THE ILLUSION OF CENTRALITY

U nastanku Jugoslavije, kao i u njezinom raspadu, važnu je ulogu odigrala iluzija centralnosti, najprije kod Hrvata, a onda kod Srba. Ispituje se značaj te iluzije, te relevantnost ideja Maxa Webera za čitav problem.Recent historical developments in the relationship between Croats and Serbs are discussed, refering to an article by V. Vujačić (Theory and Society, No. 6, 1996). The idea of an Illyrian and later a Yugoslav commonwealth of all South Slavs, originating in Croatia in the 19th century, had its legitimating psychological foundation in a “illusion of centrality”, developed at the time by a part of the Croatian political and intellectual elite, a view of the preeminent position of Croatia and the Croats among all the Slav ethnic groups in the region and, therefore, of a natural central role of Croatia in the future commonwealth. In a similar way, the armed struggle of the Serbs for independence from the Ottoman empire in the 19th century and for the expansion of the Serbian State in the 19th and 20th century has generated a Serbian belief in the dominant role of Serbia and the Serbs in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes established in 1918, later Kingdom of Yugoslavia. These incompatible illusions are believed to be the roots of a number of political positions and decisions taken by both Croats and Serbs in the 20th century. The views of Max Weber on nationality and nationalism are discussed in relation to the problem of cooperation and conflict between Croats and Serbs in the 20th century