-Caveat Lector-
Editorial notes: As usual, a topic should be seen from as many sides as
possible (research -- and its particular conceit -- and personal
perspectives {opinions}) in order to retain a sense of objectivity. This
post actually started out to find documentation about Marshall Tito and his
band of guerillas in WW2 and after; the intent was to demonstrate the
Yugoslavian ability to wage uncompromising unconventional warfare as part
of their history (why the USSR let Tito off the leash). There are some
references to this in the following articles; *THIS* is what I would
consider to be the *primary* reason why ground forces would not be part of
the equation.
>From http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usassi/ssipubs/pubs95/enigma/enigmatc.htm
DECIPHERING THE BALKAN ENIGMA:
USING HISTORY TO INFORM POLICY
Revised Edition
William T. Johnsen
November 7, 1995
The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of
the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART IV
PRE-WORLD WAR I
By the turn of the 20th century, nationalist passions had reached a fever
pitch, and conflicts raged across the region with little respite as nations
great and small fought over the carcasses of the declining Habsburg and
Ottoman empires. In 1908, Bulgaria gained its independence, fanning
nationalist flames throughout the region. More importantly, also in 1908,
Austria annexed Bosnia- Hercegovina, frustrating Serbian nationalist
aspirations for that territory and dealing the Russians a humiliating
diplomatic defeat, both of which would have severe repercussions.61
Within short order, Southeastern Europe suffered the First Balkan War
(1912) between Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece, on the one hand, and the
Ottomans on the other. Rapidly defeating the Turks, the victorious allies
soon fell to squabbling over the division of Macedonia and Albania. Serbian
and Greek designs on Albania particularly upset Austria and Italy which did
not want to see any strong power, specifically Serbia, established on the
Adriatic coast. As a result, the Great Powers again imposed a peace
settlement on the Balkans that left nationalist expectations unfulfilled.62
Feeling isolated and not trusting its erstwhile allies, Bulgaria attacked
Greece and Serbia, starting the Second Balkan War (June 1913). In a
remarkable turnaround, the Ottomans joined the Greeks, Serbs, and Romanians
in quickly defeating Bulgaria. By means of the Treaty of Bucharest,
however, the Great Powers again imposed a territorial solution upon the
region. Serbia and Greece received those parts of Macedonia they had
seized, but not the full amounts they desired. Bulgaria retained only a
part of Macedonia, and kept a small coastline in Thrace along the Aegean
Sea, but lost Thessaloniki to Greece. While Greece gained territory at
Bulgarian expense, the concomitant establishment of an independent Albania
meant Greece received only a portion of Epirus, all of which it coveted.
The Ottomans recovered Adrianople and territory up to the Maritsa River,
but still suffered the loss of considerable territory relative to 1911.
Only the Romanians, who obtained southern Dobrudja, and the Albanians, who
achieved their independence, expressed satisfaction with the final
settlement. The other states could be expected to seek redress at the
earliest opportunity.63
WORLD WAR I
Gavrilo Princip (an ethnic Bosnian Serb terrorist intent on promoting union
of Bosnia-Hercegovina with Serbia) provided that opportunity in June 1914,
when he assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. The
events that turned the third Balkan War into World War I, as well as the
events of the war, are well known and will not be repeated here. However,
several key consequences of the war merit further discussion.
First, the various alignments of the powers during the course of the war,
both within and outside the region, contributed to unresolved tensions that
continued to afflict the region after the post-war settlements. For
example, Bulgarian support of the Central Powers and murderous occupation
of Macedonia and Montenegro only increased Serbian hatred of their eastern
neighbor.64 Similarly, Greek entry into the war against Bulgaria and Turkey
only further sharpened centuries-old animosities.
