DOCSLIB.ORG

Kerstin Carlson Phd Dissertation August 15 2013

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Kerstin Carlson Phd Dissertation August 15 2013 Model(ing) Law: The ICTY, the International Criminal Justice Template, and Reconciliation in the Former Yugoslavia By Kerstin Bree Carlson A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Jurisprudence and Social Policy in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Malcolm Feeley, Chair Professor Ronelle Alexander Professor Kristin Luker Professor Martin Shapiro Fall 2013 Abstract Model(ing) Law: The ICTY, the International Criminal Justice Template, and Reconciliation in the Former Yugoslavia By Kerstin Bree Carlson Doctor of Philosophy in Jurisprudence and Social Policy University of California, Berkeley Professor Malcolm M. Feeley, Chair My project uses the case study of the ICTY and reconciliation in the Balkans to address the larger topic of the capacity of international criminal tribunals (ICTs) as transitional justice mechanisms. I argue that the ICTY operates under the (flawed) received wisdom of the IMT at Nuremberg, what I term the international criminal justice template. This template accords three transitional justice functions for ICTs beyond (and in conjunction with) their central judicial aim of adjudicating cases: as (1) articulators of progressive criminal law (2) historians and (3) reconcilers or storytellers. My examination of the ICTY through each category illustrates that obstacles to the ICTY's role as a transitional justice mechanism are structural, and relate to the absence of a discursive loop between sovereign and governed. This discursive loop, present at domestic law, accounts for the capacity of domestic courts to perform the tasks identified by law and society scholars as central to courts, namely the capacity to act as constitutive social agents as well as the capacity to exert social control. At the international level, this capacity is interrupted. The dissertation calls for new scholarship and the development of international law and society studies, in order to better theorize and understand the structural and theoretical constraints governing the establishment of legitimacy for international criminal courts. 1 for my grandmother (Ingrid) Violet Bengston Carlson (1916 – 2013) i Table of Contents Acknowledgements: ..................................................................................................... v Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 My research question ............................................................................................... 2 The international criminal justice template .......................................................... 7 Chapters & structure ............................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1: The IMT and the Emergence of a Tripartite Transitional Justice Template .................................................................................................. 12 (I) Prosecutions of war crimes after World War II ............................................ 14 Getting to Nuremberg ................................................................................................ 15 Before the IMT: charges, defenses, verdicts ........................................................ 17 The law at the IMT: charges .................................................................................... 18 The trial ........................................................................................................................... 20 Defenses .......................................................................................................................... 21 Verdicts ............................................................................................................................ 21 After the IMT: Allied war crimes trials, denazification, and “putting the past behind us” in Germany ....................................................................... 22 (II) Articulating a “progressive” “international” criminal law? ....................... 24 Velpke Children’s Home .............................................................................................. 25 Developing international criminal law .............................................................. 30 (III) Re-evaluating Nuremberg: IMT & Allied war crimes trials as historians ............................................................................................................... 30 (IV) Transitional justice: reconciliation and the power of an “official version” ............................................................................................................... 34 Germany immediately following World War II .............................................. 36 The emergence of the modern understanding of Nuremberg ................. 38 Providing a “control” case for the international criminal justice template: the IMT at Tokyo. ....................................................................... 40 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 42 Chapter 2: Situating the ICTY ................................................................................ 45 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 46 (I) Import of the project (review of the literature) ............................................. 48 Transitional justice ..................................................................................................... 