The public opinion research organization Gallup recently published the results of its survey, the aim of which was to show what citizens in the post-Yugoslav area think about the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. To the surprise of many, as many as 81 percent of respondents in Serbia believe that the disintegration of the SFRY was a mistake, which was interpreted as the famous Yugonostalgia. In this regard, Serbia is convincingly the first among the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Is it really? Yugonostalgia or something else, historians from Serbia explain to Vreme.
FoNet-TITO-ANNIVERSARYHouse of Flowers / Photo: FoNet
Historian Bojan Dimitrijeviฤ estimated that such a result of the survey shows that Yugoslavia is still alive in the Serbian people, "regardless of the negative context of Yugoslavia for the Serbian state and Serbian history in the 20th century."
"This also shows that many Serbs do not distinguish between Yugoslavia and Serbia as separate states and that they considered Yugoslavia to be their own state," Dimitrijeviฤ told Vreme.
He pointed out that the result of the survey does not represent Yugoslav nostalgia, but a disappointed expectation that the independent states that left Yugoslavia will live better and be more prosperous.
"There was no integration into European streams either"
He added that there was no improvement, but on the contrary there were wars and general economic, social and economic backwardness.
"There was no integration into European streams either, which created the opinion among many people who lived in the Yugoslav era, as well as among those who listen to stories about Yugoslavia today, that that country was a better solution for the Serbian people and other peoples who lived in Yugoslavia, considering the context it had in the Cold War".
Dimitrijeviฤ pointed out that there is nostalgia, but also those disappointed expectations in connection with the transition, and that then people have a positive attitude towards the phenomenon of Yugoslavia considering the present day in which they live.
Comrade Tito in Jajce, November 1943.Josip Broz Tito in Jajce in November 1943
Isoriฤar Srฤan Miloลกeviฤ assessed that such a result has several layers.
"I think the decisive factor is the fact that Yugoslavia gathered the largest part of the Serbian people in one state. The identification of Serbia with Yugoslavia, that is, the understanding that Serbia played a key role in that country, no matter how it manifested itself, also plays a role in such a result," Miloลกeviฤ told Vreme.
"Serbia has not experienced aggression from another republic"
He pointed out that the fact that after Yugoslavia Serbia "mostly had lower failures and that its story is not a story of success" is also of no small importance.
Virus Outbreak Serbia Tito's AnniversaryPhoto: AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic
"There are quite a few authentic Yugoslavs in Serbia. In addition, in the process of the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia did not experience war or aggression from another Yugoslav republic. At the same time, these are just some of the reasons," said Miloลกeviฤ.
He estimated that, if the research were to delve into the motives of specific answers, one would come across various and probably mutually contradictory reasons why people think that Yugoslavia was a good state framework.
"The story of the failure of the country in which they live"
Asked how he interprets the fact that among those who believe that the breakup of Yugoslavia was a mistake, there are apparently also citizens of Serbia who were born after or immediately before its disappearance, given that the research includes respondents of various age groups, Miloลกeviฤ assessed that the reason for this is probably " the story of the failure of the state in which they live".
"As in the general population, I believe that the argument that the Serbs were united in that country also plays a role. Ethnic state disunity in the Balkans creates great frustrations. Of course, we should never rule out the fact that in Serbia the pro-Yugoslav commitment has always been of a first level of cosmopolitanism, as such it has never been compromised, as is the case in other areas," Miloลกeviฤ said.
Historian Milivoj Beshlin says that the results of the Gallup survey can be commented on both through the prism of the past and through the prism of the present.
"When it comes to the present, it is obvious that the citizens of Serbia are the least satisfied of all in the region with the current situation in the country. "Serbia is not reconciled with its current borders and current status, and obviously with the governance model of the current government," said Beลกlin.
"Always a 'better' past"
He sees this great southern nostalgia, i.e. regret for the past which is always "better", as a reflection of citizens' dissatisfaction with the present and impatience with the situation in the country.
Photo: Tanjug/ลฝika VuฤiฤMarshal of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito at the celebration of 30 years of victory over fascism in 1975
"The second argument is that Yugoslavia is perceived in Serbia - especially in the past 30 or more years, when nationalist ideology rules - as a kind of Serbian state, or, as one historian put it, as a 'Serbian state in which others also lived.' "Yugoslavia is generally understood in Serbia as a Serbian state, that is, a state in which it was known who was the most dominant nation," believes Beลกlin.
And besides that, there is also the idea of โโdominance and the international reputation and influence that Yugoslavia had, and there is also dissatisfaction with the current situation and position that Serbia has.
"It is not known exactly what the citizens are complaining about"
Speaking about the fact that those who were born after its disintegration also feel nostalgia for Yugoslavia, Beลกlin said that he assumes that this is due to the fact that a culture of remembering Yugoslavia is developing in Serbia, in which it is largely idealized.
Koca_Popovic_01Koฤa Popoviฤ and Tito / Photo: Stevan Kragujeviฤ (courtesy of daughter Tanja Kragujeviฤ)
"Nevertheless, from the available information about that research, it is not possible to see whether the respondents regret social justice, an orderly and legal state - because Yugoslavia, compared to the present Serbia, was still an orderly state, or whether they regret the fact that there was no corruption in Yugoslavia in to this degree that is present in Serbia, or maybe they regret authoritarian methods, because there is the famous fact that in Yugoslavia 'order was known,'" said Beลกlin.
"The most expensive Serbian project"
Historian Predrag Markoviฤ pointed out that the research shows how "false the pub lamentation about Yugoslavia as a Serbian failure" is.
"Ordinary people don't think that." Partly out of nostalgia for socialism, but also for deeper reasons. Yugoslavia is the largest and most expensively paid Serbian historical project. The only country where all Serbs could be together. As in the Soviet Union, there is nostalgia for a great state, a regional power," concluded Markoviฤ.
A Gallup survey showed that 77 percent of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina think that the breakup of Yugoslavia was a mistake. In Montenegro, that percentage is 65 percent, and in North Macedonia 61 percent. Slovenes are less sorry for Yugoslavia, 45 percent of them, Croats 23 percent, while only 10 percent of them are in Kosovo.
