Department of History

Summary, page 467: "This book is concerned with the influence of Hume’s metaphysics and moral philosophy in 18th-century Europe and it is divided into two main parts. The first part is focused on the exposition of Hume’s metaphysics and moral philosophy in their historical context, because this topic is still mostly unknown in Croatia. The second part deals with the influence of Hume’s metaphysics and moral philosophy on selected European thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment until the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789."

Abstract: The Cvetković – Maček Agreement from August 1939 established the autonomous Banovina of Croatia within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. –The new political circumstances placed Split in a di™fferent position, which was manifest in the stronger interest of the leadership of the Croatian Peasant Party in the city, as it used di™fferent strategies seeking to strengthen the city’s connection to the rest of the Banovina of Croatia. –The Agreement created a di™fferent balance of power among the political parties that had a measurable presence in the city, as well as the balance of power within them. The Croatian Peasant Party reached its political peak, but it also found it increasingly dišfficult to maintain discipline within its ranks. –The Yugoslav National Party split into two groups, and the more moderate circle operated in Split, following the federalist policy of the party centre in Belgrade. Th–e two parties clashed primarily because the former had a Croatian national orientation, while the latter had the Yugoslav orientation, which was clearly evidenced by their di™ffering views on state organization and by their di™fferent politics of memory. At the same time, the renegade factions of the Yugoslav National Party and the Yugoslav Radical Union supported Great-Serbian tendencies in the Split hinterland. –These domestic political developments were happening in the shadow of the outbreak of World War II in Europe, which caused economic dišculties in Split, which turned out to create the fertile ground for the activity of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Using a trade union organization, the Communist Party staged several protest rallies and strikes. Th–e described political constellation impacted the work of Split artists, intellectuals and cultural workers. Among them one should first mention the sculptor Ivan Meštrović, then the painter Emanuel Vidović, art historian Ljubo Karaman, historians Stjepan Gunjača and Lovro Katić, composer Ivo Tijardović, and many others. In spite of the dišfficult circumstances, Split was showing signs of development, particularly in terms of the founding of new associations and cultural institutions, and construction of new buildings.

The paper analyzes the reception of Marx thought among the Southern Slavs in the Habsburg Monarchy and Serbia and subsequently the often neglected “prehistory” of Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian social democracy, while using the methodology of non-Marxist historiography. It starts by providing an overview of past historical research on the topic and goes on to conclude that Croatian, Slovenian and Serbian historiography, even when they shared a country, never attempted to approach the subject in a methodologically united way, nor did they use the methods of comparative history to reach new conclusions in researching the earliest reception of modern socialist teachings and the beginnings of the worker’s movement. The main section of the paper is divided into three parts: the reception of Marx’s ideas (a) in Banska Croatia and Dalmatia, (b) in Slovenian provinces and (c) in the press and papers published in the Serbian language. The paper covers the period between the revolutions of 1848 and the Paris Commune of 1871, because the intellectual discussions that these events gave rise to, in which Marx was heavily involved, were reported on extensively by the Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian press. The paper focuses on examining these press reports in light of the latest historical insights. Finally, it presents the results of a comparative analysis of the reception of Marxist thought among the Croats, Serbs and Slovenians. What transpires is that there are many similarities in the ways in which Marxist thought was received in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. During the revolutions of 1848 Marx’s ideas were suppressed under the negative label of communism, which was conflated with mostly French anarchists and early socialists, as well as various political forces that were antagonistic towards Southern Slavs. In the second half of the 1860s and the early 1870s, with the strengthening of the German and Austrian social democracy, the press started reporting on Marx because of his role in the First International and his book Das Kapital, whereas after the creation of the Paris Commune, these reports in Croatian, Serbian and Slovene language press again turned unfavourable, with few exceptions, like the Slovene lawyer Valentin Zarnik and the Serbian socialist Svetozar Marković.

Review of Alfred Rosenberg, Die Tagebücher von 1934 bis 1944. Herausgegeben und kommentiert von Jürgen Matthäus und Frank Bajohr, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 2015., pp. 650 which contains valuable new information on the creation of the Independent State of Croatia in 1941.

Review of Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf. Eine kritische Edition", herausgegeben von Christian Hartmann, Thomas Vordermayer, Othmar Plöckinger, Roman Töppel, unter Mitarbeit von Pascal Trees, Angelika Reizle, Martina Seewald-Mooser, Bd. I–II, im Auftrag des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte, München – Berlin, 2016, pp. 1966.

The author examines the significance of death in the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, the notable representatives of German philosophy of existence, as well as the way it was received in the thought of Stjepan Zimmermann, within the historical context of the interwar period, when all three thinkers lived and worked. This paper uses the aforementioned topic as a starting point, in order to reveal the notional and historical roots of Zimmermann’s magnum opus Jaspersov egzistencijalizam (Jasper’s Existentialism), which remains unpublished in its entirety to this day. The three thinkers shared an interest in Kant’s philosophical legacy with all its implications, as well as professional involvement in psychology, or rather, psychiatry, and both of those factors directly shaped their views on death. The research for this paper has shown that Heidegger’s interpretation of Kant’s philosophy based on fundamental ontology, as well as Jaspers’s work in psychiatry were at odds with Zimmerman’s understanding of Kant, shaped in the Neo-Kantian tradition, and the fact that his work in psychology was religiously motivated. Therefore, Heidegger and Jaspers’s understanding of death as an existential determinant of life had to be wholly unacceptable to Zimmermann, who regarded death as a biological fact and a transition into life after death. Adding to this the differences in ideology that he had with Heidegger post-1933, the rare insights into Zimmermann’s opinions on Heidegger and Jaspers in the interwar period reveal a substantial animosity. This attitude will also be prevalent in Jaspers’s Existentialism, the book Zimmermann completed after the Second World War.

The purpose of this work is to show the change of political and ideological stances in the ranks of the Croatian Social Democrats in the First World War. The topic is analysed in the methodology of the constellational research, in the connection with the events in German and Austrian Social Democracy, as well as in the context of the war policy of the Central Powers. The first part of the work discusses the shift of political and ideological views of the Croatian Social Democrats that occurred in the first two years of the war, while the second part discusses this topic during the last two years of the war, until the creation of the National Council of the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in Zagreb at the beginning of October 1918. It is shown that the primary shift from the revolutionary and internationalist principles towards the reformist principles of the leading Croatian Social Democrats occurred due to the complex political and war circumstances, as well as the pressure of the state. The events of the last two years of the war, especially after the October Revolution in Russia, caused visible stratification of political and ideological views in the ranks of Croatian Social Democracy, primarily with regard to the revolutionary/international and reformist/national tactics.

Review of Drago Roksandić, Vlatka Filipčić Maligec, Kultura hrvatskog antifašizma. Prvi kongres kulturnih radnika Hrvatske (Topusko, 25. – 27. lipnja 1944.). Između „mjesta pamćenja“ i kritičke refleksije, Zagreb: Zagrebačka naklada, Centar za komparativnohistorijske i interkulturne studije Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, 2016., pp. 304.

The Time of Ideological Wavering. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia in the Independent State of Croatia from the April War until the Attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union


Summary, page 113: "The aim of this work is to elucidate the position of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in the Independent State of Croatia at the beginning of the Second World War. The work is written in structuralist methodology, on the basis of diverse unpublished and published sources, newest insights of current (especially German and Russian) historiography, and with the help of contemporary methods of research. Instead of focusing exclusively on the leadership of the party, the work explains its activity and decisions with the help of the wider context which was determined by Stalin’s strategy, the repressive anticommunist policy of the state in which the party was operational, and the condition of the party organizations at the local level. Therefore, it starts by providing an overview of the position of communist parties in Europe during the Hitler-Stalin Pact and the structure of the Stalinized Comintern. The paper then analyzes continuities and discontinuities in the repressive anticommunist policy during the last years of the existence of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, i.e., the Banovina of Croatia, and the first months of the Independent State of Croatia. Special attention is given to the reports on the communist activity in the regions of Banovina, Kordun, Western Slavonia and Eastern Herzegovina where the first Ustasha massacres of Serb population will occur between April and June 1941. The paper then goes on to reconstruct the organizational structure of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, ideological conflicts between its leading figures, and the practical activity of its members before the beginning of the Second World War in Yugoslavia. The second part of the work starts with a brief analysis of the policy of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain toward Southeastern Europe from the Italian attack on Greece until the German attack on the Soviet Union. It elucidates the repression of the communist activity by the Axis forces and the Ustasha movement in connection with the massacres of the Serb population from the April War until the beginning of the Operation “Barbarossa”. In such context and in difference to current historiography, this work concludes with a thesis that the Communist Party of Yugoslavia didn’t enter the Second World War reinforced and organizationally strengthened, but heavily compromised and decimated. However, its (ideologically divergent) policy on the national and agrarian questions will ensure the beginning of the growing support and will plant one of the seeds for the eventual success of the party on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia.

This article analyzes the essays published in Drago Roksandić’s book Historiografija u tranziciji. The author exposes his considerations concerning its breakthroughs in methodology and content on the one side, and on the other insights into its partial affinity to still dominant “transitional” characteristics of Croatian historiography. In conclusion, the author suggests possible and desirable approaches to controversial and sensitive topics of contemporary Croatian history, which could achieve further breakthroughs in future research on this matter.

Between an Honorable Exile and Ostracism. Interior and Foreign Political Circumstances in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes - the Context of Ante Pavelić's Departure Abroad in January 1929

The article, by constellation research, and on the basis of numerous unpublished but also published sources and literature, sheds light on the context of the departure of a prominent member of the Croatian Party of Rights and the future head of the Ustasha Independent State of Croatia, Ante Pavelic, from the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes / Yugoslavia in January 1929. This context is an essential indicator of the mutual relationships between various representatives of significant directions in Croatian politics at the crucial moments of Croatian history after the establishment of the 6th January Dictatorship by King Aleksandar Karađorđevic. The first section of the article deals with the internal political situation in Croatia in the period from the assassination of Stjepan Radić recognized as the political leader of the Croatian people in the National Assembly in Belgrade, to the diplomatic mission of the prominent Croatian politician Ante Trumbić abroad. This part of the paper emphasizes differences in political conceptions between prominent representatives of the Prečani opposition to the Belgrade regime, led by the Peasant Democratic Coalition, and few but influential Croatian politicians who supported the politics of the Belgrade regime. The article then deals with shedding light on the signs of a severe state crisis from the autumn of 1928 onwards. They were initially manifested in the conflicting goals of Trumbić’s diplomatic mission in Vienna, Paris and London from October to December, and King Alexandar’s diplomatic mission in Paris in November 1928. The results of the November council elections in Split, which showed a setback for the regime parties, were yet another sign of a state crisis that culminated in particularly violent demonstrations in Zagreb in December 1928. Special attention was then given to the activities of Pavelić’s potential foreign political allies in the fierce fight against the Belgrade regime. One of them was Bulgaria, which impacted the Yugoslav interior conditions through the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO), and Fascist Italy and Hungary also cooperated. The then connections between Croatian politicians and influential political circles of these countries are presented. These circles actively worked and collaboratedon the revision of the Versailles order in Europe, and thus became increasingly hostile to the Kingdom of SCS. The last part of the article describes the measures taken by the Belgrade regime in the preparation and the final declaration of the 6th January Dictatorship and the reactions of politicians to the increasingly heterogeneous Croatian political scene. Along with the existing rift between the Prečani opposition and Croatian politicians who now openly supported the dictatorship, a growing split deepened within the Prečani opposition itself. The legitimate prevalent current, led by the Peasant-Democratic Coalition, wanted to resolve the Croatian issue by relying on the Karađorđević dynasty, from which sincere and fair co-operation was expected. On the other hand, a minor group, to which the Croatian Party of Rights belonged, wanted to resolve the Croatian issue by a violent struggle against the ruling Yugoslav dynasty and Serbian hegemony to create a completely independent Croatia. Pavelić consistently acted within the framework of the second current, and therefore his emigration was not an honourable exile with the aim of heroic struggle for the liberation of a unified Croat people. On the contrary, it became ostracism so that his methods of political struggle would not compromise the Croatian people in the eyes of Western democracies.

The year 1915 may be, from the perspective of a researcher of Croatian Social Democracy in Banska Croatia, the darkest period because of the lack of sources, mostly conditioned by war circumstances and the prohibition of activity of Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia. On the basis of unpublished and published sources, as well as secondary literature, this work reconstructs the position of the leading Croatian Social Democrats during 1915 in Banska Croatia, primarily in the wider context of events in the German and Austrian Social Democracy. Complete passivity of Croatian Social Democracy due to its treatment by the government during the outbreak of the war, which caused cooling of relations toward other Social Democratic parties in Austria-Hungary and the animosity toward the state, is shown to be the reason for a gap in historiography.

Private funerary stelae represent significant sources that can be used to investigate multiple aspects of culture that produced them. Therefore, each stela is a product of intentional or unintentional cultural codes and decorated with carefully detailed displays and texts (variants of the offering formula or hymns). In this paper, 8 private funerary stelae, displayed in the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, are examined in the context of funerary customs of the historical period from which they originate. To get better insight in funerary customs, which elements reflect on stelae, it is important to inspect three omnipresent categories, i.e. people, deities, and food on the offering tables. The questions are who are those non-royal individuals that stelae form Zagreb commemorate, and what can be told about their funerary rites and believes during one of its most crucial epochs i.e. Middle Kingdom. Thus, the aim of this paper is to indicate the funerary practices within dated time frame, based on the three categories displayed on the inspected stelae.

U radu autori analiziraju ključne probleme inozemnih ulaganja u Valpovu u periodu od 1990.-1995. i političku krizu u redovima Hrvatske demokratske zajednice koja je snažno utjecala na ishod čitavog slučaja. Autori su koristili izvorno arhivsko gradivo i onodobnu novinsku periodiku. Nastojali su, na primjeru Pilot-projekta Valpovo i afere Arcus, pojasniti obilježja političke i gospodarske situacije na području istočne Slavonije tijekom Domovinskog rata.