Croatian Geography in Environmental-Historical Research: Disciplinary roots and evolving frameworks

This review examines the body of Croatian environmental-historical research undertaken within the discipline of geography. While the institutionalization of environmental history on a global scale took place only in the second half of the twentieth century—although the initial impetus for its development came primarily from historians—it has since evolved into one of the most genuinely interdisciplinary fields of inquiry. Yet, as defined by leading environmental historians, it becomes clear that the core questions and objects of study in contemporary environmental history are deeply rooted in, and closely aligned with, those of modern geography since the early twentieth century. Indeed, many of the most influential contributions to environmental history have been authored by (historical) geographers. Environmental historians themselves frequently acknowledge that the boundaries between environmental history and historical geography are remarkably porous, if not entirely indistinguishable. This review offers a systematic analysis of environmental-historical geographical research in Croatia. It classifies the existing works according to their principal themes, temporal scope, types of sources and methodologies employed, and, due to the dual nature of geography, distinguishes among studies that are primarily grounded in the natural sciences, those rooted in the social sciences and humanities approach, as well as those adopting an integrative or complex geographical approach. The review draws on the widest base of Croatian research (CroRIS) and other available evidence, including private materials, primarily for older works published before indexing in scientific databases. The analysis shows that geography’s dual nature produces wide thematic and methodological diversity. The research spans natural-science, social-science, and integrative approaches, covering periods from the early Holocene to recent decades, each using distinct sources and analytical methods.