Following the occupation of Slovenia, Germany planned to annex Upper Carniola, where Dražgoše is located, to the Reich, and Germanize the local population. The Germans expelled nearly all Slovene priests from the region, as well as teachers and other intellectuals, forbade the use of Slovene language in schools and churches, imported German-speaking teachers into Upper Carniola, while drafting local Slovenes into forced labor in the Reich. This soon generated resistance, with initially smaller scale actions, but the halting of the German Army before Moscow led to hopes the war would soon end, prompting the Slovene Liberation Front to start a wider uprising in Upper Carniola.