Between Local and Slavic Identity: Efforts to Organise Journalistic Structures and Cooperation among Slavic Journalists in the Habsburg Monarchy at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This article explores the path of local journalistic associations in the Slavic countries of the Habsburg Monarchy towards international cooperation, formalised in 1898 at the First Congress of Slavic Journalists. The initiative to organise meetings of Slavic journalists persisted throughout the following years, up to 1912, and, in 1902, led to the establishment of a joint international organisation of Slavic journalists in Austria-Hungary under the name Central Association of Slavic Journalists. With the emergence of the Neo-Slavic idea, the organisation expanded beyond the borders of the Habsburg Monarchy. It evolved into the Pan-Slavic Association of Journalists, which organised, among other events, the Congresses of Slavic Journalists in Sofia in 1910 and in Belgrade in 1911. The article outlines the stages of growing cooperation among Slavic journalists, examines their aims and discussion topics, and highlights divergent interpretations of the idea of Slavic reciprocity among journalists of various national backgrounds – including the national conflicts that ultimately hindered further cooperation.