The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: the Case of Interwar Yugoslavia”

Title: “The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: The Case of Interwar Yugoslavia”

Author: Christian Giordano

How to cite this article: Giordano, Christian. 2014. “The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: The Case of

Interwar Yugoslavia”. Martor 19: 31‐42. Published by: Editura MARTOR (MARTOR Publishing House), Muzeul Țăranului Român (The

Museum of the Romanian Peasant)

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Martor is indexed by EBSCO and CEEOL. The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: The Case of Interwar Yugoslavia

Christian Giordano Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Fribourg

AbStrAct KeywordS

Land reform is a legal means for settling the agrarian question. In central and Agrarian reforms, ethnicization, South-Eastern Europe where farming is a major occupation, such reforms have interwar Yugoslavia, nationalism, served to nationalize – ethnically homogenize – the nation’s land. he analysis modernization of such reforms in Yugoslavia during the period between the two world wars shows how land was systematically distributed in favour of those who were part of the titular nation while, at the same time, discriminating against ethnic minorities. Instead of settling the agrarian question, these reforms fuelled the conlict between ethno-national groups to the point of a quasi-civil war situation. he social memory of the discriminated groups is still today coined by these negative historical experiences, as the case of Kosovo show

his formula has guided the whole Europe- Introduction: an history from the early 1800s on. In terms “Staatsnation” and the “Purity” Myth of territory, this motto, forerunner of such tragic events, can be phrased as follows; oth in Western and Eastern Europe each “nation“ has a right to its “land“ which the speciic combination of terri- is under the monopoly of one “nation“ only. Btory, language, creed, citizenship It is not surprising that the past two cen- and / or nationality, is generally perceived turies have been marked by repeated eforts as an invariable and inviolable heritage of to make the single national territories more individual and collective “identities” (Con- and more ethnically and culturally homo- te 1995, 138). It is a widespread belief that geneous, especially in Central and Eastern can be traced back even to the most com- Europe where the principle of “Staatsna- mon aspects of everyday life. his belief tion“ was applied much later than in West- reaches its political-institutional achieve- ern Europe; that is, only ater the downfall ment in the concept of “Staatsnation” and of the imperial “Vielvölkerstaaten“. he pro- its various practical applications that can be cesses of “ethno-cultural re-composition“ found, with few exceptions, throughout the aiming at “ethnic purity“ of national States Old Continent. he idea of “Staatsnation”, a have been carried out through a fearsome German term of French origin as Stéphane and ongoing series of boundary revisions, Pierré-Caps aptly pointed out (Pierré-Caps forced assimilations, expulsions, aimed and 1995, 56), is based on the doctrine according planned immigrations, deportations, puri- to which each “nation“ must have its own ications and ethnic wars, genocides, res- territorial State and each State must consist torations and secessions. he Nazi detrac- of one “nation“ only (Altermatt 1996, 53). tors of the “schwebendes Volkstum“ (Conte

31 Christian Giordano

1995: 54), the enthusiastic upholders of the but members of social strata that had noth- Hitlerian “gardener State“ (Bauman 1996, ing or little in common with the ruling class 43 f.), and the “ethnic cleansing engineers“ were involved in the expulsion process as in the Balkans (Grmek, Gjidara and Šimac well. During the great „Crisis in the Orient“, 1993), notwithstanding the use of diferent which led to the bloody Russian-Turkish means, share a common end; the elimina- war, from 1875 to 1878 alone a million and tion of any “ethno-cultural heterogeneity“ a half people were repatriated (Sundhaussen within the State where they live and act. 1997, 87). Considering the times and the Although the above-mentioned phe- area involved, it was an exceptional move- nomena refer mainly to Central and East- ment of people. ern Europe, it would be a mistake to think he second virulent phase was between that Western Europe has not been afected 1913 and 1925. It was characterized by the by similar shock waves of homogenization. forced transfer of whole minoritarian ethnic In fact, through the “très longue durèe“ groups and yet it was internationally recog- perspective there is the pressing sequence nized and guaranteed. In the diplomatic of the “Albigensian Crusade“ (1208-1244), language of those days, it was euphemisti- the “Massacre of St. Bartholomew“ (1572), cally termed as a „population exchange“. the expulsion of “marranos“ and “moriscos“ Some examples illustrate the „homogeniza- from Portugal and Spain (1492), the various tion“ strategies through „ethnic separation“. wars of religion which bloodied Western Substantial groups of Albanians from Koso- Europe during the Reformation and Coun- vo and western Macedonia were transferred ter-Reformation (15th and 16th century), to Turkey ater the Balkan Wars (1913) up to purifying attempts which later will be mainly because of their religion. Particular- essential to the slow construction of future ly ater the creation of the Kingdom of the “Staatnationen“ in this area of the Old Con- Serbians, Croatians and Slovenians, they tinent. Probably, it would be anachronistic were substituted by Serbian, Montenegrin, to label these cases as deliberate “ethno- Croatian and Slovenian people with the cultural homogenization“; however, avoid- intention of „re-Slavizing“ the region. he ing the trap of evolutionary mechanism, it so-called „population exchange“ between would be a good idea to keep in mind the Greece and Turkey was even more dramat- “time lag“ or, better yet, the “décalage his- ic. It was decreed by the Treaty of Lausanne torique“ between Western and Eastern Eu- in 1923, which ratiied a series of reciprocal rope rather than a presumed substantial expulsions and hasty migrations caused by diference. the Greek military catastrophe during the Four main periods can be identiied in reckless campaign in Asia Minor. Ater the the various processes of “ethnic separation“ tremendous defeat, Greece was overrun by that concerned almost all the “Staatna- refugees from the coasts of Western Ana- tionen“ of Central and Eastern Europe over tolia plus the Greeks from the Black Sea the last two centuries. heir virulence was area and the Caucasus who, since 1917, had laden with consequences for the structure been leeing from the repressions of the new of the entire continent. Bolshevik regime. A country of 4,5 million he irst period was predominantly in inhabitants faced the arrival of 1,3 million the Balkans, immediately ater the creation refugees. At the same time, the „population of the irst Nation-states in the 19th century. exchange“ provided for the departure of the Vast sections of populations of Turkish ori- “citizens of Islam faith“, mostly Turkish, but gin or simply of Muslim faith were forced also Albanians. to leave the region. As administrators and he third phase of “ethnic homogeniza- civil servants of the Ottoman Empire, they tion“ includes the decade between 1940 and did indeed represent the hated occupiers, 1950 that was characterized by the Nazi

