Zadnjeg desetljeća XVIII. stoljeća u Vukovaru se ponovo pojavila kuga, nakon pedesetogodišnjeg izbivanja. Kako u to vrijeme još nije bio poznat uzročnik tako su bile nepoznate i učinkovite metode ...liječenja. Unatoč tome, Vukovar je imao relativno mali broj okuženih i umrlih u odnosu na druga mjesta u Srijemu. Cilj rada je, na temelju dostupnih izvora i literature, predstaviti kronologiju događanja u Vukovaru, od pojave patogenog agensa do konačnog oslobađanja ovog srijemskog trgovišta od kuge. Zahvaljujući sačuvanoj arhivskoj građi moguće je preispitati ukupan broj umrlih i utvrditi stopu smrtnosti u Vukovaru. Na temelju nekoliko izvora kreiran je objedinjeni popis umrlih osoba tijekom epidemije tzv. Srijemske kuge u Vukovaru.
In the last decade of the 18th century, after being absent for fifty years, the plague appeared again in Vukovar. At the time the pathogen was unknown, as were methods of effective treatment. Nonetheless, Vukovar exhibited a rather low number of infected persons and deaths in comparison to other places in Syrmia. On the basis of preserved archival materials, it is possible to investigate the overall number of deaths and the mortality rate in Vukovar. Furthermore, this paper provides an explanation for the low number of deaths during the epidemic in Vukovar in 1795/96. Insight into accessible literature allowed the chronology of the epidemic to be established, from the appearance of the pathogenic agent in the settlement until this Syrmian market town was finally cleared of the plague. Through the analysis of a number sources, a consolidated list of deaths caused by the Syrmian plague in Vukovar has been created.
CROATIAN DISPUTES OVER THE MEMORY OF VUKOVAR The Battle of Vukovar is one of the main accords of the Croatian war 1991- 1995. As a result of the 87-day siege, most of the buildings were destroyed. To ...this day, different narratives about those events and contrary concepts of commemorating the victims clash in Croatia. Nationalists want it to remain a symbol of martyrdom, while liberal circles call for making it a center of dialogue and tolerance. Unfortunately, so far the first of these options is winning, and poor, under-invested Vukovar is constantly depopulating.
Spatial and temporal characterization of soil properties in agro-ecosystems is crucial for monitoring the evolution of soil functions and for understanding the main influential processes. Moreover, ...the objective mapping of soil properties in agro-ecosystems is urgently needed for regional planning purposes and the proper choice of land management practices. In this work, the geostatistical analysis of a dataset of soil properties, derived from 2411 soil samples collected in Vukovar-Srijem County (Croatia), highlighted the multiple benefits of a spatial-statistical approach. The main aim of this paper is to jointly examine short-range (i.e., within-field) and regional spatial variability of several soil chemical properties: soil pH, organic matter (OM), plant available phosphorus (AP) and potassium (AK). The available sampling network, characterized by a set of 2411 (0–30cm depth) irregularly and field-clustered soil samples, allowed to derivate of two typologies of soil nutrient maps by means of ordinary block kriging: within-field high-resolution maps (block size 250m) and regional low-resolution maps (block size 2000m). Soil pH and OM had lower variability compared to AP and AK. The OM content and pH ranged from 1.24% to 5.25% and from 3.69 to 7.84, respectively. Almost 94% of all samples had an OM content below 3%, indicating the need for future adoption of environmentally friendly soil management in this county. The mean values of AP and AK were 173mgkg−1 and 238mgkg−1, respectively, indicating a moderate supply of these nutrients. Geostatistical analysis revealed that the best-fit models were spherical for pH and AP, with moderate spatial dependency, and exponential for OM and AK, with strong spatial dependency. The within-field high-resolution soil property maps can be used as guidance for site-specific fertilization and liming. In addition, the regional maps derived for larger interpolation support provide quantitative information for regional planning and environmental monitoring and protection purposes. Consequently, the multi-resolution mapping of soil properties and the analysis of their spatial variability highlighted possible connections with influential factors and processes, including the relationships with different soil types. Finally, quantification of the spatial variability of soil properties by means of variogram models constitutes a basis for optimizing soil sample spacing for mapping purposes in the studied region.
•Short-range and regional spatial variability of soil chemical properties was investigated.•The investigated soil properties (pH, OM, AP and AK) are characterized by different spatial patterns.•The spatial patterns of soil properties suggest the likely influence of antrophic processes.•Occurrence of highly acidic areas are mayor restricting factor for crop production.•Low OM content indicates the need for environmental sustainable management strategies.
