Problems with Reasearch of Demographic Losses in Croatia During World War II and the Post - War Period

Demografski ratni gubitci važno su problemsko područje demografske znanosti. Navedeno proizlazi iz činjenice da ljudski gubitci tijekom ratova i u poratnim razdobljima izazivaju brojne, dugoročne i složene demografske, društvene i gospodarske posljedice. Stoga se istraživanje veličine i strukture demografskih gubitaka nameće bitnom sastavnicom cjelovitog vrednovanja utjecaja rata na ukupan razvoj nekoga prostora. Svekoliki razvoj Hrvatske tijekom XX. stoljeća nalazio se pod dominantnim utjecajem svjetskih ratnih sukoba, naročito Drugoga svjetskog rata. Međutim, iz niza je političko-ideoloških i neznanstvenih razloga izostala znanstvena i objektivna analiza veličine i strukture ukupnih demografskih gubitaka, što je bilo plodnim tlom za svakovrsne manipulacije brojkama i stvaranje različitih stereotipa pa i mitova o ljudskim žrtvama tijekom Drugoga svjetskog rata i poraća. U ovome su prilogu sažeto izneseni osnovni metodološki i motivacijski problemi, kao i neki rezultati dosadašnjih istraživanja demografskih gubitaka Drugoga svjetskog rata i poraća u Hrvatskoj.Demographic losses in wars represent a significant problematic area in demographic science. The stated fact comes as a result of the fact that loss of human lives during war and post-war periods is a source of long-term, complex demographic and economical consequences. That is why research of the range and structure of demographic losses has become a crucial element in the full evaluation of the impact of war on the total development of an area. Overall development of Croatia in the 20th century was dominated by world war conflicts, especially by World War II. Nevertheless, due to a number of political, ideological and unscientific reasons, there have been no scientific, objective analysis of the range and structure of the total demographic losses, which served as the basis for many manipulations with numbers, as well as for creation number of myths on casualties during World War II and the post-war period. This article contains a summary of the basic methodological and motivation problems, as well as some results of the prior research on demographic losses in Croatia during World War II and in post- war time