Chapter 14 , 'Todays Issues' (318)

I) Roots of the Balkan Conflict

A) Foreign Rulers
1) Muslim Ottoman Empire tried to conquer the Balkan peninsula in the 1300's
2) The Ottomans defeated the Serbian empire at the battle of Kosovo Polje
3) Ottomans ruled Bosnia and Herzegovina
4) Austria ruled Slovenia and Hungary ruled Croatia
5) Under Muslim rule, the serbs clung to Christianity
6) Bosnians reverted to Islam
7) the region became more Albanian because many of the serbs fled from Kosovo due to the Muslims seizing power.

B)Yugoslavia is Formed
1) Serbia Broke free of the Ottoman empire in 1878
2) many serbs wanted to united the nation and free the slavs under foreign rule.
3) that desire helped to spark World War 1
4) the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918
5) it was renamed "Yugoslavia" by their king in 1929 to help end ethnic devisions.

C) Communist Rule
1) Yugoslavia was invaded during World War II by Germany and Italy.
2) many Croats cooperated with the Nazis and the Croat leader ordered the massacre of the Jews and serbs.
3) Chetniks and Partisans were two groups fighting the Nazis.
4) after the war, Josip Broz Tito became the dictator of Yugoslavia.
5) a new constitution in 1946 organized Yugoslavia into a nation of the six republics listed:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
-Croatia
-Macedonia
-Montenegro
-Serbia
-Slovenia

II)Ethnic Tension Boils Over
A) Fear of Serbia
1) Slobodan Miloševíc wanted serbia to expand, which alarmed croats and bosnians.
2) serbia blocked a croat from becoming president in 1991
3) Slovenia and croatia declared their independence as a result.
4) in june 1991 Serbian-led Yugoslavian solders invaded both republics
5) Croatia had a large minority of Serbs and the tension resulted in all out war.
6) thousands of lives were lost before the united nations arranged a cease-fire in January 1992
7) both slovenia and croatia remained free.

B)War in Bosnia
1) Bosnia and Herzeggovina declared indepedance in 1992
2) Bosnias Muslims and Croats supported the movement, but its serbs and serbia started a war to stop it.
3) the serbs used murder and violence to rid of Bosnias Muslims and Croats.
4) Their tactics of Trying to eliminate an ethnic group through violence is known as "ethnic cleansing".
5) more than 200,000 people were killed and over two million people fled their homes.
6) in 1995 the United States sponsored peace negotiations.
7) a peace treaty was signed in december 1995 that gave Bosnians independence.

C) War in Kosovo
1) Serbia saw Kosovo as a sacred part of their heritage and regained control of the provinces in 1912.
2) by the 90's kosovos inhabitants were mostly Muslim Albanians who spoke non-slavic languages.
3) the Serbian leader Miloševíc tried to assert control by ethnic cleansing.
4) in response, Kosovo demanded independence.
5) in the 90's the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army), began to attack serbian officials.
6) The Serbian Government bombed kosovo villages and began another campaign of ethnic cleansing.
7) in march 1999 NATO started bombing serbia to get them to stop with the violence.
8) serbian troops withdrew from kosovo in june.
9) international officials found evidence of the serbs torturing and massacring Kosovars
10) Milošovíc died in prisn in 2006.

D) An uncertain Future
1) in 2000 the Yugoslav people elected reform leader Voijislav Kostunica as president.
2) decades of war created widespread poverty and millions of refugees
3) Kosovars and Montenegreo wanted independence from serbia
4) in 2003 a short lived country called Serbia and Macedonia was formed
5) 3 years later Montenegro gained its independence
6) in 2007 the UN created a plan to allow Kosovo self rule, but still be within Serbia
7) Kosovo gained indépendance in 2008, but serbia refuses to recognize them as a real country.

Summery.
the serbs didn't like being under control of the ottomans, so they gained their independence through war. serbia wanted to unite everyone under a single nation, but once they got what they wanted they began ethnic cleansing and began acting like dictators. everyone got real tired of serbias shit, so bosnia, kosovo, and Croatia fought a lot until they won their independence and serbia refuses to recognize some of them as real countries.