MODERNITY, MEMORY AND IDENTITY IN SOUTH-EAST EUROPE Geography and Nationalist Visions of Interwar Yugoslavia Vedran Duančić Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe Series Editor Catharina Raudvere Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark This series explores the relationship between the modern history and present of South-East Europe and the long imperial past of the region. This approach aspires to offer a more nuanced understanding of the con- cepts of modernity and change in this region, from the nineteenth century to the present day. Titles focus on changes in identity, self-representation and cultural expressions in light of the huge pressures triggered by the interaction between external influences and local and regional practices. The books cover three significant chronological units: the decline of empires and their immediate aftermath, authoritarian governance during the twentieth century, and recent uses of history in changing societies in South- East Europe today. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15829 Vedran Duancic ̌ ́ Geography and Nationalist Visions of Interwar Yugoslavia Vedran Duančić Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Zagreb, Croatia ISSN 2523-7985 ISSN 2523-7993 (electronic) Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe ISBN 978-3-030-50258-4 ISBN 978-3-030-50259-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50259-1 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To grandparents A cknowledgments As is often the case with publications that emerge from dissertations, the path to this book has been long and strenuous, yet rewarding in many dif- ferent ways. Neither doing research, writing, nor revising the manuscript was a straightforward process. My research focus, methodological approaches, and even my sub-disciplinary affiliation changed while the book was in the making. The initial idea for the research germinated in Budapest a decade ago. The structure of the book emerged in the unfor- gettable Tuscan hills, at the European University Institute above Florence, where I was lucky to do my PhD. The research took me to Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Berlin, and Krakow. The bulk of the book was written in Budapest, revised in Marburg, and then thoroughly, and finally, in Zagreb. This has never been an entirely solitary project, as so many people have contributed to it in different ways. My family provided unconditional sup- port—Dinko often invaluable technical support in critical moments. An unusual interest in geography that has run in my family for generations, and which my father seems to have handed over to me, was not the pri- mary incentive for this project, but it provided a sense of operating in safe and known waters. Mirjana was supportive throughout all the stages of making this book. As the work on the manuscript was coming to an end, Hela and Mara joined us. Too often they wanted to contribute by hitting the keyboard whenever it was left unattended for more than a second. Anna Mazanik, in a way, started all this. Without the encouragement of Matthias Winkler to apply to the EUI, the project would probably never be realized. At the same time, without his frequent, albeit welcome, vii viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS interruptions, the book would likely have been finished sooner. Zrinka Blažević introduced me to a challenging conceptual apparatus and vocab- ulary that opened new horizons for me. Discussing similar-yet-different experiences with Ana Širanović and Antun Bilić in the end, I hope, made us all feel better. Andrea Talabér and Piotr Kisiel endured reading many early drafts. Pavel Kolář, my Doktorvater, found a balance between giving me the autonomy in research and writing, and providing constructive supervision. Željko Dugac has been as generous a boss as there is, espe- cially supportive in the late phase of this project. The greatest acknowledg- ment goes to Dejan Lukić. Knowledgeable about the historical background, methodological, and conceptual issues regarding the history of science and many of the sources, for a considerable time he played the role of my super-ego, providing ruthless yet constructive comments through all stages of the project. I have greatly profited from discussions—some brief, others very extensive—with Višeslav Aralica, Fedja Burić, Ivan Čolović, Dejan Djokić, Ranka Gašić, Maciej Górny, Hannes Grandits, Stipica Grgić, Peter Haslinger, Stipe Kljajić, Lovro Kralj, Christian Promitzer, Stéphane Van Damme, George Vasilev, Fernando Veliz, Ivo Žanić, and many, many others. Clearly, the responsibility for all the mistakes, omissions, and short- comings in the book lies exclusively with me. Parts of the book have been published elsewhere. I am grateful to the Croatian Historical Society, Brill, and the Taylor & Francis Group for allowing me to reuse some of the material that appeared in Vedran Duančić, “Obrisi znanstvene mreže u nastajanju: Kanali komunikacije kao integrativni čimbenik geografije u medjuratnoj Jugoslaviji,” Historijski zbornik 69, no. 2 (2016): 455–470; Duančić, “Geographical Narration of Interwar Yugoslavia: Serbian, Croatian, and Slovenian Perspectives,” East Central Europe 43, no. 1 (2016): 188–214; and Duančić, “Nationalist Geographies in Interwar Yugoslavia: Manoeuvring Between National and Transnational Spaces,” European Review of History: Revue européenne d’histoire 25, no. 3–4 (2018): 588–611. The stipends and fellowships awarded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe in Marburg made the book possible. My work on it has been sup- ported in part by the Croatian Science Foundation under the project “Croatian Scientific and Philosophical Heritage: Transfers and Appropriations of Knowledge from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century in the European Context” (IP-2016-06-6762). c ontents 1 Introduction 1 Geographers as Nation Builders 2 Nationalist Geographical Narratives 4 A Time of Geographers in East Central Europe 8 Multi-leveled Geographies of Yugoslavia 10 Spatial Dimension of a Nation 12 2 The Emerging Geographical Network in Yugoslavia 23 Institutionalization of Geography in the Yugoslav Lands 26 Anthropogeography Between History and Ethnology 30 Trapped Between Primitiveness and Civilization 35 Studying Race 37 Teaching Geography at Universities 38 3 J ovan Cvijić and the Anthropogeography of the Balkans 49 The Center of the Network 51 A Geomorphologist’s Vision of Anthropogeography 55 Shifting Attention from Serbian to Yugoslav Lands 59 The War That Changed the Perspective 65 The Proof That Yugoslavia Exists 72 4 Geographical Narration of Yugoslavia 95 Creating Yugoslavia in Paris 97 Croatian and Slovenian Geographical Narratives of Yugoslavia 102 ix x CONTENTS Disillusionment of Cvijić 108 Early Works of Filip Lukas: The Yugoslavist Phase of a Croatian Nationalist 111 Unity Built on Fragments 116 Slovenian Perspectives on the Geography of Yugoslavia 122 A Beneficial Cohabitation: Slovenia and Yugoslavia 127 If Only Yugoslavia Could Become Like France 132 5 Geopolitical Visions of Yugoslavia 147 Improving the Geographical Literacy of the Nation 149 Ivo Pilar on the Trauma of 1918 151 Embracing the Geopolitik 156 Czechoslovak and Polish Lessons for Yugoslavia 162 The Reluctant Geopolitics of Anton Melik 169 Challenging the Geopolitical Paradigm 175 6 The Fight of Filip Lukas Against Yugoslavia 189 Echoes and Definitions 191 Denaturalizing Yugoslavia, Naturalizing Croatia 195 Toward a Right-Wing Geographical Vision of the Croatian Nation 203 Ethnology Against Geopolitics 213 Geography in the Time of Fascism 223 7 Conclusion 243 Bibliography 253 Index 279