Position:Home>History> Yugoslavian Civil War?

The Yugoslav Wars were a series of violent conflicts in the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) that took place between 1991 and 2001!. They comprised two sets of successive wars affecting all of the six former Yugoslav republics!. Alternative terms in use include the "War in the Balkans", or "War in (the former) Yugoslavia", "Wars of Yugoslav Secession", and the "Third Balkan War" (a short-lived term coined by British journalist Misha Glenny, alluding to the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913)!.

They were characterised by bitter ethnic conflicts between the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats, Bosniaks or Albanians on the other; but also between Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia and Macedonians and Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia!. The conflict had its roots in various underlying political, economic and cultural problems, as well as long-standing ethnic and religious tensions[citation needed]!.

The civil wars ended with much of the former Yugoslavia reduced to poverty, massive economic disruption and persistent instability across the territories where the worst fighting occurred!. The wars were the bloodiest conflicts on European soil since the end of World War II!. They were also the first conflicts since World War II to have been formally judged genocidal in character and many key individual participants were subsequently charged with war crimes!. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by the United Nations to prosecute these crimes!.

The Yugoslav civil wars can be split in three groups of several distinct conflicts:

Wars during the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia:
War in Slovenia (1991)
Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995)
Bosnian War (1992-1995)
Wars in Albanian-populated areas:
Kosovo War (1996-1999)
Southern Serbia conflict (2000-2001)
Macedonia conflict (2001)
NATO campaigns against Serbia:
NATO bombing of Republika Srpska (1995-96)
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (1999)
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 The Early Conflicts (1991-1995)
3 Conflicts in Albanian-populated areas (1996-2002)
4 A brief timeline of the Yugoslav Wars
5 References
6 External links



[edit] Background
Before World War II, major tensions arose from the first, monarchist Yugoslavia's multi-ethnic makeup and relative political and demographic domination of the Serbs!. Fundamental to the tensions was the different conceptions of the new state, for the Croats envisaged a federal model where they would enjoy greater autonomy than they had as a separate crown land under Austria-Hungary!. Under Austria-Hungary Croats enjoyed only formal autonomy!. For example, they were not allowed to speak in the Croatian language in Sabor (the Croatian legislature)!. The Serbs tended to view the territories as a just reward for their support of the allies in World War I and the new state as an extension of the Serbian Kingdom!. Serbs sacrificed their own state (which was in that time much larger than today's Serbia) in order to realize the ideal of a "South Slav state"!. This idea first gained large following in Croat intellectuals gathered around Ljudevit Gaj!. These tensions often erupted into open conflict resulting in a dictatorship exercising repression through the Serb dominated security structure[1] and the assassination in federal parliament of Croat political leaders, including Stjepan Radic, who opposed the Serbian monarch's absolutism!. The assassination and human rights abuses were subject of concern for the League of Nations and precipitated voices of protest from intellectuals including Albert Einstein!.[citation needed] It was in this environment of repression that the radical insurgent group (later fascist dictatorship) Ustasha were formed!.

The country's tensions were exploited by the occupying Axis forces in World War II, which established a puppet-state spanning much of present day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina!. The Axis powers installed in charge of this "Independent State of Croatia" the Ustasha, which having resolved that the Serbian minority were a Trojan horse of Serbian expansionism, pursued a genocidal policy against them!. One third were to be killed, one third expelled, and one third converted to Catholicism and assimilated as Croats!. The same policy was applied in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina!. Both Croats and Muslims were recruited as soldiers by the SS (primarily in the 13th Waffen Mountain Division)!. At the same time, former Royalist General Milan Nedic, installed by the Axis as head of the Serb puppet state!. Both quislings were confronted and eventually defeated by the communist-led anti-fascist Partisan movement composed of members of all ethnic groups in the area (Serbs comprising at least 1/2), leading to the formation of a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia!.

Despite the federal structure of the new Yugoslavia, there was still the tension between the federalists, primarily Croats and Slovenes who argued for greater autonomy, and unitarists, primarily Serbs!. The to and fro of the struggle would occur in cycles of protests for greater individual and national rights (such as the Croatian Spring) and subsequent repression!. The 1974 constitution was an attempt to short-circuit this pattern by entrenching the federal model and formalizing national rights!.


[edit] The Early Conflicts (1991-1995)
In the years leading up to the Yugoslav wars, relations among the republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been deteriorating!. Slovenia and Croatia desired greater autonomy within a Yugoslav confederation, while Serbia sought to strengthen federal authority!. As it became clearer that there was no solution agreeable to all parties, Slovenia and Croatia moved toward secession!. By that time there was no effective authority at the federal level!. Federal Presidency consisted of the representatives of all 6 republics and 2 provinces and JNA (Yugoslav People's Army)!. Communist leadership was divided along national lines!. The final breakdown occurred at the 14th Congress of the Communist Party when Croat and Sloven delegates left in protest because the pro-integration majority in the Congress rejected their proposed amendments!.

