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Keywords: Yugoslavia; Armed forces; Presidium of Yugoslavia; Supreme command; Chief of Supreme Command; Homeland War
For the command of the Yugoslavian armed forces from the 1960s onward, the concept of leadership and command is used. Command is a well-established concept, while leadership presupposes the existence of a collective body which makes political decisions that are carried out by command structures. Since Yugoslavia was neither a democratic state nor one that respected the rule of law, the leadership and command structure was established to organize and preserve communist hegemony in the state. Secondly, since Josip Broz Tito was the leader of Yugoslavia from 1945 until 1980, this created a peculiarly Yugoslavian distinction in that the leadership and command of the armed forces was in his hands, and no one else could interfere in this direct relationship. This meant that after his death the Yugoslavian Army could become politically independent, while the Presidium of Yugoslavia remained only formally the constitutionally established body with responsibility for the leadership and command of the Yugoslav armed forces. In the 1980s the Yugoslavian Army succeeded in forming a Supreme Command in which the post of Chief of Staff was filled by the federal secretary for national defense. On the basis of later developments it can be concluded that the purpose of the Supreme Command was to shift the power of command from the Presidium of Yugoslavia to the federal secretary of national defense on the principle that in the absence or impediment Presidium, the secretary of national defense would be able to carry out command. This is the manner by which the units functioned, from the regimental level upward to the military districts. In the last phase of the Yugoslav crisis and following the division of the Presidium into two parts which could no longer function as a whole, the Yugoslav Army through the Supreme Command began to act independently. Until October 1991, the secretary of national defense was the real, if unlawful, supreme commander of the Yugoslavian Army. At the beginning of October, when the remaining members of the Presidium of Yugoslavia consisted only of Serbia with its regions and Montenegro, the Presidium began to function again, though the other republics and the international community did not recognize its legitimacy. From then onward the Yugoslav Army became de facto the armed force of Serbia and the Serbs in the remainder of Yugoslavia, which in May 1992 it became de jure.
More...Keywords: Muslims; Bosnia and Herzegovina; national identity
Debates on the national identity of Bosniaks were initiated in the beginning of the 1960s within the structures of political establishment, yet they were soon ended and transferred to the sphere of science, so that, first as the undoubtedly proven Bosniak national identity in the academic circles, and only then as a scientifically proven fact, it returned to the political sphere whose task was to simply accept what had already been proven by academic circles. Among the leading figures of the ruling elite at the moment of launching and throughout these debates were Cvijetin Mijatović, Branko Mikulić, Džemal Bijedić, who were joined by Hamdija Pozderac in the beginning of the 1970s. Among intellectuals who participated actively from the mid-1960s in the campaigns aimed at the national affirmation of Bosniaks the figures of particular prominence were Muhamed Hadžijahić, Atif Purivatra, Kasim Suljević, Mustafa Imamović and Muhamed Filipović. All of them contributed with their academic work to the affirmation of Bosniak national identity.
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Keywords: Levi-Strauss’s "motive of oblivion"; structure of disturbed communication; styles and communities of thoughts; modes of veridiction; transition;
This paper starts with Levi-Strauss’s semantic concept that consists of oblivion, misunderstanding, indiscretion and nostalgia. Through his analysis of North American and Greek myths, Levi-Strauss concluded that "semantic filed of oblivion" has an important meaning especially in the construction of particular rules and rituals; or, in other words, it has an important part in the introduction of culture to the nature of cognitive and social processes. After the introduction of concept Structure of disturbed communication and some corrections to the Levi-Strauss’s concept, I start with the proposition that the period of transition represents unstable and ‘slippery’ time in which society negotiates different meanings. That is the time when different styles of thoughts, represented by different and powerful groups that have an impact on current social, political and ideological processes, compete with each other fighting for supremacy. Their field of communication can be seen as a field of "disturbed communication", which in the final instance has a normative function: to reinforce and regulate certain attitudes, ideas and knowledge. This is achieved through the narratives which symbolise a community of newly established order in the moment of its supposed socio-historical stabilisation. Finally, combining two different theoretical models – Levi-Strauss’s one described above with Greimas’s ideas about structures of modes of veridiction, this paper predicts chances of particular paradigmatic forms of thought in transitory Serbia to became dominant modes of thought, despite of their current low visibility in the public sphere. In mythical terms, it seems though that their domineering efforts are predetermined to success or fail, since they position themselves according to the laws immanent to these structures themselves, which on their part a priori position these structures as powerful or powerless, influential or non-influential communities of thought.
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Keywords: Serbian nation; myth; nationalism; institutional level; individual level;
An attempt has been made in this paper to study the cognitive component of theisation and mythologisation in Serbia within the period of national crisis, both on institutional and individual level. The paper is based on a research initiated in 1998 and completed in 2000, thus it encompasses periods prior to, during, and after the NATO aggression. Institutional level was surveyed through texts from war editions of "The Military" magazine, while the individual one was surveyed through opinions and thoughts of the Belgrade student’s population. Research results indicate the existence of correlation between the two levels regarding ways and degrees of myth usage, as well as certain differences.
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Keywords: Alaga Beganović; Alaga Zelenkić; odmetnici; gerila; komunizam; otpor; Gračanica; Srebrenik; sjevero-istočna Bosna;
Alaga Beganović (1916-1948), better known by his nickname Alaga Zelenkić, was the leader of an outlaw group that was active in the Gračanica area in the immediate post-war period from 1945 to 1948. He gathered a small group of his fellow-comrades, mostly former members of defeated military formations and civilians who have been hiding from the Communist authorities. Alaga and his band, with their appearance and minor guerrilla actions, resisted the communist regime and its representatives. Relying on his associates among civilians, he successfully resisted the pursuit and raids until the first half of 1948, when he was betrayed, discovered and killed. Like many other rebels and outlaws, he has become a legendary figure of some sort even during his life, and in folk tales and traditions his name is still alive, both in the Gračanica region and wider. This article, based on collected memories, and available archival sources, attempts to lighten and describe Alaga’s life path and his outlaw period.
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Keywords: religious conversions; Serbs; Second World War; Moslavina; Archdeaconry of Čazma
The number of converts from Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism during WWII has been discussed for years. The earliest cumulative quantification of Orthodox-to-Catholic conversions in the NDH (Independent State of Croatia) may be found in a report by Pope Pius XII of 1943, which was written by Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac. Although there are still speculations about the total number of Orthodox converts to Roman Catholic faith in the period of WWII, most controversies today are mainly concerned with the nature and ethics of the doctrinal consistency and political opportunity of the conversion itself. During the period in between the wars, the Čazma Archdeaconry consisted of several districts: Čazma, Kutina, Ivanić Grad, Grubišno Polje and Garešnica. According to the census of 1931, less than 14% of the population were Orthodox Christians. The author of the paper researches the conversions form Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism in the mentioned area during the period between 1941 and 1945. The research is based on the records from archive holdings such as the Archbishop’s Clerical Board of the Archbishop’s Archive in Zagreb, the Ministry of Justice and the NDH Ministry of Justice and Worship at the Croatian State Archive. Based on the list of names of converted persons, i.e. those who filed an application to convert in the area of 23 parishes in the territory of the Čazma Archdeaconry, the author concludes that no fewer than 3,271 Orthodox Christians filed an application to convert to Roman Catholicism, mainly from April 1941 to April 1942. According to the preserved documents from the Archbishop’s Archive in Zagreb and from the Croatian State Archive, the actual number of conversions was even larger; however, no list of names of those who filed an application to convert or of those who underwent conversion is preserved. Such a problem arose in the parish of Mikleuška where people converted collectively, in large numbers. In this paper, the author discusses the types of individual conversions. The largest number of religious conversions were made in the area of Miklueška, where 751 individuals converted. Vicar Đurić from the parish of Kaniška Iva asked the Archbishop’s Clerical Board for missionaries to help him teach and convert the