Naslov
Remembering War the European Way: Croatia’s Commemorative Culture on the Eve of EU Membership

Autori
Pavlaković, Vjeran

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, znanstveni

Knjiga
Croatia and the European Union: Changes and Development

Urednik/ci
Maldini, Pero ; Pauković, Davor

Izdavač
Ashgate Publishing ; Routledge

Grad
Farnham

Godina
2015

Raspon stranica
117-137

ISBN
978-1-4724-3185-1

Ključne riječi
Croatia, commemoration, World War 2, EU

Sažetak
Sharply contested narratives of Second World War, further radicalized by the wars accompanying Yugoslavia’s dissolution in the 1990s, profoundly shaped Croatia’s political culture, public space, and understanding of the recent past. Ideological divisions and issues of ethno-national identity were intimately tied to the deconstruction of the official communist historiography and new, nationalist interpretations of World War Two which were often played out in political speeches and commemorative events. Renewed victimization narratives served not only to justify the new cycle of bloodletting after the collapse of communism’s “brotherhood and unity” mantra or to provide legitimacy for the new political elite, but rehabilitated extremist nationalist discourse which became tolerated in the public sphere. The communist-led Partisans were demonized and equated with Milošević’s war machine of the 1990s, while the pro-fascist Ustašas were recast as an anticommunist patriots stripped of all associations with the Nazi regime. However, Croatia’s “flirting with fascism” during former President Franjo Tuđman’s decade in office was unacceptable to EU observers as Croatia began its long road to membership after 2000. This chapter examines how EU remembrance policies, especially regarding the Holocaust and the common antifascist legacy, and human rights norms affected the way Croatia officially commemorated Second World War. Commemorative speeches and the changing discourse at Second World War political rituals, such as Antifascist Struggle Day, will be analyzed to understand how EU remembrance policies changed Croatia's commemorative culture and were used by various actors across the political spectrum.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest

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