Between Nation and State: Serbian Politics in Croatia Before the First World War (Series in Russian and East European Studies)

From Library Journal
At first glance, this book's narrow scope might make it a minor addition to a crowded field. In fact, it is an important contribution to understanding the perennial Balkan dilemma of a minority's position among a majority seeking autonomy or independence. As Miller (history, Boise State Univ.) makes clear, before the "first" (post-World War I) Yugoslavia, Croatia's large Serb minority was deeply divided by the dilemma of seeking to reaffirm their traditional privileges within the Austro-Hungarian Empire or cooperating with the Croats against it. Serbian parliamentary politics confronted a decaying empire and an ascendant Croatian nationalism disinclined to consider Serbian distinctiveness. The rise and decline of the "Croato-Serbian Coalition" is emblematic of the obstacles to Balkan cooperation and the nefarious impact of the extraregional interference. Miller's painstaking detail revises important aspects of the standard work by Ivo Sanac, The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics (Cornell Univ., 1984). Highly recommended for all academic and larger public libraries.?Zachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ., ErieCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


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Historian Miller (Boise State U.) examines the political alternatives faced by Serbian political leaders in Croatia between 1903 and 1914, during which time Serbs and Croats living in Croatia formed the Croat-Serbian Coalition and attempted to work together to gain autonomy for Croatia. The political, ethnic, and regional cleavages he analyzes are still relevant today. In his conclusion, Miller carries the story of the Serbian community of Croatia to their forced exile from Croatia in 1995. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.


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