SERBIA AND GERMANY – HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

By Petar S. Ćurčić, historian of the Institute of European Studies

Positive Legacy Disregarded

Germany’s importance to today’s European Union points to the essential need to overview the European continuity of Serbian politics and remind of the importance of good relations with Berlin

THE 1189 MEETING OF STEFAN NEMANJA AND FREDERICK BARBAROSSA (19TH CENTURY) BY KOSTA MANDROVIĆ

One essential question for historians who study international politics is the character of the relationship between Germany and Serbia. Despite the fact that relations between these two countries are often viewed in black and white terms, often with the dualistic Manichean division of the world into good and evil, reality refutes this view of things. The deep penetration of these two peoples and countries has continued for many centuries. Despite sources from medieval times and the early modern era being overly fragmentary, they clearly indicate the usefulness of cooperation that has, in many ways, extended beyond purely diplomatic forms (the late-12th century agreement on alliance between Stefan Nemanja and Friedrich Barbarossa; the arrival of miners from Saxony in the 13th century etc.). However, more intensive contacts only came with the era of the enlightenment and the creation of nation states during the 19th century.

THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN STATES – WHAT DID SERBIA LEARN FROM GERMANY?

With the incorporating of the Serbs into their own state, the Habsburg

Monarchy also enabled their inclusion in the Central European milieu and their greater connection with the intellectual centres of German lands. Through learned Serbs from Austria, and in particular Dositej Obradović, who was educated and shaped enduringly in Halle and Leipzig, the rebellious, young Serbian state began the lasting construction of its institutions in 1804. Testifying to the importance of the German language is the fact that it was the main foreign language in Ivan Jugović’s ‘Great School’, while the German public showed considerable interest in the phenomenon of the emergence of the modern Serbian state in the decades that followed the end of the struggle for independence, which is also shown by the famous “Serbian Revolution” work of Leopold Ranke, the most important and respected European historian of the 19th century.

Already during the 1830s, the government of the then Principality of Serbia decided to work systematically to educate experts who would respond to the challenges of the emerging state. Through scholarship programmes, talented young Serbian school pupils were sent to various European centres to acquire knowledge and skills. Their contribution to the transfer of knowledge and strengthening of institutions was immeasurable, as was that of individuals who held important political positions. The most important military and political decision-makers in 1878, the year the country gained its independence, had studied in Germany. Namely, Jovan Ristić – as an historian, diplomat and politician -and Milojko Lešjanin and Ranko Alimpić – as military commanders – were educated at prestigious universities and military schools in Heidelberg and Berlin. The results of such an educational policy contributed to the country’s further development. According to the research of historians, economists and engineers, but also educators (especially university professors) and lawyers were educated at German universities, specifically in Berlin and Munich, and subsequently in

LITHOGRAPH OF DOSITEJ OBRADOVIĆ BY ANASTAS JOVANOVIĆ

Testifying to the importance of the German language is the fact that it was the main foreign language in Ivan Jugović’s ‘Great School’, while the German public showed considerable interest in the phenomenon of the emergence of the modern Serbian state, which is also shown by the famous “Serbian Revolution” work of Leopold Ranke, the most important and respected European historian of the 19th century

Leipzig, Heidelberg, Jena, Halle, Bonn and Würzburg. The creation of the Serbian statistical office, which is of great importance to the collection of data that provides the basis to construct the long-term development forecasts of each country, also wouldn’t have been possible without Vladimir Jakšić, who was educated in Tübingen and Heidelberg.

THE ECONOMY AND FINANCE AS BEARERS OF POSITIVE CHANGE Although Berlin didn’t officially show great interest in Serbia after the Berlin Congress of 1878, primarily due to consideration for its allies in Vienna, relations began changing more significantly at the beginning

TITO AND WILLY BRANDT

of the 20th century. Although Vienna and Berlin were political allies prior to World War I, Germany and its economy didn’t official side with Austria-Hungary in the economic blockade of Serbia from 1906 to 1911. It was then that Germany became a significant trade partner of Serbia for the first time in modern history. By utilising the blockade and establishing economic cooperation with Belgrade, Germany’s share of Serbia’s international trade grew rapidly, from a modest 5.63% to an impressive 40.4% in just a few short years. Without this kind of interest from the German economy, Serbia would have struggled to handle the pressure applied by Austria-Hungary at the time, and there would have been no national pride over the Customs War.

