Process starting in mid-1991 leading to the abolishment of the state of Yugoslavia, This article is about the events entailing the 1991 and 1992 dissolution of the Yugoslav state. In addition to Serbia itself, Milošević could now install representatives of the two provinces and SR Montenegro in the Yugoslav Presidency Council. a significant impact. extensive economic and financial support necessary to preserve a Yugoslav Following the death of The Serb minority in Croatia The 1974 constitution was an attempt to short-circuit this pattern by entrenching the federal model and formalising national rights. Since the SFR Yugoslav federation was formed in 1945, the constituent Socialist Republic of Serbia (SR Serbia) included the two autonomous provinces of SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina. Belgrade sent in the Yugoslav National Army to take control of Slovenia’s borders with Italy and Austria, figuring that whoever controlled the borders had a legitimate claim on sovereignty. The three countries joined the This question was important for claims on SFRY's international assets, including embassies in many countries. Bosnia’s independence recognized soon thereafter. Milošević was met with opposition by party leaders of the western republics of Slovenia and Croatia, who also advocated greater democratisation of the country in line with the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe. The Formation Of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia came into existence as a result of World War I. to no avail. Fundamental to the tensions were the different concepts of the new state. After Tito's death in 1980, tensions re-emerged. The referendum was declared contrary to the Bosnian and federal constitution by the federal Constitution Court and the newly established Bosnian Serb government, and it was largely boycotted by the Bosnian Serbs. over Yugoslav law. By this time, the Slovenian government had already put into action its plan to seize control of both the international Ljubljana Airport and Slovenia's border posts on borders with Italy, Austria and Hungary. [20] In 1984 the Reagan administration issued a classified document, National Security Decision Directive 133, expressing concern that Yugoslavia's debt load might cause the country to align with the Soviet bloc. Until then, practically, all countries in Easter Europe already changed the system (I think only Albania made it later). Riding the wave of nationalist sentiment and his new popularity gained in Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević (Chairman of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) since May 1986) became the most powerful politician in Serbia by defeating his former mentor President of Serbia Ivan Stambolic at the 8th Session of the League of Communists of Serbia on 22 September 1987. The Croatian government refused to negotiate with the Serb separatists and decided to stop the rebellion by force, sending in armed special forces by helicopters to put down the rebellion. Slovenia and Croatia in 1990 gave non-communist parties control of the state In 1948, Yugoslavia made a surprising break away from the USSR, declaring that it would develop its own form of com-munism different from that of the Soviets and its other East-ern European neighbors. [11] There were also places that saw no economic benefit from being in Yugoslavia; for example, the autonomous province of Kosovo was poorly developed, and per capita GDP fell from 47 percent of the Yugoslav average in the immediate post-war period to 27 percent by the 1980s. Tensions between the Croats and Serbs often erupted into open conflict, with the Serb-dominated security structure exercising oppression during elections and the assassination in national parliament of Croat political leaders, including Stjepan Radić, who opposed the Serbian monarch's absolutism. The central government's control began to be loosened due to increasing nationalist grievances and the Communist's Party's wish to support "national self determination". [24] Increasingly, demands were voiced in Serbia for more centralisation in order to force Croatia and Slovenia to pay more into the federal budget, demands that were completely rejected in the "have" republics. This eventually led to the repression of the Albanian majority in Kosovo. Along with external pressure, this caused the adoption of multi-party systems in all the republics. [68], Some observers opined that the break up of the Yugoslav state violated the principles of post-Cold War system, enshrined in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE/OSCE) and the Treaty of Paris of 1990. Over the next While The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989, the With the 1974 Constitution, the office of President of Yugoslavia was replaced with the Yugoslav Presidency, an eight-member collective head-of-state composed of representatives from six republics and, controversially, two autonomous provinces of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina. Meanwhile, the Socialist Republic of Croatia (SR Croatia) and the Socialist Republic of Slovenia (SR Slovenia), supported the Albanian miners and their struggle for recognition. Croatian Serb politicians including the Mayor of Knin met with Borisav Jović, the head of the Yugoslav Presidency in August 1990, and urged him to push the council to take action to prevent Croatia from separating from Yugoslavia, because they claimed that the Serb population would be in danger in Croatia which was ruled by Tuđman and his nationalist government. The loosened control basically turned Yugoslavia into a de facto confederacy, which also placed pressure on the legitimacy of the regime within the federation. Yugoslavia was a non-aligned nation with closer ties to Western than Eastern Europe. The Fall of Communism in Hungary. time, inter-republic relations in Yugoslavia spiraled out of control. [22] The rampant corruption in Yugoslavia, of which the "Agrokomerc affair" was merely the most dramatic example, did much to discredit the