Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T04:57:01.161Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

National identity-building and the “Ustaša-nostalgia” in Croatia: the past that will not pass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Stevo Đurašković
Stevo Đurašković*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
*
∗Email: sdjuraskovic@fpzg.hr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Most scholarship on post-Communist Croatia claims that the first Croatian president, Franjo Tuđman, intentionally rehabilitated the legacy of the World War II (WWII) Croatian Ustaša and its Nazi-puppet state. The rehabilitation of the Ustaša has been linked to Tuđman's national reconciliation politics that tended toward a particular “forgetting of the past.” The national reconciliation was conceptualized as a joint struggle of both the Croatian anti-fascist Partisan and the Croatian WWII fascist Ustaša successors to achieve Croatian independence. However, the existing scholarship does not offer a comprehensive explanation of the nexus between national reconciliation and the rehabilitation of the Ustaša. Hence, this article will present how “Ustaša-nostalgia” does not stem from Tuđman's intentions, but rather from the morphological gap occurring in Tuđman's nation-building idea. Namely, Tuđman's condemnation of the entire idea of Yugoslavism and Yugoslavia eventually brought about the perception that any historical agent advocating the idea of an independent Croatia is better than any form of Croatian Yugoslavism. Finally, the article will present how contemporary Croatian society is still seeped in “Ustaša-nostalgia” due to the hesitation of the post-Tuđman Croatian politics to come to terms with the legacy of his national reconciliation politics.

Keywords

Franjo Tuđmannational reconciliationUstašaPartisansforgetting the past
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 44 , Issue 5 , September 2016 , pp. 772 - 788
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banac, Ivo. 1988. With Stalin against Tito: Cominformist Splits in Yugoslav Communism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Banac, Ivo. 1992. “Historiography of the Countries of Eastern Europe: Yugoslavia.” The American Historical Review 97 (4): 1084–1104.Google Scholar
Banjeglav, Tamara. 2012. “Sjećanje na rat ili rat sjećanja? Promjene u politikama sjećanja u Hrvatskoj od 1990. godine do danas.” In Revizija prošlosti: Politike sjećanja u Bosni i Hercegovini, Hrvatskoj i Srbiji od 1990. godine, edited by Darko Karačić, Tamara Banjeglav, and Govedarica, Nataša, 91–161. Sarajevo: ACIPS – Freidrich Ebert Stiftung.Google Scholar
Barić, Nikica. 2007. “Antifašistička borba u Drugom svjetskom ratu u političkim interpretacijama hrvatskih predsjednika.” In Revizija prošlosti na prostorima bivše Jugoslavije, edited by Katz, Vera, 211–235. Sarajevo: Institut za istoriju.Google Scholar
Bellamy, Alex J. 2003. The Formation of Croatian National Identity: A Centuries-old Dream. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Biondich, Mark. 2006. “Controversies Surrounding the Catholic Church in Wartime Croatia, 1941-45.” Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 7 (4): 429–457.Google Scholar
Cipek, Tihomir. 2007. “Politike povijesti u Republici Hrvatskoj; od ‘puška puče’ do ‘Hristos se rodi'.” In Kultura sjećanja: Povijesni lomovi i svladavanje prošlosti, edited by Cipek, Tihomir and Milosavljević, Olivera, 13–27. Zagreb: Disput.Google Scholar
Cipek, Tihomir. 2009. “Sjećanje na 1945: čuvanje i brisanje- o snazi obiteljskih narativa.” In Kultura sjećanja: 1945. Povijesni lomovi i svladavanje prošlosti, edited by Bosto, Sulejman and Cipek, Tihomir, 155–165. Zagreb: Disput.Google Scholar
Cipek, Tihomir. 2014. “Confronting Croatia's Communist Past.” Central European Political Science Review 15 (57): 79–93.Google Scholar
Čulić, Marinko. 1999. Tuđman: anatomija neprosvijećenog apsolutizma. Split: Feral Tribune.Google Scholar
Dragovic-Soso, Jasna. 2002. Saviours of the Nation: Serbia's Intellectual Opposition and the Revival of Nationalism. London: Hurst.Google Scholar
Dulic, Tomislav. 2009. “Mapping Out the ‘Wasteland': Testimonies from the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees in the Service of Tudjman's Revisionism.” Holocaust and Genocide Studies 23 (2): 263–284.Google Scholar
Đurašković, Stevo. 2014. “Nation-building in Franjo Tuđman's Political Writings.” Politička misao-Croatian Political Science Review 51 (5): 58–79.Google Scholar
ฌurić, Dragan, Munjin, Bojan, and Španović, Srđan, eds. 1990. Stranke u Hrvatskoj. Zagreb: Radničke Novine.Google Scholar
