Identifiability in Warfare:Croatian Soldiers’ Multinational Ambiance of Service (1914-1918)
Identifiability in Warfare:Croatian Soldiers’ Multinational Ambiance of Service (1914-1918)

Summary/Abstract: The importance of collective emotions in warfare is enormous. In conflicts individual emotions are often submitted by the collective ones. Soldiers are often bounded by emotions. The tie between nation (Homeland) and individuals is crucial to that process. What makes the bond tight is nationalism. Nationalism within a multiethnic state is especially complexed and it can lead to one’s disunification. This article argues the interconnections between individual and collective emotions within different political environments. The case study to this analysis is on Croatian soldiers during World War One (WWI), than a part of the multiethnic Austria-Hungarian Army. What makes the case more complex is the presence of various stresses in order to shift the Croatian soldiers’ concept of Homeland: Austria-Hungarian, Yugoslavian/Serbian, and Croatian. I suggest that the majority of Croatian soldiers, bounded by the sense of ‘duty and honor’, stayed loyal to Austria-Hungary, or at least, were not the pivots of the army’s disintegration. The question of their perception of Homeland is therefore important for understanding the influence of emotions on political relations.

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