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Dr. Enver Imamović (1999).
History of the Bosnian Army
Fojnica:
Svjetlostpp. 323
History
of the Bosnian Army, by Dr. Enver Imamović, was published
in 1999 by Svjetlost, Fojnica, as part of the series "Bosnian
Roots", with a printing run of 1000 copies.
I deliberately
use the term publication in order to avoid the words
novel, outline or the even more inappropriate term
scientific study, for this book is none of these.
Although History of the Bosnian Army aspires to be
an historical study, it is evident at first sight that this
is incorrect. The book lists no references, and although
the footnotes accompanying the text occasionally provide
sources for data, they are rarely relevant scientific sources.
As quotation sources, the reader finds few relevant documents,
serious historical studies, or even the names of acknowledged
historians who have researched the history of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and its neighboring countries. Muslim authors
are quoted predominantly. While one may forgive the author,
a Bosnian Muslim, for his prejudices and reluctance to include
books and historical studies written by acknowledged Croatian
and Serbian historians, it is unacceptable to write about
aspects of Bosnian history without referring to respected
historical bestsellers such as History of Bosnia by
Noel Malcolm, Europe, a History by Norman Davies or The
Times Guide to the Peoples of Europe.
One
thus concludes that the author is not interested in history,
but only in its political reinterpretation. This is a publication
whose purpose is political promotion; a pamphlet camouflaged
within an historical outline. In the collection of his materials,
the author has apparently chosen only those writers and
works whose theses and data fit easily into one of the basic
political and promotional goals of his book. The author
then imposes upon the data and quotations his political
and promotional interpretations and conclusions, and insinuates
them into the text, which then attempts to interpret history
along the lines of a fable.
We can
and should approach this book with a dose of humor. However,
the audience to which the book is directed - young people,
especially members of the Bosnian Army - might well take
seriously its theses. The bigger the fabrication, the easier
for people to accept.
Two
basic "historic" theses are presented as historical
fact:
a.
Since ancient times there has been a special "Bosnian"
people (ethnically and religiously different than the
neighboring peoples) on the territory of today's Bosnia
and Herzegovina. Its real representatives are Bosnian
Muslims, original inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
who until the acceptance of Islam had a special religion
- Bogomilism. Other peoples living in Bosnia and Herzegovina
are merely alienated parts of the "Bosnian"
people who accepted Catholicism or Orthodoxism, or else
are "newcomers" arriving in the early Middle
Ages.
b.
This special Bosnian people has a thousand-year-old
military tradition. With their military and moral qualities,
they are superior to all other entities in the area. They
are more courageous and have a stronger fighting spirit
than others, but have suffered throughout history because
of their honesty, and due to the conspiracies, schemes
and betrayals of others (Croats and Serbs). They have
always fought for others and have repeatedly been ungratefully
deceived. The most prominent exponents of this military
tradition are Bosnian aghas and beys, direct
descendents of thousand-year-old noble families.
Rebuttals
of these claims need not rely on Croatian historical literature.
It is sufficient to cite historical outlines in English,
intended for wider audiences. Here is what the well known
Times Guide to the Peoples of Europe says about Bosnian
Muslims:
Bosnian
Muslims are Slavic Muslims, descendants of Serbs and Croatians
who converted to Islam during the period that Bosnia was
under Ottoman rule (1463-1878). The national consciousness
of Bosnian Muslims is a recent phenomenom; only with the
creation of the first Yugoslav state in 1918 did they
begin to identify themselves as a nation. Muslims thoroughout
Yugoslavia were recognized in 1971 by the Communist authorities
as members of the "Yugoslav nation" and therafter,
many identified themselves in the official census as Muslims.
From 1992 on, the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina contributed
to a strengthening of the Muslim national consciousness.
Prior to the war in BH and the program of ethnic cleansing,
Muslims comprised 39% of the BH population. Because the
Bosnian Muslims identify themselves primarily on a religious
basis - their language and ethnicity are the same as the
non-Muslim South Slavs - their national sentiments became
stronger as a result of historical experience, especiallly
after the fall of the Ottoman powers.
