Violence as a Generative Force: Identity, Nationalism, and Memory in a Balkan Community

by Max Bergholz

During two terrifying days and nights in early September 1941, the lives of nearly two thousand men, women, and children were taken savagely by their neighbors in Kulen Vakuf, a small rural community straddling today's border between northwest Bosnia and Croatia. This frenzy--in which victims were butchered with farm tools, drowned in rivers, and thrown into deep vertical caves--was the culmination of a chain of local massacres that began earlier in the summer. In Violence as a Generative Force, Max Bergholz tells the story of the sudden and perplexing descent of this once peaceful multiethnic community into extreme violence. This deeply researched microhistory provides provocative insights to questions of global significance: What causes intercommunal violence? How does such violence between neighbors affect their identities and relations?

Contrary to a widely held view that sees nationalism leading to violence, Bergholz reveals how the upheavals wrought by local killing actually created dramatically new perceptions of ethnicity--of oneself, supposed "brothers," and those perceived as "others." As a consequence, the violence forged new communities, new forms and configurations of power, and new practices of nationalism. The history of this community was marked by an unexpected explosion of locally executed violence by the few, which functioned as a generative force in transforming the identities, relations, and lives of the many. The story of this largely unknown Balkan community in 1941 provides a powerful means through which to rethink fundamental assumptions about the interrelationships among ethnicity, nationalism, and violence, both during World War II and more broadly throughout the world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics

464 pages, Hardcover

Published November 29, 2016

Reviews

[Bojan Džodan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fenomenalna knjiga. Bergholcu je osnovni motiv za ovo istraživanje bio pokolj koji se desio u junu 1941. u regionu Kulen-Vakufa. Kako je u arhivama ostalo nejasno ko su bili žrtve a ko počinitelji, Bergholc je odlučio da istraži ta strašna dešavanja i potpuno nepristrasno je opisao jednu neverovatnu priču o bratoubistvu među komšijama, nacionalizmu i nasilju kao generativnoj sili. Mislim da nigde nisam pronašao bolje opisan besmisao rata i činjenicu da kada počne rat zlo postaje neuhvatljivo i ne postoji strana u ratu u kojoj zlo ne dođe do izražaja.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is indisputable—if not also obvious—that the ideologies, policies, and plans of key leaders, such as Hitler, Stalin, and in our case, Pavelić, deserve serious attention and analysis in any attempt to explain such high levels of violence. But in communities where we see nearly exclusive local participation and involvement in mass killing, such as the Kulen Vakuf region, we cannot reconstruct and analyze this history without devoting sizable attention to local agency—to the acts of those who lived and killed and died in those communities. Often, the most perplexing dimension of those parts of the world that some might wish to call the “bloodlands,” is less the machinations of faraway leaders, and more the immense destruction that local people inflict on each other and themselves.

I have complicated thoughts about this book. And I have some hesitation even about expressing them. I'm not a researcher in the field, or a trained academic, and my opinions should be weighted accordingly as I am, plainly, not the audience. I picked this book up because Bergholtz's study is mentioned a few times in terms of understanding the dynamics of massacres, a subject which (unfortunately?)preoccupies me. Bergholz pull here primarily on a microhistory of the Kulen Vukef region in WW2, where nationalist forces conducted local massacres, only to be defeated by the communist guerilla forces, whose members then conducted further massacres. In total, more than 3000 people died in less than a year, many of them children, almost all non-combatants. In addition to a detailed study of these events, Bergholz draws on Stanley Milgram's*, and at specific points, the work of some scholars of southern Asia and the Rwandan conflict. The referencing is good, and he is candid in discussing his influences
Bergholz's interest is in looking at the specific factors that lead to a massacre, and those which were able to avert violence. He destroys some myths - that violence is greater between strangers than those who know each other well (actually, the opposite is true). He looks at the interventions that were made by those in attacking parties to stop the violence. Some of his conclusions are certainly interesting - for example that friendships prior to the violence are not particularly significant, but experiences of being helped or saved do. He also notes that it takes willingness by a potential ally to threaten violence against the perpetrators in order to change the dynamic. - "The desire and capability to use physical force against fellow insurgents was critical for preventing violence against civilian non-combatants. Doing so, however, was a step that many insurgents who favored restraint seemed to struggle with greatly. The price for their hesitation and ambivalence would be paid in the lives of unarmed civilians."
His final conclusions are succinctly summarised: "What this microanalysis makes clear is that a cluster of factors would be necessary for this gamble to pay off. First, the restraint advocates needed to be on the ground with their fighters, and ready to intervene at any moment; their disappearance or death could make the difference between restraint and mass killing. Second, their task of avoiding revenge killing was much easier when their fighters were not suddenly destabilized through the discovery of the mutilated corpses of their relatives and neighbors. Third, commanders needed to find ways to counteract the processes of antagonistic collective categorization and dehumanization. Fourth, an awareness of the limitations of their authority was crucial, as was a willingness to quickly adjust military strategy accordingly. Finally, the existence of strong intercommunal organizational activity—both before the establishment of the NDH and especially during the summer of 1941—was crucial to acquiring embryonic authority and legitimacy among their fighters. "
In the end though, I struggled with the absence of a focus on some of those broader factors: it was clear, for example, that the violence against Muslims/Croats came from a small, quickly empowered fascist force drawn from a disenfranchised and angry group of men who wanted more privilege than they had (yep, that bit was scary). It was also clear that the second wave of violence from the insurgents, which accounted for most of the murders, was opposed by the Communist leadership, but not so much that it was willing to stand down any leadership for it. The broader political dynamics were not the focus on the book, but as the created the context, I kept getting distracted by them.
*Unlike less scholarly books I've read, Bergholz discusses the detail of Milgram's experiments - the conditions which increased and decreased compliance - rather than a crude "people are terrible" summary common to pop science.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a study of a small town in Bosnia, that experienced significant ethnic conflict at the beginning of World War II. The author looks at the history of the region, as well as subsequent events, to develop a theory of how ethnic and national conflict works. The author argues that there was both conflict and cooperation between ethnic groups, but that when war broke out, ethnic identities hardened, making reconciliation difficult.

[Zuzana Šmilňáková · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is truly one of its kind, a must-read on local dynamics of intercommunal violence. It also represents a meta-commentary on the academic approach to the study of conflicts.

[Eric Futerfas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recomended to me by a professor at UC Berkeley, and i can see why. Academically, this book is really impressive. The amount of detail that the author was able to uncover is extraordinary and the insight drawn from these details has importance far beyond the scope of the conflict depicted in the book. I had a bit of dejavu reading through some of the book though due to how redundant it sometimes is, often reiterating points or concepts discussed earlier, even as recent as what felt like the previous page. Despite the very academic position the book takes, it's relatively easy to read, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the region or the concepts of violence, war, or genocide. Will issue a warning though, some descriptions of violence are very graphic and chilling.. not for the faint-hearted.

[Невен Паштар · Rating 5 out of 5]

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