Original scientific paper
The views of Antun Gustav Matoš on Croat-Serb relations
Tomislav Jonjić
; Zagreb
Abstract
Antun Gustav Matoš (1873—1914) is the most important Croatian writer of
his era and was certainly one of the most important persons in Croatian
culture during the 19th and 20th century. Although he was a war deserter
who spent almost 15 years of his short life in exile (1894—1908), he was
involved in Croatian political life through his literary and journalistic contributions.
This article deals with his relations towards Serbs, the Serbian
national ideology and Yugoslav thinking. Studying Matoš’s relationships is
important because of his influence on his own and later generations and
because he spent nearly half of his life in exile in Serbia. He stayed there
on two occasions for a number of years: the first time during the Obrenović
dynasty, the second time during the era of Karađorđević. Both times he
mixed with the Serbian literary elite, and as a musician he mingled in several
circles, as well as in foreign diplomatic missions. Accordingly, he was
able to authentically evaluate what Serbs thought about Croats, Croatia and
Croatian national ideology.
In his early youth, Matoš became a supporter of the Party of (State)
Right, and after the party’s first splintering (1895) he became a follower of
the Pure Party of (State) Right, also known in historiography as the
Frankists (named after one of the party’s founders. Dr. Josip Frank, a Jew
by descent). For decades, and even today, public views as well as a predominant
part of the older historiography on the Frankists were conflicting
and charged with a powerful emotional relationship: for those who considered
Yugoslav ideology to be acceptable or desirable, Frankists were mere
traitors and foreign servants; for those who reject every Yugoslavia and any
cooperation with Serbs, Frankists were synonymous with Croatian patriotism.
Matoš left the Frankists in late summer 1909, that is, a year and a half
after returning from exile. The reasons for his departure should not be
attributed to different views related to the need for unification of Croatian
lands and their political and legal independence, but in Matoš’s cultural and
political views that the party’s move towards Christian social welfare considered
an unacceptable clericalisation of the party for him.
Development of Matoš’s views on Serbia, Serbism and Yugoslavism —
despite the occasional oscillations — was contrary to the view of many of
his young literary supporters and followers. While a significant number
accepted Yugoslav ideology (and then were deeply disappointed during
World War I, and especially afterwards, when it experienced its realisation),
Matoš permanently remained an advocate of the view that any supranational
or international idea was a deadly threat to Croatian national identity.
Moreover, when unity and cooperation with Serbs was advocated, Matoš
warned that Serbian interests were incompatible to Croatian ones and that
the realisation of those interests that served Yugoslavism, was only a mask
for a Greater Serbia. As the future confirmed the majority of Matoš’s literary
judgements, in the same way history confirmed the correctness of his
national-political views.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
86332
URI
Publication date:
1.9.2012.
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