Railway experts and the construction of national space(s) in post-imperial Southeast Europe: the case of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Yugoslavia

Abstract

This article uses an interdisciplinary approach and concepts of path dependencies, legacies, mental maps and social spaces to analyse the role of railway experts in the process of construction of national space in interwar Southeast Europe on the example of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Yugoslavia as a case study. The spatial analysis of this case study is based on primary and secondary sources: archival material, contemporary journals and newspapers, and contemporary expert's studies. The article analyses the role of transport infrastructure and railway experts in the construction of Yugoslav transport and national space, claiming that the old infrastructure and institutional path dependencies prevented construction of it.