Development of Textile Craft in First Half of 20th Century

Prior to the First World War, Slovenia - which was at the time a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - had a poorly developed industry. The few textile plants, the larger included works in Litija, Trzic and Ljubljana, were all in the hands of foreigners. Following the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the situation changed significantly. In addition to becoming industrially the most developed region of the so-called "First Yugoslavia", the percentage of the local capital increased substantially. This industrialisation contributed greatly to the promotion and development of Slovenian crafts. The objective of this research was to illustrate both the situation and extent of the textile industry in the first half of the 20(th) century, as well as to investigate the lives of textile craftspeople after the First World War, during the Great Depression and in the years before the Secodn World War, focusing on how many craftspeople there were, what problems they had to deal with, their organisation and whether they employed support staff, and to what extent the development of the textile industry affected the decline of craft making. The research revealed that during this period, new trade branches started to develop within the districts of these newly established industries, e.g. the processing of semi-finished products of textile plants. Consequently, knitting crafts developed, whilst the craftspeople in the wood turning and cardboard box manufacturing started producing various technical requisites to meet the needs of the textile industry. The craft making either did not have any direct competition from these new industries or they supplemented it. In addition to the published materials, in this research, also the sources from the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia (minutes of annual meetings and reports on crafts cooperatives and associations, minutes of meetings by the Chamber of Commerce, Craft and Industry in Ljubljana, materials of the Regional Committee of Crafts Associations in Ljubljana), the Historical Archives of Ljubljana (directories of the city of Ljubljana and its surroundings and registers of craftsmen) and the Historical Archives of Celje (fund of Celje Municipality 1918-1941; crafts) were used.