Orthodox. He demanded at least six more missionaries, two for the villages of Veliko Vukovje, Malo Vukovje, Gojilo and Rogoža, two for Stupovača, Brinjani, Čaire and Kutinica, and two for Velika Bršljanica, a part of Rogoža and Mala Bršljanica. The missionaries arrived in the winter of 1941/1942. Vicar Đurić compiled a list of converts, 1,372 of them being from the area of the former Orthodox parish of Veliko Vukovje. Due to a large number of converts, there was a plan to set up a new Roman Catholic parish in Narta, in the vicinity of Čazma. As a special aspect of this research, the author observes the conversions to Greek Catholicism (in the Veliki Zdenci and Čazma area) and the reasons why the state authorities did not want the Orthodox to convert to Greek Catholicism. According to a circular issued by the Ministry of Justice and Worship, the Main Ustaša Headquarters and the State Directorate for Economic Regeneration, dated 30 July 1941, it is apparent that the “wish of the Croatian government” was that “the Orthodox do not switch the Greek Catholic religion…” The Greek Catholic priests considered that they had the right of ownership over all Orthodox churches in the district of Garešnica because of the existence of their parish in Dišnik. Bishop Janko Šimrak requested that certain churches in Moslavina, among others, the church in Lipovčani, chapels in Marča, and churches in Narta and Veliko Vukovje become part of the Greek Catholic Church. However, most of these churches were provided for by the Roman Catholic Church. The author finally concludes, on the basis of reports from some parishioners, that in most cases, conversion to Roman Catholicism was not honest, that the Serbs were mostly forced to convert to Roman Catholic faith for the sake of preserving their existence and their lives. Following the foundation of the Croatian Orthodox Church in the first half of 1942, the Orthodox generally ceased to attend Roman Catholic masses.
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Keywords: Bosniak militia; Muhamed-aga Hadžiefendić; the legion; the Hadžiefendić legion; The Volunteer Department of the People Uprising; The Home Guard Volunteer Regiment; Puračić; Turija; Tuzla;
After several unsuccessful attempts of the NDH military forces to, with the help of the Germans, neutralize with the uprising affected areas of eastern Bosnia, the insurrectional wave at Majevica and Ozren in late 1941 gains in its intensity, potentially endangering the very city of Tuzla. In early November 1941, after burning and expulsion of the Bosniak population from Devetak and Milino Selo, the rebels from Ozren were very close to Puračić. At the last moment and with extreme effort the danger was removed by Muhamed-aga Hadžiefendić, with his Home Guard unit from Tuzla (III. Battalion of the 8th Home Guard Regiment). During these battles he realized the immense danger threatening Bosniaks, not only in Puračić, but also in the wider area of Tuzla, and it was exactly in Puračić that he made the decision to form a special military unit, made up of Bosniaks, which would be able to defend these territories – the famous Hadžiefendić legion, as it was its popular name. Leaving aside the broader elaboration of causes and effects of its creation, the activity during the war and the disappearance of this formation, the aim of this paper is to, by showing the military-political situation around Puračić at end of 1941, remind on bringing decision regarding its formation, which is linked to Puračić, to show its, from the very beginning, territorial and defensive character, its first defensive positions and successful military action against insurgents around Puračić.
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Keywords: Vukovar; political parties; local elections; party politics;
This article provides an analysis of local politics in the Vukovar municipality, from the pluralization of the political party scene in Croatia that started in early 1990 to the breakdown of democratically elected local institutions in May 1991. This relatively short period was marked by strong political polarization of the two largest national communities in the municipality, the Croats and the Serbs. In the process, there were three parties that played key roles in the political arena and in national mobilization – the League of Communists of Croatia/the Party of Democratic Change (SKH/SDP), the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Serb Democratic Party (SDS).
