SLOVENIAN SOCIETIES IN CROATIA BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS (1918-1941)

Rad prikazuje osnivanje i djelovanje slovenskih društava na prostoru Hrvatske između dva svjetska rata. Dosadašnjim istraživanjima ustanovljeno je djelovanje 15 slovenskih društava, od čega ih je najviše osnovano u Zagrebu (12). Osim u Zagrebu, slovenska su društva evidentirana i u drugim hrvatskim mjestima: Karlovcu, Osijeku, Slavonskom Brodu i Sušaku (Rijeka). Društva djeluju u dva smjera: prosvjetno i kulturno. Prema načinu djelovanja, vidljivo je da su slična drugim slovenskim društvima koja su slovenski imigranti osnivali po europskim državama, ali imaju i neke karakteristike znakovite upravo za prostor “unutrašnje dijaspore”, odnosno Hrvatsku. Osim samog djelovanja tih društava i socijalne strukture, koja je vidljiva iz popisa članova, svakako je potrebno naglasiti da imaju još jednu važnu ulogu, a to je da su bitan izvor u istraživanjima i sustavnom prikupljanju podataka o nekoj manjinskoj skupini, u ovom slučaju slovenskoj manjini u Hrvatskoj.The paper presents the establishment and work of the Slovenian Societies on the Croatian territory between the two World Wars. Previous studies have shown the activities of 15 Slovenian Societies, of which most were founded in Zagreb (12). Besides Zagreb, the Slovenian Societies were also registered in other Croatian towns: Karlovac, Osijek, Slavonski Brod and Susak (Rijeka). The Societies have two scopes of work, namely educational and cultural. According to their mode of action, it is evident that they are similar to other Slovenian Societies which were founded by Slovenian immigrants across the European countries, yet they also have some characteristics which are significant for the area of the so-called “internal diaspora”, that is the area of Croatia. In addition to the activities of these Societies and the social structure which is evident from the lists of members, one must certainly emphasize their other important role, and that is they are an essential source of research and systematic collection of data on some minority group, in this case the Slovenian Minority in Croatia