A second critical consequence of the war was the considerable devastation
that significantly set back the agricultural and industrial sectors of the
economy.65 More importantly, nations in the region paid a high cost in
human suffering that fed tensions in the post-war era. The plight of
Yugoslavia is illustrative. According to documents provided at the
Versailles Peace Conference, Yugoslavia suffered 1,900,000 deaths (from all
causes) during World War I. Of the 705,343 men Serbia mobilized during the
war, 369,815 were killed or died of wounds. This represented nearly
one-half of the young male population a demographic disaster that continues
to plague Serbia.66
Finally, most states within the Balkans perceived the peace treaties
following the war to be imposed and unjust. As a result, they served only
to exacerbate old wounds. Bulgarian claims to an outlet on the Aegean Sea,
competing claims over Macedonia, and Yugoslav complaints over Italy
receiving parts of Illyria and the Dalmatian Coast only fostered further
resentment.67 Territorial settlements created future difficulties as
numerous ethnic minority situations emerged from a "fair and lasting
peace."68
INTER-WAR ERA
While World War I ended in Western Europe in November 1918, war in the
Balkans did not. Perceived inequities of the peace settlements, coupled
with newly invigorated Turkish nationalism and Greek adventurism in Asia
Minor, lead to the Greco-Turkish War of 1921-22. Although the Greeks
enjoyed initial success, the Turks eventually soundly defeated them. Both
sides suffered heavy losses, but Turkish actions in clearing out Greek
enclaves in Asia Minor lead to many civilian casualties. After routing the
Greeks from Asia Minor, the Turks pushed beyond the Maritsa River in
Thrace, where hostilities ceased.69
The aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War had key consequences that would vex
Balkan relations for decades. First, a resurgent and nationalist Turkey
rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. And, although the Turks had
defeated Greece and triumphed over the harsh Treaty of Sevres, they
remained humiliated by their long imperial decline and defeats during World
War I. Second, Greek sacrifices during World War I went for nought, as
Greece surrendered much of the territory gained under earlier agreements; a
humiliation that deeply rankled the country.70 Third, to resolve
permanently the intermingling of Greek and Turkish populations,
approximately 1.3 million Greeks and 380,000 Turks were forcibly exchanged.
As might be expected, the conditions took a considerable toll in human
suffering and the Greeks, particularly, were ill prepared to receive the
massive numbers of refugees involved.71
But, as noted Balkan historian L.S. Stavrianos pointed out, this exchange
represents only the last in a long series of migrations. Approximately
100,000 ethnic Turks fled in the wake of the First Balkan War (1912), and
the Second Balkan War (1913) brought the emigration of roughly 50,000
Turks, 70,000 Greeks, and 60,000 Bulgarians. At the outbreak of World War
I, roughly 250,000 Moslems fled Greece and elsewhere in the Balkans and
approximately 135,000 Greeks left eastern Thrace. Thus, between 1912-23,
roughly 2.2 million people were uprooted from homes they had occupied for
centuries.72
Despite the massive extent of these migrations, approximately 100,000
ethnic Greeks remained in Constantinople (which had not been subject to the
exchange) and 100,000 Turks remained in western Thrace to balance the
Greeks in Constantinople. Thus, the seeds for future ethnic conflict bear
fruit today in continued agitation over treatment of Turkish minorities in
Greece.73
Nor did other countries in the region fare well in the inter-war years.
States experimented briefly with democratic government, but largely
exchanged Habsburg or Ottoman authoritarianism for national dictatorships.
Ethnic discrimination also increased. The net result was that authoritarian
regimes of the inter-war era failed to resolve outstanding religious,
ethnic, and nationalist problems left over from World War I. Instead, they
barely capped popular rage and problems simmered just below the surface
awaiting the opportunity to burst once again on the European scene.
WORLD WAR II
The opportunity came quickly with the onset of the Nazi Drang nach Osten
[expansion toward the east]. Although Hitler aimed his policies
predominantly at the Soviet Union, he felt unable to advance against the
Soviets without a secure southern flank. Germany also needed the key
resources of the Balkan region. Throughout 1939 to early 1941, therefore,
the Nazis cemented their relationships with the other revisionist powers
(Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria) in the region. When, in April and May
1941, Yugoslavia and Greece failed to yield to Hitler's demands, the
Germans quickly overran and occupied both nations.74
The Balkans suffered terribly during the war years. Even those states that
initially sided with the Germans eventually felt Soviet invasion and
retribution from German and Russian alike. The Greek and Yugoslav examples
represent, perhaps, the most severe cases, because they actively fought the
occupier. German and Italian reprisals exacted a tremendous toll on both
states, but especially Yugoslavia.
The severity of the Yugoslav case and its effects on the current situation
in the Balkans deserve closer attention. Total casualties came to
approximately 1.7 million dead out of a population of 16 million.75 The
numbers of wounded and maimed can only be guessed. Coupled with the massive
losses sustained in World War I, two generations of Yugoslavs effectively
had been wiped out. Continuous fighting decimated the agricultural and
industrial infrastructure of the Yugoslav economy. More importantly,
perhaps, were the scars left by the ideological civil war, with its intense
ethnic and religious overtones, waged by communists, royalists, and
ultranationalists that helped set the stage for the ongoing wars in the
former Yugoslavia.
