The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia lies in south east Europe between the Soviet block and the free enterprise countries of Western Europe. It was originally established as a confederation of independent Balkan states after the first world war; after the second world war it became an independent federation of the socialist republics of Bosnia, Herzegovnia, Montenegro, Croatia (including Dalmatia), Slovenia, and Serbia, together with the two small autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. In the subsequent 30 years the trend towards decentralised decision making and institutional self management has continued. Nevertheless, the federal authorities retain major control over economic decision making and policies. For example, they forbid anyone from owning more than two houses or 10 hectares of land, and no factory owner may employ more than 10 people. Capitalism in any other than this minor form is not allowed, and any businessman whose business expands must become involved in frustrating negotiations with the local government to set up a state industry. I recently visited Yugoslavia as a guest of the Institute for Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases and of the medical faculty of the University of Zagreb and visited various health care units which provide services for diabetics in Croatia. As well as Zagreb itself I visited units in Split on the Adriatic coast and at Varazdin, near the Hungarian border. Necessarily my observations are based on the diabetes services in Croatia, but although the other republics may have less developed services they follow similar principles.
The idea underlying the politics of the Independent People's Party (Samostalna narodna stranka), emphasized already in the program of 1863, was the principle that Croatia had rights as an independent entity and consonant with this the duty to determine the status of its rights in the Monarchy independently, and not in conjunction with Hungary. In accordance with this principle the Party took as a point of departure its political conceptions of 1848 from which arose the separation of Croatia from Hungary. Although of all parties, the Independent People's Party built least on historical rights, it was prepared to turn to them in order to strengthen the position of Croatia as a state. It differed from the other parties in that the viewpoints of the aristocrats received least expression in its publications, and it favored the democratization of politics, with the involvement of the widest range of social strata in political life. Regarding the central government, the Independent press emphasized that the Croatian Office and the Viennese government did not have the same goals; to verify this assertion they indicated that the programmatic document "Conditionally or Unconditionally?" originated with the sanction of the Office. The demands expressed in this document were certainly not in accord with the centralistic tendencies in the Viennese government. Conditions for entrance into the Emperor's Council were, namely, an independent and autonomous budget, unification with Dalmatia and with a part of Krajina. Besides this it was emphasized that the Croatian Constitution and autonomy could not come into question, nor could the government ministers interfere in the issue of Croatia's autonomy. It was further emphasized that Inasmuch as Hungary obtained a different status as a state, those same rights must also be granted to Croatia. In their writings the Independent politicians sharply differentiated between two freedoms: the political freedom of citizens and the freedom to develop national identity, and they consistently supported the latter. They were convinced that within the Hungarian community of nations, Croatians would not be able to attain conditions conductive to free national development, and hence supported an agreement with Vienna. Aside from this, they hinted that in the event an agreement with Vienna could not be reached, the Croatians still had the opportunity to negotiate with Budapest. On the other hand, inasmuch as the Croatians would first negotiate with Budapest, or rather send their representatives to the Hungarian Assembly, the significance of the Croatian Assembly would be greatly reduced and would become completely dependent on the Hungarian Assembly. In this event there would be no further possibility for Croatia to enter into any other combination of states' rights. They further stressed, quite correctly, that the Hungarians themselves were making agreements with Vienna and that in some transactions they treated the Monarchy as an equal unity. Insofar as negotiations were already under way, the Independents were convinced that it was more advantageous for Croatians to take part in them immediately rather than directly with Hungary. In spite of the fact that the program demanded a lot, the majority of the populists did not support it from distrust that the program was merely a decoy to draw the Croatians into the Emperor's Council. The Independents were convinced that the main reason for this distrust was the widespread conviction that the goals of the Viennese government and the Croatian Office were identical, so they attacked such assertions in their publications. However, despite this, the majority of the populists continued to reject Independent policies and in their resistence joined the Unionists; in this way they strengthened the dualistic trend, which even without this support, became stronger in the political life of the Monarchy.
