Author: Nevena Kovačević
Montenegro’s most significant national holiday, especially since the so-called liberation by the government that came to power on August 30, is no longer commemorated as it should be. The real question is: do we even have anything to celebrate in an era when pseudo-academic panels, memorial services for Chetnik leaders, clerical glorification of war criminals, and increasingly aggressive indoctrination are infiltrating the education system as the dominant new normal? These trends are swallowing the monumental legacy of the People's Liberation Struggle (NOB). Can we truly celebrate while anti-fascist values are trampled and desecrated, day after day, year after year?
Let us remember: on July 13, 1878, Montenegro regained international recognition at the Congress of Berlin. And in 1941, this small country sent a powerful message to Europe and the world that resisting occupation is a duty of every occupied nation. Across the globe, the anti-fascist legacy of Montenegro is remembered as the proud heritage of courageous insurgents, heroes, and heroines.
In recognition of July 13, Antena M spoke with historians from across the region about why the Partisan legacy has been erased in Serbia, Croatia, and parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina; how Partisans became “out,” and Chetniks and Ustaše “in”; why the heroism of the People's Liberation War has been rebranded as class warfare and retribution against traitors; and whether Montenegro has the strength to confront unscientific historical revisionism.
Clerical Chetniks Cannot Destroy the Civilizational Values of the Anti-Fascist Struggle
Montenegrin historian Dragutin Papović argues that the Partisan or anti-fascist legacy has largely been discarded in these countries because it stood in the way of solidifying clerical-nationalist regimes, whose ideological roots trace back to pro-fascist movements from World War II.
“Beyond that, socialist Yugoslavia, founded on anti-fascism and the military victory of the Partisans, no longer exists. It had carefully preserved that legacy. With its dissolution, the Partisan heritage became, in many ways, an unwanted orphan”, Papović notes.
Still, he emphasizes that some of the Partisan movement’s values have endured.
“All the states that emerged from the former Yugoslavia owe their modern statehood to the Partisan movement. The state-building decisions made at the Second AVNOJ Session, as well as the inter-republic borders established during Yugoslavia, formed the basis for creating new states and gaining international recognition after 1991,” he explains.
Moreover, he adds, the anti-fascism of the Partisan movement remains the foundation for today’s multi-faith, multi-ethnic civil societies and democratic systems in these countries.
“These are enduring values of the Partisan legacy. Clerical chauvinists can topple monuments dedicated to the Partisan movement and falsify history, but they cannot erase historical truth or the civilizational values of the anti-fascist struggle”, Papović affirms.
Since the 1990s, the Dominant Culture of Memory Has Been Rooted in Anti-Communism
Serbian historian Milivoj Bešlin points out that the second Yugoslavia, the socialist one, was born from the wartime victory of the Partisan, anti-fascist movement, specifically the triumph of the People's Liberation Army, which united all Yugoslav peoples.
“It was a state founded on a shared anti-fascist value system. The traditions of the NOB were the cornerstone of that state’s identity”, Bešlin explains.
However, as socialism in Yugoslavia weakened and became delegitimized, so too did the ideological foundation of the entire political order.
“That opened the way for a new ruling paradigm. In place of socialism and its anti-fascist consensus, nationalism emerged as the dominant ideology in nearly every Yugoslav successor state,” he says.
Importantly, nationalism no longer embraced anti-fascism as a core value. Since every nationalist movement in the region had, during World War II, ultimately aligned with collaborationist forces, the new dominant narrative became anti-communism.
“As a result, the values symbolized by the Partisan, anti-fascist movement lost their prominence. Anti-communism took center stage, shaping a new culture of memory that became entrenched here in the 1990s. Since nationalism remains the prevailing ideology, it’s no surprise that any narrative about a supra-national, Partisan, anti-fascist movement struggles to gain traction. Nationalism still dictates the rules of the game in terms of dominant historical narratives,” Bešlin emphasizes.
The Partisan Legacy Was Erased Because of Its Supranational Character
Croatian historian Hrvoje Klasić believes the main reason the Partisan legacy was dismantled lies in the very nature of the movement itself.
“The Partisan movement was international, even supra-national. It fought for brotherhood, unity, and the equality of all peoples in a shared state, Yugoslavia,” Klasić recalls.
He explains that from the 1990s onward, the wars that broke out were fought to establish national states. In such a context, where each nation is battling for its own state, there is neither room nor desire to glorify a movement that had fought for a united, multi-national country.
“Not only does such an internationalist movement lose relevance, but national movements, regardless of their actions or consequences, are promoted as desirable. In other words: Chetniks for Serbs and Montenegrins in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina; Ustaše for Croats, primarily in Croatia, and to some extent in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Klasić concludes.
Civic Forces Lack Better Political Organization, Promotion, and Regional Cooperation
Papović points out that he disagrees with the view that Chetniks and Ustaše are so popular while Partisans are marginalized.
“Nationalist chauvinists, whose ideological role models are the Chetnik and Ustaše movements, are better organized and receive crucial support from churches, particularly religious leaders who have positioned themselves as national and political authorities. On the other hand, civic forces aligned with the anti-fascism of the Partisan movement enjoy significant support but lack stronger political organization, promotion, and regional cooperation,” Papović emphasizes.
Restored Capitalism Was Against Celebrating the Revolutionary Movement
Bešlin notes that nationalism is a key driver of the new culture of remembrance in Yugoslavia, but not the only one.
“With the collapse of socialism, and Yugoslavia itself, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, not only were new national states established with nationalism as the dominant ideology and this new culture of memory, but capitalism was also restored as the social and economic order. Naturally, capitalism did not favor celebrating the Partisan movement, which was predominantly communist, revolutionary, and responsible for creating a new order, socialism”, Bešlin highlights.
So, as he points out, the reason is not just nationalism; much of it lies in the restoration of capitalism, which the revolutionary, anti-fascist, and anti-capitalist movement could not fit into.
For Croats, the main threat was Serbia and the Yugoslav People’s Army
Klasić reminds that in 1991, from Croatia’s perspective, Croats wanted an independent state, and saw the main threat in Belgrade, Serbia, and the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA).
“This fight against Belgrade, Serbia, and the JNA was not just happening at that moment; it had been ongoing historically”, he tells Antena M.
Therefore, just as it was necessary to show in 1991 that the JNA and Yugoslavia were not what Croats wanted, it was also important to show that 1941 was the same, that the Partisan movement and Yugoslavia were undesirable, and that an independent Croatian state was the goal.
“In that sense, many saw the Ustaše movement as a national movement fighting for an independent Croatia. Many would say, yes, they committed crimes, while others argue, everyone committed crimes,” the Antena M interlocutor stresses.
However, he adds, the prevailing attitude was: if we have to choose between criminals who fought for a shared state of all peoples or a movement fighting for a state of one people, then we choose the latter.
Judicial rehabilitation of criminals and equating Partisans and Chetniks is being prepared
Papović points out that the crackdown on anti-fascists is a political strategy of clerical chauvinist forces, based on forcibly rewriting history.
“The pattern is the same across all countries in the region. First, through pseudo-historical propaganda, the Partisan movement is denied the fact that it was the only anti-fascist movement in the former Yugoslavia during World War II. Then the movement’s significant contributions and huge sacrifices in the anti-fascist struggle are denied, and the narrative is pushed that the Partisans did not fight Nazi occupiers but domestic political opponents, that their only goal was seizing power, achieved exclusively by eliminating political rivals”, Papović emphasizes.
Next, religious communities get involved, for example, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), which glorifies Chetnik leaders and members, while condemning Partisans and labeling them fratricidal.
“This way, collaborators, many of whom are convicted war criminals, are affirmed, and under the guise of religion and religious ceremonies, the Chetnik ideology is rehabilitated. This is preparing the ground for judicial rehabilitation of quislings and war criminals, as has been done in Serbia, to move on then to legally equating the Partisan and Chetnik movements, which in Serbia resulted in an unscientific revision of history,” our interlocutor stresses.
He points out that forcibly rewriting history is the tool of these revisionists, whose goal is to justify continuing the criminal policies of World War II that aimed to create ethnically and religiously homogeneous states.
“At the core of these policies are ethnic cleansing and genocide, which happened in the 1990s. A typical example is the Chetnik ideology”, Papović notes.
The key victory in 1945 was the triumph of anti-fascism
Bešlin emphasizes that when we talk about 1945 in the context of anti-communist memory culture, it is usually associated with something negative.
“I don’t have to mention Aleksandar Vučić, who recently called 1945 one of the worst years in our history, or the far-right singer in Croatia who sings about how bad 1945 was. For them, that year is the most negative”, the Antena M interlocutor points out.
In reality, when we talk about 1945, it is the year of liberation from fascism, both in Yugoslavia, Europe, and globally.
“That year marks the triumph of anti-fascism. Everything else that happened that year was secondary,” he underlines.
He points out that for Yugoslavia, besides the triumph of anti-fascism, the key victory was completing the federation’s construction, a huge historical achievement at the time, and the institutionalization of the Yugoslav revolution.
“If we list the key outcomes of 1945, it’s the defeat of quislings who aided the occupiers and fascist regimes. There was also a purge of class enemies, but that was secondary. The three cardinal events were the triumph of anti-fascism in Yugoslavia, completion of the federal state, and finalizing the Yugoslav revolution”, Bešlin explains.
A reckoning with past and present
Klasić stresses that in 1991 in Croatia, and broadly in the former Yugoslav republics, there was a reckoning not just with the present, but with the past.
“It was necessary to show that Yugoslavia was bad in every way, that communism was nothing good, and consequently, those who fought for such Yugoslavia, primarily the Partisans, were not good either,” Klasić points out.
He explains that the focus then shifted to flaws and everything negative, including Partisan crimes (which did happen), abuses by communists over 45 years, from Goli Otok to Bleiburg, the UDBA, and so on.
“The goal was simply to discredit the anti-fascist movement, Yugoslavia, and communism, to make room for the national state, to make room for nationalism. So, just as in 1945 there was no space for either side, in 1991 the same was true, only in 1945 the Partisans won, fighting for equality of all peoples and communism as the idea of a new, modern world where all emancipated classes would live together, where men and women would be equal, where all peoples would live together. Now, the aim was to show that the concept failed, and to open the way for the national state with capitalism,” Klasić concludes.
We’ll see if the state and society have the strength to resist the rehabilitation of Chetnik ideology
When asked whether Montenegro can stand up to unscientific revisionism, Papović points out that achieving this requires a twofold approach.
“We must respond to Chetnik propaganda strongly, convincingly, and with solid arguments. This is the responsibility of historians and all antifascist forces, intellectuals, political parties, NGOs, and civil activists”, our interlocutor emphasizes.
This, he says, should be a public, media, and social campaign.
“That’s important, but even more crucial is the role of institutions, especially the education authorities, the education system, and the judiciary. The judiciary must sanction any promotion of war criminals and prevent their violent or false rehabilitation”, Papović insists.
He stresses that the education authorities must not allow unscientific changes to the history curriculum or the appearance of textbooks promoting collaborators with fascists and Nazis from World War II.
“The education system must affirm antifascism and civic values through positive examples from history. And there’s no doubt that the Partisan movement is the best and only true example of antifascist struggle”, Papović underlines.
He adds that while the Partisan movement should also be studied critically, that does not negate the fact that the National Liberation Movement, led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, established antifascist values that endure because they are recognized worldwide.
“Until the government changed in 2020, this policy was consistently implemented in Montenegro. But when the Litija movement took power that year, a real danger arose that the criminal Chetnik ideology could be rehabilitated,” Papović points out.
He says it’s important to keep in mind that the greatest authority in that government is the Serbian Orthodox Church, which promotes Chetnik ideology.
“Furthermore, the current government includes political parties born from Chetnik ideology, like the New Serbian Democracy. Its leader is the Speaker of Montenegro’s Parliament and holds the title of Chetnik vojvoda (duke). From that party comes the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for education, science, and relations with religious communities. The Serbian Orthodox Church and its political allies intend to carry out an official rehabilitation of Chetnik ideology. They have power, but not the majority. We’ll see if the state and society have the strength to resist them,” Papović concludes.
Montenegro has the potential to resist extreme right-wing revisionism
Bešlin points out that when talking about Montenegro, we have to distinguish between authentic revisionism, meaning the rehabilitation of quisling and Chetnik movements, and what is imported from Serbia and promoted by Vučić’s state church as propaganda aimed at undermining Montenegrin society and creating divisions.
“This also includes the destruction of antifascist values in Montenegro and the promotion of Chetnik ideology, intended to divide Montenegrin society and sow hatred. This is not just a conflict between fascism and antifascism. In Montenegro, Chetnik ideology deeply affects interethnic relations because the Chetnik movement was genocidal, especially toward the Muslim population in Yugoslavia, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro,” the Antena M interlocutor emphasizes.
So, the intentions of those pushing this agenda in Montenegro are clear.
“Does Montenegrin society have the strength to fight this? I’m sure it does. The reactions we see today from different parts of society show enough potential for Montenegro to defend itself against this kind of extreme right-wing, unscientific revisionism. Montenegrin citizens need to realize their future lies within the EU, far from the Serbian-Russian world.”
Klasić says he’ll never understand how anyone in Montenegro can glorify Chetniks
“As a strong opponent of the Ustaše, I’ll cautiously say this: I can somewhat understand Croatian nationalists seeing the Ustaše as fighters for an independent Croatia. But I absolutely cannot see that the Chetniks, especially in Montenegro, fought for a free and independent Montenegro”, Klasić highlights.
He stresses that from the first to the last day of the war, the Chetniks were allies, or even servants of fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian Ustaše.
“In my view, Montenegro is the country with the greatest potential to enter the EU fastest. Not only that, I believe Montenegrins and Montenegro will experience rapid progress as soon as they join the EU and will finally reach where they should have been long ago. And those who glorify Chetniks and push Montenegro into Russian influence are dragging the country back into the past. I hope the citizens of Montenegro, Montenegrins, Serbs, and everyone else, will be able to resist this and understand that Montenegro’s future is as a democratic state within the EU, far from the Serbian and Russian spheres”, Klasić concludes.
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