The Ottoman Empire and Bosnia

Mostar, Bosnia, Bridge from Turkish Quarter

Background. Think back on the shaping of Western culture, largely by its avoidance of Islam.

And that was only a matter of chance location.

Those in the path of the Ottomans, or the original followers of Mohammed, were shaped by a different culture. Absorbed it.

Venice:  Feared the Ottomans, hired others in the Balkans to fend them off, they did so, and were shunted aside.  Others in Europe let the Balkans cope with invasions by the Turks, while continuing its profitable trade routes, own territorial expansions, perhaps paying tribute only.  This is not a value judgment on competing cultures.  It is a request to consider the consequence of this burden of constant warfare on the Balkans, based on its location, in the path of the expanding Ottoman Empire. See http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h13zt.htm.

The centuries of fighting and then rule by Ottomans, affected a large area of the old Yugoslavia in particular. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro (then part of Serbia), Serbia, majority Eastern Orthodox; then Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia becoming home to many Muslim settlers, ethnic Albanians, following the victories of the Ottomans. These were not forced conversions - at the time there was not religious hatreds between the groups, more cultural antipathies of victor and vanquished.

Croatia and Slovenia were not part of the Ottoman Empire, and developed in different ways - Roman Catholic, not Orthodox Christian or Muslim largely. So the antipathy there became Roman Catholic vs. Eastern Orthodox, as I understand it.

Cultural Narratives. Any culture defines itself by narrative - what do the people believe about themselves, how they evolved. What work is left undone for next generations. See Europe Road Ways Themes: Kosovo I; Europe Road Ways Themes: Kosovo II. Here, the Turkish quarter in Mostar, and the old Mostar Bridge.

The topic narrows to this: How do all of us shape our responses to other populations, through the narratives we absorb. Who promotes what narrative, and who gains. Do some researching yourself. How does Kosovo impact on Bosnia, next door.

1. Kosovo's Cultural Narrative. Battle of Kosovo, Serbia. Kosovo has been (is) a province of Serbia, and at its core. In 1389, one particular battle at Kosovo, Serb against Turk, Christian against Muslim, resulted in Muslim victory, resounding Orthodox Christian defeat.

There emerged an epic interpretation of Christian loss, that ignited a nationalistic and religious fervor against the Turk that underlies much conflict in that area today. Kosovo.* Update 2/17/08 -Kosovo declaring independence. See discussion at World Wars I and 2 and Other Battles, Kosovo. Read how events at that time are interpreted in religious terms, parallels to martyrdom, and even Christ's death, and who came later in the form of a Mary, if you want to understand. Look up the "Maid of Kosovo." Search for the Kosovo Epic Poems, that took the place of "fact" in the population's consciousness, where there were few fact documented. Ripe for legend.

2. The Muslim view. To that deeply emotional view by the Christians, and to understand the depth of the issues, read now about the Muslim perspective, and their account of how they were treated under the Christians. See http://members.tripod.com/worldupdates/islamintheworld/id23.htm. At the time, this battle was not considered pivotal - the Ottomans would have won the area anyway - this was a mere ripple.

3. The Muslim advance continued after Kosovo. By 1492, the year that the Muslims were expelled from Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina fell to the Muslims. See "A Survey of the Indigenous Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina," by Saffet Abid, at http://members.tripod.com/worldupdates/islamintheworld/id23.htm. But that site also says that the Bogomils, see posts here about this historical Christian sect that was so persecuted by the Roman Church as heretic, gradually converted to Islam - no reference to that in earlier sites, that simply say they ceased to be.

Compare this to Western treatment of conquered people: The transition under the Muslims was peaceful in that conversions were not forced - populations were not slaughtered, see posts on "dhimmi" status at Europe Road Ways, Themes: Kosovo I and II.

5. How Later Genocides Emerge. With the Ottomans expelled by mid-19th Century, the ethnic Albanian Muslims remained. Memories of past Orthodox Christian Martyrdom persisted, followed by perceived wrongs suffered by Serbians in losing their lands; and those who are left (the ethnic Albanians) not being the "victors" but only the followers, leads to instability, views of deep unfairness. If the Ottomans are out, then the Serbians should have back their lands, went the thinking. So, genocide, ethnic cleansing, complete the process of returning Serbia's lands to Serbians.

Bosnia: Integral to the issue. Many ethnic Albanians settled there as well, as did Serbians. Bosnia itself had once been "Serbian" land - look up maps at the time just prior to WWI. Large areas look within Serbia's purview. So Serbian nationalism spread into Bosnia.

No answers here, but an interest in the merciful instead of the retaliatory, and concerned that our narratives bar looking at actuality. What enables stability among people. What does not. Who learned that first.

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*Apparently, the facts of the actual battle on the Field of Kosovo in 1389 are foggy, few contemporaneous records. But we have an epic cycle of poetry about it, the martyrdoms of the Serbian Christians under Prince Lazar, the assassination of Sultan Murad I in his tent the night before battle, by a Serb, the Maid of Kosovo tending to the wounded. That is what is "remembered" - the filled-in later interpretation, cropping, the spin, the legend, and it shapes people more than actual history.