THE BREAKUP OF YUGOSLAVIA

World GeographyMrs. Curtiss

AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE PRIOR TO WW I

ROAD TO BREAKUP After WW I, Austro-Hungarian Empire broken up Unified into a multi-ethnic state based on

linguistic groups Ethnic diversity in Yugoslavia was enormous: Seven distinct ethnic neighbors

Austria, Greece, Italy, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania

Four official languages Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Slovene

Three major religions Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam

Two alphabets Roman – Croatian and Slovene Cyrillic – Macedonian and Serbian

BREAKUP OF YUGOSLAVIA

ROAD TO BREAKUP Six semi-autonomous Republics within

YugoslaviaBosnia & HerzegovinaCroatiaMacedoniaMontenegroSerbia Slovenia

Five Republics established on basis of ethnicityBosnia & Herzegovina – mixture of ethnicity

Serbia – largest republic and dominated national government

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? The people known as Serbs, Bosnian Muslims, and Croats belong to three distinct

ethnic groups. All three speak their own dialect of the Serbo-Croatian language.

Serbs Originally farmers, after World War II Serbs increasingly migrated to cities where they

became wage earners. Serbs are strongly influenced by Eastern European culture. Their religion is Eastern Orthodox.

Bosnian Muslims sometimes referred to as Turks were originally ethnically the same as Serbs, but converted to the Muslim religion in the

fifteenth century. Bosnian Muslims live mostly in cities and are professionals, business owners, and

government workers. Croats

predominantly rural farmers, but many live in cities of southern Croatia. Croats are strongly influenced by the Western European culture in literature, art, science,

and education. They are geographically located near the Italian cities of Genoa and Venice. Croatian culture reflects Italian culture. Croats are Roman Catholic.

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ETHNIC GROUPS IN YUGOSLAVIA

ETHNIC CLEANSING “a process in which a more powerful

ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogenous region.”

“…undertaken to rid an area of an entire ethnicity, so that the surviving ethnicity can be the sole inhabitants.”

ETHNIC CLEANSING Ethnicities suppressed during 20th century

Communist dictator Josip Broz Tito Tito died in 1980s – Communist government

collapsed All Republics (except Serbia and Montenegro)

broke away to become independent countries 1991 – Slovenia and Croatia 1992 – Macedonia 1993 – Bosnia 2003 – no more Yugoslavia

New countries combined different ethnic groups Biggest difference – religion

Mostly dominated by 1 ethnic group i.e. most in Croatia were Croats – but Serbs also lived

there

ETHNIC BREAKUP Serbs and Croats used ethnic cleaning as

a way to claim territoryEthnic regions and political boundaries did not

match up At time of breakup Bosnia and Herzegovina

Herzegovina ethnicities Bosnian Muslim: 48 percent Serb: 37 percent Croat: 14 percent

Serbs and Croats Ally to eliminate Bosnian Muslim population

Dayton Accords (1996) Bosnia and Herzegovina divided into three regions

ENDING THE BREAKUP United Nations, the United States and

other European countries worked to negotiate peace between warring groupsSent troops to enforce peace treaties

Result of Conflict:Disrupted economies in region

Unstable conditions made trade difficultPeople forced from homes

Had to start new lives in different countriesToday – standard of living is low in region

compared to rest of Europe