It
is often claimed that Islam gained so many converts in
BH because this territory was a refuge for the Bogomils
(Christian heretics); however, the high rate of conversion
cannot serve as proof of partial Christianization, since
the Albanians, who emphasized their firm Catholicism,
also converted in large numbers to Islam when they hegemonized
by the Turks. As followers of Islam during the Ottoman
Empire, the Muslims in BH were spared participation in
the blood sacrifice (deversime), paid fewer taxes, and
had a greater degree of self-administration than their
Christian and Jewish neighbors. In 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina
came under the Austrian protectorate. The Austrian minister
who administered Bosnia hoped to neutralize, or at least
establish a balance between, Croatian and Serbian demands
by promoting "Bosnianism" and especially the
Bosnian nationality. In post-war Yugoslavia, Bosnia emphasized
itself as the most enthusiastic and "most Yugoslav"
republic. After the proclamations of Slovenian and Croatian
independence, Izetbegovic, as president of Bosnia, proclaimed
the independence of BH in 1992. The Yugoslav Army, under
control of Serbia, initiated aggression against BH and
armed the local Serbs, who then committed genocide on
the Muslims (and Croatians). Parts of BH were "cleansed"
of Muslims and they live today almost exclusively in Muslim-Croatian
areas of the state.
(excerpt
paraphrased from The Times Guide to the People of Europe,
edited by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, London, 1994, pp. 204-207)
If we
compare this widely known and scientifically indisputable
quotation about the Bosnian Muslims with what Enver Imamović
has written, it is obvious that he is reinterpretating history
for political purposes in order to achieve the following
goals:
1.
Encourage belligerence and instill military pride in Bosniacs-Muslims.
2.
Create a feeling of national superiority of Bosnian Muslims
over the other peoples living in Bosnia and Herzegovina
and the neighboring countries.
3.
Convince Bosnian citizens of their ethnic homogeneity
and indigenousness in order to implement the idea of a
unitarian and mono-ethnic "greater Bosnia".
There
also exists in the book a disproportion in the attention
devoted to certain historical periods. The prehistoric and
ancient periods are presented on 12 pages, the Middle Ages
on 25, the period of the Turkish reign on 180 pages, and
the period of the Austro-Hungarian reign on 70 pages. It
is particularly striking that the period from the end of
World War One until 1992 is not mentioned at all, and the
period from 1992 until 1995 is described in only a few lines.
The period of history in which Bosnia was part of the Ottoman
Empire, i.e. the period during which the Muslim element
was dominant, occupies a disproportionately large part of
the book. This is by no means accidental; it indicates a
tendency to associate "real Bosnians" with Islam.
Claims
about "Bosniacs" or Bosnian Muslims being an indigenous
people in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts
of Croatia, and who are "superhumans" - invincible
warriors - are not consistent with historical fact. By suggesting
an earlier origin of the Bosnian Muslims than that of the
other peoples in today's Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia,
the author attempts to create for them a privileged position
and promote their racial superiority over the "newcomers"
of Slavic descent - Croats and Serbs, and strengthen their
fighting spirit with the myth about "invincible warriors".
Politically, this could serve as an argument justifying
a future reduction of the rights of all peoples in Bosnia
and Herzegovina other than Bosnian Muslims. The claims about
the thousand-year-long continuous existence of Muslim bey
families as direct descendants of the early Middle Age nobility,
and consequently as holders of statehood, could well provide
the basis for a future political elite within a unitarian
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After
consideration of the theses and claims of this book, one
may now wonder whether they might be the guiding principles
for the creation of a great unitarian Bosnia, a Bosnia which
would extend over the borders of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If so, such political goals could easily generate new conflicts
in a country whose continuance is guaranteed only by the
constitutiveness and equality of the three peoples. Such
conflicts may well be the end goal of this book.
Predrag
Haramija