Anarchism in Croatia

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[edit] Anarchist History

In the Dalmatia region, the anarchist movement was heavily influenced by Italy anarchism (not surprising as some of the Dalmatian cities were a part of the Italian state). Around the beginning of the 20th Century the movement here came under the influence of the Germinal anarchist communist groupin Trieste, Italy. The centres of activity were Zadar and Split with some numbers of militants who were distributing Germinal newspapers among working class circles and also trying to organise workers there. They supported the Germinal tactic of direct action on a local level. At this point, Germinal was distributing its papers in a large number in these areas, bigger than some social-democratic parties. Unfortunately, the movement didn’t last long.

There were also those people who were influenced by the propaganda by the deed idea. In Istria, anarchists were involved in a failed assassination attempt on Mussolini, who was giving a speech in Pula in September 1920. The anarchists and their socialist comrades planned to smuggle abomb wrapped in newspapers into thetheatre where the Italian fascist leader was speaking. However, the plan was never pulled off as a few of the older socialists who were known to the local police decided they would be caught before they could make an attempt on Mussolini’s life. Two days after the speech, Pula was overwhelmed with terror between right-wing and left-wing groups. After an investigation into the group of anarchists and socialists, the police discovered the bomb and other weapons. They were arrested.

There has even been talk of an anarchist partisan militia in Istria during World War Two, but at the time of writing no other information is available.

Source: "A Brief Look at the State of Anarchism in 21st Century Croatia." Organise! No.65 Winter '05.