The Croatian Media’s Perspective on National Socialist Germany: A Historical Analysis Based on a Corpus of Newspaper Articles from 1933 to 1945

Abstract

This study examines the reception of Nazi Germany in Croatian newspaper media between 1933 and 1945. When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, Croatia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following the German and Italian invasion in April 1941, the Kingdom collapsed, and Croatian fascists under Ante Pavelić established the puppet state Nezavisna Država Hrvatska (“Independent State of Croatia”), which lasted until the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945. Against this historical and political background, the study investigates how the “Third Reich” was perceived at different points in time to trace the evolution of Croatian perspectives. Until 1941, coverage of Germany reflected the interests and agendas of different political and social groups. After Pavelić’s accession to power, Fascist narratives came to dominate the press, while the growing Partisan movement increasingly challenged them. The analysis is based on a corpus of sixteen newspaper articles relating to five historical events between 1933 and 1945. The sources, preserved in the Croatian State Archives and the National and University Library in Zagreb, are examined using historical reception analysis. The findings demonstrate that media representations were decisively shaped by prevailing political interests. Before 1941, portrayals of the German Reich were predominantly favorable, reflecting efforts towards political and economic rapprochement. Between 1941 and 1945, official media presented exclusively positive images of Nazi Germany as part of Fascist propaganda. Nevertheless, critical perspectives persisted throughout the period, initially in Jewish newspapers and later increasingly through an anti-fascist Partisan counter-narrative, which became dominant by the end of 1944.