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Keywords: The League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Pasaga Mandzic; Eastern Bosnia; uprising; 1941; Provincial Committee; Partisans; Chetniks; Svetozar Vukmanovic Tempo; Rasim Hurem;Tuzla Group;
In this paper, the author emphasizes the specific case of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian intraparty dispute in the context of the reconstruction of the republican leaderships in Yugoslavia, the change of “Croatian Spring participants” and “liberals” as well as the so-called “senior cadres” at the beginning of 1970s. Pasaga Mandzic's years-long dispute with the current political leadership in Tuzla and also in the Republic will touch upon various issues, from plans and results of economic and urban development, integration of enterprises, organization and activities of political and party leadership to establishing the "historical truth" about the events throughout the war years 1941 and 1942. Considering the current socio-political discourse, Mandzic will come out very boldly, demanding that it is finally time to "speak openly" about the actual war events, the consequences of Partisan-Chetnik cooperation at the end of 1941, the dominance of the Serb element in the communist leadership and its attitude towards the Bosniaks during the war, but also in the post-war period. The insistence on establishing the "real truth" entailed a revision of the existing image of a "glorious war past", which also raised the question of consistent application of the principles of brotherhood and unity. Ultimately, years of clarification resulted in the political elimination and moral discredit of Pasaga Mandzic.
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Keywords: YNM Zbor; Dimitrije Ljotić; National Socialist Germany; German Intelligence Service; Technische Union;
Since its creation in 1935, the Yugoslav National Movement Zbor had a special connection with Nazi Germany. Dimitrije Ljotić quickly overcame his initial skepticism toward National Socialism and the movement adopted an unmistakably pro-Nazi stance. This shift did not go unnoticed by the German side, and after April 1936 the YNM Zbor maintained contacts with various German official and unofficial representatives. As a result, in late 1936 an ambitious plan was hatched, which foresaw the establishment of the so called “Technische Union” society. The TU was supposed to be a joint Yugoslav-German venture which would increase economic cooperation between the two countries and simultaneously strengthen Zbor’s position in Yugoslavia. However, Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Stojadinović did not look favorably upon the possible strengthening of Zbor. Therefore, starting in early 1937, his allies started attacking Zbor openly, both in the parliament and in the press, claiming that the movement was illegally financed from Germany and therefore was in fact a German “fifth column” in Yugoslavia. These accusations were quickly picked up by the foreign press and the scandal started damaging Germany’s foreign political position. Therefore, both the Germans and Dimitrije Ljotić’s followers started distancing themselves from the TU, which soon collapsed. This scandal left a lasting mark on the ties between Zbor and the German officials. When Germany plunged the world into war in 1939, Ljotić started adopting a more critical attitude toward National Socialism which also strained their relations. However, the contacts were never broken off entirely and the Germans continued monitoring the fate of the movement closely, especially during the events that led to the outlawing of Zbor in November of 1940.
More...Keywords: Lazar Vukicevic; repression that the communists; JKG; JKRS „Pelagic“; KP (b); SHS; KPJ.
Lazar Vukicevic (1887–1941) was an influential Serbian social democrat in Hungary. During the October Revolution, he became a Communist. In 1917. he declare in Zaritsyn (Russia) the future repression that the communists would convey in Yugoslavia after taking dominance. At the first congress of the Yugoslav Communist Party in Moscow 1918. he was elected the first chairman of its Central Committee. He actively participated in the foundation of the Yugoslav Communist Revolutionary Convenat „Pelagić“ in 1919. It was the first all-Yugoslav communist organization and it was by consensus declare itself for the unitary organization of the future communist Yugoslavia.
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Keywords: historical narrative; historiography; historical revisionism; polemics; pamphlet
An article by Dragiša D. Vasić on drastic examples of the politicization and mythmaking of the Bosniak historical narrative, and polemical essays by Dubravka Stojanović and Husnija Kamberović were published in the journal Tokovi istorije in 2/2020 and 3/2020 issues. This paper analyzes the polemics in light of the declaration called “Defend History”, published in 2020 by a group of historians from the post-Yugoslav area, including Dubravka Stojanović and Husnija Kamberović. The paper demonstrates the pamphleteerist character of the declaration and numerous abuses of history, as well as its ideological and political background.
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Keywords: Yugoslavia; Pre-Military Training; Yugoslav People’s Army; Defense Policy
In the first half of the 20th century, pre-military training appeared in a large number of countries (United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, Czechoslovakia, etc.). Yugoslavia was no exception in that regard. Pre-military training in Yugoslavia began in the fall of 1948, after the beginning of the conflict with the Cominform. The training was conducted separately with rural, working class, high school, and student youth. The goal of the training with the largest number of young people was to prepare them for service in the Yugoslav People’s Army, speed up and facilitate teaching in units and contribute to raising quality. The exception in this sense was the student youth whose work program was more extensive. In addition, young women had different training programs than men and the main goal of their training was to prepare for service in the rear units during war. The performance did not go without problems and the most characteristic was the one with teaching staff. At the end of the observed period, in line with the new defense policy, there was a change in the basic goal of pre-military training. The new goal was to train young people to fight as part of the People’s Army units to defend the country in the event of war.
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Keywords: Franjo Tuđman; rebel Serbs; the beginning of the 1990s; anti-Croatian propaganda;
This work presents some legal acts passed and initiatives launched by the Croatian government the aim of which was to protect the rights of the national minorities in Croatia and reach an agreement with the representatives of the Serbs in Croatia so as to avoid armed conflict. The facts presented in this work are important in the context of any given analysis about the issue of whether the Serbs were marginalized with the change of government in Croatia in 1990 and whether their armed rebellion was caused by actions made by the Croatian government and President Tuđman or came as a result of careful planning by proponents of the idea of Greater Serbia. We used a number of documents from the archival material of the Republic of Serbian Krajina to show what had been said and written about President Tuđman in the first half of the 1990s by political and military representatives of those Croatian Serbs that rebelled against the Croatian government and participated in the armed aggression against the Republic of Croatia. We describe how the Serb leadership in the temporarily occupied areas of Croatia accused the Croatian government and Franjo Tuđman of conducting criminal and “national-Fascist” policies against the Serbs and present the facts that completely debunk the accusations. These facts include official documents issued and decisions reached by the Croatian government about protecting the national minorities in Croatia during the mandate of President Tuđman. The work ends with the conclusion that the mentioned accusations were launched for the purpose of creating a greater Serbian state by homogenizing the Serbs.
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Keywords: World War II; Slavonia and Srijem; food; supply; harvest; buyup;
Due to the production of food and cattle fattening, the Slavonian and Srijem peasants were in the centre of interest of both the state authorities and the partisan movement during the Second World War. Both sides were very preoccupied with finding a way to win them over or force them to give the surplus to one or the other. Unwillingness to cooperate with the state authorities and partisans put the peasant’s both life and property in danger. Sowing, harvesting and other agricultural work were often only possible with an armed escort. The wheat harvests in the Slavonian and Srijem fields in 1942, 1943 and 1944 was followed by the destruction of crops, i.e. burning of wheat and the destruction of threshers. Despite such conditions, the local population managed to meet their needs, and therefore there was no famine. Due to the destruction of transport infrastructure and means of transport, in attacks by partisans and later by the Western Allies’ air force, it was difficult to transport the collected food. The population of Slavonian cities, especially workers and low-income civil servants, were in a difficult position due to irregular and scarce supplies in approvisations; and therefore, they were forced to purchase the basic foodstuffs on the “black market” at extremely high prices. The daily life became even more difficult in 1944 due to air strikes by the Western Allies and the Red Army air force. The paper gives a brief overview of these issue in the cities, mostly with examples from Brod na Savi / Slavonski Brod, and as for rural areas, mostly with examples from the mountain areas and to a lesser ex-tent from the plains, eastern Slavonia and Srijem.
