Orwell is Alive and Well

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I quoted Orwell in a previous blog (" We are all equal but some are more equal than others"). Here are four Communist paradoxes that were the credo of the former USSR's bloc countries:
- Everybody works, but nothing gets produced
- Nothing gets produced, but the production quotas were met 110%
- Production quotas were met 110%, but stores had nothing to sell
- Stores had nothing to sell, but the standard of life was continously growing.

For those of us who grew up during the 'Cold War' and the time of the 'Iron Curtain' perhaps the memory of Tito, the now deceased leader of the former Yugoslavia, is hazy. I really had no understanding of the situation but I can recall my father saying that when Tito died 'all hell would break loose'. A true prediction and a sad foretelling of the traumas of war that the countries that made up the former Yugoslavia have had to endure.

History lesson #1 - What was once one country is now 7: Slovenia;Croatia;Bosnia/Herzegovina;Serbia;Montenegro;Koso vo; and Macedonia.

History Lesson #2- All of these now separate countries have histories that go back as far as the 3rd century when first the Celts then the Romans invaded. Pretty much all their histories include invasion after invasion: Slavs; Serbs; Byzantines; Bulgarians; Ottoman ( those Turks again!); the Habsburgs; Hungarians, and even the Venetians.
During World War I several of the countries were occupied by Austrian/ Hungarian/ German troops. After the war some states formed the Kingdom of Serbians/ Croats/ Bosnians & Slovenes. This was the foundation of what was to become Yugoslavia.

History Lesson #3- The 'bad blood' between the Croats, Serbs, and Bosnians goes back centuries. Each has always been suspicious of the other. When the Nazi's invaded and installed a 'puppet' gov't in Croatia duringWorld War II ( run by the Ustase Party) many Croats supported them believing Fascism could give them greater independence from Serbia.

History Lesson #4- At the end of WW II the Ustase was forced out by a Partisan named Josef Broz- who we knew as 'Tito'. And, like so many other 'heroes of revolutions' ( Castro, Peron, Ho Chi Minh, Mao) he appointed himself President For Life. He held the former enemy states together for more than 40 years. After his death in 1980 things slowly began to unravel.

History lesson #5- The rise of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia and Franjo Tudman in Croatia- without going into extreme detail- as most of us remember the constantly confusing tug of war between Croats, Serbs, and Bosnians was even more confusing for those of use not Eastern European. Seems there are sub groups of Croatian- Serbs; Bosnian- Serbs; and Serbian -Bosnians. Suffice it to say thousands were killed over territorial disputes with the flames kept burning by the elected and appointed politicians. Many of us remember that horrible euphenism 'ethnic cleansing' and wondered how it could be happening after all the horrors of the WWII Holocaust became known.

History Lesson # 6 - Tudman, who died in 1999, and Milosevic, who is on trial for war crimes, were both cutthroat in their single minded attitudes about ethnic divisions. Tudman ordered wide scale 'cleansing' targetng Serbs and Muslims. While Milosevic took off after the Croats. They both had secret negotiation meetings ( like Hitler and Stalin had had) even as they were denouncing each other and killing ruthlessly.

So what is Serbia like today after living under the double whammy of Communism for the last 50 years and then the war? I cannot tell you anything except my very brief observations. After a stop in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, which included a brief visit to the ancient fortress Kalemegdan (which goes back to Roman times), and a visit to Tito's Tomb( he died in 1980), I'd say it has a future. The streets were congested with traffic which told me that people have the means to buy a car. The people were fashionably dressed, especially the young women many if whom wore lovely outfits and balanced on stiletto heels while walking on uneven cobblestone streets. The city seemed to have many shops. I saw few vacant buildings and much new construction.

The world wide recession has hit these countries very hard. Many college educated young people cannot find work in their fields. Some, who are able to speak English, work in American fast food places or as hotel workers. While others go to other countries to find work and many never return. They refer to this as "our brain drain".

Next a little about the Blue Danube......
Carolyn/Gunga

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