Gertrude Enderle-Burcel, Dieter Stiefel, Alice Teichova (Hrsg.): Sonderband 9. „Zarte Bande” – Österreich und die europäischen planwirtschaftlichen Länder / „Delicate Relationships” – Austria and Europe’s Planned Economies (2006)
Damir Jelic: “Living in the neighbourhood” - Economic Relations between Capitalist Austria and Socialist Croatia in Historical Perspective
Damir Jelic just another economic centre. It was of similar importance as Trieste, Budapest and other far-off economic centres. As far as transportation was concerned, traders had already favoured domestic export points, such as Split and Rijeka, before they eventually also focussed on Trieste and Budapest. However, there were still some realities which stimulated trade between Croatia and Austria after all. Zagreb was the economic and administrative centre of Croatia and played an important role especially in terms of being an import centre of the region. Furthermore, personal and political relationships between Zagreb and Vienna made it easier for Croatians to buy goods in Austria. Besides that, human capital on the Austrian market was very attractive for many Croatians, too. On the Austrian market, Croatians were able to buy goods that they did not have because trading and/or producing them would have required a significant pool of human capital. In addition, the predominance of the German language in the process of educating Zagreb’s elites was a very important factor that ought not to be undervalued. Considering all of these aspects, we have to talk about the long-lasting trade relationship between Austria and Croatia. This relationship reached its peak during the 1920s, when Zagreb opted as main import centre of the Kingdom of SHS. However, this situation had resulted from temporarily good economic and market conditions - there was a high demand for industrial goods in Yugoslavia and for agricultural products in Austria against a background of currency and credit circumstances for which personal contacts were of high importance. Zagreb then lost this position again, mostly thanks to the administrative measures of the Belgrade government.26 Nevertheless, Zagreb remained in a state of renaissance. Seemingly, Croatia was able to put its relationships into effect during the period of socialism. Data on foreign trade activities between Austria and Croatia during the first twenty years of socialist Yugoslavia is not easily available. During this period, international trade was strictly centralised and governed through administration in Belgrade. Thus, statistical yearbooks merely contain data on trade relations between Yugoslavia and Austria. A main characteristic of this period is the high level of foreign trade instability - trade with Austria suffered from extreme fluctuations, probably related to political circumstances. Except for some intensive relationships between 1949 and 1952, when a share of five to ten percent of the whole Yugoslav foreign trade was redirected towards Austria, we have to talk mostly about limited relationships. After 1960, trading activities with nearby Austria never reached the intensity of trading relations with countries in far-off Africa. 26 See Kolar-Di mi t r ij e v i c, Mira: „Privredne veze izmedu Austrije i sjeverne Hrvatske od 1918. do 1925”. In: Historijski zbomik - 45 ( 1992), 1 ; p. 57-88. 258
