Review article
https://doi.org/10.20901/an.14.06
The Politics of History in Estonia and Croatia: World War II as "The Past That Will Not Pass"?
Luka Jušić
; Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Stevo Đurašković
orcid.org/0000-0002-6760-8972
; Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This article offers a comparison of the politics of history of WWII in Estonia and in Croatia after their independence. Following an introduction demonstrating how Estonian and Croatian national integrative processes were predominantly marked by their "pursuit" of independency, the main thesis is exposed – that the revisionist memory of Estonian and Croatian Axis fighters as "fighters for the nation and the state" has survived primarily due to the exclusivist understanding of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia as the Greater-Russian or Greater-Serbian "dungeons" of Estonian and Croatian people, respectively. Although the official historical memory in both countries highlights the European anti-fascist heritage, the authorities’ reluctance to move away from the exclusive statehood politics of history serves to promote a positive interpretation of Estonian and Croatian fascism. The authors in conclusion depict the differences between the two countries and warn of the fatal consequences of the current European policies towards totalitarianism as a pattern for dealing with World War II, which are pushing Estonia and Croatia further away from facing the past.
Keywords
Estonia, Croatia; World War II; the politics of history; remembrance; memory
Hrčak ID:
196747
URI
Publication date:
26.3.2018.
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