The Balkans Flashcards
The National Question in Yugoslavia
The Evolution of the State
1918: the first Yugoslavia was established
Main components (5):
The Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Montenegro
Croatia- Slovania and Vojvodina
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Lasted until 1941
Second Yugoslavia
The Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia
From the end of WWII until 1991
under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito until 1980
he tried to cool down ethnic conflicts and drive all yugoslavia
Decentralization with a strong centre
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Croatia
Macedonia
Montenegro
Serbia
Slovenia
Kosovo and Vojvodina were given autonomy
The Albanians: a national minority (ethnic group) but not a nation
Power-sharing mechanisim
each republic had its own veto power and decision power required some sort of consensus:
1974 each republic had become a semi sovereign authority
country was held by power-sharing
communist party had control and republics were under this
Slovenia was substantially mono-ethnic
The Serbs and Discontent in the Centre
After Tito’s death
1986: Serbian Nationalist Memorandum
The serb people were the primary entity processing the claims and rights that ascended to the geographical division
Milosevic
1986: Milosevic’s rise to power
1989: Milosevic abolished Kosovo’s and Vojvodina’s autonomy
1990: republic of Serbia’s constitution was passed
Serbia is not apart of Yugoslavia anymore
Serb minorities in Croatia going against Croatia
Complexities of the Bosnian Case
Bosnia had ethnic problems
different demands in terms of what they wanted the Bosnian state to look like
1992: Bosnia declared its independence
people of heterogenous families were forced to make a choice
Ethnics
Ethnic boundary building in the course of conflict
Croatia and Serbia began to partition Herzegovina
ethnic cleansing
Making Peace in times of War
1990-1991 the break of Yugoslavia occurred
Main Adversaries
Milosevic regime in Serbia and its Serbia allies in Croatia and Bosnia
The Bosnian Muslims, referred to as the Bosniaks
The Tudjman regime in Croatia and Bosnian Croats
Opening Moves
Milosevic -> The Greater Serbia and all Serbs in a Single State
Forcefully move the croats and Bosnians to create the greater Serbia
The Bosnian Serbs seceded from Bosnia and gradually did
Bosnian croats seized power in many areas
War in Bosnia
Ethnic serbs in Bosnia fighting to secure ethnic serb territory
a referendum on Bosnian independence the Bosnian war started
war crimes and ethnic cleansing
the role of paramilitaries, the JNA, Croatia, Serbia and neighbouring countries
The Dayton Peace Accords
Core issues:
constitutional design
governance
human rights
elections and territorial division
to look good in media and in front of others
European wanted a weak commitment
supervision of law enforcement
did not impose peace
ambitious attempt to build a democratic society
Two Major Issues
unification of Sarajevo
refused to allow for multi-ethnic people to succeed
we must not allow a single serb to remain
