Miks mõned riigid otsustavad toetuda paramilitaarsetele üksustele? [Why some countries decide to rely on paramilitary units?]

Abstract

Jugoslaavia näide pärast I maailmasõda
The example of Yugoslavia after WWI

The article analyses Yugoslavian politics in its border regions after WWI, as well as how the authorities took advantage of the local centuries-old paramilitary tradition for the purpose of ensuring order and suppressing resistance movements. The core of the approach is made up of examples from three events: suppression of rebellion in northern Montenegro in February 1919, the activities of the Chetniksin Macedonia in the spring and summer of 1919, and the organisation of the supporters of Albanian leader Essad Pasha in 1919–1920. In the Balkan Wars,Serbia annexed large areas which formerly belonged to the Ottoman Empireand were again transferred to Turkish control in WWI. Yugoslavia (Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes), which was born after the end of WWI, had to strengthen its borders while suppressing the separatism of Macedonians and the conflicts with Albanians and the Montenegro border area clans. The situation was further complicated by the fact that neither the Serbs, the Bulgarians nor the Greeks recognised the Macedonians as a separate nation, but as a part of their respective nations. There were also conflicts between the Serbs, the Croats, the Slovenes and the Bosnian Muslims.

Keywords

paramilitary, Balkan Wars, History of the Balkan countries, World War I, history of Yugoslavia, nation-building