Yugoslavia

History, Breakup, & Ethnic Cleansing

Establishment of Yugoslavia• Existed as Kingdom of Serbs, Croats,

and Slovenes after WWI (1918)• Gained international recognition as

Yugoslavia in July 1922• Renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia in

1939• Reformed as Federal People’s

Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946 with a communist government– Acquired territories from Italy– Ruled by Josip Broz Tito until 1980

• Renamed again to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963

Tito’s Rule• Ruled 14 January 1953 – 4 May 1980• Led Partisans in WWII – regarded as most

effective resistance movement in occupied Europe

• Presidency criticized as authoritarian, but seen by many as a ‘benevolent dictator’– Successful economic & diplomatic policies

• Less repressive than other Eastern European communist states

– Popular in Yugoslavia & abroad– Unifying symbol (suppressed nationalist

sentiment in favor of brotherhood)– Maintained peaceful coexistence of Yugoslav

federation’s nations• Chief leader of the Non-Aligned Movement

– Jawaharlal Nehru (India)– Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt)– Sukarno (Indonesia)

Tito-Stalin Split• Yugoslavia emerged as a communist

country unlike other postwar Eastern European states– Limited help of Red Army– Strong leadership in Tito

• Formally, Stalin & Tito were allies– Soviets set up spy ring early as 1945– Uneasy alliance– Bitter fights Stalin arranged several

assassination attempts• Titoism threatened Stalin’s rule

– Policies & practices based on principle in each country (Yugoslavia) not by a pattern set in another country (USSR)

• Khrushchev sought to normalize relations in the de-Stalinization process– Tito not enthusiastic– Brezhnev chilled relations again

Breakup: 1990-1992• Several Factors

– Cultural & religions divisions [Christians vs. Muslims]– Memories of WWII atrocities– Centrifugal nationalist forces

• Political events eroded political stability– Death of Tito, 1980: collective presidency of 8 provincial

representatives held little control over economic, cultural, & political policy

– Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, 1989: removal of Soviet threat erased incentive for unity & cooperation

– Unification of Germany, 1990• Democratization of Eastern Europe influenced own

elections– Slovenia & Croatia gave non-communist parties control in

1990– Slovenia declared “sovereignty” 1990, followed by Croatia

• Efforts began to form a confederation instead of federation– Independent republics declared

• Violence erupted – Serbs attempted to gain independence within other nations

& join Serbia, sparking violence– In the end, hundreds of thousands dead + millions displaced

due to conflict related to independence movements

Breakup: Map

Slobodan Milosevic• President of Serbia 1989-2001

– Began as banker in Belgrade– Part of politics in mid-1980s– Head of Serbian Communist Party 1986– Symbol of Serbian nationalism & gained popularity

• Took advantage of power vacuum in Yugoslavia to develop Serbian ultra-nationalism– Fanned flames of future conflict– Gained legitimacy at home– Moved to take away autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina

(in Serbia) by using mass rallies to force leaders to resign• Reintegrated by 1989• Headed by Milosevic allies

• Led ethnic cleansing program in the Balkans– Arrested & turned over to the International Crimes

Tribunal– Died in prison in 2006, before trial concluded

Bosnian Genocide• Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia April

1992– Bosnian Serb forces, backed by Serb-dominated Yugoslav army, tarageted

Bosniak & Croatian civilians– 100,000 people estimated dead by 1995– Worst act of genocide since Holocaust

• Ethnic tensions– Muslims largest single population group initially in Bosnia– More Serbs & Croats emigrated over next few decades– 1991: 44% Bosniak, 31% Serb, 17% Croatian– Government was roughly equal in representation, but Serbs formed

Serbian National Assembly & declared Bosnia’s independence in 1992• Sought joining a dominant Serbian state• Milosevic support

Bosnian Genocide – Continued• Bosnian Serb forces, backed by

Yugoslav army (Milosevic), attacked Bosniak-dominated towns & bombed Sarajevo

• Forcibly expelled civilians• Bosnian government tried to defend

territory, sometimes aided by Croatian army, but failed– Bosnian Serb forces controlled ¾ of

country by end of 1993– Most Bosnian Croats left the country– Bosniak population remained only in

smaller towns– Peace proposals failed

• UN refused to intervene– Did have humanitarian campaign to aid

displaced, malnourished, & injured victims though

Srebrenica, July 1995• 3 towns in eastern Bosnia remained in control of Bosnian

government by summer 1995: Srebrenica, Zepa, and Gorazde• UN declared them safe havens in 1993• Disarmed & protected• July 11 – Bosnian Serb forces attacked

– Overwhelmed Dutch peacekeeping forces– Serbian forces separated civilians– Women & girls bussed to Bosnian-held territory

• 381 concentration/detention camps• Beatings, torture, mass executions• Raped or sexually assaulted – estimated 2,000

– Men & boys killed or bussed to mass killing sites– 7-8,000 estimated killed

International Response• Increased violence gained international attention• Captured Zepa in July too• Exploded a bomb in Sarajevo market• Serbs refused to comply with UN ultimatum in August 1995 NATO joined efforts with Bosnian &

Croatian forces– 3 weeks of bombing in Bosnian Serb positions– Ground offensive– Trade sanctions on Serbia

• Milosevic agreed to enter negotiations in October– Peace talks in Dayton, Ohio held November 1995– Result = federalized Bosnia divided between Croat-Bosniak federation and a Serb Republic– 60,000 NATO troops stationed to maintain peace– Left region unstable & factious ever since

• UNSC created International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at the Hague– First since Nuremberg– Tried military commanders for genocide & other crimes against humanity– Milosevic tried in 2002

• Served as own defense lawyer• Poor health delayed trial• Found dead in cell in 2006