The Balkans

Eastern and Central Europe in Film and Print

Origins of Slavic People

500 - 1000 A.D.

1000- 1300 A.D.

Ottoman Empire 1566-1700

1700 - 1800

1812

Religious Majorities 1900

The First Balkan War: 1912• Russia & Austrian-Hungarian Empire two

great powers

• Balkan League formed to drive Turks out – Bulgaria– Serbia– Montenegro– Greece

• Threatened war with A-H if status quo upset

• Albania declared independence

• A-H and Turks feared Russia port on Adriatic (threat to both empires)

The Second Balkan War: 1913• Serbs turned against Bulgarians

• Occupied Kosovo and Macedonia

• Regarded Kosovo as cradle of their civilization

• Serbs wanted to expand and create a Greater Serbia

• Threatened status quo and neighboring empires

• A-H wanted to create alliance of Southern Slavic states against Russia

KOSOVOKOSOVO

World War I• 1914: Franz Ferdinand (heir to King)

shot in Sarajevo by Serb nationalist

• Wanted to unify Southern Slavs in Bosnia and Kosovo as bulwark against Serb expansion

• Ignites WWI

• A-H defeated

• Kingdom of Southern Slavs (Yugoslavia) uniting Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Slovenia

• Serbs dominate; Croats prefer independence

World War II• WWII: Croatian Ustashi Fascists welcome

Hitler, become independent state (inc. Bosnia)

• Serbs, Jews, Gypsies , and anti-Fascist Croats killed in concentration camps

• Balkans controlled by Axis powers

– Germany controls Serbia

– Italy controls Montenegro

– Albanians occupy Kosovo

– Bulgaria occupies Macedonia

1941-45 W.W. II

After World War II

• Tito (communist) and Mikailovic (Serb nationalist) emerge as political rivals

• Tito creates communist federation of six republics:

– Croatia

– Montenegro

– Serbia (including Kosovo and Vojvodina)

– Bosnia-Herzegovina

– Macedonia

– Slovenia

Soviet Union & Satellites - 1970

Collapse of Soviet Union: 1989- 91

The Balkans: 1991-1992• 1992: Federation falls apart

• Nationalism replaces communism as force

• Slovenia and Croatia break away after conflict with Serbia

• Tudman’s HDZ party stirs Croatian nationalism

• Rural Serbs in Croatia resist Croat nationalization (remember WWII Ustashi)

• Milosovic’s Chetnik agitators stir up Serbs in Slovenia

• Fighting breaks out in Croatia and Slovenia

• UN cease fire; Serbs get 1/3 Croatia

• Croats “ethnicially cleansed” from region

The Balkans: 1991-1992

• Conflicts between:

– Bosnian Muslims & Serbs

• Belgrade backs Bosnian Serbs who want to remain part of Yugoslavia and create a greater Serbia

• Muslims driven from homes (ethnic cleansing)

• 1993: Bosnian Muslim gov’t besieiged

• Bosnian Muslims fight separate war withBosnian Croats who want to be part of Croatia

The Balkans: Dayton Agreement (1995)

• Two entities in Bosnia:

– Bosnian Serb Republic

– Muslim-Croat Federation

• Croats reclaim territory captured by Serbs

• 200,000 Serbs leave Croatia

The Balkans: 1998

• 1998: Kosovo Liberation Army and majority ethnic Albanians rebel against Serbian rule

• International community opposes independence

• NATO launches air strike against Serbs (1st ever attack on sovereign European country)

• Thousands of Kosovo Albanian Muslim refugees flee Serb atrocities

• Atrocities reported on both sides

The Balkans: 1991-1998COUNTRYMinority

CROATIA

Serbs (rural; remember CroatUstashi in WWII)

SLOVENIA

Serbs

PARTY/ARMY

Democratic Croatian Union (HDZ)

Serbian-backed Chetnick agitators

Slovenian Territorial Defense (TD)

JNA

KEY EVENTS& OUTCOME

Serbs get 1/3

Croats “cleansed”

Serbs defeated in ‘95

Serbs “cleansed”

Croatian recognized as independent

TD defeats JNA in 10- day war

Declares independence

The Balkans: 1991-1998COUNTRYMinorities

BOSNIA

Muslims (president)

Croats

PARTY/ARMY

Serbian SDS (blue & white) + JNA

Muslim SDA (green crescents)

Croat HDZ (red-checkered shield)

KEY EVENTS& OUTCOME

SDS-SDA alliance

SDA purges Serbs

JNA builds defenses in Sarajevo

SDA-HDZ win EC vote recognizing Bosnia

War breaks out

JNA + Chetnicks vs BiH Muslims

Non-Serbs “cleansed”

The Balkans: 1991-1998COUNTRYMinorities

BOSNIA

Muslims (president)

Croats

PARTY/ARMY

Serbian SDS (blue & white) + JNA

Muslim SDA (green crescents)

Croat HDZ (red-checkered shield)

KEY EVENTS& OUTCOME

Muslims + Croats fight each other

1995: Croats defeat Serbs

US/NATO launch raids on Serbs

UN peacekeepers deployed

3.5 million Croats and Muslims displaced

The Balkans: 1991-1998COUNTRYMajority

KOSOVO

Muslim Albanians(2/3 population)

PARTY/ARMY

Serbian JNA

KLA

KEY EVENTS& OUTCOME

1960s: Albanians repressed Serbs

57,000 Serbs flee

Serb gov’t “harasses” Albanians

KLA formed

“Cleansing” and refugees

NATO bombing

“Autonomy”

Criticisms of US, UN & European Policies

• Failed to intervene in Croatia

• US against Croatian and Slovenia independence

• Gave Serbs invitation to intervene militarily to prevent the independence of these republics and to seize territory for “Greater Serbia”

• Failed to support democratic movements

• Serbs: We helped Kosovo, but didn’t help minority Serbs in Croatia

• UN failed to heed warnings of rape/atrocities

• NATO bombings killed many innocent people