Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation

The IHJR seeks to dispel public myths about historic legacies
in societies divided by ethnic conflict

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IHJR Project On Former Yugoslavia

Introduction

One of the most enduring and bloody ethnic crises at the end of the 20th century centered in Yugoslavia, where in 1991, festering differences erupted in war. Violence, hatred and fear fueled chauvinism in each of the republics. Still today, a major characteristic of learning and teaching history in the region of the former Yugoslavia remains manipulated by mutual ethno-religious suspicion and animosity.

The IHJR project in former Yugoslavia seeks to promote peace building and social cohesion through addressing the politics of history in the region. The IHJR project aims to engage historians, researchers, policy-makers, students and the broader civil society in the region in a multi-national, multi-perspective, multi-ethnic and non-partisan history. Through the project’s research, writing and broader dissemination, the IHJR project brings attention to the similarities and overlapping experiences and identities among societies in the region in cultural, religion, social and political life and counters some of the xenophobic national myths.

An earlier involvement by the IHJR in the Former Yugoslavia was conducted through partnership with the Scholars’ Initiative, which recently published Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies (Purdue University Press, 2009).

More recently the IHJR helped local scholars establish the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation (CHDR) in 2007, with a steering committee composed of members from the various republics. Working in partnership with the IHJR, the CHDR coordinates research projects on shared narratives and organizes roundtables, conferences, and stakeholder meetings to disseminate the completed work.

Aim

The broader aim of the project is to develop unity in the fields of culture and science in the divided region, and in so doing facilitate better capacity for historians and scholars to enable the development of a positive democratic political influence on politicians and future leaders.

Projects Description

“Facing the Past, Searching the Future: A Twentieth Century Yugoslav History”

The current project consists of teams of scholars working on the following topics:

Mapping National and Ethnic Identities in the Former Yugoslavia

A team of scholars from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia are researching aspects of national and ethnic identities addressed from the following perspectives: historical (phases in development of an identity), political (political parties and movements that actively influenced the formation of an identity), cultural (focused on the role of art and literature, and especially national myths in the art), linguistic (the role of language and controversies related to its formation), religious (the role of religion, and especially church organizations), legal (the concepts of national states and the aspect of human rights in relation to the formation of national states), regional (the role of regional identities in the formation of a national identity in comparison) and the aspect of the media (the role of media, propaganda and the stereotypes).

Collaboration and Resistance in Yugoslavia during World War II: Myths and Legacies

Debates about World War II continue to divide the societies of the Yugoslav successor states, causing both internal political rifts and influencing relations between the newly independent countries. The years 1941-1945 witnessed a brutal conflict that pitted the peoples of Yugoslavia against one another based both on nationality and ideology. Postwar historiography has often simplified the conflict as a black and white struggle between fascism and antifascism, but the reality was considerably more complicated and nuanced. Individuals fought as “collaborationists” or “resistance fighters” for a variety of ideological, national, or opportunist reasons. Forty years of a communist-dictated historical narrative, the disintegration of that narrative in the 1980s and 1990s, and the war that tore apart Yugoslavia after 1990 permanently affected the understanding of World War II in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, and the other former Yugoslav republics. That understanding of the past was subject to political manipulation, the propagation of myths and stereotypes (especially about members of other nationalities), and creation of new historical narratives that were exclusively focused on one’s own nation while ignoring or minimizing the historical role of neighboring peoples. These misperceptions of World War II were particularly dangerous when applied to notions of collaboration or resistance, as collective guilt was assigned to entire nations to justify the new round of violence in the 1990s.

Scholars from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia will focus on research related to movements in Yugoslavia that either collaborated with the Axis powers or were part of the resistance, including ustaše, domobrans, četniks, partisans, beloguardists, and other groups across the region. Some of the participants will examine in detail the events of the 1940s to challenge the communist and nationalist versions which either demonized or glorified certain groups. Other researchers will focus on how the memory of collaboration and resistance was manipulated for political purposes after 1990, namely through commemorations, history textbooks, revisionist historiography, and the transformation of the physical landscape (the destruction and construction of monuments). The goal is to identify particularly controversial issues that continue to generate hatred between the Yugoslav successor states and promote a historical dialogue among the participants in this group (and beyond). Furthermore, the participants are encouraged to look at the experience of other European countries which have dealt with controversial issues from World War II in order to provide a comparative context for the ex-Yugoslav cases.

Josip Broz Tito and the National Question

The path of development unavoidably leads contemporary historiography to new objectives and topics. The treatment of historical figures and their views and activities concerning the existence and development of Yugoslav state has undisputedly proven professional significance. This explains the initiative to start the research work concerning the theme Josip Broz Tito and the National Question in Yugoslavia. It enables critical analysis of historical results produced by the most significant political figure of the second half of the 20th century in the Yugoslav region, but also contributes to a better understanding of the national question as the key problem of Yugoslavia's existence and functioning in the period 1918 – 1991.

