The Yugoslav War that was not theirs: The case of national minority millennials

Abstract

This paper delves into the experiences of ethnic Hungarian millennials in Vojvodina, Serbia, who came of age during the tumultuous Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s. Despite their non-involvement in the conflict, they grappled with substantial challenges arising from surging nationalism that impacted both society and their personal lives. The study illuminates the unexplored suffering of members of this demographic and the enduring aftermath of their war-time encounters. Utilising qualitative interviews and a literature review on nationalism and the Yugoslav Wars, this research reconstructs the perceptions of ethnic minority millennials regarding the nationalistic atmosphere in which they grew up. It delves into their unexpected entanglement with the conflict and its profound consequences on their wellbeing, families and social dynamics. Despite their community's non-participatory stance, this study unveils the concealed wounds of war-induced trauma and their broader implications. The main value of the paper is that it shows how ethnic minority millennials were drawn into the conflict and how they have been impacted by it despite not being the war's main protagonists.