Dissolution of Yugoslavia
Encyclopedia
The Breakup of Yugoslavia refers to a series of conflicts and political upheavals resulting in the dissolution of Yugoslavia
(the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia, or simply SFRY). The SFR Yugoslavia was a country that occupied a strip of land stretching from Central Europe to the Balkans
– a region with a history of ethnic conflict. The country was a conglomeration of six regional republics and two autonomous provinces that was roughly divided on ethnic lines and split up in the 1990s into several independent countries. These eight federal units were the six republics: Slovenia
, Croatia
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
, Macedonia
, Montenegro
, Serbia
, and two autonomous provinces within Serbia: Kosovo
and Vojvodina
.
With Bosnia's demographic structure comprising a population of Serbs and Croats making close to 50%, and with ideas on independence resting with the ethnicities rather than the nation on the whole, control of territory once again became open to interpretation, with large sections of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia under dispute as to its proper ownership. The most important elements which fostered the discord are the formation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, the civil war and genocide (see Jasenovac concentration camp
) by the Independent State of Croatia
during the Second World War, the overreaching idea of "Greater Serbia
", and the Balkan adaptations of Pan-Slavism
.
Yugoslavia was a unique state, straddling both the East and West. Moreover its president, Josip Broz Tito
, was one of the fundamental founders of the "third world
" or "group of 77
" which acted as an alternative to the superpowers. More importantly, Yugoslavia acted as a buffer state
between the West and the Soviet Union
and also prevented the USSR from getting a toehold on the Mediterranean Sea
.
However, after the death of Tito with the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev
, perestroika
and glasnost
in the Soviet Union
, the West felt secure enough in the USSR’s intentions that Yugoslavia was no longer of pivotal strategic importance. Despite Belgrade's non-alignment and its extensive trading relations with the European Community and the US, the Reagan administration
specifically targeted the Yugoslav economy in a Secret Sensitive
1984 National Security Decision Directive (NSDD 133), "U.S. Policy towards Yugoslavia." A censored version declassified in 1990 elaborated on NSDD 54 on Eastern Europe, issued in 1982. The latter advocated "expanded efforts to promote a 'quiet revolution' to overthrow Communist governments and parties," while reintegrating the countries of Eastern Europe into a market-oriented economy.
The external status quo, which the Communist Party had depended upon to remain viable was thus beginning to disappear. Furthermore, the failure of communism all over Central and Eastern Europe once again brought Yugoslavia’s inner contradictions, economic inefficiencies (such as chronic lack of productivity, fuelled by the country's leaderships' decision to enforce a policy of full employment), and ethno-religious tensions to the surface. Yugoslavia's non-aligned status
resulted in access to loans from both superpower blocs. This contact with the United States and the West opened up Yugoslavia’s markets sooner than the rest of Central
and Eastern Europe.
The 1973 oil crisis
coupled with Western trade barriers, dramatically hindered its thirty years of breakneck economic growth. In order to counter this, Yugoslavia took on a number of International Monetary Fund
(IMF) loans and subsequently fell into heavy IMF debt. As a condition of receiving loans, the IMF demanded the "market liberalization
" of Yugoslavia. By 1981, Yugoslavia had incurred $19.9 billion in foreign debt. Another concern was the unemployment rate, at 1 million by 1980. This problem was compounded by the general "unproductiveness of the South," which not only added to Yugoslavia’s economic woes, but also irritated Slovenia and Croatia further. A decade of frugality resulted in growing frustration and resentment against both the Serbian 'ruling class,' and the minorities who were seen to benefit from government legislation. Real earnings in Yugoslavia fell by 25% from 1979 to 1985. By 1988 emigrant remittances to Yugoslavia totalled over $4.5 billion (USD), and by 1989 remittances were $6.2 billion (USD), making up over 19% of the world's total.
. This constitution broke down powers between the capital and the newly created autonomous regions in Vojvodina
(an area of Yugoslavia with a large number of ethnic minorities) and Kosovo (with a large ethnic-Albanian
population). This not only exacerbated Serbian fears of a "weak Serbia, for a strong Yugoslavia" but also hit at the heart of Serbian national sentiment. A majority of Serbs see Kosovo as the "cradle of the nation," and would not accept the possibility of losing it to the majority Albanian population.
Kosovo's special significance was due to the defeat of Duke Lazar Hrebeljanović. It was said that he was betrayed at the Battle of Kosovo Polje against the invading Ottoman Turks. The devastating defeat was the end of the Serbian kingdom and the beginning of about 500 years of subjugation under the Ottomans (1389–1868). However, the first records of the battle were not created until 100 years after the battle, and then in the form of a poem. The romantic spin given to this episode of history contributed to the sacred and hallowed nature of the region of Kosovo. The significance of Kosovo in the Serbian mindset was very strong.
This loosened version of the federation essentially made Yugoslavia a de facto confederacy
, placing pressure upon the legitimacy of the regime and engendering resentment in the richer republics. Slovenia and Croatia, the most developed republics were continually frustrated by their inability to further lift their standard of living as they had to subsidize the development of the poor republics in what they described as an "economic black hole." It highlighted the vast differences in the quality of life in the different republics. Tito’s death created further problems; in an effort to ensure his legacy, Tito’s 1974 constitution established a system of year-long presidencies, on a rotation basis out of the eight leaders of the republics. Such short terms were highly ineffective. Essentially it left a power vacuum which was left open for most of the 1980s, with only Slobodan Milošević
taking the reins in 1989.
, Slobodan Milošević gave a speech to 200,000 Serbs, which made reference to the nation's great historical past. Milošević’s answer to the incompetence of the federal system was to centralize the government. Considering Slovenia and Croatia were looking farther ahead to independence, this was considered unacceptable.
At the Yugoslav conference in late 1989 talks broke down. The leaders could not come to an agreement on how to deal with the rotating presidency. Moreover many members were no longer willing to rescue what they saw as a sunken ship. Croatia and Slovenia declared independence and the Ten-Day War
soon broke out in Slovenia in 1991. After a week, the Slovenes were victorious and the breakup of Yugoslavia had begun.
, the office of President of Yugoslavia was replaced with the Yugoslav Presidency, an eight-member collective head-of-state composed of representatives from six republics and, controversially, two autonomous provinces of the Socialist Republic of Serbia
, SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina.
Since the SFR Yugoslav federation was formed in 1945, the constituent Socialist Republic of Serbia (SR Serbia) included the two autonomous provinces of SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina. With the 1974 constitution, the influence of the central government of SR Serbia over the provinces was greatly reduced, which gave them long-sought autonomy. The government of SR Serbia was restricted in making and carrying out decisions that would apply to the provinces. The provinces had a vote in the Yugoslav Presidency (the eight-member collective head-of-state composed of representatives from six republics and the two autonomous provinces), which was not always cast in favor of SR Serbia. In Serbia, there was great resentment towards these developments, which the nationalist elements of the public saw as the "division of Serbia".
on 4 May 1980, ethnic tension
grew in Yugoslavia. The death of Tito removed what many Yugoslavs and western observers saw as the country's main unifying force. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
(SANU) contributed significantly to the rise of nationalist sentiments, as it drafted the controversial SANU Memorandum protesting against the weakening of the Serbian central government.
The problems in the Serbian autonomous province of SAP Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and Albanians grew exponentially. This, coupled with economic problems in Kosovo and Serbia as a whole, led to even greater Serbian resentment of the 1974 Constitution
. In the 1980s, Kosovo Albanians demanded that their autonomous province be granted the status of a constituent republic (which would give SAP Kosovo the right to secede from SFR Yugoslavia). Amid rising tensions, the Serbian general view was that Kosovo as a constituent republic (as opposed to being part of Serbia) would be devastating to the cultural and historic links with Kosovar Serbs and Kosovo in general, especially if the province chose to secede.
was sent to bring calm to an ethnically-driven protest by Serbs against the Albanian administration of SAP Kosovo. Milošević was, up to this point, a hard-line communist who had decried all forms of nationalism as treachery, such as condemning the SANU Memorandum as "nothing else but the darkest nationalism". However, Kosovo's autonomy had always been an unpopular policy in Serbia and Milošević took advantage of the situation and made a departure from traditional communist neutrality on the issue of Kosovo. Milošević assured Serbs that their mistreatment by ethnic Albanians would be stopped. Milošević then began a campaign against the ruling communist elite of SR Serbia, demanding reductions in the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina. These actions made Milošević popular amongst Serbs and aided his rise to power in Serbia. Milošević and his allies took on an aggressive nationalist agenda of reviving SR Serbia within Yugoslavia, promising reforms and protection of all Serbs.
The ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia was the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
(SKJ), a composite political party made-up of eight Leagues of Communists from the six republics and two autonomous provinces. The League of Communists of Serbia
(SKS) governed SR Serbia. Riding the wave of nationalist sentiment and his new popularity gained in Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević
(Chairman of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) since May 1986) became the most powerful politician in Serbia by defeating his former mentor President of Serbia Ivan Stambolic
at the 8th Session of the League of Communists of Serbia on 22 September 1987. In a 1988 Belgrade rally, Milošević made clear his perception of the situation facing SR Serbia in Yugoslavia, saying:
On another occasion, Milošević privately stated:
", Milošević's political allies in SAP Vojvodina, SAP Kosovo, and the Socialist Republic of Montenegro
(SR Montenegro) came to power. In addition to Serbia itself, Milošević could now install representatives of the two provinces and SR Montenegro in the Yugoslav Presidency Council. The very instrument that reduced Serbian influence before was now used to increase it: in the eight member Presidency, Milošević could count on a minimum of four votes – SR Montenegro (following local events), his own through SR Serbia, and now SAP Vojvodina and SAP Kosovo as well.
As a result of these events, the ethnic Albanian
miners in Kosovo organized strikes, demanding the reinstatement of their autonomy. This contributed to ethnic conflict between the Albanians and the Serb population of the province. At 77% of the population of Kosovo in the 1980s, ethnic-Albanians were the majority. The number of Serbs in Kosovo fell throughout the entire century as a result of ethnic cleansing by Albanians during the Second World War and subsequent harassment by the Albanian authorities and population. The ever increasing ethnic tensions were directly proportional to the trend, and by 1999, Serbs formed as little as 10% of the total population. However, this view is often disputed: historiographers such as Misha Glenny in his book The Balkans, note that the Serbs leaving Kosovo left not due to persecution, but rather for economic reasons, citing Serbs leaving Kosovo after the abolition of Kosovar autonomy. It was easier for Kosovo's Serbs to find jobs in Serbia than Kosovo's Albanians. This resulted in the Kosovo Albanians taking over jobs in Kosovo previously held by Serbs. Albanians also notably have a higher birthrate than Serbs.
Meanwhile the Socialist Republic of Croatia
(SR Croatia) and the Socialist Republic of Slovenia
(SR Slovenia), supported the Albanian miners and their struggle for recognition. Media in SR Slovenia published articles comparing Milošević to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini
. Milošević contended that such criticism was unfounded and amounted to "spreading fear of Serbia". Milošević's state-run media claimed in response that Kučan was endorsing Kosovo and Slovene separatism. Initial strikes in Kosovo turned into widespread demonstrations calling for Kosovo to be made the seventh republic. This angered Serbia's leadership which proceeded to use police force, and later the federal army (the Yugoslav People's Army
JNA) by order of the Serbian-controlled Presidency.
, SAP Kosovo's representative on the Presidency, was forced to resign and was replaced by an ally of Milošević. Albanian protesters demanded that Vllasi be returned to office, and Vllasi's support for the demonstrations caused Milošević and his allies to respond stating this was a "counter-revolution against Serbia and Yugoslavia", and demanded that the federal Yugoslav government put down the striking Albanians by force. Milošević's aim was aided when a huge protest was formed outside of the Yugoslav parliament in Belgrade by Serb supporters of Milošević who demanded that the Yugoslav military forces enter Kosovo to protect the Serbs there and put down the strike. On 27 February, SR Slovene representative in the collective presidency of Yugoslavia, Milan Kučan
, opposed the demands of the Serbs and left Belgrade for SR Slovenia where he attended a meeting in the Cankar Hall
in Ljubljana, co-organized with the democratic opposition forces
, publicly endorsing the efforts of Albanian protesters who demanded that Vllasi be released. In the 1995 BBC
documentary Death of Yugoslavia, Kučan claimed that in 1989, he was concerned that with the successes of Milošević's anti-bureaucratic revolution in Serbia's provinces as well as Montenegro, that his small republic would be the next target for a political coup by Milošević's supporters if the coup in Kosovo went unimpeded. Serbian state-run television denounced Kučan as a separatist, a traitor, and an endorser of Albanian separatism.
Serb protests continued in Belgrade demanding action in Kosovo. Milošević instructed communist representative Petar Gračanin
to make sure the protest continued while he discussed matters at the council of the League of Communists, as a means to induce the other members to realize that enormous support was on his side in putting down the Albanian strike in Kosovo. Serbian parliament speaker Borisav Jović
, a strong ally of Milošević, met with the current President of the Yugoslav Presidency, Bosnian representative Raif Dizdarević
, and demanded that the federal government concede to Serbian demands. Dizdarević argued with Jović saying that "You [Serbian politicians] organized the demonstrations, you control it", Jović refused to take responsibility for the actions of the protesters. Dizdarević then decided to attempt to bring calm to the situation himself by talking with the protesters, by making an impassioned speech for unity of Yugoslavia saying:
This statement received polite applause, but the protest continued. Later Jović spoke to the crowds with enthusiasm and told them that Milošević was going to arrive to support their protest. When Milošević arrived, he spoke to the protesters and jubilantly told them that the people of Serbia were winning their fight against the old party bureaucrats. Then a shout to be from the crowd yelled "arrest Vllasi'". Milošević pretended not to hear the demand correctly but declared to the crowd that anyone conspiring against the unity of Yugoslavia would be arrested and punished and the next day, with the party council pushed to submission to Serbia, Yugoslav army forces poured into Kosovo and Vllasi was arrested.
Following the arrest of Vllasi, the group of Kosovo Serb supporters of Milošević who helped bring down Vllasi declared that they were going to Slovenia to hold "the Rally of Truth
" which would decry Milan Kučan as a traitor to Yugoslavia and demand his ousting. The Serb protesters were to go by train to Slovenia, but this was stopped when SR Croatia blocked all transit through its territory and stopped the protesters from reaching Slovenia.
(SKJ), was in crisis. Most of the Congress was spent with the Serbian and Slovene delegations arguing over the future of the League of Communists and Yugoslavia. SR Croatia's actions in preventing Serb protesters from reaching Slovenia played its part. The Serbian delegation, led by Milošević, insisted on a policy of "one person, one vote" in the party membership, which would empower the largest party ethnic group, the Serbs
. In turn, the Croats and Slovenes sought to reform Yugoslavia by delegating even more power to six republics, but were voted down continuously in every motion in an attempt to force the party to adopt the new voting system. As a result, the Croatian delegation, led by Chairman Ivica Račan
, and Slovene delegation left the Congress on 23 January 1990, effectively dissolving the all-Yugoslav party. This in turn, along with external pressure, caused the adoption of multi-party systems in all republics.
When the individual republics organized their multi-party elections in 1990, the ex-communists mostly failed to win re-election, while most of the elected governments took on nationalist platforms, promising to protect their separate nationalist interests. In multi-party parliamentary elections nationalists defeated re-branded former Communist parties in Slovenia on 8 April 1990, in Croatia on 22 April and 2 May 1990, in Macedonia 11 and 25 November and 9 December 1990, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 and 25 November 1990. In multi-party parliamentary elections re-branded former communist parties were victorious in Montenegro on 9 and 16 December 1990, and in Serbia on 9 and 23 December 1990. In addition Serbia re-elected Slobodan Milošević as President. Serbia and Montenegro now increasingly favored a Serb-dominated Yugoslavia.
(HDZ) was elected to power, led by controversial nationalist Franjo Tuđman, under the promise of "protecting Croatia from Milošević". There was growing advocacy for "Croatian state and historical rights" which resulted in the status of ethnic Serbs of Croatia being changed from "constitutional nation" to "national minority". Croatian Serbs, for their part, were wary of Tuđman's nationalist government and in 1990, Serb nationalists in the southern Croatian town of Knin
organized and formed a separatist entity known as the SAO Krajina
, which demanded to remain in union with the rest of the Serb populations if Croatia decided to secede. The government of Serbia endorsed the Croatian Serbs' rebellion, claiming that for Serbs, rule under Tuđman's government would be equivalent to the World War II fascist Independent State of Croatia
(NDH) which committed genocide against Serbs during World War II. Milošević used this to rally Serbs against the Croatian government and Serbian newspapers joined in the warmongering. Serbia had by now printed $1.8 billion worth of new money without any backing of Yugoslav central bank.
Croatian Serbs in Knin, under the leadership of local Knin police inspector Milan Martić
, began to try to gain access to weapons so that the Croatian Serbs could mount a successful revolt against the Croatian government. Croatian Serb politicians including the Mayor of Knin met with Borisav Jović
, the head of the Yugoslav Presidency in August 1990, and urged him to push the council to take action to prevent Croatia from separating from Yugoslavia, as they claimed that the Serb population would be in danger in Croatia led by Tuđman and his nationalist government. At the meeting, army official Petar Gračanin
told the Croatian Serb politicians how to organize their rebellion, telling them to put up barricades, as well as assemble weapons of any sort in which he said "If you can't get anything else, use hunting rifles". Initially the revolt became known as the "Log Revolution
" as Serbs blockaded roadways to Knin with cut-down trees and prevented Croats from entering Knin or the Croatian coastal region of Dalmatia
. The BBC documentary "Death of Yugoslavia" revealed that at the time, Croatian TV dismissed the "Log Revolution" as the work of drunken Serbs, trying to diminish the serious dispute. However the blockade was damaging to Croatian tourism. The Croatian government refused to negotiate with the Serb separatists and decided to stop the rebellion by force, and sent in armed special forces by helicopters to put down the rebellion. The pilots claimed they were bringing "equipment" to Knin, but the federal Yugoslav Air Force intervened and sent fighter jets to intercept them and demanded that the helicopters return to their base or they would be fired upon, in which the Croatian forces obliged and returned to their base in Zagreb
. To the Croatian government, this action by the Yugoslav Air Force revealed to them that the Yugoslav People's Army was increasingly under Serbian control. The SAO Krajina
was officially declared as a separate entity on 21 December 1990, by the Serbian National Council headed by Milan Babić
.
Following the first multi-party election results, the republics of Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia proposed transforming Yugoslavia into a loose federation of six republics in the autumn of 1990, however Milošević rejected all such proposals, arguing that like Slovenians and Croats, the Serbs also had a right to self-determination. In a December 1990 referendum in Slovenia, a vast majority (88.5% with a 93.2% turnout) of residents voted for independence.
Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia were admitted as member states of the United Nations on 22 May 1992. Macedonia was admitted as a member state of the United Nations on 8 April 1993.
, and two other men, in which Špegelj announced that they were at war with the army and gave instructions about arms smuggling as well as methods of dealing with the Yugoslav Army's officers stationed in Croatian cities. The Army subsequently wanted to indict Špegelj for treason and illegal importation of arms, mainly from Hungary.
The discovery of Croatian arms smuggling combined with the crisis in Knin, the election of independence-leaning governments in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia, and Slovenes demanding independence in the referendum on the issue suggested that Yugoslavia faced the imminent threat of disintegration.
On 12 March 1991 the Yugoslav People's Army
(Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija, JNA) met with the Presidency
in an attempt to convince them to declare a state of emergency
which would allow for the pan-Yugoslav army to take control of the country. Yugoslav army chief Veljko Kadijević
declared that there was a conspiracy to destroy the country, saying:
This statement effectively implied that the new independence-advocating governments of the republics were tools of the west which needed to be removed. Croatian delegate Stjepan Mesić
responded angrily to the proposal, accusing Jović and Kadijević of attempting to use the army to create a Greater Serbia
and declared "That means war!". Jović and Kadijević then called upon the delegates of each republic to vote on whether to allow martial law, and warned them that Yugoslavia would likely fall apart if martial law was not introduced. In the meeting, a vote was taken on a proposal to enact martial law
to allow for military action to end the crisis in Croatia by providing protection for the Serbs. The proposal was rejected by one vote, as the Bosnian Serb delegate, Bogić Bogićević
, voted against it, believing that there was still the possibility of diplomacy being able to solve the crisis. The state council was abandoned shortly afterward. After Jović's term as head of the collective presidency expired, he blocked his successor, Mesić, from taking the position, and giving the position instead to Branko Kostić
, a member of the pro-Milošević government in Montenegro.
On 19 May 1991, a referendum on the structure of the Yugoslav federation was held in Croatia. Often called the referendum for "independence," the phrasing of the question did not explicitly inquire as to whether one was in favor of secession or not. The referendum asked the voter if he or she was in favor of Croatia being "able to enter into an alliance of sovereign states with other republics (in accordance with the proposal of the republics of Croatia and Slovenia for solving the state crisis in the SFRY)?". 83.56% of the voters turned out, with Croatian Serbs largely boycotting the referendum. Of these, 94.17% (78.69% of the total voting population) voted "in favor" of the proposal, while 1.2% of those who voted were "opposed".
Both Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence on 25 June 1991. The following day (26 June), the Federal Executive Council specifically ordered the army to take control of the internationally recognized borders of SFR Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav People's Army
forces, based in barracks in Slovenia and Croatia, attempted to carry out the task within next 48 hours. However, due to the misinformation given to their own conscripts, and the fact that the majority of them did not wish to engage in a war on their home soil, the Slovenian Territorial Defence
forces retook most of the posts within several days with only minimal loss of life on both sides. There was an incident of a suspected war crime near Holmec, as the Austrian ORF TV station
showed footage of three Yugoslav Army soldiers surrendering to the Territorial Defence, before gunfire was heard and the troops were seen falling down. However, none were killed in the incident. Ceasefire was agreed upon. On 7 July 1991, the world governments pressured Slovenia and Croatia to place a three-month moratorium on their independence with the Brijuni Agreement (recognized by representatives of all republics). During these three months, the Yugoslav Army completed its pull-out from Slovenia.
Negotiations to restore the Yugoslav federation with diplomat Lord Peter Carington
and members of the European Community
were all but ended. Carington's plan realized that Yugoslavia was in a state of dissolution and decided that each republic must accept the inevitable independence of the others, along with a promise to Serbian President Milošević that the European Union
would insure that Serbs outside of Serbia would be protected. Milošević refused to agree to the plan, as he claimed that the European Community had no right to dissolve Yugoslavia and that the plan was not in the interests of Serbs as it would divide the Serb people into four republics (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Croatia). Carington responded by putting the issue to a vote in which all the other republics, including Montenegro under Momir Bulatović
, initially agreed to the plan that would dissolve Yugoslavia. However, after intense pressure from Serbia on Montenegro's President, Montenegro changed its position to oppose the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
of late March/early April 1991, the Croatian War of Independence
broke out between the Croatian government and the rebel ethnic Serbs of the SAO Krajina
(heavily backed by the by-now Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army). On 1 April 1991, the SAO Krajina
declared that it would secede from Croatia. Immediately after Croatia's declaration of independence, Croatian Serbs also formed the SAO Western Slavonia
and the SAO of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem. These three regions would combine into the Republic of Serbian Krajina
(RSK) on 19 December 1991. The other significant Serb-dominated entities in eastern Croatia announced that they too would join SAO Krajina. Zagreb had by this time discontinued submitting tax money to Belgrade, and the Croatian Serb entities in turn halted paying taxes to Zagreb. In some places, the Yugoslav Army acted as a buffer zone, in others it aided Serbs in their confrontation with the new Croatian army and police forces.
The influence of xenophobia
and ethnic hatred in the collapse of Yugoslavia became clear during the war in Croatia. Propaganda by Croatian and Serbian sides spread fear, claiming that the other side would engage in oppression against them and would exaggerate death tolls to increase support from their populations. In the beginning months of the war, the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army and navy deliberately shelled civilian areas of Split
and Dubrovnik
, a UNESCO world heritage site, as well as nearby Croat villages. Yugoslav media claimed that the actions were done due to what they claimed was a presence of fascist Ustaše forces and international terrorists in the city. UN investigations found that no such forces were in Dubrovnik at the time. Croatian military presence increased later on. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, at the time an ally of Milošević, appealed to Montenegrin nationalism, promising that the capture of Dubrovnik would allow the expansion of Montenegro into the city which he claimed was historically part of Montenegro, and denounced the present borders of Montenegro as being "drawn by the old and poorly educated Bolshevik
cartographers". At the same time, the Serbian government contradicted its Montenegrin allies by claims by the Serbian Prime Minister Dragutin Zelenović
contended that Dubrovnik was historically Serbian, not Montenegrin. The international media gave immense attention to bombardment of Dubrovnik and claimed this was evidence of Milosevic pursuing the creation of a Greater Serbia
as Yugoslavia collapsed, presumably with the aide of the subordinate Montenegrin leadership of Bulatović and Serb nationalists in Montenegro to foster Montenegrin support for the retaking of Dubrovnik.
In Vukovar, ethnic tensions between Croats and Serbs exploded into violence when the Yugoslav army entered the town. The Yugoslav army and Serbian paramilitaries devastated the town in urban warfare
and the destruction of Croatian property. Serb paramilitaries committed atrocities against Croats, killing over 200, and displacing others to add to those who fled the town in the Vukovar massacre
.
of the largest Serb faction in the parliament, the Serb Democratic Party gave a grave and direct warning to Bosnia's Bosniak president on the fate of Bosnia and its Bosniaks should it decide to separate, saying:
In September 1991, Macedonia also declared independence, after a referendum
on which 95.26% voted for independence. Five hundred US soldiers were then deployed under the UN banner to monitor Macedonia's northern borders with the Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia. However, given that Belgrade's authorities had neither intervened to prevent Macedonia's departure, nor protested nor acted against the arrival of the UN troops, the indications were in place that once Belgrade was to form its new country (to be the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from April 1992), it would recognise the Republic of Macedonia and develop diplomatic relations with it. As such, it became the only former republic to gain sovereignty without resistance from the Belgrade-based Yugoslav authorities and Army. In addition, Macedonia's first president, Kiro Gligorov
, did indeed maintain good relations with Belgrade as well as the other former republics and there have to date been no problems between Macedonian and Serbian border police despite the fact that small pockets of Kosovo and the Preševo
valley complete the northern reaches of the historical region known as Macedonia, which would otherwise have created a border dispute (see also IMORO).
In November 1991, the Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the former Yugoslavia
, led by Robert Badinter
, concluded at the request of Lord Carrington
that the SFR Yugoslavia was in the process of dissolution, that the Serbian population in Croatia and Bosnia does not have a right to self-determination in form of new states, and that the borders between the republics are to be recognized as international borders. As a result of the conflict, the United Nations Security Council
unanimously adopted UN Security Council Resolution 721 on 27 November 1991, which paved the way to the establishment of peacekeeping
operations in Yugoslavia.
In the meantime, behind the scenes negotiations began between Milošević and Tuđman to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina into Serb and Croat administered territories to attempt to avert war between Bosnian Croats and Serbs. While, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serbs held the November 1991 referendum which resulted in an overwhelming vote in favor of staying in a common state with Serbia and Montenegro.
On 9 January 1992, the Bosnian Serb assembly proclaimed a separate Republic of the Serb people of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the soon-to-be Republic of Srpska), and proceeded to form Serbian autonomous regions (SARs) throughout the state. The Serbian referendum on remaining in Yugoslavia and the creation of Serbian autonomous regions (SARs) were proclaimed unconstitutional by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In February–March 1992 the government itself held a national referendum on Bosnian independence from Yugoslavia. That referendum was in turn declared contrary to the BiH and Federal constitution by the federal Constitution court and the newly established Bosnian Serb government; it was also largely boycotted by the Bosnian Serbs. The turnout was somewhere between 64–67% and 98% of the voters voted for independence. It was unclear what the two-thirds majority requirement actually meant and whether it was satisfied. The republic's government declared its independence on 5 April, and the Serbs immediately declared the independence of Republika Srpska. The Bosnian War
followed shortly thereafter.
This proved to be the final blow to the pan-Yugoslav Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
. On 28 April 1992, the Serb-dominated Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was formed out of the former Socialist Republics of Serbia and Montenegro. Its government claimed continuity to the former country, however, the international community refused to recognize it as such. The stance of the international community was that Yugoslavia had dissolved into its separate states. This question was important for claims on SFRY's international assets, including embassies in many countries. Only in 1996 had the FRY abandoned its claim to continuity from the SFRY. The FRY was dominated by Slobodan Milošević
and his political allies.
The war in the western parts of former Yugoslavia ended in 1995 with US-sponsored peace talks in Dayton, Ohio
, which resulted in the so-called Dayton Agreement
. War between Serbs, Macedonians, and Albanians would continue throughout the 1990s, with the last major conflict being between Albanian nationalists and the government of Republic of Macedonia reduced in violence after 2001.
was re-named the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by Serbia and Montenegro on 28 April 1992. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was prevented by a UN resolution on 22 September 1992 from continuing to occupy the United Nations seat as successor state to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
, and not re-admitted until 1 November 2000 afer an application for membership was submitted as a new country. The country was renamed a second time on 4 February 2003 as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
.
