of Radio Ljubljana: An Interplay between Linguistic Identity, State Regulation, and Company Law

 Political Turmoil and the Question of National Identity

After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the State of Slovenians, Croats, and Serbs, which included a major part of present-day Slovenian territory, was formed on 29th October 1918. Although there was not enough time for institutions to fully organise, Slovenians got their first ever national government as the state functioned as a confederate republic (P. Vodopivec, VI. Od leta 1918 do leta 1991, in: Peter Štih/Vasko Simoniti/Peter Vodopivec, Slovenska zgodovina: Od prazgodovinskih kultur do začetka 21. stoletja, 2016, p. 520).

At the time, the idea for the union of the southern Slavic nations, also described as ‘the trinomial nation of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians’, in a single political form grew stronger due to Serbian nationalism and territorial appetites as well as fear of Italians and resumption of the Habsburg Empire. Consequently, the newly formed state rushed to merge with the Kingdom of Serbia to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians on 1st December 1918 (Vodopivec, Od leta 1918 do leta 1991, pp. 522–523).

(Picture 1: The map of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; Source: Wikimedia Commons) 

By the spring of 1919, Slovenians had already lost their autonomous institutions and elements of their own statehood (Ibid., p. 524). What followed was a period of political instability and general uncertainty, with many left beyond the frontier as the Kingdom lost territory in border disputes with Austria and Italy (Ibid., pp. 525–528). With the formation of the constituent assembly towards the end of 1920, the discussion of the future of this heterogeneous state reached a climax. With a weak majority and under strong pressure from the government, a centralist constitution known as the Saint Vitus Day Constitution (Sl. ‘Vidovdanska ustava’) was passed on 28th June 1921, which inter alia enacted national unity – Slovenians, Croats, and Serbs were seen as the three tribes of a single Yugoslav nation. Accordingly, the Kingdom was divided into 33 administrative regions (Sl. ‘oblast’) that completely disregarded the state’s ethnic composition (Ibid., pp. 528–529).

(Picture 2: Article 3 of the Constitution from 1931, which was copied from the Constitution from 1921, in Serbo-Croatian. Translation: ‘Article 3. The official language of the Kingdom is Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian. Ustav Kraljevine Jugoslavije, in: Službene novine Kraljevine Jugoslavije, Year 13, No. 207 (66) from 9th September 1931. Available here [25th February 2026]. It is noteworthy that Serbo-Croatian was never the only official language, neither was Cyrillic the only official alphabet. Despite Cyrillic being seen as ‘more Slavic’ and as such in line with the ideas of language unification, its use in Slovenian was limited to parallel use with Latin alphabet on certain official forms introduced gradually after 1918, while the literacy of the script among Slovenians remained practically non-existent. Today, Croatians and Slovenians use exclusively the Latin alphabet, while Serbs (still) use both.)

(Picture 3: The same Article 3 of the Constitution from 1931 in Slovenian. Ustava kraljevine Jugoslavije / Zakon o izpremembah in dopolnitvah v zakonu o nazivu in razdelitvi kraljevine na upravna območja, 1931, p. 2. Ljubljana: Merkur. Available here [5th May 2026])

This led to further political instability. The national assembly was dissolved four times, but each new election indicated a growing desire for autonomy and federalisation among Slovenians and Croats, whom the Serbian papers reproached with separatism and selfishness. Finally, King Alexander removed any middlemen between himself and the people by declaring a dictatorship on 6th January 1929 (Vodopivec, Od leta 1918 do leta 1991, pp. 536–542).

Thus, centralist ideas prevailed. The country was renamed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and reorganised into 9 administrative regions (Sl. ‘banovina’), named predominantly after rivers (Ibid., p. 559). In the autumn of 1931, the King imposed a new constitution that, for the most part, only confirmed the order enforced through the coup d’état. The following decade until the Second World War was marked by violence, repression of political opposition, King Alexander’s assassination and the consequential weakening of the dictator’s position as his underage son Peter II. succeeded the throne in 1934 (Ibid., pp. 561–563, 573).  

