Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.21857/y6zolb7dpm
Rulers or Tenants – the Serbs in Croatia in the 1980s. (a Tribute to the Study)
Davor Marijan
orcid.org/0000-0002-3722-6981
; Hrvatski institut za povijest Zagreb, Hrvatska
*
* Dopisni autor.
Sažetak
The topic addressed by this paper is the position of the Serbs in the Socialist Republic of Croatia in the 1980s. The paper rests upon the archival material of the League of Communists of Croatia and the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. According to the system of values grounded on the communist victory in the Second World War, and to the practice of ethicalpolitical suitability arising therefrom, the Serbs were in the position to gain larger personal interests in Croatia and Yugoslavia. This was in particular the case in the part of the system that exercised coercive monopoly – the police and army forces. The result of the common communist practice according to which the majority ought to lead an unscrupulous battle against nationalism was a considerably more severe treatment of persons of the Croatian nationality in the context of political criminal. Due to such approach, in the 1980s, only one case of criminal prosecution of a person of the Serbian nationality experienced media exposure. This was in the summer of 1989. Though the Serbs were constitutionally granted the status of a sovereign nation, in the 1980s, they endeavoured to be furthermore granted to establish separate national organizations, such as was the case with the national minorities in Yugoslavia. The Party opposed suggestions of this kind, as they were against the existing national model, according to which national minorities were allowed to have national institutions of their own, but the constitutive nations were not. It was hence suggested that the Serbs should solve their specific needs within their republican institutions; this remained the practice until the very collapse of the regime. It is hard to find reliable indicators regarding the loyalty of the Serbs towards Croatia, yet an important indication in this context might be the fact that at various celebrations, the Yugoslav flag was usually chosen over the republican one. The conclusion may be drawn that the constitutional definition of Croatia – a national state of the Croatian people and the state of the Serbs in Croatia – meant in practice that it was the state of the Serbs first, and of the Croats second.
Ključne riječi
Serbs; Croatia; Yugoslavia; international relations; Prosvjeta company; ethical and political suitability; privileges; cultural politics
Hrčak ID:
340740
URI
Datum izdavanja:
8.12.2025.
Posjeta: 908 *