POST-WORLD WAR II
The years immediately following World War II did not see an end to conflict
in the Balkans. From 1943-49, civil war tortured Greece. Yugoslavs settled
scores of their civil war probably until 1947, when Tito's Communist regime
managed to cap the majority of the violence. The extent of the violence and
the strains that divided the Balkans are, perhaps, best summed up in
novelist Nikos Kazantzakis description of the Greek Civil War (1944-49):
[the inhabitants] were not surprised when the killing began, brother
against brother. They were not afraid; they did not change their way of
life. But what had been simmering slowly within them, mute and unrevealed,
now burst out, insolent and free. The primeval passion of man to kill
poured from within them. Each had a neighbor, or a friend, or a brother,
whom he had hated for years, without reason, often without realizing it.
The hate simmered there, unable to find an outlet. And now, suddenly, they
were given rifles and hand grenades; noble flags waved over their heads.
The clergy, the army, the press urged them on to kill their neighbor, their
friend, their brother. Only in this manner, they shouted to them, can faith
and country be saved. Murder, the most ancient need of man, took on a high,
mystic meaning. And the chase began - brother hunting brother.76
The post-World War II division of the Balkans temporarily checked the
incessant warfare that has plagued the region. Largely the result of the
imposition of Communist regimes in Albania, Yugoslavia, Romania, and
Bulgaria and the fear that local conflict could lead to superpower
involvement, the region entered a seeming state of suspended historical
animation. As the revolutions of 1989 awoke these states and the specter of
superpower confrontation receded, past animosities quickly bubbled to the
surface. Conflict first erupted in the former Yugoslavia and threatens to
spill over into the Balkans as a whole. Thus, for reasons that will be more
fully explored in the next chapter, the region has once again assumed its
historical role as the Balkan battleground.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continue to View Study Online
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
61. For a description of the events and consequences, see Rene
Albrecht-Carrie, A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of
Vienna, New York: Harper and Row, 1973, pp. 259-272.(Back to text)
62. For a description of events and consequences of the First Balkan War,
see ibid., pp. 280-284 and Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery of Europe, pp.
483-496. (Back to text)
63. For a discussion of the Second Balkan War and its consequences, see
Albrecht-Carrie, A Diplomatic History of Europe, pp. 284-288 and Taylor,
The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, pp. 497-510. (Back to text)
64. As Stavrianos notes, the Bulgarians turned the occupation of Macedonia
over to the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and "In
this task it distinguished itself by its irresponsible violence and
terrorism." Stavrianos, The Balkans Since 1453, p. 649. Moreover, in
January 1917, Montenegro rose in revolt to protest Bulgarian conscription
in the area. In reprisal, the Bulgarians razed villages and upwards of
20,000 innocent civilians died. Dedijer, et al., History of Yugoslavia, pp.
492-493.(Back to text)
65. As Stavrianos notes, war in the Balkans began in 1912 and did not end
until termination of the Greco-Turkish War in 1923. He also notes that, per
capita, Serbia suffered 2.5 times the casualties of France and 3.0 times
those of Britain or Italy. Stavrianos, The Balkans Since 1453, pp. 632-633.
(Back to text)
66. Additionally, Serbia suffered roughly 600,000 civilian casualties.
Similarly, Montenegro lost about 63,000 people, or roughly 25 percent of
its prewar population. Dedijer, et al., History of Yugoslavia, p. 501.
While some might question the Yugoslav figures, Jozo Tomasevich in
Peasants, Politics, and Economic Change in Yugoslavia, pp. 222-226, offers
a dispassionate survey that largely confirms the numbers.(Back to text)
67. The disappointments of the various nations with the post-war
settlements are outlined in B. Jelavich, History of the Balkans, Vol. II,
pp. 121-125. (Back to text)