The project is based on a theme which has not been the subject of serious historical treatment due to its political sensitivity. After decades in which Josip Broz Tito had been divinized and his work uncritically glorified, a new era of understanding began, in which the entire output of this revolutionary and statesman was being negated and contested. Less could be heard from the participants in the historical events, and historical sources have been only partly available. The existing works about particular aspects of Tito’s attitude towards the national question were mostly characterized by fragmentation, insufficient level of exploration and political partiality. There is now the possibility for researchers to uncover historical facts that would look critically at the mythomania, stereotypes, blanket statements, and ’final truths’. This undoubtedly demands basic archival research work. By using archival documents, scientists will be able to deal with neglected themes and taboos, especially the phenomenon of the dissolution of Yugoslavia, in which the national question played a very important, if not essential role.

The project we are suggesting is viewed as ’the opening’ of a broader thematic circle of issues within which we recognize, quite conditionally, the following possible research segments:

Topics being addressed include:

• The Communist party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and the national question in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia 1918 – 1941 (own experience and Bolshevik models);
• Josip Broz Tito and solving the national question 1941 – 1946 (the national question and forming of Yugoslav ‘federation balance’ in war conditions);
• Josip Broz Tito and the national politics 1946 – 1964 (contradictions of Yugoslav federalism and the illusion of a definite solution to the national question);
• Josip Broz Tito, national integrations and redesigning of Yugoslav federation 1964 – 1974 (rising of nationalism, ’open’ national questions and Communist politics);
• Josip Broz Tito, successors and legacy 1974 – 1980 – 1991 (towards the threefold destruction of Yugoslavia: the destruction of international relations, the political system and Yugoslavia as a state, towards the new national and state configuration of Yugoslav region);
• Josip Broz Tito, the national question and the Yugoslav state – as history (the historiographical comprehension of the past – the myth, the chronicle, the science);
• Tito’s views on national heritage, identities and values (between objective perceptions and political interests);
• Tito’s contribution to national development of Yugoslav peoples.

Yugoslav - Albanian Relations – the experience of one century 

The topic “Serbs and Albanians-Albanians and Serbs – the experience of one century” can seem to laymen that everything related to this topic is known. But for experts, it remains unknown and is thus the object of the research with the goal of acquiring reliable knowledge.

In Serbian historiography, there have been no steps made towards analyzing and treating the development of Serbian-Albanian relations in the period between 1878 and 2008 in a holistic, universal and thematically shaped manner with the help of primary historical resources from different proveniences. As much as we know, a similar gap exists in Albanian historiography too. There is no topic in these two nations’ modern histories that is not in dispute, and a dialogue between historian-scientists and between people from Albania and Serbia has never existed. This has led to the lack of possibilities to: confront facts found during research, critically assess historical sources being used, enable tolerant dialogue of different opinions, and exposing historiography to scientific criticism and judgment by the professional public.

The project with the working title “Serbs and Albanians-Albanians and Serbs- the experience of one century” was seen as an opportunity to create an open dialogue between Albanian and Serbian historians. In this dialogue there is place for other historians which are interested in the research of the issues mentioned. The project can be realized on several levels:

• Convening meetings of historians to open important issues in Serbian-Albanian relations between 1878 and 2008. Each of the scientific meetings would be followed with a  publication of the collection of papers and discussions;
• The gathering of historic resources and the publications of the collection from archive resources kept in Serbian (Yugoslav), Albanian and world archives. In the selection of documents, special attention would be given to key historic resources that have complicated the development of Serbian-Albanian relations;
• The creation of a mutual history of Serbian-Albanian relations which would present the basic characteristics of the area where these people live, demographic changes and society , as well as inner and foreign politics, economy and cultural intersections.

Human Losses / Casualties in Yugoslavia in the 20th Century

Despite the great human losses in the territories of former Yugoslavia, scholarly research of this problem has been either completely neglected or fraught with political, ideological and nationalist distortions, which led to a number of distortions (diminution or exaggeration of certain categories of victims.)

Participants in the project will prepare papers/articles about the following issues: human losses during WWI and the inter-war period (on the example of victims in Kosovo and the Metohija) , during WWII and after it (on the examples of the total number of victims and casulties in Croatia and Serbia during WWII, with the first coordinated, i.e. scholarly established number of victims of the Jasenovac concentration camp so far, and the number of the Volksdeutsche victims), as well as during the wars of dissolution of the «second» Yugoslavia (the victims that fell during operatios «Flash» and «Storm»).

The Myths Factories: Yugoslavia and Former Yugoslav Territories 1945 – 1999

This team will seek to identify the following relevant political and national myths, looking at their mutual “dynamic interaction” in the Balkan region during the period of the old regime of Yugoslavia, antebellum crisis, wartime and postwar transition: 1) official myths of “titoism” as well as alternative myths emerging during the socialist era; 2) Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Montenegrin, Kosovar and Bosnian old and new ethnic myths 3) religious myths incorporated into the new national ideologies and 4) myths about the wars of the 1990’s. Most importantly, we wish to emphasize the process and its dynamics because the nations under consideration (Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, not to mention Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Macedonia) are newly formed states.

The final version of the articles and of the reports will be subsequently submitted in Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, and English.