32 The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: The Case of Interwar Yugoslavia policy of annihilation, transfer and expul- World War through a multi-ethnic and sion of whole ethnic groups or supposed-so multinational “logic“, namely Yugoslavia, and by Stalinist deportations and purges. the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. New Along with the holocaust of the so-called and old nations, originated from this pro- “transnational minorities“ (Kende 1992, 13 cess, are all based on the “Staatsnation“ f.), that is Jews and Roma, there were mas- principle. herefore, the war in Bosnia is sive population movements in all of Central fully in tune with this tragic, yet century- and Eastern Europe which changed the eth- old “logic“ of „homogenization“. Given the nic map of this part of the continent consid- historical background, it would have been erably. 11,5 million Germans were expelled quite surprising if the war had not broken from the “Ostgebiete“, while 3 million Poles, out. he Treaty of Dayton, even with ob- 2 million of which from the regions that be- vious formal diferences, is nothing but a came part of the Soviet Union ater the Sec- reissue of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) in ond World War, settled in Silesia and in the which an “ethnic re-composition“ project south of Eastern Prussia. hus, Poland be- lurks behind a hypocritical façade. With came an almost mono-ethnic country, quite the explosion of the conlict in Kosovo, the consistent with the ideal of the „Staatsna- “humanitarian catastrophe“ now has the tion“. Even the treaties between Czecho- bitter taste of an old “déjà vu“ that follows slovakia and Hungary and between the the same persisting pattern of “ethnic ho- latter and Yugoslavia, which provided for mogenization“. Aside from political mo- reciprocal “population exchanges“ as well, dalities, one could even picture the inal date back to the same period, immediately setting: the ethno-territorial separation of ater the Second World War. Finally, Stalin Serbians from Albanians. We cannot hope consolidated his conquests in the Western against hope, however, because further part of the Soviet Union through a policy of conlicts are at hand. “planned“, and oten imposed, “mobility“. On the one hand, this involved the deporta- tion of populations considered “accomplic- Land reforms and es of the enemy“, therefore “traitors of the „ethnic re-composition“ great patriotic war“ (Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, etc.), to Siberia or central Asia. In very broad terms, a land reform im- On the other, it involved substituting them plies a redeining of landed property rights with more “reliable“ immigrants, mainly of through State legislative acts. From a socio- Slavic origin such as Russians, Belarusians logical point of view, a land reform answers and Ukrainians (Conte and Giordano 1995, two needs: one of a political and the other 28 f.). of an economic nature, each with a speciic he fourth virulent phase of “ethnic ho- type of landowner as R.P. Dore pointed out mogenization“, which can be called a “re- in his classic studies on land redistribu- version to the Nation-state“, is the wave of tion in Japan (Dore 1965, 487 seq.). In the “political separations“ that has been devas- irst case, landowners monopolize domi- tating Central and Eastern Europe over the nation structures deriving from conquest past iteen years. It can be traced back to or feudalization processes. In the second socialist Bulgaria with the so-called solu- case, they are mainly economic actors or in tion of nationality problems. Actually, the Marxian terms, they are the representatives solution was the expulsion and / or forced of the “rural wing of the bourgeoisie“ who assimilation of “ethnic Turks“ in the sec- might wield an indirect power due to their ond half of the 1980s. he phase continued wealth and contacts with politicians and during the 1990s with the disintegration administrators of urban origin. Obviously of the three countries born ater the First enough, processes of expropriation and