68. The dismemberment of Hungary is, perhaps, the most striking example.
Under the Treaty of Trianon (1920), within the Balkans alone, Hungary
surrendered Croatia, Slavonia, and Vojvodina to Yugoslavia, as well as
Transylvania and a portion of the Banat to Romania. These cessions created
sizeable Hungarian minorities in these nations. Stavrianos, The Balkans
Since 1453, pp. 576-578. (Back to text)
69. A brief description of events may be found in B. Jelavich, History of
the Balkans, Vol. II, pp. 172-175, or Stavrianos, The Balkans Since 1453,
pp. 587-590. (Back to text)
70. B. Jelavich, History of the Balkans, Vol. II, p. 172.(Back to text)
71. Ibid, p. 174.(Back to text)
72. Stavrianos, The Balkans Since 1453, p. 590.(Back to text)
73. B. Jelavich, History of the Balkans, Vol. II, p. 174. For more recent
Turkish concerns on treatment of ethnic Turks in Greece, see Ankara TRT
Television Network, 1700 hours, April 17, 1992, in Foreign Broadcast
Information Service (FBIS)-WEU-92-076, April 20, 1992, p. 41; and Athens
Elliniki Radhiofonia Radio Network, 1800, GMT, November 24, 1992, in
FBIS-WEU-92-231, December l, 1992, p. 69. See also F. Stephen Larrabee,
"Instability and Change in the Balkans," Survival, Vol. 34, No. 2, Summer
1992, pp. 44 and 49 (note 20). (Back to text)
74. A brief, but excellent account of the events leading up to and the
conduct of the German Balkan campaign can be found in Department of the
Army Pamphlet No. 20-260, The German Campaign in the Balkans (Spring 1941),
Washington, DC: Department of the Army, November 1953. For greater details,
see Martin Van Creveld, Hitler's Strategy: The Balkan Clue, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1973. After long experience with German
interference in Serbian/Yugoslav affairs (1878, 1908, 1914-1918), it should
not be surprising that the Yugoslav Army with its high density of Serbian
officers would refuse to accede to Hitler's demands. Nor should the Federal
Republic of Germany's recognition of Croatia in 1992 be depreciated as a
contributing factor to the inception of the current crisis. (Back to text)
75. Dedijer, et al., History of Yugoslavia, p. 415. (Back to text)
76. Nikos Kazantzakis, The Fratricide, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1964,
p. 8, cited in B. Jelavich, History of the Balkans, Vol. II, p. 314. (Back
to text)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From http://www.dalmatia.net/croatia/war/numbers.htm
The Zajednicar, April 24, 1996:
Letter to the Editor San Francisco Chronicle
Tihomir Jankovic in his letter of 3/14/96 claims that Croatian fascists in
Croatia killed 750,000 Serbians, Jews and Gypsies and Anthony Brancato in
his letter of 11/24/94 states 1.2 million Serbians were butchered in WW II
in Croatia. Over the past two years the Chronicle has published in various
articles and Letters to the Editor that 750-900 thousand, 1 million to 1.4
million Serbians had died during WW II in Croatia. Croatia had a population
of 4 million. To believe this means that 45% of the population, including
Croatian losses, perished in Croatia during WW II.
Within the 1931 Census, Croatia had 20,000 Jews (The Jews of Yugoslavia,
Friedenreich, H., 1979, Phila., Jewish Publ. Sv.)
I really do not like to address or answer such accusations and obvious
Serbian Communist propaganda as the death of any human being under such
circumstances is a tragedy. Serbia, today, is the only Communist government
left in Europe.
The Serbian Communist government through their TANJUG NEWS AGENCY in
Belgrade has put out this propaganda since 1945. The "facts" and "stories"
have been picked up by the American press as the absolute truth, a
communist truth and a Serbian communist truth.
Bogoljub Kocovic (a Serbian) in his book, WW II Victims in Yugoslavia,
1985, London; Veritas Foundation Press has Yugoslav losses at 1,014,000.
All Serbian losses in all republics being 487,000.
Vladimir Zerjavic (a Croatian) in his book, Losses of Yugoslav Population
in WW II, 1989, Institute of Geography, University of Zagreb, has Yugoslav
losses at 1,027,000. Serbian losses in his study are 190,000 in Serbia;
164,000 in Bosnia-Hercegovina and 131,000 in Croatia or 485,000 total.
No Croatian, Bosnian or Hercegovian military forces of any kind ever
operated in Serbia Proper during WW II. The majority of people in
Bosnia-Hercegovina were Bosnian Muslims and Serbians; Croatians were about
18%. Serbian Royalist Chetniks in Bosnia went after the Bosnian Muslims
with a passion as they are again doing today.
By 1942-43 at least one-third of Yugoslavia was liberated by Tito's
Croatian and Bosnian Partisans (95% were non-Communist) and allied with
America. The liberated territory was predominantly in Croatia, Bosnia and
Hercegovina. By 1943 the Partisans numbered 300,000 in 26 divisions;
approximately one-half were Croatian, whereas Croatia was only 24% of the
population of Yugoslavia.
