View of the French
Posted by Drunk_Driving_8303@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 6 comments
Hello my Balkan friends,
I have been many times to the balkans (HR, BIH, RO, SRB…) as I love the cultures and people of that region.
But I do have a question mainly for the ex Yougoslave states what is the view of the French do to their involvement as peacekeepers in the region during the 90’s? It is something I have never really brought up will visiting the region. If I were to fly a French flag on my back will backpacking would that be a good or pretty bad idea do to mixed feelings ?
NOT TRYING TO START A WAR IN THE COMMENTS ! Only asking how most feel about the French if anything at all.
Primary-Dust-3091@reddit
The french named the word slave after us slavic people and it's stuck in french and english to this day. Arguably the worst word on the planet. Named it after us. I'm not even gonna talk about what they did during the crusades...
sjedinjenoStanje@reddit
Isn't it the other way around? Greeks heard "slav" and came to use that word for their function in their society. It was then used in Latin and then fell to many of the Romance languages.
Primary-Dust-3091@reddit
No.
Славянин/Slavqnin comes from the slavic word slav, which means glory.
sjedinjenoStanje@reddit
Most Slavic languages use "Sloven" or a variant with O. It comes from the word slovo meaning word, contrasting with nijem for mute for Germans.
I think only Russians, Croats and Bulgarians call ourselves Slavs with A. Poles, Czechs, Ukrainians, Serbs, etc. use O.
Primary-Dust-3091@reddit
I have never heard of such a thing. Any proof?
PS. Wouldn't really change my point that the french named the word slave after us. Wether slave comes from pride or word, doesn't matter.
TwoFistsOneVi@reddit
In general, UN's peacekeeping forces were ultimately seen as incompetent and useless and did more harm than good, regardless of nationality.
But French peacekeeping forces were seen as more Serb-favoured, because they pushed for a ceasefire-and-negotiation approach, which often aligned with rebel Serb and Bosnian Serb positions (freeze the front lines, stop NATO strikes, avoid taking sides).
Their role during the siege of Sarajevo is interpreted as absolutely shameful, since the French peacekeeping forces refused to clear roadblocks, delayed convoys, did the bare minimum of helping, which many interpreted as favouritism towards Serbs.
Later, in 1995, after some French casualties and the hostage crisis, the French peacekeeping forces did a 180 degree turn and went from "soft negotiations" to "aggressive" stance, so some think that this ultimately created a "balance" in their involvement in the war. Better late than ever, I guess.
No, it's never brought up. Nobody ever thinks about that. If you were to fly a French flag on your backpack, nobody would bat an eye or think anything, but you'd probably get some small curious glazes, because who the fuck flies a flag from their backpack.
So, no worries. Be it Croatia, Serbia or BiH - you won't have any problems.
Speaking for Croatia - interestingly enough, France has recently gotten a relatively positive reputation in Croatia, because we bought Rafale jets from you, while in return France used its influence to get us into Schengen pretty fast. It worked for both sides pretty well.