Historiography of the Second World War and the Perception of Soviet / Russian Historical Science in Yugoslavia in the Second Half of the 20th Century

Abstract

Comparing the documents of the Commission on International Relations of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia and of the Union of Historians of Yugoslavia with scholarly periodicals published in Belgrade, the authors analyze the dynamics of the development of relations between Soviet / Russian and Yugoslav historians in 1946–2000. Particular attention is paid to the work of the Commission of Historians of the USSR and the SFRY in 1974–1991, which served as a substitute for direct contacts between historians of the two countries. In 1973, preparations began for the creation of an interstate Сommission of historians of the USSR and the SFRY, similar to other commissions operating between socialist countries and the USSR. Six plenary sessions of the bilateral commission were held (in 1974, 1975, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1991). Only one scientific conference was held directly under the auspices of the Commission – in 1981 in Volgograd, and the collection of papers from this conference was published only in 1991 due to the intensity of the debates about the history of World War II. Information about the work of the Commission of Historians was irregular. The historiography of the Second World War was an extremely important topic in the perception of Soviet / Russian historiography in Yugoslavia in the second half of the 20th century.

Received: 28.02.2024.
Revised: 10.08.2024.
Accepted: 24.09.2024.

Citation
Timofeev A. Ju., Bajin Z. Historiography of the Second World War and the Perception of Soviet / Russian Historical Science in Yugoslavia in the Second Half of the 20th Century // Slavic Almanac. 2024. No 3–4. P. 36–77 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2024.3-4.03