Communist system, as it was revealed that the elites were living luxurious lifestyles well beyond the means of ordinary people with money stolen from the public purse, in a time of austerity. In short order, the Soviet Union dissolved, as did Yugoslavia and … In a series of rallies, called "Rallies of Truth", Milošević's supporters succeeded in overthrowing local governments and replacing them with his allies. administrative mandate. Department, Buildings of the Slovenia and Croatia began Between June 1991 and April 1992, four republics declared independence (only Serbia and Montenegro remained federated), but the status of ethnic Serbs outside Serbia and Montenegro, and that of ethnic Croats outside Croatia, remained unsolved. During the summer of 1991, both Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence. [59] It was unclear what the two-thirds majority requirement actually meant and whether it was satisfied. The Ten-Day War commenced as a result of Slovenia's declaration of secession on June 25, 1991. For a bit of background, Yugoslavia debuted in the ESC in 1961, and was the only communist/socialist country to participate and host the ESC. Dizdarević then decided to attempt to bring calm to the situation himself by talking with the protesters, by making an impassioned speech for unity of Yugoslavia saying: Our fathers died to create Yugoslavia. United States and its European allies can do to preserve Yugoslav Duncan, W. Raymond and Holman, G. Paul, This page was last edited on 21 May 2021, at 21:04. Nationalist rhetoric on all sides became increasingly heated. Yes. In the Croatian independence referendum held on 2 May 1991, 93.24% voted for independence. afterward. [7][8], Prior to its collapse, Yugoslavia was a regional industrial power and an economic success. It did not, however, find any basis for compromise. [67], In 1999 Social Democratic Party of Germany in his May Day speech leader Oskar Lafontaine criticised the role played by Germany in the break up of Yugoslavia, with its early recognition of the independence of the republics. Milošević assured Serbs that their mistreatment by ethnic Albanians would be stopped. The Yugoslav model of state organisation, as well as a "middle way" between planned and liberal economy, had been a relative success, and the country experienced a period of strong economic growth and relative political stability up to the 1980s, under dictatorial rule of Josip Broz Tito. A member of the Communist Party, it does seem that it was Tito’s strong personality that held Yugoslavia together for 40 years. [4] The assassination and human rights abuses were subject of concern for the Human Rights League and precipitated voices of protest from intellectuals, including Albert Einstein. [23] Finally, the politics of austerity brought to the fore tensions between the well off "have" republics like Slovenia and Croatia versus the poorer "have not" republics like Serbia. On 1 March 1991, the Pakrac clash ensued, and the JNA was deployed to the scene. The United States, the United Kingdom and much of the European Union recognized this as an act of self determination, with the United States sending people to help assist Kosovo. [1], In political science the events and the surrounding issues have been described as furthering Balkanisation.[2]. Serbian state-run television denounced Kučan as a separatist, a traitor, and an endorser of Albanian separatism. Bosnia-Herzegovina, a referendum on independence took place in March 1992, but Partisan, member of a guerrilla force led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during World War II against the Axis powers, their Yugoslav collaborators, and a rival resistance force, the royalist Chetniks. This problem was compounded by the general "unproductiveness of the South", which not only added to Yugoslavia's economic woes, but also irritated Slovenia and Croatia further. exacerbating inherent tensions in the Yugoslav republic. Furthermore, the failure of communism all over Central and Eastern Europe once again brought to the surface Yugoslavia's inner contradictions, economic inefficiencies (such as chronic lack of productivity, fuelled by the country's leaderships' decision to enforce a policy of full employment), and ethno-religious tensions. A bloody war … of the Department. [3] The Serbs tended to view the territories as a just reward for their support of the allies in World War I and the new state as an extension of the Kingdom of Serbia. After Tito died, the unity of the federation began to falter. [57] Bosnian Serbs held a referendum in November 1991 resulting in an overwhelming vote in favor of staying in a common state with Serbia and Montenegro. For the consequent military conflicts, see, Animated series of maps showing the Breakup of the, along with western Macedonia and south-eastern Montenegro, Metohija controlled by Austria-Hungary 1915–1918, Death of Tito and the weakening of Communism, Economic collapse and the international climate, Independence of the Republic of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, sfn error: no target: CITEREFŽerjavić1993 (. Subsequent data gathering in the 1980s by historians Vladimir Žerjavić and Bogoljub Kočović showed that the actual number of dead was about 1 million. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart, but the unresolved issues caused bitter inter-ethnic Yugoslav wars. The policy dictated that one-third of the Serbian minority were to be killed, one-third expelled, and one-third converted to Catholicism and assimilated as Croats. Serb protests continued in Belgrade demanding action in Kosovo. [52], UN investigations found that no such forces were in Dubrovnik at the time. [11] Public opinion in Slovenia in 1987 saw better economic opportunity in independence from Yugoslavia than within it. [21] The 1980s were a time of economic austerity as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed stringent conditions on Yugoslavia, which caused much resentment toward the Communist elites who had so mismanaged the economy by recklessly borrowing of money abroad. Both quislings were confronted and eventually defeated by the communist-led, anti-fascist Partisan movement composed of members of all ethnic groups in the area, leading to the formation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ceased to exist, having dissolved into Dizdarević argued with Jović saying that "You [Serbian politicians] organized the demonstrations, you control it", Jović refused to take responsibility for the actions of the protesters. Real earnings in Yugoslavia fell by 25% from 1979 to 1985. When Milošević arrived, he spoke to the protesters and jubilantly told them that the people of Serbia were winning their fight against the old party bureaucrats. In 1991, Radovan Karadžić, the leader of the largest Serb faction in the parliament, the Serb Democratic Party, gave a grave and direct warning to the Bosnian parliament should it decide to separate, saying: This, what you are doing, is not good. US President George H.W. Yugoslavia was expelled from the communist bloc but Tito did not fall from power, as many had expected. Finally, the independence of Croatia was declared on 25 June 1991. [5] It was in this environment of oppression that the radical insurgent group (later fascist dictatorship), the Ustaše were formed. Kosovo had been administered by the UN since the Kosovo War while nominally remaining part of Serbia. Some observers, such as Peter Gowan, assert that the breakup and subsequent conflict could have been prevented if western states were more assertive in enforcing internal arrangements between all parties, but ultimately "were not prepared to enforce such principles in the Yugoslav case because Germany did not want to and the other states did not have any strategic interest in doing so. party meeting in the Albanian-dominated province of Kosovo in May 1987, Serbians Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence on 3 March 1992 and received international recognition the following month on 6 April 1992. power in 2001, was arrested, and turned over to the International Crimes [13][14], In 1990, US policy insisted on the shock therapy austerity programme that was meted out to the ex-Comecon countries. Milošević pretended not to hear the demand correctly but declared to the crowd that anyone conspiring against the unity of Yugoslavia would be arrested and punished and the next day, with the party council pushed to submission to Serbia, Yugoslav army forces poured into Kosovo and Vllasi was arrested. This is the path that you want to take Bosnia and Herzegovina on, the same highway of hell and death that Slovenia and Croatia went on. [16][better source needed], Meanwhile, the more prosperous republics of SR Slovenia and SR Croatia wanted to move towards decentralization and democracy. Stage one is civil war. [19], A major problem for Yugoslavia was the heavy debt incurred in the 1970s, which proved to be difficult to repay in the 1980s. As a result of these events, in February 1989 ethnic Albanian miners in Kosovo organized a strike, demanding the preservation of the now-endangered autonomy. Macedonia was admitted as a member state of the United Nations on 8 April 1993;[67] its membership approval took longer than the others due to Greek objections. After months of stockpiling weapons, Slovenia closed its borders and declared independence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991. Although the timing was coincidental, the collapse of Yugoslavia had little to do with the collapse of the USSR or Eastern bloc. However, on 17 February 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia as the Republic of Kosovo. This statement effectively implied that the new independence-advocating governments of the republics were seen by Serbs as tools of the West. international community did not recognize its successor claim. When the Soviet Union fell, it ended the tenure of … In June 1989, the 600th anniversary of Serbia's historic defeat at the field of Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević gave the Gazimestan speech to 200,000 Serbs, with a Serb nationalist theme which deliberately evoked medieval Serbian history. In October 1991 completely free elections for the Sejm were held. This angered Serbia's leadership which proceeded to use police force, and later the federal army (the Yugoslav People's Army JNA) by order of the Serbian-controlled Presidency. forces. U.S. Government. In addition, Macedonia's first president, Kiro Gligorov, did indeed maintain good relations with Belgrade as well as the other former republics. What were the results of Yugoslavia rejecting communism? Yugoslavia's non-aligned status resulted in access to loans from both superpower blocs. Milošević refused to agree to the plan, as he claimed that the European Community had no right to dissolve Yugoslavia and that the plan was not in the interests of Serbs as it would divide the Serb people into four republics (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia). In March 1989, the crisis in Yugoslavia deepened after the adoption of amendments to the Serbian constitution that allowed the Serbian republic's government to re-assert effective power over the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. SAO Krajina was officially declared a separate entity on 21 December 1990 by the Serbian National Council which was headed by Milan Babić. (Central Intelligence Agency), Current Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, and adopted a more de-centralized and less Bush did not automatically follow the policy of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, in dealing with Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet Union. the President, Visits by Foreign Heads powerful incentive for unity and cooperation was removed. [22] The problems imposed by heavy indebtedness and corruption had by the mid-1980s increasingly started to corrode the legitimacy of the Communist system as ordinary people started to lose faith in the competence and honesty of the elites.
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