Scientific Department of Contemporary History
The Department’s research includes topics of crucial importance for understanding the 20th century. It is a series of topics that have been less studied or have been interpreted one-sidedly in previous periods. A series of processes and events from From World War II to the present day, it encompasses periods of Croatian history that directly affect our everyday lives: the period of the Independent State of Croatia, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Croatia, as well as Croatia’s entry into the European Union. Within these states, important processes of modernization took place that can be encompassed by the concepts of deagrarianization, industrialization, urbanization and mass enlightenment, which occurred under conditions of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, and only in short periods within the framework of democratically elected authorities. The development is given a special character by the different state frameworks, i.e. Yugoslavia and independent Croatia, as well as the violent changes that marked their creation and the changes in social and political frameworks. All of this has led to the fact that one of the important topics is the research of victims of war and totalitarian systems. Researchers use the methods of historical science, but also methodological procedures, and even more so the results of social sciences such as political science, sociology, demography, ethnology, economics and law. An important part of the interpretation is also familiarity with the comparative analysis of similar events and processes in other European countries.
The Department’s staff is conducting scientific research through two new institutional projects: Political Climate and Repression in Croatia and Yugoslavia from 1941 to 1995 – Selective Memories and Interpretations (POREHR) and Only Change is Constant: Development and Life of Croatian Cities in the 19th and 20th Centuries (ŽIVIGRAD), which are financed through the Program Agreement through the NextGenerationEU Fund. The latter institutional project is being implemented in collaboration with the Department of Modern History. The Department’s staff is also largely participating in the implementation of the CroFacta project, which is being implemented in collaboration with the Miroslav Krleža Lexicographic Institute and the Croatian Memorial and Documentation Center of the Homeland War.
Department employees:
- Ph.D. Davor Marijan, Head of Department
- Ph.D. Domagoj Knezevic
- Ph.D. Jakša Raguž
