The Balkans

The Changing Maps Read “History of the Balkans” and identify which of the following years each of the attached maps represents

Ethnicity Look at the map of the ethnic groups of the former Yugoslavia on page What modern Balkan country do you think would be the most likely to suffer from ethnic violence? Why? 2.What is the dominant ethnic group of Serbia? 3.What is the dominant ethnic group of Kosovo?

Conflict in Kosovo - Notes In the 1990’s, Serbia still controlled Kosovo – Serbs saw it as part of their heritage – The majority of the population was Albanian Conflict arose over Serbia’s control – Serbia tried to eliminate Albanian culture – Albanians began fighting and attacking Serbian officials – The Serbian government began bombing villages and carrying out ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing: The policy of trying to eliminate an ethnic group – NATO, including the US, bombed Serbia and forced it to withdraw its troops from Kosovo

Conflict in Kosovo – Jigsaw, Step 2 Guiding Question: Should the US have taken the side of the Albanians? Write a short speech from the point of view of either the Albanians or the Serbians using the sources provided