Kosovo : Republic Of Kosovo

After the First World War country was united with other Slav territories to form Yugoslavia. At the time, the population of Bosnia consisted of over 1,300,000 Serbs which were Orthodox Catholic Christians, million Muslim Bosnians and around 700,000 of Croats. They all were strong attached to this land by the historical and local claims. After the death of Josip Broz Tito, elections in 1990 brought nationalists to power in Slovenia, Macedonia and Croatia, which declared independence in 1991 and were recognised internationally. The Leader of Bosnia’s, Alija Izetbegovic called for independence too, and the country was recognised as independent by the USA and the EU in 1992. However, Bosnia’s Serbs weren’t happy because they wanted to be part of “Greater Serbia”. a Serbian named Slobodan Milosevic, a former Communist responded to Bosnian’s declaration of independence by attacking and bombarding the capital city, Sarajevo. Serbs shot down civilians in the streets, including over 3,500 children.

One of the youngest nations of Europe, Yugoslavia was created after World War I as a homeland for several different rival ethnic groups. The country was put together mostly from remnants of the collapsed Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Demands for self-determination by Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, and others were ignored. Yugoslavia thus became an uneasy association of peoples conditioned by centuries of ethnic and religious hatreds. World War II aggravated these rivalries, but Communist dictatorship after the war controlled them for 45 years. When the Communist system failed, the old rivalries reasserted themselves; and in the early 1990s the nation was rent by secessionist movements and civil war. Within several years these conflicts

Albania, a small country located in Southeastern Europe, is a nation that does not have a true identity – its people are Muslim and Christian, it is a country that is both and poor, it is as much urban as it is rural, and has evolved from monarchy to socialism and now to fledgling democracy. In other words, Albania and its people have seen it all. The extremes of Albanian society are vivid, and underlying tensions are evident. But Albania is not "another Yugoslavia" – there is no doubt that the internal environment of Albania has been and somewhat continues to be tense, although the breaking point has never been fully reached. Albania is a country with a fervently tense past (especially

The Bosnian-Herzegovina genocide or “ethnic cleansing” went on from April 1992 to December 1995 around the end of the Second World War. When Bosnia became its own independent nation on April 5th 1922 it wanted to “cleanse” its country of any non Serbian residents. The killing of Bosnian Muslims during this time was stated by international tribunals to be an ethnic cleansing however the events that took place in July 1995 in Srebrenica was so horrific it was deemed a genocide. The United Nations should have intervened a lot sooner than they did and should have sent more than just peace keepers to protect the human beings that were being slaughtered.

The population of Kosovo is approximately 1,895,250. The most populated area is their capital Pristina. It has the population of about 400,000 people which is way more than any other city. The capital is the most populated area in Kosovo because it is easy to get things distributed to other places. The population is diverse as it includes ethnic backgrounds of the Albanians, Serbs, Bosnians and Gorani. There are not many immigrants, but there are some.

Since the end of World War Two, no conflict in Europe was as barbarous as the Civil War that took place in Bosnia, formerly known as Yugoslavia. In 1992, Bosnians officially declared their independence from Yugoslavia erupting the whole territory into a brutal conflict that left nearly 100,000 dead and 2.2 million displaced people. This disastrous ethnic cleansing involved the breakup of Yugoslavia into six smaller states including: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Macedonia. Upon this division of Yugoslavia, the Bosnians and Croats were able to gain independence from the Serbs through international backing and militaristic strategic advantages from organizations such as the UN and NATO. The main cause of the Bosnian

After Bosnia-Herzegovina became independent, Bosnian Serb Radovan Karadzic set up his own government. Known as the “Serbian National Assembly” (“Bosnian Genocide” par. 3), this government was loyal to Yugoslavia. Backed by the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Karadzic had a vision of both “Bosnia and Croatia becoming part of a larger Serbian state. In 1992,

