The Habsburg Monarchy and the Yugoslav Question in the Light of Slovene Historiography ; Habsburška monarhija in jugoslovansko vprašanje v luči slovenske historiografije

The position of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Yugoslav question in Slovene historiography has been changing within time. It can be divided into several periods. The first period started directly after the political changes in 1918. It strongly depended on the contemporary history and memories. Under this influence the Habsburg Monarchy was stereotypically referred to as “prison of nations” and “Dante’s hell”, that is to say an unfree and oppressive state union. This standpoint was, in its sharper form, more typical for politically motivated publicists then for historians. The historiography was influenced by politics which, in the period from 1918 to 1941, dictated “serbocentric” view on the problem of the Habsburg Monarchy within which everything was subordinated to the “liberation of suffering brothers Croats and Slovenes”. Glorification of military and dynastic efforts on one side and prevalent Slovene attitudes (to renounce Slovene language, to take over foreign habits, to melt into united Yugoslav nation.) left traces. Nevertheless it became evident that apart from of the Yugoslav idea there were others which, until the decline of communism, persistently followed the Slovene national programme dating back to 1848. In the period after the World War II, different elements were introduced into historiography. On one side the role of working class was stressed, and on the other side the role of Catholic Church and bourgeois class parties was belittled, although the latter were acknowledged some merits for realization of the South Slavic state union. With the time distance, democratization of society in the 1990’s and unimpeded access to appropriate (also in the means of quantity) sources the conditions were set for historical synthesis unburdened by non-historical heritage. ; Obravnava habsburške monarhije in jugoslovanskega vprašanja predstavlja v slovenskem zgodovinopisju eno zanimivejših poglavij, v katerem spremljamo različne pristope posameznih avtorjev, ki so ustvarjali v različnih časovnih obdobjih. V začetnem obdobju je značilna čustvena nacionalno pogojena obravnava in veliko upanje v novo južnoslovansko državo. V nadaljevanju je vprašanje pogosto deležno ideološke obravnave. Izpostavljena je vloga naprednih revolucionarnih sil, ki so si prizadevala tudi za družbene spremembe. Šele novejše obdobje, povezano z neselektivnim študijem virov in kritično obravnavo je odprlo manj znana ali celo zamolčana poglavja. Stereotipne ocene se umikajo znanstveni presoji, ki raziskovalce vodi tudi do novih ali ponovno odkritih spoznanj.