Authors

Mayuko Uno¹;  ¹ The University of Tokyo, Japan

Discussion

Croatia's official memory policy saw a significant "Europeanization" turn in 2000. While historical revisionism was blatant during the rule of the conservative party HDZ in the 1990s, the center-left coalition government formed in 2000 adapted its official memory politics to the way of WWII remembrance in the EU. But scholars have also revealed that this mnemonic shift in pursuit of Croatia's EU membership was accompanied by the "Croatianization" of the memory of antifascism.
To explore the roots of the complicated "Europeanisation" of WWII memory in Croatia, it is worth examining how the opposition shaped their view on WWII during the 1990s. I focus on Miko Tripalo, a prominent opposition politician in the early 1990s. Having been a communist leader in the 1960s and persecuted after 1971, he promoted a social democratic agenda and rebuked HDZ's policy in his later years. 
Using documents of his parties, newspaper articles, and his speech transcripts, I analyze how Tripalo connected the concept of antifascism to his broader political agenda of "social democrats for a European Croatia". I argue that while Tripalo severely criticized HDZ for equalizing Ustaša and Partisans, he also resorted to the Croatianization rhetoric by emphasizing that the antifascist struggle in Croatia contributed to creating a sovereign and independent Croatia. I also aim to show the gap between Tripalo and his Serb fellows regarding WWII memory in Croatia.