BACKGROUND PAPER
ON
SERBIA
1. Serbia has been the primary mover of regional affairs in the Balkan Peninsula for the past 30 years. This paper will briefly discuss Serbia's history and myth, its involvement in regional unrest, its religion and spiritual ties, how those ties encourage its behavior, and the United States' actions in the region in an attempt to keep the peace and develop Serbia into a stabilizing force for the region.
2. In 1989 Slobodan Milosevic came to power in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, then one of six republics that made up the federation of Yugoslavia, on a platform that aggravated the ethnic tension in the region.1 In 1991 three of the six republics declared independence from Yugoslavia, followed by a fourth in 1992.2 Milosevic launched military campaigns and when the fighting ceased in 1995. The two remaining republics, Serbia and Montenegro, formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.3 In 1997, Serbia began a brutal campaign that involved the massacre of hundreds of civilians, mostly ethnic Albanians, in the region of Kosovo.4 Milosevic was ousted in 2000 and the nation was once again reorganized in 2003.5 In 2006, Montenegro seceded, followed by Kosovo in 2008; a declaration Serbia refuses to acknowledge.6
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Religion is deeply rooted in Serbia's history and is to blame for much of the violence the nation has seen recently.7 The people adopted Orthodox Christianity in the late 9th century.8 The church played an instrumental role in helping the Serbs maintain a national identity during nearly five-hundred years of Ottoman rule.9 In Serbia, each ethnic group has also been divided along religious lines. This distinction is largely to blame for the ethnic violence in the region; especially in Kosovo.10 Today, Serbia is predominantly Serbian Orthodox Christian at 84.6 percent, followed by Catholic (5 percent), Muslim (3.1 percent - Kosovo is 95.6 percent Muslim11), and Protestant 1
In the year 1914, two gunshots had forever changed history. In this time, the countries of Europe had begun to rival in the topic of a greater territory. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had just won over Bosnia, causing considerable disagreement with the Bosnians (Nelson, 2015). Some Bosnian nationalists believed that Bosnia should be its own country, and not under the power of Austria-Hungary. Serbia also wanted the country of Bosnia under their rule due to the great population of Serbians living in Bosnia at the time. For this reason, Austria-Hungary disliked Serbia (Clare, 2002/2014). During this same time period, many other European countries wanted more land and began forming alliances. Serbia had allied with Russia, while Austria-Hungary was formed in alliance with Germany (Nelson, 2015). Despite all the conflict over land and the tension
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.
#7 Explain the interfaith boundaries created when the former Yugoslavia dissolved and what conflict these caused. Be specific.
At the start of the Cold War, Yugoslavian communist partisans 'liberated' Kosovo and surrounding countries resulting in the killings and repression of thousands of Kosovars. Under the Yugoslav Constitution of 1974, the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo became a constituent component of the Yugoslav Federation with direct representation and voting rights on federal institutions. In 1981, major
As one of the most troubled region of the Balkans in Central Europe, the Balkans were affected by strife and hostility. The problems in the Balkans not only affected the people living in this region, but also other large European powers that fueled many of the major conflicts and events of Europe at the time. The First Balkan War and its profound effects on European history will be discussed, while also exploring the future conflicts in both the Balkans and the rest of Europe.
The country of Serbia and its people have endured a turbulent and violent time as a country. Having both, a strong bond and difficult conflicts with the countries that surround them on the Balkan Peninsula have created their culture. Due to violent and ethnic clashes throughout its history, Serbia has found it difficult to gain a firm footing to establish itself as a country. If ithe government of Serbia does not continue to put forth the effort, especially now with the influx of refugees, this could become the next breeding ground for extremist and or terror organizations
Di Giovanni, a senior foreign correspondent for The Times, lived through the Balkan wars in the former Yugoslavia. This book focuses mainly on the conflict in Kosovo in 1999 but Di Giovanni also reports on the situation from the initial dissolution of the country up until the attempt at reconstruction. The author also provides the reader with the historical context of the wars, such as the events since the death of Tito and especially since 1992. It was in 1991 that the Catholic- dominated Croatia and Slovenia declared themselves independent. This began the armed conflict between Croatia and Slobodan Milosevic's Serb-dominated Yugoslavia. Milosevic was not going to allow the country to be split up.
Since the “invasion” of Albanians there are many influences in the name of religion. These religions include Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, and Catholicism. According to the International Crisis Group, in 2001, they said that Orthodoxy followers, the Serbians, are not active members, but feel that this is a part of their countries’ identity. Also stated, Kosovo Albanians claim they are not outlined by their religion, yet, they follow the Islamic faith in calm, eased fashion. Lastly, there are about 60,000 Catholics; however, in a population of approximately 1.8 million, measured in a census in 2011, they are considered a minority. Both parties have used their religion and ethnicity to identify and segregate one another. In the end, it is to target the opposing
After Tito’s6 death in 1980, the Western Balkans were living in a period of tranquillity and rapports among the republics were relatively calm. This situation lasted until 1987 when facts able to threat the stability of the area emerged; Slobodan Milosevic was nominated President of Serbia arising nationalist ideologies already existing since the
In the summer of 1996, hints of violence began to arise from Europe. This time, however, it was not from Bosnia or Russia, but Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, President Slobodan Milosevic was leading an all-out attack on the ethnic Albanians of the country. Rumors of ethnic cleansing and genocide began to grow as the Serbians sought to drive all Albanians out of their country. By 1998, a full-scale war had erupted between the Albanians and the Serbians as both fought for autonomy of one tiny piece of land: Kosovo. When NATO finally intervened, press coverage began to intensify. NATO entered the war on the side of the Albanians, and as a result press coverage immediately shifted to support this cause. In order to make the conflict
The Serbians believed their ancestors were present first in the land while the Muslim believes otherwise. They believed that Albanians do not deserve the country, because the people came after the sixteenth centuries, which would not put them in the land before the Albanians. Also Serb believes that because their ancestors fought and lost so much blood that they should be rightful owners of the land. The main reason Serbia wants to keep Kosovo under them is because they look to Kosovo as the heart of their state. According to the constitution of 1974 both Serbia and Albanians have historical claims to Kosovo. It also gave affirmative action programs for the Kosovo people. The war continues to go on today and will continue to go on even though Kosovo have declared their
The balkans is a very important strategic location, because it provides a land bridge between Europe and Asia. Many nations wanted the Balkans because of it's position, so it played a large part in the history of Europe. The Balkan Peninsula was part of the Roman Empire, but later split in half when the Empire fell. In the 1400s the Ottoman Empire became the new owner of the Balkan Peninsula. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire ended. Later, the Balkans became a new nation named Yugoslavia, a nation with many divisions. King Alexander, the ruler of Yugoslavia, tried to unite the different cultures by adopting a new language, Serbo-Croatian. By 2003, Yugoslavia had ended, but the countries of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia,
Yugoslavia was a very successful country under the lead of Josip Broz Tito. Yugoslavia was made of 6 Republics and those were: Croatia, Montenegro ,Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo together with Vojvodina which at that time were recognized as provinces. After the death of Tito Yugoslavia began to demolish. The collapse of Yugoslavia began in 1980, and it continued until the 27th of April 1992, which in history is known as the date when Yugoslavia totally collapsed. In my opinion, the reason that the disintegration of Yugoslavia happened was because of the decline in absolute sovereignty. In this paper, I am going to talk about the definition of sovereignty, different perspectives about the disintegration of Yugoslavia from some authors and the decline in absolute sovereignty which led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia.
The Ottoman conquest of the Balkans fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, most importantly the Battle of Kosovo, illustrates a time in history where ideas of Serbian identity and collective memories were created that would later be used by politicians to invoke nationalist sentiments (Bieber 2002: 98). As the Ottoman Empire grew it made its way through Asia Minor and into the Balkans, continually chipping away at a weakening Byzantine Empire (Vickers 1998: 11). One of the greatest battles in the Empire’s conquest was the Battle of Kosovo. On June 28, 1389 in Kosovo Polje, Serbs and Albanians stood side by side defending the Balkans from further Ottoman expansion (Vickers 1998: 16). It’s important to note that in this point in history ethnic Albanians and Serbs shared a common religion and lived in relative harmony. The battle was ultimately a draw but allowed the Turks to move forward with their conquest and roll back Serbian statehood (Vickers 1998: 16). Modern day Serbian and Nationalism draw on conjectures that Kosovo was predominantly Serb or Albanian before the Turkish invasion (Pavkovic 2000). Ottoman registers of land property in the early 15th century show an overwhelming Serb majority. There was in fact a steady migration of Serbs to Kosovo before the Turkish invasion, but that was soon to change (Vickers 1998: 18). With Ottoman rule came the building of mosques, the looting of monasteries, and increased taxes and military service for Christians. Albanians in Kosovo intermingled with the Turks and were gradually Islamized, while Serbs began leaving the region (Vickers 1998: 27). This led to the Albanian saying, “Where the sword is, there lies religion” (Vickers 1998: 25). The exodus of Serbs from the region, intent on retaining their Christianity,
1 The separation of the former « Yugoslavia » (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) during the period 1991-92 « resulted in the establishment of five new countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, and Federal Republic ofm Yugoslavia. The former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia consisted of two former Yugoslavian republics, Serbia and Montenegro. Serbia includes the provinces Vojvodina and Kosovo. In February 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro ».