Wolfgang Libal (1912–2012)

An excellent short account of the troubled history of Serbia up to 2000 by a former dpa foreign correspondent. Libal provides a relatively objective overview that prepared me well for my first visit to the country last summer. Libal shows how the traditional even archaic customs and religiosity both define the country and hold it back from modernity.

Serbia's strategic position on the Danube made it a big target for its larger neighbors, the Ottoman Empire, Austria and Hungary. Forced to punch above its weight, Serbia was often at the receiving end of violence. Like an abused child which grows up into an abusing parent, Serbia lashed out at its smaller neighbors and minorities.

The tragedy of Serbia is its contradicting aspiration to both a Greater Serbia and Serbian ethnic purity. A Greater Serbia would have required tolerating, even promoting Non-Serbs, and accepting the minority role of Serbs in the margins of Greater Serbia. Instead, Serbian politicians chose to alienate and subjugate their neighbors, which destroyed all dreams of a Greater Serbia. After single-handedly destroying the peacetime record of Europe, Serbia is still struggling to fully join the European chorus. Libal's account helps to understand why.… (more)