In addition to these research teams, the project also consists of:

1. Documentary movie „The Factory of the National and Communist Myths in ex Yugoslavia” based on the meeting „The Myths and Stereotypes of Nationalism and Communism in ex Yugoslavia”, held in Novi Sad, 9. May 2008.

2. Meetings and roundtable discussions:

   A conference entitled “Serbo – Croat political and cultural relations in 20th century” was held September 18 - 20, 2008 in Golubić (near Obrovac), Croatia.

   Participants, who included historians, sociologists, and political scientists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and the United States, discussed in two working groups. One team dealt with past political and cultural Serbo-Croat relations, with emphasis on the 20th century, while the other group focused on the future development of these relations.

   The conference resulted in a book “Serbo-Croat Relations in the 20th Century – History and Perspectives.”

   For a report on the conference, click here.

   A second conference entitled “The Faith of Refugees and Emigrants from the Territory of Former Yugoslavia” was held November 27 - 28, 2008 in Sremska Kamenica, Serbia.

   Historians, jurists, political scientists, and sociologists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and the United States gathered on November 27th and 28th  at the Faculty of European Legal and Political Studies (FEPPS) in Sremska Kamenica, Serbia, to debate the issues under the theme “Refugees and Emigrants from the Former Yugoslavia.” The conference was organized by the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation (CHDR), Novi Sad, Serbia, and the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR), The Hague, Netherlands.

   During the two days of the conference, the participants presented papers and worked in two thematic groups. The first working group addressed the issues related to refugees, both in the most recent period of the refugee crisis following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, as well as the solutions to refugee problems from the more distant past, while the second group examined the emigration from the former Yugoslavia, with emphasis on the 20th century emigration.

   For a report on the conference, click here.

3. Publication of “Myths and Stereotypes of Nationalism and Communism in Ex Yugoslavia (2008),” printed in Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, and English.

   In the first part of the book, the authors discuss the role of myths and stereotypes, and suggest how to replace them with an unbiased history through a reconciliation process. In the second part of the book, the authors write about myths and stereotypes among the Serbs. A copy of this publication is available on the CHDR website.

   Click here to download the chapter “Myths and Symbols in Interwar Croatia: The Case of Matija Gubec” by Vjeran Pavlaković.

Meetings and Roundtable Discussions

October 2007	The War in Croatia 1992 – 1995 Roundtable, Scholars Initiative report, Zagreb
December 2007	Independence and The Fate of the Minorities Roundtable, Scholars Initiative report, Zlatibor
January/February 2008	The Shared History and The Second World War and National Question in ex-Yugoslavia Conference, Seville
May 2008	Myths and Stereotypes of the Communism and Nationalism Meeting, Novi Sad
August 2008	Serbo-Croat political and cultural relations in the 20th century” Golubic-Kornati, Croatia
September 2008	Serbo - Croat Relations in The 20. century - The Past and The Perspectives Meeting, Golubić (obrovački) - Kornati
November 2008	“The Faith of Refugees and Emigrants from the Territory of Former Yugoslavia” Meeting, Sremska Kamenica
March 2009	Roundtable of the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation Novi Sad
June 2009	“Facing the Past, Searching the Future” A discussion of the articles prepared to date, Budapest. For a report, click here.
August 2009	Conference on “Croatian-Serbian Relations: Political Cooperation and National Minorities”, Golubic, Croatia For a report click here.
September 2009	Former Yugoslavia team meetings, “Facing the Past, Searching for the Future” Opatija, Croatia and Belgrade, Serbia For a report click here.
October 2009	Conference on “Nations, States and Diaspora in ex-Yugoslav countries”, October 26-27, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia
December 2009	Workshop Film Documentary “Myths Factories: Yugoslav states 1918-1991”, December 10-14, Ohrid, Macedonia
February 2010	Workshop “A Myth Factory: Political Myths in Former Yugoslavia and Successor States”, The Hague, February 21-26, The Netherlands

Publications

The shared history - The Faith of Refuges and Emigrants from the Territory of Former Yugoslavia
Journal of the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation, 2009; ISBN 978-86-87143-04-3

Mitovi Nacionalizma i Demokratija
ed: Darko Gavrilović, Ljubiša Despotović, Vjekoslav Perica, Srđan Šljukić (Novi Sad: Godina izdanja, 2009); ISBN 978-86-86601-070

Serbo – Croat Relations in the 20th Century – The Past and the Perspectives
Journal of the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation, 2008; ISBN 978-86-86601-05-6

Myths and Stereotypes of Nationalism and Communism in ex-Yugoslavia
Journal of the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation, 2008; ISBN 978-86-86601-04-9

Shared History and the Second World War and National Question in ex-Yugoslavia
Journal of the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation, 2008; ISBN 978-86-86601-03- 02

Rat i Manjine: Rat u Hrvatskoj 1991-1995, Nezavisnost i Sudbina Manjina 1991-1992
Journal of the Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation, 2007; ISBN 978-86-7473-374-5

     

Partners

Darko Gavrilovic, Center for History, Democracy and Reconciliation (CHDR) www.centerforhistory.net