Croatian, Bosnian and Hercegovian Partisans held down up to 12 German,
Italian and other Fascist divisions in Yugoslavia; if these 12 divisions
could have been sent to the African Front or later to the Italian Front,
many American and British soldiers would have died and the war would have
lasted much longer.
There was no other liberated territory in Western Europe and no Western
European Allied country rose up to confront the Germans and Italians.
America, Britain and Western Europe owe a debt of honor to the people of
Croatia and Bosnia for their contribution in WW II as Allies.
Tihomir Jankovic in his letter states that other freelance killers were
involved, fine, I would suggest he start with the German nazis who occupied
the interior and the Italian fascists who occupied the coastal areas of
Yugoslavia. He could include the Hungarian, Bulgarian, Serbian-Nedic
fascists and Rumanian fascists who helped out.
Who killed the Serbians in Serbia? The Royalist (fascists) Serbian Chetniks
in Serbia were killing Serbian communists and the Germans who occupied
Serbia and vice versa.
In the 1931 Census of Population for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( A Serbian
King) Croatia had an approximate 550,000 Serbians; the same census on a
Banovina basis (Administartive Areas) the same conclusion was reached. The
1948 Census of Yugoslavia lists 543,795 Serbians in Croatia. No Serbians
would have been left if 500,000 were killed.
All Croatian losses in Croatia would easily surpass the Serbian losses if
the post war Croatian women and children returned from Bleiburg, Austria by
the British were included. The Serbians had 42% of the population; the
Croatians 24% of the population of Yugoslavia.
Tihomir Jankovic seems to think that the Germans and Italians were not
running things in WW II Yugoslavia, but they did absolutely rule the rest
of Europe- Croatian Tito and his Croatian Partisans beat the Serbian
Royalists (Chetniks), Hungarians, Italians, Germans and domestic fascists
and did have the only liberated territory in all of Europe and won the war
in Yugoslavia.
After World War II the Department of the Air Force made public top secret
files pertaining to American military air operations in and over wartime
Austria, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia. Many American bombing missions
were to Romanian oil fields and refineries. Losses were extremely heavy.
Air Force archives reveal a total of approximately 2400 American Air Force
crewmane rescued in Yugoslavia. Many were then returned by Croatian and
Bosnian partisans, allied with America and England, to American bases in
Italy. Most were flown out by American C-47 transport planes from primitive
air strips prepared by Croatian and Bosnian Partisans.
Slovene Partisans claim up to 700 American crewmen rescued from Slovene
territory. There is no documentation of partisan airfields located in
Slovenia. At least half of those rescued were taken by Croatian Partisans
to Croatian and Bosnian air evacuation centers. Those American airmen
rescued were in fact a joint effort of both Slovene and Croatian Partisans.
Croatian and Bosnian soldiers and civilians rescued and returned 1600
American pilots and airmen.
The tragedy that is taking place in former Yugoslavia is not helped with
lies, distortions and Serbian Communist propaganda dating back to WW II.
This is all so confusing and unnecessary as WW II Yugoslavia had a civil
war, revolution and at the same time were were fighting the German and
Italian fascist forces. All sides suffered. History is history.
Adam S. Eterovich
2527 San Carlos Ave.
San Carlos, CA 94070
415/592-1190
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
(Adam S. Eterovich is a native of San Francisco and a volunteer Korean
Veteran of 4 years.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Via
http://history1900s.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa110897.htm?rf=dp&COB=home
Trouble in The Balkans
Dateline: 11/08/97
On November 11th, 1918 the guns of the First World War fell silent. The
past four years had managed to slaughter the slaughter the better part of a
generation of young European men. As a result, there was a bitter feeling
that surrounded the peace. Feelings among the allied powers were running
particularly high. Britain and France were determined to extract vengeance
from the defeated powers. The main German ally was the ancient Hapsburg
empire of Austria-Hungary. The doddering Ottoman Empire was also pulled
down in the debacle. As a result, many small principalities that had been
under the domination of these two shattered empires had to the dealt with.