From the class meeting in Bruck in 1578 to Berlin Congress in 1878, i. e. from the very beginning till the end of its fundamental function, Military Border goes through various and very complex processes. Its problems in the 1850-ies are the topic of this paper. In spite of clear demands of political circles in Zagreb concerning the Military Border, the Monarchy in Vienna tries to protect it as a distinctly military institution that will not act against Hungary only but against national integration on the Balkan and Apenine Peninsula too. After the revolution in 1848/49 military and court circles in the Austrian monarchy invest special labours to turn the Military Border into a corpus separatum where military tradition will be further cherished, with corporal strictness, waiting for the development of events on the East, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the presence of Vienna and Budapest, especially after 1849, solving of the Military Border question is affected strongly by the impulse coming just from Zagreb. Trying to gather around itself the separated Croatian territories as soon as possible, Zagreb supported in the Military Border question up to Austro-Hungarian agreement in 1867 the opinion about the need of administrative integration of military and civil territories of Croatia. But, because the administrative integration does not put in the first plan demilitarization of Military Border, there appear due to such political conception in Zagreb some fundamental prerequisites for the collaboration between military and royal circles in Vienna and Croatian politicians. However, this collaboration left no deeper traces in the Croatian politics. The last ''Basic Law of Military Border", accepted in 1850, rejects all the projects of political representation of Croatia about the future of Military Border. The project has been saved as Jelačić's "Military Border Foundation" from 1849. In spite of expectations of Croatian politicians the last "Military Border Foundation" from 1850 tries to contribute to stabilization of Military Border mechanism and to its preserving. This new Military Border's constitution, contrary to demands of Croatian representatives formulated in the "Military Border Foundation" in 1849, declares the whole Military Border to be a part of the imperial army. Although the basic intention of that Law was to subordinate social relationships in Military Border to its main task, i. e. to supply the Monarchy permanently with cheap army, still it did not succeed to stop the process of social differentiation and destruction of outlived forms of traditional Military Border society, In this paper are analyzed first of all those social phenomena in Military Border which point to the movement of the social structure and the crisis of traditional military-rural society. Besides problems of disharmony between legal superstructure and social reality there are analyzed the efforts of Croatian business circles to hold back - by means of concentrating merchants and craftsmen in Croatia under the ban and in Military Border - the Austrian capital existing for centuries in Military Border, that important part of Croatian territories.
The political and social renascence that took place in the latter part of the 19th century made possible the revival of economic, cultural, and artistic activities. This became particularly evident in the building activity spreading, as in the rest of Europe of that period, in the wake of the then fashionable neo-styles that made a somewhat belated appearance at Vis. A Neo-Gothic building, designed to house the premises of the Hrvatski Dom, was built in the central part of the water-front (luka) et the very beginning of the current century, while a Neo-Renaissance dwelling-house was erected for the Tramontana family in 1911. The local school, designed by the native architect Marinković, was built in the Neo-Classicist style in 1910. The building housing the Army Club premises (Dom JNA) and the new fishmarket were also erected in the Neo-Classicist style. Some Neo-Classicist tombs may be seen on the cemetery where the Neo-Renaissance Dojmi Chapel stands out among other monuments. A Neo-Renaissance dwelling-house, belonging to the Mardešić Gariboldi family, was built at Komiža in in the early part of the current century, while the construction of a building in the Secessionist style (The Hum Café) followed shortly. The trend prevailing at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries is evident also in a series of simple, modest houses designed in no definite style at all, but containing elements of various neo-styles or of the Viennese Secession in their facades. Gutters for carrying off rain water, usually sunk in decorative roof cornices supported by consoles; rows of tall windows with simply dressed stone frames that were molded in some cases; standard shop entrances in the ground floor; balconies with wrought-iron balustrades; basement windows protected with iron grating, etc., all these elements were commonplace during that period lasting through the thirties of the current century when the increasing use of concrete almost entirely repleced stone as building material, rendering the facade construction an utterly simple affair. Among the movables dating from the above mentioned period, the Neo-Gothic furniture of the pharmacy (Narodna Apoteka) at Komiža, and the home furniture owned by the Lučić-Roki family at Vis (designed by Dragutin Inkiostri Medenjak, painter and decorator, 1866-1942) are worth mentioning. So are several pieces of furniture, etc., dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries scattered in various houses on the island. Two painters native from Komiža, Vinko Foretić and Miho Marinković, contributed to the development of the modern art in Croatia during the early part of the current century. While the former returned to his native island after years of youthful wanderings, dedicating his ability to landscape painting and portraying of life and people of Komiža, the latter ended his days as a university professor (member of the Faculty of Architecture) in Belgrade. Boasting marvellous scenery and views of the sea, picturesque water-front and interesting fishermen popular even abroad, Komiža has attracted a number of artists