50 Law & society ................................................................................................................ 54 International criminal law (ICL) ........................................................................... 56 In conclusion: joining and expanding critical legal studies ....................... 58 (II) A brief history of the “Land of the South Slavs” ......................................... 58 From the first Slav migrants through World War I ...................................... 60 World War II & Tito: sowing the crop later reaped ...................................... 61 Destroying the Yugoslav identity: ethno-nationalism & war ................... 62 War wounds: Yugoslavia’s legacy ........................................................................ 67 (III) Justice = peace: tasking a court to end a war .............................................. 68 Imagining a war crimes tribunal ........................................................................... 68 Shaping the ICTY: institutional legacies of central participants ............. 73 Richard Goldstone brings the ICTY to life (1994-1996) ............................. 74 Louise Arbour shapes a “consequential” ICTY (1996-1999) ................... 76 Carla Del Ponte sharpens the ICTY’s teeth (1999-2007) .......................... 77 Closing down ................................................................................................................. 79 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 79 ii Chapter 3: Post Rule of Law: International Criminal Procedure and its Evolution before the ICTY ..................................................................... 80 (I) Typologies: common law & civil law in contrast ........................................... 82 Legal systems as ideologies .................................................................................... 83 Adversarial vs. inquisitorial .................................................................................... 84 The hierarchical vs. coordinate ideal .................................................................. 85 Typologies as ideals: law as culture .................................................................... 85 (II) Criminal law practice ...................................................................................... 87 Pre-trial ............................................................................................................................ 87 Trial 89 Comparative efficacy of systems ........................................................................... 92 (III) The ICTY’s peculiar hybrid: “an adversarial court with continental flavors” ................................................................................................. 93 ICTY rules of procedure & their evolution ....................................................... 94 Adding civil law procedure “for efficiency”: the 1999 reforms ............... 99 The verdict thus far: fairness concerns, no added efficiency ................. 102 (IV) “Post rule of law”: the problem of sentencing ........................................... 104 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 107 Chapter 4: When Non-derogable Principles Meet Criminal Liability: the Justice Problem of JCE ..................................................................................... 108 (I) The development of joint criminal enterprise .............................................. 110 JCE’s first articulation: the Tadić case .............................................................. 110 The law of Tadić ......................................................................................................... 112
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Farmers Protest in Serbia: 'Most Fertile Land Is Given to Arabs'
    Search HOME ABOUT EVENT S GALLERY PUBLISH SUBSCRIBE HELP English/all Farmers protest in Serbia: ‘Most fertile land is given to Liberia: Cease governmental Arabs’ surveillance and harassment against human rights advocates defending land Published: 28 Jul 2014 and natural resource rights. Send Short URL: http://farmlandgrab.org/23773 letter to President Sirleaf Posted in: Abu Dhabi | Serbia | UAE Comments (0) Print Email this Tell T IAA-CREF to go deforestation inSerbia | 28 July 2014 and land grab-free! Farmers protest in Serbia: ‘Most f ertile land is given to Arabs’ Who's involved? Farmers from villages and settlements of Sivac, Kruscic, Lipar and Crvenka in Vojvodina are outraged at the Ministry Select Category of Agriculture of Serbia, which leased more than 3,000 hectares of the best arable land to the company “Al Farmers from Kula, Serbia block the Rafaved” from the United Arab Emirates for 250 euros per center of the municipality with their Posts Comments hectare. tractors, demanding an explanation of what is behind the decision of the Recent posts They demand that Ministry explain why this fertile land has Ministry of Agriculture to lease 3,000 been exempted from the lease program based on the hectares of the best arable land to the Huile de palme : Greenpeace cible preferential rent, or why the state has not offered the land UAE company Al Rawafed under the most HSBC to them first, and then the Arabs. Farmers from Kula, at the favorable conditions. 17 Jan 2017 | No Comments protest rally in front of the local municipality building, said that it is inconceivable that Serbia leases the land to “Al Rafaved” for only 250 euros per hectare, Niger-Arabie Saoudite : des without public bidding.