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
was itself unstable, and finally broke up during 2006 to 2008 as the last act in the disintegration of Yugoslavia. In a referendum
held in Montenegro on 21 May 2006 independence was backed by 55.5% of voters, and independence was declared on 3 June 2006. In Kosovo, which had been administerd by the UN since 1999, a unilateral declaration of independence
was made on 17 February 2008. This is not recognized by Serbia, and has limited recognition aross the international community.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
(the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia, or simply SFRY). The SFR Yugoslavia was a country that occupied a strip of land stretching from Central Europe to the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
– a region with a history of ethnic conflict. The country was a conglomeration of six regional republics and two autonomous provinces that was roughly divided on ethnic lines and split up in the 1990s into several independent countries. These eight federal units were the six republics: Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, and two autonomous provinces within Serbia: Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
and Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
.
With Bosnia's demographic structure comprising a population of Serbs and Croats making close to 50%, and with ideas on independence resting with the ethnicities rather than the nation on the whole, control of territory once again became open to interpretation, with large sections of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia under dispute as to its proper ownership. The most important elements which fostered the discord are the formation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, the civil war and genocide (see Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp was the largest extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia and occupied Yugoslavia during World War II...
) by the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
during the Second World War, the overreaching idea of "Greater Serbia
Greater Serbia
The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia applies to the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology directed towards the creation of a Serbian land which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to the Serbian nation...
", and the Balkan adaptations of Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires, Byzantine Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Venice...
.
Causes
Economic collapse and the international climate
Yugoslavia was once a regional industrial power and economic success. From 1960 to 1980, annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 6.1 percent, medical care was free, literacy was 91 percent, and life expectancy was 72 years. But after a decade of Western economic ministrations and five years of disintegration, war, boycott, and embargo, the economy of Yugoslavia collapsed.Yugoslavia was a unique state, straddling both the East and West. Moreover its president, Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
, was one of the fundamental founders of the "third world
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
" or "group of 77
Group of 77
The Group of 77 at the United Nations is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has...
" which acted as an alternative to the superpowers. More importantly, Yugoslavia acted as a buffer state
Buffer state
A buffer state is a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers, which by its sheer existence is thought to prevent conflict between them. Buffer states, when authentically independent, typically pursue a neutralist foreign policy, which distinguishes them from satellite...
between the West and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and also prevented the USSR from getting a toehold on the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
.
However, after the death of Tito with the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
and glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, the West felt secure enough in the USSR’s intentions that Yugoslavia was no longer of pivotal strategic importance. Despite Belgrade's non-alignment and its extensive trading relations with the European Community and the US, the Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
specifically targeted the Yugoslav economy in a Secret Sensitive
Classified information in the United States
The United States government classification system is currently established under Executive Order 13526, the latest in a long series of executive orders on the topic. Issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, Executive Order 13526 replaced earlier executive orders on the topic and modified the...
1984 National Security Decision Directive (NSDD 133), "U.S. Policy towards Yugoslavia." A censored version declassified in 1990 elaborated on NSDD 54 on Eastern Europe, issued in 1982. The latter advocated "expanded efforts to promote a 'quiet revolution' to overthrow Communist governments and parties," while reintegrating the countries of Eastern Europe into a market-oriented economy.
The external status quo, which the Communist Party had depended upon to remain viable was thus beginning to disappear. Furthermore, the failure of communism all over Central and Eastern Europe once again brought Yugoslavia’s inner contradictions, economic inefficiencies (such as chronic lack of productivity, fuelled by the country's leaderships' decision to enforce a policy of full employment), and ethno-religious tensions to the surface. Yugoslavia's non-aligned status
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...
resulted in access to loans from both superpower blocs. This contact with the United States and the West opened up Yugoslavia’s markets sooner than the rest of Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Eastern Europe.
The 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
coupled with Western trade barriers, dramatically hindered its thirty years of breakneck economic growth. In order to counter this, Yugoslavia took on a number of International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(IMF) loans and subsequently fell into heavy IMF debt. As a condition of receiving loans, the IMF demanded the "market liberalization
Market liberalism
The term market liberalism is used in two distinct meanings.Especially in the United States, the term is often used as a synonym to classical liberalism...
" of Yugoslavia. By 1981, Yugoslavia had incurred $19.9 billion in foreign debt. Another concern was the unemployment rate, at 1 million by 1980. This problem was compounded by the general "unproductiveness of the South," which not only added to Yugoslavia’s economic woes, but also irritated Slovenia and Croatia further. A decade of frugality resulted in growing frustration and resentment against both the Serbian 'ruling class,' and the minorities who were seen to benefit from government legislation. Real earnings in Yugoslavia fell by 25% from 1979 to 1985. By 1988 emigrant remittances to Yugoslavia totalled over $4.5 billion (USD), and by 1989 remittances were $6.2 billion (USD), making up over 19% of the world's total.
Structural problems
Tito’s Yugoslavia was characterised by constant reforms which failed to resolve key national problems. Moreover, the federal system, due to increasing national tensions, and the Communist Party’s wish to support "national self determination" began to loosen its control. This resulted in the creation of Kosovo, an autonomous region of Serbia, legislated by the 1974 constitutionConstitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the supreme law of S.F.R. Yugoslavia and its predecessor, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia .-Federal constitutions:...
. This constitution broke down powers between the capital and the newly created autonomous regions in Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
(an area of Yugoslavia with a large number of ethnic minorities) and Kosovo (with a large ethnic-Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
population). This not only exacerbated Serbian fears of a "weak Serbia, for a strong Yugoslavia" but also hit at the heart of Serbian national sentiment. A majority of Serbs see Kosovo as the "cradle of the nation," and would not accept the possibility of losing it to the majority Albanian population.
Kosovo's special significance was due to the defeat of Duke Lazar Hrebeljanović. It was said that he was betrayed at the Battle of Kosovo Polje against the invading Ottoman Turks. The devastating defeat was the end of the Serbian kingdom and the beginning of about 500 years of subjugation under the Ottomans (1389–1868). However, the first records of the battle were not created until 100 years after the battle, and then in the form of a poem. The romantic spin given to this episode of history contributed to the sacred and hallowed nature of the region of Kosovo. The significance of Kosovo in the Serbian mindset was very strong.
This loosened version of the federation essentially made Yugoslavia a de facto confederacy
Confederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
, placing pressure upon the legitimacy of the regime and engendering resentment in the richer republics. Slovenia and Croatia, the most developed republics were continually frustrated by their inability to further lift their standard of living as they had to subsidize the development of the poor republics in what they described as an "economic black hole." It highlighted the vast differences in the quality of life in the different republics. Tito’s death created further problems; in an effort to ensure his legacy, Tito’s 1974 constitution established a system of year-long presidencies, on a rotation basis out of the eight leaders of the republics. Such short terms were highly ineffective. Essentially it left a power vacuum which was left open for most of the 1980s, with only Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
taking the reins in 1989.
Nationalism
In 1989, the 600th anniversary of Serbia’s historic defeat at Kosovo PoljeKosovo Polje
Kosovo Polje or Fushë Kosova is a town and municipality in the Pristina district of central Kosovo, at 42.63° North, 21.12° East, or approximately eight kilometres south-west of the capital Pristina...
, Slobodan Milošević gave a speech to 200,000 Serbs, which made reference to the nation's great historical past. Milošević’s answer to the incompetence of the federal system was to centralize the government. Considering Slovenia and Croatia were looking farther ahead to independence, this was considered unacceptable.
At the Yugoslav conference in late 1989 talks broke down. The leaders could not come to an agreement on how to deal with the rotating presidency. Moreover many members were no longer willing to rescue what they saw as a sunken ship. Croatia and Slovenia declared independence and the Ten-Day War
Ten-Day War
The Ten-Day War or the Slovenian Independence War was a military conflict between the Slovenian Territorial Defence and the Yugoslav People's Army in 1991 following Slovenia's declaration of independence.-Background:...
soon broke out in Slovenia in 1991. After a week, the Slovenes were victorious and the breakup of Yugoslavia had begun.
Constitutional dispute and nationalism (1974–1987)
1974 Constitution
In 1974, the new Yugoslav constitution was passed. With the 1974 ConstitutionConstitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the supreme law of S.F.R. Yugoslavia and its predecessor, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia .-Federal constitutions:...
, the office of President of Yugoslavia was replaced with the Yugoslav Presidency, an eight-member collective head-of-state composed of representatives from six republics and, controversially, two autonomous provinces of the Socialist Republic of Serbia
Socialist Republic of Serbia
Socialist Republic of Serbia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is a predecessor of modern day Serbia, which served as the biggest republic in the Yugoslav federation and held the largest population of all the Yugoslav...
, SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina.
Since the SFR Yugoslav federation was formed in 1945, the constituent Socialist Republic of Serbia (SR Serbia) included the two autonomous provinces of SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina. With the 1974 constitution, the influence of the central government of SR Serbia over the provinces was greatly reduced, which gave them long-sought autonomy. The government of SR Serbia was restricted in making and carrying out decisions that would apply to the provinces. The provinces had a vote in the Yugoslav Presidency (the eight-member collective head-of-state composed of representatives from six republics and the two autonomous provinces), which was not always cast in favor of SR Serbia. In Serbia, there was great resentment towards these developments, which the nationalist elements of the public saw as the "division of Serbia".
Death of Josip Broz Tito
After the death of President Josip Broz TitoJosip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
on 4 May 1980, ethnic tension
Ethnic hatred
Ethnic hatred, inter-ethnic hatred, racial hatred, or ethnic tension refers to feelings and acts of prejudice and hostility towards an ethnic group in various degrees. See list of anti-ethnic and anti-national terms for specific cases....
grew in Yugoslavia. The death of Tito removed what many Yugoslavs and western observers saw as the country's main unifying force. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia today...
(SANU) contributed significantly to the rise of nationalist sentiments, as it drafted the controversial SANU Memorandum protesting against the weakening of the Serbian central government.
The problems in the Serbian autonomous province of SAP Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and Albanians grew exponentially. This, coupled with economic problems in Kosovo and Serbia as a whole, led to even greater Serbian resentment of the 1974 Constitution
Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the supreme law of S.F.R. Yugoslavia and its predecessor, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia .-Federal constitutions:...
. In the 1980s, Kosovo Albanians demanded that their autonomous province be granted the status of a constituent republic (which would give SAP Kosovo the right to secede from SFR Yugoslavia). Amid rising tensions, the Serbian general view was that Kosovo as a constituent republic (as opposed to being part of Serbia) would be devastating to the cultural and historic links with Kosovar Serbs and Kosovo in general, especially if the province chose to secede.
Slobodan Milošević
In 1987, Serbian communist official Slobodan MiloševićSlobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
was sent to bring calm to an ethnically-driven protest by Serbs against the Albanian administration of SAP Kosovo. Milošević was, up to this point, a hard-line communist who had decried all forms of nationalism as treachery, such as condemning the SANU Memorandum as "nothing else but the darkest nationalism". However, Kosovo's autonomy had always been an unpopular policy in Serbia and Milošević took advantage of the situation and made a departure from traditional communist neutrality on the issue of Kosovo. Milošević assured Serbs that their mistreatment by ethnic Albanians would be stopped. Milošević then began a campaign against the ruling communist elite of SR Serbia, demanding reductions in the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina. These actions made Milošević popular amongst Serbs and aided his rise to power in Serbia. Milošević and his allies took on an aggressive nationalist agenda of reviving SR Serbia within Yugoslavia, promising reforms and protection of all Serbs.
The ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia was the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
(SKJ), a composite political party made-up of eight Leagues of Communists from the six republics and two autonomous provinces. The League of Communists of Serbia
League of Communists of Serbia
The League of Communists of Serbia was the Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. Under a new constitution ratified in 1974, greater power was devolved to the various republic level branches. In the late 1980s, the party was...
(SKS) governed SR Serbia. Riding the wave of nationalist sentiment and his new popularity gained in Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
(Chairman of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) since May 1986) became the most powerful politician in Serbia by defeating his former mentor President of Serbia Ivan Stambolic
Ivan Stambolic
Ivan Stambolić was a Communist Party of Yugoslavia official and the President of the Republic of Serbia in the 1980s who was later victim of an assassination....
at the 8th Session of the League of Communists of Serbia on 22 September 1987. In a 1988 Belgrade rally, Milošević made clear his perception of the situation facing SR Serbia in Yugoslavia, saying:
"At home and abroad, Serbia's enemies are massing against us. We say to them 'We are not afraid'. 'We will not flinch from battle'." Slobodan Milošević, 19 November 1988.
On another occasion, Milošević privately stated:
"We Serbs will act in the interest of Serbia whether we do it in compliance with the constitution or not, whether we do it in compliance in the law or not, whether we do it in compliance with party statutes or not." Slobodan Milošević
Anti-bureaucratic revolution
Through a series of revolts in Serbia and Montenegro, dubbed the "Anti-bureaucratic revolutionAnti-bureaucratic revolution
Anti-bureaucratic revolution as a term, refers to a series of mass protests against governments of Yugoslavian republics and autonomous provinces during 1988 and 1989, which led to resignations of leaderships of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Montenegro, and the capture of power by politicians close to...
", Milošević's political allies in SAP Vojvodina, SAP Kosovo, and the Socialist Republic of Montenegro
Socialist Republic of Montenegro
Socialist Republic of Montenegro or SR Montenegro in shortened form, was a socialist state that was a constituent country in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is a predecessor of the modern day Montenegro...
(SR Montenegro) came to power. In addition to Serbia itself, Milošević could now install representatives of the two provinces and SR Montenegro in the Yugoslav Presidency Council. The very instrument that reduced Serbian influence before was now used to increase it: in the eight member Presidency, Milošević could count on a minimum of four votes – SR Montenegro (following local events), his own through SR Serbia, and now SAP Vojvodina and SAP Kosovo as well.
As a result of these events, the ethnic Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
miners in Kosovo organized strikes, demanding the reinstatement of their autonomy. This contributed to ethnic conflict between the Albanians and the Serb population of the province. At 77% of the population of Kosovo in the 1980s, ethnic-Albanians were the majority. The number of Serbs in Kosovo fell throughout the entire century as a result of ethnic cleansing by Albanians during the Second World War and subsequent harassment by the Albanian authorities and population. The ever increasing ethnic tensions were directly proportional to the trend, and by 1999, Serbs formed as little as 10% of the total population. However, this view is often disputed: historiographers such as Misha Glenny in his book The Balkans, note that the Serbs leaving Kosovo left not due to persecution, but rather for economic reasons, citing Serbs leaving Kosovo after the abolition of Kosovar autonomy. It was easier for Kosovo's Serbs to find jobs in Serbia than Kosovo's Albanians. This resulted in the Kosovo Albanians taking over jobs in Kosovo previously held by Serbs. Albanians also notably have a higher birthrate than Serbs.
Meanwhile the Socialist Republic of Croatia
Socialist Republic of Croatia
Socialist Republic of Croatia was a sovereign constituent country of the second Yugoslavia. It came to existence during World War II, becoming a socialist state after the war, and was also renamed four times in its existence . It was the second largest republic in Yugoslavia by territory and...
(SR Croatia) and the Socialist Republic of Slovenia
Socialist Republic of Slovenia
The Socialist Republic of Slovenia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1943 until 1990...
(SR Slovenia), supported the Albanian miners and their struggle for recognition. Media in SR Slovenia published articles comparing Milošević to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. Milošević contended that such criticism was unfounded and amounted to "spreading fear of Serbia". Milošević's state-run media claimed in response that Kučan was endorsing Kosovo and Slovene separatism. Initial strikes in Kosovo turned into widespread demonstrations calling for Kosovo to be made the seventh republic. This angered Serbia's leadership which proceeded to use police force, and later the federal army (the Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
JNA) by order of the Serbian-controlled Presidency.
Serbian control of the Presidency (1989)
In February 1989 ethnic Albanian Azem VllasiAzem Vllasi
- Early years :In his youth and student years, Vllasi chaired a number of youth organizations; the student league of Kosovo and of Yugoslavia, and from 1974, the League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia. As socialist youth chairman, he became popular and gained the support of President Tito, which...
, SAP Kosovo's representative on the Presidency, was forced to resign and was replaced by an ally of Milošević. Albanian protesters demanded that Vllasi be returned to office, and Vllasi's support for the demonstrations caused Milošević and his allies to respond stating this was a "counter-revolution against Serbia and Yugoslavia", and demanded that the federal Yugoslav government put down the striking Albanians by force. Milošević's aim was aided when a huge protest was formed outside of the Yugoslav parliament in Belgrade by Serb supporters of Milošević who demanded that the Yugoslav military forces enter Kosovo to protect the Serbs there and put down the strike. On 27 February, SR Slovene representative in the collective presidency of Yugoslavia, Milan Kučan
Milan Kucan
Milan Kučan is a Slovenian politician and statesman. He was the first President of Slovenia.-Early life and political beginnings:...
, opposed the demands of the Serbs and left Belgrade for SR Slovenia where he attended a meeting in the Cankar Hall
Cankar Hall
Cankar Hall is a cultural and congress center in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It stands on the central Republic Square , opposite the Parliament of Slovenia....
in Ljubljana, co-organized with the democratic opposition forces
Democratic Opposition of Slovenia
Democratic Opposition of Slovenia, also known as the DEMOS coalition was a coalition of democratic political parties, created by an agreement between the Slovenian Democratic Union, the Social Democrat Alliance of Slovenia, the Slovene Christian Democrats, the Farmers' Alliance and the Greens of...
, publicly endorsing the efforts of Albanian protesters who demanded that Vllasi be released. In the 1995 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary Death of Yugoslavia, Kučan claimed that in 1989, he was concerned that with the successes of Milošević's anti-bureaucratic revolution in Serbia's provinces as well as Montenegro, that his small republic would be the next target for a political coup by Milošević's supporters if the coup in Kosovo went unimpeded. Serbian state-run television denounced Kučan as a separatist, a traitor, and an endorser of Albanian separatism.
Serb protests continued in Belgrade demanding action in Kosovo. Milošević instructed communist representative Petar Gračanin
Petar Gracanin
Petar Gračanin - Serbian military commander....
to make sure the protest continued while he discussed matters at the council of the League of Communists, as a means to induce the other members to realize that enormous support was on his side in putting down the Albanian strike in Kosovo. Serbian parliament speaker Borisav Jović
Borisav Jovic
Borisav Jović is a former Serbian communist politician, who served as the Serbian member of the collective presidency of Yugoslavia during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
, a strong ally of Milošević, met with the current President of the Yugoslav Presidency, Bosnian representative Raif Dizdarević
Raif Dizdarevic
Raif Dizdarević is a former Bosniak politician. Dizdarević was born in Fojnica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During World War II he participated in the armed resistance in the Partisans....
, and demanded that the federal government concede to Serbian demands. Dizdarević argued with Jović saying that "You [Serbian politicians] organized the demonstrations, you control it", Jović refused to take responsibility for the actions of the protesters. Dizdarević then decided to attempt to bring calm to the situation himself by talking with the protesters, by making an impassioned speech for unity of Yugoslavia saying:
"Our fathers died to create Yugoslavia. We will not go down the road to national conflict. We will take the path of Brotherhood and UnityBrotherhood and unityBrotherhood and Unity was a popular slogan of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia that was coined during the Yugoslav People's Liberation War , and which evolved into a guiding principle of Yugoslavia's post-war inter-ethnic policy....
