Serbian national ideology and projects in the field of culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with reference to the wider area of Tuzla in the Austro-Hungarian period (1878-1918)
Authors:   Archives of Tuzla Canton, Zulić Omer 
Published: March 2021

Since the middle of the 19th century, Croatian and Serbian national ideas have been systematically and purposefully imposed on Bosnian Orthodox and Catholics in Bosnia. In this way, the Serb and Croat nations are formed on a religious basis in Bosnia. "Serbs" and "Croats" as national-political determinants are introduced into Bosnia from Serbia and Croatia. Their goal is to nationalize the Catholic population in the Croatian, and the Orthodox in the Serbian national sense. In the Austro-Hungarian period, activities in the field of strengthening national identities were also noticeable in the field of culture. Then there is a more massive organization of the population through various forms of cultural, educational, sports, economic and other societies. These associations, formally non-governmental and non-political, operated politically, with the task of executing national movements and strengthening the national consciousness of Orthodox and Catholics. In this way, a religious and ethnic mosaic was formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the mentioned period, which created a kind of forms of national movements. This was especially pronounced among the Orthodox population, which in symbiosis and cooperation of cultural, educational, business associations, and church communities, achieved significant progress and results in terms of national awareness and strengthening national and cultural identity. The goal of founding Serbian singing societies is to nurture and strengthen the Serbian national consciousness through nurturing the church song, through books (enlightenment), song and presentation of Serbian theatrical, and especially historical contents. In this way, the singing societies were the bearers of the national and educational-cultural revival of the Orthodox population. The press played a significant role in political action and the spread of national ideas and aspirations. Namely, the press was the most suitable form in terms of spreading ideas and strengthening the national-religious identity, primarily among the Orthodox, but also the rest of the population. Therefore, the occupation authorities strictly controlled and approved the establishment of printing houses with strict checks. Nevertheless, this was not an obstacle for certain newspapers to emphasize their political views and commitments through columns, which is why some were banned, as is the case with the Tuzla newspaper, called "Serbian Movement", which was banned in 1914. Theaters in this period were also very suitable for action on the national-political level. The primary goal of the theater's activities was not cultural uplifting, but agitation in order to develop national consciousness, primarily among the Orthodox population, and in that sense of action against the occupying authorities, but also Bosnia and Herzegovina. Traveling theaters primarily gave performances of historical themes, with the aim of igniting national consciousness, among the Orthodox. Therefore, this paper aims to point out the reflections, primarily of Serbian national-political aspirations in the field of culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with reference to Tuzla, in the Austro-Hungarian period.