Prikaz//Review: Journal of the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo (History, History of Arts, Archeology), posebno izdanje: Reflections on Life and Society in the Western Balkans. Studies in the History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, knjiga 7, broj 2, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo 2020, 321 str.

Prikaz//Review: Journal of the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo (History, History of Arts, Archeology), posebno izdanje: Reflections on Life and Society in the Western Balkans. Studies in the History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, knjiga 7, broj 2, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo 2020, 321 str.

The State of school system in Bosanska Krupa and its surroundings during Austro-Hungarian administration

Very few papers have been written about the development of education in the wider area of Bosanska Krupa during the Austro-Hungarian administration (1878-1918). No comprehensive historical study is known that treats exclusively the development of education in this area during the occupation period. An exception is the book by Elvira Islamović entitled „Schooling and education in the Bihać district during the Austro-Hungarian administration“, published in Bihać in 2008, which in one part deals with the development of schooling in the Bosnian Krupa area. The starting point for the study of the past of Bosanska Krupa and its surroundings is the work of a group of authors entitled „Bosnian-Krupska municipality in the war and revolution“ published in Bosanska Krupa in 1969, which presents a rough overview of Bosnian Krupa's history until the first years after World War II. war and partly the development of education during the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and the period between the two world wars, and more recently the following works: Mithad Kozličić, „Population and settlements of the Una-Sana area 1879-1921. godine“, Bihać 1999; Mirza Ahmetbašić, Adnan Hafizović, Osnovna škola “Otoka“ od osnivanja do danas, Bihać 2008; Emin Mesić, Fikret Midžić, “Mali Pset 1272. Tvrđava Krupa, Prilozi za monografiju Bosanska Krupa“, Bosanska Krupa 2012; Asmir Crnkić, Mirza Ahmetbašić, „Bosanska Krupa during the Austro-Hungarian administration”, Bihać 2020 and others. The development of school opportunities during the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian administrations was partially addressed by bringing them into context when dealing with other topics. In this paper, the author talks about school opportunities in the area of Bosanska Krupa and its surroundings at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Attention is paid to the establishment and operation of confessional primary and secondary schools that operated during the Ottoman period, and whose work continued after 1878, and the establishment and operation of the first state primary schools in the wider Bosnian Krupa area. The development of school conditions in the area of Bosanska Krupa during the Ottoman rule did not differ from other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the needs of the Muslim population, sibjan mektebs were opened, somewhat later ruždija and madrasas, and for the needs of Orthodox children of the Orthodox primary school. Orthodox primary schools in the Bosnian Krupa area were first opened in Jasenica, Bosanska Krupa and Velika Rujiška. The Austro-Hungarian government also encountered an extremely high level of illiteracy in the area of Bosanska Krupa and its surroundings. At the end of the Ottoman rule, the illiteracy of the population was more than 95%. In addition, the regular educational process was very often interrupted by various infectious diseases that affected this area, as evidenced by numerous historical sources. There was also a great lack of professional teaching staff. A large number of students who are old enough to start school, the need for education of children of immigrant foreigners, etc. it was a sufficient signal to the competent authorities that a state primary school be established in Bosanska Krupa as well. In the villages around Bosanska Krupa, state primary schools opened relatively late. In the period from 1887 to 1913, public primary schools began operating in Otoka, Veliki Radić, Hasanbegova Jasenica, Ivanjska, Vranjska, Hasani and Bužim. However, in the year of establishment of certain schools, e.g. Otoka, Veliki Radić and Hasanbegova Jasenica there are differences between researchers. The Orthodox population was far more in favor of opening interfaith primary schools in their communities than the Muslim population, despite the fact that the Austro-Hungarian authorities, where possible, regulated the formation of special women's classes in public primary schools. The year 1880 marked a turning point in the development of education in the wider Bosnian Krupa area. That year, the People's Primary School in Bosanska Krupa started operating, which operated throughout the Austro-Hungarian period. However, certain researchers claim that this educational institution began operating in 1884 and 1885, respectively. It was one of the main educational centers and a nursery for numerous cultural and educational activities in this area.

Prikaz//Review: Senaid Hadžić, Veliki zaokret: Bosna i Hercegovina u vremenu tranzicije (od 1880-ih do 1950-ih), Centar za istraživanje moderne i savremene historije Tuzla i Arhiv Tuzlanskog kantona, Tuzla 2021, 493 str.

Prikaz//Review: Senaid Hadžić, Veliki zaokret: Bosna i Hercegovina u vremenu tranzicije (od 1880-ih do 1950-ih), Centar za istraživanje moderne i savremene historije Tuzla i Arhiv Tuzlanskog kantona, Tuzla 2021, 493 str.

State policy of division of Catholic Church priests in Bosnia and Herzegovina into „positive“ and „reactionary“ (1945-1963)

The illumination of the state policy of separating „positive“ from „negative“ priests of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most important issues in the scientific understanding of the position of this religious community during the first decades of existence of AVNOJ Yugoslavia. The post-war government in Bosnia and Herzegovina treated a large number of priests of the Catholic Church as real or potential enemies of the state. In addition to ideological reasons, which were more or less similar in all communist parties, the negative attitude of the CPY towards the Catholic Church was influenced by the fact that some priests supported the Ustasha movement during World War II. The justification for the negative attitude of party structures towards priests was argued most often in the documents of the Commission for Religious Affairs with the following reasons: that most priests supported the occupier and domestic traitors during the war; that they spread hostile propaganda against the national liberation movement; that they actively participated in the fight against the new social order; that they had committed war crimes and persecuted members of other faiths, and that they had been linked to criminal Ustasha emigration abroad. In addition to „negative“ priests, there were „positive“ priests that also acted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as they were reported in the documents of the Commission for Religious Affairs. They did not agree to the policy of confrontation with the state and demanded the establishment of dialogue and co-operation between the Church and the state. Some of the most prominent representatives of this group of priests were: Fr Bono Ostojić, Ph.D. Karlo Karin, Fr Mile Leko, Fr Josip Markušić, Fr Serafin Dodig, Fr Kruno Misilo and others. Holders of „positive tendencies“ among the clergy, according to the Commission for Religious Affairs, understood the importance of establishing communication and contacts with state authorities and the harmfulness of the negative attitude of the Catholic Church towards the state. Their goal was to change the methods of solving problems between the Church and the state, and to build a path that would suit the interests of the priests of the Catholic Church and the interests of the state community, without interfering with the church's dogmatic canonical principles. The „differentiation“ of priests was treated as a positive result of the work of the new government, because, according to their assessments, in the first post-war years, representatives of religious communities had a hostile attitude towards the newly created socialist Yugoslav state. Therefore, the Commission for Religious Affairs (federal and republican) has continuously pointed out the importance of implementing a policy of „stratification and differentiation“ within religious communities. According to the observations of the Federal Commission for Religious Affairs, the post-war „differentiation“ among the priests happened primarily due to their attitudes regarding the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church. Some considered it desirable and useful to establish communication with the newly created authorities, while others maintained a negative attitude. In addition to these two groups, there was a third group that was undecided. When considering the biographical data of the priests of the Catholic Church proposed for state decorations, it can be stated that the authorities carefully took into account which priests would be on the list of candidates recommended for awards. A positive attitude towards the new socialist social order, active participation in the establishment of the Association of Catholic Priests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, loyalty, patriotism towards socialist Yugoslavia, and contribution to the development of the Association of Catholic Priests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are some of the most important reasons for choosing candidates for awards. In the article, based on unpublished archival sources, the author contextualises the political circumstances and the circumstances in which the state policy of differentiation of „positive“ from „reactionary“ priests of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place, points out the reasons for and bearers of such policy, and analyses its expression and results. Also, the author presents the policy of awarding state recognitions and decorations to individual priests in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Dayton controversies – public decision-making between parliamentary democracy and partitocracy

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the pluralization of society and the state began during 1990. This is the time when political parties are formed and the first multi-party parliamentary elections are held. Due to the strong influence and domination of the ethnic principle, political parties were formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1990 in two basic forms: as ethnic or people's (national) parties, and as civic (multiethnic) parties. In almost all election cycles from the beginning of the pluralization of Bosnian society until today, ethnic political parties have won the elections. Ethnic political parties have appropriated a monopoly in the promotion of national interests since the 1990 election campaign, guided by the idea of protecting the national interests of “their“ peoples. The continued rule of ethnic parties without a coalition political agenda and agreement has strengthened ethnic pluralism in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thus, instead of democratic decision-making and competition between the majority and the opposition, the representative bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina have become an arena and a place of mutual competition and confrontation between the parties that make up the parliamentary majority. The lack of the necessary democratic consensus between the ruling ethnic political parties at the state level was compensated and compensated by the High Representative of the International Community (OHR), who, on the basis of the Bonn powers, promulgated certain laws. Hundreds of laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been promulgated by high representatives. This prevented blockages in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the absence of the necessary consensus of the ruling ethnic parties, it is not possible to develop or strengthen the power of parliaments as the highest representative body of the people and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Instead of parliamentary democracy, classical partitocracy is at work. The situation is similar at the entity level, and at the cantonal level in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity. All this, along with heterogeneous and complicated decision-making procedures and processes, ultimately reflects on the adoption of laws and decisions of importance to society and the state. Complicated forms of decision-making and the existence of a famous mechanism for the protection of vital national interests are some of the obstacles to the development of the state and society. All of these are some of the essential problems, but also the controversies that follow the decision-making processes in the representative bodies in the country. This is especially true of the adoption of important and significant public policies aimed at solving socio-political problems. Only decision-making at the level of local self-government units (municipalities and cities) can serve as a positive example. In general, the local level of government has so far proved to be the most efficient level of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The basis for strengthening the democratic decision-making capacities of the representative bodies of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is contained in the application of the democratic principle on which parliamentary democracy is established and functions. Applying almost all basic and general scientific research methods, as well as the method of analysis (content) of relevant documentation as a method of data acquisition, will identify key problems and controversies of public decision-making and policy making in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the period after the Dayton Peace Agreement. today. A conclusion will be drawn on the need to establish a parliamentary majority based on the coalition agreement and the political program of that coalition, which significantly affects the public decision-making processes and the adoption of the necessary state public policy. Bosnia and Herzegovina is required to reconstruct public decisions in the direction of strengthening state public decisions and policies and building European standards, in order to more efficiently compose them with the requirements and directives of the European Union.

Bosnia and Herzegovina in political orbit of Karadjordjevo and Tikves

During the 1980s, socialist Yugoslavia was hit by various social problems, which disintegrated the fragile tissue of Tito's state-political legacy. In the early 1990s, when the unstoppable phase of dissolution of this country began, national-chauvinist pretensions resolved to realize their old great-power ambitions in a period of general disruption surfaced. Although in this whirlwind of social turmoil the method of military force was used as the dominant and indispensable factor, behind the scenes political arrangements were very often much more effective in realizing certain goals. Sometimes conducted in public, and sometimes secretly, such negotiations were most often a typical expression of grand national aspirations. In this context, one can certainly observe one of the most famous separate negotiations in the 1990s on the soil of the disintegrating Yugoslavia, conducted between Slobodan Milosevic and Franjo Tuđman. Although these talks have not been published to date, many close associates of the Serbian and Croatian presidents, as well as participants in various political sessions, clearly indicate the presence of a high degree of their mutual agreement on the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this paper, the author tried to shed light on the separate Serbo-Croatian efforts to divide the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina through the statements of Tuđman and Milosevic, and the speeches of their close associates and participants in numerous political talks.

The phenomenon of fragile states: Bosnia and Herzegovina

The three key conditions for the existence of a state, according to the theory of state and law, are geographical territory, population and organized political power in that area. However, during the twentieth century in some African and Asian countries, due to various political, economic and other factors, problems began to appear in performance of their basic functions: ensuring public order and peace, providing health services, education. Modern science has introduced the term failed states to describe such countries. This scientific phenomenon has been the subject of numerous researches, and international organizations have been publishing annual indices of fragile, failed or unsuccessful world states for years. The first index of its kind was created in 2005 by the American non-profit organization The Fund for Peace in cooperation with the magazine Foreign Policy, which initially included 76 countries. The original term failed state was considered politically extremely incorrect, even when it referred to countries like South Sudan or Somalia, noting that such a term originated in the political terminology of developed countries by which all other countries at a lower level of development were considered to be failed ones. Therefore, in 2014, a new notion of a fragile state was created, and accordingly the existing index was renamed the Fragile State Index (FSI). This parameter determines the degree of fragility for each country on an annual basis, assessing four basic indicators: cohesion (functionality of the state apparatus), economic (overall economic situation), political (legitimacy of the state, availability of public services, respect for human rights and freedoms) and social (demographic structure of the community, number of displaced persons and refugees, external interventions). Based on the values of these indicators, countries are positioned in four groups: sustainable, stable, endangered and alarming. The paper also discusses Bosnia and Herzegovina as a potentially fragile state. Although it enjoys sovereignty and political independence, the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement still provides for the strong participation of the international community in the performance of its basic state functions. Examples include the presence of international military and police forces from the early post-war years to the present (EUFOR), with a special emphasis on the position of High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The peace agreement gave him the status of his supreme interpreter, as well as the well-known Bonn powers that he used on several occasions to remove Bosnian political officials and the imposition of laws (Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Law on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Law on the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina) due to the inability of domestic parliamentary bodies to pass them independently. In addition to the extremely complicated constitutional structure, the functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina is hampered by the inability to reach an agreement between political representatives on key issues in the country. In the first place, these are much-needed changes to the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina that would in the future allow members of minorities (Jews and Roma) to elect their own representatives in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this regard, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in 2009 in the case of Sejdić-Finci assessed that the impossibility of minority participation in political decision-making is a gross violation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Numerous international organizations, primarily Human Rights Watch, have been warning for years about other problems in the country: national segregation of children under two schools under one roof, numerous attacks on Bosniak returnees in Republic of Srpska without adequate sanctions and extreme slowness in war crimes proceedings and the administration of transitional justice with the emergence of increasingly frequent denials of war crimes and victims. Although more than 25 years have passed since the end of the war, the participation of the international factor is still noticeable, and in some cases necessary.

War and humanity in historical perspective: Bosniak experiences in Sandžak in 1941.

Complex socio-historical processes and turning epochs, as well as numerous segments that are an integral part of people's lives, are the subject of interdisciplinary studies. War is one of the most dramatic, most complex social phenomena. In addition to armed operations, there are a number of other dimensions related to war, starting from psychological, legal, sociological, social, economic, cultural to others. Critical and multiple perspectives contribute to the completion of images of politics, wars and their relations. The disintegrations of the ideological paradigm and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were accompanied by the (re)construction of new national identities, the outbreak and duration of „wars“ of different memories, the reshaping of consciousness and the re-examination of history, especially those related to World War II. The history of that war in Yugoslavia was undoubtedly the history of several wars which were stacked on top of each other. The main issue with Bosniaks in that war is a multiperspectival topic that requires a multidimensional and deideologized presentation of the position and the position of all involved actors. Numerous issues related to that war, the complex position of Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandžak, the emergence of civic responsibility, Bosniak protection of the vulnerable Serb Orthodox population, humanity and assistance, beyond post-war ideological premises and „official truths“ remained more or less marginalized, although they seek more objective and complete answers from multiple angles, for the sake of a more complete view of the past. What is called „local“ or „regional history“, as evidenced by diverse experiences, indicates the multidimensionality of the past, its features and specifics in a certain area. The Second World War in Sandžak could not be understood more objectively outside the broader Yugoslav context. This is also special for the history of Novi Pazar, the largest city in Sandžak which was the subject of many different political plans and conceptions. The history of this city has several sections. After the withdrawal of German forces from Novi Pazar, the Chetniks tried to conquer this city for three times in the fall of 1941. However, thanks to the dedicated defense and the help of Albanian armed groups from Kosovo, Bosniaks managed to defend themselves and Novi Pazar. Even in such a dramatic situation, numerous examples of humanity, solidarity and assistance of Bosniaks to the intimidated Serb urban population have been recorded. In the most difficult days of the war, when Novi Pazar was exposed to Chetnik attacks, a significant part of Bosniaks took actions to prevent anarchy, to save Serbs from terror and revenge. The task of science is to constantly discover forgotten and unknown parts of the past, to re-examine previous knowledge. Everything that happened has a whole range of perspectives. It is necessary to have a multidimensional understanding of the causes and course of events, circuits and time limits, to explain narrowed alternatives. Any reduction of historical totality to only one dimension is problematic. Every nation, every state, in a way, write their „histories“, remember different personalities, events, dates, emphasize various roles, perpetuates monuments, emphatize with different causes and consequences. Contemporary abuses of the interpretation of the war past, one-sided approaches, fierce prejucides and quasi-historical analyzes in the service of the politics damage interethic relations and lead to further growth of tensions and distancing between nations and states in their region.

Prikaz//Review: Sead Selimović, Za jedinstvo domovine i slavu dinastije. Školstvo u Bosni i Hercegovini za vrijeme Kraljevine Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca, Centar za istraživanje moderne i savremene historije Tuzla, Tuzla 2021, 442 str.

Prikaz//Review: Sead Selimović, Za jedinstvo domovine i slavu dinastije. Školstvo u Bosni i Hercegovini za vrijeme Kraljevine Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca, Centar za istraživanje moderne i savremene historije Tuzla, Tuzla 2021, 442 str.

Izvještaj//Conference Report:Izvještaj sa Naučne konferencije Alimi Srebrenice i njihova uloga u duhovnom i društvenom životu Bošnjaka, Srebrenica, 6. juli 2021. godine

Izvještaj//Conference Report:Izvještaj sa Naučne konferencije Alimi Srebrenice i njihova uloga u duhovnom i društvenom životu Bošnjaka, Srebrenica, 6. juli 2021. godine