Based on the chamber census of 1728 and Frast’s maps of the noble manor of Vukovar from 1733, the authors have reached conclusions on the socio-economic situation of the newly created Vukovar estate ...using quantitative methods. The analysis of the Chamber census from 1728 shows the state of economy on the future manor (farming, livestock breeding, and viticulture). Significant differences have been observed in the economic development of different settlement categories (city, marketplace, village). At the current level of research, it has not been possible to conclude whether these differences were caused by the urbanization of Vukovar, which became the seat of the noble manor, and later also of the newly created Syrmian County, or by some other process. The Chamber census allows us to determine the amount of tax burden, as well as the manorial income on the basis of which the Palace Chamber determined the value of the future manor and the amount that the new owner had to pay into the treasury of the Palace Chamber for the ownership right of the female line of the Küffstein family.
Kultura sjećanja shvaćena kao tumačenje značenja i važnosti pojedinih prošlih događaja i razdoblja za život različitih društvenih grupa zadobila je veliku važnost u suvremenom svijetu te pobudila ...velik znanstveni interes. U ovom radu postavljaju se pitanja na koji su način predstavnici Katoličke crkve u Hrvatskoj pristupali i oblikovali kulturu sjećanja na Vukovarsku bitku, na koji način su se odnosili prema žrtvama rata ali i izražavali stavove o društvu, državi i međuetničkim odnosima. Istraživanje je provedeno metodom kvalitativne analize sadržaja pri čemu su analizirani stavovi prema značenju te bitke predstavnika Katoličke crkve preneseni u tiskanom izdanju novina Glas Koncila. Na temelju provedenog istraživanja izvode se tri zaključka, a to su, kao prvo, da predstavnici Crkve drže izuzetno važnim održavanje sjećanja na bitku i to osobito na pamćenje žrtava. Drugi zaključak je da se inzistira na jednoj istini koju treba pamtiti i koja se ne smije relativizirati. Treći je zaključak da usprkos svemu lošem što se u Vukovaru dogodilo, treba izvući poruku dobra iz toga strašnog povijesnog događaja te kroz tu poruku ustrajati na održavanju solidarnosti važnih društvenih zajednica, a to su domovina i obitelj.
In 1991, Snežana Žabić lost her homeland and most of her family’s book and record collection during the Yugoslav Wars that had been sparked by Slobodan Milošević’s relentless pursuit of power. She ...became a teenage refugee, forced to flee Croatia and the atrocities of war that had leveled her hometown of Vukovar. She and her family remained refugees in Serbia until NATO bombed Belgrade in 1999. After witnessing the first nights of NATO’s bombing, Žabić took flight again. She moved from country to country, city to city, finally settling in Chicago. She realized — reluctantly, because she didn’t want to relive the past — that she had to write about what had happened, what she had left behind, and what she had lost. Broken Records is the story of this loss, told with unflinching honesty, free of sentimentality or sensationalism. For the very first time, we learn how it felt to be first a regular teenager during the breakup of Yugoslavia and the ensuing wars, and then a 30-something adult, perennially troubled by one’s uprooted existence. Broken Records is not a neat narrative but a bit of everything — part bildungsroman, part memoir, part political poetry, part personal pop culture compendium. And while Žabić represents a Yugoslav diasporan subject, her book also belongs to an international generation whose formative years straddle the Cold War and the global reconfiguration of wealth and power, whose lives were spent shifting from the vinyl/analog era to the cyber/digital era. This generation knows that when they were told about history ending, they were told a lie..
Bioeconomy is becoming a more interesting field for investments in the Republic of Croatia, especially in its small regions and local administrative units. Vukovar-Srijem county is one such unit in ...eastern Croatia with noticeable potential for development in a circular, carbon-neutral, and sustainable bioeconomy. Due to the nature potential represented by one of the largest forest reservoirs in Europe-Spačva basin, forestry is one of the most important county branches. Aiming to provide more inputs on the wood biomass management, the study on the biomass flow of Vukovar-Srijem county was conducted in 2020 by collecting data from local stakeholders and official reports. The study results have shown that Vukovar-Srijem county has the potential to increase the efficiency level of biomass use, but specific actions on the value-chain strengthening, finalisation of wood products, and innovative ecosystem establishment are still needed. The results highlight the predominant use of sawdust for heating purposes in the VSC region, suggesting potential for optimizing its utilization towards a circular, carbon-neutral, and sustainable bioeconomy, thus offering novel insights for future research and initiatives aiming to maximize economic and environmental benefits from wood biomass residues.
Human skeletal remains from Bijelo Brdo-Venice Street and
Vukovar-Lijeva Bara have previously been anthropologically
analysed and published, but in this paper cranial traumas are
studied for the ...first time. The sample consists of 84 adult skulls
curated in the Natural History Museum and the Archaeological
Museum in Zagreb. Results showed a high frequency of cranial
trauma (19.0 %) recorded in 16 out of 84 well-preserved skulls.
Although males exhibit twice as many traumas as females (24.4 %
vs. 12.8 %) the difference is not statistically significant. Trauma is
present most frequently on the left side of the skull, and there
is perimortem trauma in both sites, as well as in both sexes; this
indicates the existence of interpersonal violence in these populations..
