CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Rupcic, Tijana |
|---|---|
| Title | The Illumination of Yugoslavia: Electric Networks and Nation-building (1918-1941) |
| Summary | The new Yugoslav state emerged in December 1918, after the Great War, when Serbia and Montenegro proclaimed unity with the South Slavic provinces of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. This new state was named Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians, and each of these groups was at a different stage of nation-building as well as technological, urban, and economic development. The idea of a Yugoslav nation had a long history before 1918 and throughout the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century, had a central position in political, cultural, and intellectual life in lands of future Yugoslavia. The integration of the country in national terms after 1918 was followed by advances in technology, especially in terms of electric power, which was perceived as one of the more modern technologies at the time. Both the territories which belonged to the previous Kingdom of Serbia and the Habsburg Monarchy had their paths of electrification. However, while parts of Croatia and Slovenia developed their electric networks in terms of the framework of the Empire, Serbia was developing their projects in electrification in some of the major cities like Belgrade, Užice, and Niš with the help of foreign, mostly German technology. However, with the process of the unification into a common South Slav state, there were some attempts at building a national electric grid, and also at modernizing electric capabilities. Belgrade was the most famous example with the thermoelectric power plant Strength and Light, which was to replace the outdated power plant built during the fin de siècle period. This, in turn, led to the expansion of coal mining and river transport. The first attempt of a unified electrical system came during the 1930s with the building of a thermo-electric power plant Vreoci. Due to the massive coal deposits near Obrenovac, this site was chosen as the center for the new electric system, which would unite the whole country under the unified electric grid. This first attempt was limited due to the economic hardships and the eventual breakout of the Second World War. However, the project survived, and it became the biggest producer of electric energy in the post-war Yugoslavia. These cases demonstrate that the state had the most significant say in the development of large-scale electrical grids, while the local electricity production was left to local governments and capitalists during the interwar period, while the territory of Serbia enjoyed more significant privileges and more investment opportunities, which goes to accord with the centralized form of government in the interwar period. |
| Supervisor | Hall, Karl |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/rupcic_tijana.pdf |
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