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Protocol Hunts: Game Hunting among Yugoslavia's Communist Elite

Fri, November 11, 2:00 to 3:45pm CST (2:00 to 3:45pm CST), The Palmer House Hilton, Floor: 7th Floor, Sandburg 6

Abstract

The paper will examine the role that game hunting played in the social lives, political hierarchy and diplomatic outreach of Yugoslavia's Communist elite and its impact on the physical geography. Based upon archival research from the Slovene National Archives, "Protocol Hunts" will focus especially on the protocol surrounding game hunting among Slovenia's political elite. Much of this hunting took place in the Kocevje region of Slovenia, a forested “rewilding” region in southwest Slovenia in which the majority of its German-speaking minority had been expelled during World War II and the location of postwar mass executions of opponents of Tito's regime. The paper seeks to answer two questions. First, how did the game hunting as practised by the Communist elite of Slovenia and Yugoslavia impact the wild landscapes of the region and the management of its natural resources? Secondly, how did game hunting reflect political hierarchies within the Communist elite, and did game hunting play an informal (or formal) role in the political decision-making process of the elite? Game hunting was by its very nature a “comradely” pursuit, as the hunters were required to travel together through at times difficult terrain and cooperate in its success. The hunting parties also stayed in relatively confined quarters, with ample time for informal socializing. Relatively little research exists on the intersection between game hunting and communist elite politics, but what does exist suggests that game hunting was also a favourite pastime of the communist elites of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and East Germany.

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