Understanding the Yougoslavian Conflict E-Book

Boris Spasov

• Herausgeber: Arcalis
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Französisch

Seitenzahl: 135

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Through this essay Boris Alexandre Spasov presents us with his unique approach to and his personal understanding of the Yugoslavian conflict which shook Europe.

We are accompanied on a short voyage into a different world; yet one so close to home. A world where a tormented history encounters distinct national identities and gives birth to this troubled period which in spite of today’s apparent peace, contains the seeds of another explosion. A simply told story of the actual facts of the war in Yugoslavia filled with anecdotes, sometimes humorous that plunge the reader into the discovery of the particular reality of this magnificent region.

This enlightening essay will cause you to re-evaluate the country that is now ex-Yugoslavia, a land at the frontier of West and East.

EXCERPT

Yugoslavia has fallen into an insane conflict that has left a trail of destruction and suffering. For several years, we’ve watched live on our screens, the errors made by our diplomats in their “crisis management” of this war: the flaws in Western political strategy are clearly demonstrated. Only when we succeed in identifying and understanding the mechanisms that have generated and sustained the Yugoslavian crisis, will we have made progress.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The "humanist" Boris Alexandre SPASOV, formerly Deputy Director for Europe 1, Radio Caribbean International, graduated from the Centre d’études diplomatiques et stratégiques in Paris and is above all a man of the people, a passionate and candid eyewitness far from the safe, comfortable couch ideologies and politically correct attitudes of our time.

Leseprobe

For my children, for whomI wish a passionate life

This manuscript is the result of research begun in 1993 under the auspices of the Centre d’Études Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris; it aims to provide a better understanding of the history of Yugoslavia and the crises that have shaken the region. It also provides a better understanding of the latest conflict that generated a war on the very doorstep of Europe, or within Europe, depending on one’s point of view.

To this end it was necessary to reunite various different factors and understand certain mechanisms:

- the history of the Balkan countries and what has shaped the Yugoslavian men and women.

- identification of the main ethnic groups that make up this cultural mosaic.

- the contemporary history and the political decisions of European countries, the United States, the CIS, the United Nations and the confrontational elements that caused a temporal extension of the last crisis.

As with any work of popularisation, there can be a tendency to be a little simplistic or verge on caricature...I hope that the reader will pardon any excesses and that this modest offering will be well received. It is a little difficult to synthesize several centuries of Balkan history and the Yugoslavian troubles in such a short essay, as each chapter could easily become a whole book in itself.

The purpose of this book is on the one hand, to familiarise the reader with the many aspects of the Yugoslavian crisis, and on the other, to underline the potential danger that this region could represent if we do not rise to the challenge and provide the necessary support.

Solutions may exist, but they must take into account the cultural characteristics of Slavic civilization and the aggressive elements within it, that provoked this latest crisis.

Through this work, we hope to highlight that the efforts made by western "diplomats" and those who sent soldiers to maintain the “peace” in these areas, may well remain ineffective without the implementation of a courageous and united policy by the West.

Yugoslavia has fallen into an insane conflict that has left a trail of destruction and suffering. For several years, we’ve watched live on our screens, the errors made by our diplomats in their “crisis management” of this war: the flaws in Western political strategy are clearly demonstrated. Only when we succeed in identifying and understanding the mechanisms that have generated and sustained the Yugoslavian crisis, will we have made progress.

I trust that this humble contribution will help towards this goal. I take responsibility for any errors and possible inaccuracies in this manuscript which I may have overlooked.

Some of the cited texts are excerpts from other works that have greatly contributed to this manuscript.

I would like to thank the many authors and publishers, whose works have served as a basis for this study.

Preface

I've known Boris-Alexandre Spasov for a long time, ever since we attended the Centre d’Études Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris together and where we were able to compare the real experiences and theoretical ideas and ideologies of dignitaries and diplomats from 47 countries. He has never limited his thinking to the intolerant, sectarian dogma or partisan fanaticism that is often required (if not essential) for a successful career: I can say from personal experience, that this would be totally alien to him.

So what then, is a geopolitical ascetic? Is he a troublemaker in the media microcosm? A provocative defiler of the “politically correct”? or perhaps an intellectual searching for publicity and recognition? Not at all, in this instance he is simply a witness, an observer of these times and of a region he knows intimately and to which he has travelled many times. A region that for him, recalls painful memories, but that also represents the beginnings of a new geopolitical, regional, European political order. Even, because of the international implications, resulting in a new way of looking at the world and its institutions, those very institutions who are supposed to organise and manage traumas.

Boris Spasov wrote this manuscript to offer an easily accessible and unpretentious understanding of the conflict that has bloodied the former Yugoslavia and to propose some potential solutions to the problems. Understanding and knowledge of the Balkan area comes through a necessary immersion in the rich and turbulent history that has shaped this region and which, due to the formation of strong and often antagonistic national identities, is in some way responsible for igniting the conflicts that the region has suffered.

