The Struggle for Commemorating the World War I Centenary as an Illustrative Example of the Attitudes Towards That War in Croatia

Abstract

The commemoration of the World War I Centenary (2014–2018) was the most important social event in the last decade in the developed countries of Western Europe, especially Britain and France, and in the former British dominions, Canada and Australia. In contrast to these victorious countries, the countries defeated in the war (primarily Germany and Austria) had a significantly more modest and different approach to the commemoration. The emphasis was on all war victims, soldiers and civilians, regardless of which side of the war they had fought on. Since Croatia, as a former part of Austria-Hungary, found itself in a completely new state union after it was united with the Kingdom of Serbia after the war, veterans were ill-advised to mention their participation in the war on the wrong side. It was no better after the end of World War II, when one victor's narrative replaced another, and made the mentioning of formerly existing monarchies completely unacceptable. All these facts influenced attitudes towards World War I, which was almost completely forgotten in Croatia over time.