As the allies gathered at the peace table to hammer out a settlement,
numerous smaller nations and lesser powers began to marshal their arguments
for territorial settlements favorable to them. Among the many countries who
wished recognition was the new state of Yugoslavia. The southern Slavs had
long dreamed of a nation of their own"Under the leadership of Ante
Trumbich, the Yugoslav Committee was Organized in London. The aim of the
Yugoslav leaders was set forth in the declaration of Corfu (July 20,1917),
drawn up jointly by Trumbich and the Serbian premier, and forecasting the
'Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.' These three peoples,
according to the declaration constituted a single nation and it was
definitely agreed that they should be united" 1 This new nation would
consist of be states of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Montenegro,
and part of Macedonia.
The fly in this ointment was that part of this territory was already
promised to Italy in a secret protocol that had been signed in London in
April of 1915. This had been part of the inducement to get. "In return for
her entry into the war on the allied side, Italy was promised Trieste,
Goriza/Gradisca, Istria, and part of Dalmatia; With the exception of the
city of Tieste, these Austrian lands had a predominantly southern Slav
population. The terms of this 'secret' treaty were soon known to the
Yugoslav Committee, and the indignation they aroused helped the South Slavs
to realize that they would have to work together if they were to achieve
their aims." 2 At the Paris peace conference in 1919, Italy also pressed
her claim to the city of Fiume. It was with great difficulty that the
Italian and Yugoslav claims were ironed out. However, they were mostly
resolved in Yugoslavia's favor.
The union of the southern Slavs had been a cherished dream of Slavic
nationalists since the congress of Vienna in 1815. Unfortunately, this was
more suitable to coffeehouse discussions than actual reality. The
fundamental problem was that for all of its geographic compactness, the
Balkans was highly diverse. Although they spoke Serbo-Croatian as a common
language, there was little else the many nationalities had in common. For
starters, there were three separate religions: Greek orthodox, Roman
Catholicism, and Islam. . "Two distinct languages, Serbo-Croatian and
Slovenian, are spoken; If Macedonian is considered a separate language, the
number rises to three. The country has three major religions, Of the 86
percent who reported their faith in 1953, 42 percent were Orthodox, 32
percent Catholic, and 12 percent Muslim. ...The chief internal problem of
the state of Yugoslavia, which only came into existance in1918 has been
that of governing and attempting to develop a national consciousness among
peoples with different historical experiences and various economic
levels."3 The implications of these religious differences cannot be
minimized. The Greek Orthodox Church used the Julian calendar and the
Cyrillic alphabet. The Roman church used the Latin alphabet and the
Gregorian calendar which differs from the Julian by approximately one week.
In other words, each group could understand each others spoken words but
not their written communications and they would not be able to agree on a
date.
From the very beginning there were problems. Serbia which had been the
only one of the provinces that had been independent before 1914 dominated
the political system to be chagrin of the other nationalities. As a result,
there was a growing resentment toward the Serbian dominated government that
seemed to reserve all rights and privileges for itself. It did not help
matters that the new government was extremely corrupt One of the results of
this was that the political parties that sprang up tended to coalesce
around religious and national identities. The only exception to this was
the tiny communist party which was the only political entity which could
claim a national constituency. Throughout the period between 1920 and 1941,
various nationalist groups pressed their claims for autonomy. However it
wasn't until 1941 that limited autonomy was granted to Croatia.
Unfortunately for all involved, Yugoslavia was beset by two new and very
strong enemies. Mussolini's Italy and Nazi Germany had been growing
stronger as the 1930's wore on. When the war broke out in 1939, Yugoslavia
stayed neutral but with both Fascist powers on her doorstep, that
neutrality had an axis slant. When Italy invaded Greece in the spring of
1941, the Italian armies were thrown back in a series of sharp and bloody
encounters. In an effort to bail out his Italian ally, Hitler ordered the
invasion of Greece by the Wehtmacht. In order to get the Panzers to Greece,
Hitler had bullied the Yugoslav government to allow free passage of German
troops. This set off a wave of protest across the country and forced the
Government out. To assure the safety of their forces, German troops became
an occupying army.
The German occupation sparked several resistance groups. However, in
true Yugoslav fashion, the Partisans split into two main groups. The first
were known as the Cetniks and were under the command of Draza Mihailovic.