    [Show full text]
  • Croatia Atlas
    FF II CC SS SS Field Information and Capital Elevation Coordination Support Section (Above mean sea level) Division of Operational Services UNHCR Country Office Croatia / National Office 3,250 to 4,000 metres Sources: / Liaison Office 2,500 to 3,250 metres UNHCR, Global Insight digital mapping 1,750 to 2,500 metres © 1998 Europa Technologies Ltd. UNHCR Field Office As of December 2009 1,000 to 1,750 metres UNHCR Field Unit 750 to 1,000 metres The boundaries and names shown International boundary 500 to 750 metres and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement Main road 250 to 500 metres or acceptance by the United Nations. Secondary road 0 to 250 metres g Name_of_the_workspace.WOR !! Villach !! !! !! !! Below mean sea level !! !! Davograd Railway !! Marcali !! Orosháza !! Maribor !! Szank !! !! Cortina d'Ampezzo !! !! !! Mursko Sredisce !! Kalocsa!! Kecel !! Mindszent !! !! !! Kiskunmajsa !! !! Nagykanizsa !! Jesenice Tolna !! Kiskunhalas !! !! Ptuj !! !! Hajós !! !! Hódmezövásárhely!! !! !! !! Tolmezzo !! Böhönye !! !! !! !! !! !! Cakovec !! !! Sostanj !! !! !! Forraaskut !! !! Kaposvár !! !! Balotaszállás!! !! !! !! !! Mezöhe !! Varazdin HUNGARY!! !! Jánoshalma !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! Legrad !! !! Ruzsa !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! Gemona del Friuli !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! Csurgó !! !! Szeged !! Kranj !! Celje !! Nagyatád !! !! !! Ivanec !! !! SLOVENIA !! !! !! Makó !! Durmanec !! Komló !! Maniago !! !! !! !! !! !! !! Koprivnica !! Baja !! Horgos !! Nadlac ! !! Belluno !!
    [Show full text]
  • Članci Republika Srpska Krajina and the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination*
    ČLANCI PETER RADAN, PhD, Professor of Law Macquarie University, Sydney Sydney, New South Wels, 2109, Australia [email protected] UDK: 341.231 originalan naučni rad 323.1(497.5) primljeno: 17. maj 2017. prihvaćeno: 11. oktobar 2017. DOI: 10.29362/IST20VEKA.2018.1.RAD.9-34 REPUBLIKA SRPSKA KRAJINA AND THE RIGHT * OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION ABSTRACT: In Part I of this article author details the claims to inde- pendent statehood of Croatia and Krajina based upon the right of peoples to self-determination in the context of the emergence of nationalism as a powerful political force in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. He also details the response of the international community to the crisis which these irreconcilable claims gave rise to. In Part II author explores the reasons why the secession of Croatia suc- ceeded and the secession of Krajina failed. Finally, the ramifications of Croa- tia’s and Krajina’s competing claims to statehood for the right of peoples to self-determination are discussed in the Conclusion. KEYWORDS: Republika Srpska Krajina, The break-up of Yugoslavia, War in Croatia 1991–1995, International Law, Self-determination, Secession, Inter-ethnic relations, National Minorities, Serbs in Croatia, Nationalism Introduction On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. More than any other, this event of that tumultuous year symbolised the end of the Cold War and ush- ered in what Allen Buchanan has called ‘the age of secession’.1 The usual justi- fication for secessionist demands was the right of peoples to self-determination. One of the means by which this right is realised is by ‘the establishment of a sovereign and independent state’.2 The critical question for self-determination relates to the meaning of ‘peoples’.
    [Show full text]
  • Jewish Citizens of Socialist Yugoslavia: Politics of Jewish Identity in a Socialist State, 1944-1974
    JEWISH CITIZENS OF SOCIALIST YUGOSLAVIA: POLITICS OF JEWISH IDENTITY IN A SOCIALIST STATE, 1944-1974 by Emil Kerenji A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in The University of Michigan 2008 Doctoral Committee: Professor Todd M. Endelman, Co-Chair Professor John V. Fine, Jr., Co-Chair Professor Zvi Y. Gitelman Professor Geoffrey H. Eley Associate Professor Brian A. Porter-Szűcs © Emil Kerenji 2008 Acknowledgments I would like to thank all those who supported me in a number of different and creative ways in the long and uncertain process of researching and writing a doctoral dissertation. First of all, I would like to thank John Fine and Todd Endelman, because of whom I came to Michigan in the first place. I thank them for their guidance and friendship. Geoff Eley, Zvi Gitelman, and Brian Porter have challenged me, each in their own ways, to push my thinking in different directions. My intellectual and academic development is equally indebted to my fellow Ph.D. students and friends I made during my life in Ann Arbor. Edin Hajdarpašić, Bhavani Raman, Olivera Jokić, Chandra Bhimull, Tijana Krstić, Natalie Rothman, Lenny Ureña, Marie Cruz, Juan Hernandez, Nita Luci, Ema Grama, Lisa Nichols, Ania Cichopek, Mary O’Reilly, Yasmeen Hanoosh, Frank Cody, Ed Murphy, Anna Mirkova are among them, not in any particular order. Doing research in the Balkans is sometimes a challenge, and many people helped me navigate the process creatively. At the Jewish Historical Museum in Belgrade, I would like to thank Milica Mihailović, Vojislava Radovanović, and Branka Džidić.
