SLIKA JOSIPA FRANKA U HRVATSKOJ ISTORIOGRAFIJI I PUBLICISTICI: PREGLED DOSADAŠNJIH INTERPRETACIJA
JOSIP FRANK’S IMAGE IN CROATIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY: OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS INTERPRETATIONS

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this work is to examine the interpretations of Josip Frank’s political activity. Josip Frank (1844-1911) was a prominent turn of the century Croatian political figure and nationalist and liberal leader. As a controversial figure, his political ideas were thoroughly examined and evaluated in historiography through the last decades. There was no consensus among historians about his historical role. During the existence of Yugoslavia, the prevailing interpretations of Frank’s political principles were mainly negative. The reason for these negative interpretations was Frank’s anti-Serb ideology, which dominated his political discourse and as such was not viewed very favorable by Yugoslav historians. Not only this negative perception, but also a condemnation of memory was present in historiography. On one hand, it was caused by the views of his political opponents who had written several studies about Ante Starčević forgetting to mention Josip Frank. Actually, it was a peculiar struggle for domination whose final aspiration was a specific ideological and practical prevalence among pro-Starčević’s Croatian politicians and voters. On the other hand, during the so-called Independent State of Croatia it was the result of the Ustasha regime’s anti-Semitic policy. After the fall of communism and the breakup of Yugoslavia, a positive reception of Frank’s significance inspired by a historical reevaluation of his role, as well as by political momentum (Croatian independence, war with Serbs etc.) became dominant in contemporary Croatian historiography.

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