In all wars there is a need to create heroes. Since one tries to gain as much place in history as possible for one’s heroes, they do not always rise on their own. They are compared with models from their own history or universal patterns are sought.

For example, on the Old Continent, the conscious self-sacrifice of 300 Spartiates (full-fledged citizens of Sparta) at Thermopylae in a defensive war against a much larger enemy from 480 BC represents perhaps the most ideal pattern for the heroization of individuals .

Sparta was at the very beginning of the European identity, weaving into it its courage, self-sacrifice, combativeness and willingness to give its life for the ideals it considered essential, which are related to the state, freedom and the people.

In the memory culture of modern Europe, the heroization of members of their community, their emulation and comparison with the Spartans from Thermopylae, was a frequent theme. All European nations compare their soldiers to 300 Spartans. Poles have named as many as six of their Thermopylae in their history. Serbs, Croats and Ukrainians also have their own Thermopylae. In the past of the Serbs, it was, for example, the battle at Čokešina from the First Serbian Uprising, for the Croats it was the defense of Siget, and in the not-so-distant past, the Serbs saw their Thermopylae in the battle of Košare in 1999, and the Croats in defense Vukovar.

Ukrainians have been fighting against the Russian invasion for months. They also named their Thermopylae on several occasions. That is how the defense of Mariupol was called, both in some Ukrainian and Western media, but also by politicians, Thermopylae. For many Europeans, the Spartans, their laws and death at Thermopylae, as a sublime symbol of self-sacrifice for the state and the people, became heroic role models, which many raised to a high heroic pantheon of examples that should be emulated when transforming or activating civic values ​​into civic action .

The presence of Spartiates in the history of Europe provided an opportunity in the process of creating a moral base for the survival of almost any community in times of challenges or setbacks. Thus the Spartans and their state still serve as models for collective and individual identification and imitation.

Thanks to the fact that narratives about heroes represent an important educational tool for fostering desired messages within a community, but also for strengthening its solidarity and motivation, Sparta has been used throughout modern history most often when it was necessary to resort to wars and revolutions. It served to glorify heroic struggle and heroic death. In this way, its use in the process of heroization has helped to solidify and calcify narratives that do not allow for a critical assessment of the importance of an individual or an event in the past, but place him on the pedestal of a hero whose role is not questioned.

We have other similarities between the War in Ukraine and the Yugoslav wars. Since the nineties, the “return of nations to the pre-socialist past”, the creation of new ethnically homogeneous national states, which for a long time did not listen to national minorities, then the beginning of wars and demands for a very high price paid in blood, refugees and destroyed homes, and on the other hand, a thieving transition of new countries that took their toll in the impoverishment of citizens, high unemployment and cheap labor show the similarities of the mentioned areas. We must not forget the ethnic divisions poisoned by chauvinism that led to the strengthening of political parties unprepared for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, then the establishment of paramilitary forces and the creation of self-proclaimed autonomous political units and republics. Both wars led to expulsions, ethnic cleansing and mass exodus of the population.

The world is still insufficiently determined and focused on its own interests when it comes to the extent to which it will support Ukraine, somewhat similar to the time of the Yugoslav wars, and in some cases, whose side it will take.

Meanwhile, the lack of will on both sides of the conflict to resolve their disputes through political dialogue is another common feature of the Ukrainian War and the Yugoslav Wars. It was not created during the war. Already before. It largely led to the war. Now, in the midst of war crimes in Ukraine and while the whirlwind of war is spreading, it is even more difficult to talk about peace negotiations, let alone the beginning of the reconciliation process and regional stability policy . The hatred is too intense. The Russian invasion of Ukraine claims tens of thousands of lives, and propaganda strengthens patriotism and fighting spirit by demonizing the other side.

Once the war is over, it will take a long time for the wounds to heal. And the politicians who will benefit from deepening the wounds, if they can, will not allow it. All of this reminds us of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, but also of the hatred that the extremists in our region continue to promote today.