About an Academic and Historiographic Failure Cover Image

О једној академској и историографској странпутици
About an Academic and Historiographic Failure

With regard to the article “Prince Pavle Karađorđević and New Yugoslav Authorities in 1945” written by Dragan Aleksić and Ivana Krstić-Mistridželović

Author(s): Srđan Milošević
Subject(s): Diplomatic history, Political history, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949)
Published by: Матица српска
Keywords: Prince Pavle Karađorđević; State Commission for Investigation on Crimes; rehabilitation; revisionism; historiography

Summary/Abstract: In this paper the author presented examples of academic dishonesty and substantial historiographic mistakes and fallacies – interpretative, methodological and factual – made by the authors of the article mentioned in the title of this contribution. Answering to their deliberate critics of the author’s book Istorija pred sudom, he points out that the authors of the mentioned article, firstly, did not offer neither proper nor sufficient argumentation for their general remarks about his work, labeling the book as oneof “questionable scientific value”. Supporting this and similar other labels they quote several paragraphs from the author’s book, contemplating about them instead of giving argumentative comments, sometimes even erroneously attributing to him the claims that he did not make in his book. Secondly, the author of this paper indicates that the mentioned authors took over some facts and conclusions from his book, without making any references to it. Thirdly, and most importantly, he developed a comprehensive argumentation for his claim that the document these authors founded their alleged research upon has never passed through the process of enactment and empowerment. Namely, the so called “Decision of declaring Prince Regent Pavle Karađorđević a war criminal and an enemy of the people” has never been adopted by the Presidency of AVNOJ, as argued by Aleksić and Krstić Mistridželović. The document under the given title, which they used as if it was a historical source issued by the Presidency of AVNOJ, is merely a draft of a decision that has never been passed.

  • Issue Year: 2017
  • Issue No: 161
  • Page Range: 67-93
  • Page Count: 27
  • Language: Serbian