THE YUGOSLAV CIVIL WAR1981: During riots in Kosovo, 1,000 Serbs are killed
1987-88: Serb & Croat CP bosses become nationalists
June 1991: Slovenia and Croatia declare independence
September 1991: Heavy fighting breaks out in ethnic Serb regions of Croatia
March 1992: Bosnian government declares independence
July 1995: Massacre of at least 8,000 unarmed Bosnians at the UN “Safe Haven” of Srebrenica
August 1995: Collapse of the Serb Republic of Krajina
November 1995: Dayton Accord leads to NATO occupation of Bosnia
1998-99: Conflict over Kosovo
Josip Broz Tito(1892-1980)
1. He propagated a “Yugoslav” identity that never caught on.
2. He ONLY allowed pluralism in ethnic “literary societies.”
3. He promised an equalization of regional prosperity levels but could not deliver.
4. He encouraged the mostly Serb officer corps to regard itself as the “guardian of socialism.”
The Serb Communist Party boss Slobodan Milosevic
redefined himself as a militant nationalist in 1987 and
celebrated the 600th anniversary of the
Battle of Kosovo in 1989
The “Republic of Serb Krajina” (1991-95)
• After Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in June 1991, Serb forces carved out a new para-state by March 1992.• Croats and Serbs both engaged in massive ethnic cleansing.• Germany recognized Croatia in December 1991.• Bosnia declared independence in March 1992, and the fighting spread.
The Security Council created UNPROFOR in
February 1992 to monitor the Serb-Croat cease-fire,
but its mission soon expanded (167 of 37,000
troops died in action)
Mostar, capital of Herzegovina (the 16th-century bridge was destroyed by Croatian artillery on
November 9, 1993)
AREAS OF CONTROL IN BOSNIA, SEPTEMBER 1994
Pink: Bosnian Serb Army
Yellow: Croatian Defense Council
Green: Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (plus 3 UN “Safe Havens” in east)
With NATO support, Croatia destroyed the “Republic of Serb Krajina” in August 1995, and Milosovic signed the
Dayton Accord with Presidents Izetbegovic and Tudjman in November
NATO bombed Serbia from March through June 1999, destroying both the
defense ministry and Chinese embassy in Belgrade
U.S. State Department
Wanted Poster (2000).
Slobodan Milosevic died in his cell in
The Hague in 2006, and Radovan Karadzic and
General Ratko Mladic are now on
trial.
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