for a long period now. One of them was Đuro Tiljak who came to live on the island time and again where he painted considerable number of his canvases. A memorial collection of his works, comprising all his creations involving the island, was opened at Komiža in 1967. The Island of Vis, having played a most important part in the People's Revolution, has a special niche in its history. Owing to its geographical position, lying far from the mainland in the open sea, the island, turned into a wartime garrison by the People's Liberation Army as soon as Italy surrendered to the Allies in 1943, became an impregnable fortress in the Adriatic, successfully resisting the attacks of German forces in the area. That is why a number of localities and structures on the island, reminding us of those eventful years, are significant not only for the history of Dalmatia but of the whole of Yugoslavia. The glorious days of the recent past are re-awakened by memorial tablets or slogans found on old stone-built houses in the island villages and hamlets; by graves of fallen partisans scattered in a number of grave-yards and on the former aerodrome – once a lonely window flung open to the outer world and now a peaceful green vineyard; and also by miscellaneous articles or documents surviving in the silanders' homes. Numerous traces of red – or blue – painted slogans still found on the walls of houses at Vis, Komiža, Podšpilje, Marinje Zemlje, Dračevo Polje, Podstražje, and other villages and hamlets on the island, bear eloquent testimony to the wartime events, particularly to the significant ones in 1944. The cave located to the nort-west of Borovik is no doubt the most important monument belonging to that period as it served as sheltered headquarters for the People's Liberation Army from where its Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, controlled its activities in the field aiming at the liberation of the country. The cave has therefore been named Titova Špilja. Several memorial tablets have been erected in the post-war period, either to mark some historic spots or to honour the victims of the Fascist persecution, fallen partisans, etc., Among the memorial tablets set up at Komiža, the one on the Tower is in memory of the 1940 municipal election victory of the workpeople of Komiža when 18 councilmen were returned, who directed the municipal affairs under the leadership of the Communist Party of Croatia; others, set up on various houses at Vis, mark the one-time seats of the District Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia for the central Dalmatian archipelago, and of the Regional Committee of the People's Liberation Movement, etc. A memorial tablet, set up on the Kučić Family house at Komiža, reminds us of the decision made by the local Communist Party Committee in 1941 to start attacking the invader's forces, while the inscription on another tablet erected on the house owned by Luka Borčić (at Žena Glava), records the spot where – from January through October 1944 – the Dalmatian Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia conducted the armed revolt of the people against the Fascist invader. Fallen partisans have been hounoured by memorial tablets set up at Vis, Komiža, Podstražje, Marinje Zemlje, Podšpilje, and on the Island of Biševo. Both native and British airmen, killed in action in the course of the struggle for liberation, have also been honoured, the native flyers at Velo Polje and the British at the Čunkovica crossroads. Monuments remind us of the executed hostages at Vis and Komiža in 1943 while a memorial tablet records the spot where Nikola Marinković – Top was killed. As a part of the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the stay on the island (in 1944) of the members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, of the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army, and of Marshal Tito himself, several buildings were dedicated in 1964 to the fighters killed in action and to the victims of Fascist cruelty. Among such buildings are the memorial school, designed by the Architect N. Šegvić, and the memorial premises for popular meetings, etc., designed by S. Planić. A memorial well built at Podšpilje bears the inscription of some verses by J. Franičević and of names of the fallen fighters. A large monolith erected at Vis marks the spot where the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the People's Liberation Army, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, reviewed the First Dalmatian Brigade decorating it for bravery with the Order of People's Liberation. A sentence from his speech reading: »Tuđe nećemo – svoje ne damo« (We do not what is not ours but we will not surrender what is ours) has been cut in the monolith. A number of buildings at Vis bear inscriptions recording various wartime events, e. g. the stay there (in 1944) of the presidium of the Anti-Fascist Council of Yugoslavia, of the People's Committe, of the Vis Island District Committee, etc. Some buildings at Komiža are marked in a similar way, and we learn from the inscriptions which of the houses were occupied by the Military Command, Military Hospital, Refugee Collecting Station, etc. Memorial tablets have also been set up at Borovik Village, in order to mark the houses once occupied by the Centrl Comittee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, the 26th Division Headquarters, and the Soviet, British, and American military missions. The Dalmatian Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia, the Agitprop, the Slobodna Dalmacija Editorial Office, etc., were housed at Žena Glava Village, while various aerodrome services etc. had their quarters at Marinje Zemlje. The headquarters of the 1st Dalmatian Brigade and 3rd Overseas Brigade were at Podselje. A number of miscellaneous movable articles connected with the People's War of Liberation have been preserved and are now on show at the Museum at Vis as also in some private homes. A significant architectural contribution has been recorded on the island in the field of building construction. The Yugoslav Army Club premises at Komiža and a number of handsome dwelling-houses (all designed by the Architect Vitić) and the large Wine Cellars (designed by the Architect Fabris) are particularly noteworthy.
