Page 82 - Dark Shades of Istria
P. 82
Trans-Border Region of Istria
multidimensional way, e.g. D’Alessio (2012a), Verginella (2009a; 2009b),
Scotti (2008), and Kacin-Wohinz (2001), not marked by reductionism or
one-sidedness.
dynamic history of the 20th century:
a question of interpretation
Unlike Slovenian historiography, the Croatian one is not so rich in wwi-
related publications. For political and other reasons, w w i began to be
of interest there in 1990, if we ignore publications from the period of the
Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska), e.g. Pavičić
(1943) and Bačić (1945); some authors even publish in Slovenia, where the
attitude to this war was, and still is, obviously different (Herman Kaurić,
2015a; 2015b). In addition to these findings, Hrstić (2016, p. 59) ‘deter-
mines four main periods in the Croatian historiography of wwi, which
correspond to the changes of the socio-political frameworks.’ This means
that each dominant ideology affected the selection of topics for research
(historiography was subjected to some kind of self-censorship), which
indicates systematic damnatio memoriae. The hundredth anniversary of
w w i and the related events certainly bring a change in relation to this
war, which was, during the last two decades, in the shadow of wwi i or
the Homeland War (Herman Kaurić, 2015b; Hrstić, 2016).²⁸
Public commemorations of wwi victims are not something new and
have been a long-standing tradition starting immediately after the war –
see Kavrečič (2017) or Klabjan (2010). In the case of (contemporary) ev-
eryday narratives of Slovenians, Croats and Italians, wwi itself does not
provoke the controversies and conflict so characteristic for anti-fascism
and Tito’s army-related topics, including commemorations (Ballinger,
2002; Klabjan, 2010, pp. 401–402; Pavlaković & Perak, 2017). In the case
of the so-called The Vichy syndrome, Confino (1997, pp. 1393–1394) de-
scribes (critically) a political memory based on the Vichy Republic and its
impact on post-wwi i France – especially its use for political purposes.²⁹
This case describes the development of society after the conflict or change
of regime, which can be seen today in the post-socialist East-European
countries, including those of the former Yugoslavia.³⁰ Since the 1990s,
²⁸ Further research will show whether the change was (only) a casual enthusiasm on a sig-
nificant anniversary.
²⁹ More about collective memory and history in France can be found in Nora (1984; 1989).
³⁰ Topics related to w w i i and the post-war communist ideology are still present there.
82
multidimensional way, e.g. D’Alessio (2012a), Verginella (2009a; 2009b),
Scotti (2008), and Kacin-Wohinz (2001), not marked by reductionism or
one-sidedness.
dynamic history of the 20th century:
a question of interpretation
Unlike Slovenian historiography, the Croatian one is not so rich in wwi-
related publications. For political and other reasons, w w i began to be
of interest there in 1990, if we ignore publications from the period of the
Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska), e.g. Pavičić
(1943) and Bačić (1945); some authors even publish in Slovenia, where the
attitude to this war was, and still is, obviously different (Herman Kaurić,
2015a; 2015b). In addition to these findings, Hrstić (2016, p. 59) ‘deter-
mines four main periods in the Croatian historiography of wwi, which
correspond to the changes of the socio-political frameworks.’ This means
that each dominant ideology affected the selection of topics for research
(historiography was subjected to some kind of self-censorship), which
indicates systematic damnatio memoriae. The hundredth anniversary of
w w i and the related events certainly bring a change in relation to this
war, which was, during the last two decades, in the shadow of wwi i or
the Homeland War (Herman Kaurić, 2015b; Hrstić, 2016).²⁸
Public commemorations of wwi victims are not something new and
have been a long-standing tradition starting immediately after the war –
see Kavrečič (2017) or Klabjan (2010). In the case of (contemporary) ev-
eryday narratives of Slovenians, Croats and Italians, wwi itself does not
provoke the controversies and conflict so characteristic for anti-fascism
and Tito’s army-related topics, including commemorations (Ballinger,
2002; Klabjan, 2010, pp. 401–402; Pavlaković & Perak, 2017). In the case
of the so-called The Vichy syndrome, Confino (1997, pp. 1393–1394) de-
scribes (critically) a political memory based on the Vichy Republic and its
impact on post-wwi i France – especially its use for political purposes.²⁹
This case describes the development of society after the conflict or change
of regime, which can be seen today in the post-socialist East-European
countries, including those of the former Yugoslavia.³⁰ Since the 1990s,
²⁸ Further research will show whether the change was (only) a casual enthusiasm on a sig-
nificant anniversary.
²⁹ More about collective memory and history in France can be found in Nora (1984; 1989).
³⁰ Topics related to w w i i and the post-war communist ideology are still present there.
82
