Miroslav Krleža's lost notes discovered

Miroslav Krleža is a towering figure of 20th century Croatian literature. His tremendous activity and great contribution to Croatian culture don't allow for a summary in a post like this, so I gladly refer to the Wikipedia entry for more information. Surprisingly, that entry makes no mention of the fact that Miroslav Krleža (1893-1981) was the editor in chief of the Enciklopedija Jugoslavije. Precisely about his work on the encyclopedia some until know unknown documents have been discovered.
The 536 pages with Krleža's notes give an interesting insight in the daily course of events in the editorial offices, according to Jutarnji list. He not only had to accommodate the ruling socialist ideology - he and Tito got along quite well, by the way - but also to satisfy the editorial team of each and every of the six republics that made up Yugoslavia.
And that's pretty much all Jutarnji had to say, as the promised insights are nowhere to be found on its website. I was interested in knowing how Krleža kept a balance between the interests of Yugoslavia's many nations and nationalities and the unitary political and economic doctrines. So I turned to the institution that published Krleža's notes, the noteworthy Matica hrvatska, the mother of all Croatian cultural institions. The latest issue of Kolo, one of Matica's periodicals, is devoted to Krleža's outpouring, but on their website the winter issue 2007 still figures prominently. Croats did not yet fully embrace the internet, to put it mildly.
I went to the National and Scientific Library, in potential a fantastic place but in reality rather disappointing. Their latest Kolo issue was from spring 2008. I give up on Kolo, for now.
If you are a real fan of Krleža then it's good to know that the Lexigographic Institute Miroslav Krleža, formerly know as the Yugoslav Lexicographical Institute led by Krleža, has published a three volume encyclopedia about him. It treats in great detail everything that is remotely connected to Krleža.

From ally to enemy: Slovenia

Once upon a time Slovenes and Croats said they lived in a country that stretched "od Triglava do Vardara", from the Triglav mountain in the extreme north-west of Slovenia to the Vardar river in south-eastern Macedonia. Close to the Macedonian town of Gevgelija, or Đevđelija, the Vardar crosses the Greek border to empty into the Aegean Sea, not far from Thessaloniki. Therefore, also the variant "od Triglava do Đevđelije" was popular among the partisans who created Yugoslavia on the ruins of World War II.
It's easy to forget how large a county the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was. With its area of 255,804 square kilometers it was bigger than the United Kingdom or Romania. Austria fitted almost three times into it and only eight American states are bigger. Today, Serbia without Kosovo is smaller than Austria, and Ireland outsizes Croatia.
Slovenia and Croatia were the two leading republics in the break-up of Yugoslavia. Both felt exploited and dominated by Belgrade and declared independence on the same day, 25 June 1991. What followed is history and so is their close cooperation from those days. Now safely in the EU, Slovenia seems to have turned into Croatia's main external obstacle to a quick entry into the Union. As you can read everywhere Slovenia blocked the opening and closing of some chapters of Croatia's accession negations.
It's not the first time that the Slovenes anger Croats. Last year Slovenia introduced a vignette for its highways and motorways. As the vignette is available for either six or twelve months, many Croats feel injured for several reasons. First, going to Ljubljana for shopping or just refueling (Slovenia has lower fuel prices than Croatia) became more expensive. Second, many Croats suspect that Slovenia intentionally delays building highways in order to isolate Croatia from the rest of Europe. Looking at the map of Slovenian roads, that suspicion is maybe not without justification. As an impartial observer I can safely say that the speed of highway construction in Slovenia is staggeringly slow. Third, most tourists come to Croatia by car, passing through Slovenia. They need to pay a relative large sum to use a little stretch of highway.
And now Slovenia blocked Croatia's progress towards EU membership. It accuses Croatia of using certain documents in the negotiations that claim an unfair share of the Adriatic Sea close to the Slovenian town of Piran. One look at the map below and it is clear why the Bay of Piran is crucial to Slovenia. Without it, Slovenia doesn't have access to international waters.
Croats used to make fun of Slovenia's coast and sea (read more here) which they find hugely inferior to their majestic coast. I don't think they laugh any more. Of course, the Slovenian veto against Croatia is petty-minded, but so is, if you ask me, Croatia's reluctance to grant Slovenia the Bay of Piran. Croatian coastal beauty is in another league anyway, with of without that bay.

