In recent years Croatian historiography produced several important works dealing with new aspects of nineteenth-century Croatian history, as well as reevaluations in the forms of syntheses. This review deals with two important books that follow the process of modernization in the late nineteenth century from two angles—one considers the outlook of the urban business elite around Zagreb, the other reconsiders rural aspects. Both books make important breakthroughs in Croatian historiography with their novel approaches and comprehensive nature.

Scientific historiography of the Croatian nineteenth century was established in Croatia after 1945 under Jaroslav Šidak. After a rich, event-based political history of the first decades under Šidak, Mirjana Gross, the doyenne of Croatian nineteenth-century studies, reached new levels with her work, advocating a modern approach oriented toward social history. She focused on the complex mosaic of political, economic, and social interdependence. Almost every present-day analysis of the Croatian nineteenth century is based on the foundations of this school—the “Gross-school.”

In recent decades, students of Mirjana Gross have aspired to widen these foundations, searching for components of a “total history” of the nineteenth century, introduced by their mentor. Iskra Iveljić offers a wide-ranging study of the Zagreb business elite, covering almost every aspect of their political, economic, social, and cultural activities. Iveljić includes in her book Očevi i sinovi, a broad array of new source material, ranging from documents to newspapers and literature. Her study is oriented toward the development of a business elite that had considerable influence in establishing Zagreb as a center of modernization in Croatia. The book stresses the modernization processes of the period, while also considering personal stories of different generations of business elites, development of city government and politics in general, economic growth, as well as the rise of cultural institutions and sports facilities. In this way, the book can be divided into two complementary parts. The first part deals with the history of institutions, including economic and political developments, while the second part is oriented toward cultural aspects, everyday life, relationships between “fathers and sons” of business dynasties, and the roles of women and children in society.

Much of the attention in the first few chapters of the book focuses by necessity on aspects of economic history. Keeping in mind the work of important Croatian economic historians, from Igor Karaman to Miroslava Despot and Mira Kolar, Iveljić develops her own modern approach, not relying exclusively on a narrative guided with quantitative data like some of her predecessors. Even though important aspects of biographies of various leading businessmen like Ambroz Vranjican are included, the book shifts toward a rather process-oriented history of entrepreneurial developments. This approach leaves room for future business history case studies of the entrepreneurial families and their companies in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Zagreb. Focusing entirely on the business elite, Iveljić links social and economic aspects: Economic source material is used not only for business data, factors, and entrepreneurial activities, but also for a history of the bourgeois mentality, its tendencies, and interconnections with different parts of the Habsburg Monarchy. Presenting a rather homogenous class is no easy task, but the book provides a balanced view that does not neglect personal family stories in order to make more general observations.

One of the central topics of this book is the process by which the traditional bourgeoisie (as in burghers) transformed into the modern bourgeoisie (as in citizen-class). In this analysis, the local bourgeois businessmen after 1848 had emerged out of a more homogenous business elite consisting of traders, artisans, bankers, entrepreneurs, and industrialists of diverse origin, similar to other parts of the Habsburg Monarchy. To understand the basic approach of this book, one must revisit the view of history promoted for decades by Professor Mirjana Gross. The basic tenet of her theory, and that of her disciples, was the existence of several shifts in the framework of society. Society was so powerfully influenced by the revolutions of 1848 that the nascent bourgeoisie was speedily transformed into a modern bourgeoisie—one forming the basis of a modern acquisitive and capitalist society. The “founding fathers”—the first generation of a business elite formed in Zagreb in the second half of the nineteenth century—created dynasties and encouraged their sons to continue the family business. These dynasties played a key role in the process of urbanization and general modernization of Zagreb and its surroundings—including Varaždin, Karlovac, and Sisak—where gradual economic growth can be traced. The book also deals with the interaction between Zagreb's business elite and those throughout the monarchy, their contacts with governments, and the Habsburg dynasty itself. The book presents Zagreb as a positive center of a peripheral part of the monarchy, one which had potential but lacked further serious investments from Budapest and Vienna, for example, in building modern roadways—elemental in strengthening general economic ties and achieving a unified Croatian market.

Of note is the author's effort, in the second part of the book, to link the social history of the Zagreb business elite with problems concerning cultural history and everyday life. Iveljić seeks to discover the influences of economic development and modernization on the roles of women, children, and adolescents. Traces of a new age appear gradually: For example, the role of females in society turns out to be more complex than one would assume at first. Toward the end of the century, liberal changes appeared in the upbringing and education of girls. Changes appear elsewhere as well: A new generation of “sons” proved to be more tolerant and confident in comparison to their fathers. While the first generation of the Zagreb business elite rose in an uncertain atmosphere, accustomed to rather modest standards in accordance with their new social status, the newer generation showed more consumerist tendencies. The rise of fin-de-siècle culture in Zagreb is analyzed through numerous different aspects, from certain living standards to the emergence of modern architectural projects and the attitude toward death. As these phenomena are at the same time specific and universal to the Habsburg Empire—the urban populations of Vienna, Budapest, Prague, or Zagreb—a more profound general analysis of psychohistorical and intellectual elements is missing. For example, a detailed analysis or comparison of the fascination and attitude toward death, its relation to art and intellectual creativity, would be more than welcome.

