This is not an essay on the history of the Slovenian-Croatian border. It is an essay on the contemporary perception of the border’s history. For Slovenia, which only has 46 km of the Adriatic coast, the question of the maritime border and the border in Istria are especially pressing. The context of the EU did not just help to solve the problem, it also complicated it. The Essay deals with the history of the border insomuch as is needed to confront a historiography, based on comparable methodology/theory, with nationalist perceptions. A brief analysis of the nationalist historical narrative on the border reveals five characteristics of nationalist representation of the border history: anachronisms; false methodology; inconsistency; the focus on the "movements" of the individual parts of the border; the belief in the “naturalness” of national identities.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3377012
The Author analyses two long-term aspects of the border river phenomenon with the example of the river Mura: a) the relationship between the river bed, the boundaryline, and the anthropogenic effects on the river; b) discovering the historical structures through the perspective of border disputes. The "common sense" ideas about border rivers imply that the river bed and the boundaryline usually match. However, in the actual landscape and cartographic representations, the differences between these elements can be significant.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3797364
On the basis of the archival materials the author focuses on the Styrian-Croatian border river Drava (between Ormož and Središče) at the end of the 18th century, when (due to the river bed changes) the competent authorities under Maria Theresa and Joseph II started to focus on the consequent border disputes. After the massive floods of the river Drava in the 18th century, the border residents who suffered damages (on the Styrian side) complained more and more frequently, trying to solve the situation at hand. The author is specifically interested in how the river bed changes influenced the life of the residents of the areas by the river and how these people solved the mutual local disputes at the turn of the century (before the border was agreed upon and drawn at the beginning of the 19th century).
COBISS.SI-ID: 3686516
The author concentrates on the period before the first Yugoslav state. The reason for that is obvious: The Slovenian and Croatian nationalisms were formed in this period, and the administrative borders on the ground were demarcated by the Habsburg administration in the 18th and 19th century. In the second part of the article, the author tries to grasp the image of the border in Slovenian public sphere and the importance of the border in the last two decades for the Slovenian nationalism. The context of the EU was did not just help to solve the problem, it also complicated it.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3304564
Besides specifying the state’s territory, a state border represents one of the main elements of statehood. A protected and supervised state border is a means for the protection of its political and economic system. The contemporary history of Slovenia has been greatly marked by border disputes that arose when the country became an independent and sovereign state. A state border separating one state from another has a concrete, material and mandatory status. It represents a line designated with border markings, border stones and other demarcations. The crossing of a border is related to border crossing points, border zones, border surveillances and documents for the crossing of the border, which, in Yugoslavia, concerned anyone who wanted to cross the border. The Yugoslav border (i.e. the border of second Yugoslavia) in Slovenia consisted of the border with Italy, Austria and Hungary – separating the capitalist West and the state of the “real socialist” East. Most travels from Yugoslavia were made to the “capitalist” state. The question emerging here is where and how was it possible to cross the Yugoslav border after the Second World War, until an almost complete opening of the border in the mid-1960s, when crossings of the Yugoslav border were liberalized and greatly simplified. In terms of possibilities in obtaining passports and visas and the method of crossing the border, the crossings of the Yugoslav border can be divided into three periods. The first period was from the end of WW II until the mid-1950s, when the borders were relatively closed and there were only a few crossing points. Lasting from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, the second period is marked by frequent border crossings due to bilateral agreements on local border crossing (especially with Italy, starting with the Udine Agreement of 1955), while the third period lasted from the mid-1960s onwards, when the border crossing regulations were highly liberalized, resulting in an increased number of border crossings. The legislation regarding passports and visas in the second Yugoslav state, which were important documents for an individual when crossing the border, was scarce up until the mid-1960s. The first legal definition of travel documents was adopted in 1949, the second in 1960, and the third in 1965. Each one simplified or liberalized the crossing of borders. After 1965, especially after the elimination of visas for travelling to Austria or Italy, the Yugoslav border was practically open. Before that, especially in the 1950s, the border crossings were also conducted illegally. These were made mostly by those fleeingfrom Yugoslavia. The reasons for such illegal crossings were mostly economical, i.e. the search for better earnings and a better life. Fleeing out of political reasons was scarce. According to incomplete data, from the early 1950s to the end of 1960s about 31,000 people crossed the Yugoslav border in Slovenia illegally, heading mostly to Austria.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3810420