1. History, Breakup, & Ethnic Cleansing
Yugoslavia
History, Breakup, & Ethnic Cleansing

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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
Image = May Day Parade, Belgrade 1946 Stalin (left) & Tito (right)

5. 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

6. Breakup: Map

7. 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

8. 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
Image – bosnian genocide memorial

9. 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
Image 1 – uncovering mass grave
Image 2 –non-Serbs wait in line at detention camp during staged lunch for the press

10. 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

11. 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
Image – 175 newly identified Srebrenica massacre victims laid to rest – 2014 Daily Mail UK