The Uniqueness of the Balkans

"How does the physical environment and ancient human history relate to a cultural interactions in the former Yugoslavia?”

Through doing research about the Balkans, I've discovered that so many things interest me about the area, from the food and culture to the landscape and trails. I was even more intrigued when I learned about how the history of Yugoslavia and the progression of that society to present times has impacted the various culture groups in the surrounding areas of the Balkans. It truly is fascinating to think how the actions of the past and the environment that surrounded people thousands of years ago can so heavily impact nations today!

The Zagreb Cathedral is the tallest building in Croatia, which in and of itself would be incredible to see. But if that's not enough to totally impress you, the history will be sure to blow you away. The cathedral was originally built in 1093, but it was destroyed by the Tatars in the 1200s. When the Ottomans invaded in the 15th century, the cathedral was fortified with surrounding walls for more protection. As the years progressed, elements continued to affect the cathedral, one of which even included an earthquake in 1883. This history is the driving force behind my curiosity in the Zagreb Cathedral. A place like this tells a story that no place in the United States can tell, primarily because the history of the US doesn't go back that far. It epitomizes the once united nation of Yugoslavia and in my opinion, serves as a metaphorical example of how the history of this nation has changed over the thousands of years following its construction. While this cathedral was being built, it was strong, sturdy, and served as a unifying landmark for the area. But, as dissenting opinions clashed and people began to disagree, the walls slowly crumbled and the cathedral began to deteriorate. However, it stands today, despite the conflict and disagreements that arose. That's just plain flat out inspiring if you ask me, and I can see this as being an excellent representation of the physical environment and historical elements that are addressed in our ASK question, making it a great location to visit while in Zagreb.

On a completely separate note, one thing that I've noticed in my reading and our Thursday meeting discussions is that the countries that once belonged to the former Yugoslavia now have very nationalistic identities and are extremely proud of their country. When I hear the word "nationalism," I typically think of cookouts and pool parties of the 4th of July and saying the pledge of allegiance. For these countries (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia) I feel like it's a completely different story. After World War II, Josip Broz Tito became the leader of Yugoslav and ruled the people with an iron fist up until he died. Then, once the Soviet Union collapsed, the ripple effect of democracy spread throughout much of Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia included. When political factions arose, the interests of these three different regions began to become very distinct and personalized. The more prosperous Croatia supported plans that the less wealthy Serbia opposed, sending this unified country into chaos. Eventually, Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia all declared themselves independent countries, but still continued to have deep rifts in their relationships with each other. It is here that we begin to see how Yugoslavia's history impacts the way that these countries interact with one another today. They each strongly support the country they come from, and since they know their country's history, I imagine that they are not too fond of the other regions that disagreed with them or fought them in wars. We don't typically view countries positively that fight the United States, so it would make sense that the former Yugoslavian nations would have some tension with one another as well. This leads to the conflict that exists today between these three cultures. Angela explained something really interesting to me, and that was the fact that they all speak a language that is basically identical (with the exception of some slang), but they are each insistent on keeping their language unique to their own specific country: BOSNIAn, CROATIAn, and SERBIAn, These language distinctions only further illustrate how the history of the Yugoslavia breakup had damaged their outlook on one another today, making interactions much more tense and difficult.