The commemoration of the World War I Centenary
(2014–2018) was the most important social event
in the last decade in the developed countries of Western
Europe, especially Britain and France, and in the former
British dominions, Canada and Australia. In contrast
to these victorious countries, the countries defeated in
the war (primarily Germany and Austria) had a
significantly more modest and different approach to the
commemoration. The emphasis was on all war victims,
soldiers and civilians, regardless of which side of the
war they had fought on. Since Croatia, as a former
part of Austria-Hungary, found itself in a completely
new state union after it was united with the Kingdom of
Serbia after the war, veterans were ill-advised to mention
their participation in the war on the wrong side. It was no
better after the end of World War II, when one victor\u27s
narrative replaced another, and made the mentioning of
formerly existing monarchies completely unacceptable. All
these facts influenced attitudes towards World War I, which
was almost completely forgotten in Croatia over time.Obilježavanje stogodišnjice od izbijanja i završetka Prvoga
svjetskoga rata (2014. – 2018.) bio je najvažniji društveni
događaj u proteklom desetljeću u zemljama Zapadne
Europe, posebice u Britaniji i Francuskoj, te u britanskim
dominionima Kanadi i Australiji. Za razliku od tih zemalja
pobjednica, poražene sudionice rata (prije svega Njemačka i
Austrija) znatno su skromnije obilježile obljetnicu, ujedno joj
pristupajući na posve drugačiji način. Naglasak je bio na
svim žrtvama rata, vojnicima i civilima, bez obzira na kojoj
su se strani borili. S obzirom na to da se Hrvatska kao bivša
zemlja Austro-Ugarske Monarhije nakon rata našla u posve
novoj državnoj zajednici ujedinjena s Kraljevinom Srbijom,
sudionicima rata nije bilo uputno spominjati svoje ratovanje
na krivoj strani. Ništa bolje nije bilo ni nakon Drugoga
svjetskog rata, kada je jedan pobjednički narativ zamijenio
drugi, u kojemu je spominjanje ranijih monarhija bilo
nadasve neprihvatljivo. Sve to utjecalo je na odnos prema
Prvome svjetskom ratu, koji je protokom vremena u
Hrvatskoj umalo postao posve zaboravljen