Fragile Cultural Prosperity

Despite its centralist stiffness, the newly founded political milieu represented a fresh start for Slovenian culture. In the inter-war years, Slovenians, who were already highly literate and had a well-developed primary education system compared to the rest of the country, gained their university, national theatre, national gallery, and academy of sciences and arts.

Picture 4: University of Ljubljana (This photograph was taken by the author)

Nevertheless, the government exerted pressure on teachers and gradually made Slovenian themes decreasingly prominent in the curricula. The questions of national future and the Slovenian language were therefore central themes of intellectual discourse. While supporters of national and linguistic unification were rare even among the centralists, even the loudest advocates of cultural autonomy and linguistic independence did not oppose Slovenian integration in Yugoslavia (Ibid., p. 545). Although Serbo-Croatian was used in state agencies in Belgrade and in the army, the exclusive official language in present-day Slovenia remained Slovenian (Ibid., p. 545. See also pp. 545–558).

Establishment of Radio Ljubljana

Although its experimental beginnings go back to the late 19th Century, it was in this very historical context that radio, one of the greatest inventions of modern technology, emerged. As the first means to render simultaneous communication with listeners across a large territory possible, it became a valuable way to spread messages, ideas, and values. Following the earliest transmission experiments in present-day Slovenia at the beginning of the 20th Century, radio was popularised in the early 1920s, and soon a group of amateur enthusiasts founded the first radio club and began constructing their own radio receivers (M. Brojan, Začetki radia na Slovenskem, 1999, pp. 7–10). 

Curiosity about the new technology coincided with Germany having to pay war reparations to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians, which represented an opportunity to order eight radio transmission stations. One of them was constructed near Ljubljana, in Domžale, and the station was inaugurated on 1st September 1928 (Brojan, Začetki), p. 20).

Picture 5: Studio of Radio Ljubljana (Ilustrirani Slovenec: Tedenska priloga Slovenca, Year 4, No. 39, from 23rd September 1928, p. 308. Available here [15th April 2026])

 

The first speaker was a renowned author, Fran Saleški Finžgar, followed by the poet Oton Župančič, who recited his poetry (Ibid., p. 27). In my opinion, a first-ever speech on a radio station bears special weight, and Finžgar was aware of that. He did not, however, speak about the radio itself as a technology or as an institution he was inaugurating, but rather about the Slovenian language. In his speech, he outlined its development and portrayed the establishment of the Slovenian radio as a historic milestone for the language §Slovenec: političen list za slovenski narod.Year 56, No. 200, from 2nd September 1928, p. 5. Available here [15th April 2026]).

Picture 6: Fran Saleški Finžgar (Ilustrirani Slovenec: Tedenska priloga Slovenca, Year 7, No. 6, from 8th February 1931, p. 44. Available here])

Today is the holiday of the Slovenian word. A great holiday, albeit a quiet one, such as the Slovenian word has never experienced before. For the first time, it spread its wings to fly from Ljubljana, from the heart of the Slovenian nation, over the mountains, across rivers and fields to all compatriots in the homeland and abroad, to the brothers Slavs, and to all the nations of Europe, and even further. At this quiet, solemn hour, let us look back at the history of the Slovenian word, so beautiful but so little known. […] Greetings, fellow Slovenians, greetings, brothers Slavs, greetings in the common human love to all the nations of the Earth – for the first time with the Slovenian word over Radio Ljubljana.

(Slovenec: političen list za slovenski narod. Year 56, No. 200, from 2nd September 1928, p. 5. Available here [15th April 2026].)

Early Regulation of Radio

On 4th February 1928, the Ministry of Post and Telegraph concluded three agreements regarding radio diffusion with Radio, PLC from Belgrade, Radio, PLC from Zagreb, and ‘Prosvetna zveza’, a federation of associations from Ljubljana, respectively (I. Pustišek, Istorija zakonodavstva o radio-difuziji u Jugoslaviji: Međunarodna regulativa i jugoslovensko zakonodavstvo (1907–1986), 1987, p. 130.  L. Bezlaj-Krevel, Halo, tu radio Ljubljana: Katalog k razstavi Tehniškega muzeja Slovenije ob sedemdeseti obletnici ustanovitve Radia Ljubljana, 1998, p. 21)

These agreements were effectively substitutes for legislative regulation of the field and, as such, addressed the financial, technical and programme questions (Ibid, p. 28).