33 Christian Giordano land redistribution imply radical changes Central and East Europe (as in several other in the political asset of the society involved societies as well), is above all an “agrarian much more so in the irst case than in the question“. second one. n create an economic basis for the rise or Territorial concerns and, therefore, the growth of a rural “middle class“ or “ith es- deinition of land regime are basic duties tate“ of wealthy peasants who could rapidly that Nation-states claimed from the very be- modernize agriculture, which in those days ginning, almost with no exception. Hence, was considered indispensable to a success- the legislative instrument of land reform is ful industrialization policy. According to the cornerstone of any territorial policy that the socialist version of rural modernization pursues a heightening of national cohesion policy, land reform is the cornerstone on and unity. he speciic historical heritage which agricultural collectivization is based of Central and Eastern European Nation- as Friedrich Engels states in his famous es- states that rose from the late disintegration say “Die Bauernfrage in Frankreich und in of multi-ethnic empires (with few excep- Deutschland“ (Engels 1977, Vol. XXII, 483 tions: Hungary) essentially determined f.). herefore, the idea underlying this proj- land reforms with a strong disruptive im- ect is rather the formation of a rural prole- pact on the preceding domination system, tariat. at least on paper. Some examples can bet- n “nationalize“ the State’s territory by ter explain the reasons behind this choice. “ethnicizing“ landed property: that is, ap- Poland and Romania of the „Old Kingdom“, portioning it preferably to the sole members ater attaining their independence again, of the “entitled nation“. were confronted by powerful „autochtho- his last point, which generally is not nous“ landowners with feudal or patrimo- oicially stated in land redistribution poli- nial backgrounds (“Szlachta“ and “boyars“) cies, becomes the heart of reform actions, who, besides their political privileges, had as in several postcolonial societies (Kenya, considerable economic means built upon Pakistan, Zimbabwe, etc.) shaken by violent the “second serfdom“ system. On the other upsurges of iery nationalism like the Mau- hand instead, the Baltic countries had to Mau rebellion in Kenya (Warriner 1969, recognize that the land was in the hands 11 f.). of a few “foreign“ families of feudal lords, As far as Central and Eastern-Europe mainly of German and Polish descent. Fi- are concerned, the exigency of a land reform nally, Balkan Europe, which had just been rises at irst as the need to resolve the “social freed of the “Turkish yoke“, took care to de- question“ that, in this area, is more of an molish the patrimonial aspects of the po- “agrarian question“, as already mentioned. litical-administrative structures inherited From the turn of the century on, the in- from the Ottoman Empire that guaranteed debtedness and impoverishment of the ru- usufruct or appropriation of vast-landed ral masses, usury, overpopulation and un- property to oicials. employment in the farmlands, emigration, In substance, therefore, land reforms in a pulverized small and medium property, national States that attained a late indepen- and the persistence of the latifundia led to dence were meant to reach the following further precarious living conditions in Cen- goals: tral and Eastern-Europe’s rural regions. A n carry through an “act of justice“ main- lame and, at times, entirely of-the-mark in- ly by retrenching the latifundist regime in dustrialization process, absolutely unable to order to apportion „the land to the tillers“. employ the agricultural work force surplus, Land reforms were intended to ind a solu- heightened an already dire, critical situation to the “social question“, which, given tion. Added to this is the international re- the speciic socio-economic situation in cession between the two World Wars, which

