Municipality of Ptuj 1918-1923

Slovenci na Ptuju so postali pred prvo svetovno vojno povsem razvit narod z razvito kulturo, znanostjo in umetnostjo, z izoblikovanim jezikom in jasno politično voljo. Na štajerski narodnostni meji so jih že močno ogrožali Nemci. Rešitev so iskali v slovanstvu in vse bolj v jugoslovanski ideji, ki so jo sprejele tudi vse tri slovenske stranke. Temelj države Slovencev, Hrvatov in Srbov je bil postavljen poleti 1918, ko je bilo slovensko ozemlje še vedno del Avstro-Ogrske monarhije. Uspehi narodnoobrambnih bojev so se pokazali ob koncu prve svetovne vojne, ki je zrušila temelje nekdaj na zunaj tako mogočne Avstro-Ogrske monarhije. Težavno uveljavljanje nove oblasti na Ptujskem se je pokazalo pri oblikovanju gerentskega sosveta, v katerem so Nemci izkoriščali strankarska nesoglasja. Z letom 1919 se je Narodni svet lotil spremembe zunanjega videza mesta, pri tem pa pozabil na notranje težave, izjemno nizko kmetijsko produktivnost in nerazvito industrijo. Večina industrijskih obratov je bila v lasti Nemcev in je delovala že pred vojno. V obdobju po vojni se za industrializacijo Ptuja ni kaj veliko storilo, nazadovanje mesta sta pospešili svetovna gospodarska kriza in nelikvidnost denarnih zavodov. Projekt o strateški in gospodarski povezanosti okraja z železniškimi prometnicami naj bi Ptuj povezal z mednarodnimi prometnicami, vendar ni bil sprejet niti en načrt o novi železniški infrastrukturi. Izpostaviti moramo ptujsko gimnazijo, ki je pričela z doslednim izobraževanjem učencev in je s pomočjo zavedne inteligence postala ponos ptujskih izobražencev.Before World War I, the Slovenian people living in Ptuj became a completely developed nation with its developed culture, science and art, with well-formed language and clear political will. Germans had already possessed a threat to them on Styria\u27s national border. The Slovenes sought the solution in the Slavonic ancestry and the Yugoslav idea, accepted by all three Slovenian political parties. The foundations of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs were laid in the summer of 1918, when the Slovenian soil was still part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The success of the national struggle was visible by the end of World War I, which helped destroy the foundations of once so powerful Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The troublesome enforcement of the new authority in Ptuj was evident in forming the regent’s advisory council, in which the Germans took advantage of the party disagreements. In 1919, the National council carried out changes that had an impact on the external appearance of the town, while overlooking the interior problems, extremely low agricultural productivity and undeveloped industry. The majority of the industrial factories was in German hands and had been in business even before the war. In the post-war era, not much of an effort was put into the industrialization of Ptuj, the town’s regression was deepened by the Great depression and by the illiquidity of the monetary institutions. The project of the strategic and economic connectivity of the district with the railway traffic routes would connect Ptuj with the international traffic routes. However, not even a single plan for a new railway infrastructure had been implemented. On the other hand, it is important to stress that the general upper secondary school in Ptuj began to implement a consistent education of pupils and with a help of nationally conscious intelligentsia it soon became the pride of cultivated people in Ptuj