Reflections As A Serb — Recent Serbian History
(This is part I of a III-part series on Serbia, which covers recent Serbian history, freedom of press, and generational comparisons of one mother to her daughter.)
A bit of background:
My husband and I spent the month of January in Serbia, visiting his friends and family. We took the opportunity of working remotely to travel back to his home country, revisiting childhood memories and then jumping on work calls later in the afternoons. I met with some mutual friends and colleagues, as well as my husband’s friends and family members to gain Serbian political insight. A common theme emerged in these conversations. There was a tendency to categorize today’s Serbs into two distinct groups — one being a more left-leaning, progressive, wing of Serbians, some of which even reminisced about the Yugoslavic era. These folks would nod in agreement that although it was a dictatorship, Tito’s approach to autocratic rule was more mild-mannered than countless other ruthless leaders. Those who were nostalgic of post-Soviet era days could draw from real-lived experiences from their childhoods, when the economy was on the rise, war was on pause, and the Balkan region- however culturally, ethnically, or historically divided- was united.
The other category was more conservative, often associated with Chetnik roots and yearning for a Serbian monarch, for the days when the beloved country was still a kingdom. This group was more motivated by a time before the Iron Curtain fell. There were stark divisions even among families, some members falling in line with the Serbian monarch and taking pride in Serb nationalism, while others yearned for a more cohesive country.
Here are some reflections from one of the Serbians I spoke to.
Can you talk a bit about the background of Chetniks in Serbia?
Brana*: “When we talk about Chetniks, people usually associate them in the context of war criminals (having fought against Bosnians and Croats in the early 1990s). Within Belgrade (the capital of Serbia), Chetnik is thought of more as how family lines have been drawn in either support or disdain for Chetniks. In some instances, Chetniks even fought with German Nazis against persecuted groups.”
Chetniks have both negative and positive connotations, partially stemming from their differing roles during World War II. On the one hand, Chetniks aligned to resist Axis and Croatian invaders. They shared a mentality that with an Allied invasion, Yugoslavia would be dismantled and the monarchy would be restored. However, even after forces left Serbia, some remaining Chetniks banded with German, Italian, and Croatian groups to continue fighting against communist rivals. To distill Chetniks into “good or bad” is not accurate, although now the term is widely linked with nationalistic intolerance, militant charisma, and antiquated beliefs about restoring an illusive version of Serbia.
What was it like growing up when Serbia was still a part of Yugoslavia?
Brana: “In the 1980’s and 1990’s, I grew up with Muslim Bosnians, Catholic Croatians, and Orthodox Serbs. It didn’t make a difference to me where my friends came from. For the most part, my friends didn’t really know each other’s ethnic background or if our parents were of mixed descent.”
Thinking about this now, it is quite remarkable Tito was able to draw the Balkan states together. When World War II came to an end, Tito was persistent about shifting the tone of previous differences in ethnicity, religion, history, and identity to one of unity. The new President was able to effectively draw together Bosnians, Croatians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbians, and Slovenians under The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Though perhaps this formation was the very reason Yugoslavia was doomed to fail.
In your opinion, how and why did Yugoslavia fall apart?
Brana: “Yugoslavia’s dismantling was mostly driven by Serbs. There were territorial problems, aggression, and this all coalesced to drive us into a bloody war. The aggression, the primitivism… there were suddenly very different values which came to the forefront. Unfortunately, we have these now again and even in a more deviated version. Although we don’t have war crimes, city sieges, things like that, we do have an identity divide.”
When Tito died, there was no one left to take his place. The tone of keeping Yugoslavia together dissipated. Not long after, other figures emerged, groping for the chance to fill a seat of power in the newly fragmented region. One man in particular was Slobodan Milošević. At first, Milošević was widely accepted by the international community as a Serbian revolutionary who worked to rebel against Croatian forces. However, the international community soon realized Milošević’s methods were cruel in his crusade against Kosovar Albanians. They denounced him, but failed to keep Milošević from the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of people. Identifying as Serbian became subliminally linked with cruelty, nationalism, and hate which was really spurred on by one warlord.
When she mentioned, “we do have an identity divide”, I couldn’t help but compare Serbia to the situation now in the U.S., Americans experiencing ideological divide that hasn’t been this strong since the Civil War. She smiled and went on. “The moment that American institutions gave Trump a platform to talk in a primitive, demeaning tone, we became doomed. Derogatory comments are made by Trump, and they don’t lead to any value. This is when hate speech comes in. Being proud of not being educated and hating others — putting these on a pedestal makes it a lot easier for Americans to be proud of these ideas that previously had no value.”
Brana went on to tell me that she is still “proud of who she is, being Serbian by blood”. She knows that what comes with her heritage is a dark past, ridden with some of the most ruthless leaders in history. The U.S. could very well be on the verge of a mass divergence, or if not, another Presidential election cycle that leads to national outcry on both sides of the aisle. As an American living in a time with so much divisional rift, it will be interesting to see if fifty years from now, I will also feel proud of who I am, or if hatred, cruelty, and misunderstanding of one another reigns.
*In this series, speakers’ names have been protected. Their stories are real while their names are pseudonyms.