." Raif Dizdarević, 1989.
This statement received polite applause, but the protest continued. Later Jović spoke to the crowds with enthusiasm and told them that Milošević was going to arrive to support their protest. When Milošević arrived, he spoke to the protesters and jubilantly told them that the people of Serbia were winning their fight against the old party bureaucrats. Then a shout to be from the crowd yelled "arrest Vllasi'". Milošević pretended not to hear the demand correctly but declared to the crowd that anyone conspiring against the unity of Yugoslavia would be arrested and punished and the next day, with the party council pushed to submission to Serbia, Yugoslav army forces poured into Kosovo and Vllasi was arrested.
Following the arrest of Vllasi, the group of Kosovo Serb supporters of Milošević who helped bring down Vllasi declared that they were going to Slovenia to hold "the Rally of Truth
Rally of Truth
The Rally of Truth was the name given for the intended protests to be held in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia in December 1989 by supporters of Serbian Communist leader Slobodan Milosevic who intended to force Yugoslavia to give greater powers to Serbia and diminish Kosovo's autonomous status...
" which would decry Milan Kučan as a traitor to Yugoslavia and demand his ousting. The Serb protesters were to go by train to Slovenia, but this was stopped when SR Croatia blocked all transit through its territory and stopped the protesters from reaching Slovenia.
Multi-Party Elections
In January 1990, the extraordinary 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia was convened. The combined Yugoslav ruling party, the League of Communists of YugoslaviaLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
(SKJ), was in crisis. Most of the Congress was spent with the Serbian and Slovene delegations arguing over the future of the League of Communists and Yugoslavia. SR Croatia's actions in preventing Serb protesters from reaching Slovenia played its part. The Serbian delegation, led by Milošević, insisted on a policy of "one person, one vote" in the party membership, which would empower the largest party ethnic group, the Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
. In turn, the Croats and Slovenes sought to reform Yugoslavia by delegating even more power to six republics, but were voted down continuously in every motion in an attempt to force the party to adopt the new voting system. As a result, the Croatian delegation, led by Chairman Ivica Račan
Ivica Racan
Ivica Račan was a Croatian career politician, leader of the League of Communists of Croatia and later Social Democratic Party from 1989 to 2007...
, and Slovene delegation left the Congress on 23 January 1990, effectively dissolving the all-Yugoslav party. This in turn, along with external pressure, caused the adoption of multi-party systems in all republics.
When the individual republics organized their multi-party elections in 1990, the ex-communists mostly failed to win re-election, while most of the elected governments took on nationalist platforms, promising to protect their separate nationalist interests. In multi-party parliamentary elections nationalists defeated re-branded former Communist parties in Slovenia on 8 April 1990, in Croatia on 22 April and 2 May 1990, in Macedonia 11 and 25 November and 9 December 1990, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 and 25 November 1990. In multi-party parliamentary elections re-branded former communist parties were victorious in Montenegro on 9 and 16 December 1990, and in Serbia on 9 and 23 December 1990. In addition Serbia re-elected Slobodan Milošević as President. Serbia and Montenegro now increasingly favored a Serb-dominated Yugoslavia.
Ethnic tensions in Croatia
In Croatia the nationalist Croatian Democratic UnionCroatian Democratic Union
The Croatian Democratic Union is the main center-right political party in Croatia. It is the biggest and strongest individual Croatian party since independence of Croatia. The Christian democratic HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 to 2000 and, in partial coalition, from 2003...
(HDZ) was elected to power, led by controversial nationalist Franjo Tuđman, under the promise of "protecting Croatia from Milošević". There was growing advocacy for "Croatian state and historical rights" which resulted in the status of ethnic Serbs of Croatia being changed from "constitutional nation" to "national minority". Croatian Serbs, for their part, were wary of Tuđman's nationalist government and in 1990, Serb nationalists in the southern Croatian town of Knin
Knin
Knin is a historical town in the Šibenik-Knin county of Croatia, located near the source of the river Krka at , in the Dalmatian hinterland, on the railroad Zagreb–Split. Knin rose to prominence twice in history, as a one-time capital of both the Kingdom of Croatia and briefly of the...
organized and formed a separatist entity known as the SAO Krajina
SAO Krajina
Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina or SAO Krajina was a self proclaimed Serbian autonomous region within modern-day Croatia . It existed between 1990 and 1991 and was subsequently included into Republic of Serbian Krajina...
, which demanded to remain in union with the rest of the Serb populations if Croatia decided to secede. The government of Serbia endorsed the Croatian Serbs' rebellion, claiming that for Serbs, rule under Tuđman's government would be equivalent to the World War II fascist Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
(NDH) which committed genocide against Serbs during World War II. Milošević used this to rally Serbs against the Croatian government and Serbian newspapers joined in the warmongering. Serbia had by now printed $1.8 billion worth of new money without any backing of Yugoslav central bank.
Croatian Serbs in Knin, under the leadership of local Knin police inspector Milan Martić
Milan Martic
Milan Martić is a Serbian politician, former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina...
, began to try to gain access to weapons so that the Croatian Serbs could mount a successful revolt against the Croatian government. Croatian Serb politicians including the Mayor of Knin met with Borisav Jović
Borisav Jovic
Borisav Jović is a former Serbian communist politician, who served as the Serbian member of the collective presidency of Yugoslavia during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
, the head of the Yugoslav Presidency in August 1990, and urged him to push the council to take action to prevent Croatia from separating from Yugoslavia, as they claimed that the Serb population would be in danger in Croatia led by Tuđman and his nationalist government. At the meeting, army official Petar Gračanin
Petar Gracanin
Petar Gračanin - Serbian military commander....
told the Croatian Serb politicians how to organize their rebellion, telling them to put up barricades, as well as assemble weapons of any sort in which he said "If you can't get anything else, use hunting rifles". Initially the revolt became known as the "Log Revolution
Log Revolution
The Log Revolution was an insurrection which started on August 17, 1990 in areas of the Republic of Croatia which were populated significantly by ethnic Serbs....
" as Serbs blockaded roadways to Knin with cut-down trees and prevented Croats from entering Knin or the Croatian coastal region of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. The BBC documentary "Death of Yugoslavia" revealed that at the time, Croatian TV dismissed the "Log Revolution" as the work of drunken Serbs, trying to diminish the serious dispute. However the blockade was damaging to Croatian tourism. The Croatian government refused to negotiate with the Serb separatists and decided to stop the rebellion by force, and sent in armed special forces by helicopters to put down the rebellion. The pilots claimed they were bringing "equipment" to Knin, but the federal Yugoslav Air Force intervened and sent fighter jets to intercept them and demanded that the helicopters return to their base or they would be fired upon, in which the Croatian forces obliged and returned to their base in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. To the Croatian government, this action by the Yugoslav Air Force revealed to them that the Yugoslav People's Army was increasingly under Serbian control. The SAO Krajina
SAO Krajina
Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina or SAO Krajina was a self proclaimed Serbian autonomous region within modern-day Croatia . It existed between 1990 and 1991 and was subsequently included into Republic of Serbian Krajina...
was officially declared as a separate entity on 21 December 1990, by the Serbian National Council headed by Milan Babić
Milan Babic
Milan Babić was from 1991 to 1995 the first President of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, a Croatian region at the time of the war largely populated by a Serbs of Croatia that wished to break away from Croatia.He was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former...
.
Following the first multi-party election results, the republics of Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia proposed transforming Yugoslavia into a loose federation of six republics in the autumn of 1990, however Milošević rejected all such proposals, arguing that like Slovenians and Croats, the Serbs also had a right to self-determination. In a December 1990 referendum in Slovenia, a vast majority (88.5% with a 93.2% turnout) of residents voted for independence.
Secession and War (1991–1992)
Referendums, Independence, & Recognition
- Slovenia – In the 23 December 1990 referendumSlovenian independence referendum, 1990The Slovenian independence referendum about the Slovenian independence from Yugoslavia was held on December 23, 1990. It was summoned by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, then a federal unit of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
89% voted for independence – which was declared on 25 June 1991. - Croatia – In the 2 May 1991 referendumCroatian independence referendum, 1991An independence referendum was held in Croatia on 19 May 1991. The result was 95.7% in favour, with a turnout of 83.6%.-Background:The Croatian parliament made the decision to hold the referendum on 2 May.-Results:-Aftermath:...
93.24% voted for independence – which was declared on 25 June 1991. - Macedonia – In the 8 September 1991 referendumMacedonian independence referendum, 1991The Macedonian Independence Referendum was held on September 8, 1991 and led to independence of Macedonia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.The question on the referendum was:1...
95.26% voted for independence – which was declared on 25 September 1991. - Bosnia – In the 29 February and 1 March 1992 referendumBosnia and Herzegovina independence referendum, 1992An independence referendum was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 29 February and 1 March 1992. The result was 99.7% in favour with a 63.6% voter turnout. Independence was strongly favoured by Bosniac and Bosnian Croat voters, but the referendum was largely boycotted by Bosnian Serbs.-Results:...
92.7% voted for independence – which was declared on 3 March 1992
Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia were admitted as member states of the United Nations on 22 May 1992. Macedonia was admitted as a member state of the United Nations on 8 April 1993.
Secession and response
In January 1991, the Kontraobaveštajna služba (KOS, Yugoslav counter-intelligence service) displayed a video of a secret meeting (the "Špegelj Tapes") that they purported had happened some time in 1990 between the Croatian Defence Minister, Martin ŠpegeljMartin Špegelj
Martin Špegelj was the second Defense Minister of Croatia and, later, the chief of staff of the newborn Croatian army and inspector-general of the army. His efforts to organize and equip the army from scratch were seen as instrumental in helping Croatia survive the first year of the Croatian War of...
, and two other men, in which Špegelj announced that they were at war with the army and gave instructions about arms smuggling as well as methods of dealing with the Yugoslav Army's officers stationed in Croatian cities. The Army subsequently wanted to indict Špegelj for treason and illegal importation of arms, mainly from Hungary.
The discovery of Croatian arms smuggling combined with the crisis in Knin, the election of independence-leaning governments in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia, and Slovenes demanding independence in the referendum on the issue suggested that Yugoslavia faced the imminent threat of disintegration.
On 12 March 1991 the Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
(Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija, JNA) met with the Presidency
Presidency of the SFRY
Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a collective head of state of the Yugoslav federation. It was established in 1970 according to constitutional amendments and reorganized in 1974 by the new constitution. In the period from 1970 to 1974, the Presidency had 23 members -...
in an attempt to convince them to declare a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
which would allow for the pan-Yugoslav army to take control of the country. Yugoslav army chief Veljko Kadijević
Veljko Kadijevic
Veljko Kadijević is a former General of the Yugoslav People's Army . He was the Minister of Defence in the Yugoslav government from 1988 until his resignation in 1992, which made him de facto commander of JNA during the Ten-Day War in Slovenia and the initial stages of the War in...
declared that there was a conspiracy to destroy the country, saying:
"An insidious plan has been drawn up to destroy Yugoslavia. Stage one is civil war. Stage two is foreign intervention. Then puppet regimes will be set up throughout Yugoslavia." Veljko Kadijević, 12 March 1991.
This statement effectively implied that the new independence-advocating governments of the republics were tools of the west which needed to be removed. Croatian delegate Stjepan Mesić
Stjepan Mesić
Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić is a Croatian politician and former President of Croatia. Before his ten-year presidential term between 2000 and 2010 he held the posts of Speaker of the Croatian Parliament , Prime Minister of Croatia , the last President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Secretary General...
responded angrily to the proposal, accusing Jović and Kadijević of attempting to use the army to create a Greater Serbia
Greater Serbia
The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia applies to the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology directed towards the creation of a Serbian land which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to the Serbian nation...
and declared "That means war!". Jović and Kadijević then called upon the delegates of each republic to vote on whether to allow martial law, and warned them that Yugoslavia would likely fall apart if martial law was not introduced. In the meeting, a vote was taken on a proposal to enact martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
to allow for military action to end the crisis in Croatia by providing protection for the Serbs. The proposal was rejected by one vote, as the Bosnian Serb delegate, Bogić Bogićević
Bogic Bogicevic
Bogić Bogićević is a Bosnian statesman of Serbian ethnicity. He was the first office-holder in Second Yugoslavia at the federal level to be democratically elected; as the representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Presidency of Yugoslavia during the late 1980s to 1991.Bogićević is famous for...
, voted against it, believing that there was still the possibility of diplomacy being able to solve the crisis. The state council was abandoned shortly afterward. After Jović's term as head of the collective presidency expired, he blocked his successor, Mesić, from taking the position, and giving the position instead to Branko Kostić
Branko Kostic
Branko Kostić was a Montenegrin Serb politician. He served as the President of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro from March 1989 to December 1990, and then as the acting Chairman of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1992...
, a member of the pro-Milošević government in Montenegro.
On 19 May 1991, a referendum on the structure of the Yugoslav federation was held in Croatia. Often called the referendum for "independence," the phrasing of the question did not explicitly inquire as to whether one was in favor of secession or not. The referendum asked the voter if he or she was in favor of Croatia being "able to enter into an alliance of sovereign states with other republics (in accordance with the proposal of the republics of Croatia and Slovenia for solving the state crisis in the SFRY)?". 83.56% of the voters turned out, with Croatian Serbs largely boycotting the referendum. Of these, 94.17% (78.69% of the total voting population) voted "in favor" of the proposal, while 1.2% of those who voted were "opposed".
Both Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence on 25 June 1991. The following day (26 June), the Federal Executive Council specifically ordered the army to take control of the internationally recognized borders of SFR Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
forces, based in barracks in Slovenia and Croatia, attempted to carry out the task within next 48 hours. However, due to the misinformation given to their own conscripts, and the fact that the majority of them did not wish to engage in a war on their home soil, the Slovenian Territorial Defence
Slovenian Territorial Defence
The Territorial Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, also the Territorial Defence of Slovenia was the predecessor of the Slovenian Armed Forces.- History :...
forces retook most of the posts within several days with only minimal loss of life on both sides. There was an incident of a suspected war crime near Holmec, as the Austrian ORF TV station
ORF (broadcaster)
Österreichischer Rundfunk, ORF, is the Austrian national public service broadcaster.Funded from a combination of a television licence fees and revenue from limited on-air advertising, ORF is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media...
showed footage of three Yugoslav Army soldiers surrendering to the Territorial Defence, before gunfire was heard and the troops were seen falling down. However, none were killed in the incident. Ceasefire was agreed upon. On 7 July 1991, the world governments pressured Slovenia and Croatia to place a three-month moratorium on their independence with the Brijuni Agreement (recognized by representatives of all republics). During these three months, the Yugoslav Army completed its pull-out from Slovenia.
Negotiations to restore the Yugoslav federation with diplomat Lord Peter Carington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
and members of the European Community
European Communities
The European Communities were three international organisations that were governed by the same set of institutions...
were all but ended. Carington's plan realized that Yugoslavia was in a state of dissolution and decided that each republic must accept the inevitable independence of the others, along with a promise to Serbian President Milošević that the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
would insure that Serbs outside of Serbia would be protected. Milošević refused to agree to the plan, as he claimed that the European Community had no right to dissolve Yugoslavia and that the plan was not in the interests of Serbs as it would divide the Serb people into four republics (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Croatia). Carington responded by putting the issue to a vote in which all the other republics, including Montenegro under Momir Bulatović
Momir Bulatovic
Momir Bulatović , formerly served as a Yugoslavian and Montenegrin politician. Bulatović became federal President of Montenegro while Montenegro was part of a Yugoslav federation, and also Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
, initially agreed to the plan that would dissolve Yugoslavia. However, after intense pressure from Serbia on Montenegro's President, Montenegro changed its position to oppose the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
Rebellion in Croatia
At the same time, with the Plitvice Lakes incidentPlitvice Lakes incident
The Plitvice Lakes incident of late March/early April 1991 was an incident at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence...
of late March/early April 1991, the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
broke out between the Croatian government and the rebel ethnic Serbs of the SAO Krajina
SAO Krajina
Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina or SAO Krajina was a self proclaimed Serbian autonomous region within modern-day Croatia . It existed between 1990 and 1991 and was subsequently included into Republic of Serbian Krajina...
(heavily backed by the by-now Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army). On 1 April 1991, the SAO Krajina
SAO Krajina
Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina or SAO Krajina was a self proclaimed Serbian autonomous region within modern-day Croatia . It existed between 1990 and 1991 and was subsequently included into Republic of Serbian Krajina...
declared that it would secede from Croatia. Immediately after Croatia's declaration of independence, Croatian Serbs also formed the SAO Western Slavonia
SAO Western Slavonia
SAO Western Slavonia or Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Western Slavonia was a Serbian self-proclaimed autonomous region within Croatia. It was formed on 12 August 1991 and was subsequently included into Republic of Serbian Krajina...
and the SAO of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem. These three regions would combine into the Republic of Serbian Krajina
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
(RSK) on 19 December 1991. The other significant Serb-dominated entities in eastern Croatia announced that they too would join SAO Krajina. Zagreb had by this time discontinued submitting tax money to Belgrade, and the Croatian Serb entities in turn halted paying taxes to Zagreb. In some places, the Yugoslav Army acted as a buffer zone, in others it aided Serbs in their confrontation with the new Croatian army and police forces.
The influence of xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
and ethnic hatred in the collapse of Yugoslavia became clear during the war in Croatia. Propaganda by Croatian and Serbian sides spread fear, claiming that the other side would engage in oppression against them and would exaggerate death tolls to increase support from their populations. In the beginning months of the war, the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army and navy deliberately shelled civilian areas of Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
and Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
, a UNESCO world heritage site, as well as nearby Croat villages. Yugoslav media claimed that the actions were done due to what they claimed was a presence of fascist Ustaše forces and international terrorists in the city. UN investigations found that no such forces were in Dubrovnik at the time. Croatian military presence increased later on. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, at the time an ally of Milošević, appealed to Montenegrin nationalism, promising that the capture of Dubrovnik would allow the expansion of Montenegro into the city which he claimed was historically part of Montenegro, and denounced the present borders of Montenegro as being "drawn by the old and poorly educated Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
cartographers". At the same time, the Serbian government contradicted its Montenegrin allies by claims by the Serbian Prime Minister Dragutin Zelenović
Dragutin Zelenovic
-References:...
contended that Dubrovnik was historically Serbian, not Montenegrin. The international media gave immense attention to bombardment of Dubrovnik and claimed this was evidence of Milosevic pursuing the creation of a Greater Serbia
Greater Serbia
The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia applies to the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology directed towards the creation of a Serbian land which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to the Serbian nation...
as Yugoslavia collapsed, presumably with the aide of the subordinate Montenegrin leadership of Bulatović and Serb nationalists in Montenegro to foster Montenegrin support for the retaking of Dubrovnik.
In Vukovar, ethnic tensions between Croats and Serbs exploded into violence when the Yugoslav army entered the town. The Yugoslav army and Serbian paramilitaries devastated the town in urban warfare
Urban warfare
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat is very different from combat in the open at both the operational and tactical level...
and the destruction of Croatian property. Serb paramilitaries committed atrocities against Croats, killing over 200, and displacing others to add to those who fled the town in the Vukovar massacre
Vukovar massacre
The Vukovar massacre, also known as Vukovar hospital massacre or simply Ovčara, was a war crime that took place between November 20 and November 21, 1991 near the city of Vukovar, a mixed Croat/Serb community in northeastern Croatia...
.
Macedonia and Bosnia
From 1991 to 1992 the situation in the multiethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina grew tense. Its parliament was fragmented on ethnic lines into a majority Bosniak faction and minority Serb and Croat factions. In 1991, the controversial nationalist leader Radovan KaradžićRadovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
of the largest Serb faction in the parliament, the Serb Democratic Party gave a grave and direct warning to Bosnia's Bosniak president on the fate of Bosnia and its Bosniaks should it decide to separate, saying:
"This, what you are doing, is not good. This is the path that you want to take Bosnia and Herzegovina on, the same highway of hell and death that Slovenia and Croatia went on. Don't think that you won't take Bosnia and Herzegovina into hell, and the Muslim people maybe into extinction. Because the Muslim people cannot defend themselves if there is war here." Radovan Karadžić, 14 October 1991.
In September 1991, Macedonia also declared independence, after a referendum
Macedonian independence referendum, 1991
The Macedonian Independence Referendum was held on September 8, 1991 and led to independence of Macedonia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.The question on the referendum was:1...
on which 95.26% voted for independence. Five hundred US soldiers were then deployed under the UN banner to monitor Macedonia's northern borders with the Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia. However, given that Belgrade's authorities had neither intervened to prevent Macedonia's departure, nor protested nor acted against the arrival of the UN troops, the indications were in place that once Belgrade was to form its new country (to be the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from April 1992), it would recognise the Republic of Macedonia and develop diplomatic relations with it. As such, it became the only former republic to gain sovereignty without resistance from the Belgrade-based Yugoslav authorities and Army. In addition, Macedonia's first president, Kiro Gligorov
Kiro Gligorov
Kiro Gligorov , born May 3, 1917) was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Macedonia. His son Vladimir Gligorov is the refounder of the Serbian Democratic Party.- Biography :...
, did indeed maintain good relations with Belgrade as well as the other former republics and there have to date been no problems between Macedonian and Serbian border police despite the fact that small pockets of Kosovo and the Preševo
Preševo
Preševo , is a town and municipality in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia, bordering Republic of Macedonia. It is the largest town of the region known as the Preševo valley, and the cultural center of Albanians in Central Serbia....
valley complete the northern reaches of the historical region known as Macedonia, which would otherwise have created a border dispute (see also IMORO).
Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the former Yugoslavia
The Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia was a commission set up by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community on 27 August 1991 to provide the Conference on Yugoslavia with legal advice...
, led by Robert Badinter
Robert Badinter
Robert Badinter is a high-profile French criminal lawyer, university professor and politician mainly known for his struggle against the death penalty, the abolition of which he successfully sponsored in Parliament in 1981...
, concluded at the request of Lord Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
that the SFR Yugoslavia was in the process of dissolution, that the Serbian population in Croatia and Bosnia does not have a right to self-determination in form of new states, and that the borders between the republics are to be recognized as international borders. As a result of the conflict, the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
unanimously adopted UN Security Council Resolution 721 on 27 November 1991, which paved the way to the establishment of peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
operations in Yugoslavia.
In the meantime, behind the scenes negotiations began between Milošević and Tuđman to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina into Serb and Croat administered territories to attempt to avert war between Bosnian Croats and Serbs. While, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serbs held the November 1991 referendum which resulted in an overwhelming vote in favor of staying in a common state with Serbia and Montenegro.
Bosnian Independence and war (1992–1995)
In January 1992, Croatia and Yugoslavia signed an armistice under UN supervision, while Negotiations continued between Serb and Croat leaderships over the partitioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In public, pro-state media in Serbia claimed to Bosnians that Bosnia and Herzegovina could be included a new voluntary union within a new Yugoslavia based on democratic government, but this was not taken seriously by Bosnia and Herzegovina's government.On 9 January 1992, the Bosnian Serb assembly proclaimed a separate Republic of the Serb people of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the soon-to-be Republic of Srpska), and proceeded to form Serbian autonomous regions (SARs) throughout the state. The Serbian referendum on remaining in Yugoslavia and the creation of Serbian autonomous regions (SARs) were proclaimed unconstitutional by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In February–March 1992 the government itself held a national referendum on Bosnian independence from Yugoslavia. That referendum was in turn declared contrary to the BiH and Federal constitution by the federal Constitution court and the newly established Bosnian Serb government; it was also largely boycotted by the Bosnian Serbs. The turnout was somewhere between 64–67% and 98% of the voters voted for independence. It was unclear what the two-thirds majority requirement actually meant and whether it was satisfied. The republic's government declared its independence on 5 April, and the Serbs immediately declared the independence of Republika Srpska. The Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
followed shortly thereafter.
This proved to be the final blow to the pan-Yugoslav Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
. On 28 April 1992, the Serb-dominated Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was formed out of the former Socialist Republics of Serbia and Montenegro. Its government claimed continuity to the former country, however, the international community refused to recognize it as such. The stance of the international community was that Yugoslavia had dissolved into its separate states. This question was important for claims on SFRY's international assets, including embassies in many countries. Only in 1996 had the FRY abandoned its claim to continuity from the SFRY. The FRY was dominated by Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
and his political allies.
The war in the western parts of former Yugoslavia ended in 1995 with US-sponsored peace talks in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, which resulted in the so-called Dayton Agreement
Dayton Agreement
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, Dayton Accords, Paris Protocol or Dayton-Paris Agreement, is the peace agreement reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in November 1995, and formally signed in Paris on...
. War between Serbs, Macedonians, and Albanians would continue throughout the 1990s, with the last major conflict being between Albanian nationalists and the government of Republic of Macedonia reduced in violence after 2001.
Final Breakup (2006–2008)
The rump of the former Communist YugoslaviaSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
was re-named the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by Serbia and Montenegro on 28 April 1992. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was prevented by a UN resolution on 22 September 1992 from continuing to occupy the United Nations seat as successor state to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, and not re-admitted until 1 November 2000 afer an application for membership was submitted as a new country. The country was renamed a second time on 4 February 2003 as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
.
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
was itself unstable, and finally broke up during 2006 to 2008 as the last act in the disintegration of Yugoslavia. In a referendum
Montenegrin independence referendum, 2006
The Montenegrin independence referendum was a referendum on the independence of the Republic of Montenegro from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro that was held on 21 May 2006.The total turnout of the referendum was 86.5%...
held in Montenegro on 21 May 2006 independence was backed by 55.5% of voters, and independence was declared on 3 June 2006. In Kosovo, which had been administerd by the UN since 1999, a unilateral declaration of independence
2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was adopted on 17 February 2008 by individual members of the Assembly of Kosovo acting in personal capacity and not binding to the Assembly itself...
was made on 17 February 2008. This is not recognized by Serbia, and has limited recognition aross the international community.
See also
- Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the former YugoslaviaArbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the former YugoslaviaThe Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia was a commission set up by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community on 27 August 1991 to provide the Conference on Yugoslavia with legal advice...
- Socialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaSocialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaThe Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
- Timeline of Yugoslav breakupTimeline of Yugoslav breakupThe Breakup of Yugoslavia was a process in which the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was broken up into constituent republics, and over the course of which the Yugoslav wars started....
Further Reading
- Almond, MarkMark AlmondMark Almond is a writer and lecturer in Modern History at Oriel College, Oxford.Almond holds a Master's degree , and is the Chair of the British Helsinki Human Rights Group...
, Europe’s Backyard War, William Heinemann LtdHeinemann (book publisher)Heinemann is a UK publishing house founded by William Heinemann in Covent Garden, London in 1890. On William Heinemann's death in 1920 a majority stake was purchased by U.S. publisher Doubleday. It was later acquired by commemorate Thomas Tilling in 1961...
, Great Britain, 1994 - et al. Duncan, W. Raymond and Holman, G. Paul, Ethnic Nationalism and Regional Conflict: The Former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, Westview PressWestview PressWestview Press is an American publishing house. It publishes textbooks and scholarly works for an academic audience.Westview was founded in 1975 in Boulder, Colorado by Fred Praeger. The press was sold in 1991 to SCS Communications. HarperCollins acquired the company in 1995. Since 1998, it has...
Inc, USA, 1994. ISBN 0-8133-8813-9 - Dragosavljevic, Angelija, Slobodan Milosevic: A Study In Charismatic Leadership And Its Distortions 1987–1992, Australian National UniversityAustralian National UniversityThe Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
Press, Canberra, 1993 - Glenny, MishaMisha GlennyMisha Glenny is a British journalist who specializes in southeastern Europe and global organized crime.-Biography:Glenny is the son of the late Russian studies academic Michael Glenny...
, "The Fall of Yugoslavia", Penguin, 3rd Edition 1996, ISBN 0-14-026101-X - LeBor, AdamAdam LeBorAdam LeBor is a British author and journalist based in Budapest, Hungary. He has worked as a foreign correspondent since 1991, covering the collapse of Communism and the Yugoslav wars and since working in over 30 different countries. He currently reports from Central Europe for The Times and...
"Milosevic: A Biography", Bloomsbury, 2002, ISBN 0-7475-6181-8 - Magas, Branka, The Destruction of Yugoslavia: Tracking the Break-up 1980–1992, Verso, Great Britain, 1993. ISBN 0-86091-593-X
- Mojzes, Paul, Yugoslavian Inferno: in the Balkans, The Continuum Publishing company, USA, 1994
- Radan, Peter, Break-up of Yugoslavia and International Law, RoutledgeRoutledgeRoutledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
, Great Britain, 2002 - Woodward, Susan, L. Balkan Tragedy: Chaos & Dissolution after the Cold War, the Brookings Institution Press, Virginia, USA, 1995