The Causes of the Breakup of Yugoslavia and its Lasting Impacts - Nicholas Efthimiadis

Overview: My topic focuses on the causes of the breakup of Yugoslavia and its lasting impacts. For the interviews, I used the simple question and then response format. The first interview is from Person-1, then a high school graduate living in Stolac, a small town in Herzegovina (part of Bosnia). She witnessed the decent of multi-national, religious, and ethnic Bosnia into war and managed to survive. The second interview is from Person-2, a college graduate, living in Sarajevo, working in a state run company. He has the unique insight of witnessing the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Bosnian War from up close, in Sarajevo and then also from the outside, in various countries. The third interview comes from Person-3, a new immigrant to the United States and a doctor, living in Los Angeles. She watched as her native Yugoslavia broke up and then rapidly fell into war. I hope that these interviews help to explain the confusing causes of Yugoslavia's violent breakup and then its deadly decent into war.

Interviews:

Interviewee: Person-1.

Description: Student/young adult during the breakup of Yugoslavia


1) Where were you during the 1980's, or the time period leading up to the collapse? In the mid 1980's I was in middle school and from 1988-1992, I was in high school. I lived in Stolac, a city located in Herzegovina. It was a small town, near the border of Croatia.


2) What is your understanding of the breakup of Yugoslavia? My understanding on the breakup at the time was that Slovenia wanted independence from Yugoslavia, however during the war, it became clear that most big politicians (Milosevic and Tudjman) didn’t care about Slovenia leaving. The big politicians simply wanted to split the rest of Yugoslavia into Croatia and Serbia. However, by then we were already simply fighting to stay alive, as the war had started.


3) What causes would you attribute to the breakup and did you experience them? The major cause was the rise of nationalistic ideas and the fact that many politicians took advantage of people, encouraging them to do awful things. I personally saw this happen in Stolac, during the war. Many of my neighbors, who we'd lived next to for years and even been friends with, turned on us and other Muslims. A majority of the people seemed to just follow their "people", or in other words, the nationalistic politicians. That is why I never really felt personally attacked, even though we were now being bombed from the hills and our house was half destroyed. There were other causes, but none can compare to nationalism.


4) Did you anticipate or believe that Yugoslavia would breakup? No, I did not anticipate that the breakup would happen or that the war would ever happen. I guess we were all so naive. Even when Slovenia eventually left, we had no idea of what was going to come. Life continued normally until eventually Serbians attacked and reality struck.



5) After the war in Bosnia, do you thing that an identity crisis emerged? For sure, people felt that they needed to belong after the war. Many non-religious people became religious, so that they could identify with others. This was particularly strong among Muslims. Croats could turn to Croatia, Serbs to Serbia, but ethnic Muslims could not turn to anything but religion. It is also important to note that a majority of ethnic Muslims before the war were either non-practicing or only visited a mosque a couple times a year. I had an acquaintance who was totally non-religious before the war, but he became ultra religious afterwards because he could not identify with others anymore. Many of the Muslims of Bosnia had lost their identity in


6) What are the main lasting impacts of the breakup? There are many direct impacts from the war and breakup, such as people losing family members, which is on a personal level. In addition, there were and still are huge economic impacts. For example, unemployment in Bosnia is over 40%, the economies of Serbia and (Fyrom)Macedonia are still recovering as well. Losses of property were huge, too. Then, you also have so many historical losses, numerous beautiful bridges, mosques, and churches were destroyed in the senseless fighting. Finally, the social impacts are the worst. I don't know if the wounds between Croats, Serbs, and Muslims can heal. The hatred that caused this was so strong it will take years to forgive and move on.


7) Do you think that the breakup/conflict is complete? I hate to say this, but I don't think it’s over. I don't follow the politics as closely as I should, but people seem like there not ready to move forward. The wounds and the rift caused by the breakup and fighting will take years to fully heal. Such hatred in a place where three nationalities existed peacefully for years prior to the breakup, will most likely take another fifty years before things can go back to "normal". I do not know too much about the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, but I don't think the fighting has really ever stopped. I can't really say what will happen next there, but like I said before, I don't think the Balkan conflict and breakup is over yet.






Interviewee: Person-2.

Description: New father at the time of the breakup


1) Where were you during the 1980's, or the time period leading up to the collapse? Josip Broz Tito, father of the nation, national hero, president for life, died in May 1980, after months spent in a widely publicized hospital fight for his life. I graduated from my high school in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, before then enrolled in the Civil Engineering school. My dreams of becoming an architect did not look very real in an increasingly bad economic situation. Our government started something they called Stabilizacija (stabilization), a strict economic program pushed by the IMF in order to reduce a whopping twenty billion dollars of foreign debt (that was about a thousand dollars per head of each person in Yugoslavia, more or less the amount of an annual salary for a qualified worker). I spent one year in the Yugoslav army as part of our obligatory conscription. I had a chance to witness the great mismanagement of huge amounts of tax revenue, direct towards the expensive and ill trained military. The military intervention in Kosovo had a great political and ideological impact on Yugoslavia, especially on us soldiers involved in that first major conflict during the 1980's. In 1984 we hosted the Olympic games (in Sarajevo) and that was effective end of good times. I graduated and started working on a major construction project away from my home. Living in one small provincial town, I witnessed the mounting nationalistic divide, caused by atrocities in first and second world wars, still alive like open wounds after many years. My salary was abysmal, but I learned quickly, so I eventually joined a group of engineers that worked with some international consultants from the United States. While I was preparing myself for my first international project, I worked on antiquated computers. Imagine an 8-bit computer with a 750 kHz memory and a 20 MB hard drive, priced at sixteen thousand dollars! I also used a Word Processor program and Word Perfect that used to cost $1800 for one user. I left for Iraq in 1988. Before that, I started dating and eventually got married to my wife in 1989. With the money I earned in Iraq and with help of her parents, I bought my first and only new car, a Yugo 55 ($4000) , a 19 inch color TV ($1250), a VCR Sanyo ($1360), washer, fridge, Samsung (all-plastic) stereo ($400), and some other stuff. My father in law also had enough money to pay for one hundred and fifty dollars rent for one year, up front, and to go on a honeymoon to Italy. I left for Iraq again, this time I was taken hostage by the Iraqi revolutionary guard and returned penniless, traveling on the bus, through Anatolia (Turkey), for three days. We then lost our lease and moved to an apartment outside of our hometown, owned by my wife's family. That was right at the beginning of 1990's. During this time, we had our "first democratic" election in Yugoslavia, the Berlin Wall fell, and war in the Gulf was imminent. I was making computer programs for an extremely popular video store in exchange for free movies. The reason: I was not able to go to my work position for about three months since I worked forty-eight plus hours a week in Iraq, so therefore I accumulated hundreds of hours over the allowable limit. My car was mostly parked, literally, on a gas station, where the lines for gas were formed almost a week ahead of the anticipated delivery to the local pump. Every time, after filling my tank, I needed to spend some extra money to recover parts stolen from the car, while it was unattended (headlights, door handles, tire caps, radio, seat covers...).


2) What is your understanding of the breakup? A series of conflicts resulting in the dissolution of the government and territory of former Yugoslavia, along mostly ethnic lines (e.g. Slovenes in Slovenia, Croats in Croatia).


3) What causes would you attribute to the breakup and did you experience them? First off, there was the political aspect: The role of Yugoslavia as a non-aligned movement leader diminished after Tito's dead. Then, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Perestroika policies in Russia, Solidarnosz policies in Poland, the role of Yugoslavia as a Western ally was not needed anymore. Secondly, the economic aspect: The economic system was creating a non-productive work environment. High taxation of foreign goods and the favoring of domestic products, combined with no "healthy" competition lead to low quality products and lower productivity. That resulted in lower salaries, unemployment of at least one million people, most of them fresh out of school. In addition, there was a lot of red tape surrounding employment, very formal and narrow definitions for employment, and probably ninety percent government owned production. The tax system and banking system very rudimentary, while the foreign currency was free marked for only a few years at the end of 1980's. A majority of transactions were illegal. Thirdly, internal political reasons: A weak federation with disproportionate development - the northwest had European economic standards, while the southwest had far bellow economic standards. Agricultural reform after World War two, saw farms subdivided into units that were unmanageable and unproductive. Tito's succession was also handled poorly, a collective rotating presidency in government and communist party was formed. Eventually, the Communist party was dissolved during congress, held on the 14th of January, 1990. Fourthly, the rise of nationalism: The late 1980's and early 1990's saw the 600 year anniversary of the battle in Kosovo, crowned by new nationalistic political leaders in Serbia. Croatians revived nationalistic movements from early seventies, invoking old fascistic ideologies, to name few.


4) Did you anticipate or believe that Yugoslavia would breakup? The situation looked bad, but it did not look like the breakup would happen until the early 1990's, when the Communist Party Congress dissolved. That began the deep divisions that would lead to the eventual war.


5) After the war in Bosnia, do you think that an identity crisis emerged? In my opinion, there was an identity crisis that existed before the war, or at least the starting of it. The issues were present, just buried down deep among other things. When the war started, the identity crisis erupted and that is why we saw so many young, confused people being recruited by the nationalistic leaders. These leaders took advantage over the population who did not know who to identify with. Clearly, Croats were led by fellow Croats from Croatia and Serbs from Serbia. That left the Bosnian Muslims, many who were also confused, to turn to Islam. Before, there were relatively few practicing Muslims, but after the war, many more emerged, along with practicing Catholics and Orthodox Christians, reflecting the need for people to identify with others.


6) What are the main lasting impacts of the breakup? There are many things that resulted from the war and the breakup. First of all, so many lives were lost in basically, what it was, a civil war. That is definitely the biggest loss. Another loss was the destruction of infrastructure, from factories, to roads, to whole towns. The government then had to take out many expensive loans, which it won't be able to for many years to come. This also means that the economy will continue to suffer with such minimal government investment. Also, before the war, Bosnia was an incredibly accepting place and that culture was lost during the war. To get the tradition of tolerance and togetherness back, will only come with the closure of the deep wounds of war. Furthermore, economic losses came from such instability, which scared off foreign investors and tourists, who are essential in revitalizing the damaged economy.


