Samo sloga Srbina spasava

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Flag with the “Serbian Cross”, where the fire steels shown in simplified form as Cyrillic C letters stand for the slogan Samo sloga Srbina spasava

Samo sloga Srbina spasava ( Serbian - Cyrillic Само слога Србина спасава ; German Only Eintracht saves the Serbs ) is a popular Serbian slogan and is considered the unofficial national motto of Serbia .

It is an expression and reminder of a warning against treason and disunity, which in Serbian tradition are regarded as the main reasons for the downfall of the medieval Serbian Empire . The slogan also symbolizes the national romantic notion (see also Greater Serbia ), according to which only national (social under communism) solidarity and territorial unity can "save" the Serbs. The slogan and its graphic equivalent, the so-called Serbian cross , is often understood as a nationalist symbol, while for others it is a national symbol or expression of patriotism .

The “Serbian Cross” is a simplified representation of essential components of the Serbian coat of arms , from which the slogan was taken. The four were Beta letters of Palaiologenflagge (de facto the former Byzantine Empire Flag) as fire steels designed and arms because of their similarity in Cyrillic С letters (like the Latin letter S reinterpreted) that the initials of alliteration С амо с лога С рбина с пасава should form. In the form of the С letters it appeared for the first time in Serbia, which Byzantium emulated, in 1397 on the chains of a candlestick in the Visoki Dečani monastery .

From 1947 to 2004 the four letters C also formed the coat of arms of the Socialist Republic of Serbia , but without the cross in the center.

history

Legend has it that the slogan is attributed to Sava of Serbia (1175–1236), a monk and later patron saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church . After that, the Serbs should be forced to convert to Catholicism . Sava is said to have called on the Serbs with this slogan, the so-called "Ocila Phrase " (Serbian ocila / оцила, also ognjilo / огњило or očilo / очило for the fire steel), to resistance and to unity and to found their own independent (Orthodox) church . To underline this legend there is the Serbian saying :

"Lepo nam je reko Sveti Sava,
samo sloga Srbina spasava."

"Saint Sava told us beautifully,
only unity can save the Serbs."

However, the slogan is said to have developed as a popular interpretation of the four steels of fire in the 18th century at the earliest, when the Serbs began to form nations . It was not until the 19th century that artificial letter explanations were established for the fire steels, which were always regarded as such. The four fire steels of the Serbian coat of arms have been interpreted differently, but mostly with this CCCC slogan. Other interpretations were for example Sama Srbija Sebe Spasila (Serbia saved itself alone), Samo Srbin Srbina Spasava (Only the Serb can save the Serb), Sveti Sava Srpska Slava (Holy Sava - Serbian Gloria) or simply Srbija Srbija Srbija Srbija or Sava Sava Sava Sava .

The phase of the national revolutionary uprising of the Serbs, which was successfully completed at the end of the 19th century , led to Serbia's independence from the Ottoman Empire and to the renewal of the state. Since betrayal, but also disobedience and disagreement, were seen as the main reasons for the fall of the Serbian state in the 15th century, the admonition to unity was of particular importance to the Serbs. The slogan is an expression of this reminder by being a permanent reminder.

Serbian crosses and slogans on a destroyed residential building in Bosnia

Since the mid-1980s, the slogan has again been ubiquitous as a symbol of national euphoria in everyday Serbian life. Found in advertising, on bumper stickers, banners, political party emblems and sports souvenirs, as well as graffiti. In the Serbian-populated areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina , it did not appear in everyday life until the early 1990s.

During the wars of the 1990s in Croatia , Bosnia and Kosovo , the Serbian cross and the associated slogan was used as a symbol by regular military and also irregular paramilitary Serb units (so-called Chetniks ). Analogous to the chessboard coat of arms of the Catholic Croats and the lily coat of arms of the Muslim Bosniaks , it was often seen as graffiti in conquered areas. Often combined with the letters JNA for Jugoslovenska narodna armija ( Yugoslav People's Army ).

Even after the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina , only the sight of the Bosnian-Serbian flag with the four Cyrillic C for the slogan caused fear and aggression among displaced members of other ethnic groups.