The origins of the first federations: from the smouldering debris of the first world war, to the establishment of the Yugoslavian State at the end of the struggle for the liberation and independence of the Communist partisans during the Second World War and the dictatorial rule of Marshal Tito over a triumphant Yugoslavia, are the blueprints for the break-up of the country and the start of a civil war that was all the more terrible since it was so close to home!

The emergence of the idea of a “Greater Serbia” and the first more or less unplanned rebellions, has led step by step, according to an implacable logic, to the end of the Yugoslavian State and the beginning of hostilities.

Boris Spasov questions the role of the United Nations and its "resolutions" in the management of the Balkan crisis and also that of nations whose interests, behind an apparently common front, actually differ greatly, going beyond the traditional East-West disparities.

The confrontation of Western diplomacy with the reality on the ground, brought to light its limits, limits that some of the antagonists used to their advantage and easily disregarded.

Were the United Nations peace strategies and the role that NATO played, indirectly in the service of the war? Has the role of the media in the crisis been neutral or was it used as a weapon by the various factions?

These are some of the questions that Boris Spasov raises and for which he offers a few personal responses.

The underlying question, one that is not explicitly asked, might well be this one:

“Above and beyond the departure and death of Slobodan Milosevic, does not the end of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia and the resurrection of Serbia-Montenegro as a nation, conceal all too easily the fact that the deep trends that caused this explosion, are still present and that, since history is a perpetual recommencement... what was, may be once more?”

With this essay, Boris Spasov, who during this time of great turmoil, frequently visited the region, exorcises his own fears and concerns by analyzing the mechanisms that led to so many misfortunes in the former Yugoslavia. He hopes that for once, the old adage might be wrong and that people will learn from history, so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated by future generations.

Dr François F. Bernard

PART ONE

I. A historical glimpse of the Balkans

I.1. Introduction

Although historians are divided over the dating and origin of the first ethnic groups in the Balkans1, archaeological excavations in various areas, notably on the banks of the Danube, have revealed important Palaeolithic and Neolithic remains. These excavations uncovered villages with what appear to be trapezoidal houses, dating from about twelve thousand years before our era.

These vestiges are the first traces of one of the oldest civilizations and cultures2, in Europe.

Between seven and two thousand years before our era we observe the appearance of agriculture, the extraction and smelting of copper, the introduction of the plough, and the use of bronze throughout the Balkan peninsula.

Between 3500 and 3000 years BC, four main human groups were dominant: the Aegeans, the Ligurians, the Basques and the Iberians; perhaps the descendants of Neolithic man.

A around 2000BC we note, (though there is not necessarily any correlation between the two) the apparition and successive waves of migrations of Indo-European peoples, pushing the Scythians towards the Aegean and Adriatic3 seas; and the Italotes and the Illyrians to the Adriatic Sea and Italian territories. There are also Scythians and Balts in the vicinity of Eastern Europe.

Via successive migrations, Indo-Europeans mingled with the older occupants. We find the first traces of writing in the form of neo-hieroglyphics, and we can observe during this period, the formation of the first Illyrian, Traces, Italote, and Archean identities. These Archeans, who are descended from the Greeks, settled in Macedonia and then conquered the southeast of the Balkans, descending gradually towards the Aegean Sea. Their leader Philip the Macedonian, whose son is better known as Alexander the Great, conquered part of Asia, bringing the Princess Europe4 back from his conquests. His journey is marked by fantastic stories, some of which will become myths over the centuries, Greek and European5 mythology thus enter into history.

Towards 1000 BC, the proto-Celts (called Gallis by the Romans6), came from the north-west and driven by the Germans, set out to conquer the Barbarian world and the southeast Balkans. They are gradually integrated into the ethnic groups already established in the region. This is an important and noteworthy time, it seems that this was precisely when the Slavic tribes began to separate from one another and their language evolved into Slavic ethnic groups: Eastern, Central and Southern Europe.

In 600 BC: was established, amongst others, the city of Singedum7 thus permanently marking the region of the Balkans. Herodotus evokes the presence of Slavs in Scythian territory.

From 200BC to 100AD: The Italotes, (also known as the Romans,) gradually took possession of the Mediterranean basin which they dominated, thus repulsing the barbarian and Germanic invasions.

In 150BC, Rome is victorious over the Macedonians thus extending its empire across Greece into Byzantium. Rome is now mistress of the Mediterranean basin, but has not yet totally conquered its neighbours the Illyrians, described by the Roman legions as valorous warriors.

In fact, as we shall see later in this book, Illyrian social structure is based on the principle of a conflictual community, whereas the Romans attempted to maintain a semblance of civil order8.

In the second century, Germanic invasions threaten once again, as they themselves are driven before the Mongols, Huns, and "others," from the east; the Dacians in particular threaten the Empire.

The Sarmates and the Goths reached the steps of the Roman Empire in successive waves in Thrace, Mesic, and Dacia, causing important Slav migrations towards the Carpathians and the Volga9, thus separating the Visigoths and the Goths from the east.

