Ljudevit Gaj and the Illyrian Movement

281 Pages·1975·5.503 MB·English

by  E.M. Despalatonic

EAST EUROPEAN MONOGRAPHS. NO. XTT
LJUDEVIT GAJ
AND THE ILLYRIAN MOVEMENT
ELINOR MURRAY DESPALATOVIC
EAST EUROPEAN QUARTERLY, BOULDER
DISTRIBUTED BY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1975
Elinor Murray Despalatovic is Associate Professor of History
at Connecticut College
Copyright © I 1975 by East European Quarterly
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-6228
ISBN 0-914710-05-2
Printed in the United States of America
EAST EUROPEAN MONOGRAPHS
The East European Monographs comprise scholarly books devoted to
the history and civilization of Eastern Europe. The studies are published
by the East European Quarterly in the belief that they contribute to
knowledge of the area and stimulate research and scholarship.
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12. Ljudevit Gaj and the Illyrian Movement. By Elinor Murray
Despalatovic. 1975.
TO MARIJAN, PA VICA AND MIRNA
PREFACE
This is a study of the relationship between Ljudevit Gaj and the
Illyrian Movement. In most works in Western European languages
which touch upon the Illyrian Movement, Gaj is identified as its
spokesman and leader. This is certainly true for the early years of the
Movement, 1835-1842, but less so for the years between 1843 and
1848. Ljudevit Gaj was a journalist, editor, publisher, and, sometimes,
politician. A man of common birth in a land in which the nobility
dominated social and political life, he could play a key role in the
Movement when it was in its predominantly cultural phase, but when it
became politicized after 1841, he was gradually pushed into a secondary
role.
The first two-thirds of this work is based upon my dissertation for
Columbia University, which carried the career of Gaj and the
development of the Illyrian Movement up to 1843. It seemed a logical
place to end, as leadership of the Movement had passed to others by that
time and Gaj ’s papers contain little information on his political activities
after 1843. This is due to the fact that he destroyed many letters and
papers in the early 1850’s, much of this material relating to his secret
politics in the Vormärz years. As I prepared my dissertation for
publication, it became obvious that it would be necessary to carry the
story up to 1848, for Gaj rose to power once more in the early months of
the revolution — he therefore could not have been all that minor a figure
after 1843 — and because the period between 1843 and 1848 saw the
fruition of many of the reforms Gaj had proposed in 1835 and 1836.
This leads however to a difference in emphasis in the two parts : the first
is primarily about Gaj and his impact on the Movement; the second
about the growing strength of the Movement and Gaj’s varied attempts
to retain a position of leadership within it.
Very little has been written about Ljudevit Gaj in the English
language or indeed in any Western European language. There is no
adequate published biography of Gaj in any language. He is mentioned
in Croatian literary or political histories, usually with a brief
VI PREFACE
biographical sketch, or treated in some detail in articles or monographs
which deal with one aspect of his life or with the fllyrian Movement.
Certain years have brought forth a whole series of publications on Gaj
and the Illyrian Movement: 1872, the year of Gaj’s death; 1885, the
fiftieth anniversary of the commencement of the Illyrian Movement;
1909, the centenary of Gaj’s birth; 1935, the centenary of the Illyrian
Movement; and 1972, the centenary of Gaj’s death. Many of these
gloss over the less attractive aspects of Gaj’s life. The late Josip Horvat’s
recent biography of Gaj is the only balanced study. Unfortunately he
died before it was put into final form, and it remains today in
manuscript.
The sparsity of critical works on Gaj cannot be explained away by lack
of archival material, especially for the years before 1843. It seems to me
that the reasoit Gaj has remained a central but relatively unknown figure
in Croatian history is because his life contained so many contradictions.
Ideologist of the Illyrian Movement in its early years, gifted organizer
and agitator, idolized by the educated youth of Croatia in the 1830’s and
early 1840’s, he fell from power in 1848 due to a political scandal, and
lived the rest of his life as an embittered and somewhat shabby figure. He
can be viewed as a national hero, victim or opportunist, and one is torn
between admiration, sympathy and distrust.
The focus of my study is Ljudevit Gaj. For that reason I have dealt
with other important Illyrians only when their lives and thoughts
touched Gaj in some significant way. This is no way implies that they
were not important, or that Gaj did everything alone. One of the aspects
I examine is the exact role Gaj played once he was recognized as leader,
and we shall see that the others did the bulk of the day-to-day work in
the organizations of the Movement.
Ljudevit Gaj was not an original thinker. He was a practical man who
took ideas and adapted them to his purpose — the awakening of a feeling
of national identity in his homeland. He was influenced by the works of
Herder, Kollar, P.J. Šafafik, Kopitar, Janko DraSković, Karadzić,
Vitezović, and probably many others. I have identified influences only
when I have been able to prove them from documents. Certain of the
Croatian studies about Gaj dating from the late 1930’s, especially those
of F. Fancev, attribute influences much too easily and without sufficient
evidence. In the end, where Gaj found his ideas, is not as important as
what he did with them.
In the course of my research I encountered a problem familiar to most
students of Eastern European history; some of the interesting leads
could simply not be followed up because I lacked training in the
languages in which the sources were written. This is true of the Czech
PREFACE ^
and Slovak materials, and of all primary source material in Slovene or
Hungarian.
The first two chapters form an introduction to the problems facing
Croatia in the early nineteenth century. This seemed necessary due to
the complexity of the material, and the lack of information on these
subjects in the English language.
I am deeply indebted to the late Josip Horvat for his interest in my
work and his generosity in sharing with me the fruit of many years of
research. During the two years I spent in Zagreb doing research on Gaj
and the Illyrian Movement, I met with Mr. Horvat many times. Before I
left he gave me a copy of his Gaj manuscript and some of his notes,
telling me that he did not expect to live to see the biography published,
and hoped that it would in some way become known through my work. I
hope his Gaj biography will be published one day. It needs much
editorial work, but it is insightful, well-written, and based upon many
years of archival research. I have used the Horvat manuscript mainly as
a chronological guide to Gaj’s activities and as a source for attempting to
understand Gaj’s motivations. My work is not at all a duplication of
Horvat*s study, but it is in many ways a continuation of it.
I am also indebted to Professor Jaroslav šidak of the University of
Zagreb. Josip Horvat helped me to understand Gaj, and Professor Šidak
to understand Croatian history in the Illyrian period. I have deep respect
for him as a historian and have relied many times in this study on his
various works.
If I were to thank all of the people who in one way or another aided me
in my research, the list would be many pages in length. I would
especially like to mention the late Professor Rudolf Đićanić, Professor
Ljudevit Jonke, Professor Mirjana Gros, Dr. Branko Hanz, and Dr.
Miroslava Despot — all of Zagreb, and thank them for their kind
assistance. I could never have found my way through the manuscript
collections without the aid of Mr. Lazio Nemeth, archivist of the Haus-
Hof- u. Staatsarchiv in Vienna, and Mr. §ime Jurié, Custodian of the
Manuscripts Collection of the Zagreb University Library. The
generosity of the Ford Foundation enabled me to spend almost two years
in Zagreb in research for this book. I would like to thank Professor Rado
Lenlfek for his most useful criticism, and Professors Istv^n DeSk,
Vojtech Mastny and the late Professor Philip Mosely for their helpful
suggestions for adapting the dissertation to book form. Mrs. Patricia
Minucci was my major typist and I thank her for her help.
In conclusion I would like to thank the late Professor Henry L.
Roberts, my dissertation adviser, for his faith in my work and his
patience and wise direction in seeing the major part of this project
through.

CONTENTS
Preface v
I. Introduction 1
H. Need for a Croatian National Renaissance 15
ffl. Ljudevit Gaj — Youth (1809-1826) 27
IV. Towards a Reformed Orthography (1826-1831) 39
V. The “Gaj Circle” (1832-1834) 63
VI. The Illyrian Movement Begins (1835) 79
Vfl. Support Grows (1836-1837) 97
VO. Ljudevit Gaj — Leader (1838-1840) 113
IX. The Illyrians Enter Politics (1841-1843) 129
X. The Quiet Years (1843-1845) 153
XI. Years of Fruition (1846-1847) 161
XD. Revolution — and Epilogue 185
Notes 203
Bibliography 249
Index 267