Serbia and Changes in the Concept of Citizenship in the Era of the First World War

This article examines changes in the concept of citizenship that occurred during and after the First World War resulting from Serbia's enlargement and unification with other South Slav nations in the Yugoslav state. As the consequence of unification with former Habsburg territories and the stipulations of peace treaties with Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria, Serbia's liberal concept of citizenship was changed by the introduction of Heimatrecht or pertinenza and by the creation of a certain hierarchy among ethnicities that gave preference to South Slavs and Slavs in general. With the passing of the 1928 Law on Citizenship it became clear that the Yugoslav concept of citizenship had become more regressive relative to the notion of citizenship that had existed in the pre-war Serbian Kingdom.

South Slavic Lands

The reception of Byzantine art among the South Slavs began with their conversion to Christianity in the ninth century. Bulgaria and Serbia were the largest medieval states, covering most of the territory of the Balkan Peninsula. With the development and strengthening of political power of these kingdoms, more influences from Byzantium penetrated the state administration and society. Art production mostly relied on the patronage of local rulers, nobles, or prelates, who were able to bring the best artists from Byzantine centers or those trained in Byzantine workshops. This resulted in the intermingling of Byzantine traditions and skills and local patrons’ desires for creating artistic programs and objects with political and national content.

Village Festivals and Rites in Croatian Naive Art

Хорватское наивное искусство, зародившееся в небольшом селе Хлебине, неотделимо от обрядности, без которой невозможно представить течение деревенской жизни. Яркие и декоративные работы крестьянских художников крепко спаяны не только с народным искусством, но и с самим сельским бытом, с его ритмично повторяющимися циклами. В картинах хорватских живописцев особое внимание уделяется изображению различных семейных и календарных праздников. Прослеживаются в творчестве хлебинской школы и элементы архаических обрядов, сохранившиеся в культуре южных славян. Традиционные для хорватской деревни ритуалы не могли не оказать влияния на художников, они послужили плодородной почвой для создания яркой подстекольной живописи. Связь наивного и народного искусства по мере углубления в проблематику становится всё более и более явственной. Мышление хорватских наивных художников архетипично в том смысле, что под определенными образами и темами их творчества есть глубокая мифологическая основа: угадывается целый комплекс смыслов, присутствует ощущение первозданности природы и хрупкого слоя крестьянской цивилизации. Обращение к образам и символам земледельческих обрядов и праздников - это не просто дань традиции хлебинской школы, это внутренняя потребность выражения себя в этой вечной для художников, живущих на берегах Дравы, теме бытия крестьянского мира. Croatian naive art developed in the small village of Hlebine is inseparable from the rituals of village life. The bright, ornamental works of peasant artists are firmly tied not only to folk art, but also to rural life and its repetitive cycles. In the paintings of these Croatian artists specific attention is paid to the depiction of family and calendar holidays. Traditional Croatian village life has had a strong impact on the artists has served as fertile soil for the creation of bright colored painting. Elements of archaic rituals that are still preserved in the culture of the South Slavs may be seen in their works. The connection between naive and folk art becomes clearer as we delve deeper into it. The thinking of Croatian naive artists is archetypal in the sense that a deep mythological basis underlies certain images and themes of their work. A complex of meanings may be intuited; there is a sense of primeval nature and the fragile layer of peasant civilization. The appeal to images and symbols of agricultural rites and holidays is not just a tribute to the tradition of the Hlebine school; for artists living on the banks of the Drava it derives from an inner need to express themselves in these eternal themes of the peasant world.

THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE OF THE SOUTH SLAVS IN 1875-1878 (BASED ON MATERIALS FROM THE VOLGA REGION)

The article is devoted to a complex of problems associated with the participation of the Russian Orthodox church in organizing of assistance to the liberation struggle of the South Slavs during the Balkan crisis of 1875-1878. The authors analyze various aspects of the assistance of the Russian Orthodox church to the South Slavs.

