The Politics of Croatia-Slavonia 1903-1918

Nationalism, State Allegiance and the Changing International Order

Fernando Veliz

• Publisher: Harrassowitz Verlag
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9783447067003
• eBook ISBN: 9783447192521
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Eastern European History
• Index: History

The gradual erosion of allegiance to the Monarchy in Croatia-Slavonia at the beginning of 20th century was a long and protracted process that saw the abandonment of the concept of Croatian state right for the principle of ethno-national self-determination. But the main objective of all variants of Croatian nationalism remained the reform of the constitutional arrangements in Austria-Hungary until almost the very end of its existence. It was only with the realisation that the Monarchy would cease to exist that the decision to accept unification with Serbia became an acceptable option. The subject of Fernando Veliz' study is the fundamental alteration of state allegiance, political claims and their respective legitimating arguments by political elites in Croatia-Slavonia during the last fifteen years of the Habsburg Monarchy. The argument has been developed by following a chronological narrative that incorporates a comparative analysis of the main political parties and actors in the Croatian parliament in Zagreb between 1903 and 1918. The analytical approach moves beyond the main paradigmatic debates of the literature of nationalism studies by conducting a theoretically informed historical analysis that seeks to contextualise local events within the wider framework of the changing international order. From a historiographical point of view, the emphasis on the lack of inevitability of outcomes makes this study sit uncomfortably with the grand narratives that have emerged about the creation of the first Yugoslavia, be it those who see it as inevitable and those who see it as inherently bound to fail from the outset.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Main Political Parties and Politicians
• Map of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia
• Preface
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Historiographical Debates
• 3. The Habsburg Monarchy and the development of Croatian Nationalism
• 4. From the ‘New Course’ to the Annexation Crisis 1903-1909
• 5. Prelude and Consequences to The Balkan Wars 1910-1913
• 6. The Experience of the First World War 1914-1917
• 7. The Endgame 1918
• 8. Conclusion
• References