Figure 1.-- |
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Yugoslavia was formed after World War out of several countries, principalities and renmaants of the Austro-Hungarain Empire. Almost from the beginning the union
of South Slvs proved almost ungovernable. The Croats in particular objected to what they saw as efforts by the Serbs to dominate the country. The Croats even
joined with the NAZIs after the World War II German invasion. After the War, Tito held the country together with brute force. After Tito died Milosivich used Serb
natioanlism to gain power. When he was unable to hold Slovenia and Croatia in Yugoslavia, Milosivich set our to create a Greater Serbia. He supported Serb
para-military groups to seize control of large areas of Bosnia and supress the Kosovars in Kosovo. None of the contending ethnic groups are without blame. Criat
forces also carried out attricities against Sebs and Muslims in Bosnia. European countries were unable to deter him. Only the reluctant and tardy threat of Amercan
force stoped Milosivich in Bosnia. The actual use of force was needed in Kosovo. In both cases the United Nations was unable to act. Even in Serbinica where the
U.N. guaranted the saftey of Bosnians, in the end Dutch U.N. peace keepers were ordered to abandon the Muslims to the Serbs. Finally when the U.N. failed to
act, the United States acted through NATO. About 0.2 million people are believed to have been killed.
Yugoslavia was formed after World War out of several countries, principalities and renmaants of the Austro-Hungarain Empire. Almost from the beginning the union
of South Slvs proved almost ungovernable. The Croats in particular objected to what they saw as efforts by the Serbs to dominate the country.
Hitler forced Prince Paul to join the Axis (March 1941). Riots in Belgrade force Prince Paul from power. An outrage Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to carry out a terror bombing of Belgrade and invaded the country (April 1941). The country quickly fell and was divided up among Axis powers. The Croats cooperated with the NAZIs and the NDH was set up as a NAZI puppet. Himler and the Grand Mufti cooperated to recruit Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo for SS units to fight the growing insurgency. The NAZIs succeeded in killing most of the country's Jews. The NDH targetted Orthodox Serbs. . While the country quickly fell to the Germans, the Wehrmacht soon fond itself involved in an expanding and bloody guerilla war. The Allies eventually transferred support from the Royalist Chetniks to the Comminist partisans. It was the Partisans who finally liberated the country from NAZI occupation.
After the War, Marshall Tito organized a Communist state. There were widespread reprisals of those who cooperated with the NAZIs or even were associatec with the non-Communist resistance groups. Large numbers of people were arrested, mny of whim were shot. Yugoslavia became one of the most anti-American of the Eastern European countries. It was, however, one of the two Communistv states not imposed by Stalin. (The other was Albania.) Stalin attempted to seize control promting a break with Stalin. Yugoslavia unlike the other Eastern European Communist satellites suceeded in estanlishing its independence from the Soviets. Domesticall, Tito used the full force of police state to hold the country together with brute force. Erhnic tensions persisted, but anyone attemmpting to appeal to ethnic issues faced arrest and long jail terms. Tito himself was a Croat, but never used his authority to favor Croatia.
Josip Tito died in 1980. After his death, unresolved ethnic, religious, and economic tensions began to surface. Yugoslavia was composed of six republics (Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegr, Serbia, and Slovenia) and
two self-governing provinces (Kosovo and Vodynia). Serbia (the largest republic) dominated the federal government and army.
After Tito died Communists began to lose power. Thus occurred through Eastern Europe in the 1980s, especially after Gobechev came to poer (1985) and deciced that the Soviet Union would no longer use force to maintain Communist regimes. Slobodan Milosevic (1941-), who had been a colorless Communist aparatchek conceived of using Serbian nationalism (1987). This and thin veiled actions to loot the national treasury caused resentment in the other republics leading to their sucession from the Yugoslav federation. When he was unable to hold Slovenia and Croatia in Yugoslavia, Milosivich set out to create a Greater Serbia.
In that effort he launched four and lost four wars, resulting several hundred thousand deaths and the sewing of ethnic hatred that still festers in the countries that formed from the former Yugoslavia. Milosivich supported Serb para-military groups to seize control of large areas of Bosnia and supress the Kosovars in Kosovo. None of the contending ethnic groups are without blame. Croat forces also carried out attricities against Sebs and Muslims in Bosnia. European countries were unable to deter him. Only the reluctant and tardy threat of Amercan force stoped Milosivich in Bosnia.
The prosperous republic of Slovenia and Croatia were unilling to subsidize less-developed Serbia or to participate in a finally corupt centralized federal government dominated by Milosivich and the Serbs. Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence (June 25, 1991). Slovenia took control of its border crossings. Quickly organized defense forces blockaded federal (largely Serbian) army bases. The slovenes captured about 2,300 federal soldiers. Milosivich ordered the federal army to regain control in Slovenia. The federal moved armored units throuhj Croatia toward Slvenia. The federal air force bombed the the Slovene capital Ljubljana (primarily the air port) and some border posts. Scattered fighting occured, finally ending in mid-July 1991. There were some deaths, but fighting was notv intense. The federal army made the mistake of using poorly motivated conscripts to restore federal authority. The federal army was forced to withdrew its tanks and troops, in part because of the deteriorating situation in Croatia which had also declared independence. The international community quickly recognized Slovenian independence. The European Community recognized Slovenia as an independent state (February 1992). Slovenia was also admitted to the United Nations (May 1992).
