Modern Europe As Europe moves toward economic and political unity, it’s facing lingering ethnic tensions, nationalism, and environmental crises.

Turmoil in the Balkans Yugoslavia was a nation of many ethnic groups distributed among six republics. When Serbia tried to dominate Yugoslavia, other republics broke away. This sparked conflict.

Roots of the Balkan Conflict The South Slavs Balkan conflict stemmed from different groups wanting the same land in the 500s. The Slavs migrated to the region from Poland and Russia. Each of South Slav groups (the Croats, Slovenes, and the Serbs) formed their own kingdoms.

Foreign Rulers The Muslim Ottoman Empire tried to conquer the Balkan Peninsula in 1300s. The Ottomans defeated the Serbian Empire in 1389 at the Battle of Kosovo. Under Ottoman rule, the Serbs remained Christian, while the Bosnians converted to Islam. Both the Serbs and the Albanians lived in Kosovo, but Serbs fled from the Muslims. The Kosovo region became the center of Albanian culture. The Ottoman Empire

Yugoslavia Is Formed Serbia broke free of the Ottoman Empire in 1878. Serbs wanted all South Slavs to be free from foreign rule, and their efforts sparked WWI. A Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918, and it was named Yugoslavia (“Land of the South Slavs”) in 1929 .

Communist Rule Germany and Italy invaded the Balkans during WWII. After the war, the Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled Yugoslavia. Tito encouraged all groups to see themselves as Yugoslavs. The 1946 Yugoslav constitution created six republics Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia Serbia had two self-governing provinces: Kosovo, and Vojvodina Croatia and Bosnia were ethnically mixed, and contained many Serbs.

Ethnic Tension Boils Over Fear of Serbia Tito died in 1980 and Yugoslavia had no single, central ruler. The presidency rotated between the republics and provinces. Slobodan Milosevic is a Serbian who sought to control Yugoslavia in 1990s. Milosevic proposed the creation of a Greater Serbia, he wanted to expand the republic’s borders to include all areas with Serbian populations. Serbia blocked a Croatian from becoming the Yugoslav president in 1991. Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, and the Serbian-led Yugoslav army invaded Slovenia and Croatia. Milosevic

Fear of Serbia War in Bosnia Slovenia quickly gained freedom in 1991. Croatia had large Serbian minority and the Serb-Croat ethnic hatred fueled a violent war. The UN brokered peace in 1992. War in Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence in 1992. Serbs wanted to get rid of Bosnian Muslims, and Croats. Serbs used ethnic cleansing, or violent elimination of an ethnic group, to kill over 200,000 people. Over 2 million people fled the Balkans.

War in Kosovo The Serbs, led by Milosevic, sought revenge for the Battle of Kosovo. Kosovo was inhabited by Muslim Albanians, and sought independence. Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) attacked Serbian officials. Serbian government bombed the Albanians, launched an ethnic cleansing against them. In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia in order to stop the violence. Milosevic soon withdrew his troops from Kosovo.

Current map of the Balkans. An Uncertain Future In 2000, Yugoslavs elected the reform leader Vojislav Kostunica as president. Ethnic tensions remained and local wars created millions of refugees, and poverty. In 2002 Montenegro declared its independence. Kosovo declared its independence in 2008. Current map of the Balkans.

Europe’s Pollution Problem Golden Poison In 2000, a Romanian gold mine leaked cyanide into streams and the deadly poison flowed into Hungary’s Tisza River. It killed 80% of the river’s fish, and almost all of the area’s fishing jobs were lost.

Causes of Water Pollution Not all cities have sewage treatment plants, so harmful substances can contaminate rivers, soil, and crops. Rain washes the chemical fertilizers off fields and into waterways. This causes algae and plants to grow faster than fish can eat them, when the algae and plants die the decay uses all the oxygen and also kills the fish.

Causes of Air Pollution Industrial factories put chemicals like sulfur in the air. Breathing polluted air contributes to respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema. Air pollution harms livestock, stunts plant growth, and causes acid rain.

Cleaning up the Water Cleaning Up the Air Cleaning up requires cooperation between nations. The European Union passes environmental protection laws that it’s members must obey. Cleaning Up the Air Individual countries passed laws to make air safer to breathe. In 1998 the EU nations agreed to reduce car emissions by 2000.

The European Union Europe has a long history of conflict and crisis. After World War II (1939–1945) European nations hoped to rebuild their economies and prevent new conflicts. In 1951, France and Germany moved toward unification by signing a treaty giving control of their coal and steel to the multinational European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). Later, Italy and Benelux also joined the ECSC.

The European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market formed in 1957. The EEC removed trade barriers, and set common economic goals. People could live and work in any of the member countries. The EEC merged with the ECSC in 1967 to form the European Community (EC) and admitted other countries in 1973.

In 1993 the Maastricht Treaty replaces EC with European Union (EU) There were 15 member nations. EU members use a common euro currency and some fear that this causes a loss of individual national identities. There is no national currency picturing national heroes. Workers can easily move from an area with low income to one with higher wages.

Others feel euro increases business efficiency, and international trade. Financial institutions began calculating transactions in euros in 1999. Euros have been used in everyday life since 2002.

Expanding the EU EU could expand to 28 countries, and 475 million people. It can be hard to manage a huge alliance. Some possible members are former Communist nations. There are variations in prosperity, and democracy. This could create tensions within the EU. The European Union is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

Bibliography Mcdougal Littell, World Geography. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2012