Review of Croatian History

Parliamentary Debates and Freedom of Speech of MPs as Defined in the Rules of Procedure of the 19th Century Croatian Parliament and Other Parliaments - a Comparison

Vlasta Švoger — 2023-12-20

This paper presents different aspects of regulating parliamentary debate in the second half of the 19^th century in the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) and other parliaments in a comparative discourse. This includes parliament's constituent session, preparation and course of parliamentary debate, MPs’ motions and interpellations, MPs’ freedom of speech, voting and adoption of conclusions. The analysis will be based on a comparison of the rules of procedure of the Croatian Parliament (1861-1918), the 1848 Frankfurt National Assembly (Frankfurter Nationalversammlung), the 1848 Imperial Diet in Vienna (Reichstag), the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), the Hungarian Parliament and parliaments of some German lands in the second half of the 19^th century as well as a collection of precedents serving as a basis for the operation of the British Parliament (the so-called Westminster procedure) and the rules of the United States Congress. Moreover, acceptance and modification of individual aspects of the Westminster procedure or provisions in the procedural rules of other countries will be presented as examples suggesting that the transfer of ideas and practices in parliamentarianism in Croatia and other European countries in the 19^th century should be viewed through the prism of multidirectional influence and creative receptions.

Parliamentary Immunity in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia in the Second Half of the 19th Century and Its European Models

Jasna Turkalj — 2023-12-20

The paper discusses the development of the English model of parliamentary immunity, which was limited to non-accountability immunity, and the French model. During the revolutionary events in France at the end of the 18^th century, the French model established a two-tier system that included both non-accountability and inviolability immunities. With the development of parliamentary systems during the second half of the 19^th century, the French model was adopted throughout continental Europe, including Austria, Hungary, and the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia. This paper focuses on the Law on the Inviolability and Non-Accountability of the Parliamentary Members, issued for the Croatian Parliament on May 16, 1867, and its application, especially during the early years of the administration of Ban Khuen-Héderváry.

In Pursuit of Economic Emancipation: Legislative Framework of Women's Paid Work in Croatia and Slavonia

Mirela Krešić — 2023-12-20

The aim of the paper is to explore the interaction between regulatory provisions governing the status of women, which were part of Croatia’s legal system as it developed in the period of history called the short 19^th century (1848-1914). The Austrian General Civil Code, the Hungarian-Croatian Trade Code and Industry Act and the Croatian School Act constitute the backbone of the research. More specifically, the focus is on the provisions that enabled the economic emancipation of women in the context of guaranteed gender equality and access to education. Given the economic circumstances in the period under review, the opportunities as well as the restrictions faced by women in the labour market of the time, our intention is to ascertain whether and if so in what way the Austrian and Hungarian-Croatian acts, accompanied by Croatia’s autonomous legislative framework, influenced the process of transformation of the traditional understanding of the status of women in society.

From Encouragement to Critique of Enlightened Absolutist Reforms: Nikola Škrlec Lomnički and His Views on the Reform of Local Administration in the Habsburg Monarchy

Ivana Horbec — 2023-12-20

In this paper, the example of Nikola Škrlec Lomnički (1729 – 1799), a distinguished legal expert and public servant in Croatia during the era of enlightened absolutism, is used to posit that the dissemination of knowledge and ideas was not a linear progression, flowing solely from top to bottom. Rather, the experience of living and working within a specific political milieu significantly impacted political choices made by premodern public servants. Škrlec’s involvement in local administration and his writings directed towards higher authorities underscore that the introduction of progressive changes necessitated a confluence of both contemporary intellectual currents and influence from “below”. Such reforms needed to be firmly grounded in changes that were practicably feasible within a specific local political and social context. For understanding political history, resistance to change emerges as being equally valuable a phenomenon as alignment with enlightened ideas.

The Enlightened Apology of the Latin Language by Marko Faustin Galjuf from Dubrovnik

Teodora Shek Brnardić — 2023-12-20

In recent Enlightenment studies, a trend can be termed as the “classical turn” because it places a focus on the classical heritage as an integral part of the eighteenth-century culture. Interest in antiquity encompassed Greek and Roman literature, philosophy, and art, and Enlightenment thinkers were particularly fascinated and inspired by the rationalism, humanism, and civic virtues of the ancient world. Archaeological excavations in Italy supported the development of neoclassical style, experiencing a true revival with Rome as its centre. Countless translations of classical authors were in line with “the taste of the time”, and improvisations of poetry from contemporary languages into Latin were especially valued. The Piarist from Dubrovnik, Marko Faustin Galjuf (1765-1834), was one of the most renowned Latin improvisers of his time. He began his teaching career in Rome and later became politically and academically engaged in the pro-French Roman and Ligurian Republics. After the fall of Napoleon’s Empire in 1815, Galjuf fell out of favour due to his past. In 1833, he published an apology for the use of the Latin language titled Essay on the Fortune of the Latin Language (Specimen de fortuna Latinitatis), seeking a way to return to the unforsaken Rome under the rule of Pope Gregory XVI. This paper will explore the Enlightenment socio-cultural context of the creation and arguments of this forgotten but significant piece for the history of cultural patterns of that period. It will be argued that Galjuf’s intention for writing his apology was of an enlightened rather than a conservative nature.

The Reform of Elementary Education in Croatia in the 2nd Half of the 19th Century and Ivan Filipović

Dinko Župan — 2023-12-20

The reform of elementary education, which was implemented by Ban Ivan Mažuranić, was one of the most important reforms in the second half of the 19^th century. Together with Ban Ivan Mažuranić, Ivan Filipović was one of the key people who prepared and implemented the school reform. In this paper I will show how Ivan Filipović, and his colleagues contributed to implementation of the school reform which started in 1870’s and enabled development of the modern education system in Croatia.

Croatian Pedagogy in the 19th Century – the Transfer of European Pedagogical Ideas

Štefka Batinić — 2023-12-20

The transfer of European pedagogical ideas and practices to Croatia during the 19^th century, when the Croatian pedagogy was being established, could be observed at three basic levels: at the level of formal pedagogical education of teachers, at the level of scholarly texts on pedagogy and the level of studying and professional development abroad.

Teachers had a pivotal role in the development of the practice and theory of pedagogy, which was important to them for the improvement of their teaching, as well as for their professional identity. For that reason, they were initiating publication of subject-specific journals, writing textbooks on pedagogy and translating European pedagogy classics to Croatian. The publishing activity of the Croatian Pedagogical-Literary Assembly had a major influence on the appearance of scholarly texts on pedagogy. Immediately upon its establishment in 1871, it initiated an editorial series Knjižnica za učitelje (Library for Teachers), within which 54 volumes were published by 1917, including the translations of the works by major pedagogy authors, such as Comenius (Didaktika, 1871, Informatorijum za školu materinsku, 1886, Velika didaktika, 1900), Spencer (Nauk ob uzgoju, 1883), Rousseau (Emil ili ob uzgoju, 1887-1889), Pestalozzi (Miroslav i Bogoljuba, 1891) and Rabelais (Misli o uzgoju, 1894).

The Croatian Pedagogical-Literary Assembly also published a compilation of pedagogical textbooks by Stjepan Basariček – Uzgojoslovje (1880), Povijest pedagogije (1881), Obće obukoslovje (1882) i Posebno obukoslovje (1884). His textbooks were theoretically based on the works of the German pedagogue Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841) and were used in teacher education schools, with some revisions and new editions, until the 1920s.

Croatian-Czech and Croatian-Slovak Literary Relations in Neo-Absolutism. Key points

Marijan Šabić — 2023-12-20

Based on previous research, the author attempts to identify the key points for the research of Croatian-Czech-Slovak literary and cultural relations in the period of neo-absolutism (1852-1859). Citing relevant examples, he refers above all to the abundant correspondence of Croatian, Czech and Slovak intellectuals from that period, and to literary periodicals, which he regards as indicators of the mutual reception of the literary production of these three nations

Re-Evaluation of the Barbarian and the Primitive in the (Pre) Avant-Garde

Marina Protrka Štimec — 2023-12-20

The heteroimage of the Southeast European semiperiphery was subjected for centuries to geopolitical stereotypes of the Slav, either as a noble savage, as in the works of Fortis and Herder in the 18th and 19th centuries, or as a political “powder keg”, as a Balkan barbarian in more recent perspective. In such a geopolitical imaginary, the Balkans were perceived (described) primarily negatively, representing not only an Oriental Other, but above all a European semi-Other, a barbaric and primitive “Other within” (Todorova). The image of the “noble savage” in the exotic vision, which sets the world in binary oppositions, is used and reinterpreted by the artists of the (pre) Avant-Garde. The movement's inherent impulse to resist and re-evaluate traditional aesthetics, history and institutions, as well as to transgressively redefine both the instances of authorship and the criteria for creating and evaluating artworks, is evident in the way barbarism and primitivism are used as counterparts to the bourgeois normative value system. Their artistic texts and performances have an inherent orientation towards the primitive and the barbaric, which are traditionally presented in opposition to Western culture and civilisation, i.e. the politics of globalisation. At the level of artistic transgression, this transposed “otherness” is treated as a dialogical opponent, an object of fascination and identification, and a site of appropriation of time. This article deals with the way the primitive and the barbaric were treated in the Yugoslav avant-garde, either in some collective undertakings (Zenitism, Surrealism) or in individual creations (Ujević, Krleža). This topic will be addressed in three steps: 1. in the context of reflections on literature as a response to geopolitical prejudices (stereotypes); more specifically, in the concepts of the centre (especially Eurocentrism), civilisation and primitivism; 2. in a consideration of the use of primitivism, barbarism and bohemianism as expressions of aesthetic and public (political) resistance to regulated social practises and value systems; 3. an interpretation of these phenomena in the context of either imaginary or actual literary and social transformations.

Jews in the Political, Economic, and Cultural Life of Croatia at the End of the 19th and the Beginning of the 20th Century: The Example of Oskar Weiszmayer (1855–1931)

Branko Ostajmer — 2023-12-20

Drawing on literature, newspapers, and archival sources, this paper examines the life and work of Oskar Weiszmayer, one of the most recognizable members of the Jewish community in Croatia in the second half of the 19^th and the first half of the 20^th century. Elucidating his overall economic, cultural, social, and political activities in Osijek and Zagreb is an important contribution to a better understanding of the history of the Jews in Croatia.

The Basics of General Financial Science by Antun Ferdinand Albely. Knowledge Circulation and Digital Text Analysis of a Legal Textbook

Zrinko Novosel — 2023-12-20

This paper aims to present interpretations and modifications of the early 19th century legal and economic knowledge within A. F. Albely's The Basics of General Financial Science, a textbook which focuses on the aspect of public finances. Referencing his own work to other authors in this academic field, Albely participated in a disciplinary discourse which served as a hub for circulation of ideas. This paper's primary concern is revealing the sources of Albely's legal and economic knowledge and noticing modifications which occured in ideas between different texts. Digital text analysis, accessed at the web-available platform Voyant tools, will prove to be an important heuristic asset, as it will disclose textual environments of ideas appearing in the analysed texts. This approach will enable new interpretative possibilities in the investigative field of knowledge circulation, as it will employ results of digital text analysis in order to discern Albely's intellectual influences and give insight into an idea modification process.

Croatian and Slovak Political Catholicism and Clericalism in the Period Between the First and the Second World War

Domagoj Tomas — 2023-12-20

In this article, the presence and influence of clericalism on Croatian and Slovak political Catholicism between the two world wars is examined through a comparative analysis, based on some Croatian interwar Catholic periodicals, recent Croatian and Slovak historiographical studies, as well as studies by some foreign historians. Also, the focus of the research attention was on re-examining the causes of the findings. At the very beginning, the terms clericalism and political Catholicism are defined as key terminological determinants used later in the article. That is followed by a brief review of some peculiarities of the modern Croatian and Slovak nation genesis, as one of the variables that had great influence on the peculiarities of Croatian and Slovak society and political culture as a whole. The central part of the article analyses the development and activities of Croatian and Slovak interwar political Catholicism, primarily through political activities of the Croatian People's Party and the Slovak People's Party/Hlinka's Slovak People's Party. Finally, a comparison of similarities and differences between the Croatian and Slovak political Catholicism follows, with explanations of possible causes for such a situation, and a quantitative analysis of the presence and impact of clericalism on Croatian and Slovak interwar political Catholicism.

Emigration of Korčulans to Brazil – Serious Calamity or Enticement to Emigration?

Darija Hofgräff Marić — 2023-12-20

One of the most massive migrations of Croats in the period of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was the emigration of inhabitants from the island of Korčula to Brazil in 1925. This was reported by Franko Mirošević, who described the circumstances that generally encouraged the emigration of the population from Dalmatia, and indicated his suspicion that this emigration was the result of recruitment on part of shipping agencies in conjunction with corrupt officials. Consequently, this paper will address the question of whether this emigration was really the result of severe privation or was it recruitment that induced the population of Korčula to emigrate. Hitherto unused archival sources were analyzed to shed more light on this question. Furthermore, previous allegations regarding the date and number of emigrants, as well as the attitude of the state authorities towards the phenomenon of recruitment in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes will be re-examined.

A teacher in a Croatian village during the First World War and the interwar period - the example of Stanko Horvatin in Gračani (1913 - 1933)

Domagoj Novosel — 2023-12-20

The paper examines the life and work of Stanko Horvatin, the head teacher (principal) of the public/elementary school in Gračani, which changed its name several times during its existence. The central time frame covers the period from 1913 to 1933, when Horvatin was active in the Gračani area, but the paper also covers earlier and later phases of his life. On the basis of archive material, the paper analyzes various aspects of Horvatin's life, from pedagogical work at school, to social involvement, political positions and everyday existential problems in family life. Horvatin's biography clearly reflects the educational system and its influence on the life of a Croatian village during the First World War and the interwar period. The paper also shows the status of Croatian teachers in relation to the political changes and regimes they were exposed to, as well as the challenges they faced as a result. In a broader context, changes caused by modernization can be observed in the Croatian countryside of Northwestern Croatia during the researched period.