The first of these conflicts, known as the Ten-Day War or "The War" in Slovenia, was initiated by the secession of Slovenia from the federation on 25 June 1991!. The federal government ordered the federal Yugoslav People's Army to secure border crossings in Slovenia!. Slovenian police and Territorial Defense blockaded barracks and roads, leading to standoffs and limited skirmishes around the republic!. After several dozen deaths, the limited conflict was stopped through negotiation at Brioni on 9 July 1991, when Slovenia and Croatia agreed to a three-month moratorium on secession!. The Federal army completely withdrew from Slovenia by 26 October 1991!.


A destroyed Croat home covered with graffiti drawn by Serbs!. Acts of ethnic violence occurred between multiple nationalities in Yugoslavia, leaving a legacy of hatred and mistrust!.The second in this series of conflicts, the Croatian War of Independence, began when Serbs in Croatia who were opposed to Croatian independence announced their secession from Croatia!. The move was in part triggered by a provision in the new Croatian Constitution that replaced the explicit reference to Serbs in Croatia as a "constituent nation" with a generic reference to all other nations, and was interpreted by Serbs as being reclassified as a "national minority"!. This was coupled with a history of distrust between the two ethnic groups dating back to at least both World Wars and the inter-war period!. The federally-controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) was ideologically unitarist, and predominantly staffed by Serbs in its officer corp, thus it also opposed Croatian independence and sided with the Croatian Serb rebels!. Since the JNA had disarmed the Territorial Units of the two northernmost republics, the fledgling Croatian state had to form its military from scratch[citation needed] and was further hindered by an arms embargo imposed by the U!.N!. on the whole of Yugoslavia!. The Croatian Serb rebels were unaffected by said embargo as they had the support of and access to supplies of the JNA!. The border regions faced direct attacks from forces within Serbia and Montenegro, and saw the destruction of Vukovar and the shelling of UNESCO world heritage site Dubrovnik!. Meanwhile, control over central Croatia was seized by Croatian Serb forces in conjunction with the JNA Corpus from Bosnia & Herzegovina, under the leadership of Ratko Mladic[citation needed]!. These attacks were marked by the killings of captured soldiers and heavy civilian casualties (Ovcara; ?kabrnja), and were the subject of war crimes indictments by the ICTY for elements of the Serb political & military leadership!. In January 1992, the Vance peace plan proclaimed UN controlled (UNPA) zones for Serbs in territory claimed by the rebel Serbs as the Republic of Serbian Krajina and brought an end to major military operations, though sporadic artillery attacks on Croatian cities and occasional intrusions of Croatian forces into UNPA zones continued until 1995!.


Manja?a camp in Serbia controlled by Bosnia, holding Bosniak detainees in 1992!.In 1992, the conflict engulfed Bosnia!. It was predominantly a territorial conflict between local Muslims and Croats backed by Zagreb on one side, and Serbs backed by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serbia on the other!. For a short-lived period, the erstwhile Muslim & Croat allies would turn on each other in a battle for the scraps of territory left, until they reformed their alliance under US tutelage, that was formalised as the Muslim-Croat federatiWww@QuestionHome@Com

---

---

The Yugoslavian Civil War spans a decade and involves various parties, so I'll try to simplify the info as much as possible!.

Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001)

Ten Day War (June 27, 1991-July 6, 1991)
Slovenia fights for and achieves independence from Yugoslavia parent state (ie Serbia)!.

Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995)
Croatia defeated Serbia for independence!.

Bosnian War (April 1992-December 1995)
Bosnia-Herzegovina declares independence!. The Dayton Peace Accords secure end to conflict and grant Bosnia independence!.

Kosovo War (1996-1999)
Kosovo seeks independence!. After conflict, legal borders of Serbia with Kosovo remain intact, but defacto economic and political independence exists!. Kosovo is protected and governed under UN mandate!.

Pre?evo Valley Conflict (2000-2001)
Yugoslav Federal government faces resistance attacks from Albanian separtist group; their aim was to annex part of southern Central Serbia for the Kosovars!. The Serbs managed to defeat the rebels!.

Macedonia Conflict (January 2001-December 2001)
Ethnic Albanian revolt against Macedonia results in Albanians being defeated!.


The Yugoslav Wars were fought because of the collapse of Yugoslavian unifying factors!. The most important catalyst was the death of Marshall Tito in 1980!. As the ruler of Yugoslavia from its post WWII inception, he held the country together by surpressing ethnic nationalism and not placing one ethnic group over the other!.

After his death, nationalism amongst the Yugoslav ethnic groups began to crop up and eventually flourish, causing calls for independence and statehood!. Serbia did not want to lose territory as it had become the major player in Yugoslav politics under Slobodan Milosevic and therefore resisted calls for independence from the other states!. A significant amount of ethnic cleansing took place in the conflicts and only through UN intervention was peace reestablished!.

Hope this info helps you out!
1 year ago
Source(s):
http://www!.historyguy!.com/balkan_war_thi!.!.!.
http://dmoz!.org/Society/History/By_Time_!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

---

---