Dr. Zoltán Grossman The Evergreen State College, THE YUGOSLAV WARS Dr. Zoltán Grossman The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash. Slovenia Croatia Bosnia Serbia Monte- negro Kosovo Macedonia

Social and Territorial Definitions of Place Defines place as belonging to one ethnic or racial group (“Law of the Blood”) TERRITORIAL Defines place geographically as home for all who live there (“Law of the Soil”) “Ethnic cleansing” in early ‘90s to match ethnic, state boundaries Bosnian Flag (Bosniak/ Muslim) Bosnia multiethnic state flag

State Identity Ethnic Identity Slovenian Croatian Bosnian Serbian Montenegrin Kosovan Macedonian Slovene Croat Bosniak (Muslim) Serb Montenegrin Kosovar (Albanian) Macedonian-Slav or Macedonian-Albanian Croatian Serbs, Bosnian Serbs, Kosovan Serbs Bosnian Croats, Serbian Croats, etc. Also: Serbian Hungarians (Voivodina), Kosovan Roma, Serbian and Montenegrin Muslims (Sanjak)

Ottoman Empire

Austro-Hungarian Empire, Serbia, Montenegro

Yugoslavia I

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Yugoslavia I: Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Serbs, Croats, Slovenes united kingdom after WWI; Named “Yugoslavia” (Land of South Slavs), 1932

Fascist Europe Greater Romania Greater Hungary Greater Croatia Greater Albania Kosovo Jasenovac, Croatia

World War II fighters USTASE (Croat Nazis) CHETNIKS (Serb nationalists/fascists) PARTISANS (multiethnic Communists)

Social Federated Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia II: Social Federated Republic of Yugoslavia Communist Josip Broz Tito revived Yugoslavia in 1945. Croatian who promoted “brotherhood & unity”

Six republics of Yugoslavia, 1945-1991 Croatia, Slovenia (Catholic) Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia (Orthodox) Bosnia (Muslim) Kosovo (Albanian province of Serbia) Six republics of Yugoslavia, 1945-1991

Kosovo province of Serbia Tito puts Albanian majority in charge; Serbs have become minority but maintain historic claim

Yugoslavia in 1980s Tito dies; replaced by weak rotating leadership. Economic crisis leads to (multiethnic) worker strikes. Republic leaders start to use nationalist messages, weaken Yugoslav identity Yugoslavia in 1980s

Models of ethnic harmony, 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. By 1992, both cities were torn by ethnic uprisings, gang rule, and troops on the streets

Theories of ethnic hatred It’s a tool used for political and economic power It’s always there; politics can keep a “lid” on it Communism collapses in Eastern Europe, 1989 Croatian and Serbian leaders stoke ethnic hatred after 1989

Conflict among similar peoples (Serbs vs. Muslims vs. Croats) Same race, spoken language Different religion, script, “ethnic” group Intermarried, cooperated, 1950s-80s; at war 1990s Muslim and Serb refugees from Sarajevo, Bosnia

Yugoslav ethnic groups before break-up Ethnic Serbs and Croats for irredentism Bosnians, Kosovars for secession Use of maps as weapons

“Greater Serbia” Slobodan Milosevic appeals for ethnic Serb rights at 600th anniversary of Kosovo Polje battle, 1989 Backs ethnic territoriality in Croatia & Bosnia; also State territoriality in Kosovo, where Serbs are a minority

Serbs and Montenegrins

“Greater Croatia” Tudjman’s Bosnia partition plan Pres. Franjo Tudjman

Croats

Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) “Greater Albania” Kosova Liberation Army (KLA)

Albanians

Former Yugoslavia Break-up Slovenia 1991 Croatia 1991 Bosnia 1992 Macedonia 1992 F.R. Yugoslavia 1992 (Serbia-Montenegro 2003; Montenegro ind. 2006) Kosovo 1999 (declared 2008)

Secession of Slovenia, 1991 Alpine republic close to Austria; no Serb minority. Belgrade let go after short fight. Soldiers’ mothers stepped in.

Secession of Croatia, 1991 Historic rival to Serbia Close to Germany. Used WWII symbols Large Serb minorities in Krajina and Eastern Slavonia.

Yugoslav Army attacks eastern Croatia cities Much of Vukovar & Osijek in eastern Slavonia destroyed by Serbian shelling; Croatian scorched earth

Secession of Bosnia, 1992 Muslims, Croats did not want to stay in Serb-led Yugoslavia Serbs, Croats shared historic hatred of Muslims Gangs form militias; looting, confiscations response to economic crisis

Pre-war Bosnia Muslims 44% Serbs 31% Croats 17% Other 8% Three-way fight

Western recognition of independence Led by united Germany; Premature without guarantee for minority (Serb) rights. Krajina and Bosnian Serbs see replay of WWII; fight for Greater Serbia

Bosnian Serb snipers besiege Sarajevo, 1992-95

Olympic Stadium in Sarajevo

Mostar (Bridge) Ottoman bridge separated Croat and Muslim neighborhoods; Croatians blew it up in 1993.

