The Collapse of a Historiography Which Never Existed

Institucionalne povezave jugoslovanskih zgodovinarjev in skupni projekti

Abstract

Yugoslav historiography after World War II was more of an association of eight national historigraphies which had never functioned as a whole. Despite this, it nevertheless succeeded in realising a number of joint projects. The most important of these was the History of the Yugoslav Nations, of which only two parts were published, as Yugoslav historians could not agree on the concept and realisation of the third part which was to cover the 19th and 20th centuries. Already in the 1960s, a heated debate ensued amongst historians and other humanists of the different Yugoslav nationalities regarding several divisive issues, particularly the relations among the Yugoslav nations. Under the influence of politicians, the debate calmed down in the 1970s, but was renewed and became even more acrimonious in the 1980s. The bulk of historiography at that time was under the strong influence of national politics and their interests