Between 1992 and 1995, the Bosnian genocide took place as a result of the Bosnian and Serbian war. Yugoslavia was divided into six federated republics in 1946, them being: Bosnia/ Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Bosnia attempted to pass a referendum for independence but was rejected by representatives of Serb who, in return, established their own republic, Republika Srpska. Bosnian Serb and Yugoslav People's Army, declared war on Bosnia in an attempt to take the land for themselves since the referendum for independence was denied. An “ethnic cleansing” occurred of the Muslims in Bosnia, who made up 50% of the population as a result of the

The population of the Balkans appears to be fewer than 50

Bosnia-Herzegovina was made up of three main ethnic groups, Bosniak Muslim, Serb, and Croat (Bosnia-Herzegovina). Before Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia had a history of political, economic, and cultural conflict. Towards the end of World War II, Tito, a communist, ran Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia’s government fell apart and each nation had its own self-rule to be apart of the

The Albanians were the majority and the Serbians being the minority. In this situation, the Serbians oppressed the Albanians. In retaliation, the Albanians formed a terrorist group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which was a terrorist group that fought for the rights of the Albanians. The various actions taken by the KLA caused NATO involvement. Their involvement required a series of air raids and bombings to flush the Serbian people out of Kosovo. However, the story gets much deeper than that.

History of people: King Dusan the Powerful died in 1355 at the age of 48, this surprised most people. Leading to a weakening of Serbia's central government. The young son of Dusan Uros took over the throne and soon was killed. All of a sudden Vukasin Mrnjacevic proclaimed himself the King of Serbia. During this time, Turks were advancing toward the Kingdom of Serbia. In a battle on the river Marica in 1371, Vukasin was killed leaving behind a weakened, poor and torn Serbia. Serbia was in desperate need of a talented statesman, rich in integrity and deserving of God's Grace: a man similar to St.Sava and his father St. Stefan Nemanja who had founded the Serbian state. The Church recognized such a man in Prince Lazar. His

Furthermore, these wars cannot be fully understood without a basic knowledge of the former Yugoslavia. Formally known as the Soviet Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, it was a federation that was comprised of six socialist republics: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. Additionally, two autonomous provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, were established in Serbia. Many different ethnic groups called Yugoslavia home, namely the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bosniaks, Albanians, and Montenegrins. However, the presence of large ethnic minorities across republic lines made things complicated, especially with the advent of rising nationalism among these different peoples. The borders of the republics had originally been of little significance; Josip Tito, the beloved leader of the Communist Party in Yugoslavia, decided the borders with little opposition from anyone, as the federation was supposed to be a centralized “dictatorship of the proletariat”. Only with later decentralization and democratization would any concern for the individual republics and nationalities be voiced and nationalism become an issue. Tito’s death in 1980 seemed to suddenly remind all the Yugoslav peoples that they had in fact retained their separate ethnic identities and that the ethnic identity of Tito’s successor would certainly affect them, whether positively or negatively, and inter-republic relations began deteriorating quickly. Tito and his communist

Serbia feels a cultural tie to Kosovo because it has many monasteries, churches, and religious sites that are significant to the orthodox Christian faith, which is the main religion for Serbs (Malcolm). The Serbian claim conflicts with the Albanian majority who believes they have a claim to Kosovo because of they are the largest group. Throughout history Kosovo has been profitable because it have many natural resources, such as metals like nickel, and it is known for its abundance of silver, which has caused conflict because many countries have wanted to claim it. During World War Two, Hitler used the mines in Kosovo for profit (Malcolm). Mostly, Kosovo has been coveted because it is in a good location with many mountains guarding it and has always been a checkpoint for many trade routes, which made it prone to conquests. Conflict can always be understood through history, and Kosovo’s strategic location is one main reason for the fighting.

The country, Croatia, is where the focused group is located. Croatia is located in southeastern central Europe, and has a population of over four million. Croatia wasn’t considered an independent country until 1991. It was under control by different powers throughout history including “the Hungarians, the Turks, and the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg dynasty” (“Croats”). Croatia was a part of groupings when having an upper ruling, and this was part of Croatia’s history before becoming an independent country because of the Croats; people that settled in the region that eventually became Croatia. They were part of the nation Yugoslavia which were a monarchy and then a communist country. Another group