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Keywords: female partisans; female communist resistance fighters; women’s emancipation; Communist Party of Yugoslavia; World War II; Belgrade
This paper aims to present the group portrait of the Communist female resistance fighters during World War II in Belgrade. Following its pre-war political agenda, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia entered the war with a program of complete gender equality. But these ideological-theoretical concepts were not equally successfully implemented during the war. The case of female resistance fighters, and their position in the anatomy of resistance, is one of the more successful examples of women’s emancipation and achieved equality. The paper presents in detail all the leading positions that women held in the illegal resistance movement. The roles in which female resistant fighters could find themselves during the war in occupied Belgrade are defined and analyzed. This paper is based on primary sources from the Historical Archives of Belgrade and the Archives of Yugoslavia, interviews with former female partisans, relevant scholarly literature, and published memoires.
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Keywords: Tanasije Dinić; Kingdom of Yugoslavia; Second World War; Occupier; Milan Nedić’s Government; Collaboration; Intelligence Service; Officials
Tanasije Dinić was a hero from the Balkans and the First World War, a military intelligence officer, a man for special tasks of King Alexander Karadjordjević and a Member of Parliament during the interwar period. Apparently, before the Second World War, he also became an informant of the German intelligence service. In this paper, the author analyzes his career during the Second World War. During this period, he was a man of great trust of the occupiers. He was given special tasks such as investigating the March 27 coup, reestablishing the state administration and police formations. He was also the Minister of the Interior and Social Policy and Public Health. In privately he wrote reports for the occupier in which he analyzed various topics. He was one of the main people in charge of removing officials who were assessed as ideologically, politically and racially “unreliable”. He did not enjoy the trust of Prime Minister Milan Nedić, who considered Dinić to be a strict exponent of the Germans. This caused delays and tensions during his appointments, as well as numerous difficulties in his work. Dinić remained a German man until the end of the Second World War. In a situation where it was clear that Germans had lost the war, he met in Berlin with key people from the police and security sector, Ernst Kaltenbruner and Heinrich Miller. After the end of the war, he was arrested by the authorities in Yugoslavia and sentenced to death.
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Keywords: Women’s Rights; Supranation-Building; Socialist Yugoslavia; European Union; Feminism;
In both Socialist Yugoslavia and the European Union, the establishment of women’s rights can be determined as an integral part of supranation-building. While bearing in mind the long and unbroken tradition of patriarchy, both entities, partially under the influence of feminist theory and practice, have integrated the fight for women’s rights into their political agendas, using them as an identity tool in establishing a clear distinction from the opposed political, economic and socio-cultural systems. Imposed from the above, the introduction of gender equality policies and legislation to many of their (nation) states came as a shock therapy, challenging existing traditional cultural patterns and norms while making the results uneven and fragile. Women’s rights policies were, especially in the beginning, primarily economic in nature, concentrating on the inadequate position of women in the labor market and ignoring the structural reasons behind inequality.
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Keywords: Second World War; Balkans; racism; Roma and Sinti; Banjica; Auschwitz; Pharrajmos
Several German Roma-Sinti families, members of a caravan of traveling artists, set off from central Germany to Istanbul, passing through the war-torn Balkans during 1942 to the end of January 1943 when they were arrested and transferred to the Red Cross camp in Niš. A few months later they were transferred to the Anhaltelager Dedinje in Belgrade (Banjički camp) from where, they were transported to the “Gypsy Camp” of Auschwitz in late June. Following the fate of this group of Roma (i. e. Sinti), the paper also discusses the racist policy of the National Socialist regime towards Roma and Sinti with the final consequence - their mass physical destruction, genocide (Pharrajmos).
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