A different set of questions on the history of nineteenth⁻century Croatia is taken up by Stefano Petrungaro's book, Pietre e fucili. La protesta sociale nelle campagne croate di fine Ottocento (Rome, 2009). The book was translated into Croatian and published in 2011 under the title Kamenje i puške. Društveni protest na hrvatskom selu krajem XIX. stoljeća. Petrungaro's book focuses on a wave of revolts and riots, all occurring in 1897, mostly on the territory of the former Habsburg military border. Here it is important to recall that Civil Croatia (Civilna Hrvatska) was subject to the rule of the Hungarian Crown from the time of the Ausgleich and Nagodba (1868), while the Croatian and Slavonian Frontiers were incorporated into the Croatian-Slavonian Crownland in 1881. This transformation had significant social impacts.

As the title would suggest, the book's concept is rather interesting: Petrungaro first explains why the revolts of 1897 in particular have drawn his attention. His approach marks a certain shift in interest; the riots of 1883 and 1903 have received greater attention in the historiography. After a short chronological presentation of important events around this “year of revolt,” the book shifts to more specific issues. Petrungaro gives the reader necessary basic information on the territory of the former military border and its political, legal, and social history. However, expecting a more detailed elaboration of economic factors, one ends up disappointed.

Presenting a novel vision of rural history, Petrungaro's book depicts the fin-de-siècle monarchy far away from urban culture. It introduces into the historiography of nineteenth-century Croatia modern approaches pioneered by Charles Tilly, George Rudé, Albert Soubul, and Maurice Agulhon, while at the same time taking into consideration a rather large quantity of Croatian literature on earlier periods on the Military Border. Some histories of the Habsburg Monarchy or Croatia present the disappearance of the Military Border as a mere event. In contrast, Petrungaro sees it as a point of departure for tracing changes in the population's mentality, people's “inner” views as well their broader Weltanschauung. The author focuses on modernization processes almost as much as he explores the similarities and divergence of the populations of Civil Croatia and the former Military Border. He explores how inherited “ancient” models and customs clashed with new tendencies of modernization. A good example is the change of the military uniform: a rather simple act, one would think, that actually faced serious opposition. Seen by soldiers and officers as an additional imposition, a new uniform at the same time touched on broader problems of identity. It represented a symbol of the newly imposed system and brought on the urge to defend the old ways and rights; an inner struggle of the Krajišnik for identity and integration in the regular military. Petrungaro explains that this tension was present in almost every revolt of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries across the Military Border, and uses it as a way of mapping rural mentality in general. In this context modernization and tradition do not appear to be magic words or a simple clash between the new and the old; the author presents a rather subtle analysis of social processes manifested through riots, violence, revolt, and conflict. Deconstructing the revolt of 1897, Petrungaro concludes that the problem of “nation” or nationality was not at its core; rather, it was a revolt of deprived and pauperized peasants whose mentalities intertwined with other problems of religious, national, and political origin.

Indeed, Stefano Petrungaro follows the footsteps of Albert Soboul in acknowledging that rural uprisings and revolts may not have great political impact but are nevertheless of great social significance. Just like Georges Lefebvre's interest in the Great Fear of 1789, Petrungaro's analysis of the riots and rebellions in 1897 in Civil Croatia traces the circulation of the “word” throughout the vast rural land, acknowledging local rumors as an important medium of understanding mass fear, uncertainty, panic, violence, and rioting. Petrungaro goes even further, pointing toward a constant imaginary “thread” present in the peasant mentality, formed through centuries of identity struggles and shifts imposed by various “outsider” elements: local and monarchical authorities, church dignitaries, and the like. Petrungaro's microhistorical analysis is a classic “history from below,” but does not lack consideration of the Habsburg and high political contexts. On the contrary, different “groups” of the population—Catholics, Orthodox, Jews, representatives of the government, impoverished peasants, veterans and ex-soldiers—are analyzed comparatively, with human stories in constant focus. The main protagonists of this book, much like in the works of Natalie Zemon Davis, are vivid and multidimensional. The author has found them in primary sources such as court investigations, indictments, testimonies, and records.

The two books under review present modern approaches to late-nineteenth-century Croatian history and should be included in all further research on this topic. One promotes research of rural society, and the other of urban classes in Croatian historiography. These scientific studies contribute to a long desired social history of Croatians in the Habsburg Monarchy. Such a history would move toward a comprehensive total history that would depict a different path of this peripheral part of the empire.