Countries are devastated and the main lines of communication are paralyzed. These centuries were dominated by military anarchy, invasions and division of the Roman Empire, which ultimately caused the ruin of Roman civilization, with the coup de grace given by the Huns 10

I.2. The Eastern Empire: Byzantium

Before he died, Theodore I married his niece to the German Stilicom, after the latter's death in the year 395, the division became permanent and caused the partition of the Empire between his two sons Arcadius and Honorius.

The Eastern Empire is thus composed of the territories of present-day Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia and their cities of Belgrade, Drina and Stara Planina.

Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia, including Sarajevo and Mostar become the Western Empire.

The Empire thus reduced by half, had to face other threats of invasion, from both East and West by the Franks, Lombards, Slavs, Persians, Turks, Arabs, Vandals and Visigoths.

One can easily understand the fall of the western Empire in 476 due to several factors:

- the divisions in the IV century,

- the separation from its eastern part,

- its disorganized army,

- the invasion by the Vandals11.

In the year 476 until the death of the last Emperor Julius Nepos, the Empire of the West was reduced to Italy alone; this was also because in 429, approx 80,000 Vandals12 had passed through the area into Spain and North Africa. In 440, they took Carthage and other Roman cities on North African soil13 and in 455 were responsible for the "Sacking of Rome".

While the Western Empire declined, the Byzantine Empire shone, its capital Constantinople was not only a place of exchange but also a city of scholars. Byzantine art blossomed magnificently through art that was strongly inspired by the Greeks and Romans.

As a consequence of the weakening of these regions, successive invasions of barbarian hordes and nomads from the Urals and the Caucasus were able to push the northern Carpathian Slavs into leaving their territory.

Three principal tribes constitute the Slavonic people: the Venetians (Wendes), the Slavens (Slovenes) and the Antes. This last tribe was one of the most organized of the Slav tribes and came into being between the Don and the Donetz, Hermanaric their sovereign was at the head of an empire which extended as far as the Baltic.

Subduing the Baltic and Finnish tribes, this "empire" undoubtedly split into two, leaving traces around the Baltic (now Estonia, Finland and Carrelie), there are other traces in Hungary and Dalmatia (southern Croatia).

It is likely that the other tribes were originally proto-Slavs, peasant-like with a "peaceful" disposition, this people which later divided into three regions, originally had a similar way of life14.

The first were an agricultural people with community-based farming, the second formed alliances that were neither solid nor durable, the latter were destined by events, to become warriors15.

In the VI and IX centuries, in Bulgarian territory to the east of the Balkans, the tribes of the steppes, including the Huns and the Avars, merge with the Turks. The Bulgarians will gradually become "Turkish-Tartars."

However Byzantium will have to face simultaneously the apparition of powerful kingdoms:

- Bulgarians in the IX and XIII centuries

- the Serbs in the IX and XII centuries

- the arrival of the first Slavs

During these periods, the Bulgarian and Serbian kingdoms become aware of their identity and are already thinking of supplanting Byzantium.

The entente is fragile, in the year 1054, a religious fracture called "the great schism" occurs.

Henceforth in the west the Western Church16 coexists with the Byzantine Eastern Church17 in the east. At the same time, various "Muslim" tribes, known as the Ottomans, conquer Constantinople by violent wars, separated by periods of more or less calm expansion.

With these Muslim conquests, the ancient history of the Byzantine Empire closes, after a hundred and fifty years of relative peace.

I.3. The Austrian & Hungarian Empires

Although historians do not completely understand the origin of the Hungarians, who have a different culture and language from the Slavs, it is thought that they are perhaps of Asian origin. The invasion of the latter would certainly have merged with the Antes invasion (Slavs who came from the Northern Carpathians) to the detriment of existing minorities.

One of the consequences for the Balkans was the division of the Slavs18 the second was the slowing down of the process of Germanisation in these regions.

In the year 1000, the Hungarians convert to Christianity and move closer to the Byzantine Church, bringing with them part of Western "Yugoslavia" which is already partly integrated via the alliances of the XI and XIII centuries.

It was not until the XII and IV centuries that Istria and Hungary underwent a strong Germanisation.

The Habsburg Empire came into being at the end of the XIV and XV centuries, after the famous battle of Mohacs in 1526, but the Hapsburgs’ origins date back to 1273 when Count Rodolphe ascended the throne and reigned over a well divided Germanic Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire expands, integrating Croatia, with the "Pacta conventa19" which guarantees the defence of Croatia and a certain form of precarious autonomy.

When in 1740 Charles VI dies without an heir, his wife Marie-Thérèse, has to manage the succession of Austria which provoked three wars:

- the Austro-Prussian War,

- the Austro-Anglo-French war,

- the Austro-Spanish War.

This greatly modified the German states, reviving unsettled rivalries before reaching the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle20.

Between 1805 and 1809, Vienna is occupied and the Empress Marie-Louise marries the conquering Napoleon.

In 1810 the Hapsburgs win the battle against Napoleon thus solidifying the Hapsburg Empire, including Hungary.