Yugoslavia
(literally, Land of the South Slavs), was a nation born
out of the ashes of World War One, created through the
merger of the mostly Catholic regions of Slovenia and
Croatia with the Eastern Orthodox Kingdoms of Serbia and
Montenegro. Included in the new nation was the land of
Bosnia, ethnically and religiously
divided among Catholic Croats, Orthodox Serbs and Muslim
Slavs. In southern Yugoslavia lay the region of Kosovo, a
fairly new addition to Serbia, containing a largely Muslim
population which spoke Albanian. Until World War 2, this
land of many nationalities held together fairly well. Then,
with the Axis invasion of 1941 and the subsequently brutal
occupation by the Germans and Italians, the old ethnic
divisions surfaced into a very bitter civil war. This
conflict primarily pitted the Croats, who allied themselves
with the Axis, against Serbs. Following the war, the
Communist dictator, Josip Broz Tito, reunited Yugoslavia
with a firm hand, imprisoning nationalists from all sides.
Following his death 1980, the system he held together slowly
began to unravel.
By 1991, the Serbian
politician Slobodan Milosovic gained power in Yugoslavia
through inciting Serb nationalism. Along with growing
nationalistic feelings in the other parts of Yugoslavia, the
day came when Slovenia and Croatia declared independence
from what they saw as a nation dominated by Serbs. The
Yugoslav Army attempted to prevent the breakaway republics
from leaving, but soon failed. Serbs living in southern and
western Croatia then attempted to break away and form a new
nation called Krajina. In 1992, Bosnia also broke away from
Yugoslavia, precipitating yet another war. In southern
Yugoslavia, the region called Macedonia broke away
peacefully to form an independent nation.
Below is a listing, with
some detail, of what can be called "The Third Balkan War."
Yugoslavia is a part of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern
Europe. The first two Balkan Wars were short conflicts at
the start of the Twentieth Century. As this war can be
divided into wars within wars within yet more wars, each
separate conflict is indented, showing which larger war it
is a part of. As the former Yugoslavia continues to
subdivide itself with each new conflict, more wars are
added. The latest conflicts are the Kosovo
War of 1998-1999, the
Presevo
Rebellion of 2000-Present,
and the new Albanian
Uprising in Macedonia,
which began in March of 2001.
Third
Balkan War (1991-Present)-The
breakup of Yugoslavia can be seen as one long conflict
divided into at least nine (and counting) separate wars,
rebellions and uprisings, all which involve parts of the
disintegrated Balkan nation.
Yugoslav
Civil War (1991-1992)-The
breakup of Yugoslavia as one nation, involved two
separate but related wars. The Yugoslav regions of
Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from the
Belgrade government.
Slovenian
War of Independence (1991)-Slovenia's
war against the Serbian-dominated Yugoslav Army was
short and victorious. This was due in part to
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's realization
that his main worry was the war in neighboring
Croatia.
Croatian
War of Independence
(1991-1995)-Croatia
fought both the Yugoslav/Serbian Army and Serb
rebels in the Krajina region.
Krajina
Rebellion (1991-1995)-Croatia's
Serb minority attempted to form a separate
nation during the Croatian War of Independence
from Yugoslavia. The Serb rebels succeeded in
driving the Croatian military out of the Krajina
region bordering Bosnia. However, in May of
1995, the Croatian Army launched an effective
offensive (Operation Storm), which forced an end
to the Krajina Republic. As a result of this
action, most Krajina Serbs fled into Serbia in a
form of "ethnic cleansing." The Yugoslav/Serb
Army aided the Krajina rebels. Many of these
Serb refugees settled in the Voyvodina region of
northern Serbia, but some of them moved to the
Serb province of Kosovo, which erupted into war
in 1998.
During
the Bosnian War, airplanes from Krajina bombed
Muslim held Bihac in Bosnia. Following this,
NATO warplanes bombed the Serb airfield at
Udbina in Krajina.
Bosnian
Civil War (1992-1995) -Also
involved Croatia, Yugoslavia/Serbia and NATO. In April
of 1992, Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia.
Almost immediately, the Bosnian Serb population
rebelled against the Muslim and Croatian portions of
the new nation. Parts of the war saw the Muslims and
Croatians cooperate against their common foe, but from
1993-1994, Bosnia saw a three-way war when the Muslims
and Croats battled each other as well as fighting the
Serbs. Troops from Serbia/Yugoslavia and the rebel
Krajina area entered Bosnia to aid the Bosnian Serbs,
while the Croatian Army aided the Bosnian Croat
forces. In April, 1994, NATO forces began selected,
limited bombing of Serb positions around the capital
of Sarajevo in an attempt to force the Serbs to the
peace table.
General
Ratko Mladic during the Bosnian War in
1995
On
February 5, 1994, Serb artillery, under the command of
General Ratko Mladic, hit a marketplace in Sarajevo,
causing severe civilian casualties. This caused
increased American pressure on the Muslims and Croats
to stop fighting each other and unite against the
Serbs. On Feb. 23, both sides signed a cease-fire,
which soon led to the formation of the Muslim/Croat
Bosnian Federation.
August
28, 1995, Serb mortars cause 37 civilian dead in
Sarajevo. Major NATO (Operation Deliberate Force)
airstrikes against the Serbs began on August 30 and
continued until a bombing pause on September 14. U.S.
airpower contributed 65.9% of the NATO air sorties. At
this point, the Bosnian Serbs agreed to end the
fighting and participate as a part of the Bosnian
nation.
Fikrit
Abdic Uprising (Autumn of 1993-
1995)
--In addition to fighting the Serbs and Croats, the
Bosnian (mostly Muslim) government also had to deal
with an uprising by a Bosnian Muslim businessman
named Fikrit Abdic. He allied himself with local
Serb forces against the government. In July, 1995,
Bosnian government forces captured Abdic's
stronghold in the Bihac region.
News
article on Bihac Muslims following Abdic's
fall.
Presevo
Rebellion (2000-2001)-One
of the latest conflicts to come out of the Yugoslav
breakup is a small (so far), rebellion by ethnic
Albanians living in the Presevo Valley region of
Serbia. This area borders on Kosovo.
Albanian
Uprising in Macedonia (2001)-The
latest conflict to come out of the Yugoslav breakup is
a violent rebellion by ethnic Albanians living in the
area of Macedonia bordering on Kosovo and Serbia.
Macedonia is the southernmost of the new post-Yugoslav
nations. Albanians form a sizable minority in
Macedonia.
.
SOURCES:
1. Kohn, George
C. Dictionary
of Wars.
New York: Facts On File Publications,
1986.
3. Langer, William L.,
ed. An Encyclopedia of World History. 5th ed.
Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin,
1972.
4. Banks, Arthur S.,
ed. Political Handbook of the World: 1994-1995.
5th ed. Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications,
1995.
