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Kosova Under Yugoslavia (1945–1999) in the History Textbooks of Kosova and Serbia

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Nationhood and Politicization of History in School Textbooks

Abstract

The chapter focuses on the approach taken by primary and secondary-school textbooks of Kosova and Serbia to events in Kosova from 1945 to 1999. The Kosovar textbooks in question are published by the Libri Shkollor publishing house, those of Serbia by Zavod za udžbenike. The history textbooks of the two countries, approved by their respective ministries of education, are a key source for this chapter. It compares the descriptions given in them, drawing out the similarities and differences. It likewise sets against them findings of international authors about the events in Kosova in the same period. This chapter deals with some of the most important periods of the history of Kosova under the Socialist Federated Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), pointing out where the history books do not agree with one another and where they falsify the account. In an indirect way, the chapter draws out what the governments of Kosova and Serbia are suggesting, to the younger generations they are educating through these books, are the relations between them as neighboring states. I also aim, within the framework of this chapter, to reveal in the clearest possible way, based on facts, the basis of the often contradictory allegations made between the two peoples who come up against one another in Kosova.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The textbook by Isa Bicaj and Isuf Ahmeti (Bicaj and Ahmeti 2005, 124–125) is, to some extent, an exception to this. For the clashes between the forces of Shaban Polluzha and those led by Fadil Hoxha.

  2. 2.

    For the rights set out in the 1974 Constitution for Kosova see: Krieger (2001, 2–8).

  3. 3.

    See also: Hajrizi (2008, 196–216).

  4. 4.

    For the miners’ ten demands, see: Maliqi (1990, 254).

  5. 5.

    See also: Rexhepi (2010, 168).

  6. 6.

    See also: Đurić and Pavlović (2010a, 186).

  7. 7.

    See also: Đurić and Pavlović (2010a, 187).

  8. 8.

    There is more on this organisation at: http://www.hlc-rdc.org/.

  9. 9.

    Interview with Sandra Orlovic, deputy executive director of the Human Rights Fund, conducted by email, 16 December 2011. For the killings of Serbs following the war in Kosova, see also: Kandic (2001, 3).

  10. 10.

    The Kosova Memory Book (1998–2000) is an HLC publication in several volumes which gives the relevant data for every person killed or missing from the last war in Kosova: Albanian, Serbian, Roma, Bosniak and other civilians; members of the Serbian/ Yugoslav military and police forces and of Kosova Albanian armed groups, but also members of political groups of various ethnicities. The sources for the information in this publication are taken from witness or family statements, court proceedings, the notes from autopsies, newspaper articles, data from ICRC, UNMIK, KFOR, KLA and Serbian institutions.

  11. 11.

    See also: Bicaj and Ahmeti (2005, 202).

  12. 12.

    For more information, see: http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e48d9f6.html.

  13. 13.

    UNHCR Country Updates—Former Yugoslavia, UN Inter-Agency Humanitarian Situation Report: Kosova, pp. 65–70.

  14. 14.

    Some of the Kosovar textbooks even say that the Reçak massacre was described as genocide by William Walker, the head of the OSCE mission in Kosova. See: Bicaj and Ahmeti (2005, 202). Walker actually described it as a crime against humanity in the speech he gave at the burial of those massacred. For the speech of Ambassador William Walker and more on the Reçak massacre, see: Petritsch and Pichler (2002, 154–162).

  15. 15.

    William Schabas, “Gjenocidi në të Drejtën Ndërkombëtare”, Prishtina: FINNISH-UNHCR Human Rights Support Programme—Kosova, 2003, 467.

  16. 16.

    See also: Đurić and Pavlović (2010a, 187).

  17. 17.

    See also: Đurić and Pavlović (2010a, 187).

  18. 18.

    On 28 May 2010 HLC made a formal accusation at the Serbian War Crimes Court against the thirty-four people responsible for the killing of more than ninety and the injuring of more than 150 Albanian prisoners in the Dubrava Prison on 21 and 23 May 1999 after the NATO attacks on the prison of 19 and 20 May 1999. The charges can be found at: http://hlc-rdc.org/index.php/en/public-informationoutreach/pressreleases/208-krivina-prijava-za-ratni-zloin-protiv-ratnih-funkcionera-republike-srbije.

  19. 19.

    See also: Bicaj and Ahmeti (2005, 202).

  20. 20.

    The Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-government, Paris, 18 March 1999, can be found at: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/ramb.htm.

  21. 21.

    The text of the oath of the KLA soldier can be found on the webpage dedicated to Adem Jashari: http://www.ademjashari.com/uck.aspx?View=1&SMID=68&CID=19.

  22. 22.

    See also: Đurić and Pavlović (2010a, 186).

  23. 23.

    See also: Đurić and Pavlović (2010a, 186).

  24. 24.

    Temporary Agreement for Peace and Self-government, Paris, 18 March 1999, at: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/ramb.htm.

  25. 25.

    See also: Bicaj and Ahmeti (2005, 202).

  26. 26.

    The Technical-Military Agreement document between the International Security Forces (KFOR) and the governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia, Kumanovo, 9 June 1999, can be found at: http://www.nato.int/Kosova/docu/a990609a.htm.

  27. 27.

    The document drafted by Strobe Talbott (USA), Martti Ahtisaari (EU) and Victor Chernomyrdin (Russia) and accepted by the Serbian Parliament on 3 June 1999, can be found at: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/peace.htm#plan.

  28. 28.

    See also: Bicaj and Ahmeti (2005, 202).

  29. 29.

    The Undertaking of Demilitarisation and Transformation of the KLA can be found at: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/peace.htm.

  30. 30.

    Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Countil can be found at: http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/1999/sc99.htm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Prishtina, Prishtina, Kosovo

    Shkëlzen Gashi

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  1. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Gorana Ognjenović

  2. Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Oslo, Norway

    Jasna Jozelić

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Gashi, S. (2020). Kosova Under Yugoslavia (1945–1999) in the History Textbooks of Kosova and Serbia. In: Ognjenović, G., Jozelić, J. (eds) Nationhood and Politicization of History in School Textbooks. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38121-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38121-9_5

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