The second was a group of Communists under the command of the wily Josip
Broz who was better know by the pseudonym of Tito. Relations between the
two groups deteriorated to the point that the Cetniks believed the
Communists more dangerous than the occupiers and actively collaborated with
them in operations against Tito's partisans. Matters were exacerbated by
the antipathy that Josef Stalin had for the independently minded Tito. Tito
was not completely alone however. He had impressed Eisenhower enough to get
some help from the Americans and British. This fact may help explain
Yugoslavia's Post War foreign policy. "During WW II the communist dominated
partisan movement, under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito, gained both
military and political control of the country. Thus Yugoslavia's post-war
regime, unlike those of Bulgaria and Rumania, came about because of
domestic developments and with little Soviet assistance." 4
Thus with the exception of the post war Communist period, Yugoslavia has
managed a fractious and divided history. The wonder of Yugoslavia isn't
that it came flying rapidly and violently apart at the seams with the fall
of Communism. The wonder of Yugoslavia was that lasted as long as it did.
Notes
1Benns, F. Lee, Europe since 1914 in its World setting,
Appleton-Century-Crofts, INC, New York, NY 1954.
2Auty, Phyllis, Yugoslavia, Thames and Hudson, London, 1965.
3Jelavich, Charles and Barbara, The Balkans, Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ, 1965.
4Jelavich
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Via http://www.hartford-hwp.com/gateway/index.html
Imperialist Roots of the War in Yugoslavia
By Jim Genova, in People's Weekly World
12 August 1995
UNITED NATIONS - The war in the former Yugoslavia is one of the most
complex and controversial crises in recent years. The cause of the fighting
and its subsequent duration is often blamed on "centuries of ethnic and
religious hostility." However, the actual roots of the crisis are directly
tied to present-day political and economic realities.
The leading imperialist powers (the U.S., United Kingdom (U.K.), Germany,
France) have been involved in the Yugoslav conflict from the beginning and
played no small part in sowing the seeds of war and division. They did not
stumble into a conflict from which they are having a difficult time
extricating themselves. They had a clear plan to dismember Yugoslavia,
undermine its socialist system and gain control over its material assets.
In addition, the conflict between pro-capitalist forces and the
pro-socialist working class within Yugoslavia had sharpened significantly
since the 1960s.
What has complicated the situation is the rivalry between the imperialist
powers, each of which set its own goals and conducted its affairs with one
eye on Yugoslavia and the other on its rivals. The ethnic and religious
differences within Yugoslavia were exploited by the imperialist powers to
further their own ends.
Because of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's ambiguous
relationship with its socialist neighbors, the country became a ready
target for undermining socialism throughout the region and was used as a
test case for the destruction of the Soviet Union and other multi-ethnic
states.
Yugoslavia had developed extensive trade with the West and accepted large
loans from the International Monetary Fund. By accumulating billions of
dollars in debts, while spurning most assistance from the socialist
countries, Yugoslavia became increasingly subject to the political and
economic diktats of the West.
This relationship partially motivated the Yugoslav government to
restructure its economic and political system in 1965. The Communist Party
was transformed into the League of Yugoslav Communists (LYC) and the six
republics of which Yugoslavia was comprised gained greater poltical and
economic autonomy.
Pro-socialist forces within Yugoslavia viewed the reforms as an honest
attempt to address the grievances of the various ethnic and religious
groups and lay the basis for closer unity. However, imperialist forces and
pro-capitalist elements within Yugoslavia used the reforms to pull the
republics apart.
By 1990, Croatia had become the wealthiest of the republics, conducted
millions of dollars in trade with the West (especially Germany and Austria)
and had a large private economic sector. By contrast, its southern neighbor
Bosnia-Hercegovina had become the poorest and had little external trade.
Serbia's economy was increasingly oriented to the East as relations with
the Soviet Union improved in the 1980s.
Shortly after Yugoslavia began to disintegrate in 1991, U.S. Rep. Henry
Gonzalez, investigating a banking scandal which involved the Reagan and
Bush administrations' supplying of arms to Iraq, came into possession of
CIA documents which exposed a concerted plan by the U.S. government to
subvert the Yugoslav economy.
This was done through the Yugoslav banking system which had been partially
privatized by the late 1980s. The central agent was Lawrence Eagleburger,
George Bush's deputy secretary of state. Eagleburger, as head of the
"consulting" firm Kissinger Associates, was director of Ljubljanska Banka,
American subsidiary of Yugoslavia's largest bank, from 1986 to 1990. During
his tenure, Ljubljanska Banka became embroiled in YugosIavia's largest ever
banking scandal, according to the CIA documents, which Gonzalez publicized,
the bank issued over $ 1 billion in false promissory notes "leaving
Yugoslavia on the brink of political and economic collapse."
