In the master's thesis, the author presents the attitude of British foreign policy to political problems in Carinthia in the period from the end of the First World War to the plebiscite in October 1920. For this purpose, the author analysed the unpublished primary sources kept by the British National Archives in London. He also took into account the published documents of British diplomacy and the most relevant literature. The aim was to produce a fresh perspective on the Carinthian uestion, since the previous studies do not give considerable attention to the role of Great Britain, one of the then crucial actors in the complicated design of the post-war European and world order. Immediately after the end of the First World War, the area of the Celovec Basin became controversial, since both Austria and the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs – the countries which rose from the ruins of Austria-Hungary, wanted to annex it. Until January 1919, the countries (the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs merged with the Kingdom of Serbia into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in December 1919), tried to resolve the dispute with the use of military force and negotiations. Then, in December 1919, the then global superpowers who had been at that time shaping the post-war world order at the Paris Peace Conference, decided to intervene. The superpowers concluded that the dispute over the Celovec Basin would be settled by popular vote in the form of a plebiscite. The execution of the plebiscite was entrusted to the so called International Plebiscite Commission (led by the British Colonel Sydney Capel Peck), which, in less than four months of operation, tackled a number of problems, but managed to execute the plebiscite within a specified time limit. The author notes that until April 1919 the British had paid little attention to the Carinthian question and considerable attention in the second phase. In any case they were already acquainted with the national structure of Carinthia, or rather, the Celovec basin, and at the same time with the economic situation in it and its economic potential. The British were also aware that the ethnic boundary between the German and Slovenian-speaking populations was the Drava River, but did not insist on such a demarcation. London tried to maintain a neutral attitude towards both sides, while Italy supported Austrian interests, France Yugoslav interests, and US President Wilson advocated the indivisibility of the Celovec basin. At the same time, archival material offers many new elements to better illuminate and more effectively explain the complexity of one of the key geopolitical issues of post-war Europe: how to enable Austria to have a favorable economic situation in order to live independently. The Allies wanted to prevent its union with Germany (Anschluss) and the spread of Bolshevism to it.

V magistrskem delu je avtor prikazal odnos britanske zunanje politike do političnih problemov na Koroškem v obdobju od konca prve svetovne vojne do izvedbe plebiscita oktobra 1920. V ta namen je avtor analiziral neobjavljene primarne vire, ki jih hrani Britanski državni arhiv (The National Archives) v Londonu. Upošteval je tudi objavljene dokumente britanske diplomacije in najbolj relevantno literaturo. Koroško vprašanje je želel prikazati na izviren način, saj dosedanje študije niso poglobljeno upoštevale zornega kota Velike Britanije, ene izmed takrat najpomembnejših držav pri kompliciranem oblikovanju povojne ureditve Evrope in sveta. Območje Celovške kotline je namreč takoj po koncu prve svetovne vojne postalo sporno, saj sta si ga želeli priključiti Avstrija in Država SHS, ki sta nastali na ruševinah Avstro-Ogrske. Do januarja 1919 sta državi (Država SHS se je decembra 1918 združila s Kraljevino Srbijo v Kraljevino SHS) spor preko vojaških bojev in pogajanj o premirju reševali sami, nato pa so vmes posegle svetovne velesile, ki so na pariški mirovni konferenci oblikovale povojno ureditev sveta in na koncu za Celovško kotlino določile izvedbo ljudskega glasovanja – plebiscita. Njegovo izvedbo so zaupali t. i. mednarodni plebiscitni komisiji (ki jo je vodil britanski polkovnik Sydney Capel Peck), ki se je v slabih štirih mesecih delovanja soočala s številnimi problemi, na koncu pa v določenem roku izvedla plebiscit. Avtor je ugotovil, da so do aprila 1919 koroškemu vprašanju Britanci posvečali malo pozornosti, v naslednji fazi pa kar veliko. Vsekakor so bili že zgodaj seznanjeni z nacionalno strukturo Koroške oz. bolje rečeno Celovške kotline, obenem pa tudi z gospodarskimi razmerami v njej in njenim ekonomskim potencialom. Britanci so se tudi zavedali, da je etnična meja med nemško in slovensko govorečim prebivalstvom potekala po reki Dravi, a pri takšni razmejitvi niso vztrajali. Diplomacija Londona je skušala ohraniti nevtralen odnos do obeh sprtih strani, medtem ko je Italija podpirala avstrijske interese, Francija jugoslovanske, ameriški predsednik Wilson pa je zagovarjal nedeljivost Celovške kotline. Arhivsko gradivo nam hkrati ponuja veliko novih elementov, da bolje osvetlimo in učinkoviteje obrazložimo kompleksnost enega izmed tedanjih ključnih geopolitičnih vprašanj povojne Evrope, in sicer kako omogočiti Avstriji ugodne gospodarske razmere, da bi samostojno zaživela. Zavezniki so namreč želeli preprečiti njeno združitev z Nemčijo (anšlus) in širjenje boljševizma vanjo.