Historical overview of gymnastics and (school) physical education in Slovenia

The paper discuss relation of gymnastics and Physical education (PE) in schools in Slovenia in the period 1869-1941 while for the decade after the World War II. (WWII) we only present general situation after the political changes in Yugoslavia. In the period until World War I. (WWI), gymnastics as a new form of physical activity was introduced in schools. With the new school legislation of 1869 it became an obligatory school subject. This called for the establishment of curricula and hiring of professional staff, which was influenced also by the development of gymnastics in the civil society. The school subject was initially named "gymnastics" (as translated appropriately to German turnen and Slovenian telovadba). However, the term PE started to be used soon, until it ultimately replaced the previous name after WWI. PE was supposedly a broader expression that covered the educational aspects of this activity as well, while gymnastics was supposedly a narrower term, related solely to the physical aspects. In view of its previous development in the relevant societies as well as schools, gymnastics was the central activity in the context of PE. In the Slovenian case it involved exercises with or without gymnastics equipment, games, as well as certain martial arts elements or disciplines. With the paper we also want to encourage comparative analyses of similar situations especially between regions under former Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslavia as they share the common legislation and school milieu with cultural diversity. (Autor).