Others

On March 26, 2013, the Slovenian politician and member of the European Parliament Jelko Kacin praised the unity of the Kosovar Serb representatives before the EU Parliament with the slogan: Bravo Srbi, samo sloga Srbe spasava (Bravo Serbs, only unity saves the Serbs).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Emilija Mančić: upheaval and disintegration identity: Narrative of Yugoslavia in the European context . Francke Verlag, Tübingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-7720-8466-9 , p. 88 .
  2. ↑ a b Tanja Popović: The Mythologization of Everyday Life: Collective Memories, Images of History and Past Culture in Serbia and Montenegro since the Mid-1980s . Ed .: Andreas Guski, Heiko Haumann (=  Basler Studies on the Cultural History of Eastern Europe . Volume 5 ). Pano Verlag, Zurich 2003, ISBN 3-907576-60-8 , p. 125 .
  3. ^ Human Rights Watch (ed.): Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo . 2001, ISBN 978-1-56432-264-7 , footnote 91, p. 525 ("The four C's Insignia is a Serbian nationalist symbol, compromising a cross and four Cyrillic S's. It is derived from the slogan" Only Unity Saves the Serbs "(Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava).").
  4. ^ Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights: Kosovo / Kosova as seen as told: an analysis of the human rights findings of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission October 1998 to June 1999 . OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, 1999, ISBN 978-83-912750-0-9 , pp. XI ( osce.org - "Serbian cross - Serbian nationalist symbol, comprising a cross and four cyrillic" S "s derived from the slogan" Only Unity Saves the Serbs "(Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava)").
  5. ↑ David Damrosh: Death in Translation . In: Sandra Bermann, Michael Wood (Eds.): Nation, Language, and the Ethics of Translation . Princeton University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-4008-2668-1 , pp. 387 .
  6. ↑ James Gow: Shared Sovereignty, Enhanced Security: Lessons from the Yugoslav War . In: Sohail H. Hashmi (Ed.): State Sovereignty: Change and Persistence in International Relations . Penn State Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-271-04116-2 , pp. 153 (footnote 3).
  7. ^ Lenard J. Cohen: Serpent in the bosom: the rise and fall of Slobodan Milošević . Westview Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-8133-2902-4 , pp. 124 .
  8. ^ Brigitta Gabriela Hannover Moser - Serbia - With Belgrade, Novi Sad, Vojvodina and Danube , p. 27, Trescher Verlag - Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-89794-208-0 .
  9. ↑ Christopher Deliso - Culture and Customs of Serbia and Montenegro , p. 36, Greenwood Publishing Group Incorporated - 2009, ISBN 978-0-313-34436-7 .
  10. ^ North American Society for Serbian Studies - Serbian Studies, Volume 16 , p. 309, University of Michigan - 2002.
  11. ↑ "The coat of arms of the Serbs shows a cross on a red field, and between the arms of the cross a fire steel facing away from the cross." In: Article 4 of the Constitution of the Principality of Serbia from 1835 ( Sretanjski ustav ).
  12. ↑ “[…] the Serbian [coat of arms]: a white cross on a red shield with a fire steel in each thigh.” In: Article 2 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes of June 28, 1921.
  13. ^ Charles Boutell: Boutell's Manual of Heraldry . Ed .: V. Wheeler-Holohan. F. Warne and Company, 1931, p. 193 ("[...] representations of the old steels for striking light from a flint, but on account of their likeness to the Slavonic letter" S "they came popularly to stand for the phrase," Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava ".").
  14. ^ Birgitta Gabriela Hanover: Serbia: on the way to hidden monasteries and art treasures . Ed .: Deltlev von Oppeln and Bernd Schwenkros. Trescher Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-89794-144-1 , pp. 27 .
  15. ^ Birgitta Gabriela Hannover Moser: Serbia (=  Trescher series of trips ). Trescher Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-89794-208-0 , pp. 27 .
  16. ^ Eastern European Institute Munich (ed.): Yearbooks for the history of Eastern Europe . F. Steiner Verlag, 1959, p. 511 .
  17. ^ Pål Kolstø: National symbols in new states: signs of unity and division . In: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde (Hrsg.): East Europe . tape 53 , no. 7 . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 2003, p. 1003 .
  18. ^ David Rieff: Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West . Simon and Schuster, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4767-3788-1 , pp. 97 .
  19. ↑ Alexander Rustau: The Development of the Peace Process in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Dayton Agreement . GRIN Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-72101-1 , p. 83 .
  20. ↑ blic.rs: Kacin Srbima sa Kosova: Samo sloga Srbe spasava. Retrieved December 17, 2013 .
  21. ↑ glassrpske.com: Kacin: Samo sloga SRBE spasava. Retrieved December 17, 2013 .