I’ve been in Sarajevo for two full days, and I hadn’t realized when I added it to this trip how much it would mean to me when I got here.
My focus as a New Military historian is mass conflicts of
the first half of the 20th Century, how they affected people,
changed society, ended and created empires. And events in Sarajevo sparked the
1914-1918, when Bosnian Serb nationalists—mostly under the age of 21—were armed
and trained by members of Serbian military intelligence and the Serb nationalist
secret society called the Black Hand to assassinate the heir to the throne of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
That sentence is a mouthful, and I need to give you
context. Which I will, in a future post. Just know for now that
Bosnia-Herzegovina was a province of Austria-Hungary since 1908, which was the
same year Serbia was declared independent; both countries had previously been
part of the Ottoman Turk Empire.
But on 28 June, 1914, in a tragic comedy of errors, six of
the conspirators tried and tried unsuccessfully to pull it off, until Gavrilo
Princip got a lucky break because the imperial chauffeur got lost. Princip shot
Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg; both died within
minutes.
A Gordian knot of alliances led to declarations of war
between Austria-Hungary and Germany on the one side and Serbia, Russia, France
and the United Kingdom on the other. It was called the Great War; back in the
day they didn’t realize they’d have to start numbering them. It lasted more
than four years and when it ended, the Russian, Austro-Hungarian and German
empires were in tatters and the British one would follow in a few decades. The
entire world was utterly exhausted and the winning powers created a nation
called Yugoslavia (South Slavs), comprising Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia.
Interestingly, Sarajevans seem to have moved on from this
momentous event. Possibly because it’s a century on, but more probably because
of the events of the 1990s, when those Serbs reappeared after the breakup of
Yugoslavia—they attacked in turn all the constituent republics, but
Bosnia-Herzegovina pretty much got the worst of it. UN “peacekeepers” were…either
useless or helpless, and Sarajevo (which is in a valley surrounded by mountains
and high ground) was besieged for 1425 days, starting on 5 April 1992. It was
the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.
Well, okay—I haven’t even scratched the surface of this
city's recent history, and it’s Gratitude Monday. So all I’m going to say is that I am under
information and emotional overload in this place, and I am deeply grateful that
I decided to come here.
I have walked miles and miles (more than seven yesterday, without pain, so I'm also truly grateful for the knee replacements), eaten cake for breakfast, walked across the Latin Bridge (where
Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were shot) and been to multiple museums. I've listened to the muezzin call the faithful to prayers and to multiple church bells. This city...
Here is the actual bridge, which is pedestrian only now, which of course because look how narrow it is. No wonder the chauffeur got stuck trying to turn the car around.
And Sarajevo sunset, photo shot from that bridge (black
specks are gnats or midges).
And more Sarajevo sunset, because it was glorious.
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