The Topic of Mining in Secondary School Literature Textbooks from 1850 to 1950

Abstract

During the first century of secondary school literature textbook publishing (from the introduction of Slovenian language as a school subject after the March Revolution in the Austrian Empire to the first Five-Year Plan after World War II) over a hundred texts featuring the topic of mining and related activities were included. The first writings have a clearly affirmative attitude towards mining, perceived and presented as a way of promoting general prosperity. The first mentions of the negative aspects of mining and the deceptive folly of coveting precious mineral resources appear towards the end of the 19th century. Only during the interwar period, however, were there various texts which presented mining as an inhumane and dangerous activity. After World War II the approach was again optimistic: in central literature textbooks mining was depicted as the glorification of socialist progress. Relevant texts were published in eight series of textbooks, the first as early as in the Bleiweis series for lower secondary schools in 1850 and the last in the ethnic Slovenian Beli?i? series of textbooks in 1947. The discovery of mercury in the Idrija mine was described by Valvazor, Kastelic, Hrovat and Oblak.