Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse: Causes, Course and Consequences [Paperback]

Christopher Bennett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

Over the past two years, the entire world watched in horror as one of Europe's most stable countries plunged into an orgy of violence and bloodshed that has invoked comparisons to the Holocaust. Aside from empty threats and diplomatic hand wringing, the West has done little to stop the ethnic cleansing, the sieges, and the brutality that has characterized the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Contrary to common wisdom, the hyper-violent disintegration of the former Yugoslavia is not simply and exclusively the product of inherent and irrational ethnic animosities and centuries of strife. In this engaging book, journalist Christopher Bennett traces the turning point to the 1987 struggle within the Serbian Communist party which was between adherents of a Serb nationalist ideology -embodied by Slobodan Milosevic- and the other Yugoslavs who clung to the vision of a multinational state. As soon as Milosevic gained the upper hand, he ruthlessly purged his rivals and launched a massive campaign of media indoctrination to stir up Serb nationalism. This new nationalism, which has repelled the world since 1991, is primarily Milosevic's creation and not merely the result of historical enmity. As a student at two different Yugoslav universities in the 1980's, Bennett witnessed firsthand many if the critical events which contributed to Yugoslavia's destruction. He renders an incisive and accessible history, covering the period from Tito's dictatorship to the present day.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing on sources written in English, Slovene and Serbo-Croat supplemented by interviews (Bennett, a British journalist, speaks both Slovene and Croat), this informative study describes how the Serbs, under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic, disarmed Slovenian and Croatian forces in May 1990, leaving the territories they had protected virtually defenseless. Bennett criticizes the Serbian media for its willingness to generate nationalist hysteria-which Milosevic shaped into a pathological hatred for the non-Serbian population, as well as for other Serbs who refused to accept his vision of a Greater Serbia. Bennett calls ``unpardonable'' the refusal of the international community to protect innocent victims of the Serbian rampage in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but fails to make clear what he thinks should have been done. The greatest tragedy of all, in his view, is the demise of the Titoist ideal of brotherhood and unity that, until Yugoslavia's collapse, had kept the various ethnic and religious factions loosely allied for nearly 40 years. Prospects for a peaceful settlement in the foreseeable future are bleak, he says, as long as Milosevic remains in power.

Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

This is an absolutely excellent must-read study of the collapse of Yugoslavia. While it will not make Serb partisans happy, it overflows with fresh insight and clarity on each page. On a subject that has attracted so much excellent writing, this timely book is in the first rank. Journalist Bennett deftly avoids simple answers (e.g., the common myth, "What can you expect from centuries old hatreds"). The "Serb national psyche which has so revolted the world since 1991," he argues, is not the product of centuries but has been "deliberately manufactured and intensively cultivated by Serb elites and media." Bennett extends his analysis to the international community (for which he has few good words) and powerfully underscores the cascading impact of the war, whose beginnings he traces to the post-Tito 1980s. The most profound lesson Bennett teaches is that the war was not inevitable and that the first victim was the Yugoslav and the Titoist ideal?and reality?of brotherhood and unity. Highly recommended.?H. Steck, Cortland Univ., N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814712886
• ISBN-13: 978-0814712887
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > History > Europe > Yugoslavia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, complex, eye-opening, hard to read, April 6, 2000

By 

Grand-Daddy (Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse: Causes, Course and Consequences (Hardcover)

After reading this book, I bought a copy for my son who is a U.S Army paratrooper expecting to be deployed to Kosovo. The author provides good perspective on the history & demise of Yugoslavia, and on subsequent events up to 1995. While especially critical of the Serbs, he demonstrates flaws and errors on nearly every hand, local or global, that have contributed to the terrible events in the region. Some of the analysis seems eerily prescient given the ability to read it with five years more gone by. The brevity of the book is a mixed blessing -- so many people, places and organizations come into play, with so little detail given on each, that I frequently forgot who was who or got different ones confused with each other. However, like the individual stitches in a tapestry, the details still present an overall pattern that has helped me understand the news and recent history much more clearly -- but you have to want to read it. The one crying need in the book is for maps. Each of the three small line drawing maps covers a long and imprecise time period and lacks detail. No topographical features are shown, some political boundaries are indicated vaguely aand others not at all. Many cities and locales that figure prominently in the text are not on any of the maps. I came away with a clearer picture of the politics and ethnicity but completely unable to relate any of my new knowledge to the geography of the region. If you buy the book, get several maps of the region to use with it.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Single Introduction to the Yugoslav Conflict, February 8, 2011

By 

Alan F. Fogelquist "globalperspectives" (Pacific Palisades, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse: Causes, Course and Consequences (Paperback)

This is the best on the mark and accurate account of the Yugoslav breakup, and I say this as one who has carried out extensive in depth research based on primary sources and every shade of opinion in the press of former Yugoslavia.

Bennett is one of the few who really knows what he is talking about and avoids the pitfall of the uninformed of assigning equal responsibility to all parties in the conflict when prime responsibility must be assigned to the Serbian regime of Slobodan Milosevic and his allies. Bennettt has told it like it is. This is an excellent objective and well balanced account that pulls no punches.

7 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Detailed account of the formation and breakup of Yugoslavia, March 30, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse: Causes, Course and Consequences (Paperback)

Christopher Bennett gives a very accurate history of Yugoslavia from before WWI up to 1994. Very detailed beginning with 1980 forward. Very informative. Worked well for a research paper I prepared using it.