Croatian World War I Memorials Abroad

Due to complex historical circumstances, the monumental heritage of the World War I abroad had not been researched at all until ten years ago. There were both subjective and objective reasons for this: firstly, there was a lack of interest for approaching this very complex issue due to the dynamic events of the twentieth century and due to the political positions in the emerging countries after the end of World War I. Secondly, there was a lack of primary sources in Croatia, especially those of German provenance. Thanks to the passing of time, the arrival of the digital age and the opening of previously difficult-to-access archives, it is finally easier to find certain data, especially after the change of climate regarding this issue in the countries of their origin. Marking the 100th anniversary of the World War I, during the past fifteen years, Croatian scientists and volunteers began the painstaking work of researching and marking individual resting places of Croatian soldiers who took part in the very dynamic events of the twentieth century - the “century of extremes”. This contribution will concentrate on the explored localities as well as potential ones that need to be explored in the future, especially those localities where Croatian forces had great losses, which is why there is a possibility that there are still certain remains of military cemeteries there.