7) Do you think that the breakup/conflict is complete? I think that if you asked me today, or anybody else in Bosnia, we would say it is still going on and will continue (not in the terms of war, but in the terms of nationalistic tension). When the EU went to review Bosnia, they saw how ineffective the government was, so the EU installed a "shadow" government, who dictates a lot of things, from the type of uniform of soldiers to budgets of the military. The Bosnian government is simply too indecisive, to the point where they cannot agree upon much of anything. The war may be over, but there are many areas where you wouldn’t want to visit even by car because of the tension. I don't think there will be another conflict, unless some external force changes quickly. For example, the Serbian army would not be able to help Bosnian Serbs because the current state of the Serbian army and economy is not good. If there were the same amount of weapons in the area, the war could potentially start tomorrow because the wounds and tensions have yet to heal. I am honestly surprised that there is no visible conflict between Serbia and Kosovo now! When Kosovo declared independence, they expelled a majority of the Serbian population, so really few are left there. That mitigates Serbian claims to attack Kosovo, regardless of that, I don't think that Serbia will attack again because they know that economically, they can't afford it, while on the political side, it would be suicide.


Interviewee: Person-3.

Description: Research-doctor in Los Angeles, during the breakup


1) Where were you during the 1980's, or the time period leading up to the collapse?

I came to the UK (London, specifically) in 1983 to do my fellowship as a doctor and then from 1986-1990, I did my Ph.D. However, I still had regular contact to Sarajevo, as my mother and many of my friends lived there. My standard of living was decent, but my friends back in Sarajevo kept on telling me that every year, the standard of living was decreasing. There were shortages of food, while there were always long lines for regular household items. In addition, inflation went through the roof and people started to have their salaries deferred because there was no money to pay them.



2) What is your understanding of the breakup? Let me tell you a story. In early 1990, even going to 1991, my mother, who was living in Bosnia, started telling my brother and I that Serbs had climbed into the hills surrounding Sarajevo. She said that they were digging trenches and forming bunkers! We were so startled by not what she was saying, but the fact that she was mentioning a specific nationality doing this. My mother had always been secular and totally non-nationalist, so when she specifically stated that the Serbs were doing this, my brother and I became worried for her. How wrong we were..... only a year later the fighting would begin. Both my brother and I were in denial when the breakup started. We grew up in a society that was totally in harmony. After denial, I was filled with anger. I couldn't understand why this would happen because we came from Sarajevo, a cosmopolitan city! I never imagined that it could ever end up like Beirut, divided upon religious lines. In other words, I understood that it was happening, but I couldn't fathom how this was happening. I guess that was our mentality, from Sarajevo and other Bosnian towns. It never occurred to us that thinking was so different in other parts of Yugoslavia.


3) What causes would you attribute to the breakup and did you experience them? Oh gosh.... my belief is that once the economy went downhill, the leaders such Tudjman and Milosevic were able to take advantage over an unhappy populace. From there, they both turned the situation into a national and religious divide among people, with Bosnia trapped in the center.


4) Did you anticipate or believe that Yugoslavia would breakup? No, not at all, however I felt that something was going to happen because the economy was so bad. If something were to happen, maybe it would have been a coup. I could even see that maybe Slovenia would have split off, but I never envisioned anything like war or a total breakup.


5) After the war in Bosnia, do you think that an identity crisis emerged? I strongly feel that an identity crisis emerged. Especially, in Bosnia, among people who grew up secular. During and after the war, I felt so disgusted by the atrocities and I felt like I lost my identity because my beliefs that I grew up with of tolerance were shattered. All my friends that I grew up with were Serb, Muslim, Croat, Jewish, etc, but we all felt Yugoslav, in the sense that we were part of a greater Yugoslavia. Basically, it is the same in that you can be American, but still identify with the country where you came from. Just to show how tolerant we were of others, my Serb/Croat neighbors would wash their dishes in chemicals to make sure that all non-kosher fats were dissolved, before inviting their Muslim neighbors for celebration of Christmas. This just shows how we respected the differences of one another.


6) What are the main lasting impacts of the breakup? There are so many lasting impacts. The largest impact is definitely the split between the people of Yugoslavia and especially in Bosnia. It will take many decades for trust to re-emerge and people to open their minds to wider views of nationalism, etc. Of course, you also have the economic factor. It was absolutely terribly on the economies of Yugoslavia. Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, etc are all still recovering and their economies will continue to be weak for many years to come.


7) Do you think that the breakup/conflict is complete? I'm afraid that I don't think it is over, it is just such a fragile and volatile area that the continuation of some sort of tension will return. I don't think that Kosovo and Serbia will ever fully be at peace because the Serbs will never allow their most holy site to be simply taken away.