Comparative analysis of the development of the institutional framework of diaspora policies - Slovenia and Croatia from the nineteenth century to independen

The aim of the bilateral project is to comparatively analyse the development of emigration policies in Slovenia and Croatia from the late nineteenth century until Yugoslavia's collapse. Although the two states operated mainly within the common institutional framework of monarchic and socialist Yugoslavia, they developed different diaspora policies. The differences are in many respects result of distinct development within the Habsburg Monarchy, when Croatia already had an established statehood, while the area of today's Slovenia was divided into several historical provinces or crownlands with their own specificities. On the other hand, many similarities between the two countries can be discerned too, especially with regard to the traditionally high emigration rates in both areas. Studies dealing with emigration and emigration policies in Yugoslav contexts have so far only briefly touched upon the Slovenian area, and have looked at Croatia from the perspective of its relationship with the state's centre. The cooperation between Slovenian and Croatian researchers will build on the applicants' research projects - "Croceania" (PI Hrstić) and "Between the 'Tenth Banovina' and the 'Seventh Republic'" (PI Zobec) - and will cover the aspects as follows:

• recording of material in the Croatian State Archives and the Slovenian Archives
• short visits to confront the views of Slovenian and Croatian scholars
• a workshop to analyse the findings (in Zagreb 2026)
• contributions by Slovenian and Croatian researchers at the final conferences of "Croceania" (Zagreb, December 2025) and "Between the 'Tenth Banovina' and the 'Seventh Republic'" (Ljubljana, 2026)
• the preparation of a thematic issue to be published in the journal Two Homelands (2026)