(1389) and the Munich Agreement (1938) As Political Myths
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Department of Political and Economic Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Helsinki The Battle Backwards A Comparative Study of the Battle of Kosovo Polje (1389) and the Munich Agreement (1938) as Political Myths Brendan Humphreys ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Helsinki, for public examination in hall XII, University main building, Fabianinkatu 33, on 13 December 2013, at noon. Helsinki 2013 Publications of the Department of Political and Economic Studies 12 (2013) Political History © Brendan Humphreys Cover: Riikka Hyypiä Distribution and Sales: Unigrafia Bookstore http://kirjakauppa.unigrafia.fi/ [email protected] PL 4 (Vuorikatu 3 A) 00014 Helsingin yliopisto ISSN-L 2243-3635 ISSN 2243-3635 (Print) ISSN 2243-3643 (Online) ISBN 978-952-10-9084-4 (paperback) ISBN 978-952-10-9085-1 (PDF) Unigrafia, Helsinki 2013 We continue the battle We continue it backwards Vasko Popa, Worriors of the Field of the Blackbird A whole volume could well be written on the myths of modern man, on the mythologies camouflaged in the plays that he enjoys, in the books that he reads. The cinema, that “dream factory” takes over and employs countless mythical motifs – the fight between hero and monster, initiatory combats and ordeals, paradigmatic figures and images (the maiden, the hero, the paradisiacal landscape, hell and do on). Even reading includes a mythological function, only because it replaces the recitation of myths in archaic societies and the oral literature that still lives in the rural communities of Europe, but particularly because, through reading, the modern man succeeds in obtaining an ‘escape from time’ comparable to the ‘emergence from time’ effected by myths. Whether modern man ‘kills’ time with a detective story or enters such a foreign temporal universe as is represented by any novel, reading projects him out of the personal duration and incorporates him into other rhythms, make him live another ‘history’. Mercia Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane Abstract This thesis is a comparative work in which two historical events are defined and examined as political myths. The definition immediately raises problems as the habitual use of the term “myth” by historians implies falsehood. The author argues that the traditional dichotomy of mythos and logos is more problematic than is habitually understood. Rather, he argues that certain highly-resonant historical episodes are a disconcerting mixture of fact and fiction, and that their appeal to their target audience is predicated on an authority that overrides concerns about factual accuracy. Furthermore, as this is a study of civic religion and the politics of public commemoration, the thesis problematises both the status of the sacred in (supposedly) secularised societies and the role of the rational in politics. Two cases are presented. These are the Battle of Kosovo Polje of 1389 and the Munich Agreement of 1938. Noted is that both events have been extraordinarily influential; that they have a paradigmatic status and an authority that has often been used to confer political legitimacy. The comparative method uses several factors: durability, factual accuracy, ownership, flexibility, level of usage and media of transmission. The examination of the legacy of the Battle of Kosovo Polje study is longitudinal. It seeks to establish – to the small degree possible – what actually happened in 1389, and contrast this with the popular narrative. This popular narrative, most especially the vibrant tradition of Serbian epic poetry, is then explored at length through a well-known theory of myth analysis. Previous studies have not approached this oral tradition at length or in a systematic manner. The work then offers different examples of the agents and events inspired by the legacy of the battle, among them the most important events in the modern Balkans. It then attempts to systemise the different modalities through which the event has been instrumental. The examination of the Munich Agreement also offers an overview of the events of the 1930s, and contrasts this with a highly simplistic narrative has been extracted from these events. This is in strong contrast to the Kosovo legacy; in that case there were few sources to indicate what happened; as regards the Munich Agreement and the policy of appeasement from which it grew, much is known, but the record is largely ignored at the expense of an inaccurate but seemingly deeply-compelling narrative. The political usage of Munich is then examined via several cases, typically conflict situations. Emphasis is placed on the statements and justifications of politicians in different periods and political cultures. Modes of argumentation are examined, and a singular pattern is detected. Finally the thesis compares the two cases, their differences and similarities, with the ambition of solidifying the concept of a political myth, highlighting the extraordinary influence of the usable past on the present. Acknowledgements I wish to firstly thank the Kone Foundation for their generous funding over four years. Thanks also to the national Graduate School of History for a travel funding. A large depth of gratitude is due to my supervisor Professor Pauli Kettunen for his patient guidance; not only did he identify problem issues, he was very constructive in providing possible ways to remedy them. I must also thank my pre-examiners, Professor Cathie Carmichael and Professor Paula Hamilton, for their generous comments and insightful suggestions. Thanks are also due to Professor Seppo Hentila and Professor Marjatta Rahikainen for their support and encouragement. Along with Pauli, they were willing to support my funding applications, as were David Moon, Katalin Miklóssy, and also Sari Autio-Sarasmo and Heino Nyyssonen, both of whom also invited me to collaborate with them. Thank you all. I have been most fortunate to have been given a place in the Aleksanteri Institute and wish to thank firstly Anna Maria Salmi and Director Markku Kivinen for facilitating this opportunity. I am indebted to many colleagues past and present; from the East Central European, Balkan and Baltic Studies, who encouraged and supported my lecturing Jouni Järvinen, Minna Oroza, Taru Korkalainen, Leena Järvinen, and well as Iiris Virtasalo, Niina Into, Emilia Marttunen, Anna Salonsalmi, Anna Korhonen, Tapani Kaakkuriniemi, Eeva Korteniemi, Maarit Elo-Valente, Ira Jänis-Isokangas, Saara Ratilainen, Riikka Palonkorpi, Markku Kangaspuro, Jussi Lassila, Mikko Palonkorpi, Susanna Pirnes, Hanna Ruutu, Tuomas Forsberg, Elina Viljanen, David Dusseault, Kristiina Szymczak, Suvi Kansikas, and Daria Gritsenko for advice, support and comradeship. Over four years, I have had a happy interaction and friendship with many of the visiting scholars at the institute, and would like to thank especially Miguel Vázquez Liñan, Davide Torsello, Irina Ochirova, Maya Nadkarni, Juraj Buzalka, Barbara Falk, Nadir Kinossian, Lynn Tesser, Zuzanna Bogomil, Vicky Hudson, Andy Grann and Tomas Masar. A special word of thanks goes to my Balkan Mafia; (within the institute) Dragana Cvetanovic and Emma Hakala, as well as to Dušica Bozovic, Tanja Tammminen, Nora Repo and the other scholars of the Finnish Colloquim of South East European studies. I would also like to thank Jovo Bakic and Milos Kovic for insightful conversations and for always making me feel welcome in Belgrade. I would also like to thank Svetlana Jovanovic and Filip Pavlovic of the Serbian Embassy in Helsinki for their interest and help in my research. My largest depth of gratitude goes to Jelena Obradovic-Wochnik for early constant encouragement and to Vesna Adic, via whom I discovered the so much about Serbian culture, and who helped locate some obscure materials that really enriched this project. Burke wrote “I am unable to distinguish what I have learned from others from the results of my own meditation”. I have been uniquely lucky to have a very informed group of friends, who all share a passion for history and politics. A group including Dave, Dave (again), Gene, Topi, Curt, Frank, Gerome, Lars, Charlotte, Darin, Paul, Dan, Sergei, and especially Nick have been getting together every week for the last 15 years. It is sad to recall that we call started meeting up following a seminar given by the late Richard Stites (1928-2010). That a beloved mentor and – more importantly – friend of almost 20 years died while I was working on this thesis was just one of the many regrets that many people felt on his passing. We miss you Riku. Kati Miklossy and Dan Orlovsky were kind enough to read early drafts, and I am very grateful for their time and comments. And many thanks to Lars and Nick for the language check. Finally family; thanks go to Laurianne and Kolia, to Fiona, Gerry and John and his family. Lastly, I would like to mention my late parents, James and Maura Humphreys, to whom I dedicate this work. Contents Abstract 4 Acknowledgements 5 Contents 7 Abbreviations 10 1 Introduction 11 1.1 Research questions and cases 11 1.2 Myth, history, and political myth 14 1.2.1 Myth 14 1.2.2 Myth and history 15 1.2.3 Political myth 20 1.3 Research motivation and study definition 25 2 Review of the literature 27 2.1 Kosovo 27 2.2 Munich 30 2.3 Sources and materials 33 2.4 Methodology 34 2.5 Key concepts and definitions 38 2.5.1 The sacred, the secular, and civic religion 38 2.5.2 The irrational and the political 40 2.5.3 Historical time and age value 42 3 Kosovo 45 3.1 The battle itself: