Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32728/h2025.02
The Influence of School Legislation on the Development of Public Primary Education in Istria (1868–1914)
Dijana Muškardin
Abstract
The enactment of the state school laws of 1868 and 1869 established the fundamental
principles defining the role of schooling and education in Austro-Hungarian
society. For the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, education was a political issue through
which the state sought to shape new generations by regulating processes of socialisation,
learning, and public participation. School legislation thus systematically and
hierarchically, from the state to the local level, organised and regulated both the socialisation
of future generations and their educational and learning processes, while
Istrian peasants, faced with a fait accompli, were obliged to send their children to
school. This paper aims to examine and analyse the impact of the school laws enacted
in 1868 and 1869 on the development and modernisation of primary education
in Istria, with particular emphasis on the social and educational changes resulting
from their implementation. A quantitative-analytical method was employed in the
analysis, enabling the systematic examination of the legislative framework, its effects
on local communities, and the processes through which the state sought to regulate
and modernise the educational system. The implementation of these school laws established compulsory education for
all, thereby reducing illiteracy and accelerating social development in Istria. Statistical
data indicate a significant quantitative increase in the number of Croatian
primary schools. The question of the language of instruction, in a multilingual and
multiethnic region such as Istria, was key to the development of the educational
system for all communities awarded the right to compulsory education. Within
the framework of state legislation, the struggle for the Croatian language in public
administration and schools in Istria took the form of a broader process of national
socialisation of the majority Croatian population, thereby directly influencing the
establishment of Croatian primary schools. The development of a Croatian primary
education network in Istria served a dual function. On the one hand, it contributed
to the broader process of social development and the formation of a civic social
stratum. On the other hand, it functioned as an instrument of political struggle and
the shaping of national identities. The school laws not only created the institutional
foundations for education, but also shaped social relations and political processes
in Istria during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Keywords
literacy; modernisation of education; Law on the Relationship between School and Church (1868); Imperial Primary School Law (1869); primary schools; compulsory education; Croatian education; 1868–1914
Hrčak ID:
349939
URI
Publication date:
29.7.2026.
Visits: 0 *