Crime and repression in Osijek within the framework of modernization (1868 - 1918)

U radu se analiziraju višestruke posljedice modernizacije u vremenu razvoja građanskog društva Banske Hrvatske na prijelazu iz 19. u 20. stoljeće s posebnim naglaskom na najveći slavonski grad, Osijek. U kontekstu demografskog rasta, urbanizacije i industrijalizacije utemeljene u kapitalističkoj paradigmi, modernizacijsku preobrazbu doživio je i represivni sustav, bilo kroz artikulaciju novih zakonskih regulativa (naročito za vrijeme banovanja Ivana Mažuranića 1870-ih godina) ili ustroj modernog redarstva i zatvorske mreže. Sve navedeno popraćeno je formiranjem složenih birokratskih struktura koje su devijantna ponašanja i kaznena djela pomno bilježila koristeći se metodama poput objavljivanja redovitih statističkih izvještaja ili uspostavljanjem efikasnih komunikacijskih kanala na svim razinama vlasti. Navedene su pojave korespondirale sa sličnim procesima vidljivima i u drugim industrijskim, postfeudalnim zemljama koje su tijekom „dugog“ 19. stoljeća prošle kroz metamorfozu vlastitih kaznenih sustava, zamijenivši javne egzekucije i mučenja s jasno uređenim zatvorskim ustanovama. U tom su pogledu za ovaj rad od iznimne važnosti doprinosi Michela Foucaulta koji je, analizirajući „rađanje“ zatvora, promišljao i o teorijskim konceptima poput biopolitike ili disciplinarnog društva. Uz neizostavne osvrte na istočnoslavonsko seosko okruženje, u fokusu rada nalaze se zbivanja u Osijeku zbog čega je tekst prvenstveno urbanohistorijskog te sociohistorijskog predznaka. Preuzimajući upravne modele i političke smjernice iz Zagreba, Budimpešte i Beča, osječke su gradske vlasti poduzele nove korake u osiguravanju produktivne radne snage te izoliranju nepoželjnih devijacija u vidu prekršaja i kriminalnih radnji, koji su analitički razmatrani i kategorizirani. S obzirom na navedeno, u tekstu su korištene i metode asimetrične komparatistike budući da je određene pojave poput tretmana Roma, prostitutki ili socijalističkih agitatora, potrebno razmatrati unutar širih kontekstualizirajućih okvira. Također, elementi mikrohistorijskog istraživanja vidljivi su u nastojanju da se kroz analizu diskursa onovremenih novina, službenih dopisa, memoarskih spisa ili pojedinih aktera, čije su izjave zabilježene u sudskim zapisnicima rekonstruiraju perspektive pojedinaca različitih profila - od zatvorskih upravitelja, pravnih teoretičara, novinara i gradonačelnika do klera, buntovnih seljaka ili anarhistički nastrojenih radnika. Ukratko, svrha je disertacije analiza određenih oblika kriminaliteta i subverzije u Osijeku u kasnom 19. i ranom 20. stoljeću, kao i elaboracija modaliteta djelovanja represivnog sustava spram navedenih pojava u kontekstu modernizacije.This paper deals with multiple consequences of modernization during the development of the bourgeois society in Croatia and Slavonia in the late nineteenth and the twentieth century, placing a special emphasis on the largest Slavonian town, Osijek. Within the context of demographic growth, urbanization and industrialization, based on the capitalist paradigm, the modernized repressive system also experienced its modernizing transformation, either through articulation of new laws (especially during the time of ban Ivan Mažuranić in the 1870s) or through consolidation of a modern police force and prison network. All of the above was accompanied by the formation of complex bureaucratic structures whose task was to carefully record deviant types of behavior and criminal offenses while, among other things, issuing regular statistical reports and establishing efficient communication channels at all levels of governance. These events corresponded with similar processes present in other industrial, post-feudal countries that went through the metamorphosis of their own criminal justice systems in the long nineteenth century, characterized by the replacement of public executions and torture with prison institutions. In that respect, the work of Michel Foucault, specifically his Discipline and Punish (1975) and the notions regarding the “birth” of prison, is of essential theoretical importance for this thesis. Moreover, the thesis will refer to other relevant concepts such as biopolitics and disciplinary society as they are understood by Foucault. In addition to occasional references to the eastern Slavonian rural environment, the focus of this work is on the events that occurred in Osijek, placing the thesis within the domain of urban and social historical writing. Receiving political guidelines from other cities, namely Zagreb, Budapest and Vienna, Osijek’s authorities undertook new steps in order to secure productive workforce and isolate undesirable deviations, offenses and criminal actions that had to be analytically examined and categorized. Keeping that in mind, asymmetric comparative research method was used since certain phenomena such as the treatment of Roma people, prostitutes or revolutionary agitators must be considered within the broader framework. Also, elements of microhistory are evident in the attempts to reconstruct perspectives and experiences of different individuals - prison managers, juridical experts, journalists, mayors, members of the clergy, murderers, rebellious peasants, anarchically oriented workers, and so on. This is accomplished by the analysis of numerous discourses detected in contemporary newspapers, official archival documents, memoirs, convicts’ court statements and other sources. In short, the purpose of this dissertation is to analyze certain forms of criminality and subversion in Osijek in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as well as to elaborate the repressive system’s modus operandi when dealing with those phenomena. The text consists of five chapters plus Introduction, Conclusion, Appendix and Sources. The introductory chapter and theoretical elaboration are followed by the section that analyses differences and correlations between modernization that was taking place at the center and at the periphery of the AustroHungarian Empire. The administrative, political, economic and demographical status of Osijek at that time is also examined. The next chapter is dedicated to the general overview of pre-modern modes of punishment, development of European penal systems, works of first penologists and prison reformers, as well as to certain advancements in criminology. Being one of the most notable Croatian juridical experts at the beginning of the twentieth century, the work of Josip Šilović (Causes of Crime, 1913) serves as a case study of dominant criminological discourse. This is followed by the concise examination of the judiciary, prisons and criminality in Croatia and Slavonia starting from the second half of the nineteenth century. Moreover, references are made to the works of certain distinguished Croatian statisticians (Petar Matković, Fran Vrbanić) who were the first to provide modern quantitative data regarding crime tendencies in this area. Administration, hierarchy, treatment of prisoners and strict rules implemented in Lepoglava, the largest Croatian penitentiary founded in 1854, are subjects of the analysis too. The rest of the thesis is concerned with specific issues related to Osijek: from the functioning of the Royal Court Table, its sessions and hangings, to conditions in local prisons and the work of the police force in different decades. Furthermore, the circumstances surrounding specific crimes (murders, physical violence, cases of rape, thefts and other criminal acts) and their sanctioning are contextualized. Various perspectives on different offenses and acts of subversion are examined, ranging from mistrust toward wanderers and beggars, condemnation of illegal prostitution to fear of distribution of socialist pamphlets that could lead to strikes. Views on these types of behavior and actions were determined by multiple factors such as observers’ and perpetrators’ economic or political status, their gender, ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics