After the end of the World War I, however, Carinthia became a contested region. On 5 November 1918, the first armed militia units led by the Slovene volunteer Franjo Malgaj invaded Carinthia and were then joined by Slovene troops under Rudolf Maister. With the subsequent assistance of the regular Yugoslav army they occupied southern Carinthia claiming the area for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes ("Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca", or SHS) also known as Yugoslavia. The provisional state government of Carinthia had fled to Spittal an der Drau and in view of the ongoing fighting between local volunteers and invaders on 5 December decided to declare armed resistance. The resistance encountered by the Yugoslav forces especially north of the Drava River around the town of Völkermarkt with its violent fighting alarmed the victorious Allies at the Paris Peace Conference.