CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Wagner-Várady, Nóra |
|---|---|
| Title | Competing nationalisms. The Race of Slobodan Milosevic and the Serbian Orthodox Church for the Serbian Nation |
| Summary | The importance of the religious factor in the disintegration process of Yugoslavia is not subject to debate. However, there is no consensus in the relevant literature about the relationship between church and state in Serbia during the 1990s. There are sources that present Milošević and the Serbian Orthodox Church as allies, and others that emphasize the hostile nature of this relationship. This thesis intends to offer a new perspective on the topic by arguing that two competing nationalisms existed side by side on Serbian inhabited territories in the 1990s: a religious nationalism represented by the Serbian Orthodox Church and a secular nationalism represented by the Milošević-regime. Both of these nationalisms claimed to represent Serbian national interests. However, they both understood national interests differently. They offered two competing alternatives of national existence, on the one hand a „theodemocracy” led by believers of the Orthodox faith, protecting Serbian interests under the guidance of an ethnic church, and on the other hand a secular, homogenous Greater Serbia free from the internal Catholic and Islam threats, and also limiting the big ambitions of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Even though Milošević was a non-believer, he realized that it is Orthodoxy along which the mobilization of the population for his cause was easiest. The church also tried to instrumentalize Milošević for its own goals, hoping that it would benefit from a politician that finally stood up for Serbian interests. These two parallel but rival nationalisms strengthened each other, but also competed for control over the Serbian nation. |
| Supervisor | Pap, András László |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/varady_nora.pdf |
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