EXHIBITION - 1918 as turning point in Croatia

12 November 2018 - On Sunday 11 November 2018, Minister of Culture Sc.D. Nina Obuljen Koržinek opened the exhibition in the Croatian History Museum in Zagreb  - "1918 as turning point in Croatia", marking  the centennial of the end of World War I.     

Opening the exhibition, the Minister said that World War I and the European Year of Cultural Heritage were two great topics in the marking of which Croatia got involved at European, national and local level, in close cooperation with institutions as well as public and political life representatives from the country and from abroad. She underlined that „those are also the topics which unite us with many European countries and establish our position and relevance in the European context", said the Minister.
 
The minister stressed that "World War I was a turning point in modern European history, with far-reaching and fatal consequences, which are reflected in the 21st century, and hence is unequivocally inscribed in the collective memory of Europeans as the Great War, after which the world could no longer be the same." She also added that the period of World War I falls under insufficiently researched areas of historical science in Croatia and noted that in the meantime significant gaps have been filled in the former scientific literature, and along with numerous scientific and professional articles and studies, a large number of memoirs written by immediate participants to the Great War has been published.
 
Welcoming the visitors, Director of the Croatian History Museum, Matea Brstilo Rešetar, emphasized that in cooperation with other museums and archives, focus is on the turning point and social political events Croatia was facing following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Exhibition author Andreja Smetko spoke about the concept of the exhibition and explained the concept divided into five thematic units, which follow a chronological sequence covering the period from beginning 1918 to mid-1919. The exhibition presents 518 exhibits of museum objects, archive, film and library material kept in Croatian heritage institutions and a smaller number of objects borrowed from foreign institutions and private owners.