In the context of an ethnically divided community, we explored the role of competing group narratives for intergroup rapprochement after violent conflict. In Study 1, data from a community survey ...conducted in Vukovar, Croatia, among 198 Croats, the local majority, and 119 Serbs, the local minority, were analysed to gain perspective on different narratives about the recent war and effects they may have on intergroup relations. In Study 2, focus groups with Croat and Serb children provided data to explore how these narratives were transmitted and transformed in living experience within the second generation. The quantitative results confirm the existence of opposing narratives of war among local Croats and Serbs. Multiple regression analyses show that, after controlling for exposure to war event and their personal impact, different factors predict rapprochement within the two groups. In the minority status group, that displayed higher overall levels of readiness for rapprochement, perceived ingroup victimization and outgroup stereotypes appeared more predictive than the outgroup affect. In contrast, within the majority group, variations in readiness for intergroup rapprochement were primarily predicted by outgroup affect, followed by perceived ingroup victimization. The qualitative inquiry complemented the findings from the survey. Despite the overwhelming dominant narrative, some alternative positions exist, but not consistent enough to be declared publicly. Perception of one’s own group as the primary victim of the war influences not only interpretations of the past, but also shapes identity, everyday life and future expectations. Mechanisms of perpetuating opposed narratives, as well as possible interventions, are discussed.
Background
How do people start to trust each other again and possibly reconcile after years of a severe intra-community conflict and massive violence? How do they make sense of what has happened in the community and how does the construction, transmission and preservation of a war narrative facilitate or hinder the peace-building process and community social recovery? In order to answer these questions we conducted a study in the post-conflict settings of the city of Vukovar, Croatia, where formerly belligerent group – majority Croats and minority Serbs – continue to live in the same community and try to rebuild their lives with the burden of the 1991-1995 war.
Why was this study done?
Collective narratives that groups in conflict construe about the causes, development, and the ending of their conflict may shape their future relations. When these narratives are congruent across conflicted groups, a prospect of future peaceful relations is possible; however, groups in conflict usually have profoundly different views about their disputes. These contesting narratives describe past grievances and violence that groups inflicted on each other very differently, honouring and remembering only in-group suffering and injustice done to the in-group. Such one-sided narratives may be (mis)used in instigating and fuelling new intergroup conflicts. To foster post-conflict intergroup rapprochement it is important to understand the narratives that rival groups have about the conflict, the underlying intergroup emotions and cognitions, and the way they are reproduced and transmitted to the offspring.
What did the researchers do and find?
We conducted two studies. The first was a community sample survey of the Croat and Serb adults in the post-conflict city of Vukovar, Croatia, exploring different perspectives on the conflict and the relation of their respective narratives with intergroup rapprochement. To explore collective narrative, we used a range of logically connected variables, such as personal and collective war-related experiences, cognitive and emotional intergroup responses, and attributions of victimhood. We wanted to see if intergroup rapprochement can be predicted by variables tied to collective narratives. In the second study, we ran a series of focus groups discussions with Vukovar adolescents aged 11 through 15 to explore if and how these narratives have been transmitted and transformed in living experience within the second generation.
Results of Study 1 showed that different factors predicted variations in readiness to rapprochement within the two groups. Perceived in-group victimisation and stereotype of the outgroup as competent explained differences within the minority (Serb) group, rather than outgroup affects. Overall, this group seemed more ready to approach the outgroup than the Croat majority. The majority group’s lower readiness for rapprochement might reflect their higher power status and lower need to accommodate. Variations within this group are best predicted by diffrences in affect towards the outgroup. Moreover, perceived collective victimhood strongly shaped Croats’ ethnic identity and outgroup emotions. This pattern suggests that a dominant war-related narrative has formed, which associates Croat identity, a sense of victimhood and negative affects towards Serbs, alongside a minority-within-the-majority position, characterised by consistently low levels of endorsement across all of these factors.
The focus groups discussions of how adolescents perceived and interpreted their respective in-group narrative completed the findings from the survey. In the generation born and raised after the war, opposing narratives of the war persisted. In the majority (Croat) group, perception of one’s own group as the primary victim of the war influenced not only interpretations of the past, but also shaped everyday life and future expectations. A one-sided perspective of the war was transmitted to children mostly within families and by the media, and often through silence about critical past events (justified by the need to avoid traumatisation), leaving little space for critical examination or debate. Thus, children had internalised ideologies, i.e. dominant narratives about the conflict, without access to clear facts about past events. Members of the minority group (that lost the war) appeared to typically react by self-silencing and avoiding the topic altogether.
What do these findings mean?
Contested narratives of the war and collective victimhood are important factors for intergroup rapprochement. Different factors, either more emotional (majority group) or more cognitive (minority group) may be responsible for different levels of readiness for rapprochement within the two groups. When transmitted to the next generation, the exclusive narrative of the war and in-group suffering may prevent the adolescents from critically examining history and contributing constructively to a more peaceful future. Therefore, we consider that dealing with diverse perspectives instead of silencing alternative narratives, may foster cross-group understanding and open promising ways to achieve lasting peace.
PDF
