1600 Years of Balkan History
Words and music by Joe Ficklin
D G A D
In 400 AD, the Romans all fell down; that once mighty empire came crashing to the ground
D G A G D
One half left in Europe with its capital still Rome; the other Christian Orthodox called Constantinople home
(Split what would become Bosnia in half along the Rasca River)
In 600 AD, the Slavs came from northeast, they settled in the Balkans where they had a clannish feast
Soon the Croats followed, settled western hills of pine; the Croats become Catholic, the Slavs were Byzantine
(And the Slavs on the eastern side of the Rasca River started calling themselves “Serbs”)
In 1400 AD, the Ottomans appear from Turkey bringing Islam by the sword and shield and spear
They captured half the Balkans before finally turning back; some Serbs became good Muslims, you could hear the Balkans crack
(The Ottomans kept the peace for 500 years)
Now the western side of Bosnia fell under Europe’s sway, they saw the rising Renaissance, they kept the Turks at bay
The eastern half of Bosnia just might have been asleep; the Serbs and Muslim watching all the company they’d keep
(And so it went…)
In 1908 Austria decided to invade, she annexed all of Bosnia, the Serbs were left afraid
Six years later Ferdinand was visiting the town, a Bosnian-Serb student jumped and shot the Archduke down
(And the Archduke’s wife, Sophia)
Austria was furious, they sent a stiff demand; Serbia refused it with an army to command
Allies gathered on the edge, before the year was done, all of Europe caught up in the woe of World War One
(1918 marked the creation of Yugoslavia)
The monarchy in Serbia could not contain the strife, with Serb and Muslim bickering, you’d think them man and wife
The Yugoslavic government did not know what to do, but all of that ended with the start of World War Two
(And the Nazis came in)
The German Nazi government gave ammo to them all; gave them guns and BIGGER guns and said “Go have a ball!”
With Catholic, Christian, Muslim all the Balkans seemed aflame; everyone was fighting now with everyone to blame
(And the hate would linger…. and fester….)
The commies came to power late in 1945; they kept the peace and built up schools and kept everyone alive
The country all seemed prosperous, it was the place to stay; and then in Sarajevo the Olympics came to play
(And life was good, for a while…)
But Russia fell in ’91 and Yugoslav was split; the Serbs all wanted power and the people had a fit
They voted independence then in 1992; the Serbs sent in an army to do things that armies do
(Basically break things and hurt people)
The UN set up enclaves for the Muslims, Croats too; and humanitarian requests slowly getting through
The city Sarajevo was surrounded on each side; shells landed in the marketplace and fifty people died
(The Serbs called it “ethnic cleansing”)
The UN could do nothing with their troops held hostage too; they called in NATO for advise, to do what soldiers do
They used air interdiction, the Serbs could not afford, so then in Dayton Ohio, they signed a peace accord
(Year, right!)
UN troops and US troops went in to stop the fight; they watch the Muslims all day long, watch Serbia by night
The watch the Croats, Kosovo, watch Montenegro’s door; we’ll wait and watch and keep the peace, perhaps forever more