Exit Yugoslavia: longing for mononational states or entrepreneurial manipulation? (original) (raw)
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The Dissolution of Yugoslavia: Competing Narratives of Resentment and Blame
Comparative Southeast European Studies
Serbs, Croats, Kosovar Albanians, and Bosniaks remember the past differently and, although there are differences of historical memory within each group, one can speak of there being a dominant but evolving historical narrative among each of these national groups. This diversity of historical memory creates resources which may be tapped by ambitious leaders. In accounting for the Yugoslav meltdown, however, one may identify three necessary conditions which were fulfilled: widespread discontent (itself reflecting system illegitimacy and economic deterioration), fracture lines along which the country might be dissolved, and leaders prepared to exploit discontent for their own purposes. Yugoslavism began as an idea-a dream championed by Count Janko Drašković (1770-1856), Ljudevit Gaj (1809-72), and Ivan Cankar (1876-1918), as well as other activists and intellectuals in the nineteenth century. The idea was that Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks were kindred peoples, that they could do well to live in a common state, and that, if they did not already have a common historical narrative, they could develop one, which is to say, to develop a narrative in which some common aspirations would be identified. The notion of a ʹhistorical narrativeʹ is not new. Quite the contrary, it can be dated back more than 3,000 years (as the example of the Jews indicates). A *
The present paper has been written and presented in the framework of a postgraduate module on European Identities in Panteio University during the Spring Semester of 2014. Its purpose is to shortly examine and explain the reasons for the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the role of rival national identities in this process. Since the subject is quite large by definition, the present analysis will mostly focus on the background upon which the disintegration of the Yugoslav state took place -especially from the '60s on, while examining the differing ways in which its constituent peoples envisioned the common state and its purpose.
Croatian Nationalism and the Breakup of Yugoslavia
In: Etudes Balkaniques, 2005, br.1, 3-24., 2005
Irina OGNYANOVA (Institute of Balkan Studies) CROATIAN NATIONALISM AND THE BREAKUP OF YUGOSLAVIA The theme of Croatian nationalism nowadays can not be investigated separately from the more general topic of Central and East European nationalism. Recent events in the region, especially in former Yugoslavia, have reinforced the central importance of nationalism in the history and political evolution of the region. Although by the end of the 20 th century the world had become more united, nationalism became stronger and deeper than ever. Since the destruction of the bi-polar political and ideological model in 1989, the rebirth of nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe was a fact which threatened the peace and security not only in the region but on the whole European continent for almost a decade. The disintegration of three federations (the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia) was an evidence of the failure of the 50-year-old communist experiment permanently to suppress national confrontation in the ethnically mixed region of Central and Eastern Europe with the help of the federative political system. With the fall of communism, national confrontation reemerged and led to the immediate fragmentation of these multinational states. Nowhere has the resurgence of nationalism been as dramatic, as in the lands of former Yugoslavia. The various wars on its territory in the 1990s had a profound effect on European and world events, proving that the Balkans will continue to matter in a variety of ways to Europe and the rest of the world, and therefore deserve close outside attention. The Serbo-Croatian war, the violent war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the dangerous ethnic conflicts in Kosovo and Macedonia, need to be scientifically explored. Yugoslavia, twice born and twice dead, has gone to its second grave in a storm of inter-communal warfare, vicious mutual atrocities, and brutal "ethnic cleansing" that created more than two million refugees. This has shocked the world and recalled memories of the worst European experience in the 20 th century-the Second World War. All that just showed that the phenomena of ethnicity and nationalism did not lose its importance in South Eastern Europe. Nationalism which led to numerous national conflicts has been a leading and predominant ideology and political practice in the region since the 19 th century because of unsolved national problems.
NATIONALISM, ETHNIC TENSIONS, AND THE VIOLENT BREAK-UP OF YUGOSLAVIA IN THE 1990S
conference Proceedngs Scientific Conference "Knowledge, Science, Technologies, Innovation". 15 December 2023, Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria). Veliko Tarnovo:Institute for Knowledge, Science, Innovtion. 2023 ISBN 215-3472, 2023
Ethnic, nationalist, and religious tensions were present in Yugoslavia from when the state was created in the aftermath of World War I. The rise to power of the Yugoslav Communists during World War II under Josip Broz Tito's leadership masked the country's ethnic antagonism. As the paramount leader in Belgrade for some 35 years, Tito was an authoritative figure who, on the one hand, offered certain concessions to ethnic groups in return for their loyalty to the federal state and, on the other hand, relied on brutal repression to consolidate his own power and preserve ethnic and religious peace within the multinational state. Against the backdrop of the Cold War, widespread concern in Yugoslavia about a possible Soviet invasion also tended to unify the country despite its internal ethnic divergences. After Tito's death in May 1980, his successors lacked his authority and leadership skills. The disappearance of all the factors (external and internal), that had held the Yugoslav federation together, combined with the rise of nationalist extremists, sparked the violent disintegration of the country in the 1990s.
International Education Studies, 2008
The split and continual civil war of Yugoslav, which once caused deep concern by the international community, has its complex specific reasons. But for a long time, the tense relations among the ethnic groups are the underlying factors that caused the disintegration of Yugoslav. The harmonious ethnicity relations will promote national prosperity. Otherwise, it will accelerate its demise. Some Chinese experts and scholars have begun to ponder over the development and the future of Chinese socialism. They are aware of the significance to constitute a reasonable ethnic policy to deal with ethnicity relations. This paper tries to give a systematic analysis of the breakup of the former Yugoslav Federation from the perspective of ethnicity relations. And it also tries to get something of inspiration.
Tracing the decline of Yugoslav identity: A case for 'invisible' ethnic cleansing
This essay explores the concept of invisible ethnic cleansing by examining the remaining group of self-identifying Yugoslavs who continue to identify themselves as such despite the break-up of Yugoslavia, the country that shaped and constituted the focal point of their identity. The analysis argues that the lack of recognition of the Yugoslav identity during the country's disintegration as well as afterwards in the individual republics befitted the new nationalistic and distinctly anti-Yugoslav narratives adopted by individual post-Yugoslav republics. The sheer existence and acknowledgment of the Yugoslav identity could therefore disprove the new nationalistic tenets. The essay begins by setting up an analytical framework for the study of invisible ethnic cleansing and Yugoslav identity by examining the concepts of ethnic cleansing, nationalism, group destruction and ethnicity. It goes on to establish the historical background for Yugoslavia's break up and looks at Yugoslavia's 'nationalities policy', the break up itself and the role of the West and the Western media. Finally, the study identifies the hegemonic power of current nation-states reflected in the media, education and government-sponsored intellectual efforts, as those that control the image of the past can erase from it the memory of the disappeared states and the identities connected to them. The bulk of the analysis and the conclusions drawn were based on personal memories and accounts of self-identifying Yugoslavs in order to preserve the memories of marginalized and forgotten groups as well as to stress the importance of counter-memory, which can challenge the narrative promoted by dominant groups and oppressive states. Moreover, the novel concept of invisible ethnic cleansing introduced will allow scholars to examine the loss of supranational identities, which accompany the dissolutions of multinational states.