Following the trauma of World War I, it was necessary to maintain the European peace that had been established. Despite the fact that there were disagreements between the Weimar Republic and the then new Yugoslav state, in 1921 even the government of Nikola Pašić (prime minister during the time of World War I) expressed regret that the country was unable to normalise relations with Berlin more quickly. The aspiration to do so was not accidental, and the two country’s needs were mutual. On the one hand, the Weimar Republic needed raw materials for its own industry, while on the other hand, it was important for the young Yugoslav state to both secure a business partnership and strengthen cooperation with a country whose influence could mitigate the external pressure applied by Austria and Italy. However, the circumstances in Europe didn’t favour such normalisation, with better times only returning after World War II.

The fervour of the conflicts that played out in the 20th century can largely obscure the centuries of positive influences that permeated between Serbia and Germany, or between Serbs and Germans. An immeasurable contribution to the development of the country was made by individuals who championed the transfer of knowledge and the country’s progress for centuries

BETWEEN IDEOLOGY, ECONOMY, FRAUGHT HISTORY AND REALITY (1945-1991)

The first decades of the Cold War were marked by great tensions between two opposing blocs on the territory of the then two Germanys (the 1948 and 1949 blockade of Berlin; the quelling of the 1953 uprising in East Germany; the Berlin crisis of 1961). After the war, Yugoslavia’s new policy adjusted its own position towards the Federal Republic of Germany primarily on the basis of factors that were ideological (rivalry between communist and liberal democratic states), geopolitical (global conflict between two blocs) and economic. Despite the then Yugoslavia being ideologically closer to East Germany, relations with West Germany were reflected primarily in the light of the state of East Germany. The then Yugoslav leadership, led by Josip Broz Tito, considered that, although the two Germanys was a political reality, for the sake of European peace it was necessary to overcome bloc conflicts through cooperation at the European level and the easing of tensions in German countries. Yugoslav recognition of East Germany worsened relations between Belgrade and Bonn for several years, but normalisation also appeared with the arrival of Willy Brandt and the era of detente between the great powers in the late 1960s. Chancellor Brant’s new policy also provided wind to the sails of Yugoslav plans to establish a European organisation for collective security CSCE/OSCE. The coming to power of the Social Democrats in the late 1960s, coupled with the personal links between Brant and Tito, enabled the Yugoslav state and its faltering economy to receive more favourable loans that spurred the development of the country.

In light of these changes, FR Germany’s most important left-wing intellectuals (Ernst Bloch, Jürgen Habermas, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm and others) visited Yugoslavia in the late 1960s and maintained contacts with a group of oppositionminded Yugoslav philosophers gathered around the Praxis journal and the Korčula Summer School. The leftist intellectual opposition wasn’t favoured by the communist regime of the time, which began restricting freedom of thought, and the Federal Republic of Germany’s authorities came to the defence of persecuted Yugoslav professors on several occasions. It was also under such circumstances that future Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić went to Germany to study, where he received full scientific affirmation.

JOVAN RISTIĆ

LEOPOLD VON RANKE

GUEST WORKERS – A LASTING BRIDGE IN RELATIONS

The “economic miracle” of the Federal Republic of Germany completely outshone the rest of Europe in terms of growth rates and standards. Although socialist Yugoslavia had also recorded high rates of development in the first decades after World War II, its economy had already begun stagnating during the ‘60s, despite numerous reforms. From an economic perspective, Yugoslavia could not extract itself from the European framework, despite proclaimed policy of non-alignment, and testifying to this is the fact that it had far greater cooperation with West Germany than all non-aligned and most communist countries combined during the entire post-war period.

The opening up of West Germany to foreign workers (so-called Gastarbeiter – guest workers) contributed to reducing Yugoslavia’s unemployment. Research shows that around half a million Yugoslavs had been working in West Germany in 1973. Germany’s appeal to workers from the country was no accident. Apart from geographical proximity, another decisive factor was also the standard of living, given that earnings in West Germany at the end of the 1960s were three times the Yugoslav average. Although they were consumers in the host country, Yugoslav workers still sent remittances home to their relatives. Remittances increased rapidly during the 1960s, growing quickly from 104 million Deutschmarks in 1964 to 503 million in 1969, and that rapid growth also continued in the subsequent decades. Serbia today remains among the top thirty recipient countries of remittances from their own emigrants.

The fervour of the conflicts that played out in the 20th century can largely obscure the centuries of positive influences that permeated between Serbia and Germany, or between Serbs and Germans. An immeasurable contribution to the development of the country was made by individuals who championed the transfer of knowledge and the country’s progress for centuries. Germany’s importance to today’s European Union points to the essential need to overview the European continuity of Serbian politics and remind of the importance of good relations with Berlin. This latter aspect is particularly pertinent considering that Germany hasn’t only been among the biggest investors and donors to Serbia over the past few decades, but also that it is able, with its diversified relations and resources, to assist in the sustainable development and establishing of stability in this region that’s so burdened by various conflicts.