Identity and Conflict in the Balkans

1
Identity and Conflict in the Balkans

• Fourth Week

2
News

• Serbs elect President

• Boris Tadic wins agains Tomislav Nikolic

• PM Vojislav Kotunica

3
Kosova Issues

• PM Hashim Thaçi

• President Fatmir Sejdiu

4
Croatia (and Kaplan)
5
Kaplans Topics

• Train station
• Esplanade Hotel
• Lower city and Upper city
• Cathedral
• World War II wounds

6
Croatia Zagreb (Chapter 1)

• Religion and ethnic identity
• Croats vs. Serbs
• Catholics vs. Orthodox
• Rome vs. Constantinople
• Little differences strong antipathies

7
Croatia Part of the Balkans?

• Feeling of superiority to Serbs
• Connections with Western Europe
• Proximity to Austria, Italy
• Roman Catholic ties
• Myth-based kinship?

8
Early History Slav settlements in Balkans

• Croats in the west peninsula (6th-7th c.)
• Independent kingdom (early 10th)
• King Tomislav Croat State
• Hungarian rule (late 11th)
• Alliance with western powers, Roman Catholicism

9
Attitudes today

• Orthodoxy, Muslim Turks the East
• Habsburgs, Austro-Hungarian Empire the West
• We are part of the West

10
Mutual resentments

• For Croats Serb rule in post-WWI age
• For Serbs Croats blamed for treatment of Serbs
• Assassination of King Alexander Karageorgevich
  (hero to Serbs)
• Crimes of Ustashe against Serbs
• Mistreatment of Croatian Serbs (from nationalist
  zeal)

11
Accusations?

• Forced conversions
• Willing complicity with Hitlers goals

12
Kaplan to the Croats Historical Choices

• Fr. Strossmayer (tolerance)
• Fr. Stepinac (nationalism)

13
Religion Early Heroes

• Cyril and Methodius (9th century)
• Rome vs. Constantinople
• Catholicism vs Orthodoxy

14
Voice (of the Past) Promoting Harmony Bishop
Strossmayer (1815-1905)

• Conflict with Habsburg Empire
• Conflict with Vatican
• Secular spirit
• Urged tolerance for Serbs, for Eastern Orthodoxy

15
Example Religion as Divisive Force During WWII

• Archbishop Stepinac
• Croat nationalism piety dogmatism
• Religious zeal

16
Stepinac Broader Questions

• Complicity of Vatican in WWII atrocities
• Hatred of Communism as justification for anything

17
Fascist connections

• Growth of Ustashe
• Collaboration with Nazis
• Tito equilibrium, but nothing forgotten

18
Outcomes Today

• Stepinac a symbol for Croatian identity,
  independence
• Martyrdom at hands of Tito
• Elevation in Catholic hierarchy
• Beatification by John Paul II in 1998
• John Paul II visited Croatia three times 1994,
  1998, 2003

19
Another Wound Jasenovac
20
Serbs, Roma
21
Beginnings

• Germany and its Axis allies invaded Yugoslavia in
  April 1941
• Nazis permitted Ustaa organization to found
  Independent State of Croatia.
• Ustaa regime establishes numerous concentration
  camps in Croatia between 1941 and 1945
• The largest was the Jasenovac complex
• Number killed is big issue

22
WWII Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia Issues

• Culpability (who, to what degree, supported Nazi
  Germany)
• Who was responsible for purges (Serbs, Gypsies,
  Jews)?

23
Groups

• Role of Cetniks (Chetniks) (Serb monarchists)
• Role of Ustae (Ustashe, Ustasha) (Nationalists)
• Role of Partisans (Communists)
• Roles of Father Stepinac, Tito

24
After the War

• The Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia,
  1945-90
• Six republics, two autonomous regions
• Nationalities related to ethnic origins
• Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Slovenians,
  Montenegrins, and Muslims
• Two autonomous regions, Vojvodina (Hungarian
  links) and Kosovo (Albanian links)

25
Tito (Josip Broz) 1892-1980
26
Biography

• Croat CP work after WWI
• Imprisoned 1928-34
• Formed Yugoslav Partisan force against Germans
  and Croatian allies
• Also fought against Serbian Cetniks
• Took control of country after WWII

