Fear, Memory, & Ethnic Mobilization by Croatian Serbs, 1991-1995 (Research Brief)
June 30, 2010
My research investigated why many, but not all, Croatian Serbs mobilized for armed conflict between 1990 and 1995, focusing in particular on the role of historical, collective memories of World War II atrocities by the Croatian Ustaša regime against Serbs. I collected Serbian and Croatian press accounts from 1989 to 1992, captured rebel Serb political and military documents, quantitative datasets, as well as monographs, scholarly analyses, and memoirs in Serbian and Croatian. New (and unpleasant) historical memories associated with new political symbols were created in 1990-1995 in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Serbia. A better understanding of the factors that promote – and those that hinder – a willingness to take up arms on behalf of an ethnic group may suggest better strategies for preventing mobilization before it spirals out of control.
Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.
John W. Schiemann, of Fairleigh Dickinson University, was a 2009-10 Short-Term Travel Grants (STG) fellow.
