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Radicalization at the University of Zagreb during the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939

Vjeran Pavlaković

Sažetak

This article examines the political radicalization and polarization at the University of Zagreb during the period of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). Although the conditions responsible for the appeal of radical politics were created by the social and economic grievances felt across Croatia under the authoritarian Yugoslav regime, the conflict in Spain served to channel frustration into tangible causes and movements. It did not directly generate the violence or the political divisions at the University of Zagreb, but it did serve as a focal point for the opposing groups to articulate, and support, their ideological positions. Furthermore, the powerful ideas and concepts stirred up by the war, such as freedom, democracy, internationalism, and antifascism, appealed particularly to young people who had grown up not having experienced those ideas themselves. Other students at the university,
influenced by anticommunist ideas and supported by radical Croatian nationalists, engaged in fervent debates with pro-Republican students that eventually led to physical violence and the murder of a student, Krsto Ljubičić, at the university.

Ključne riječi

Spanish Civil War; University of Zagreb; political radicalization

Hrčak ID:

70239

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/70239

Datum izdavanja:

6.7.2011.

Posjeta: 2.031 *