27
Post-war years

• For, then against Stalin
• Alternative Marxism, nonalignment movement
• President for life in 1974
• Associated with nonalignment during Cold War,
  communist pluralism
• Responsibility for civil war in 90s?
• Repressed Albanians
• Encouraged Serb nationalism

28
Issues lingering today

• WWII relationship with Nazi Germany
• Ustashe collaboration with Nazis under Pavelic
• Who did what then?
• Communism under Tito equilibrium, but

29
Balkan Ghosts Croatia today

• Zagreb
• Old City, Esplanade Hotel, Cathedral, St. Marko
  Church

30
Balkan Ghosts

• Zagreb
• Sights
• Old City, Esplanade Hotel, Cathedral, St. Marko
  Church

31
St. Marko Church, Old City
32
History WWII Legacy

• Fr. Strossmayer
• Fr. Stepinac complicity or not

33
(No Transcript)
34
(No Transcript)
35
(No Transcript)
36
(No Transcript)
37
(No Transcript)
38
(No Transcript)
39
(No Transcript)
40
(No Transcript)
41
(No Transcript)
42
(No Transcript)
43
(No Transcript)
44
Croatia Today

• 4.4 million
• Roman Catholic
• Present Stjepan Mesic
• Prime Minister Ivo Sanader

45
Film Today Tito and Me

• Director Goran Markovic
• Released in 1993

46
Film so far

• Communal apartment stressful
• Adulation of Tito (1954)
• Ideological correctness
• Political prisoner (art historian) now working at
  docks
• Schooling praise Tito
• Result enormously heroic figure to children
• Parents cautious

47
Zorans Education

• Home life
• School life
• First girlfriend Jasna
• Idealism, hero worship..

48
The Pilgrimage

• Cult of personality
• Religious dimension
• Comrade Raja
• Secret Service

49
Bridge on the Drina

• Ivo Andrics Bridge on the Drina
• P. 72 is logical end of first section building
  the bridge

50
History of the bridge

• 16th century
• Years to build follow the seasons
• Slave labor (early years)

51
Cultures, hierarchies, identities

• References to conversions
• Tension between Christians and Muslims
• History and myth
• Power struggles
• Violence

52
Characters

• Grand Vezir Mehmed Pasha
• Kraljevic Marko
• Radisav of Unite
• Abidaga
• Tosun Effendi
• Maestro Antonio
• Vila(s)
• Man from Plevlje
• Merdjan

53
Continued..

• Reaction to impalement
• Death of Radisav
• Bribing Merdjan
• Madness of Man from Plevlje
• Removal of Abidaga
• Replacement by Arif Beg
• Building of Han
• Completion of bridge
• Assassination of Mehmed Pasha

54
Geography and terminology

• Drina River
• Viegrad
• Kapia (kapija) and sofa

55
Bridge as Character

• Organic grows, changes with town
• Vital link
• Witness to historical change
• Participant in that change

56
Features

• Numerous characters
• Every time period, 15th-early 20th
• Historical novel

57
Cultures, hierarchies, identities

• References to conversions
• Tension between Christians and Muslims
• History and myth
• Power struggles
• Violence

58
Geography and terminology

• Drina River
• Viegrad
• Kapia (kapija) and sofa

59
Features

• Numerous characters
• Every time period, 15th-early 20th
• Historical novel

60
History of the bridge

• 16th century
• Years to build follow the seasons
• Slave labor (early years)

61
Cultures, hierarchies, identities

• References to conversions
• Tension between Christians and Muslims
• History and myth
• Power struggles
• Violence

62
Geography and terminology

• Drina River
• Viegrad
• Kapia (kapija) and sofa

63
Bridge as Character

• Organic grows, changes with town
• Vital link
• Witness to historical change
• Participant in that change

64
Features

• Numerous characters
• Every time period, 15th-early 20th
• Historical novel

65
Characters

• Grand Vezir Mehmed Pasha
• Kraljevic Marko
• Radisav of Unite
• Abidaga
• Tosun Effendi
• Maestro Antonio
• Vila(s)
• Man from Plevlje
• Merdjan

66
Continued..

• Reaction to impalement
• Death of Radisav
• Bribing Merdjan
• Madness of Man from Plevlje
• Removal of Abidaga
• Replacement by Arif Beg
• Building of Han
• Completion of bridge
• Assassination of Mehmed Pasha