    [Show full text]
  • Attitudes of Local Population on the Importance of Events Nourishing Culture and Tradition of Croats in Vojvodina
    TURIZAM Volume 24, Issue 1 46–56 (2020) ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER Attitudes of Local Population on the Importance of Events Nourishing Culture and Tradition of Croats in Vojvodina Tatjana PivacA, Ivana BlešićA, Snežana BesermenjiA, Darko GavrilovićA Received: December 2019 | Accepted: March 2020 DOI: 10.5937/turizam24-25376 Abstract AP Vojvodina is a highly multi-ethnic community, with 29 nations and national or ethnic groups living on its territory. Croats make only 2.43% of the population of Vojvodina, but with their rich culture and tradition, they represent a significant potential for the development of Vojvodina’s cultural tourism. The richness of customs is best represented through numer- ous events that take place in areas with the majority of Croatian population. The paper pre- sents the results of a survey conducted to determine how informed the population of Vojvodina is about the maintenance and significance of events of Croats in Vojvodina. A sample of 158 respondents was obtained. Descriptive statistical analysis, t-test of independent samples and analysis of variance ANOVA were used to analyse the obtained data. Keywords: Croats of Vojvodina, events, attitudes, local population, Vojvodina Introduction Vojvodina is defined as an autonomous province of citizens living in it, within the Republic of Serbia. AP Vojvodina covers 24.4% of the territory of the Republic of Serbia or 21.588 km². According to the last census from 2011, AP Vojvodina has a population 1.931.809, which makes 21.6% of the total population of the Republic of Serbia. The diversity of Vojvodina is contrib- uted by 29 ethnic groups, the most numerous being Serbs, Hungarians, Romanians, Bunje- vci, Slovaks, Croats and Ruthenians.
    [Show full text]
  • Serbia 2Nd Periodical Report
    Strasbourg, 23 September 2010 MIN-LANG/PR (2010) 7 EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES Second periodical report presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter SERBIA The Republic of Serbia The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The Second Periodical Report Submitted to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Pursuant to Article 15 of the Charter Belgrade, September 2010 2 C O N T E N T S 1. INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………6 2. Part I …………………………………………………………………………………12 2.1. Legislative and institutional changes after the first cycle of monitoring of the implementation of the Charter …………………………………………………….12 2.1.1. Legislative changes ……………………………………………………….12 2.1.2. The National Strategy for the Improvement of the Status of Roma ……..17 2.1.3. Judicial Reform …………………………………………………………...17 2.1.4. Establishment of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights …………..23 2.2. Novelties expected during the next monitoring cycle of the implementation of the Charter …………………………………………………………………………….24 2.2.1. The Census ………………………………………………………………..24 2.2.2. Election of the national councils of the national minorities ……………...26 2.3. Implementation of the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (RecChL(2009)2) 28) …………………………………………29 2.4. Activities for the implementation of the box-recommendation of the Committee of Experts with regard to the implementation of the Charter ………………………...33 3. PART II Implementation of Article 7 of the Charter ……………………………..38 3.1. Information on the policy, legislation and practice in the implementation of Part II - Article 7 of the Charter ……………………………………………………………..38 3.1.1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Yugoslav Wars: No. 2: Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia, 1992-2001 Pdf, Epub, Ebook
    THE YUGOSLAV WARS: NO. 2: BOSNIA, KOSOVO AND MACEDONIA, 1992-2001 PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Nigel Thomas,Darko Pavlovic | 48 pages | 28 Nov 2006 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781841769646 | English | Oxford, England, United Kingdom The Yugoslav Wars: No. 2: Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia, 1992-2001 PDF Book The insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia was an armed conflict in Tetovo which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army NLA militant group began attacking the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia at the beginning of February , and ended with the Ohrid