settlement in the Eastern Alps and later political development of the Slovene people, starting from Samo realm and Carantania. Linhart's historical work, strongly influenced by the ideas of the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder, had an important influence for the development of the Slovene national consciousness in the early 19th century. In this work, he was the first to define the Slovenes as a separate branch of the Slavic peoples with its common history. In his Essay, he was the first to define the Slovenes as a separate branch of the Slavic people. With it, he also established the linguistic unity of the Slovene ethnic territory and set the foundations of the Slovene ethnography. Views Linhart was an adherent of the Enlightenment worldview. He was a deist and was critical towards the privileges of the nobility and the Church. Initially, he had a favourable opinion of the reforms of the Emperor Joseph II, but he was critical of his centralist policies as well as of his neglect of the various regional languages in the Habsburg Empire. Linhart was one of the first supporters of Austroslavism, a political program aiming to achieve a cultural and political emancipation of Slavic peoples within the Austrian Empire. References External links Postage stamp issued on the 100th anniversary of Linhart's death Special coin issued by the National Bank of Slovenia on the 250th anniversary of Linhart's birth 1756 births 1795 deaths 18th-century Carniolan writers 18th-century dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights 18th-century historians from the Holy Roman Empire Carniolan dramatists and playwrights Carniolan historians Carniolan poets Carniolan people of Czech descent People from Radovljica People of the Age of Enlightenment Deaths from aortic aneurysm German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German male writers