helsinki committee for human rights in serbia YugoslaviA from a histORical perspective Yugoslavia from a Historical Perspective Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia Yugoslavia from a Historical Perspective Belgrade, 2017 YUGOSLAVIA FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Publisher Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia For the publisher Sonja Biserko Copyright © Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, 2017. Editorial Board Latinka Perović Drago Roksandić Mitja Velikonja Wolfgang Hoepken Florian Bieber Proofreading Sheila Sofrenović Cover design and typesetting Ivan Hrašovec Photos and illustrations on the cover • Youths Day, Maribor, 1961. photo: wikipedia.org • Vukovar 1991, photo by Željko Jovanović • Map of SFRY, www.jugosloveni.info Illustration on the back cover and first page of the book • Pablo Picasso, poster for the movie Neretva, 1969. Printed by Delfimedia Circulation 500 This book has been published thanks to the support provided by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Federal Republic of Germany CIP – Каталогизација у публикацији – Народна библиотека Србије, Београд ISBN 978-86-7208-208-1 COBISS.SR-ID 240800780 Contents Publisher’s Note Why this project 9 Foreword YU-History: A multi-perspective historical account 13 Introduction T e multi-perspectivity of (post)Yugoslav histories 17 I – MANIFOLD YUGOSLAVISMS – HOW YUGOSLAV NATIONS ENTERED INTO YUGOSLAVIA Drago Roksandić Yugoslavism before the creation of Yugoslavia 29 II – YUGOSLAV EXPERIENCE FROM NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES husnija Kamberović The Bosniaks, the Croats and the Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Their Experiences of Yugoslavia In permanent gap 65 Šerbo Rastoder Montenegro and the Montenegrins in the Yugoslavia Statehood loss and its renewal 90 Ivo Goldstein Croatia and Croats in Yugoslavia Resitance to centralism 126 Aleksandar Litovski Macedonia and Macedonians in Yugoslavia In search for identity 163 Božo Repe Slovenia and Slovens in Yugoslavia Reasons for entering and exiting 186 – Latinka Perović The Serbs and Serbia in Modern History Experience with other nations 220 Mrika Limani Kosova in Yugoslavia Against colonial status 271 Milivoj Bešlin Vojvodina in Yugoslavia T e struggle for the autonomy 295 III – YUGOSLAVIA FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE (1918–1991) Srđan Milošević Yugoslav Society 1918–1991 From the stagnation to the revolution 349 Igor Duda Everyday Life in Both Yugoslavias Catching up with Europe 391 Vladimir Gligorov Yugoslavia and Development Benefits and costs 409 Nenad Makuljević Yugoslav Art and Culture From the art of a nation to the art of a territory 442 Tvrtko Jakovina Yugoslavia on the International Scene T e active coexistence of non-aligned Yugoslavia 46 1 mitja Velikonja Ways of Remembering Yugoslavia T e Yugoslav rear-view mirror 515 6 IV – CLOSING REMARKS Milivoj Bešlin, Srđan Milošević After Yugoslavia Societies transform at a snail’s pace 55 1 Vladimir Gligorov Causes and consequences 555 ANNEX Notes on the Authors 56 5 7 WHY THIS PROJECT Publisher’s Note why this project More than two decades have passed since the beginning of Yugoslavia’s disintegration that ended with Kosovo’s independ- ence declaration in 2008. The international community was actively involved in the crisis from the very start. It attempted to settle differences (The Hague Conference), then set the criteria for the mutual recognition of the successor-states (acknowledgment of republican borders as state borders), provided humanitarian aid throughout the war, imposed peace agreements on the war- ring sides, embarked on armed intervention in Bosnia and then in Kosovo, and finally opened up avenues towards Europe to all the states emerging from Yugoslavia. However, the signatures put on the peace agreements did not put an end to national projects nor to territorial ambitions (albeit to be achieved by other means). As long as these aspirations were predominant, any reconcilia- tion process was inconceivable. The thesis also prevailed that the war had been waged for re-composition of the Balkans, of course along ethnic lines. The borders defined by the Badinter Commis- sion on Yugoslavia remained, though most of the newly-estab- lished countries became predominantly nation-states. The ethnic principle taking precedence over the civic still keeps the issues of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia open. There is no doubt that it also keeps open the question of Kosovo, regardless of its many minority communities. The international community undertook many fact-finding initiatives (aimed at ascertaining the number of victims, for exam- ple) that turned out to be successful. In this context, much has likewise been done in the territory of the former Yugoslavia (in the newly-emerged states), mostly in publishing, the compilation 9 – of documentation and testimonies, video-recordings, etc. And notable progress has been made in the establishment of the num- ber of victims on all sides. This is of major significance as it bars the way to further myth construction and manipulation with the number of victims. It goes without saying that the Hague Tribunal has made the biggest contribution and left the region an invaluable legacy. This mostly relates to its numerous rulings, documentation, video- material, and so on. True, regardless of all the important work it has done, The Hague Tribunal has not answered the crucial ques- tion about the character of the war. Despite the indisputably precious insight into the develop- ment of the war, contextualization and a vertical chronology of the events that eventually led up to it are still lacking. In other words, a proper understanding of Yugoslavia’s brutal disintegra- tion calls for an insight into the crucial cause of the break-up – an insight into the conflict between various concepts for Yugoslavia’s re-organization (while the country was still in existence). The majority of citizens in the successor states do not have a real understanding of the reasons behind the disintegration of their former country and the hardships the war brought with it.. Strong emotions and impressions, individual and collective, have been stirred up, but without essential knowledge about the Sec- ond Yugoslavia or knowledge about one or other of the peoples that were its constituent elements. This is particularly true of the younger generations who are almost indifferent to the former Yugoslavia and barely know anything about the region. Their atti- tude towards other ethnic communities ranges from utter uncon- cern to extreme intolerance. This is the result of the fact that all the successor states that ethnically adjusted and largely fabricated their histories have distanced themselves from Yugoslavia. A state of confusion, mutual animosity and distrust, espe- cially characteristic of the young, hinders reconciliation and 10 WHY THIS PROJECT normalization, which can only be attained through historical truth. As things stand now in the region, reconciliation will be left to younger generations that had nothing to do with the conflict. The purpose of this project is to interpret and describe objec- tively key historical processes that are vital to an understanding of Yugoslavia and its brutal disintegration. Yugoslavia played a cru- cial historical role: it functioned as a framework for the emanci- pation of all the Yugoslav peoples and the constitution of their republics – states. This collection of papers is the product of a joint endeavor by a group of historians, art historians, culturologists, sociologists, economists, politicologists and other researchers of different gen- erations. It can also guide the reader through more copious read- ing material made up of studies that are already in place or will be placed in due course on the Web portal at www.yuhistorija.com. This research project was realized thanks to support by the Fed- eral Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the FR of Germany. Formally, the research behind it took two years, but it is actually the product of a much longer-term process. All the researchers involved have invested years or even decades of research work in their studies. Thanks to the fact that they trusted one another and cooperat- ed as true colleagues – a pre-condition for harmonious work on this project and the result of long years of interaction, the project proceeded smoothly as the logical outcome of the collaboration of many years by critically-minded humanities scholars in post- Yugoslavia territory. Since its initial stage, work on the project has so far involved almost fifty researchers and experts in (post) Yugo- slav history from all the successor states and many from the West. The fact that the past is being misused on a daily basis in all the post-Yugoslav states, without exception, shows that we are right when we argue that rational knowledge and historical research are both a starting point and an essential element of stable relations in the region, which are imperative to its sustainability. 11 – We make no claim to present a definitive picture of Yugosla- via’s disintegration as that will be certainly the focus of research of future scholars. The truth about its break-up is not simple or one-sided; on the contrary, it is extremely complex and calls for a multi-disciplinary approach. Our ambition, however, is to pro- vide enough information and analysis to younger generations that will give them a deeper insight into the context other than the one they are being offered. Our ambition is not only to assist them in overcoming the historical narratives that have been imposed on them, but also to encourage their constructive and deeper reason- ing about their future in the countries in which they live. Sonja Biserko 12 yu-history: A Multi-perspective historicAl Account Foreword yu-history: a multi-perspective historical account Under a variety of titles, numerous books in different languag- es, published before and after the disintegration of the SFR of Yugoslavia tackle the history of Yugoslavia. A major character- istic of the works by South Slav writers is that they are authored by one and rarely two historians. Representative Yugoslav multi- ethnic projects have been realized only partially.