A bloodthirsty tyrant or a righteous landlord? Smail-aga Cengic in literature and oral tradition

The 1840 murder of a notable 19th century Bosnian dignitary Smail-aga Cengic immediately inspired strong artistic production in the South Slav literature and oral tradition. These narratives, comprising newspaper articles, oral epic songs, and particularly Ivan Mazuranic?s literary epics written in the manner of oral folk epic, presented and codified Smail-aga as a bloodthirsty tyrant whose ultimate aim was to terrorize and extinct his Christian subjects. In distinction, some marginalized local narratives and oral folk tradition, which will be examined in this article, remembered Smail-aga as a righteous and merciful lord, protector of his flock and a brave warrior. Thus, when we scrutinize several versions of oral songs about the death of Smail-aga recorded between 1845 and 1860, as well as later collected anecdotes from his native Herzegovina, it appears that his hostile portrayal in written literature was rather the contribution of the Serbian and Croatian Romantic nationalists around the mid- 19th-century than an actual popular perception of him among local people in the region that he lived with. In conclusion, the article advocates for a wider consideration of the overall polyphonic narrative tradition and the revitalization of traditional narratives that glorify values which transcend strict religious, ethnic and national divisions as a way of reimagining and revaluating relationship of the South Slavs towards the Ottoman heritage.

VIDOVDAN CONSTITUTION AS A KEY STUDY FOR UNDERSTANDING THE EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

How scientifically legitimate is the research of the history of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes? Does it make sense to deal with it today more than before? According to Weber-inspired methodology, the legitimacy of the research topic is based on the subjective (value judgment of the researcher) and the objective element (depending on the actuality of the topic and the selected professional structure). From this point of view, it seems that the answer to the initial question about legitimacy of the study on the Kingdom of SCS is confirmed. The choice of the topic of the paper is the result of personal interest and almost biographical affiliation of the author to the history and scenario of the "South Slavs"; But, on the other hand, actuality of topics can be objectively justified by the obvious interests of the scientific and professional public for the rediscovered Eastern Europe and - especially - for The Balkans, as one of its crucial geopolitical hubs.

Living in the Vicinity of the Yugoslav–Hungarian Border (1945–1960)

The history of Hungarian–Yugoslav relations was characterized by frequent changes after 1945. The rapid improvement of bilateral relations was abruptly interrupted by the escalation of the Soviet–Yugoslav conflict in 1948–1949. Tensions eased only after 1953 when a slow and time-consuming process of normalization started between the two states. These often-dramatic twists and turns had a profound and often intense impact on the everyday lives of those Hungarians and ethnic South Slavs who lived in the vicinity of the Hungarian–Yugoslav border. Breaks, changes, and continuities can all be observed at the local level. In this article, I will examine these factors in the case of South Slavic minorities living in Hercegszántó (Santovo), a village located in an area known as the Baja triangle. In the first part of the paper, I will provide the reader with some background information on the history of Hungarian–Yugoslav relations, with a particular emphasis on minorities. Then in the second part, I will analyse the ethnic and social composition of the village, its history after World War II, the effects of rapidly deteriorating Hungarian–Yugoslav relations after 1948 and, finally, the hopes and fears of the local Magyars and South Slavs during the period of normalization (1953–1956). My conclusions are based on archival research mostly carried out at several Hungarian archives.

French image of the inhabitants of the Illyrian Provinces and the emergence of South Slavic nationalisms

The Illyrian Provinces, a part of the 1st French Empire which existed in the years 1809-1813, are often portrayed as a political entity which anticipated various projects of the political emancipation of the South Slavs. However, the link between later pan-South-Slavic movements and the Napoleonic political activity is a matter which still remains unclear and deserves some in-depth analysis. Most often the Napoleonic impact on the evolution of the nascent South-Slavic nationalisms is viewed in the perspective of the posterior political attitudes of the Croat, Slovene or Serbian elites towards the French, and their own interpretations of the Napoleonic impact on the pan-South-Slavic movement. The proposed paper will concentrate on the opposite approach and will investigate how French perceived the South Slavs in the perspective of the nascent nationalisms, especially that French propaganda presented Napoleon as the savior of the European nations including the „Illyrian” one. But how French defined this „Illyrian” nation? This question can be answered thanks to the French strive for description of the societies inhabiting Illyrian Provinces.