Shifting state loyalty: The case of an officer Şerefeddin or Milan Milovanovic?

Abstract

The paper, drawing primarily on archival material located in Austria, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, examines the lifeworld of an Ottoman officer, ?erefeddin, who in the midst of the Balkan Wars (1912/13), after accepting Christianity, voluntarily joined the army of the Kingdom of Serbia. By relying on the theoretical concept of loyalty, the essay claims that loyalty towards state is not given and fixed, but rather is subject to change. It indicates in particular that ?erefeddin?s decision to join the enemy army is context-driven and thus should be imbedded in the momentary setting. It pursues to show how a person amid war is nevertheless able successfully to adjust to a new emerging context. This case should not be co understood as a typical biography, but rather as an episodic one because similar cases are noticeable in different settings worldwide as well.