After the assassination of King Aleksandar Obrenović and Queen Draga Mašin in 1903, Karađorđević dynasty acceded the Serbian throne. Separating Serbia from the pro-Austrian policy of his predecessors, Petar Karađorđević I opted instead to lean on Russia. In Serbia, the new king introduced the constitutional parliamentary monarchy, which respected democratic freedoms and freedom of the press, and, by doing so, made Serbia attractive to other Southern Slavs, which became a matter of some concern for the court and political circles in the Habsburg Monarchy. Tensions between Serbia and Austria-Hungary continued to grow until the First World War, and manifested itself in customs war, repeated mobilization and ongoing threats of using armed force.   

Slovenian intellectuals began to deepen their association with Serbia at the Yugoslav art exhibition, at the congress of the Yugoslav physicians and at the congress of Yugoslav students, all three of them held in Belgrade in 1904. It was on this occasion that Rasto Pustoslemšek made contact with the Serbian irredentist groups of Slovenski Jug (Slovenian South) and Narodna obrana (National Defence), and became their commissioner for Slovenia. He also managed to obtain Milan Plut to work as the Belgrade correspondent for the newspaper Slovenski narod (Slovenian Nation), and introduced a new column in Slovenski narod in which he propagated pro-Serbian and all-Yugoslav ideas.

In 1908, annexation crisis occurred, following the Austro-Hungarian decision to disobey the international law and annex Bosnia and Herzegovina, which it had occupied since 1878. The annexation was fiercely criticized by Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, France, Great Britain and Russia. The Muslim and Serbian population of Bosnia and Herzegovina strongly resisted the annexation. In Serbia, there were numerous demonstrations and mobilizations, organization Narodna obrana even went as far as to recruit volunteers. Austria-Hungary, on the other hand, also positioned no less than a million of its soldiers at the Serbian-Bosnian borders. War seemed almost inevitable. In this heated atmosphere, Rasto Pustoslemšek decided to go to Serbia and from there send a series of articles to be published in Slovenski narod. In the articles, he described the general atmosphere that prevailed in Serbia at the time, he wrote about his meetings with some of the highest-ranking Serbian politicians, about tensions on the Serbian-Austrian border, about armed conflicts between border units and the potential threat of the upcoming war. He described the conditions in Bosnia related to the annexation and persecution of Serbs, he spoke about the support the Serbs obtained from abroad, especially from Russia, and also about the boycott of Austrian goods in Serbia and similar related issues. His writings soon drew the attention of the Austrian diplomats and spies in Belgrade.

On February 1909, the Carniolan Provincial President Teodor von Schwarz received a highly classified letter from the Ministry of the Interior. The letter informed him about the report written by the embassy in Belgrade, saying that the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Slovenski narod Rasto Pustoslemšek was living in Belgrade and there made contact with the Serbian government and Serbian political circles. Pustoslemšek was also seen at the banquet given in the honour of the Turkish Major Džafer Teyer Bey by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the report, the banquet was attended by young radical members of Omladina (The Youth). “The so-far very reliable source revealed to the ambassador that Pustoslemšek was believed to have received two to three thousand dinars from the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to show support and to effectively represent the interests of Serbia in his newspaper and within the circle of liberal Slovenians.” The letter furthermore revealed the connection between the government in Belgrade and the newspaper Slovenski narod. This connection was believed to be Milan Plut, who was employed at the press department of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and provided a constant supply of articles for the newspaper. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Prime Minister about the classified report received by the Embassy in Belgrade, the Prime Minister on January 26, 1909 ordered the launch of an investigation to try and obtain evidence to prove the validity of this report. The Ministry of the Interior ordered Schwarz to carry out the necessary inquiries into Pustoslemšek’s activities and report back to the ministry as soon as possible.

The police in Ljubljana actually launched an inquiry into Pustoslemšek, but were in the end unable to find conclusive evidence that he indeed received money to spread his pro-Serbian propaganda. Namely, when he returned from Belgrade, he continued to live a normal life, there wasn’t any unusual spending detected, nor did he pay off his debts. Police agents reported that Pustoslemšek belonged to the radical side of the Narodno-napredna stranka (National Progressive Party), which tended to imitate Czech radicals. “…otherwise he is an intellectually insignificant person, who uses the newspaper to try and settle accounts with his political and national opponents in a rude tone.”

The report furthermore stated that during his stay in Belgrade, between December 24 and 28, 1908, Pustoslomšek actually communicated with the Serbian minister of foreign affairs Milanović, with the former Prime Minister Pašić and the president of the parliament Jovanović, as well as with some other prominent politicians. It stated that in December 1908, Pustoslemšek took on almost all editorial activities for the newspaper Slovenski narod, since Miroslav Malovrh was perceived as not sharp and radical enough. According to confidential information, the mayor of Ljubljana Ivan Hribar was also in Belgrade at the end of December and the start of January.

Pustoslemšek was followed by the police all over Ljubljana, which is clearly evidenced by the existence of a detailed sketch of his apartment’s location and the report about his private life and his pub going habits. “So far, R. Pustoslemšek has not been involved in any steady romantic relationship, but he is courting everywhere; two years ago he wanted to marry the daughter of the confectioner Zalaznik, but she turned him down. He is in the habit of constantly visiting the pubs Pri Roži, Pri Lipi and Narodna kavarna. Occasionally, he comes to the restaurant of the Narodni dom, as well as to the pubs Pri Figovcu, Pri zlati kapljici and Pri Fajmoštru.”

Schwarz concluded his report to the Ministry of the Interior by promising that Carniolan police would continue to monitor the editor of Slovenski narod. In his memoirs Pustoslemšek explained that the information about his anti-Austrian collaboration with the Serbian government and the organization Narodna obrana was indeed true and that he was receiving money for these purposes.

Dragan Matić