Jovan Rašković (1929 - March 1992) was a psychiatrist and the founder of the Serbian Democratic Party of Croatia (Srpska demokratska stranka, SDS).
Rašković, a Dalmatian Serb, grew up in Šibenik, southern Croatia.
In 1990, Rašković founded the Serbian Democratic Party. Rašković fanned ethnic hatred and hysteria both through his electrifying public speaking and by casting current events in dark, historical, symbolic terms. Later in 1990, he was removed from power by "more radical, hard-line Serb nationalists" in the former Croatia.
A lonely and bitter man, Jovan Rašković died in March 1992 from a heart attack in Belgrade just before the war in Bosnia began.
Quotes
- "I feel responsible because I made the preparations for this war, even if not the military preparations. If I hadn’t created this emotional strain in the Serbian people, nothing would have happened.
- "My party and I lit the fuse of Serbian nationalism not only in Croatia but everywhere else in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It's impossible to imagine an SDP (Serbian Democratic Party) in Bosnia-Herzegovina or a Mr. Karadzic in power without our influence.
- "We have driven this people and we have given it an identity. I have repeated again and again to this people that it comes from heaven, not earth."
References
See also
Radovan Karadžić
Last updated: 10-23-2005 06:54:11
