Archives for November 8th, 2006

Slovenia still wouldn’t have gotten Trieste in the “U.S.g.A.” (source)

While browsing through the most righteous and enjoyable blog, Strange Maps, I stumbled across a masterpiece drawn up by the Romanian politician Aurel Popovici in 1906, which envisioned federalizing Austria-Hungary into Die Vereinigten Staaten von Groß-Österreich. (The United States of Greater Austria)

Apparently his idea had the support (or at least interest) of heir-to-the-throne Franz Ferdinand, the same guy who thought cruising around restive Sarajevo with the top down on a Serbian holiday was a good idea. (Apropos FF, the story of his termination is one of the strangest and most compelling events in European history. If you’ve never read a detailed account of it, you should do so.)

It’s unclear whether such a plan would have ever come to fruition. And how well it would function even if it did. One potential bonus: When Slovenia inevitably declared independence, it might have done so under the name “Carniola,” whereas Slovakia may have taken “Slovakialand,” meaning that I’d be posting about California-Carniola mix-ups instead of what we have now.

Links

–> A nice big map of the U.S.g.A.
–> Wikipedia story and map