The basic feature and specificity of Yugoslav pluralism are the institutional interest groups. These groups are the elements of the structure of the political system itself, and therefore directly included — institutionally and legislatively in the consideration is here primarily given to the enterprise. As the enterprise is given a special status in the constitutional political system of Yugoslavia in which it is legally recognized as a political category par excellence, the consideration is here primarily given to the enterprise. Analyzing the results of the interviews with the presidents of Communal Assemblies in Socialist Republic of Croatia and directors of some bigger enterprises in the same republic, the author investigates whether and to what extent the enterprise uses its power and influence in the political process — in what degree it is a policy making factor. The research results show considerable differences between the formal authority and factual power of the enterprises. Although all the enterprises have the same status constitutionally, the real differences are so great, that some enterprises make the policy of communes and even larger regions, and the influence of others is meager. The factor is the economic power. Besides the differences between the enterprises in power and influence, the research results give the evidence to the author's thesis that the enterprises significantly influence the process of political decision making. The actual possibility of the enterprise to act as an interest group is determined by many conditions — some of political and legislative, some of factual nature, primarily: a) by political and legal status in the total system, b) unstable normative structure which is subject to many influences and constant change, c) lack of the more stable criteria that would provide an evaluation of organizations and individuals according to their results, and last but not least; d) democratization of the system itself which is becoming more open to the expression of different interests and actions of interest groups. Finally, author examines some relevant theoretical and political aspects of the strike as a mean of the political pressure in the self-management system in Yugoslavia.
The time has come for the history of the Jews of the Western Balkans to be reviewed in this light. So far the history of this section of the Jewish people has remained largely unexplored and unrecorded. This book is the first attempt at filling the gap. It is written in the hope that the subject may prove of interest to the historian, the scholar and the layman, and particularly to the younger generation of Jews whose parents have come from that part of the world but who have so far had little chance of familiarizing themselves with their own background. The first volume deals with the history of this community from ancient times until the end of the 19th century. The second volume will bring the story up to the middle of the 20th century and tell of the social ferment of that period, the emergence of political Zionism and the spiritual revival that accompanied it, the immigration of young Jews to Palestine, the Nazi holocaust and the fate of its survivors after the Second World War. Time and space naturally are the two major coordinates of the events related. The beginnings of our story are set against the scene of the Roman Empire of which Dalmatia and Macedonia formed part. The Jews of Dubrovnik were spared neither the horrors of the Middle Ages nor the excesses of the Church Militant in its counter-reformational zeal. Under the Ottoman rule in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the glory of the Sublime Porte was already on the wane, the Jews of Serbia and Bosnia had a brief spell of prosperity. Ву 1941, over a span of 150 years, the Jewish community in Croatia had developed from a hotbed of assimilation into a centre of Jewish revival. Тће book describes both the external factors that affected the Jewish communities in the southern Slavonic countries and the general Jewish events that shaped the course of their history.
The first part of the article deals with the renewal of old and establishement of new associations in Šibenik and its district during the period betwen the two world wars. The associations are astablished by the pro-government elements of the society in order to be able to realize the goals of the state policy as defined by the »Vidovdan« Constitution. The opposition parties of the burgeois society established their own associations intended to reach the goals set by the programe of their political or cultural activities. The oppositional forces and particularly the HSS (Croatian Peasants' Party) developed a great activity in the founding of new associations after 1935. The activity of various associations was forbidden by the dictatorial government of January 6th, 1929, while others were required to engage themselves more intensively in the realization of the unitarian-centralistic conception of state The »Jugoslavenski Sokol«, »Jadranska Straža«, etc.) The second part of the article contains various data referring to associations ordered in the following way; (a) Yugoslav, (b) Croatian, (c) Serbian, (d) Religious, (e) the remaining ones (trade unions, cultural, humanitarian, and sports association. Then follows a general survey of the activity of each of the associations, a description of their activities and the occasions on which they took place. Numerous associations developed their most important annual activity in connection with the celebration of same national, religious and similar holidays. The activities of some associations is illustrated by interesting data (»Kolo«, the Yugoslav workers' Sports Club »Šibenik«, branch organizations of the »Seljačka Sloga«). Some documents and observations are presented in the third part of the article, showing that some of the associations were influenced by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. This applies to »Vodička Glazba«, to the »Seljačka Sloga« branch organization at Zaton, the JRSD »Šibenik«, the Jugoslavenski Akademski Klub, as well as to the academic clubs »Matija Gubec«, and »Stjepan Radić«. Taking into account the fact that a maximum number of activists and combatants in the People's Liberation War came from the Šibenik region, the author concludes that the above mentioned associations and similar organizations, particularly on the Adriatic islands, were real hotbeds of ideas and viewpoints of the Communist Parties of Yugoslavia and of Croatia.
