Sava Nemanjić and Serbia between Epiros and Nicaea

Sava Nemanjić and Serbia between Epiros and Nicaea

Author(s): Božidar Ferjančić,Ljubomir Maksimović / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Sava Nemanjić; Stefan the First-Crowned; Serbia; Nicaea; Epiros; Byzantine succession

The authors analyze Serbia’s position and politics in relation to the Greek states of Epiros and Nicaea which emerged after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1204. The available sources show that Serbia under Stefan the First-Crowned and his successors wisely used the rivalry between the two Greek states, which both sought to present themselves as the lawful successor of the fallen Empire of the Romans, and thus safeguarded her independence. Acting as an adviser to Stefan the First-Crowned and his successors, his brother Sava played a prominent role in conducting this realistic policy.

Pašić and Milovanović in the Negotiations for the Conclusion of the Balkan Alliance of 1912

Pašić and Milovanović in the Negotiations for the Conclusion of the Balkan Alliance of 1912

Author(s): Dimitrije Đorđević / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Pašić; Milovanović; Serbia; Bulgaria; Balkans; alliance; treaty; Balkan Wars

This essay examines the divergence in views and actions between the two leading Serbian statesmen, Nikola Pašić and Milovan Milovanović, during the course of negotiations with Bulgaria which led to the conclusion of the Serbo-Bulgarian alliance, a prerequisite for the successful military operations against the Turks in the Balkan War of 1912. Milovanović, the foreign minister, considered an agreement with Bulgaria as an indispensable diplomatic asset for Serbia which would allow her to preserve her independence in the face of the hostile Austria-Hungary and secure an outlet to the Adriatic Sea. Although he fully appreciated the difficulties of Serbia’s position pointed out by Milovanović, Pašić was rather unbending in respect of the territorial concessions to Bulgarians in Macedonia to which Serbia had to agree in return for the conclusion of an alliance. This essay demonstrates that the difference between Pašić and Milovanović was a matter of tactics rather than principle. The former realised that the price had to be paid for the Bulgarian alliance but preferred to have the Serbian government accept an unfavourable borderline under duress, because of the arbitration of Russian Emperor, rather than on its own volition. Not willing to take the responsibility for the concessions made in Macedonia, Pašić chose to present formal rather than real opposition to his party colleague. It was Milovanović’s diplomatic elasticity and courage that enabled the Serbo-Bulgarian agreement to come into being.

Bread in the Folk Culture of the Serbs in Its Pan–Slavic Context

Bread in the Folk Culture of the Serbs in Its Pan–Slavic Context

Author(s): Ljubinko Radenković / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: bread; rituals; customs; folk culture; Serbs; Slavs

The Slavs do not consider bread to be a common foodstuff, but a sacred object, a symbol of wealth and happiness. Almost all significant rituals (holidays, rites from the life cycle of a person, occasional magical activities) use bread. In some of them, such as marriages or the Serbian holiday krsna slava, it is the main ritual object, which has great symbolic value. This paper addresses the use of bread in the ritual behavior of the Serbs and related peoples, where bread has the characteristics of a symbol and therefore gains a communicative function (it is used to convey or to receive information). It is also points out that the symbolic function of bread changes depending on the grain used to make it, whether it is leavened or unleavened, and the shape of it.

Croatian Pretensions to Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1848

Croatian Pretensions to Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1848

Author(s): Vasilije Đ. Krestić / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Croatia; Greater Croatia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; territorial pretensions; Croatian state and historical right; Serbs; Serbia geopolitics

Since the early 1860s many Croat politicians, both prominent (from Ante Starčević and Ante Pavelić to Franjo Tudjman) and little known, have been openly expressing the ambition to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia at a favourable moment and under certain conditions, invoking Croatian state and historical right in support of their pretensions. These pretensions, born out of the belief that the unfortunately shaped territory of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia lacks the necessary strategic depth, have led to a fully-fledged strategy for creating an ethnically and religiously pure Greater Croatia and to constant conflict with the Serb side which also lays claims, predominantly ethnic, to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A millennium of Belgrade (Sixth-Sixteenth centuries): A Short Overview

A millennium of Belgrade (Sixth-Sixteenth centuries): A Short Overview

Author(s): Jovanka Kalić / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Belgrade; history; Byzantine Empire; Serbian capital; King Dragutin; Despot Stefan Lazarević; Hungary; Serbs and Ottomans

This paper gives an overview of the history of Belgrade from the reign of Justinian I (527–565), i.e. the time of Slavic settlement, to the Ottoman conquest in 1521. The millennium can be divided into three thematic and chronological units: the Byzantine era (up to 1204), the Serbian era and, finally, the Ottoman era (fifteenth–sixteenth centuries). Within the Byzantine cultural orbit, and especially during the twelfth century, the city played a major role in the relations between the Byzantine Empire and Hungary. Byzantine emperors sojourned in Belgrade on multiple occasions. The city reached its peak during the reign of Despot Stefan in the early fifteenth century. After his death in 1427, the Ottoman threat cast its shadow over the city. Its inhabitants, the Serbs, defended Belgrade for almost a century (1427–1521), thus defending the whole of Central Europe. Belgrade’s fall into the Ottoman hands was followed by the demise of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1526. Even Vienna was threatened by the Ottomans, in 1529.

Stojan Novaković And The Foreign Policy Of Serbia

Stojan Novaković et la politique étrangère de la Serbie

Author(s): Mihailo Vojvodić / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Stojan Novaković; Péninsule; Serbie; Empire ottoman; Autriche-Hongrie; Russie; politique étrangère

Cet article décrit le rôle capital de Stojan Novaković (1842–1915) dans la politique étrangère du Royaume de Serbie durant les dernières décennies du XIXe et au début du XXe siècle. Diplomate, premier ministre et ministre des Affaires étrangères, chef politique du Parti progressiste, Novaković s’occupait profondément des questions les plus importantes de la politique serbe et balkanique de l’époque telles les questions de la Vieille Serbie et de la Macédoine, de l’intégration nationale serbe ainsi que des perspectives de l’unification yougoslave et de la confédération balkanique. Confrontant les aspects divers de la politique des grandes puissances dans les Balkans au tournant des siècles, l’auteur cherche à élargir la compréhension des idées politiques de Novaković en tant qu’homme d’État, intellectuel et idéologue national.

Modernization Mixed with nationalism

Modernization Mixed with nationalism

Author(s): Konstantin Nikiforov / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Modernisation; nationalism; Balkans; Serbia; Yugoslavia; Europe

This essay reflects on a particular manner in which modernisation have taken place in the Balkans in modern history, from the 1878 Berlin Congress onwards. The Balkan countries faced twofold difficulties in their development: they had to overcome their backwardness stemming from the centuries of the Ottoman yoke and catch up with modern Western Europe, and resolve their numerous mutual territorial and political disputes. The latter task was especially difficult due to the constant interference in Balkan affairs on the part of Great Powers. This interference further aggravated nationalistic tensions between the Balkan states. The peculiar mixture of modernisation efforts and nationalism remains to this day when the entire region strives to join the European Union.

David Urquhart’s Perceptions of the Eastern Question. The Affairs of Serbia

David Urquhart’s Perceptions of the Eastern Question. The Affairs of Serbia

Author(s): Jelena Milojković-Đurić / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Eastern Question; Ottoman Empire; Serbia; David Urquhart

At the beginning of his diplomatic career in Constantinople in 1835, David Urquhart was instrumental in promoting the British cause by endorsing its political grand design and mercantile interests in Turkey, Greece, the Caucasian region, Crimea, Serbia and adjacent Balkan principalities. While observing the complexities of the Eastern Question, Urquhart recognized the underlying importance that Serbia had attained in the context of competing imperial interests in the Balkans. His engaged commentaries on the crucial changes in Serbian political discourse elucidated as well his understanding of Serbian history and culture past and present. Urquhart discerned a correspondence between Serbian political affairs and the inherent situation in the region of the Caucasus and Circassia.

The Absolute Power of the Sovereign, Bureaucracy, Democracy and Constitutional Government in the Works of Slobodan Jovanović

The Absolute Power of the Sovereign, Bureaucracy, Democracy and Constitutional Government in the Works of Slobodan Jovanović

Author(s): Vojislav Stanovčić / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Slobodan Jovanović; nineteenth-century Serbia; legal theory of the state; democracy; totalitarianism; bureaucracy; constitutional government; absolutism

The papers discusses the views of Slobodan Jovanović (1869–1958) on several phenomena of Serbia’s political and institutional development in the hundred years between the First Serbian Uprising in 1804 and the fall of the Obrenović dynasty in 1903, and on different political systems, looking at the sources on which his thought drew upon, the ideas he was guided by and the theoretical framework of his legal and socio-political thinking. His major work, a legal theory of the state, as most of his other writings, was his own contribution to what he held to be a national mission, the building of a modern state based on the rule of law.

Eulogiae Terrae Sanctae of St Sava of Serbia

Eulogiae Terrae Sanctae of St Sava of Serbia

Author(s): Danica Popović / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Eulogiae; pilgrimage; Holy Land; St Sava of Serbia

The focus of the paper is on the eulogiae that Sava of Serbia, on his pilgrimage in the Holy Land, sent to the abbot of Studenica, Spyridon: a little cross, a little belt, a little towel and a little stone. In his letter accompanying the gifts, the earliest surviving work of Serbian epistolary literature, Sava points to their prayer and protective function. Sava’s eulogiae are looked at against the background of Eastern Christian devotional practices.

