Politika sjećanja za postideološka vremena: slučaj Italije
Politics of Memory for Post-Ideological Times: The Case of Italy

Summary/Abstract: Where are the sources and what are the reasons for the process of historical revisionism that emerged in many European countries in the beginning of the nineties? Is it possible to avoid conflicts around different interpretations of history that affect the core of the concept of European integration? The article is focused on the crisis of antifascist interpretation of the past in Italy, which is rooted in the events of the nineties. In particular, two events and processes have shaken the dominant discourses: the end of the Cold war and the collapse of communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The focus of the research is on the Italian case, where the war of memories mainly revolved around the so-called foibe, the Istrian carsic caves in which hundreds of Italians perished in the Autumn of 1943. In the span of twenty years a historic event that only a few knew about and which played a marginal role in the bigger picture of the Italian engagement in WWII has been transformed into a historic myth with its official “Remembrance day” and put at the same level of importance as the memory of the Shoah. The new official politics of remembering the victims of the foibe has triggered a diplomatic crisis between Italy and Croatia, which has later been solved with the signing of a memorandum on historic reconciliation in Trieste in 2010 (jointly with Slovenia). The foibe case is here placed into a wider context of revisionism in interpretation of history of the Second World War and of immediate post-War events, which is currently happening in many parts of Europe – not only former Eastern Europe – and which may complicate bilateral relations between various countries, but also wider international relations.

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