The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

REPORTS ON CONFLICT HISTORY,
ON CIVIL RESISTANCE TO CONFLICTS, AND
ON RECONCILIATION WORK
REPORT ON EX-YUGOSLAVIA
BOSILJKA SCHEDLICH, BERLIN
The lost country
Yugoslavia, which no longer exists, is frequently seen as a country which
met all the prerequisites for disappearance, although shortly before the
outbreak of violence, 80% of Yugoslavs did not consider the disintegration
of their country – let alone a war – possible. The little country had
fought successfully during the Second World War against domestic and
foreign fascists, and had contributed to the victory over Mussolini’s Italy
and Hitler’s Germany. The memory of the victorious struggles of the partisans
was proudly cultivated, with the message that Yugoslavs should
be ever ready to defend their country once again. During the Cold War,
Yugoslavia tried to find its own “third way” between the blocks, something
which had never been done before. It was an example amongst
the socialist countries, social and open. Yet Yugoslavia failed, after much
experimentation and many unfinished attempts, to establish a place for
itself midway between socialism and capitalism. After the collapse of
the Warsaw Pact, Yugoslavia was destroyed in a war, when the leaders
of its six autonomous republics couldn’t agree on a common path to the
future.
Since the war broke out in 1991, and was ended by the intervention of
NATO in 1998, many questions have remained unanswered. Did the war
have its roots in history, or was the present to blame? Was Yugoslavia
doomed to fail because of its national diversity, or was the “peculiarity
of the Balkans” to blame? There are a number of answers to all these
questions – but no general answer.
I am convinced that this war need not have been; that wars need not be
at all. There were alternatives, as there are in every conflict, even though
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