The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

help solve the problems peacefully. Surprised, unprepared and dismayed,
they watched as one place after another was attacked and destroyed
by the tanks of their own army and by paramilitary units.
Peaceful Resistance and Repression and War
Major Yugoslav resistance against the war was impossible, due to the
lack of any party or other opposition. In a country in which the partisans
were the great models, and which maintained an armed defence against
foreign attackers in which all adult citizens were involved, there was
little chance for non-violent resistance by the citizens. Nonetheless, even
during the periods of the worst fighting, there were in all parts of the
country and in all societal strata people with the courage and the silent
solidarity for those affected who, alone or in groups, provided help and
peaceful resistance.
For example, the mothers of soldiers of the Yugoslav People’s Army on
January 18, 1991, shortly after the brief war against Slovenia, sent an
appeal to the General Staff with a plea to solve Yugoslavia’s political
prob lems peacefully, and not to lead their children into war against their
own people. In Zagreb alone, 64,000 citizens signed this appeal in the
course of just two days. It remained unanswered.
In the summer of 1991, thousands of mothers from all parts of Yugoslavia
travelled to Belgrade to confront the generals. Without success.
When young soldiers pointed their guns at them and demanded that
they leave the University Hall, one of them said, “We have to go now,
otherwise they will have our children shoot at us.” Many people in Yugoslavia
hoped that such courageous action would lead to a restoration
of sanity. A protest against the hitherto almighty army had been an un -
thinkable step up to that point.
Abroad, the actions of the mothers were just as unsuccessful. A trip by
several hundred mothers to Brussels and Strasburg to call on the wom -
en’s organizations and peace movements in Europe to take action
against the looming war in Yugoslavia sparked no reactions. During the
second year of the war, a group of peace-minded women from Germany
travelled to Sarajevo; this action no longer impressed anybody.
113