“Ethnic cleansing” Forced removal of an ethnic group Croats expelled from Vukovar (Croatia), 1992 To make area ethnically “purer,” increase percentage of majority in state Serbs expelled from Krajina (Croatia), 1995 Albanians expelled from Kosovo (Serbia), 1999

(Ridgeway/Mladenovic) Burn This House (Ridgeway/Mladenovic) Ultranationalism not “ancient hatreds” but modern method of divide and control Economic reasons for ethnic cleansing, mass looting, seizure of homes Minority rights within new states must be paramount

Ethnic Cleansing of Bosnian Muslims

Arkan’s Serbian Tigers (Zeljko Raznatovic)

Serbs kill up to 7,000 Muslims Srebrenica massacre, 1995 Serbs kill up to 7,000 Muslims Dutch UN troops powerless

Croatian ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Krajina, 1995 U.S. aided Croatian offensive into Krajina (borderland) and western Bosnia to defeat Serbs, but civilians expelled

Croatian ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Krajina, 1995

Humanitarian War? Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War Jean Bricmont asserts that "to call on an army to wage a war for human rights implies a naive belief of what armies are and do, as well as a magical belief in the myth of short, clean, 'surgical' wars."

Humanitarian War? Humanitarian arguments against “barbarous customs” have always been used to rationalize European colonial expansion. His point of view "readily admits the barbarous nature of such customs, but considers that our interventions do much more harm than good, including in relation to making barbarism recede. And it points out that there is a considerable amount of 'barbarism' in our own 'civilized' countries, especially as they interact with others.”

Post-war Bosnia Separate armies, currencies, etc. Two governments with contiguous territories  Central gov’t? Refugee returns? Nationalist parties?

Comparing 1991 and 1995 Dayton Accord Line

Dayton Accord (de facto Partition), 1995 Federation of Bosnia-Hercegovina (Croat/Muslim) Republika Srpska (Serb Republic) U.S. rubberstamps ethnic cleansing? New republics now “purer” than 1991

Western troops In Bosnia

Between Serbia and Kosova Liberation Army (KLA); Kosovo fighting, 1998-99 Between Serbia and Kosova Liberation Army (KLA); 2,000+ killed

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, 1999

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, 1999 Resentment even from anti-Milosevic Serbs after civilian targets, opposition cities bombed

Ethnic Cleansing of Kosovar Albanians, 1999

Destroyed Kosovo village

Ethnic Cleansing of Kosovar Albanians, 1999

Kosovo refugee crisis

NATO troops in Kosovo Camp Camp Bondsteel Bondsteel Serb pocket from Mitrovica to north; both sides want ethnic partition

KLA ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians after NATO arrives Serbs, Roma, Turks, Jews etc. accused of siding with Milosevic, left in fear. Those left behind in Albanian areas targeted by pogroms. Kosovo now ethnically “purer” than in 1999. Clashes in northern Serb enclave of Kosovska Mitrovica

Roma (Gypsies) Non-territorial ethnic group traced to India; 5-7 million in Central/Eastern Europe. Victims of Holocaust and skinheads; Cultures threatened by settlement, internal divisions

Macedonia Crisis Ex-KLA fighters for Greater Albania in NW Macedonia, and in Presevo Valley (Serbia), 2000-01. Full-scale war headed off by NATO.

Serbians vote out, overthrow Milosevic, 2000 Milosevic on trial in The Hague for war crimes. Croatians also vote out nationalists.

End of Yugoslavia, 2003 New leader Kostunica criticalof U.S. too. Montenegro came near independence; Kosovo de facto independent. West wants no more wars. Co-equal name, 2003-06: Serbia and Montenegro

Independence of Montenegro, 2006 Montenegro has history of separate statehood from Serbia, despite common heritage Bare majority for independence from Serbia followed by immediate declaration Serbia acquiesces in independence to maintain allyship with former Yugoslav republic

Unilateral independence of Kosovo, 2008 Prime Minister Thaci (KLA) declares independence with majority Albanian support U.S. and Western EU members recognize new “state” in Serbia’s province (not ex-republic) Serbia, Russia, China, Spain see as dangerous precedent Serbs in north threaten to secede; could create new conflict

Ralph Peters