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World War II Commemorations in Croatia: Political Party Discourse and the Use of History in Daily Politics

The aim of this paper is to depict the usage of Second World War commemorations in the public discourse of political parties in Croatia. A thorough discourse analysis shall enable an insight in the ways political parties employ World War II events in order to advance contemporary political goals. Further, the research shall showcase the ideological stance of particular political parties towards specific historic events, as well as the context of the war and post- war period in Croatia and Yugoslavia. The analysis of political party discourse on commemorations shall also show how narratives on the Second World War are used to delegitimize political opponents, as well as to divert the public eye from current (social and economic) topics and issues. The discourse analysis will concentrate on four key events, i.e. commemorations that attract the most media attention in Croatia. The first event this paper will analyze is the commemoration of the rebellion and break-through of inmates of the Ustasha-led Jasenovac concentration camp (April 22) which symbolized the crimes committed by the Ustasha-led collaborationist puppet state Independent State of Croatia (NDH). The second event to be researched is the commemoration of the Bleiburg Massacre (May 17) and the subsequent interlinked events called the Way of the Cross. This commemoration symbolizes all war and post- war crimes committed by the Yugoslav Partisans. The third and the fourth events are interconnected as they both symbolize the beginning of resistance to Nazism and Fascism (usually called antifascist struggle) in Croatia. The third event is an official public holiday in Croatia (June 22) called Day of Anti-Fascist Struggle, marking the date of formation of the first Partisan battle unit in Croatia. However, in recent years, another date is also commemorated. The fourth event (July 27) used to be a public holiday in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, before the break-up of Yugoslavia. It was called Day of the Uprising of the People(s) of Croatia. This event raises controversies as if officially commemorates the resistance to Ustashas, yet some connect it to war crimes committed by Chetniks. The sources for discourse analysis will include the two most important and most circulated daily newspapers in Croatia, Večernji list and Jutarnji list. The time frame for the research shall be 2009 to 2011. The political actors analyzed will include parliamentary political parties, with the greatest part devoted to the two main parties, HDZ and SDP. In addition, the analysis will include the public discourse of the Presidents Stjepan Mesić and Ivo Josipović. The Croatian case is particularly interesting because the heavy burden of history is much more pronounced than in most other European countries. There are several reasons for that. First, the legitimacy of Communist Yugoslavia was largely founded upon the antifascist struggle in the Second World War. Second, the break-up of Yugoslavia and the war in Croatia in the early 1990s are connected to World War II through a specific discourse. In such a narrative, Croats again “became” Ustashas, while the Serbs “turned into” Chetniks. Finally, the process of delegitimization of the Communist regime included the admonition and drawing of attention to Partisan war and post-war crimes. This led to a series of polemics on the extent of these crimes, as well as on the character of the Communist regime established after the Second World War. The Communist past, understandably, plagues SDP most, as this party is a successor of the Croatian League of Communists. On the other hand, the HDZ has an ambivalent position as its members include on the one hand former members of the League of Communists and on the other hand descendants of Ustashas and Ustasha émigrés.

Second World War; Croatia; party politics; politics of memory; Partisans; Ustashas; Chetniks

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