Dušan Bilandžić (20 July 1924 – 4 March 2015) was a
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n historian and politician.
Early life
Lower classes of Franciscan gymnasium he attended in
Sinj
Sinj (; it, Signo; german: Zein) is a town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town itself has a population of 11,478 and the population of the administrative municipality, which includes surrounding villages, is 24 ...
, and continued his high school education in
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
. Before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he joined to the
Young Communist League of Yugoslavia , SKOJ mk, Сојуз на комунистичката младина на Југославија, СКМЈ sl, Zveza komunistične mladine Jugoslavije, ZKMJ
, colorcode = red
, founded = 1919
, dissolved = 1948
, succeeded by = League of S ...
(SKOJ). During the war, he joined
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
in 1942 as political commesar in
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
n partisan units. In the same year, he joined
Communist Party of Yugoslavia
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
. In 1955 he graduated from the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...
's
Law School
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
and from 1945 until 1960 he taught military history at Military Academy in Belgrade. After he left the army, he started to work as a journalist, but soon he was employed in a trade union and in 1965 he was named member of the Trade Union Presidency of Yugoslavia as a representative of Croatia. As he worked with in unions under self-management, Bilandžić continued his education. In 1965 he gained
PhD from the
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...
Faculty of Economics
A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...
. In 1967, after
Franjo Tuđman
Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...
has been arrested because of undesirable political activity, Bilandžić succeeded him as director of the Institute for History of the Workers' Movement. In following years he done various political duties and in 1974 he was one of the participants in the drafting of the
1974 Yugoslav Constitution. He was a dean on the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Zagreb at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. He became member of the
Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia.
HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...
(JAZU) in 1980. He became regular member of HAZU (earlier JAZU) in 1991.
Professional work
Bilandžić was an enemy of centralization of Yugoslavia after
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
died in 1980. Since he denied validity of Yugoslav nationality during the 1981 census, he was highly criticized by Belgrade as separatist and ''
Ustaše
The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...
''. Bilandžić stated that category of "Yugoslav" led to disappearance more than 30,000 Croats in Vojvodina. He feared that "Yugoslav" category would continue to grow which would call into question the entire basis of Yugoslav cultural and political policies, which were predicated on a person having a single national identification. Specifically, a loss of Croats would mean fewer people to support Croat politicians and diminution of their power base within the multinational state.
With democratic elections in Croatia in 1991, Bilandžić joined the list of
Social Democratic Party of Croatia
The Social Democratic Party of Croatia ( hr, Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske, SDP) is a social-democratic political party in Croatia. The SDP is anti-fascist, progressive, and strongly pro-European. The SDP was formed in 1990 as the succe ...
, but the election results were devastating. Since he was a good friend of Tuđman, Tuđman named him Croatian representative in Belgrade in 1991. His friendship with Tuđman was very complex, since Tuđman often criticized him, even calling him "a monster" on the TV after
Operation Storm
}) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state R ...
in 1995.
His main focus in History of former Yugoslavia and position of Croats in it. Besides writing books, he participated in writing articles for various magazines and newspapers. His greatest works are History of SFRY (1978) and Croatian Modern History (1999). Since History of SFRY was highly under political censorship, in Croatian Modern History Bilandžić used his previous book as a source, but gave different comments on the same events.
Comments
In 2004, in a popular Croatian talk show, ''
Nedjeljom u 2
''Nedjeljom u dva'' ( en, Sunday at Two) is a Croatian television talk show aired every Sunday afternoon at 14:00 CET on HRT 1 and hosted by Aleksandar Stanković.
The hour-long show usually features a single guest related to an important polit ...
'', Bilandžić stated that Croatia had more
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
in the
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
than it would have in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
Public services and awards
Bilandžić was member of the Steering Committee of the Croatian Mainstreem of Emigrants, member of the Commission of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Croatia for Pardon and member of the Presidency of the SR Croatia.
He was decorated with
Order of Danica Hrvatska
The Order of Danica Hrvatska ( hr, Red Danice hrvatske; lit. "Order of the Croatian Morning Star") is the fourteenth most important medal given by the Republic of Croatia. The order was founded on 1 April 1995. The medal is awarded for different pu ...
with face of
Ruđer Bošković
Roger Joseph Boscovich ( hr, Ruđer Josip Bošković; ; it, Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich; la, Rogerius (Iosephus) Boscovicius; sr, Руђер Јосип Бошковић; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a physicist, astronomer, ...
for his contribution to science, and Annual Award for Science, which he gained for his work Croatian Modern History (Zagreb, 1999). He was also a member of the State Commission for the Historical and War Victims.
Notable works
* Historija Socijalističke Federativne Republike Jugoslavije (History of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) 1 (1978), 2 (1979), 3 (1985).
* Teorija i praksa delegatskog sistema" (Theory and Practice of Delegate System) (1979)
* Jugoslavija poslije Tita (Yugoslavia After Tito) (1985)
* Hrvatska između rata i samostalnosti (Croatia Between War and Independence) (1991)
* Hrvatska moderna povijest (Croatian Modern History; 1999)
* Rat u Hrvatskoj i Bosni i Hercegovini (War in Bosnia and Herzegovina; 1999)
* Propast Jugoslavije i stvaranje moderne Hrvatske (Failure of Yugoslavia and Creation of Modern Croatia; 2001)
* Povijest izbliza (History from Close up; 2006)
References
;Bibliography
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilandzic, Dusan
1924 births
People from Split-Dalmatia County
20th-century Croatian historians
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni
League of Communists of Croatia politicians
Social Democratic Party of Croatia politicians
Yugoslav Partisans members
Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
2015 deaths