|
The Disintegration of Yugoslavia
In 1987, Slobodan Milosevic became the Serbian Communist party leader. To the alarm of most of the other republics Milosevic and his supporters revived the vision of a "Greater Serbia" consisting of Serbia proper, its provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo, the Serb-populated parts of Croatia, large sections of Bosnia and Hercegovina, and possibly Macedonia. In early 1989, Serbia rescinded Kosovo's autonomy and sent in troops to suppress the protests of Kosovo's largely Albanian population, an action that helped Milosevic win the Serbian presidency later that year. Slovenia and Croatia elected non-Communist governments in early 1990 and, threatening secession, demanded greater autonomy.
After attempts by Serbia to impose its authority on the rest of the country, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence on June 25, 1991. Fighting immediately broke out as the largely Serbian federal army moved into Slovenia. By the end of July, 1991, however, all federal forces had left Slovenia, although fighting continued throughout the summer between Croatian forces and the federally backed Serbs from Serb areas of Croatia. In Sept., 1991, Macedonia declared its independence, and the citizens of Bosnia and Hercegovina voted for independence that October.
In Jan., 1992, a cease-fire was negotiated in Croatia. The European Community (EC; now the European Union) recognized Croatia and Slovenia as independent states, and in April the EC and the United States recognized Bosnia and Hercegovina, which descended into a three-way civil war among Serbs, Croats, and Bosnian Muslims. In a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" carried out mostly by the Serbs, thousands of Muslims were killed, and many more fled Bosnia or were placed in Serb detention camps.
In May, 1992, the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro and called for an immediate cease-fire in Bosnia. Serbia and Montenegro declared the establishment of a new Yugoslavian federation (the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) in 1992, but the EC (and later the United Nations) announced that the new government could not claim the international rights and duties of the former Yugoslavia, because those rights and obligations had devolved onto the different republics. Macedonian independence was widely recognized the following year. After Serbia reduced its support for the Bosnian Serbs, the United Nations eased the sanctions against Yugoslavia. In late 1995 Yugoslavia (in the person of President Milosevic of Serbia) participated in the talks in Dayton, Ohio, that led to a peace accord among Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia (Yugoslavia). Milosevic became president of all Yugoslavia (consisting of Serbia and Montenegro) in 1997.
|
