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Abstract
The article identifies causal mechanisms that help explain why the city of Tuzla managed to reject and avoid inter-ethnic conflict and radical nationalism during the wars of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia. Despite the overwhelming odds of being surrounded by vicious ethnic fighting and relentless nationalist attacks, the city of Tuzla protected and sustained peace in its borders. This research provides some explanations as to why Tuzla managed to survive radical nationalism and fragmentation during the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. The article concludes that Tuzla’s success was path dependent and its ability to reject violent nationalism revolved around Tuzla’s identity of traditionally working class, anti-nationalist, anti-fascist forces around which Tuzla’s citizens rallied. This helped elect the only non-ethnic political leadership in the country during the first multiparty municipal elections, and also actively protected citizens’ democratic choice against nationalist attempts to foster ethnic mobilisation and ethnic violence.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Endnotes
Notes
1 At the first multiparty municipal elections in SR BiH (the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina), then the republic of Yugoslavia, the other two cities that elected to leave the coalition were the cities of Vares and East Sarajevo; however both succumbed to nationalist politics and changed sides. Tuzla was the only one to elect non-ethnic party leadership and defend that democratic choice against the radical nationalists.
2 This article is not nor is it intended to be a comparative study between two outcomes. It is rather intentionally a single case study due to the lack of research on the given subject. However, the author understands the merits of comparative research and is in the process of writing up a comparative study which includes Tuzla and two other cities.
3 The author wishes to explain that Tuzla’s causal mechanism is explained by Phase I and Phase II in coordination. The causal relationship of the two phases is key to the causal mechanism as one process cannot be sufficient for the outcome, rather both phases are necessary conditions and both must be present for the positive outcome. However due to the space constraint only Phase I (or why part of the research question) will be espoused in this article. The Phase II or how part of the research question will be espoused in the next journal editions.
4 Most belonged to the Jewish community (Selimovic Citation2008).
5 N., S. (Informant) Interview with the author, Tuzla, 23 November 2015 (Mrs N., S. is the National Program Officer for Education in Tuzla, OSCE).
6 The Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia lasted from 1978 to 1918. While the occupation resulted in large parts of Bosnia being industrialised and economically developed from the end of the Ottoman rule which held Bosnia in a feudal- like state, the occupation by Austro-Hungary eventually ended in the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo and the start of the First World War.
7 Professor S.J. and Professor T.K., who are both Professors Emeritus and war veterans discussed in detail the beginnings of Tuzla’s industrialisation and the impact Austro-Hungarian development of Tuzla’s mining sector had on the city and multiculturalism. Interviews held at their respective faculty departments, October 2015.
8 Serbia and Austro-Hungary would eventually declare war on each other. For an extensive overview of Austro-Hungarian occupation of the Balkans see, The Occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878 by Laszlo Bencze, Frank N. Schubert Review by: Scott W. Lackey in The International History Review 29: 1 (Mar., 2007), 159–161.
9 Official website of City of Tuzla: Antifascist Legacy: http://grad.tuzla.ba/tuzla/antifasisticka-tradicija/, accessed 2 October 2018.
10 The Soko plant employed 8,000 workers. Mostarski ‘Soko’: Od dvije privatizacije do praznih hala: https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/privatizacisjke-pljacke-u-bih-kako-je-propao-mostarski-soko/25272797.html, accessed 20 October 2016.
11 Federal Bureau of Statistics of BiH: http://fzs.ba/index.php/popis-stanovnistva/popis-stanovnistva-1991-i-stariji/, accessed 20 December 2016.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Goran Filic
GORAN FILIC, PhD, received his Doctorate in Political Science from University of Milan and a Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University. He also holds a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University and he is currently a Research Fellow for Jean Monnet Project at the University of Bologna conducting research on Democratisation and Reconciliation in the Western Balkans.