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A view of the disaster and victory from below: Serbian Roma soldiers, 1912-1918
[journal article]
Abstract The Kingdom of Serbia fought in three consecutive conflicts between 1912 and 1918. These events merged into a devastating experience of an all-out war, completely reshaping all aspects of contemporary life. As the first centenary of these events has recently shown, the memories of wartime still play... view more
The Kingdom of Serbia fought in three consecutive conflicts between 1912 and 1918. These events merged into a devastating experience of an all-out war, completely reshaping all aspects of contemporary life. As the first centenary of these events has recently shown, the memories of wartime still play a very prominent role in the Serbian national narrative. By 1915 around 20% of Serbian combatants belonged to some of the country’s minorities. Second class citizens on the social margins of society, the Serbian Roma constitute those whose wartime history is the least known to research and the public. However, the wartime diaries kept by Serbian soldiers are full of causal references to their Roma fellow combatants. This article provides an overview of the duties Roma soldiers played in the war, based on the perspective of Serbs who were fighting alongside them. The article tackles the general image and the position of the Roma population in the Kingdom of Serbia. In addition, the horrific challenges the war created for Serbian society are tackled from the perspective of those who were, already in peace time, in the most disadvantageous situation socially and economically. Overall, despite the unifying experience which the wartime suffering imposed on all citizens of the Kingdom, the old prejudices towards the Roma survived after 1918.... view less
Keywords
military; historical development; gipsy; war; minority; First World War; Serbia
Classification
General History
Free Keywords
Roma soldier
Document language
English
Publication Year
2020
Page/Pages
p. 277-285
Journal
Social Inclusion, 8 (2020) 2
Issue topic
Gypsy policy and Roma activism: from the interwar period to current policies and challenges
ISSN
2183-2803
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed