1. Countries of Eastern Europe Poland Czech Republic Slovakia Hungary Romania Slovenia Croatia Bosnia Yugoslavia Bulgaria Albania Macedonia

2. Cultural Crossroads Because this region is an important crossroads between Asia and Europe, many world powers have controlled it. Over the years, this area including the Balkan nations, has been controlled by several powers including, the Roman, the Ottoman and the Austrian Empires.

3. Slavs The ethnic term for many of the people of Eastern Europe is the Slavs. They are called this because of the hundreds of years they were enslaved by various empires. They eventually just became known as Slavs, which means Slaves. When you hear the term Slavs, or Slavic countries, you know the history of these people is one of slavery.

4. As World War One came to an end - and the Austro- Hungarian Empire crumbled – the Slavs in the dying empire created their own nation on 29 October 1918. The new kingdom comprised the modern nations of: Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Ethnic and religious differences were many!!!! (this will cause trouble in the 1990s-2000s !!))

5. King Peter of Serbia became King Peter of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. When he died in 1921, he was succeeded by his son Alexander.

6. Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes Alexander attempted to unite the various ethnic groups in the nation. In 1929, he renamed the nation YUGOSLAVIA.

7. Alexander never undertook any official functions on Tuesdays – due to the deaths of several of his family members on Tuesdays – HOWEVER – on 9 October 1934 Alexander was on a state visit to France in the city of Marseille. He had to meet with the French Foreign Minister. While driving in an open car, a Macedonian nationalist shot and killed the king. It was the first assassination captured on film. It was a TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. Peter II of Yugoslavia Alexander was succeed by his eleven year old son Peter II. When the Germans invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, the royal family was forced to flee to Great Britain. Yugoslavians split into two groups as they fought against the Nazi occupation. The Yugoslavian victors were communist led partisans – whose leader was Josip Broz Tito.

9. In 1945, as the war in Europe was coming to a close, the Red Army of the USSR moved into Yugoslavia and installed the Tito led communists in power over the nation. 29 November 1945 – the Yugoslavian communists deposed Peter II while he was in exile.

10. Josip Broz Tito Led the communist government in Yugoslavia. He maintained order, separated Yugoslavia from control of the USSR, and did not allow ancient ethnic and religious differences from dividing the nation. THEN on 5 May 1980, Tito died and Yugoslavia began to crumble. Balkanization (to break up into smaller hostile units) occurs

11. In the days after the death of Tito, Yugoslavia faced many economic problems The economic problems made old ethnic tensions more acute. In the 1980s, the Serbs sought to restore their dominance over the other Yugoslav republics

12. War after War By 1908, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia had broken free from the Ottoman Empire. By 1913, these nations fought each other to determine who would control the territories formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire During World War 1 (1914-1918), Serbia fought Austria-Hungary for Slavic independence. Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia gained independence.

13. War after War In 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and much of Eastern Europe and sparked the Second World War (1939-1945). By 1945, the Soviet Union had crushed Nazi Germany and occupied many Eastern European countries to form satellite nations. Countries taken over by the Soviet Union became a part of the Iron Curtain. In 1945, Josip Broz Tito became dictator of Yugoslavia.

14. Balkanization Responding to centuries of foreign rule, most ethnic groups in Eastern Europe fiercely guarded their identities. Many wanted their own nation-states, even though they had never had self-rule. Balkanization – process of a region breaking up into small, mutually hostile units.

16. Slobodan Milosevic In the late 1980s, Serbian communist leader Slobodan Milosevic sought to increase the power of Serbia – especially at the expense of the autonomous province of Kosovo In 1990 the 14 th League of Communists of Yugoslavia met – Serbia demanded “one person, one vote” which would have meant that the population of Serbia would be dominant. The Croats and the Slovenes demanded power devolve to the republics. The Slovenes and Croats walked out and the all- Yugoslav Communist Party was dissolved.

17. WAR As communism fell throughout Europe, each of the Yugoslav republics held separate multi-party elections. Slovenia and Croatia decided to begin to pull away from Yugoslavia and rule themselves completely autonomously. Serbia and Montenegro favored a united Yugoslavia. The initial question was – what was the status of ethnic Serbs who were living in Croatia? Slovenia possessed a population that was less diverse and therefore nationalism came easier.

18. In August 1990 war broke out in Croatia when Croats tried to remove ethnic Serbs from positions in the police and military forces. Border police were dominated by Serbs and the border police also came into battle as Croats tried to remove Yugoslav dominated police along the borders. Similar events occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ethnic Serbs were forced out of sections of Croatia as well as Bosnia – others left because of social pressure and oppression – ETHNIC CLEANSING 25 June 1991 – Croatia and Slovenia declared independence 8 September 1991 the Republic of Macedonia declared independence

19. When Macedonia declared independence and called itself Macedonia – this caused tremendous problems for Greece. The north of Greece contains the ancient land of Macedonia and the Greek government feared that a nation across its border also named Macedonia may cause some Greeks in the north of Greece to break away and join Macedonia. Some nations still maintain that the nation is to be called the Yugoslav republic of Macedonia. In March 2008, Greece stopped Macedonia’s plans to join NATO in large part because of the name crisis.

20. November 1991 – Serbs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina voted to form their own Serbian republic within Bosnia that would be linked with Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) 9 January 1992 – the Republic of the Serb people of Bosnia and Herzegovina was declared by the Serbs within Bosnia – NOT the Bosnian government – which declared the new Serb Bosnian government illegal February 1992 – the Bosnian government held a referendum that declared independence from Yugoslavia – this was declared illegal by the Serbs in Bosnia!!! 5 April 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia – the Bosnian Serb republic declared its own independence from Bosnia Croats in Bosnia declared their own republic WAR broke out between the government of Bosnia, the Bosnian Serbs, the Bosnian Croats – with Croatia and Yugoslavia providing arms for their ethnic compatriots

21. Mass killings, torture, mass rapes, etc. were committed in the Bosnian War – especially by the Serb forces The most infamous case was the mass murder at the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in July 1995. Bosnian Serb forces led by Ratko Mladic took 8,373 men and boys from the town and murdered them – burying their bodies in mass graves. The UN had declared Srebrenica to be part of a safe territory protected by Dutch peacekeepers. The Dutch tried to keep the warring parties apart – but the Bosnian Serbs took the town of Srebrenica and the men.

22. The Bosnian Serbs videotaped the massacre

23. Murdered Bosnian Muslims

24. Excavation of Mass Graves

27. Srebrenica Massacre Reburials

29. Dayton Agreement In November 1995, the warring parties in Bosnia were brought to Dayton, Ohio where they signed a peace treaty – Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. The agreement ended the fighting – with a divided Bosnia – the Bosnian Serb republic exists within Bosnia and Herzegovina with some aspects of autonomy. For their roles in the ethnic cleansing and massacres – Slobodan Milosevic and Ratko Mladic were indicted by the World Court at The Hague in the Netherlands. Milosevic was eventually arrested and died during his trial. Mladic has been in hiding.

30. Signing the Dayton Accords

31. Kosovo Before the invasion of the Ottoman Turks, the region of Kosovo was the secular and spiritual center of Serbia. 1455-1912 – Kosovo was controlled by the Ottoman Empire – many within its borders became Muslim and ethnic Albanians moved into the region – becoming a majority within the province. 1912 – The First Balkan War – Serbia took possession of Kosovo

32. Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic consolidated his power in Serbia by raising Serbian nationalism Kosovars who wanted independence from Serbia and its Serbian Orthodox Church established the Kosovo Liberation Army. Some Kosovars declared independence in 1990. Milosevic and the Serbs began a system of ethnic cleansing – attempting to rid Kosovo of ethnic Albanians 1999 – NATO forced bombed Serb forces in an attempt to stop the Serbian attacks on the Kosovars – since that time the United Nations declared Kosovo to be an autonomous region within Serbia – NATO forces remain as peacekeepers. 2008 – Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia – the US, France, the UK, and Germany recognize Kosovo independence while Russia and China consider the move to be illegal.

33. March 2002 – Serbia and Montenegro agreed to reorganize Yugoslavia with more power given to the republics 21 May 2006 – the people of Montenegro voted to separate permanently from Yugoslavia 3 June 2006 – Montenegro declared it independence 5 June 2006 – Serbia declared its independence – ending the institution known as Yugoslavia