Original scientific paper
Partisan propaganda in the Zadar area 1943–1945 with an emphasis on the role of the Communist Party of Croatia
Mateo Bratanić
orcid.org/0000-0002-5686-9544
; University Zadar - Department of History, Zadar, Croatia
Tomislav Ražnjević
; Zadar, Croatia
Abstract
On the basis of data from available historical sources and literature, the paper presents principal characteristics of written anti-fascist propaganda in the Zadar district in the period between Italian capitulation in September 1943 and the very beginning of 1945n – the time marked by the complete liberation of North Dalmatia. The paper tends to offer an insight into the factors that had influenced the development and efficacy of the wartime political propaganda, show the manner in which it was endeavoured to influence the views and opinions of local population, how it was used as a tool against enemy propaganda efforts, and inwhich way it fitted into the wider historical context of the world war. Since due to research limitations it was impossible to carry out a deeper analysis of this exceptionally complex topic, and certain essential aspects of propaganda totality (e.g. indoctrination in the educational system of Partisan schools; propaganda oriented toward women; or utilitarian cultural-artistic creations) had to be left out, the paper followed the idea of offering a superficial survey of the main characteristics of the wartime political agitation propaganda. The paper has been divided in several chapters, structured as follows: first, propaganda holders – Partisan press and the Communist Party of Croatia – are presented. Secondly, elements of wartime propaganda are analysed on examples from the press and other available sources, and put into the relevant military context. Thirdly, a chapter tackling elements of political propaganda and antipropaganda follows, in which political and ideological constructs advertised by the warring parties in the area under research are put into context. In the final chapter, the authors study propaganda as a cohesive means directed toward the formation of socialist Yugoslavia. The propaganda apparatus of the anti-fascist Partisan movement in the Zadar area had 1943–1945 reflected organisational and political features of Partisan propaganda present in the rest of Croatia. Via official communication means, general public was kept informed of a civil and democratic national liberation movement, whose long-term goals did not tackle either revolutionary bolshevism or any conversion of the society. It was nevertheless managed by the Communist Party, which adjusted it according to its particular interests and straightforward political goals. In conclusion, it may be stated that in the Zadar district, Partisan propaganda had played a major role in the period under research, and the effect thereof left a significant trace both on the realisation of the intentions of the Communist Party in the wartime period and on the formation of political conscience in the after-war period.
Keywords
propaganda; Communist Party of Croatia; Zadar district; antifascism; Partisan movement; World War Two
Hrčak ID:
170603
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2016.
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