67
Influence of Historical Events

• Decline of the Han
• Great floods
• Effects of Serbian revolts against Turks
• Guardhouse and its victims

68
Bridge as Character

• Organic grows, changes with town
• Vital link
• Witness to historical change
• Participant in that change

69
Bridge
70
Bridge
71
Bridge 1900
72
Bridge
73
Stefan Milutin
74
Film Today Tito and Me

• Director Goran Markovic
• Released in 1993

75
Film so far

• Communal apartment stressful
• Adulation of Tito (1954)
• Ideological correctness
• Political prisoner (art historian) now working at
  docks
• Schooling praise Tito
• Result enormously heroic figure to children
• Parents cautious

76
King Alexander I

• 1921-29 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians
• 1929-1934 Kingdom of Jugoslavia
• Assassination 1934 by Croat
• Newsreel

77
Next Kaplan Chapters

• Old Serbia
• Albania
• Macedonia
• Beograd

78
Serbia Issues

• Religion Serbian Orthodoxy as strong part of
  identity
• Spirituality, suffering, martyrdom as themes
• Importance of monasteries Gracanica

79
History Nemanjic dynasty (Kaplan)

• Stefan Nemanja first independent state, end of
  12th (free from Byzantine control)
• Son St. Sava prominence to Serbian Orthodox
  Church
• Beginning of 14th King Milutin glory days
• Architecture, women
• Died 1321 succeeded by son Stefan Uros
• Grandson Stefan Dushan huge kingdom
• B-H Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, N. Greece,
  Bulgaria
• Succeeded by son last of dynasty
• Elected Prince (Knez) Lazar (famous for 1389 loss)

80
Ottoman Yoke Origins of Myth

• Serbia sacrificed to save Europe
• Serbia will be rewarded in heaven
• Turkish domination for centuries
• Post-Ottoman transformation TurksAlbanians
• Kosovo can be returned to Serbia now
• Famous speech by Miloevic in 1987
• Tito held all in fragile equilibrium

81
Religion and Politics

• Close alliance in Serbia
• Victimization and suffering
• World War II experience, anti-Communism intensify
  feeling
• Momentum for violence builds from late 80s

82
Conflict

• Focus on Kosovo Christianity vs. Islam
• Threat Albanians plan to cleanse land of Serbs

83
Kosovo

• Prishtina-capital
• Tito built it from village
• Built university

84
Kosovo, Kosova
85
Myth of Kosovo

• Based on folk epics
• Sung and passed down by guslar
• One-stringed instrument gusle
• Songs collected by Vuk Karadic in 19th century

86
Myth-2

• Prince Lazar defeated
• Chose heavenly kingdom focus on his oath
• Captured and beheaded martyrdom
• Other hero Milos Obilic

87
Long literary and cultural heritage

• Cultural-political meaning lost battle must be
  avenged forces of good vs. evil
• Be patient accept suffering revolt redemption

88
Albania

• 20th Century World Wars, Tito and Hoxha
• Post-Tito Kosovo again

89
Albania

• Population 3.5 million
• Illyrian heritage (pre-Greek)
• Occupied territory long before Slavs
• Distinctive language
• Centuries of Turkish occupation
• Occupied Kosovo, but never held it long
• Complex role in WWII
• Very secular state
• Animosity based on memory of massacres

90
Ottoman domination 1479-1912

• 1878 Albanian League begins struggle for
  independence (in Kosova)
• Uprisings in 1881, 1910, 1912
• Declaration of Independence in 1912
• Territory ceded to Serbia in 1913 by London
  Ambassadors Conference

91
WWI-WWII

• Occupied by Greece, France, Italy, Serbia,
  Austria-Hugary
• Enver Hoxha (Communist) led resistance in 1940s,
  WWII
• Peoples Republic in 1946
• Maintained independence and isolation from world
  powers, with special Chinese connections

92
After Communism

• Hoxha died in 1985
• Communist rule ended in 1992
• Severe economic problems
• Migration of workers abroad
• Territory claims by Greece (which calls part of
  Albania Northern Epiros)
• Support for Kosova and Macedonian Albanians

93
Enver Hoxha
94
Albania