Agreement. Kosovar Albanians were fired in large numbers from public enterprises and institutions, including banks, hospitals, the post office and schools. The tribunal was an ad hoc court located in The Hague , Netherlands. Retrieved 23 November Ryan Argent rated it it was amazing Oct 19, Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation. Its constituent republics declared independence, despite unresolved tensions between ethnic minorities in the new countries, fueling the wars. Slovenia and Croatia desired greater autonomy within the Yugoslav confederation, while Serbia sought to strengthen federal authority. The Balkans. Most of the Serb population in the reclaimed areas became refugees. Galbraith , stated that genocide was occurring. Condition: Brand New. Their boycott escalated into an insurrection in areas populated by ethnic Serbs, mostly around Knin, known as the Log Revolution. Lucktam added it Jan 02, By the end of , Serbia thus became the host of , Serb refugees or internally displaced from Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia. Washington cautiously welcomes move". International Center for Transitional Justice. Russell Slater rated it really liked it Jun 09, Hart, author of Partisans: War in the Balkans — , the ethnically mixed region of Dalmatia held close and amicable relations between the Croats and Serbs who lived there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
    [Show full text]
  • Executive Summary
    Date 22.12.2005 Project# 353 FINAL REPORT: SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER AFFECTED BY HIGH ARSENIC CONTENTS IN 3 VOJVODINIAN REGIONS BOOK 1: Executive Summary City of Vienna MA 31 i. TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK I 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................... 1.12 1.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1.12 1.2 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES..................................................................................................... 1.12 1.2.1 Scope .............................................................................................................................. 1.12 1.2.2 Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 1.13 1.3 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................. 1.14 1.4 LEGAL FEASIBILITY............................................................................................................ 1.18 1.5 REGULATIONS AND DIRECTIVES ........................................................................................ 1.18 1.5.1 European Drinking Water Directive .............................................................................. 1.18 1.5.2 Regulations for Groundwater Protection....................................................................... 1.19
    [Show full text]
  • Yugoslavia's History and Breakup Timeline
    1 28-06-1914 Gavrilo Princip (1894 – 1918) was a Bosnian Serb member of Young Bosna, a movement seeking an end to Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia- Herzegovina. On 28 June 1914 he assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo, continuing the chain of events that would lead to the outbreak of the First World War. During his trial, he stated: “I am a Yugoslav nationalist, aiming for the unification of all Yugoslavs, and I do not care what form of state, but it must be freed from Au s t r i a .” 2 1914 - 1918 The First World War, a global war originating in Europe, lasted for four years. In the end, four empires collapsed after the conclusion of WW1: the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the German Empire and the Russian Empire. 3 1914 - 1918 The First World War, a global war originating in Europe, lasted for four years. In the end, four empires collapsed after the conclusion of WW1: the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, German Empire and the Russian Empire. 4 1918 - 1941 The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is formed in the wake of the First World War through the merger of territories formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with the formerly independent Kingdom of Serbia. It changed its name to Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. It adopted the motto, ‘One Nation, One King, One State’. 5 06-04-1941 In April of 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied and partitioned by the Axis powers. The image shows the aftermath of the bombing of Belgrade on April 6, 1941.
