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.