Tito's friends and foes

Former mayor of Karlovac, Josip Boljkovac, has taken the initiative to establish the Josip Broz Tito Society of Karlovac. "If there had not been unity of the Serbian and Croatian peoples and the Communist Party, Croatia as we have it today would not exist", he explained.
Most people agree with that, although many would add that Croatia today could have been a better country had it not been ruled by a brutal communist dictator. Around 2000 people who hold that opinion gathered last Saturday on Zagreb's Trg maršala Tita (Marshall Tito Square). Their protest was aimed at the very name of the square, as it honours the man they call a "war criminal". Instead, they want to change the name of the square around the Croatian National Theatre into Kazališni trg (Theatre Square). Theatre Square sounds logical, but it was only during the fascist Independent State of Croatia that the square went by that name. Before World War Two it honoured Petar Karađorđević and, before 1918, Franz Joseph, the Austrian emperor.
A counter-demonstration of antifascists drew a few hundred people. Their message was that Tito had defeated fascism in Croatia and given Yugoslavia a respectable position in world politics. The Alliance of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists (communists love lengthy names) said that it is time to "stop expressing hatred and spreading lies about the antifascist struggle and Marshall Tito".
There is, of course, nothing wrong with antifascism. That is why Croatian communists present themselves as antifascists, because everything else that has to do with communism has been discredited. I don't have much faith in Croatian anticommunists either. There is, again, nothing wrong with anticommunism. But the anticommunist community here is too often made up of an unholy alliance of the catholic church and people with an excess of love for the homeland.
That is, in short, the trouble with Croatian history and society. This country has no history of civil liberalism that said "no" to any kind of totalitarianism.
The Alliance of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists boasted that seventeen cities around the world named a square or street after Tito, among them London, New Delhi and Washington. If you have a picture of a Tito Square or Street, wherever you live, please send it me so I can make a Tito gallery on this blog.

Culture and crime

When it comes to culture and crime, Yugoslavia never ceased to exist. Just a few weeks ago, the Serbian author Predrag Crnković won the Croatian VBZ price for his book Beograd za pokojnike (Belgrade for the deceased). The day before yesterday, the Zagreb based rock band Hladno Pivo (Cold Beer) performed in Belgrade for thousands of delirious fans. It was Hladno Pivo's biggest concert in Serbia ever, and they are around for already twenty years. Bands from Belgrade, such as Darkwood Dub and Partibrejkers, are equally popular in Croatia. Toše Proeski, a Macedonian singer, wasn't even a teenager yet when his country gained independence, but he nevertheless grew into pop star all over the Balkans. His untimely death, in a car accident on 16 October 2007 in Croatia, sent shock waves through the region.
The same story goes for the crime scene, where the inter-ethnic relations are no less than excellent. The brutal murder of Ivo Pukanić was committed by a truly Yugoslav mafia, with members in all former republics. And that is just one example.
Meanwhile the political relations between Croatia and Serbia echo war drums. The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that it has jurisdiction to examine Croatia's allegation that Serbia committed genocide in the period 1991 to 1995. The Serbian government in turn announced that it will countersue Croatia for genocide against Croatian Serbs from the Krajina region.

Vukovar Remebrance Day

On 18 November 1991 the Slavonian town of Vukovar surrendered to the Serbian forces (officially: Yugoslav National Army) that had relentlessly bombarded it for months. The town had been defended heroically by less then 2.000 Croats against a more than tenfold stronger Yugoslav army, not to mention the difference in arms. After the Yugoslav troops conquered the devastated town, they entered the overcrowded hospital complex. 261 patients were executed in Ovčara, not far from Vukovar. Many others were expelled from the town or sent to camps in Serbia.
The fall of Vukovar came as a tremendous mental blow to Croats. Many felt that the Tuđman government in Zagreb had given up on Vukovar. From a political perspective, however, the government had succeeded in two important things. First, the prolonged siege of Vukovar had given the Croats more time to build their amy and, second, more time to gather international support for Croatia's difficult position.
On the eve of every Vukovar Remembrance Day, thousands of candles were lit along Vukovar street (Vukovarska ulica) in Zagreb. In Yugoslav days, this long street went by the name Ulica proleterskih brigada (Proletarian brigades street).

A paper house

A certain book in the flood of publications about the violent breakup of Yugoslavia carries the title: A Paper House. The Ending of Yugoslavia, written by Marc Thompson. One could equally say that paper serves to build a nation. Countries that gained independence often establish airlines, build prestigious infrastructural objects and publish encyclopedias. Croatia is no different in that respect. In a time in which even renowned encyclopedias, such as Britannica and Brockhaus, struggle to survive, the Croatian Lexicographic Institute Miroslav Krleža (LZMK) annually publishes a volume of the Hrvatska enciklopedija (Croatian encyclopedia). The encyclopedia will consist of eleven volumes. The tenth volume was published this summer, so the series should be complete in a year or so. Notwithstanding its name, the Hrvatska enciklopedija is a general encyclopedia, although it pays more attention to Croatian subjects than, say, Britannica does to British.
Croatia has an unfortunate history when it comes to encyclopedias. The first big encyclopedic project, led by Mate Ujević, was interrupted by the Second World War and the subsequent victory of the partisans. In Tito's Yugoslavia the LZMK needed almost twenty years (1955-1971) to publish the Enciklopedija Jugoslavije (Encyclopedia of Yugoslavia). It is still the only complete encyclopedia on Yugoslavia, because its second edition (1980-1990) was halted by the war of the 1990s. Of the twelve planned volumes only six were published.