    [Show full text]
  • Student and Civil Protest in Belgrade and Serbia, 1996/1997 Mirjana Prosic-Dvornic Midland, MI
    The Topsy Turvy Days Were There Again: Student and Civil Protest in Belgrade and Serbia, 1996/1997 Mirjana Prosic-Dvornic Midland, MI Abstract After a long silence, university students, and hundreds of thousands of citizens, were on the streets again, protesting against the regime in Serbia. The immediate motive for the outburst of long suppressed discontent was the regime’s insolent annulment of the victory of the opposition in November 1996 local elections. In terms of duration (from November 1996 until March 1997), spread (throughout urban Serbia) and number of participants (estimated to 350,000 to 550.000), this protest was unprecedented. However, like all previous demonstrations, it failed to initiate any real, irrevocable change. Instead, the regime succeeded to channel citizens’ discontent into "safety vents", into temporary "topsy turvy" days of "Another Serbia", thus enabling once again the continuity and stability of the regime’s particular vision of society. Introduction The 1992 Student Protest in Belgrade was one of the most dynamic, articulate and creative demonstrations of "civil disobedience" that took place in "Milosevic’s Serbia" (cf. Prosic-Dvornic 1993). Despite the significance of the protest, and a desperate attempt by its participants to send a clear message that "Milosevic’s Serbia" was not the only Serbia that existed, it still failed to make big news in the world. Foreign media and its audiences were rather indifferent towards a student avant garde in Serbian civil society, that espoused the fact that there was another, different Serbia, the modern, democratic, and tolerant one in need of recognition and support. In late 1996 and early 1997, when students, joined by citizens this time, poured into the streets of major Serbian towns once again, the situation was reversed.
    [Show full text]
  • A Cross-Generational Inquiry
    Historical Remembering and Attitudes Towards the “Other”: A Cross-generational Inquiry A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University By Silvia Šušnjić Master of Arts Columbia University, 2004 Director: Dennis J.D. Sandole, Professor Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution Spring Semester 2010 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright 2010 Silvia Šušnjić All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION This is dedicated to my family, friends, mentors and the people of the former Yugoslavia. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There were countless times throughout my studies that I thought of the following questions: What makes people view “Others” as evil? What kind of memories and attitudes are prevalent in defining the “Other” as evil? These questions were especially relevant in the context of the former-Yugoslavia where almost instantaneously neighbors became strangers, friends became enemies and once “good” people were now labeled as “evil” because of their accent, the names they had, or the looks they portrayed. Simple gestures, the way one spoke, even the way one displayed the number three could have at one point been grounds for harassment. This study aims to discover the reasons why certain individuals were and others were not affected by the socio-political and historic constructs created to define “other” individuals as enemies. My outmost appreciation for this project goes to my Committee Chair Dr. Dennis J.D. Sandole, who devoted much of his time to guide me throughout this project. Dr. Sandole helped me shape my dissertation ideas and always encouraged me to think outside the box in order to come up with the next “great” idea.
    [Show full text]
  • Croatia, ‘Greater Serbianism’, and the Conflict Between East and West
    2441Chapter4 16/10/02 8:04 am Page 98 4 Croatia, ‘Greater Serbianism’, and the conflict between East and West Christ’s remarkable principle: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that use and persecute you.’ That selfless sentiment has remained throughout history a cry of the weak, or an expression of those who have accepted their doom . No matter how many exam- ples can be found in life and history to support such renunciation, it has never overcome the passions of hatred and the desire to dominate or to take revenge. (Franjo Tudjman, Horrors of War) ERBIA WAS CERTAINLY not alone in its revision of history, nor in its use of national mythology. The Croatian government also saw the merits of Sreinterpreting history to buttress their own political objectives. Many of Croatia’s most interesting national myths were created well before the collapse of Yugoslavia. Franjo Tudjman’s rise to power in 1990, and the even- tual independence of Croatia, after almost five decades of Communist federalism, engendered a fertile climate for national myth creation. Croatia’s national propaganda evolved within an authoritarian context, and many of the central themes favoured by Croatian writers were similar to those advanced by their Serbian counterparts. The spectre of ‘Greater Serbia’ – which became likened to an anti-Semitism for Croats – was remarkably similar to Serbophobia. Many other myths appeared to be a reaction to a fear and strong distrust of the Serbs. Several, like the ‘state right’ tradition, the Antemurale Christianitatis, and Medjugorje, proved the existence of a civilised, peace-loving and enlightened Croatia.
    [Show full text]