34 The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: The Case of Interwar Yugoslavia mainly encumbered agricultural produce prices and exports. the Agrarian reform in yugoslavia In most of Europe’s central and eastern between the two world wars countries, these economic factors will create a widespread atmosphere of social ten- he century-old Ottoman domination in sion that will oten break out into bloody ri- Europe ended in 1913 ater the second Bal- ots as the well-known one of the Romanian kan War. he “sick man on the Bosphorus“ farmers in the Spring of 1907 (Castellan held only a small territory, namely present- 1994, 51 f.). his situation of endemic re- day European Turkey. Serbia and Montene- belliousness, reinforced by sweeping histor- gro united ater WWI in the Kingdom of ical events such as the Russian Revolution, Serbians, Croatians and Slovenians, which, summons the phantom of Central and East- in turn, became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia ern-European societies’ “bolshevization” in 1929, took over most of the “freed“ re- among the great landowners. Even the more gions; i.e. northern Macedonia and Kosovo. conservative classes see the stringent need However, the Ottoman legacy was laden to bring forth a land reform that will abate with problems. In the irst place, Serbia frictions, protests and conlicts through and Montenegro faced an archaic social land redistribution. herefore, it is no co- and economic system, a consequence of the incidence that major land reforms with a breakdown of the original imperial patri- Liberal background were undertaken in the monialism based on the “timar“ institution. period between the two World Wars. he he sultan, as absolute ruler and sole owner two main goals of the reform process seem of the land, entrusted military command- to have been an “equitable” property distri- ers with collecting tributes and recruiting bution and agricultural “modernization” soldiers. In exchange for these bureaucratic (see Milena Angelova, this volume). For duties, the sultan allotted them non-hered- these same reasons, some Western Europe- itary lands termed “timar“. he “timar“ an watchers and experts would be pleased included the “citlik“: lands and real estate by projects tending towards deep socio-eco- that the “timarian“ could exploit directly nomic changes in the backward rural areas for his family needs. Between the 16th and of the Old Continent’s central-eastern areas the 18th century, while the centralized pow- (Ancel 1930; Mirkovitch 1934). er was waning, the military commanders However, under the inluence of increas- seized inalienable property that belonged ing nationalisms, this attitude will change to farmers and repeatedly appropriated rapidly and the “ethnicization” of the land lands of the “timar“ on a hereditary basis. distribution will become the main char- herefore, the “citlik“ areas were remark- acteristic of several land reforms in this ably broadened although several remained region. hus, land reforms will turn into quite small and would never become large legislative actions of a more political nature landed estates. Furthermore, the “citlik“ than a socio-economic one aimed at chang- were privatized de facto becoming outright ing the ethnic aspect of historically mixed allodium lands. 19th century reforms, de- regions neighbouring disputed, changeable, spite Koranic law, will give a legal founda- uncertain and essentially unstable bound- tion to this unsettled situation and the term aries. From this geopolitical point of view, “citlik“ will become synonymous with pri- due to the ethnic homogenization and re- vate property. While striving to modernize composition processes involved, land re- and lead their countries closer to European forms are conceived ever more oten as a standards, Serbia, Montenegro and later major remedy to the “variable geometry” of Yugoslavia encountered the problem of dis- national territories which has always ailed mantling this semi-patrimonialist structure Europe’s central and eastern States. that was unanimously considered unjust

35 Christian Giordano and utterly obsolete. herefore, at the time, 1992: 191). he governments of Serbia and the most obvious solution to this problem Montenegro immediately tried to check this was to promote a land reform (see Kaiti tendency. A law concerning the peopling Aroni-Tsichli, this volume). his was also of the “freed“ regions, which provided for the authoritative opinion of eminent foreign State management of all deserted lands plus experts, such as renowned French geogra- all lands lacking a property title, was pro- pher Jacques Ancel, who knew the region mulgated in Montenegro in February 1914. well, having been in loco during WWI (An- his law may be considered a prologue to cel 1930, 1). According to all these Occiden- the land reform itself, whose promulgation tal experts, researchers as well as travellers took an incredible amount of time - from and diplomats, the „citlik“ was perceived, 1919 to 1934 - because of several additions on the one hand, as the symbol of an ex- and amendments. hese few data give proof ecrable administration and low economic to the signiicant eforts of the Yugoslav productivity, and, on the other hand, as the government to modernize agriculture in bulwark of an agrarian system based on the two above-mentioned peripheral and semi-serfdom social relations that implied economically backward regions. exorbitant taxes besides arbitrary and iniq- Undoubtedly, the pillar of this complex uitous services for the peasants (Schultze-Je- reform action was the decree dated Septem- na 1927, 50 f.). Present-day researches have ber 24, 1920 that regulated the „coloniza- re-examined this institution reaching more tion“ of the new southern regions, in which diferentiated conclusions (Adanir, 1979); “colonization” meant the State’s land grants in those days instead, the „citlik“ was per- to farmers. his project had two main aims: ceived, iguratively speaking, as an insult n land distribution to the most poverty- to civilization. In light of this outlook, the stricken, autochthonous rural population land reform was launched in an area whose through the subdivision of „citlik“, economic situation was deplorable, to say n settlement of farmers from other ar- the least - northern Macedonia and Kosovo eas of Yugoslavia on the deserted proper- - not only taking into account the “citlik“, ties and former State or municipal property but also a ity-year span of political insta- (Ancel 1930, 58 f.). bility marked by uprisings and wars. here- he allocated plots were between 4 and fore, these two regions were characterized 5 ha, congruent with family unit size. Ac- by massive land abandonment and the utter cording to the promoters of the reform, this insecurity of a territory overrun by bands amount of land would be enough to guaran- of irregular troops halfway between a lib- tee an entire family’s subsistence. However, eration warfare and plain banditry. Overall, most of the land in Macedonia and Kosovo however, the Yugoslav land reform required was unproductive and soon the allocated an elaborate series of measures pivoting plot extension proved to be inadequate (An- upon colonization. In fact, by the end of cel, 1930, 60). his already suggests how the the second Balkan War a conspicuous mi- irst stages of the reform were indeed su- gratory trend ensued, more or less forced, pericial, chaotic and irrational. Moreover, mainly towards Turkey and, alternatively, there were no plans for a subsequent estab- Albania. he migration concerned “citlik“ lishment of infrastructures. In 1923, the owners of Turk or Albanian descent who Yugoslav government, coping with the op- were leaving the country expecting upcom- eration’s tangible shortcomings, undertook ing changes of the landed property régime. road, canal and rural dwelling construction, Around 1913-1914 autochthonous families swampland drainage, ight against malaria, of Slavic ancestry had already begun an farmer’s professional training, promotion of unforeseen takeover of the deserted lands cooperatives (Roux, 1992: 192). To complete or were buying them at low prices (Roux, the reform process, further government de-