While the U.S. undermined the economy, Germany and Austria worked a
different game. In 1990, the Yugoslav People's Army discovered arms caches
from Austria and Germany in caves and mine shafts throughout Slovenia and
Croatia. Paraphernalia found with the weapons indicated that they had been
shipped to underground nationalist and fascist paramilitary outfits, like
the Ustashe in Croatia.
Beyond their overt Cold War political aspirations, the imperialist powers
found Yugoslavia an attractive economic plum ripe for the picking.
Yugoslavia is dotted with coal and bauxite mines. It was one of the largest
coal producers in Europe before the breakup. The Dalmatian coast, now
controlled by Croatia and patrolled by the U.S. Navy, is rich in oil and
natural gas deposits.
Geographically, Yugoslavia is situated right in the middle of a proposed
oil pipeIine that would run from Iraq to Germany. Successive German
governments have pushed the idea of such a pipeline since the early part of
the century and Chancellor Helmut Kohl recently raised the proposal again
when the German government announced at the U.N. last month that it had
reached agreement with Croatia to allow the pipeline to run through its
territory.
This explains Germany and Austria's rush to recognize Slovenia and
Croatia's independence shortly after they conducted illegal referendums on
June 25, 1991, which Serbians and other forces loyal to Yugoslavia and
socialism boycotted. As Croatian Serb leader Milan Martic told reporters at
an Aug. 3, 1995, press conference, "We never seceded from Yugoslavia."
Bosnia held a sham referendum and declared independence on Feb. 29, 1992.
It was boycotted by over half the population, including large numbers of
Muslims and Croats.
Throughout three years of unremitting warfare, which has destroyed Bosnia's
economy, killed over 200,000 people and left hundreds of thousands
homeless, the fighting has retained an essentially anti-imperialist nature.
The Bosnian government has forged a close alliance with the U.S. and
Croatia (governed by fascistic elements tied to Germany and Austria).
Furthering these ties, the U.S. Congress recently voted to violate the U.N.
imposed arms embargo on the former Yugoslav republics. Sen. Bob Dole
(R-Kans.), a 1996 presidential candidate, has incessantly called for arms
to be sent to Bosnia and now Croatia in the wake of its recent massive
offensive.
The Serbians insist that they are still part of Yugoslavia. They have never
wavered in their one demand - union with the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
However, as a result of the war, Bosnia has become largely "de-classed."
The economic disruption and dislocation of such large sections of the
population have made it easier for bourgeois ideology, in the form of rabid
nationalism, to penetrate and take hold on all sides. Because the
production process has been destroyed, it is increasingly difficult to
identify with one's class. Instead, ethnic and religious loyalties have
been substituted for class loyalties. This is the principle cause of the
atrocities that have been perpetrated by and against all sides.
Serbia's economy, although hamstrung by U.N. sanctions, is functioning and
the class struggle continues to shape its internal political struggle. The
Socialist Party retained its parliamentary majority in recent elections and
Communist parties function in all the former republics. In fact, the
Communists became the second largest party in Slovenia's 1994 elections. In
Croatia and Bosnia, the Party is outlawed and functions underground in
alliance with pro-Yugoslav forces.
Recent disputes over the "mission" in Bosnia arise from the conflicting
aims of the imperialist powers. Germany (which, as a result of the struggle
for Bonia, has altered its constitution to allow military activity
overseas) is anxious to have paramount controI over the proposed oil
pipeline and extend its political influence in the Balkans.
The U.K. and France, which provide the bulk of the nearly 40,000 U.N.
peacekeepers in Yugoslavia, seek to block Germany's expanding dominance in
Europe. They are among the leading voices in favor of preserving the U.N.'s
peacekeeping role. Should they pull out, France and the U.K. could lose its
leverage with Germany in Yugoslavia.
The U.S., wary of its declining position in the world economy vis a vis
Germany and Japan, opposes any moves that would strengthen Germany's
economic position. The U.S. has worked assiduously at prolonging and
dictating the course of the war. A case in point is last spring's sabotage
of the peace process. Just as all sides had agreed on a partition of
Bosnia, President Clinton announced that the U.S. would no longer help
enforce the arms embargo. This inspired the Muslim government to reject the
plan, believing that U.S arms would soon flow to Bosnia.
The Yugoslav Communists say the only lasting solution to the war is the
reunification of Yugoslavia on the basis of working class unity and
socialism. However, this cannot happen so long as the imperialist powers
hold sway in the conflict.
Sources: United Nations Information Department, International Monetary Fund
Bulletin. U.N. Mission of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Rep. Henry
Gonzalez, (D-Tex.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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