The political-satirical weekly Osa (The Wasp), edited by Radko Murnik (1870–1932), was published on Saturdays in
1905 and 1906 and was a propaganda publication of Ljubljana’s liberals. The
short, often rhymed texts were designed to shock and provoke outrage. Gadfly
attacks on church dignitaries, domestic politicians and foreign leaders are set
alongside descriptions of domestic life: there are many allusions to sexuality,
from nudity to intimacy before marriage, and amusing descriptions of marital
problems such as infidelity and alcoholism. Osawas a pan-Slavic paper, although it was inspired by Germanic satirical
magazines. The texts and illustrations emphasised the differences between Slavs
and Germans, as well as the pitfalls of a glorious past, such as the Italian
one.
Criticisms of the Church were multi-tiered, ranging from accusations of
puritan morality, hypocrisy, rapacity, the paradoxes of celibacy to suggestions
of offences against young boys in the Vatican. The jokes about stupid priests,
episcopal avarice and the use of nicknames, e.g. “Neverfull”, are still
shocking today. The clergy, of course, did not hold back and accused liberals
of corrupt morality and Satanism. Osa's tone suited Ivan Tavčar (1851–1923), lawyer, writer and future
mayor of Ljubljana, who became famous in the Regional Assembly for
his stinging insults, directed either against his colleagues or against the
audience gathered in the gallery. More moderate liberals were able to judge
that in the end these harsh attacks undermined bourgeois interests.
Maksim Gaspari (1883–1980)
was one of the main illustrators of Osa, along with Hinko Smrekar (1883–1942), Gvidon Birolla (1881–1963) and Fran Tratnik (1881–1957). The 22-year-old artist, who left
Vienna when he was unable to support himself, took on every commission. But
working for Osa had consequences - Gaspari later claimed that it was
precisely because of these cartoons that he had not received the support of the
Carniolan Regional Committee. The drawings do not have the traditional magnetism of the artist's later
and non-political works, but the influence of the Stuttgart satirical magazine Der
Wahre Jacob (1879-1933), an organ of the German Social Democrats, and the
Munich magazine Simplicissimus ( 1896-1944; 1954-1967), founded by
Albert Langen (1869-1909), an acquaintance of Ivana Kobilca in Paris, is
noticeable. The possibility that Osa was known to editors and artists in
the north remains unexplored.
Osa was published at a time of
great and rapid change in Austrian politics. Baron Max Wladimir von Beck
(1854–1943) became Prime Minister in 1906 and, although he lost office after
only two years, his mandate was a key one for the monarchy: the voting reform
gave men in the Austrian half of the country universal suffrage. He came into
office at a time of crisis - in addition to the electoral reform, the country
was in the middle of a customs dispute with the Hungarian part of the country.
The opposition of the Slovenian liberals, including the National Progressive
Party, stemmed from three features of the electoral system: the distribution of
seats, which gave Styria and Carinthia fewer Slovenian deputies; the lower
representation of the townspeople, with Ljubljana having one seat, while the
other towns were merged with the countryside; and the absolute majority system,
which gave the seat to the first-placed party in the district. Although the
Slovenian parties were thus guaranteed 24 seats, which was proportionally the
same as the number of Slovenians in Austrian lands, the conservative Slovenian
People's Party won the elections in almost all districts. In the Tuesday
elections on 14 May 1907, the conservatives won 18 seats and the progressives
4; one seat went to a candidate from the bipartisan camp, and in Istria to a
joint Slovenian-Croatian candidate.