Like Slovenia, Croatia also declared independence (June 25, 1991). Croatian independence was an even greater challenge to Milosivich than Slovenia. While Slovenia was relatively ethnically homogeneous, Croatia had a substantial Serbian minority, largely concentrated in easten and southern Croatia.
The fighting in Bodsnia began in 1992. Estimates suggested that 250,000 people were killed in the Bosnian Civil War. Another 20,000 people are missing and believed to have been killed. Over 300 mass graves have been found throughout Bosnia. Not all have been exhumed but the remains of about 18,000 have been exhumed as of mid-2004. Those killed include members of all three major groups (Croats, Muslims, and Serbs, but the majority of thise killed were Muslims killed by Serbs. The United Nations guaranted the saftey of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. The United Nations had declared Srebrenica to be a safe haven. In the end Dutch U.N. peace keepers were ordered to abandon the Muslims to the Serbs. Bosnian Serb military and police units aided by special para-military forces proceeded to murder as many as 8,000 Muslim boys and men (1995). This has been well documented, althoug denined by the Sebs. Bosnian Serb officials in 2004 finally admitted Serb complicity. [Krilic] The U.N. War Crimes Tribunal have declared in an act of genocide. The U,N. and Bosniann investigators have found the remains of about 5,000 bodies in numeroys mass graves throughout eastern Bosnia. More are being found all the time. About 1,200 victims have been identified as from Srebernica through DNA testing. Radovan Karadzic, Bosnian Cerb leader, and Ratko Mladic, Bosnian Serb military commander, has been indicted by the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal for the Srebrenica and other Bisnian attricities. Both are still at large. The Srebrenica massacre was the worst massacre in Europec since Worldc War II. Thre foighting in Bosnia ended with the Dayton Peace Accords (1995). Bosnia is now divided into a Serb-Bosnia Federation and a Croat-Muslim Federation. NATO troops act as peace keepers.
Serbian nationalism has deep roots in Kosovo. The medieval Serbian kingdom was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire after Lazar was killed at the disatrous battle of Kosovo Polje in 1389. The medieval history of Serbs and Albanians is confused, but Serbs came to see the Albanians as colaborators with the Turks and thus traitors. The actual history is much more complex. Various of Lazar’s descendants ruled in a much reduced Serbia as Despots under the Turks until the late 16th century, and a further descendant George (16??-1711) established his rule there in the early 18th century. While Kosovo was seen as the heartland of the Serbian nation by many Serbs fewer and fewer Serbs actually lived there. After World War II, Kosovo became largely populated by ethnic Albanians. Reports of attacks on Kosovo's dwingling Serbian minority circulate in Serbia. Milosivich plays on these fears. He speaks at a commeoration of the Battle of Kosovo pledging that Kosovo will forever be Sebian. Serb authorities ininiate a program to exclude Kosovars from public jobs and universities. The Serbs also establish a brutal police state to stamp out Albanian resistance. Prominant Kosovars were arrested. The Albanians form the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Funding and supplies for the KLA are obtained in the United States. [Sullivan] The KLA carried out attacks on the Serbs in Kosovo. The result was a brutal Serb repression. The Serbs launched a military campaign to drive Kosivars out of Kosovo. Serb military and para-military forces terrorized civilians. Villages were razed and their inhabitants shot. Whole towns were emptied of Kosvars. There were shooting, rapings, and terrible attroicities, all imed at driving the Kosovars into neighboring Albania. This was clearly ethnic cleansing, others labeled in genocide. The press reports of the Serb attrocities and suffering ofv the Kosovars brought cries for international intervention. The actual use of force was needed in Kosovo. In both cases the United Nations was unable to act. Finally when the U.N. failed to act, the United States acted through NATO. After the NATO launched a bombing campaign, the Serbs were forced out of Kosovo but before leaving destroyed as much as possible. Estimates of the Kosovars killed by the Serbs vary widely. Press reports at the time sited figures of nearly 0.2 million people. Other accounts say as few as 10,000 Kosovars were killed. NATO is now keeping the peace in Kosovo, buth ethnic tensions still simner. The status of Kosovo is still unresolved.
Krilic, Samir. "Bosnian Serbs admit to massacre," Washington Post June 12, 2004, p. 11. The findings are based on the work of the Srebrenica Commission cwhich was omposed of Serb judges and lawyers, a represenarve for the victims, and an internsational expert.
Sullivan, Stacey. Be Not Afraid, For You have Sons in America: How a Brooklyn Roofer Helped Lure the U.S. Into the Kosovo War (St. Martins, 2004), 330p.
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