Freeden, Michael. 1996. Ideologies and Political Theory: A Conceptual Approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Gagnon, Vernon P. 2004. The Myth of Ethnic War: Serbia and Croatia in the 1990s. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Slavko. 1993. “Pomirenje.” Erasmus: casopis za kulturu demokracije 2: 13–18.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Ivo. 2001. “O revizionizmu u historiografiji.” In Holokaust u Zagrebu, edited by Goldstein, Ivo, and Goldstein, Slavko, 596–618. Zagreb: Židovska općina and Novi Liber.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Ivo, and Hutinec, Goran. 2007. “Neki aspekti revizionizma u hrvatskoj historiografiji devedesetih godina XX. Stoljeća- motivi, metode i odjeci.” In Revizija prošlosti na prostorima bivše Jugoslavije: zbornik radova, edited by Katz, Vera, 187–210. Sarajevo: Institut za istoriju.Google Scholar
Hockenos, Paul. 2003. Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism & the Balkan Wars. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Hudelist, Darko. 2004. Tuđman: biografija. Zagreb: Profil International.Google Scholar
Hudelist, Darko. 2008a. “Tajna povijest Crkve: Specijalni rat Kaptola protiv Jugoslavije: Operacija ‘Velika Devetnica': Kako je Gospa Srušila SFRJ.” Globus (September 12): 34–42.Google Scholar
Hudelist, Darko. 2008b. “Tajna povijest Crkve: Specijalni rat Kaptola protiv Jugoslavije (2): Molitva za pobjedu HDZ-a.” Globus (September 19): 40–48.Google Scholar
Ivančić, Viktor. 2000. Točka na U. Slučaj Šakić. Split: Feral Tribune biblioteka.Google Scholar
Jurčević, Josip, Esih, Bruna, and Vukušić, Boze. 2005. Čuvari bleiburške uspomene. Zagreb: Klub hrvatskih povratnika iz iseljeništva.Google Scholar
Karamarko, Tomislav. 2015. “Moj antikomunistički manifest.” Globus (May 25): 14–19.Google Scholar
Klasić, Hrvoje. 2013. “Djeca su zaražena revizionizmom.” Novosti. Tjednik za racionalnu manjinu (September 20): 10–11.Google Scholar
List of Individual Victims of Jasenovac Concetration Camp. 2014. Accessed December 12, 2014. http://www.jusp-jasenovac.hr/Default.aspx?sid=6711.Google Scholar
Lovrić, Jelena. 2015. “Milanovic od Karamarka krade Tuđmana.” Jutarnji list (June 27): 23.Google Scholar
Mijatović, Anđelko, ed. 1999. Spomen knjiga Deset godina Hrvatske demokratske zajednice. Zagreb: Glavno tajništvo središnjice HDZ-a.Google Scholar
Mudde, Cas. 2000. The Ideology of the Extreme Right. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Mujadžević, Dino. 2011. “Sukob Vladimira Bakarića i Franje Tuđmana 1961-1967.” In Dr. Franjo Tuđman u okviru hrvatske historiografije: zbornik radova, edited by Herman-Kaurić, Vijoleta, 361–369. Zagreb- Slavonski Brod: Hrvatski institut za povijest.Google Scholar
Najbar-Agičić, Magdalena, and Agičić, Damir. 2007. “The Use and Misuse of History Teaching in 1990s Croatia.” In Democratic Transition in Croatia: Value Transformation, Education & Media, edited by Ramet, Sabrina P., and Matić, Davorka, 193–223. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.Google Scholar
Pauković, Davor. 2012. “The Role of History in Legitimizing Politics in the Transition Period in Croatia.” In Confronting with the Past: European Experiences, edited by Viseslav Raos, Vjeran Pavlaković, and Pauković, Davor, 183–219. Zagreb: CPI.Google Scholar
Pavlaković, Vjeran. 2008a. “Flirting with Fascism: The Ustaša Legacy and Croatian Politics in the 1990s.” In The Shared History and The Second World War and National Question in ex-Yugoslavia, edited by Gavrilović, Darko, 115–143. Novi Sad: CHDR.Google Scholar
Pavlaković, Vjeran. 2008b. “Better the Grave then the Slave: Croatia and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.” In Croatia Since Independence: War, Politics, Society, Foreign Relations, edited by Sabrina P. Ramet, Konrad Clewing, and Lukić, Reneo, 447–477. München: R. Oldenburg Verlag.Google Scholar
Pavlaković, Vjeran. 2008c. “Red Stars, Black Shirts: Symbols, Commemorations, and Contested Histories of World War Two in Croatia.” Working paper – Croatian National Bank, 1–36.Google Scholar
Pavlaković, Vjeran. 2010. “Defying the Defeated: Commemorating Bleiburg Since 1990.” L'Europe en Formation 357: 125–147.Google Scholar
Payne, Stanley. 2006. “The NDH State in Comparative Perspective.” Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 7 (4): 409–415.Google Scholar
Perica, Vjekoslav. 2002. Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pilić, Damir. 2013. “Na mladima svijet zastaje.” Slobodna Dalmacija, October 26: 2–3.Google Scholar
Primorac, Vladimir. 2000. Pravorijek: izabrane kolumne iz tjednika Feral Tribune 1998-2000. Split: Feral Tribune biblioteka.Google Scholar
Radonic, Ljiljana. 2012a. “Croatian Politics of the Past – Just One More Post-Communist Case Study.” Istorija 20. Veka 30 (1): 203–215.Google Scholar