Serbia, the Serbo-Albanian Conflict and the First Balkan War

Serbia, the Serbo-Albanian Conflict and the First Balkan War

Author(s): Dušan T. Bataković / Language(s): / Issue: 45/2014

Keywords: Serbia; Old Serbia; Ottoman Empire; Kosovo; Metohija; Serbs; Muslim Albanians; First Balkan War

After the restoration of Serbia in 1830, the areas of medieval Serbia left out of her borders were dubbed Old Serbia – Kosovo, Metohija, Rascia (the former sanjak of Novi Pazar and the neighbouring areas). Old Serbia (from 1877 onwards the vilayet of Kosovo) was dominated by local Albanian pashas, whereas the Christian Orthodox Serbs and their villages were attacked and pillaged by Muslim Albanian brigands. The religious antagonism between Muslims and Christians expanded into national conflict after the 1878 Albanian League had claimed the entire “Old Serbia for Greater Albania”. The position of Christian Orthodox Serbs, who accounted for a half of the population at the end of the nineteenth century, was dramatically aggravated due to Muslim Albanians' tribal anarchy, Austria-Hungary's pro-Albanian agitation and, after 1908, frequent Albanian rebellions. All efforts of Serbia to reach a peaceful agreement with Muslim Albanian leaders in Old Serbia before the First Balkan War had ended in failure. The First Balkan War was the most popular war in Serbia’s history as it was seen as avenging the 1389 Battle of Kosovo which had sealed the Ottoman penetration into the Serbian lands. In October 1912, Serbia liberated most of Old Serbia, while Montenegro took possesion of half of the Rascia area and the whole of Metohija. While the decimated and discriminated Serb population greeted the Serbian and Montenegrin troops as liberators, most Albanians, who had sided with the Ottomans, saw the establishment of Serbian rule as occupation.

Contents

Sadržaj

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): / Issue: 05/2007

TOC of the Issue 5/2007

CONTENTS

САДРЖАЈ /

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): / Issue: 1-2/2008

TOC Issue 1-2/2008

CONTENTS

CUPRINS / TABLE DE MATIÈRES

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): / Issue: 4/2013

contents of studia 4/2013

Contents

Turinys

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): / Issue: 53/2010

Keywords: turinys; contents

Turinys / Contents

Contents

Sadržaj

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): / Issue: 9/2013

TOC of the Issue 8/2013

In memoriam Dr. Josef Vlášek

Dr. Josef Vlášek njeboh

Author(s): Franc Šěn / Language(s): / Issue: 2/2015

Keywords: wopominanje; Gedenken; Josef Vlášek; Slawistik; Literaturwissenschaft; Čech; Tschechisch; Sorabistik; memory; Slavonic studies; literary studies;

Review: Eva Lahnsteiner: Minderheiten. Versuch einer völkerrechtlichen Begriffsbestimmung.

Rezension: Eva Lahnsteiner: Minderheiten. Versuch einer völkerrechtlichen Begriffsbestimmung.

Author(s): Ludwig Elle / Language(s): / Issue: 2/2015

Keywords: Minderheiten; Minderheitenschutz; Begriffsklärung; Defintion; Legaldefinition; minorities; protection of minorities; definiton; legal-defintion;

In memoriam Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Sperber

In memoriam Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Sperber

Author(s): Walter Wenzel / Language(s): / Issue: 2/2015

Keywords: wopominanje; Gedenken; Wolfgang Sperber; Sprachwissenschaft; Linguistik; Sorabistik; Universität Leipzig; memory; linguistics; the University of Leipzig;

Beyond a ‘Homeland’ at Home: On Sorbian Transnationality

Jenseits der ‚Heimat‘ zu Hause: zu sorbischer Transnationalität

Author(s): Walter Koschmal / Language(s): / Issue: 2/2015

Keywords: Jan Skala; Kulturwille; Zeitschrift; Heimat; Heimatgefühl; Kultur; Eigenkultur; Fremdkultur; Johannes Urzidil; Sorbian culture; journal; homeland; culture; Moderne; the modern age; transnationel concept;

The themes of ‘homeland’ and homeland discourse play a central role in Sorbian culture. That which is specific to and foreign to its culture is often strictly separated, for example by Jan Skala in the journal Kulturwille (1925). This article discusses the reasons – using amongst others the example of the polemical debate between Johannes Urzidil and Skala – for the emphasis on exclusion, as opposed to transitional processes. An ambivalent and variable concept of homeland is developed as a modern, regionally influenced one. This has already been formulated in Sorbian lyric poetry in the 20th Century. The transnational concept of homeland is associated with a pluralistic Sorbian identity. It no longer needs to set itself apart from other European regional identities and ‘homelands’.