This study explores the ecology of Slovene in the twentieth century by centering on two crucial emergent themes. It centers firstly on monolingualism as a vital aim for Slovene language planners, starting with their attempts to produce a standard language with no German impact in the nineteenth century, and pursuing in their work to preclude Serbo-Croat impact in Yugoslavia in the twentieth century. The second focus is on how the gradual evolution of a language ecology ruled by prescriptive practices and a strongly nationalist language ideology permitted the elite to uphold its domination over the allotment of linguistic capital.