Otakumonkey
Chieftain
I've decided to post some of the essays I wrote in my AP world history class to this forum.
The Core of Serbian Identity
On 28 June 1389 the combined Serbian forces from the territories governed by Prince Lazer and Vuk Brankovic together with auxiliary troops sent by King Tvrtko of Bosnia faced Sultan Murad and his army on the field of Kosovo. It had been eighteen years since King Vukasin and Despot Uglijesa failed in their attempt to drive the Turks out of the Balkan Peninsula, and now the Serbian forces were definitely on the defensive. Given the general discord among Serbian lords in the decades following Dusans death, the fact that Lazar, Vuk, and Tvrtko were able to create an alliance against the Turks was reason for some optimism. No one at that time knew that the battle of Kosovo was to become a pivotal moment in the history of the Serbian people with repercussions that have lasted for centuries.
In 1388 the Ottoman Turkish army advanced into Bulgaria and forced Tsar Ivan Sisman to submission. Bulgaria became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire in 1376, but vassal status never prohibited the sultan from continuing his attacks against the subject land. The 1380s saw the Ottomans making several moves against southern Bulgaria, and in 1385 they captured Sofia from Sisman. Sismans attempt to end his vassal relationship with the Turks resulted in disaster for the Bulgarians. They were once again forced to accept vassal status and had to surrender more territory Turks. More worryingly for the rest of the Balkan Peninsula however was the establishment of Turkish military camps within Bulgarian territory and the right to use the territory freely for Turkish troops to move deeper into the peninsula.
The Turkish advances into Bosnia and Bulgaria undoubtedly made Prince Lazar of the Serbs aware that it was only a matter of time until he faced another Turkish assault on his own territory. When it came, however, it was anything but a minor border skirmish or plundering raid. The Battle of Kosovo on 28 June 1389 was a full-fledged battle in the heartland of old Serbia.
The historian is faced with a difficult situation when he or she attempts to discover what occurred in the Battle of Kosovo. There are no eyewitness accounts of the battle, and rather significant differences exist among contemporary sources that do mention the event. What is known as fact is that a massive battle did take place on the field of Kosovo on 28 June 1389 between the Islamic Ottoman Turks under Sultan Murad I and the Christian forces led by Prince Lazar of Serbia. When the dust cleared, both leaders were dead and Murads son, Bayezid, returned to Edirne to secure his position. Beyond these meager details, not much else is known for certain. Early records are not particually concerned with armaments, tactics, size of forces, and the general course of battle. It is not even possible to determine which side was victorious on the field since the one thing rerecorded in all sources is that causalities on both sides were massive.
Myth, however, has taken place where history lacks. Prince Lazar became a martyr to the Serbs, having laid down his life to protect Kosovo from the marching hordes of the infidel. Kosovo came to represent not a military victory but a spiritual one. The myths describe the battle simply as a struggle between the forces of good and evil ; Murad with his band of bloodthirsty beasts and Lazar with his pious army of God fearing Christians. Lazer and his troops sacrificed themselves for the good of the people, and thus achieved spiritual victory through martyrdom, despite whether the battle was won militarily.
Kosovo became central in Serbian identity. The idea of standing up against tyranny and evil such as Prince Lazar did was partially the reason why Gavrilo Prinzip felt compelled to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian Empire. More recently, Slobodan Milosevic identified himself with Prince Lazar and the ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo as Turks, resulting in ethnic cleansing in order to purge these infidels from Serbian society. The identification of Serbian leaders with Lozar and Serbian enemies is not new. For hundreds of years the repercussions of the Battle of Kosovo have been felt in various conflicts between Serbs and others throughout the Balkan Peninsula.
Although not much is known historically about the Battle of Kosovo, its significance is not decreased. The myths surrounding the battle have placed the supposed sacrifice of Prince Lozar into the hearts of the Serbian people. As a result, the Battle of Kosovo has become central to Serbian identity throughout the past six hundred years.
The Core of Serbian Identity
On 28 June 1389 the combined Serbian forces from the territories governed by Prince Lazer and Vuk Brankovic together with auxiliary troops sent by King Tvrtko of Bosnia faced Sultan Murad and his army on the field of Kosovo. It had been eighteen years since King Vukasin and Despot Uglijesa failed in their attempt to drive the Turks out of the Balkan Peninsula, and now the Serbian forces were definitely on the defensive. Given the general discord among Serbian lords in the decades following Dusans death, the fact that Lazar, Vuk, and Tvrtko were able to create an alliance against the Turks was reason for some optimism. No one at that time knew that the battle of Kosovo was to become a pivotal moment in the history of the Serbian people with repercussions that have lasted for centuries.
In 1388 the Ottoman Turkish army advanced into Bulgaria and forced Tsar Ivan Sisman to submission. Bulgaria became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire in 1376, but vassal status never prohibited the sultan from continuing his attacks against the subject land. The 1380s saw the Ottomans making several moves against southern Bulgaria, and in 1385 they captured Sofia from Sisman. Sismans attempt to end his vassal relationship with the Turks resulted in disaster for the Bulgarians. They were once again forced to accept vassal status and had to surrender more territory Turks. More worryingly for the rest of the Balkan Peninsula however was the establishment of Turkish military camps within Bulgarian territory and the right to use the territory freely for Turkish troops to move deeper into the peninsula.
The Turkish advances into Bosnia and Bulgaria undoubtedly made Prince Lazar of the Serbs aware that it was only a matter of time until he faced another Turkish assault on his own territory. When it came, however, it was anything but a minor border skirmish or plundering raid. The Battle of Kosovo on 28 June 1389 was a full-fledged battle in the heartland of old Serbia.
The historian is faced with a difficult situation when he or she attempts to discover what occurred in the Battle of Kosovo. There are no eyewitness accounts of the battle, and rather significant differences exist among contemporary sources that do mention the event. What is known as fact is that a massive battle did take place on the field of Kosovo on 28 June 1389 between the Islamic Ottoman Turks under Sultan Murad I and the Christian forces led by Prince Lazar of Serbia. When the dust cleared, both leaders were dead and Murads son, Bayezid, returned to Edirne to secure his position. Beyond these meager details, not much else is known for certain. Early records are not particually concerned with armaments, tactics, size of forces, and the general course of battle. It is not even possible to determine which side was victorious on the field since the one thing rerecorded in all sources is that causalities on both sides were massive.
Myth, however, has taken place where history lacks. Prince Lazar became a martyr to the Serbs, having laid down his life to protect Kosovo from the marching hordes of the infidel. Kosovo came to represent not a military victory but a spiritual one. The myths describe the battle simply as a struggle between the forces of good and evil ; Murad with his band of bloodthirsty beasts and Lazar with his pious army of God fearing Christians. Lazer and his troops sacrificed themselves for the good of the people, and thus achieved spiritual victory through martyrdom, despite whether the battle was won militarily.
Kosovo became central in Serbian identity. The idea of standing up against tyranny and evil such as Prince Lazar did was partially the reason why Gavrilo Prinzip felt compelled to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian Empire. More recently, Slobodan Milosevic identified himself with Prince Lazar and the ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo as Turks, resulting in ethnic cleansing in order to purge these infidels from Serbian society. The identification of Serbian leaders with Lozar and Serbian enemies is not new. For hundreds of years the repercussions of the Battle of Kosovo have been felt in various conflicts between Serbs and others throughout the Balkan Peninsula.
Although not much is known historically about the Battle of Kosovo, its significance is not decreased. The myths surrounding the battle have placed the supposed sacrifice of Prince Lozar into the hearts of the Serbian people. As a result, the Battle of Kosovo has become central to Serbian identity throughout the past six hundred years.
The myth you talk about suggests to me that this article I read is indeed right, and that later generations (during high-tides of nationalism) have changed it to what is has become today.
Kind of strengthens the thought that the birth of Serbia blabalbla is all made up later.
If you tried to explain this to people well learned in history you'd get laughed at. Bosnia had been a country seperate from any other in the region for as long as Croatia.
Way too oversimplified. First is brushing aside years of nationalist debate on the exact ethnogenetic history of Bosnia and Hertzegovina through the ages by using the compromise "they were serbs and croats". Then you draw a neat little line and everybody that matters is happy. In reality the Serb influence among Bosniaks only came in the mid 1800's when Serbs kicked out their Muslims from the Belgrade Pashaluk and burned down the mosques. It's quite sad, at one time Belgrade had dozens of mosques, now it has one. Correction, it just lost that one around a month ago too 