Although the State’s demands regarding the minimal daily duration of the programme, its right to take control of the stations in case of political riots or war, and its competence to exercise control over the stations were similar in all the agreements, the agreements with the stations from Belgrade and Zagreb were noticeably different from the one with the station from Ljubljana, predominantly because the latter, although founded by ‘Prosvetna zveza’, was owned and funded by the State rather than private capital (Pustišek, Istorija, pp. 130–131. M. Nikolić, Nacionalno zakonodavstvo u oblasti radija i radio-difuzije u periodu od 1918. do 1941., in: Nevena Daković (Ed.) Zbornik radova Fakulteta dramskih umetnosti, Year 5, 2001, pp. 213–225. Available here [15th April 2026]. p. 223).

The main discrepancy was the expiration date of the agreements. After fifteen years, the agreement with ‘Prosvetna zveza’ would automatically stay in force for additional five years should neither party give notice at least a year before the expiration, while the other two stations would become State property in any case. Moreover, the agreement for Ljubljana was not as technically meticulous as for the other stations. On the contrary, the State could gratuitously air its own programme daily for sixty minutes in Ljubljana, but only for thirty minutes in Zagreb and Belgrade (Pustišek, Istorija, p. 131).

Mirjana Nikolić argues that the agreements with Zagreb and Belgrade companies are characterised by a ‘cruel, authoritative, and rigid relation of the State towards the future activity […] of these companies (Nikolić, Nacionalno zakonodavstvo, p. 222), whereby in the case of Ljubljana, the Ministry was ‘milder and more liberal’ (Ibid.).  Although this comes as a surprise, considering the State’s general favouritism towards the Serbs and the Serbo-Croatian language, it demonstrates the dictatorship desired power and surveillance more than fulfilment of centralisation goals.

Political protest that followed the coup d’état led to the dissolution of ‘Prosvetna zveza’ in 1933, and the State took over Radio Ljubljana until Anton Korošec, perhaps the most influential Slovenian politician at the time, invalidated the dissolution after becoming the new Minister of Interior following the 1935 election (Bezlaj-Krevel, Halo, p. 34–35). All these facts lead to no conclusion other than that, during this period, the State successfully pushed for centralisation and exercised strong oversight of radio stations’ activities (Nikolić, Nacionalno zakonodavstvo, p. 223).

Entry of Radio Ljubljana into the Commercial Register

The Historical Archives of Ljubljana (Sl. ‘Zgodovinski arhiv Ljubljana’) keep records about the entry of Radio Ljubljana, Ltd. into the Commercial Register of the District Court in Ljubljana in 1936. The company had five shareholders, among which ‘Prosvetna zveza’ is the most noteworthy, and four managing directors: lawyer Ivo Česnik, manager of the Yugoslav Printing Office in Ljubljana, Karl Čeč, a renowned author, Fran Saleški Finžgar, and Marij Osana, the then dean of the Technical Faculty (Zgodovinski arhiv Ljubljana, SI_ZAL_LJU/0085/029/020/00128 Rg C V 182, Radio - Ljubljana, družba z o.z., Ljubljana).

Among the economic activities for which the company was registered are the construction of radiophone and television (The original agreements from 1928 envisaged the transmission of picture in the future only for Belgrade and Zagreb stations (Nikolić, Nacionalno zakonodavstvo, p. 223) broadcasting stations contracts with the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone, installation of telephone wires, exploitation of radio broadcasting stations, making sales and lease contracts for such stations, as well as buying, selling, and maintenance of radio receivers (Ibid.) 

Picture 7: Signatures of the managing directors on entry documentation (SI_ZAL_LJU/0085/029/020/00128)

However, the entry procedure did not go smoothly. The proposal of the managing directors to enter the company Radio Ljubljana, Ltd. into the Commercial Register was at first dismissed. The Court argued that the word ‘Ljubljana’ does not belong in the wording of the business name, as this must be taken from the company’s activity and not its place of establishment. Furthermore, as every business name must clearly differ from all other business names that already exist and are entered into the Commercial Register, the entry of the proposed wording would violate this provision because there had already been other companies with the word ‘radio’ in their business names and with their place of establishment in Ljubljana. Nevertheless, this decision was appealed to the Court of Appeals in Ljubljana and the company Radio Ljubljana, Ltd. was entered into the Commercial Register on 31st July 1936 (Ibid.). Contrary to what one might speculate, considering the specific historical context of this dispute, the complication regarding the entry into the Commercial Register seems more a coincidence than an attempt at government intervention. After all, Radio Ljubljana had already been transmitting before.

Picture 8: Entry of Radio Ljubljana, Ltd. into the Commercial Register (SI_ZAL_LJU/0085/029/020/00128)

Therefore, the claims of managing directors made in the appeal are more interesting than the discussion around business name identity and company law because they illustrate their perception of Radio Ljubljana and their awareness of its importance for Slovenians. They argued that the public will tell the company Radio Ljubljana, Ltd. from various other companies with similar names because the foundation of this company is a large-scale move (Ibid.).  They believed that ‘[T]he radio station in Ljubljana in question is one of the most modern and most striking expressions of the culture and progress of our nation’ (Ibid.)

Second World War: Overture, Occupation, Aftermath

In 1939, the State expropriated and took over the radio stations in Belgrade and Zagreb, while concluding a new agreement with ‘Prosvetna zveza’ regarding Radio Ljubljana on 22nd July of the same year.  This agreement foresaw that the license for exploitation of the station would expire after fifteen years, and that the station would then immediately come into the State’s hands. Furthermore, the State had the option to purchase the station already nine years after the agreement had been concluded. Thus, Radio Ljubljana passed into the same regime as the Belgrade and Zagreb stations had before (Pustišek, Istorija, p. 142).

On 11th April 1941, Ljubljana was occupied by Italy. During the occupation, the resistance movement used radio as a means of informing the city's population. Their station, which was not a real station but rather a suitcase with a radio transmitter, called Radio Kričač, only aired sporadically for a few minutes and each time from a different location. Although the occupier could hear it and transcribe its messages, they never managed to find it. Seeking the forbidden radio transmitter, the occupier diligently conserved the programme transcripts and other information, so it is ironically thanks to them that we have any archival material bearing witness to this unique phenomenon.

Soon, Radio Ljubljana was taken over as well. Despite the obvious overall disadvantages of the occupation, it brought prosperity in the field of radio technology as the occupied territory could freely trade with the rest of the Italian market into which it had been integrated (Brojan, Začetki, p. 85). Although the Italian occupants imposed strong censorship and oversight over the programme’s content as well as news in Italian, the station was still allowed to air predominantly in Slovenian. While the Italian capitulation in 1943 was followed by German occupation, this did not bring significant deterioration in the position of the Slovenian language on Radio Ljubljana (Ibid., pp. 85, 90).

After the Second World War, the newly founded Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia nationalised the property of ‘Prosvetna zveza’, and labelled post, telegraph, telephone, and radio as property of the people and as such they fell under the competence of the Federation (Bezlaj-Krevel, Halo, p. 52).

Conclusion

Although many questions regarding the reasons for the change in corporate status of Radio Ljubljana in 1936, as well as the decision of ‘Prosvetna zveza’ to found the Radio as a limited liability company rather than a public limited company, are still to be answered, it is indisputable that Radio Ljubljana played a vital role in establishing Slovenian as a public language. In my view, this can already be seen in the decision of the shareholders of Radio Ljubljana, Ltd., whom to appoint as managing directors. These men were not there for their loyalty to capital, their obedience, or their managing abilities, but rather for their expertise in specific radio-related fields and their devotion to the higher idea of Slovenian radio that transcended mere keeping pace with technological advancement. The love of the Slovenian language and the awareness of the importance of the public spoken word for its development and preservation present in the first speech on Radio Ljubljana by the author Fran Saleški Finžgar remain strong even almost a century later.

