Introduction

The first thing to understand about the ' Spomeniks * ' is that they represent many different things to many different people... they are the legacy of a bygone era, they are witnesses to suffering, they are the embodied mythos of a generation, they are objects of anger, they are testaments to triumph, they are symbols of resentment, etc, etc, etc. In a direct, physical sense, what are commonly referred to in English as ' spomenik ' (the Serbo-Croatian/Slovenian word for ' monument ') are a series of memorial structures built from the 1950s-1990s during Tito's Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, whose primary intent was to honor its people's resistance struggle during the National Liberation War (1941-1945) (aka WWII) against Axis occupation. They commemorate not only the crimes which occurred during the region's brutal occupation, but they additionally celebrate the ' Revolution ' which defeated them, all lead by Tito's Partisan Army of rebels and fighters. However, these monuments were, and still are, more than just the sum of their parts.

What are Spomeniks*?

Photo 1: A 1978 map of a select number of Yugoslav spomenik sites

*See language note at bottom of page.

At the outset of Tito's new Republic (established from the ashes of that revolution), ambitious plans were laid to craft something new, something brave and adventurous -- a classless country ruled by principles of socialism, a population free of ethnic tension, all bound together by feelings of 'brotherhood and unity'... and Yugoslavia's 'spomenik project' (Photo 1) was a part of that grand plan. A 2017 paper by Nina Stevanovic cites a source relating that by 1961, over 14,000 memorial objects were already constructed across Yugoslavia honoring WWII (NOB) and the socialist revolution. By the dismantling of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, it is unknown exactly how many memorial objects were created in total, but if their creation was at the same rate that they were built from 1945-1961, the total number would be well over 40,000. Such a phenomenal wellspring of memorial construction is distinct and unique compared to other European countries during that time period, as such, the importance with which the Yugoslav government regarded this spomenik project becomes evident.

Optimism, Righteousness & Education

Photo 2: A historical photo of the forward-thinking design of the Monument to the Revolution in Podgarić, Croatia

Within this new country of Yugoslavia, Tito envisioned a diverse utopian society unified around its own internal sense of progressive optimism, which itself would be held together by a firm grasp on its own shared future and by a collective righteousness in their victory against fascist aggression. The construction of this vast array of monuments was part of that plan. As such, these monuments operate not only as surreal and abstract structures memorializing a horrific past and arduous victory against fascism, but additionally, they function as political tools meant to articulate the country's vision of a new tomorrow ( Photo 2 ). This is most visibly evidenced by the fact that a central feature at a significant number of these memorial complexes are various styles of large amphitheatres ( Photo 3 Socialist Yugoslavia ' to the tens of thousands of school children who were brought to them every year from across the country via Tito's ' Young Pioneers ) -- the purpose of these amphitheatres were to act as outdoor classrooms, utilizing the monuments as a tool to communicate the history, mythology and ideology of '' to the tens of thousands of school children who were brought to them every year from across the country via Tito's '' political youth initiative ( ). Photo 2Photo 3Photo 4

Photo 3: A historical photo of the amphitheatre complex and Makedonium monument in Kruševo, Macedonia

Photo 4: A historical photo of children gathered ceremoniously at Young Pioneer rally at the Vraca Memorial Complex in Sarajevo, BiH

When visiting the monuments, it is plain to see that the amphitheatres were integral components to these memorials (as they often directly meld into the monument's architecture itself), which reinforces the notion that these structures existed not simply as traditional memorials, but also as a national network of grand teaching tools for relating to a population the ethos, history and narrative of Tito's Yugoslavia.

From Seasides to Mountain Tops So, from the 1960's to the 1980s, hundreds (if not thousands) of these spomeniks were built across the Republic of Yugoslavia... from big ones the size of a 15-story building (Photo 5), to smaller ones as big as a refrigerator. It was a colossal effort in monument building unparalleled in Europe, both then and to this day. The monoliths towered from seasides to barren mountain-tops (Photos 6 & 7), standing as forces which dominated the landscape wherever they existed. But where many hundreds once stood, scores have now been destroyed and left derelict in the subsequent years after the war and ethnic conflict that overtook the Yugoslav region through the 1990s -- but in the wake of that turmoil, the ruins of an unseen web of lost cultural markers was left behind. The ones that still remain intact tell a powerful and passionate story about memory, history and a future unrealized. This website aims to explore and unfold that story.

Photo 5: A historical photo of the "Monument to the Uprising" in Petrova Gora, Croatia

Photo 6: A historical photo of the "Gull Wing" monument in the Adriatic seaside town of Podgora, Croatia

Photo 7: A historical photo of a school group approaching the Kozara monument near Prijedor, BiH

In the following sections linked below, you can explore more of the collective history of these sites, delving into questions about their style, the form, their fate and their current condition. In addition, you can also choose to explore the spomenik site individually through a variety of pathways and educational resources. The links here will begin you on this journey: