Original scientific paper
GERMAN ETHNIC MINORITY IN THE DOCUMENTS OF CROATIAN BANOVINA, 1939-1941
Nikica Barić
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The autonomous Croatian Banovina was established as a result of the August 1939 agreement between Vladko Maček, the president of the Croat Peasant Party and Dragiša Cvetković, the prime minister of the Yugoslav government. Soon after the agreement Germany attacked Poland and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia declared its neutrality in the conflict that was spreading across the Europe.
The authorities of the Croatian Banovina observed and made large number of reports about the cultural, educational and economical activities of the German minority which was organized in Kulturbund. The authorities were especially interested in the political activities of the German ethnic minority and its possible military role in case of the Axis’ attack on Yugoslavia.
Attitude of the Yugoslav and Croatian Banovina authorities toward ethnic Germans was ambiguous. In order to keep good relations with the Third Reich, Yugoslav and Croat authorities allowed German minority to conduct a wide range of activities. At the same time authorities were deeply suspicious toward them, because they were regarded as potentially unloyal elements connected with the Third Reich and Nazi movement. Although relations between the Croats and the ethnic Germans were mainly good, numerous documents from the period between August 1939 and the Axis’ attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941 also show the increasing number of various incidents between the ethnic Germans and Croat (and Serb) population.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
208980
URI
Publication date:
14.10.2002.
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