Radonić, Ljiljana. 2012b. “Croatia's Transformation from Historical Revisionism to European Standards.” In Confornting with the Past: European Experiences, edited by Viseslav Raos, Vjeran Pavlaković, and Pauković, Davor, 163–182. Zagreb: CPI.Google Scholar
Radonic, Ljiljana. 2013. “Croatia's Politics of the Past during the Tuđman Era (1990-1999) – Old Wine in New Bottles?” Austrian History Yearbook 44: 234–254.Google Scholar
Radoš, Ivica. 2005. Tuđman izbliza: svjedočenja suradnika i protivnika. Zagreb: Profil international.Google Scholar
Ramet, Sabrina P. 2008a. “The Catholic Church in Croatia Since 1990s.” In Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia at Peace and War: Selected Writings 1983-2007, 175–191. Berlin: LIT Verlag.Google Scholar
Ramet, Sabrina P. 2008b. “Politics in Croatia Since 1990.” In Croatia Since Independence: War, Politics, Society, Foreign Relations, edited by Sabrina P. Ramet, Konrad Clewing, and Lukić, Reneo, 31–51. München: R. Oldenburg Verlag.Google Scholar
Sadkovich, James J. 2010. Tuđman: prva politička biografija. Zagreb: Večernji list.Google Scholar
Sedlar, Jakov. 2008. Tuđman: film koji vas ne će detuđmanizirati. Compact disc. Zagreb: Hrvatsko slovo.Google Scholar
Senjković, Reana. 2002. Lica društva, likovi države. Zagreb: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku.Google Scholar
Šiber, Ivan. 1998. “Povijesni i etnički rascjepi u hrvatskom društvu.” In Birači i demokracija: utjecaj ideoloških rascjepa na politički život, edited by Mirjana Kasapović, Ivan Šiber, and Zakošek, Nenad, 51–95. Zagreb: Alinea.Google Scholar
Škiljan, Filip. 2009. “Logorski sustav Jasenovac- kontroverze.” In Nezavisna država Hrvatska 1941-1945, edited by Ramet, Sabrina P., 117–130. Zagreb: Alinea.Google Scholar
Spremić, Nikša. 2011. “Clerical Politics in Yugoslavia: The Roman Catholic Church and Ethnonational Mobilization of Croats in the Socialist Republic of Croatia and Abroad (1966-1990).” MPhil diss., University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1981. Nationalism in Contemporary Europe. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1989. Bespuća povijesne zbiljnosti: rasprava o povijesti i filozofiji zlosilja. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Matice hrvatske.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1992. Zna se: HDZ u borbi za samostalnost Hrvatske (govori, poslanice, proglasi i izlaganja 1990-1992). Zagreb: Glavno tajništvo Središnjice HDZ.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1993. Zna se: HDZ u borbi za samostalnost Hrvatske, knjiga druga (govori, poslanice, proglasi i izlaganja 1992-1993). Zagreb: Glavno tajništvo Središnjice HDZ.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1995a. Usudbene povjestice (čianci, proglasi, pisma i rasprave 1958-1989). Zagreb: Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1995b. S vjerom u samostalnu Hrvatsku (Proglasi i govori 1987-1995). Zagreb: Narodne novine.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1995c. Zna se: HDZ u borbi za učvršśenje hrvatske državne suverenosti, knjiga treća (govori, poslanice, proglasi i izlaganja 1993-1995). Zagreb: Glavno tajništvo Središnjice HDZ.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1996. Horrors of War: Historical Reality and Philosophy. New York: M. Evans.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1996/1969. Velike ideje i mali narodi: rasprave i ogledi. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Matice hrvatske.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1998. Zna se: HDZ u borbi za učvršśenje hrvatske državne suverenosti, knjiga treća (govori, poslanice, proglasi i izlaganja 1995-1997). Zagreb: Glavno tajništvo Središnjice HDZ.Google Scholar
Tuđman, Franjo. 1999. Hrvatska riječ svijetu: razgovori sa stranim predstavnicima. Zagreb: Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada and Hrvatski institut za povijest.Google Scholar
Ustav Republike Hrvatske. Narodne novine 56/1990. 2014. Accessed December 10, 2014. http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1990_12_56_1092.html.Google Scholar
Uzelac, Gordana. 1998. “Franjo Tudjman's Nationalist Ideology.” East European Quarterly 31 (4): 449–472.Google Scholar
Uzelac, Gordana. 2006. The Development of the Croatian Nation: An Historical and Sociological Analyses. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press.Google Scholar
Zakon o naknadi imovine oduzete za vrijeme jugoslavenske komunističke vlasti. Narodne novine 92/1996. 2015. Accessed June 22, 2015. http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1996_10_92_1600.html.Google Scholar
Žerjavić, Vladimir. 1992. Opsesije i megalomanije oko Jasenovca i Bleiburga: gubici stanovništva Jugoslavije u drugom svjetskom ratu. Zagreb: Globus.Google Scholar