Political history of Croatia at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries: problems and methods Review of Ostajmer, B. Narodna stranka u Slavoniji i Srijemu 1883.–1903. Zagreb: Hrvatski institut za povijest, 2018.

Abstract

The review analyzes the monograph by Croatian historian Branko Ostajmer Narodna stranka u Slavoniji i Srijemu 1883.–1903. [The People’s Party in Slavonia and Srem in 1883–1903] and considers the historiography, source base, structure, and content of the book. Not only does the author of the monograph contribute to the development of Croatian historiography, but he also polemicizes with his predecessors and contemporaries. The extant archival sources of the period studied by B. Ostajmer are not plentiful, so the book is largely based on periodicals. A specific feature of his work is the author’s focus on the outstanding personalities of the era associated with the activities of the People’s Party. In addition, it is necessary to highlight the author’s analysis of Slavonism, a concept that is important for understanding the period and the region under study. B. Ostajmer studies the internal organization of the party and its electorate, including the interaction with individual social and ethnic groups, as well as the activities of the party in the context of Croat-Hungarian relations. Much space in the narrative is given to the figure of Croatian Ban K. Khuen-Héderváry, whose reign was taken as the chronological framework of the work. The book can be of interest to historians of parties and social movements of the Modern Era as well as specialists in Croatia, the Balkans, and Central Europe.

Keywords

• people’s party (narodna stranka)
• k. khuen-héderváry
• croatia
• hungary
• austria-hungary
• people’s movement of 1886
• people’s movement of 1903
• slavonia
• srem