Balkans: Preface to Macedonia — Memory, Empire, and Nation (Notes from the Provided Transcript)
PREFACE
In a world of homogenized luxury, mass tourism, and information overload, unsimulated adventures are scarce and events are forgotten faster. Landscape can reveal the past and the historical process through adventure.
Paul Fussell’s view on travel writing: the travel book should make essayistic points emerge empirically from material data intimately experienced (Abroad: British Literary Traveling Between the Wars).
The author aims to follow in the footsteps of Mary McCarthy’s The Stones of Florence and Dame Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon as ideal travel-writing models.
Balkan Ghosts is not a typical survey book. It proceeds vertically, from a specific incident to broad speculation (e.g., from war guilt of a Croatian cleric to the fall of empires).
The author’s Balkans experience varied by country: Romania (extensive travel and many contacts), Bulgaria (through a personal friendship), Greece (lived there for seven years near Athens). The differing styles mirror his experiences.
Regions not fully explored in the book include Montenegro (in Yugoslavia) and Maramures (northwest Romania); Bosnia and Albania receive less coverage than they arguably deserve.
The author condemns war crimes in Bosnia while explaining that his writing should not justify them; his aim is historical and analytic, not exculpatory.
The Balkans are the peninsula that has repeatedly drawn the world’s attention and is subject to ongoing cataclysm; the author’s focus is on Romania and Greece as centers of his Balkans odyssey rather than a comprehensive tour of every region.
PROLOGUE: SAINTS, TERRORISTS, BLOOD, AND HOLY WATER
The predawn visit to Pec monastery in Old Serbia emphasizes experiential knowledge: spiritual instruction in Orthodoxy requires to be felt with the whole body, not just seen.
Njegos’s Mountain Wreath is cited to illustrate how saints and violence can be interwoven in a sacred drama; a warning that the deeper the darkness, the less rational resistance becomes.
The author experiences visions in the dark: saints and medieval Serbian kings, apocalyptic imagery, and a sense of national memory burning in a skull-like interior.
In Pec, the author witnesses the clash of past violence and present memory; the “darkness” is a metaphor for episodes of Bosnian/Serbian history and ethnic conflict that persist in memory.
The piece moves from a religious sanctuary to a contemporary social scene: a disco frequented by Muslim Albanians near Pec, illustrating how religious and ethnic fault lines persist in everyday life.
The mass burial rituals in Bucharest (the Iron Guard era) and the role of religious ritual in legitimizing or condemning violence are described; the text links religious ritual to political violence.
The Church of Hie Gorgani in Bucharest hosts a funeral for 14 Legion of the Archangel Michael members (the Iron Guard) who had been killed by the regime; their burial reflects how religious ritual can be mobilized in political contexts.
The narrative juxtaposes a history of brutality with a Catholic/Orthodox memory frame, illustrating how memory and faith shape national identities.
The author discusses the 1940s and 1989 events in Romania to emphasize continuity and rupture in Balkan violence and memory.
Northern Epirus graffiti and the border tensions between Greece and Albania highlight ongoing ethnic tensions and contested borders.
The travelogue links these human stories to larger questions of how the Balkans have functioned as a crucible of modern nationalism, terrorism, and religious contention.
The author invokes John Reed’s War in Eastern Europe (1915–1916) to contextualize the Balkans as a theater of continuous history where war’s aftermath shapes present reality.
The Balkans are described as the birthplace of modern terrorism and the cradle of early modern political violence; the region’s history is viewed as a template for understanding 20th-century conflicts.
The narrative notes the weight of historical memory in shaping contemporary politics, including how ancient grievances echo into modern nationalist movements.
The prologue also foregrounds the interplay of European political thought (Metternich, Lueger, Herzl) with Balkan realities, arguing that local memory and Western ideas interact in complex, often troubling ways.
The author comments on the changing geography of Europe post-1989: the Balkans are at the center of a new European division, distinct from Cold War binaries, with a broader emphasis on “Europe and the Balkans.”
CHAPTER ONE Croatia: “Just So They Could Go to Heaven”
Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is described as a central travel/book about Yugoslavia; Zagreb is the starting point of the author’s Yugoslav journey.
The book argues that Zagreb’s old Catholic culture and Austro-Hungarian influence shape Croat identity and its distance from Belgrade and Serbia.
The Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb serves as a microcosm for the Croat psyche: a blend of West European (Vienna) culture with a sense of historical Catholic grandeur.
Slavenka Drakulic (Zagreb journalist) is introduced; her appearance and intellect exemplify the modern, cosmopolitan Croat woman who participates in public life while commenting on the Yugoslav dilemma.
The text presents a complex portrait of Stepinac, Archbishop of Zagreb, and his role during World War II under the Ustaše regime.
Stepinac’s cautious approach toward the Ustaše, his wartime actions (hiding a Jewish rabbi and family in the cathedral), and his later postwar stance are described and analyzed.
Stepinac’s diaries (selected portions) raise questions about collaboration, faith, and moral judgment; their publication in 1989 provoked intense debate in Croatia and the wider Balkans.
The Catholic Church’s role in Croatian nationalism, anti-Communism, and anti-Serb sentiment is examined; Stepinac is depicted as a figure who embodies both moral complexity and political vulnerability.
The text contrasts Strossmayer (Croatian Catholic patriot who supported cross-religious unity and Serb-Croat collaboration) with Stepinac (a Croat nationalist aligned with the Vatican and Austro-Hungarian interests in some respects, yet later confronted with Ustaše crimes).
The Catholic Church in Croatia is shown as a pivotal institution in shaping national memory and political loyalties; the Vatican’s stance on Yugoslavia is seen through the lens of anti-Communism and the politics of Stepinac.
The author discusses how politics inside Croatia have been shaped by the Habsburg legacy and the Vatican, especially regarding how Zagreb’s elite view Western modernity and Catholic identity as distinct from Belgrade/Serbia.
The church and the state collide in Croatia’s recent history, particularly in debates over World War II crimes, Stepinac’s trial, and the legacy of the Jesenovac concentration camp.
The Stepinac issue is framed as a microcosm of Serb–Croat antagonism: the same person can be seen as a hero by Croats and a war criminal by Serbs and Jews; the narrative emphasizes the difficulty in reconciling competing memories.
The author’s interviews with Msgr. Koksa (a Zagreb monsignor) reveal the personal dimensions of the Stepinac controversy: the longing to defend Stepinac, the suspicion of the other side, and the danger of translating complex historical events into simplified accusations.
The text also covers: the 1946 Stepinac trial and exile; postwar church-state politics; Tito’s aim to coerce a “national Catholic church” distinct from the Vatican; the tension between national memory and historical truth.
The narrative outlines the broader Yugoslav/Slavic memory landscape: the role of the Habsburgs, the Vatican’s anti-Communism, and the logic of using historical figures (like Stepinac) as symbols in contemporary nationalism.
The narrative highlights the difference between Zagreb and Bosnia, showing how urban Croatia and Bosnia’s rural areas diverged in their experiences of war and memory.
The chapter closes with a reflection on how the Croatian church, like the Croat national identity, is a wounded thing—surviving by focusing on survival and memory, while the other aspects of culture and society lag behind.
The chapter ends with considerations about the Pope’s potential visit to Zagreb and the need for reconciliation that might break with Vatican tradition; the Stepinac issue remains a focal point for Croatia’s self-definition.
Key figures and concepts in Chapter One:
Dame Rebecca West and Black Lamb and Grey Falcon as a model for a morally focused travelogue.
Slavenka Drakulic as a contemporary Croatian voice offering insight into Zagreb and Yugoslav affairs.
Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac: wartime role, postwar trial, martyrdom for Croats, and contested memory in the region.
Josip Strossmayer: Croatian Catholic reformer who promoted East-West Christian unity and Serb-Croat cooperation; contrasted with Stepinac’s more conservative stance.
The Ustashe regime in Croatia during World War II and its crimes against Serbs, Jews, and Roma; the role of the Catholic Church in Croatia during this period.
Important places and symbols:
Zagreb Cathedral and the tomb of Stepinac; the tomb’s symbolism vis-à-vis Vatican relations.
The Esplanade Hotel (Zagreb) as a stage for discussions about Yugoslav identity.
Grachanitsa (Gračanička) Monastery and its art as a symbol of Serbian medieval spirituality.
Kosovo Polje (the Field of Black Birds) as a central historic battlefield that has shaped Serbian national memory.
Key ideas on memory and nationalism:
The Serb-Croat dispute as a defining lens for understanding Yugoslavia’s later dissolution.
The concept that modern Balkan nationalism often co-opts religious imagery and historical memory to sustain political aims.
The idea that World War II memory and postwar repression created enduring tensions that exploded in the 1990s.
Notable quotes and details to remember:
“Stepinac is a great ecclesiastical figure of Europe; we will not let them drag him down.”
“The Sixth Commandment says, thou shalt not kill.” (Stepinac confronting Pavelic).
The diaries’ publication and the debate over Stepinac’s character and actions.
The Croatian Ustashe’s murder of 20,000 Jews and 30,000 Gypsies at Jesenovac; debates over precise casualty figures.
0
CHAPTER TWO Old Serbia and Albania: Balkan “West Bank”
The chapter shifts focus to Old Serbia and Albania, exploring the Serbian heartland and the Albanian frontiers as a historical hinge between East and West.
The Grachanitsa Monastery and the Nemanjic dynasty are highlighted as central to understanding Serbian centuries-long statehood and religious identity.
The Nemanjic dynasty:
Stefan Nemanja founded the Serbian state; Saint Sava established the Serbian Orthodox Church; Milutin expanded Serbia’s empire and built churches (example: Milutin’s wealth and architectural patronage; the Gel-like imagery of his rule and his bloodlines); Dushan (Stefan Uroš) expanded Serbian power and created a state spanning from the Adriatic to the gates of Constantinople.
The history of Milutin, Dushan, and Lazar is used to frame Serbian national memory and martyrdom narratives around Kosovo.
The Kosovo field (Kossovo Polje) and the Battle of Kosovo (June 28, 1389) are treated as foundational myths that shape Serbian national identity and the later memory of defeat and sacrifice (the Elijah/Book imagery in a Serbian poem).
The two pillar “crowd symbols” of the Serbs (per Elias Canetti):
The medieval monasteries (Gračanica) as a sacred memory, and
The Kosovo field as a site of national trauma and mythic sacrifice; the crowd symbol is a mechanism for national unity and hatred in modern history.
The Kosovo monument (1989 Milosevic-era) and Milosevic’s rhetoric: “Never again will anyone defeat you.” This marks the start of political mobilization around Kosovo that triggers Yugoslavia’s disintegration and violent conflicts of the 1990s.
The author discusses Old Serbia in the context of Albanian migrations and the Kosovo question, highlighting how Albanian nationalism and Islam (the Albanian Balkans) intersect with Serb memory and Orthodox/Slavic spirituality.
Albania’s isolation under Enver Hoxha is described in parallel to Yugoslavia’s internal tensions; Albania’s Yugoslav border issues, and the Kosovo question, are framed as a broader regional problem rather than isolated national issues.
Key places and figures:
Gračanica Monastery as a Serbian spiritual and architectural symbol; Saint Sava; Nemanjic dynasty; Gračanica’s frescoes and its role in Serbian medieval art.
Kosovo Polje as a sacred site with a lasting myth of sacrifice and national identity; the 600-year memory of the battle (1389–1989) and Milosevic’s use of it as political capital.
The border crossings and the interplay of Serbian and Albanian populations in Kosovo; the Grand Hotel Prishtina as a symbol of late-20th-century Yugoslav state planning and ethnic tension.
Albanian state-building and nationalist memory are juxtaposed with Serbian Orthodox memory, showing how the region’s tensions are rooted in multiple overlapping histories (Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim identities; Slavic and Albanian populations; Ottoman and Habsburg legacies).
The text includes vivid depictions of Prishtina’s urban landscape in 1989–1990: mist, concrete towers, a city built to erase a disputed past; a university library and cultural institutions symbolizing modernization overlaying ethnic tensions.
The Kosovo/Albanian question is tied to broader Balkan arc: how empires (Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian) and modern ideologies (Communism, nationalism) interact with Islam, Orthodoxy, and Catholicism to shape political outcomes.
Notable figures and concepts:
Slobodan Milosevic: his rise in 1989 and his use of Kosovo symbolism to galvanize Serb nationalism.
Mother Tatiana: a Serbian nun who anchors the Old Serbia memory and frames the Albanian question through personal testimony.
The Albanian diaspora and urban life in Prishtina (including signs of poverty, immigration, and nationalist sentiment).
Gotse Delchev and the IMRO (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization): Macedonia as a theater of early 20th-century nationalism and terrorism; the legacy of Macedonian insurgencies.
Important events and epochs referenced:
The 1878 Congress of Berlin and the redrawing of Balkan borders after the Russo-Turkish wars; the creation of a Greater Bulgaria that was later dismembered by the Berlin Congress; Macedonia’s fate remained contested.
The First and Second Balkan Wars (1912–1913) and their aftermath: Macedonia’s partition and the brutal ethnic cleansing in occupied territories; Bulgarian expansion and subsequent loss of Macedonia in Bucharest (1913).
World War I consequences: Serbia’s winter retreat through the Albanian mountains (1915–1916) and the Allied evacuation to Corfu; the eventual Allied victory and the carving of Macedonia into zones of influence.
The Kosovo/Albania section also connects to broader modern concerns: the impact of Tito’s Yugoslavia on Kosovo’s autonomy; Albanian nationalism and Kosovo’s status in the late 20th century; the political economy of Kosovo’s development and ethnic conflict.
Key numerical or factual notes:
Population and casualty references include the cited figures for historical violence, the use of Kosovo Polje’s memorials, and the 1989–1990 changes in the Balkans’ political map.
The narrative references historical dates and events with precise year markers (e.g., 1389, 1878, 1912–1913, 1941–1945, 1989–1990) to situate contemporary conflicts within a longer arc.
Themes on memory and identity:
The persistence of historical memory as a political tool (Old Serbia’s sanctified memory vs. Albanian nationalism).
The role of religious institutions (Orthodox and Catholic) in shaping national identity and political loyalties.
The ongoing struggle to reconcile competing national narratives in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
CHAPTER THREE Macedonia: “All Hand Thirsting Towards the Realm of the Stars”
The reader enters Macedonia from Old Serbia toward the south, moving into a landscape that reads itself through ethnic, linguistic, and religious claims.
Skopje is described as a valley with Turkish minarets and a bazaar culture; the Church of St. Dimitrios and the Mosque of Mustapha Pasha illustrate the religious diversity and the mixing of Eastern and Western symbols in the city’s fabric.
The author contrasts Islam’s abstract, mathematical geometry with Orthodox iconography; the Church walls and icons are described in terms of spiritual depth and material beauty, encoding a texture of religious life in Macedonia.
The Vardar River and Skopje’s post-earthquake reconstruction (1963) symbolize the attempt to build a modern, multi-ethnic capital on a fragmented historical base.
The Serbian memory remains powerful in Macedonia, but a Macedonian national consciousness is emerging, foregrounding a distinct national identity separate from Serbia and Bulgaria.
Metropolitan Mikhail of Skopje articulates a Macedonian identity rooted in Cyril and Methodius (the Slavic apostles who brought Christianity) and in the Macedonian Orthodox Church; he argues for a separate Macedonian identity and church heritage (Ochrid Patriarchate).
Key historical narratives in Macedonia discussed:
Cyril and Methodius: their origin in Salonika and their role in Slavic Christianization; the debate over whether Cyril and Methodius were Greeks, Bulgarians, or Macedonians depends on national perspective.
The Ochrid Patriarchate and its modern revival in the 20th century; the Macedonian Orthodox Church’s separation from the Serbian Orthodox Church after centuries of shared history.
Samuel (Knjez) and Dushan in medieval Serbia, and their influence on Macedonian historical memory; the idea of a Greater Macedonia that spans parts of present-day Greece, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia.
The Ilinden uprising (1903) led by Gotse Delchev and the IMRO; its suppression and romanticization in Macedonian historical memory.
The First and Second Balkan Wars (1912–1913) and their impact on Macedonia’s borders and ethnic composition; the resulting dislocation of Turkish, Bulgarian, Greek, Albanian, Serb communities.
The author’s interviews with Macedonian intellectuals and political figures illuminate the fragility and strength of Macedonian nationalism, including debates about language, identity, and regional autonomy.
The role of Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia in shaping Macedonia’s future through competing nationalist projects and memory politics; the interplay of Irredentism and self-determination debates in 1990s Macedonia.
The Macedonia section emphasizes the region as a collision of histories: Alexander the Great’s legacy, Roman and Byzantine influences, Orthodox and Catholic traditions, and the emergence of a modern Macedonian state with its own national narrative.
Notable figures and concepts:
Metropolitan Mikhail (Skopje): advocates a Macedonian national identity grounded in Cyril and Methodius and a distinct Macedonian Church.
Gotse Delchev: symbol of Macedonian nationalist struggle; his tomb and memory in Skopje and Bulgaria illustrate cross-border contestation.
The Macedonian language debate: Macedonians see their language as distinct; Bulgarians argue about the linguistic lineage and historical identity.
The Ilinden/Uprising (Ilinden, Elijah’s day) and its symbolism in Macedonian memory.
Key places and symbols:
St. Dimitrios Church and Mustapha Pasha Mosque in Skopje; the Vardar River bridge; Ochrid and the Macedonian Orthodox Church heritage; Gračanica’s architectural echoes and its comparative value to Ochrid’s historical churches.
The modern cityscape of Skopje, with post-earthquake reconstruction and new architectural forms reflecting a future-oriented national consciousness.
Historical threads and implications:
The Balkans as a historic crucible of competing empires (Ottoman, Russian, Austro-Hungarian) and modern nation-states, where borders and identities are negotiated repeatedly.
The macro-politics of Great Power influence (Britain, Germany, Russia) shaping Balkan outcomes through treaties (San Stefano, Berlin) and military interventions.
The ongoing tension between regional autonomy and centralized state power, particularly in Macedonia’s struggle for a distinct national identity within a multi-ethnic landscape.
The Macedonian question in the late 20th century: the Yugoslav federation’s collapse and the emergence of Macedonia as an independent state; the interplay of language, national identity, and religious tradition in shaping the new nation-state’s boundaries.
Important numerical or factual notes:
Kosovo/Albania memory and the Balkans’ broader population movements (e.g., Albanian populations in Macedonia and Greece).
The historical dates and events used to anchor Macedonian memory (Ilinden, 1903; 1963 earthquake; 1991–1992 independence talk as the broader context).
Connections to wider themes:
The Macedonian case shows how historical memory, linguistic identity, and church politics intersect to create national identity in a post-imperial space.
It illustrates how regional nationalism can be both a force for unity and a source of ongoing conflict, depending on historical narratives and external pressures.
KEY THEMES AND CONCEPTS THROUGHOUT THE EXCERPT
Memory and memory politics: How histories of empires, wars, and religious authorities shape present-day nationalism and conflict.
The role of religion in nationalism: The Orthodox and Catholic churches as repositories of memory and as political actors in the Balkans.
The legacy of empires: Ottoman, Habsburg, and Russian empires have left enduring footprints on borders, identities, and political cultures.
The ethics of travel writing in conflict zones: The author grapples with speaking truth to power, acknowledging moral complexity, and avoiding simplistic demonization.
The construction of “crowd symbols” (Canetti): National identity in the Balkans often coalesces around dramatic, memorable symbols (e.g., Gračanica monastery, Kosovo field) that are mobilized in political theater.
The tension between Western modernity and Eastern historical memory: The Balkans sit at the boundary of Western and Eastern Christian civilizations, a hinge region for Europe’s geopolitical imagination.
The historical logic of the Macedonian question: The Balkans’ border disputes, language debates, and religious legacies all contribute to a volatile, long-running quest for self-definition.
Selected LaTeX-style notes (formulas and numeric references)
The Kosovo battle year:
The post-1989 political shift in the Balkans: Milosevic’s rise and Kosovo symbolism around
The explicit casualty figure cited for Albanian WWII losses: of the Albanian population (as cited in the text)
The reference to a historical cross-border range for Macedonian memory: “1389-1989” (monumental period cited in the Kosovo memory frame)
Ancient/modern population scale mention: “” Armenians referenced in a broader historical parallel (Holocaust-era violence; used to illustrate mass violence without precise Balkan numbers in this excerpt)
SUMMARY TAKEAWAYS
The Balkans are presented as a living laboratory of European history, where empires, religions, and ethnicities collide and reconfigure themselves across centuries.
Memory, symbolism, and ritual are not merely cultural byproducts but active forces shaping political behavior and national identities.
The author situates his narrative in both a personal, experiential mode and a macro-historical analysis, linking small-scale encounters to large political patterns.
The Croatia, Old Serbia, Albania, and Macedonia sections together illustrate how intertwined identities and border disputes have produced cycles of memory, violence, and reconciliation attempts that persist into the post-Cold War era.
The ethical challenge throughout is to portray contested histories with nuance, acknowledging multiple perspectives while examining the moral compromises that accompany nation-building.
TITLE: Balkans as Memory, Empire, and Nation: Preface through Macedonia (Selected Excerpts from Balkan Ghosts)
In the text, Kaplan describes the relationship between Croats and Serbs as deeply antagonistic and shaped by competing historical memories, religious identities, and nationalist projects. He highlights how Zagreb's distinct Catholic culture and Austro-Hungarian influence fostered a Croat identity separate from Belgrade and Serbia. The figure of Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac serves as a central example of this division: he is viewed as a martyr by Croats for his anti-Communist stance and wartime actions, while Serbs and Jews often consider him a war criminal due to his association with the Ustaše regime. Kaplan notes that the Catholic Church in Croatia played a pivotal role in shaping Croatian nationalism and anti-Serb sentiment. The Serb-Croat dispute is presented as a defining lens for understanding Yugoslavia's eventual dissolution, rooted in irreconcilable historical narratives and the political mobilization of sacred symbols.