The pan-Slav brotherhood: relations between Russia and the Southern Orthodox Slavs

Abstract

The national awakening of the Southern Slavs resulted in the concurrent rise of distinct national identities, on the one hand, and the collective perception of the need for pan-Slav unity, on the other. Their distant ‘kin’—tsarist Russia—was also embroiled in two opposing approaches to the issue: pro-Europeanism and pan-Slavism, of whom the latter envisaged a Russian-led pan-Slavic federation. Although of cultural characteristics, the pan-Slav movement became political as Russia sought to increase its dominance in the Balkans. By stoking a common identity, increasing groupness, and propagating rhetoric of ‘us versus them,’ Russia attempted to gain leverage over its Southern Slav brethren; however, the movement saw its ultimate decline with the dissolution of both Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the question remains whether the appeals to pan-Slav symbols and ideas espouse a greater feeling of groupness among Russia and Bosnia and Herzegovina today. To answer this question, a theoretical framework of constructivism and symbolic politics theory is employed, with content analysis and review of the relevant literature as the analytical method.