Yugoslavia: Backdrop to Conflict : Creation of the Yugoslav federation

Yugoslavia was created after World War I out of a disparate collection of territories in the Balkans. The country was called the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and the name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929.

During World War II, vast sections of the nation were divided among by the Germans, Italians, Albanians, Hungarians and Bulgarians. Croatia became an independent state, siding with the Nazis.

After World War II, communist forces under the command of Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito took control of the country.

The new Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was formed as a loose federation of six republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) and two autonomous provinces (Kosovo and Vojvodina).

For 35 years under Tito’s rule, tensions among the federation’s diverse ethnic groups were largely suppressed by the communists.

Crumbling of the federation

Divisions between ethnic groups began to resurface in the 1980s as communist control of the federation weakened after Tito’s death in 1980.

Serbia, under the leadership of its president, Slobodan Milosevic, favored a continuation of central control in Yugoslavia. The more affluent republics of Croatia and Slovenia supported economic liberalization and greater autonomy for the republics.

Violence broke out in 1988 when ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo autonomous province--an area controlled by the Serbian republic--called for greater political freedom. The province is about 90% ethnic Albanian.

Serbia’s efforts to keep Kosovo under its control exacerbated fears among other republics of a Serb-dominated Yugoslavia.

Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from the federation June 25, 1991.

War in Slovenia

Yugoslav federal troops moved to stop Slovenia’s secession, but withdrew after a 10-day war.

Slovenia, which is made up almost entirely of ethnic Slovenes, has remained out of the fighting in the Balkans since then.

War in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina

Yugoslav federal troops moved into Croatia at the same time. Local ethnic Serbs also mobilized, fearing a repeat of World War II oppression by Croats.

Within weeks, Serbs and members of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav federal army clashed with Croat forces. In July, local Serb militia forces began to seize territory in Croatia.

Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its sovereignty Oct. 15, 1991, and voted for independence in a referendum Feb. 29-March 1, 1992. Ethnic Serbs in Bosnia, who make up about a third of the population, responded by arming themselves.

By April, the Bosnian Serbs, aided by Yugoslav federal troops, had extended their control over much of Bosnia.

Efforts to bring peace

Fighting in Croatia was largely halted after a United Nations-brokered truce took effect in April. Sporadic fighting resumed last month after Croatian forces moved to retake a strategic route to the Adriatic Sea.

Croatian forces began fighting with Muslims last month in Bosnia, apparently in a last-minute effort to strengthen their hold on territories in case of a truce in Bosnia.

U.N.-sponsored truce negotiations for a settlement in Bosnia among the Croats, Serbs and Bosnian Muslims are under way but fighting continues to be fierce.

Conflict in the Balkans

Yugoslavia is now made up of Serbia and Montenegro, plus the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia seceded.