Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17234/RadoviZHP.56.7
Germanism and Romanism as Ideological and Geopolitical Antipodes in the Ideology of Rights of Ante Starčević (Summary)
Ivan Smiljanić
orcid.org/0000-0003-4926-3162
Abstract
The foreign policy and geopolitical aspects of Ante Starčević’s ideology were primarily shaped by the specific internal circumstances of the Habsburg Monarchy and the different administrative status of the Croatian historical countries within it. In Starčević’s thought, Croatia’s geopolitical position is manifested precisely in the conflict between Austria and France. Starčević is, of course, a philosophi-cal student of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles-Louis Montesquieu and French encyclopedists, and he was also a supporter of the ideas embodied in the French Revolution. It is for this reason that, in addition to the historical and state right of the Croatian people to independence, the natural right to achieve national freedom will also be emphasized in his thought. This will have an echo in his positive view of the role of the French nation in European modern history, as well as the negative view of the Germanic nations in it, that is, Romanism and Germanism as different ideological currents within the framework of Europe at that time. According to Starčević, the idea of freedom and a free people is a first-class matter of spiritual reality, and not just a mere political reality. In a historical sense, the idea of freedom is relevant for Starčević precisely in that manner as it spoke during the French Revolution. Therefore, the origin of Starčević’s political philosophy truly rests on the principles of the French Revolution and on the state as the true abode of the idea of a national community of a free and sovereign people that establishes and constitutes itself through freedom. Starčević’s favorable view of the spirit of the French people is supported by his attitude that France is the country that he considered worthy of honoring its obligations within the framework of signed interstate and international treaties, which, due to his emphasis on the importance of the idea of political legitimism, also meant that the ruling Habsburg dynasty and Germanism in general will resent the failure of historical obligations towards the Croatian people in accordance with the signed treaties (Charter of Cetingrad in 1527, Croatian Pragmatic Sanction in 1712, military exploits of Ban Jelačić and decisions of the Croatian Parliament in 1848–1849, Croatian-Hungarian settlement in 1868 etc.). The consequence of such a historical-political assessment of the (un)value of Austria and Germanism will mean that Starčević wanted to tie the solution of the geopolitical issues of the Croatian people to a large extent precisely with the fate of France and Romanism. Anti-Germanism and pro-Romanism is the fundamental dualism present in the thought of Ante Starčević.
Keywords
Ante Starčević, France, Austria, Nationalism, Natural Right, Historical Right, Germanism, Romanism
Hrčak ID:
330243
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2024.
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