Thread by @SocHistoryWar

NVHOW20 Introducing Nataša Henig Miščič @NMiscic @FHnaUNG ‘Humanitarian work of the Carniolan Savings Bank during the First World War’ #FWW #WW1 #FirstWorldWar #Humanitarianwork #militaryhospital #Slovenia

1 #NVHOW20 Hello everyone, today I will present a topic that is part of broader research from my dissertation project - Carniolan Savings Bank and economic development of Carniola province.

2 #NVHOW20 The Carniolan Savings Bank (CBS) was the first and central financial institution in the Slovenian territory. The savings bank decided to establish an Asylum in 1895, on the 75th anniversary of its operation. A fund was set up to construct and maintain the institution.

3 #NVHOW20 The savings bank eventually became one of the most important financial institutions, managing the people's savings and encouraging them to save money, and it managed credit activity in the country.

4 #NVHOW20 The Savings Bank had also a philanthropic character and, over time, it developed into an important and crucial bearer of economic, social, cultural and political development.

5 #NVHOW20 During its existence, the Carniolan Savings Bank established several institutions with various charitable purposes. In 1910, it opened an institution named Emperor Francis Joseph's asylum for incurable patients.

6 #NVHOW20 The asylum was intended for the free care of incurably ill and poor patients who didn’t have the means for urgent treatment. The Bank‘s expectation of being able to fund a facility for 100 patients were unrealistic and they were never able to fund care for more than 50

7 #NVHOW20 When Italy entered the war in 1915, the Carniola province and Ljubljana were in the hinterland of the Isonzo Front. During WWI the institution was part of the system of military hospitals operating in Ljubljana.

8 #NVHOW20 The asylum operated as a military hospital during World War I, taking care of wounded and sick soldiers from various battlefields. Doctors cared for 4,039 wounded and sick soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy between 1914 and 1918.

9 #NVHOW20 The Carniolan Savings Bank donated money and sent packages of cigarettes and cigars to Soldiers at Christmas. It paid special attention to the Officer Corps of the 17th Infantry Regiment, which was an honorary member of the Carniolan Savings Bank Association

10 #NVHOW20 An essential element of the philanthropic work of the savings bank was a special way of using surpluses of net profits. The CBS financially supported relatives of recruited soldiers, especially widows and children during the war.

11 #NVHOW20 The consequences of the First World War, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes severely affected the asylum.

12 #NVHOW20 Due to these financial difficulties, CBS was forced to sell it to the state. After 1921, the asylum building was converted into a maternity hospital, which is still in use today. Ask me questions @NMiscic