User:Sir Floyd/sandbox

George Orwell once stated: Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable

Notes on the former Yugoslavia
The former Balkan State Yugoslavia is indeed a complex affair. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall evidence has emerged that portrays this country in totally different light.

The region has had a truly tragic history since the creation of Yugoslavia in 1918. Dictatorships:
 * Parliamentary assassination of Stjepan Radic in Belgrade (1928)
 * The Jasenovac concentration camp of World War Two
 * Way of the Cross, Bleiburg and Foibe massacres (1945/46)
 * Srebrenica massacre of the early 1990s during the Bosnia War (1992–1995)
 * King Alexander I
 * Josip Broz Tito

Croatia and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia
Croatia and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia is a subject that is not on today’s Western Scholars minds, at all. Yet the Communist Party of Yugoslavia had a profound effect on the region. So much so that it’s created today’s political and culture scene.

The events of post World War Two are of Biblical proportion. As stated by Joze Dezman a noted Slovenian Historian (Slovenia a former republic of Yugoslavia).

The events were best documented in the European Public Hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes" held in Brussels in April 2008. The commission was mainly the work of Brussels European Union and the Government of Slovenia.

Concerns
A large proportion of information (books,articles) concerning the former Yugoslavia reminded me of the Yugoslavian encyclopaedias of the 1970s. The encyclopaedias were written in the same style as the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
 * William Benton, (publisher of the Encyclopedia Britannica), stated that: "about the second edition of the encyclopedia that the encyclopedia had a political bias and claimed that its purpose was a propaganda weapon". Sections of the Yugoslavian encyclopaedias were used as a propaganda weapon to show the superiority of Titoism and the Socialist Yugoslavia to other societies and political systems. Former communist Yugoslavia was a Totalitarian political system.

European public hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes”& former Yugoslavia"

 * Reports and proceedings of the 8th of April European public hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes”, organised by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January–June 2008) and the European Commission, stated the following: Totalitarian machines

Wikipedia & former Yugoslavia article
This is funny, Wikipedia states: Editor's notes: Victories? Editor's notes: Through the  Way of the Cross, Bleiburg and Foibe massacres (1945/46)
 * "The post-World War II Yugoslavia was in many respects a model [citation needed] of how to build a multinational state."
 * "The ethnic violence was only ended [citation needed] when the multiethnic Yugoslav Partisans took over the country at the end of the war and banned nationalism from being publicly promoted. "
 * "Most notable of the victories against the occupying forces were the battles of Neretva and Sutjeska."
 * "Yugoslavia solved the national issue of nations and nationalities (national minorities) in a way that all nations and nationalities had the same rights."

Editors Notes: Well, one could say, what would you expect from a Totalitarian political system? It needs to do historical re-writes. Part of its existence is based on falsehoods. It's the nature of the beast. Now I'm not saying it's all pseudo historical but sections of it would have to be. The regime had to justify its existence. I suspect it's all derived from 19-century thinking, i.e., Marxism combined with extreme Nationalism & Darwinism. The theory of Evolution incorporated into history of Civilisation. It is based on the Great Union of Southern Slavs combined with Communism's grand plan for its people to evolve into a superior society (and a superior man) as a whole.

Yugoslavia had it all. Kids were all educated in this way and taught to love the great leader. I'm not making this up: Check this!

Communist Yugoslavia has gotten off lightly when it comes to history. I would love to get my hands on scholarly works prior to 1945/46 and compare notes to what was written afterwards.

I'm not alone in these matters, there are others who share my view.

Centre for History, Democracy and Reconciliation-Hague

 * Myths and stereotypes of communism and nationalism which are still alive in our region (former Yugoslavia). Some historians still use these myths and stereotypes in their scientific work. CHDR will encourage researchers on the project "Myths in politics and modern history" to challenge these controversial aspects of the past which have been repeatedly manipulated for political purposes.

Link

Additional: There was some good academic work done during the Communist era ( & post Communist). Experience has taught me that these writings are usually hardish to obtain and the information is generally disregarded by hot headed Yugoslav nostalgia.

Media

 * Press Agency: Columnist Says Silence on Post-War Killings Needs to End (Interview). Ljubljana, 1 April (STA) - Alenka Puhar, an author who has written extensively about Slovenia's Communist past (a former republic of Yugoslavia), has told STA in an interview that post-WWII killings need to be examined and discussed. "We need to talk about it and live with it, with this pain," she said.
 * EurActiv Network Croatian PM pays tribute to controversial war victims (Croatia a former republic of Yugoslavia).
 * New York Times-Lens: Unending Divisions of the Bosnian War by James Estrin-Srebrenica massacre.
 * BBC 4: Tito's Ghosts (Directed by Mira Erdevicki. Combining stunning archive with incisive interviews this documentary charts how every stage of Tito's life has left its mark on the former Yugoslavia/BBC 4:)
 * Ian Cuthbertson review of Tito's Ghosts on www.theaustralian.com.au

Sir Floyd's notes on Wiki's article Bleiburg Massacre!
Wikipedia's older version of the article on the Bleiburg massacre, is an article that reads as if it was written by the former Communist Party of Yugoslavia. It has a dated writing approach that is reminiscent of the propaganda of the former Communist Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav regime was desperate to keep the massacre a secret however this all changed after the break up of Yugoslavia. These events happened after the end of World War Two. It has been written that the massacre was a revenge against the war crimes that were committed by the Nazi element of the retreating Axis Forces. This is true, but it is only part of the picture. The communists executed, without trial, a huge number of people that were deemed guilty by association only.

Update: Currently Wikipedian Editor Joy and others are attempting to make the article read as less biased. The article has been renamed 'Bleiburg Repatriations'.

Note: Reference information below: Milko Mikola- Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes. Chapter 3. Mass killings without court trials. (Page 163-164)
 * The Main Headquarters of the Yugoslav Army had already called attention to respecting the Geneva Convention on 3rd of May in its order on the treatment of prisoners of war. However, despite this injunction, both prisoners of war and civilians were killed on mass at the end of May and in the first half of June 1945 in Slovenia. Tito’s telegram on respecting the Geneva Convention was later revoked; however, it could only be revoked by the person who issued it in the first place, i.e. Tito himself.
 * It is estimated, mainly on the basis of graves discovered up to now, that around 100,000 captured members of different military formations and civilians from all parts of Yugoslavia were killed without a court trial in Slovenia.

According to the scientific research of Z.Dizdar, Partisan General Aleksandar Rankovic (head of the military intelligence post WW2, the infamous UDBA ) was only answerable to Josip Broz Tito. Aleksandar Rankovic played a major role in these executions and the only person who could give Rankovic such an order was Tito. The executions were very similar to the Soviet Purges and the massacre of Polish troops by the Soviets.

Note: NKVD executed tens of thousands of Polish political prisoners in 1939-1941/ Katyn massacre.

Concerning these events (forced marches-referring to Bleiburg & Way of the Cross massacres), The European Public Hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes" stated:


 * The victims of these events were estimate to be 100 000.
 * 581 mass graves.
 * There were a large number of civilians.
 * Many of the victims were also women.
 * There were a large number of regular POW army units.
 * Concentration and labour camps were established in Slovenia (a former republic of Yugoslavia) under communist rule after the end of the World War Two in Slovenia.