THE CROATIAN PEOPLE AND ITS RIGHTS IN THE POLITICAL THOUGHT OF ANTE TRUMBIĆ. AN ATTEMPT AT SYNTHESIS

Ovaj rad nastoji prikazati političku misao Ante Trumbića kroz njegova razmišljanja o hrvatskom narodu, hrvatskom državnom pravu, pravu na samoodređenje, pravu na vlastitu državu te pravu na vlastiti jezik i kulturu. Kroz analizu ovih pojmova nastoji se dobiti druga perspektiva Ante Trumbića kao političara. Svi ovi pojmovi korespondiraju sa nacionalnim pokretima 19. i 20 stoljeća. Mali narodi, među njima i Hrvati, su tražili načine za emancipacijom i stvaranjem vlastite nacionalne države. U tom vrtlogu zbivanja, kao kreator ključnih politika, našao se i Ante Trumbić. Pozivajući se na višestoljetnu hrvatsku državnost, poseban politički položaj u zajednici s Ugarskom i kasnije s Habsburzima, Trumbić je nastojao obraniti hrvatsko državno pravo. U dvije različite države, na različite načine bio je suočen s pokušajima poništenja hrvatske državnosti. S obzirom da je kao političar nastojao biti realist i sudjelovati u odlukama ma koliko one bile teške, često se nalazio u situacijama revizije svojih stavova. Ipak, i u takvim trenutcima nije zaboravio interese onih zbog kojih se i uključio u politiku, a to su interesi hrvatskog naroda.This paper tries to present the political thought of Ante Trumbić through his reflections on the Croatian people, Croatian state law, the right to self-determination, the right to one's own state, and the right to one's own language and culture. Through the analysis of these concepts, we try to get a different perspective of Ante Trumbić as a politician. All these terms correspond to the national movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. Small nations, among them Croats, were looking for ways to emancipate and create their own national state. Ante Trumbić also found himself in this whirlwind of events, as the creator of key policies. Referring to centuries of Croatian statehood, a special political position in the union with Hungary and later with the Habsburgs, Trumbić tried to defend Croatian statehood. In two different countries, he was faced with attempts to cancel Croatian statehood in different ways. Given that as a politician he tried to be a realist and participate in decisions no matter how difficult they were, he often found himself in situations of revision of his views. Nevertheless, even in such moments, he did not forget the interests of those for whom he got involved in politics, namely the interests of the Croatian people