36 The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: The Case of Interwar Yugoslavia crees enacted between 1931 and 1934 con- 1996, 10 and 148-178). Corroborated by cerning colonization, postulated the arrival the approbation of the international com- of numerous farmers in Macedonia and munity and irmly believing in the histori- Kosovo from other regions of the country cal right due to their nation ,as well as to (Roux 1992, 193). the recent settlement of Albanians in that At the time, several Western-European territory, Serbians and Montenegrins had experts on rural problems were favourably no doubts concerning the legitimacy of impressed by the accomplishments reck- changing the ethnic composition of these oned as evidence of efective modernization. two regions. Albanians were seen as invad- In his book about colonization in Macedo- ers or occupiers because for centuries they nia, Jacques Ancel praised the Yugoslav land had collaborated with the Ottoman power reform as regards to the wonders worked in oten as high-ranking civil service oicials. Old Serbia and Kosovo (Ancel 1930, 2). Moreover, Albanians were regarded as However, the Yugoslav land reform was “Turks“, in the irst place, because of their not only a means to promote socio-econom- Islam faith and, secondly, because their na- ic development, as it appeared at the time tional identity had only recently become to the enraptured foreign watchers. Nowa- apparent; at the turn of the century, Alba- days, it is a well-known fact that an ethnic nians had obtained only vague regional and homogenization project linked to a clearly international acknowledgements. he same nationalistic policy, adopted especially by religious faith plus a real similarity of some Serbia ever since the second half of the 18th everyday behaviours, especially public ones, century, lurked behind the “progressive“ fa- could actually give rise to fabrications that çade. In fact, in 1878 this country had been would be easily employed by nationalistic able to expel Albanians from the Upper policies aimed at an ethnic composition Morava River basin, a territory assigned to shit in the southern regions. herefore, Serbia by the Treaty of Berlin (Roux, 1992: Macedonia and Kosovo, the latter acknowl- 187). Later, Nikola Pasic (Serbian Prime edged as the “cradle of the Serbian nation”, Minister from 1909 to 1918) took up this no- had to be “freed“ not only from the Otto- tion of de-Albanizing and simultaneously man domain, but also from the intolerable re-Slavizing the south of future Yugoslavia. and unmanageable “foreign“ – not Slav – He estimated to attain this project within population. he true logic behind the land twenty years (Roux 1992, 187). his plan reform is in this last sentence. was resumed by the Yugoslav land reform It was not so much the need to modern- ater WWI and, as already mentioned, con- ize southern Yugoslavia as the eagerness to cerned only the southern regions of the new strengthen the “national element“ by re- State, i.e. known to be a territory with vast Slavizing the two regions (Roux 1992, 191). areas of Albanian predominance. From a Consequently, the “citlik“ liquidation was present-day standing, inluenced by now by not principally a program to abolish an un- ideals of “multiculturalism”, such an under- just and entirely corrupt archaic semi-patri- taking might seem monstrous. At the time, monialism; it was a scheme to seize the land however, projects of ethnic homogenization of a class of landowners who were regarded via agricultural colonizations, i.e. more or as “alien“ because of their ethnic back- less forced migrations, were deemed whol- ground. he predominance of an “ethnic ly appropriate, if not expedient to increase logic“ instead of a “social“ one behind the the political stability of a region, as in the elimination of “citlik“ is conirmed mainly speciic case of the Balkan area. he “nor- by the fact that most “citlik“ in Macedonia mality” of such procedures, which we might and Kosovo were expropriated merely and deine “post-imperialist”, has been skilfully tacitly because their owners were not chiely highlighted by Rogers Brubaker (Brubaker of Slav origin, although their “citlik“ were

37 Christian Giordano below average size; therefore, quite unlike various regions of the country. he settlers’ the redistributed large estates (Roux 1992, geographic origin shows that 76.4% - a vast 194). As Ancel notes as well, just before the majority – came from Montenegro and land reform, the “citlik“ owners in south- Serbia, 11% from Bosnia and Herzegovina, ern Yugoslavia were not like the rich absen- 1.2% from Vojvodina, while 4.4% arrived tee “beg” who lived in Istanbul, yet collected even from Croatia (Roux 1992,196). Since a speciic income in kind from their landed authorities wished to avoid the immigrants’ property (Ancel 1930, 60). In southern Yu- dispersion, they were settled in speciic col- goslavia there were average farmers mainly onization areas from which Albanians were of Albanian descent whose land was tilled banned. In fact, if the latter owned any land by servants (Ancel 1930, 60; Roux 1992, within these areas, they would be expropri- 194) and not a class of “Rentenkapitalisten” ated and then compensated either with low with a “parasitic” mentality (Bobek 1962). quality lands far away from towns or with In fact, only 37 of the 6,973 “citlik“ cata- inadequate indemnities (Roux 1992, 195). logued by the land reform administrators A veritable ethnic segregation strategy was exceeded 500 ha, while 75% were below 50 forthcoming. ha and half of this percentage was not above However, these were not the only dis- 20 ha (Roux 1992, 194). Although this data criminations connected with the agrarian indicates the presence of a rural middle class colonization that Albanians from that area “in statunascendi” – the ideal aim of several had to withstand. In Metohija (nowadays land reforms – “citlik“ were declared State western Kosovo, near the present border property without exception and, subse- with Albania) only 0.4 ha of tillable land per quently, allotted for free to Slav “stock“ ten- person were let to farmers of non-Slavic ants leaving the former owners with a quota origin. Concurrently, agrarian courts of law from 5 to 15 ha (Roux 1992, 194). he “eth- would rarely uphold any appeals iled (Roux nic“ project of “(re)Slavization“ of Albanian 1992, 195). his territorial ethnic appropri- lands in the southern regions, chiely in ation struggle went amiss and the implicit Kosovo, is even more unmistakable in the nationalistic policy of the Yugoslavian land colonization policy. Agrarian colonization reform fell short. One of the main reasons was a remarkable undertaking charged with for the iasco in Kosovo was certainly the symbolic consequences, particularly in the demographic issue due to the proliicacy of so-called “cradle of the Serbian nation”. he the rural class, especially those of Albanian goal was to re-establish the supposed pri- descent. his phenomenon and the settlers’ mordial Slavic nucleus through settlements arrival plus the low chances of internal or of immigrants from other areas of Yugosla- external emigration at the time brought via. More than 100,000 ha, over one fourth about a case of rural overpopulation in the of Kosovo’s tillable land, was apportioned region. A national and international drop in to 12,000 or up to 14,000 families, accord- produce prices, meaning lower incomes for ing to diferent sources (Roux 1992, 195). To farmers, made things even worse. evaluate the extent of the reform, a further It is not surprising that in 1930 ca. in- amount of 60,000 ha apportioned to 14,000 terethnic relations worsened, giving rise local allottee families must also be taken to strong tensions between Slavs and Al- into account. banians, peaking in a violent atmosphere In line with the prevailing “Yugoslav- strewn with clashes and outrages (Roux ist“ ideology of the time and propagated 1992, 199). he political and intellectual by renowned geographer Jovan Cvijić – “élites“ saw this crescendo of interethnic conirmed believer of a historical ethno- clashes as proof of the political weakness national fusion amongst southern Slavs of the land reform and the need for more (Cvijić 1918) – the newcomers hailed from drastic measures to ight back Albanian

38 The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: The Case of Interwar Yugoslavia expansion in the “cradle of the Serbian na- a eu dessus sur l’organisation et l’argent al- tion”. At this time, more deinite projects, lemands.” (quoted from Grmek, Gjidara and 1) “Taking into consid- 1 eration all aspects, it which indeed correspond to present-day Šimac 1993:184). is not far-fetched that analyzing southern “cleansing” or “ethnic puriication”, arose his drastic program, as similar ones colonization, we have and multiplied for the “transfer of Alba- by Serbian intellectuals and politicians, re- reached the conclusion that the only effective nians” (Grmek, Gjidara, and Šimac 1993). mained a dead letter due to the upcoming way to solve this prob- he strongest upholder of this new policy war which led to Yugoslavia’s “irst dismem- lem is a mass transfer of Albanians. Gradual which should have strengthened the (re) berment“ in the Spring of 1941, while east- colonization was not successful here as in Slavization of Kosovo, begun but not com- ern Macedonia and most of Kosovo were other countries. When pleted by the land reform, was certainly annexed to “Great Albania“ under Italian the State wants to intervene to safeguard Vasa Čubrilović, an eminent representa- control. As was to be expected, the trend its own interests, its tive of the Serbian intelligentsia, professor shited since the assimilation and expulsion own land, it can only do so by acting ruthlessly. at the Literature Department of Belgrade policy was aimed at Slavs now, especially If not, the aboriginal, settled and acclima- University, besides being a cabinet member against homesteaders who had settled from tized in his native land, of several post-war Yugoslav governments the 1920s onwards. Under Marshal Tito’s is always stronger than a colonizer. In our case, (Grmek, Gjidara and Šimac 1993, 149 f.). In establishment of the „second Yugoslavia“, we must also bear in his famous lecture “he expulsion of Alba- pre-war boundaries were reinstated, but the mind that we are deal- ing with a tough race, nians” held at Belgrade’s Serbian Cultural “Albanian issue” was only “set aside“ up to deeply rooted, hardy and prolific; as Cviji฀ Circle on March 7, 1937, this author proved the 1980s when strong interethnic tensions notes, it is one of the the relationship between the ethno-political lared up again in Kosovo: the onset of the most widespread in the Balkans. From 1870 to failure of the land reform ,especially as represent tragedy. Over these past ten-iteen 1914, Germany spent gards to colonization on the one hand, and years, the “transfer of Albanians” issue, de- billions of marks buying land from the Poles to the need to relocate Albanians (Gasparini vised between the two World Wars as an gradually colonize its eastern territories, but 1999, 1 f.). he closing statements of this extension of the land reform, reoccurs pe- the fertility of Polish text, which the “ethnic cleansing engineers” remptorily in the Balkans bearing hatred mothers defeated Ger- man organization and of present-day former Yugoslavia regard as and death. capital.” “sacred”, is worth quoting verbatim: In conclusion, the Yugoslav land reform “Compte tenu de tout ce qui vient d’être was surely not a prior instance of “ethnic dit, ce n’est pas par hasard que, dans l’analyse cleansing”, but it certainly was a relevant de la colonisation du sud, nous partons de la factor of ethnic tension escalation in the conception selon laquelle le seul moyen ei- southern regions, especially in Kosovo. Un- cace pour résoudre ce probléme, c’est le trans- doubtedly it can be interpreted as a primary fert massif des Albanais. La colonisation gra- “historical antecedent” to the conlicts of duelle n’a pas eu de succès chez nous, pas plus this millennium’s end consequent to Yugo- que dans les autres pays. Lorsque le pouvoir slavia’s “second dismemberment”. d’Etat désire intervenir, dans l’intérêt de son propre élement, dans la lutte pour la terre, il ne […] peut réussir que s’il agit brutalement. comprehending Land reform Sinon, l’aborigène installé sur sa terre natale experiences in yugoslavia: et qui […] est acclimaté est toujours plus fort Some theoretical remarks que le colon. Dans notre cas, il faut d’autant plus tenir compte que nous avons afaire à he socio-anthropological analysis of land une race rude, bien implantée, résistante, et reform in Yugoslavia between the two féconde, dont feu Cvijic disait qu’elle est la World Wars shows how a law enacted to plus expansive dans les Balkans. De 1870 à solve the “social question”, i.e., aimed at de- 1914, l’Allemagne a dépensé des milliards de creasing social disparities and promoting marks pour coloniser graduellement ses ter- the modernization of rural economy, went ritoires de l’Est, en achetant des terres aux Po- on to become an important instrument at lonais, mais la fécondité des mères polonaises the service of the homogenization of eth-

39 Christian Giordano nically and culturally complex regions. capital. Accordingly, if we observe a strict herefore, the scheme to transform histori- correlation between ethnic nation and ru- cally multi-ethnic territories into mono- rality in terms of political ideology and so- ethnic ones was integral to the entire land cial practices, then we can almost certainly reform project. In South-Eastern Europe in add that land, thus also the farm, village particular, as the exemplary case of land re- etc., is regarded as a sacred fragment of the form in Yugoslavia between the two World national territory. he Yugoslavian land Wars shows, the realization of these mono- reform as implemented in the Kosovo be- ethnic territories was implemented through tween the two World Wars would thus ap- signiicant population movements, which, pear to conirm Deema Kanef’s statement however, came short of reshaping the ethnic according to which during the period of the composition of the regions involved. (Roux reorganization of the agricultural sector in 1992, 201). “Peasant studies” researchers post-socialist Bulgaria the land becomes na- have essentially disregarded these migra- tional territory (Kanef 2002, 180 f.). tory waves aimed at changing the ethnic he Yugoslavian land reform was, thus, composition of speciic regions in order a means to further inlame conlicting na- to homogenize the national States. his tionalisms. In turn, this bolstered the socio- is probably due to an approach focusing political circumstances that fostered the chiely on the development process of rural growth of antagonistic practices and ideolo- economies and societies in extra-European gies based on processes of self- and hetero- countries regarded as backward and periph- ethnicization. Up to the land reform, these eral, African and Asian ones in particular interethnic tensions had been sporadic and (Bernstein and Brass 1996-1997). rather mild phenomena. Yet, viewing inter- It was Ernest Gellner who devised a ethnic relations in rural Yugoslavia as idyllic Weberian ideal-type he styled “Ruritania” would be misleading. Social life was typical (Gellner 1983, 58 f.), the name itself clearly of the “ethnic divided societies”. Commu- pointing up the rural character of this ic- nities tended to ignore and accommodate tional national entity. Gellner, therefore, each other rather than confront each other. wanted to highlight the key role of rural- Together with the new ways to access the ity as an aggregate of symbolic and politi- land – a crucial resource at the time – came cal resources with which nations in Central an increasingly strained atmosphere laden and Eastern Europe having speciic ethnic with interethnic tension that escalated into identities could be built. An analysis of reciprocal acts of violence, both physical what could be deined as Ruritanian ideol- and symbolic. Ultimately, the land reform, ogy and its implementation in Yugoslavia with its strategies of “inclusion” and “exclu- shows that it is based on four strictly in- sion”, to a great extent helped build or em- terconnected key notions: ethnic nation, phasize “ethnic diferences” and boundar- rurality, territory and land. herefore, the ies between “we” and “they”, clearly visible politically-constructed correspondence be- to this day as in the speciic case of Kosovo. tween ethnic nation and rurality, given also In these cases, land redistribution in accor- the associated correlation between ethnic dance with “ethnic” criteria turned out to nation and territory on the one hand and be an important “historical precedent” that, the likewise assumed one between rurality emerging from the deepest layers of collec- and land on the other, implies another po- tive memory, seeps into the current man- litically-constructed equation of land with agement of interethnic relations. herefore, territory. his means that landed property it is not surprising that a land reform such not only represents an economic asset or a as the Yugoslavian one, which called for the social resource, but is also and foremost re- redistribution of such a fundamental neces- garded as a nationally-signiicant symbolic sity as the land, kindled deep-seated “col-

40 The Ethnicization of Agrarian Reforms: The Case of Interwar Yugoslavia lective traumas” due precisely to the way it between “nations” and “nationalities”. Due was implemented. To this day, ater several to a purely formal federalism coupled with generations, these are “traumas” that in ar- an intentionally inert structure that ulti- eas chiely geared to agriculture continue to mately failed to satisfy any ethnic group, the reinforce and perpetuate reciprocal feelings pre-war problems and obsessions stemming of mistrust, fear, uncertainty, hostility and not only, but also from the land reform anger. Studies on “potentials for conlict and were carried over, becoming worse, from disorder” from a historic-anthropological pre-socialism to post-socialism. Social- perspective wishing to overcome the in- ism never truly broke away from the past, stantaneous and mechanistic aspects of the though viewing it as a mere “freezer” of his- structural and functional approach need tory would be a serious mistake. “Freezing to consider the “dramaturgical” analysis of theories” are inherently lawed because they the “low of events”, i.e., the “conjunctural underplay the dynamic processes of a soci- cycle” distributed along the” longue durée”. ety while emphasizing its static nature. Yet, herefore, what Marshall Sahlins deined as if we resort to these interpretations, then the “structure of the conjuncture” must be we need to use the freezer metaphor. It is reconstructed; in other words, how speciic common knowledge that these appliances historical events, apparently not very signii- generate cold thanks to heat produced dy- cant or indeed negligible, but in the end cru- namically. From a contemporary point of cially relevant, engendered dramatic chang- view, in order to “manage” ethnic diversity, es that to this day have repercussions on the socialism chose strategies that were static, collective representations of each commu- thus inadequate, deeply painful and, at nity and on the social relations between in- times, deliberately counterproductive. Pre- dividuals and groups (Sahlins 1981). existent tensions, rits and conlicts were If we follow the suggestion put forth by thus heightened or, at best, postponed. Fi- Fernand Braudel and Marshall Sahlins to nally, an analysis based on the “longue du- take into account “long-term cycles”, we rée” shows that the “structure of the con- also need to consider the role played by so- juncture” permanently characterized by an cialism in Yugoslavia. In terms of this coun- actual persistence of interethnic tensions in try’s speciic interpretation of socialism, a situation of apparent political discontinu- which can be traced back to Tito, the state’s ity will help reconstruct and above all un- recognition of ethnic diferences was rather derstand the “logic” behind the unexpected, inconsistent, as well as opportunistic. his yet predictable outbreak of ethnic disputes “recognition policy” permanently and am- in the 1990s and the persisting frictions in biguously played on the diference of statute what used to be Yugoslavia. bIbLIogrAPhy

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