(Picture 9: The building of Radio Slovenija today. This photograph was taken by the author)

As beautifully put by the head of the Institute for Slovenian Language Fran Ramovš, Kozma Ahačič, 

‘We are not aware enough of how important ‘RTV Slovenija’ is for the Slovenian language. If we were to weigh its linguistic and informative influence, the scales would certainly tip in favour of the linguistic one. Therefore, every thought I have about ‘RTV Slovenija’ always stems from the language. If RTV were to give in on the language front, the seemingly automatic regulation of spoken Slovenian would be significantly disrupted. Everyone who occupies themself with Slovenian at RTV is therefore […] our national treasure — and I can say this without exaggeration.’

(N. Štefančič, Kozma Ahačič: "Britanci imajo kraljico, mi pa Radio Slovenija – in TV-poročila", MMC RTV Slovenija, from 20th June 2022. Available here [25th February 2026].)

Vito Grilc

The Ljubljana students worked on a common thematic umbrella in 2025-2026 (From a state of war to a state of peace  via (new) communication technologies and media: the establishing of authorities, institutions, laws and the reframing of constitutional values). The author wishes to thank the Historical Archives of Ljubljana for allowing use of the images in the present contribution.

Reference list

Sources

Slovenec: političen list za slovenski narod. Year 56, No. 200, from 2nd September 1928. Available here  [15th April 2026].

Zgodovinski arhiv Ljubljana, SI_ZAL_LJU/0085/029/020/00128 Rg C V 182, Radio - Ljubljana, družba z o.z., Ljubljana.

Literature

Bezlaj-Krevel, Ljudmila: Halo, tu radio Ljubljana: Katalog k razstavi Tehniškega muzeja Slovenije ob sedemdeseti obletnici ustanovitve Radia Ljubljana, 1998. Ljubljana: Tehniški muzej Slovenije.

Brojan, Matjaž: Začetki radia na Slovenskem, 1999. Ljubljana: Modrijan: Radio Slovenija.

Nikolić, Mirjana: Nacionalno zakonodavstvo u oblasti radija i radio-difuzije u periodu od 1918. do 1941., in: Nevena Daković (Ed.) Zbornik radova Fakulteta dramskih umetnosti, Year 5, 2001, pp. 213–225. Beograd: Fakultet dramskih umetnosti. Available here [15th April 2026].

Pustišek, Ivko: Istorija zakonodavstva o radio-difuziji u Jugoslaviji: Međunarodna regulativa i jugoslovensko zakonodavstvo (1907–1986), 1987. Beograd: Savremena administracija.

Štefančič, Nadina: Kozma Ahačič: "Britanci imajo kraljico, mi pa Radio Slovenija – in TV-poročila", MMC RTV Slovenija, 20th June 2022. Available here [25th February 2026].

Vodopivec, Peter: VI. Od leta 1918 do leta 1991, in: Peter Štih/Vasko Simoniti/Peter Vodopivec, Slovenska zgodovina: Od prazgodovinskih kultur do začetka 21. stoletja, 2016, pp. 519–751. Ljubljana: Modrijan.

Pictures

Picture 1: Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Wikipedia. Available here [15th April 2026].

Picture 2: Ustav Kraljevine Jugoslavije, in: Službene novine Kraljevine Jugoslavije, Year 13, No. 207 (66) from 9th September 1931. Available here [25th February 2026].

Picture 3: Ustava kraljevine Jugoslavije / Zakon o izpremembah in dopolnitvah v zakonu o nazivu in razdelitvi kraljevine na upravna območja, 1931, pp. 1–34. Ljubljana: Merkur. Available here [5th May 2026].

Picture 5: Ilustrirani Slovenec: Tedenska priloga Slovenca, Year 4, No. 39, from 23rd September 1928, pp. 305–312. Available here [15th April 2026].

Picture 6: Ilustrirani Slovenec: Tedenska priloga Slovenca, Year 7, No. 6, from 8th February 1931, pp. 41–48. Available here [15th April 2026].

Picture 7: Zgodovinski arhiv Ljubljana, SI_ZAL_LJU/0085/029/020/00128 Rg C V 182, Radio - Ljubljana, družba z o.z., Ljubljana. 

Picture 8: Zgodovinski arhiv Ljubljana, SI_ZAL_LJU/0085/029/020/00128 Rg C V 182, Radio - Ljubljana, družba z o.z., Ljubljana.