Gazimestan Speech - Content of The Speech

Content of The Speech

The message that Milošević delivered in the speech was essentially one that he had already been promoting for some time. On 19 November 1988, he told a "Brotherhood and Unity" rally in Belgrade: "None should be surprised that Serbia raised its head because of Kosovo this summer. Kosovo is the pure centre of its history, culture and memory. Every nation has one love that warms its heart. For Serbia it is Kosovo."' A similar theme characterised his speech at Gazimestan. Edit Petrović comments that Milošević sought to combine "history, memory and continuity", promoting "the illusion that the Serbs who fought against the Turks in Kosovo in 1389 are somehow the same as the Serbs fighting for Serbian national survival today." According to James Gow, the objective was to further Milošević's political campaign, which was "predicated on the notion of redressing this mood of victimisation and restoring the sense of Serbian pride and, most important of all, power."

At the beginning of the speech, Milošević mentions the battle and concludes that it is "through the play of history of life" that "Serbia regained its state, national, and spiritual integrity" (referring to the constitutional changes which reduced autonomy of Serbia's provinces and strengthened the central rule) at battle's anniversary. He continues by saying that "Today, it is difficult to say what is the historical truth about the Battle of Kosovo and what is legend. Today this is no longer important."; what he deems important, however, is that loss of the battle was "not only the result of social superiority and the armed advantage of the Ottoman Empire but also of the tragic disunity in the leadership of the Serbian state at that time".

Milošević placed his speech in the context of the post-World War II history of Yugoslavia, in which Serbia's influence had been restricted through constitutional arrangements diluting its power. This had been a long-running controversy in Serbian politics, particularly after Kosovo and the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina were granted influence over Serbia under Yugoslavia's 1974 constitution. Vjeran Pavlaković comments that Milošević sought to make "clear parallels between the Battle of Kosovo Polje and the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, both considered to be defeats in the Serbian national consciousness." He maintained that disunity follows Serbs through history, saying that the consequences of the Second World War (referring to conflicts between Chetniks and Yugoslav Partisans, "in the historical and moral sense exceeded fascist aggression"), and the Socialist Yugoslavia. Disunity among Serbian political leaders meant that they were "prone to compromise to the detriment of its own people", compromise which "could not be accepted historically and ethically by any nation in the world". However, "here we are now at the field of Kosovo to say that this is no longer the case".

Milošević presented Serbian victimisation as the result of poor political leadership and spoke of how "the Serbian leadership remained divided, prone to compromise to the detriment of its own people". He asserted:

"The fact that in this region they are a major nation is not a Serbian sin or shame; this is an advantage which they have not used against others, but I must say that here, in this big, legendary field of Kosovo, the Serbs have not used the advantage of being great for their own benefit either."

Milošević signalled that this passiveness would change:

"Thanks to their leaders and politicians and their vassal mentality they felt guilty before themselves and others. This situation lasted for decades, it lasted for years and here we are now at the field of Kosovo to say that this is no longer the case... Serbia of today is united and equal to other republics and prepared to do everything to improve its financial and social position and that of all its citizens. If there is unity, cooperation, and seriousness, it will succeed in doing so."

In an elaboration of another of the major motifs of the Kosovo myth, that of the purity of Serbian motives, he asserted that

"Serbs have never in the whole of their history conquered and exploited others. Their national and historical being has been liberational throughout the whole of history and through two world wars, as it is today. They liberated themselves and when they could they also helped others to liberate themselves."

Afterwards Milošević spoke about unity and Serbian multi-ethnicity: he emphasised that "unity in Serbia will bring prosperity to the Serbian people in Serbia", and also to "each one of its citizens, irrespective of his national or religious affiliation". Unity and equality to other republics will enable Serbia to "improve its financial and social position and that of all its citizens". Milošević notices that in Serbia, apart from Serbs, "members of other peoples and nationalities also live in it" and that "This is not a disadvantage for Serbia. I am truly convinced that it is its advantage."

Milošević went on to speak about divisions among Yugoslav nations and their religions, which "Socialism in particular, being a progressive and just democratic society, should not allow". He devoted a large part of the speech to these divisions, stating that "Yugoslavia is a multinational community and it can survive only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in it." However, "The crisis that hit Yugoslavia has brought about national divisions", despite the fact that Yugoslavia "experienced the worst tragedy of national conflicts that a society can experience and still survive." Milošević hoped that the way out of the crisis are "Equal and harmonious relations among Yugoslav peoples", especially as the modern "world is more and more marked by national tolerance, national cooperation, and even national equality". He asserted that Yugoslavia should be a part of this new direction that the [civilization took.

The middle section of the speech took a markedly different line from the nationalist expressions which bookended it; Louis Sell describes it as sounding "as if it was written by his wife" (Mirjana Marković, who was known for her hard-line communist views). Milošević praised the virtues of ethnic tolerance and socialism, describing how "the world is more and more marked by national tolerance, national cooperation and even national equality" and calling for equal and harmonious relations among the peoples of Yugoslavia. It was reportedly met with silence, bordering on restiveness, by the crowd.

He then again spoke about disunity, drawing comparisons between the time of the battle of Kosovo and today. At the time of the battle, people "could allow themselves to be disunited and to have hatred and treason because they lived in smaller, weakly interlinked worlds", today however "mutual harmony and solidarity" of all the humankind is necessary for its prosperity and ultimately space colonization. He notices that "In the memory of the Serbian people", even if from a historical point of view it is not correct, "disunity was decisive in causing the loss of the battle and in bringing about the fate which Serbia suffered for a full 6 centuries". This is why "awareness of harmony and unity will make it possible for Serbia not only to function as a state but to function as a successful state". He asserts that this striving for harmony and unity is also relevant for Yugoslavia as a whole: "Such an awareness about mutual relations constitutes an elementary necessity for Yugoslavia, too, for its fate is in the joined hands of all its peoples".

After issuing a call for "unity, solidarity, and cooperation among people", Milošević delivered the speech's most controversial passage, stating:

"Six centuries later, now, we are being again engaged in battles and are facing battles. They are not armed battles, although such things cannot be excluded yet. However, regardless of what kind of battles they are, they cannot be won without resolve, bravery, and sacrifice, without the noble qualities that were present here in the field of Kosovo in the days past. Our chief battle now concerns implementing the economic, political, cultural, and general social prosperity, finding a quicker and more successful approach to a civilization in which people will live in the 21st century."

In the final paragraph of the speech, Milošević addressed the relation between Serbia and Europe. He portrayed medieval Serbia as not just the defender of its own territory, but of all Europe in the fight against the Ottoman Turks. He declared that "Six centuries ago, Serbia heroically defended itself in the field of Kosovo, but it also defended Europe. Serbia was at that time the bastion that defended the European culture, religion, and European society in general.". Arne Johan Vetlesen comments that this was an appeal "to the values of Europe, meaning to Christianity, to modernity, to Civilization with a capital C, exploit Orientalist sentiments and help to amplify the Balkanism widespread in Western governments." In this connection, he again stressed that "In this spirit we now endeavor to build a society, rich and democratic, and thus to contribute to the prosperity of this beautiful country, this unjustly suffering country, but also to contribute to the efforts of all the progressive people of our age that they make for a better and happier world."

He concluded the speech with:

"Let the memory of Kosovo heroism live forever!

Long live Serbia!

Long live Yugoslavia!

Long live peace and brotherhood among peoples!"