manifesto of Emperor Charles) was rejected by most Slovenian politicians, which has already leaned towards independence. The preservation of the reformed state was longest defended by the former head of the Slovenian People's Party and the last Provincial Commander-in-Chief of Carniola, Ivan Šusteršič, who had few supporters and influence. Merging into the Yugoslav state and struggle for the border areas The Slovene People's Party launched a movement for self-determination, demanding the creation of a semi-independent South Slavic state under Habsburg rule. The proposal was picked up by most Slovene parties, and a mass mobilization of Slovene civil society, known as the Declaration Movement, followed. By early 1918, more than 200,000 signatures were collected in favor of the Slovene People Party's proposal. During the War, some 500 Slovenes served as volunteers in the Serbian army, while a smaller group led by Captain Ljudevit Pivko, served as volunteers in the Italian Army. In the final year of the war, many predominantly Slovene regiments in the Austro-Hungarian Army staged a mutiny against their military leadership; the best-known mutiny of Slovene soldiers was the Judenburg Rebellion in May 1918. Following the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Empire in the aftermath of the World War I, a National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs took power in Zagreb on 6 October 1918. On 29 October independence was declared by a national gathering in Ljubljana, and by the Croatian parliament, declaring the establishment of the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On 1 December 1918 the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs merged with Serbia, becoming part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, itself being renamed in 1929 to Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Slovenes whose territory fell under the rule of neighboring states Italy, Austria and Hungary, were subjected to policies of assimilation. Border with Austria After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in late 1918, an armed dispute started between the Slovenes and German Austria for the regions of Lower Styria and southern Carinthia. In November 1918, Rudolf Maister seized the city of Maribor and surrounding areas of Lower Styria in the name of the newly formed Yugoslav state. The Austrian government of Styria refrained from military intervention and also opposed a referendum, knowing that the vast majority of Lower Styria was ethnically Slovenian. Maribor and Lower Styria were awarded to Yugoslavia in the Treaty of Saint-Germain. Around the same time, a group of