The Battle of Kosovo and the myth of Vidovdan, history as a tool of Serbian expansionism

This Saturday, June 28, Serbs mark Vidovdan – a date of historical and religious significance, commemorating the Battle of Kosovo in 1389.

Vidovdani, which is mainly held in Gazimestan, near Pristina, has often been used for provocations and the spread of chauvinistic messages. Professors, historians and experts in current affairs tell The Geopost that the “Battle of Kosovo” has been transformed into an expansionist ideology and for political purposes, combining the hegemonic political aim of the state with the church narrative.

For international relations professor Syle Ukshini, the Battle of Kosovo was used to legitimize territorial expansionist goals, with the aim of spreading the myth that supposedly "Kosovo is the cradle of Serbization."

"In the historical and factual sense, it is little proven. There have even been historians who have said that it does not exist. But, with the creation of the Serbian state in the 19th century and in an attempt to legitimize the goals of territorial expansion, the Serbian Academy and especially the Serbian Church have spread the Serbian myth that Kosovo is the cradle of Serbism. On the other hand, it must be stated that the Battle of Kosovo was actually a coalition where there were Hungarians, Croats, Bosniaks and Albanians. It was a coalition of Christians because Albanians were also Christians... In other words, it is a myth, it is a fairy tale, but it has been transformed into an expansionist ideology and for political purposes, where the hegemonic political goal of the state has been combined with the church narrative and this narrative has actually brought problems and brought conflicts in the Balkans and the most well-known case is the year 1989 when this holiday was celebrated and since then, Serbs have celebrated Vidovdan not as a "cultural celebration, not as a historical celebration, but as a chauvinistic celebration, as a celebration where they exclude others. And that's the bad thing and that's the hostile part of it," he said.

Just last year (June 28, 2024), Serbian motorcyclists, who were banned from entering Kosovo during Vidovdan, verbally attacked and severely insulted members of the Kosovo Police.

This is proof that Serbs still live in myths, says journalist Radomir Dimić.

“In fact, the Kosovo myth was built with the aim of restoring Dushan's empire, and thus a kind of revenge for the lost battle of Kosovo, or more precisely an expansionist policy towards Kosovo, especially after the 90s when Kosovo, thanks to the policies and regime of Slobodan Milosevic, has now gained its independence. So, when it comes to the Kosovo Serbs, I think they still have not fully understood what the Kosovo myth means, that it is a deception, that it is a kind of religion that tries to bring heaven down to earth and that the Serbs are still the people of Kosovo, that Kosovo is still the holy land of Serbia, and it is essentially a metaphysical space in which Albanians live and who experience it pragmatically as a space in which they live, and not as a heavenly history of the Serbian people and so on,” he said.

According to him, the Serbs of Kosovo are still the "Trojan Horse".

“The Serbs of Kosovo are still the Trojan horse of the politics not only of Slobodan Milosevic when they gathered in large numbers in Gazimestan, when we heard big slogans and big threats against the Albanians of Kosovo, that they will expel them all through the Bjeshkët e Nemuna Mountains, and that this Gazimestan policy is in fact just a continuation of an ideology that has lasted for centuries and that is still manifested through the current existence and the attempt to restore a kind of Serbian world of Aleksandar Vučić.”

And in recent scientific studies in the West, such as that of Prof. Dr. Oliver Jens Schmitt, one of the most renowned German-speaking historians at the University of Vienna, Austria, the claim and myths of Serbian history about the myth of Kosovo and about Serbian-Ottoman relations during the early period of Ottoman rule in the Balkans are deconstructed. Schmitt argues that the Serbs provided decisive assistance to the Ottomans in conquering the Balkans and that the Serbs were among the most cooperative peoples with the Ottoman court, rejecting the previous claim that they, the Serbs, were the only victims of this invasion, while other peoples were their collaborators and supporters. In this sense, the myth of the Battle of Kosovo also appears politicized and unstable. The Serbs transformed the battle into a symbol of “sacrifice for the homeland and religion”, glorifying the defeat as a moral victory. Prince Lazar was elevated to the status of a saint and Kosovo was presented as a “holy land”. In the 16th century. In the 20th century, especially during the rule of Slobodan Milošević, the battle was used to justify Serbian claims to Kosovo as the “cradle of the Serbian state and religion.” The Serbian narrative has presented the battle as a clash exclusively between “Christian Serbs” and “Muslim Ottomans.”

/TheGeopost