Projects / Programmes
Financial Networks in the Shadow of Economic Nationalism: A Comparative Study of the Territories of Slovenia and Vojvodina from 1867 to 1929
Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
6.01.00 |
Humanities |
Historiography |
|
Code |
Science |
Field |
6.01 |
Humanities |
History and Archaeology |
financial network, economic nationalism, nationalism, savings banks, credit cooperatives, bank-joint stock company, Slovenia, Vojvodina, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Organisations (1)
, Researchers (1)
0501 Institute for Contemporary History
no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
1. |
39165 |
PhD Nataša Henig Miščič |
Historiography |
Head |
2023 - 2025 |
60 |
Abstract
Economic nationalism was an essential part of the due process of nation-building in Central and Southeastern Europe. It became a long-term national culture in each country, representing an alternative path to modernisation. It existed in these regions before and after World War I, even below the state level. This concept should be understood as integral to the attempt at collective self-assurance. Almost all sectors created autonomous and autochthonous operational structures in the logic of 19th-century national unification and independence movements. The demand for economic national differentiation, not merely political, represented some geographical regions’ demand for creating parallel cultural, political, and economic systems, with apparent national population differences.
The project addresses the dynamics of establishing financial networks and the development of financial institutions in the light of economic nationalism in Central and Southeastern Europe. More precisely, the focus is on territories that initially belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire; after World War I, these areas were within the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Kingdom SCS). Today, however, they belong to the Republics of Slovenia and the Republic of Serbia. Therefore, a study with a comparative approach will examine the financial network’s founding dynamics and economic and national-political effects in the Slovenian territory that belonged to the Austrian part of the Monarchy and in Vojvodina, which belonged to the Hungarian half of the state. After 1918, these two peripheral areas became leading economic regions in the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
The project focuses on Slovene-German relations in the provinces of Carniola and Lower Styria, which arose almost equally within the framework of the Kingdom SCS, and relations between Serbs and Hungarians in southern Hungary (today’s Vojvodina). These territories were also integrated into the Kingdom of SCS in 1918. Due to the scope and time limitation of the project, it is necessary to precisely delineate geographically the areas to which the research will refer.
The research refers to the period from 1867 when the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was founded. The period of dualism brought new circumstances, and Hungary’s position changed completely. The last decades of the 19th century were marked by the process of national differentiation, which is particularly important for understanding the proposed project topic. The final year is 1929 when radical changes began to take place on a broader, global scale. It was primarily a time of the great economic depression. In addition, some important political events took place in the kingdom that necessitated the introduction of a royal dictatorship.
The methodological framework of the proposed project includes complementary approaches such as a comparative historical approach, quantitative and qualitative methods, network analysis and two case studies. Such a diversified approach will facilitate grasping the concept of economic nationalism concerning time and space. The comparison will serve to discover similarities or differences. It will allow us to look beyond the national framework and consider the issues in the broader Central European context. The network analysis will explain the geographical distribution of financial institutions, the links, the influence of distance and the overlaps between the different types of financial intermediaries.
The project’s research work will be divided into two case studies. The first focuses on financial network establishment and development dynamics and processes, covering the Dual Monarchy and focusing on the territories of Slovenia and Vojvodina. The second case study focuses on developing nationalism as an economic and political factor and changes in the concept within the framework of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.