Projects / Programmes
Slovenes and the Contradictions of the Southern Slavic Integration Ideologies before 1914
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.01.00 |
Humanities |
Historiography |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| H240 |
Humanities |
Contemporary history (circa 1800 to 1914) |
| H271 |
Humanities |
Political history |
Slovenians, Croats, Serbs, southern Slav ideologies, history, southern Slavs, language, historical law, conflicts, unitarianism, federalism, national question, pan-Slavism, Illyrianism, the Balkans, Central Europe, South Eastern Europe.
Researchers (1)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
21670 |
PhD Marko Zajc |
Historiography |
Head |
2008 - 2010 |
346 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The contents of the project are divided in to three sections according to the issues at hand. 1. The incompatibility of the various concepts of the Yugoslav idea. The Yugoslav idea never existed as a relatively unified integration ideology. The key to its understanding lies in the period prior to 1914. Each elite of the individual nations had a different concept than the others of what was Yugoslav. All of them aspired primarily to their own national emancipation. It is therefore better to speak of various Southern Slavic integration ideologies The ideological foundations, forming the basis for the Southern Slavic nationalisms (historical law, language and religion), have to be analysed. It is essential to examine the “inconsistencies” of national ideologies, which invoke entirely mutually contradictory arguments. The source of these ideologies must be sought prior to the formation of modern nationalisms. Due to the complexity of the problem, the researcher will only analyse the basic contradictions of the various Southern Slavic integration ideologies and present them from the protonational phase in the 16th and 17th Centuries up until the end of the dual monarchy. The purpose of this is to afford an easier placement of Slovenia’s role. 2. The role of Slovenians in the genesis of the Southern Slavic integration ideologies. The researcher is going to highlight when and how the Slovenians were important for the Croats and Serbs, and verify the hypothesis that the Serbs and Croats understood the Yugoslav concept merely as a solution between Croats and Serbs. Croatian politics recognised the Slovenians as a separate ethnic group, although it remains to be seen whether Croatian political leaders regarded Slovenians as their equals. 3. The issue of abandoning the sense of belonging to the Slovenian nation in favour of belonging to Yugoslavia. The researcher will verify the hypothesis that the avoidance of setting the borders with the Croats and Serbs and the willingness to accept their language in the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th century signified, in the ideological sense, the Slovenian indulgence, or a desire to “expand”. Due to the German and Italian pressure, the Slovenian elite would have isolated itself had it set a solid ideological boundary with the Croats and the Serbs. The researcher will also verify the assertion that the Slovenians regarded themselves as an important element of the Yugoslav identity as the northern defender against the Germans and Italians and as the Slavic conduit of Western culture into the Balkans. The aim of the project is to shed light on the genesis of the Southern Slavic integration ideologies, and to define Slovenia’s role in this. Familiarity with history will also have a practical value for the economic, cultural and security cooperation with South-East Europe.
Significance for science
This is a contribution to the history of the complex issue of South Slavic integration ideologies and also to the insufficiently considered issue in Slovenian historiography since independence. The research in regard to the project of the placement of Yugoslavism in Slovenia before 1918 into the context of neighbouring European national ideologies is most significant. Slovenian intellectuals, who imagined the Slovenian nation, lived in the European space and were in contact with the concepts of the neighbouring nationalisms, which the Slovenian historiography has not paid enough attention to. Various concepts existed within the German and Italian national movement. Some of them were also attractive to those who argued for Yugoslavism in Slovenia. Especially those who, apart from arguing for the German or Italian unity, also took into account the local or regional linguistic and cultural peculiarities. The attitude of the Slovenian leaders to opposing nationalism was definitely multi layered. The political, cultural and scientific models, which became an important part of national movements in the 19th and 20th century, were also transferred between the nationalisms, involved in a severe national struggle. The research of the project, carried out to date, indicates that the Slovenian leaders of the 19th century did not have a clear idea about how the Slovenian national integration should end: in the sense of Slovenians as an independent nation or in the Yugoslav sense. Actually, not only these two solutions existed. There were also different versions of unclear mixed models, according to which Slovenians would not lose their language and identity, but would still be connected to the rest of the South Slavs.
Significance for the country
This project is in line with the national development policy. The Resolution on the National Research and Development Programme 2006 2010 (ReNRRP) states that research which contributes to the understanding of the "national identity, its recognition and familiarity with contemporary Slovenian history" and to the "national security and the international recognition of Slovenia" belongs among the priority areas. Shedding light on the role of Yugoslavism (in the negative as well as positive sense) in the forming of the Slovenian national identity is of key importance for understanding the Slovenian identity and the contemporary Slovenian history. Familiarity with the history of South-East Europe is of great importance for the recognition of Slovenia in the cultural and political areas as well as on the markets of the South-East Europe.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2008,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2008,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
