In the second half of the 19th century, the number of lawyers in the ranks of Slovenian politicians was substantial. They had occupied important positions ever since the beginnings of the constitutional period in Carniola as well. The last two leaders of both classic political parties before the war were lawyers (attorneys). Lawyers were also members of the Provincial Assembly, and they acted as governors and members of Provincial Committees as well. In the (Cisleithanian) »Slovenian« lands, the position of the Provincial President (except for Andrej Winkler in Carniola) remained in German hands (or in Italian hands in the Littoral region) for as long as until the dissolution of the Monarchy. In the autonomous provincial governments, the situation was similar: only in Carniola, which was recognised as the only predominantly Slovenian province by Taaffe’s Government, Slovenians had been in the majority in the Provincial Assembly since the 1880s. After the dissolution of the Monarchy, the Carniolan Provincial Committee was the only body that concerned itself with handing over the power to the new state.