Yugoslavia: An Extension of the Past
Copyright (c) 1995, L. Shawn Aiken
All rights reserved


       Yugoslavia: An Extension of the Past
       by L. Shawn Aiken


        A strange land tucked away in a distant corner of the world is, like 
they sometimes do, making international headlines.  Some may know that 
events in the Balkan Peninsula, sparked the first world war, but few 
expected this area to be of any significance ever again.  Conflict there has 
been raging there for many years, a war that has the major powers wringing 
their hands in worried confusion.  But why?  What caused this to happen?  
And why should anyone care?

Ancient History
        The mountainous region of the former Yugoslavia was once a 
collection of successful Roman provinces crisscrossed with trade routes.  As 
the empire decayed, Slavic tribes invaded the area.  These southern Slavs, 
the Yugoslavs, became a buffer zone between the Eastern and Western Roman 
Empires.
        Eventually these empires evolved into the Orthodox and Catholic 
Churches, and the Balkan Peninsula became their battleground.  The Serbs, 
Macedonians, and Montenegrins were converted to the Orthodox creed.  The 
Croats and Slovenes pledged their allegiance to the Pope in Rome.  The 
Bosnians, however, developed their own form of Christianity called 
Bogomilism.
        These groups battled each other for land in the name of religion for 
over a thousand years.  In medieval times, many of the Yugoslavs were 
dominated by Austria and Hungary.  But the Serbs remained independent until 
the coming of the Ottoman Empire.
        The Turks crushed the Serbians in two centuries of warfare.  By 1463 
they occupied Bosnia, converting many of it's inhabitants, including it's 
chieftains, to Islam.  Another group, the Slovenians, missed out on the 
Turkish invasions.  But this poor southern province of Austria would be 
vital to the eventual unification of the Yugoslav people.

Nationalism and Revolt
        As Napoleon waged war across Europe, he occasionally would try to 
rectify what he saw as injustice.  The Slovenians had been living under 
Austrian rule for 1,000 years.  He noticed that they were a separate ethnic 
group and, after he crushed Austria,  gave them power over their own 
province.
        The Slovenians began to use their own language, began to write epic 
poetry and revel in their own past culture.  They suddenly began thinking of 
themselves as Slovenians.  Quickly thereafter, Napoleon himself was crushed 
and they reverted to being under the control of the Austrians again.  But 
the seeds had been sown, and they drifted to their Slavic brothers and 
sisters.
        The Yugoslavs under the Turks began to revolt, fighting for their 
independence.  Serbians led insurrection after insurrection until they had 
become an independent kingdom in 1882.  Other groups were not as lucky.  
Bosnia and Hercegovinia drove out the Turks, but the Austo-Hungarian Empire 
invaded in 1908.
        Serbia and Montenegro created a coalition with Greece and Bulgaria 
to expel the last remaining Turks from the Balkans in 1912.  Serbia proved 
itself a strong nation in these wars, but it also proved itself an obvious 
threat to the Austo-Hungarian Empire who wanted to control the region.

The World Stage
        In 1914, Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 
visited Sarajevo.  Also there was Gavrilo Princip, a member Mlada Bosna 
(Young Bosnia.)  This group was a secret society former in Bosnia that 
touted the ideas of nationalism.  Princip shot Ferdinand and killed him.
        Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of conspiracy in the assassination 
and invaded.  The Serbians pushed them back.  Ally joined ally in the fight, 
the war drug on, and eventually became World War I.  Eventually Serbia was 
defeated, but so was Austria-Hungary.
        At the end of the war, the Western powers redrew the map of the 
Balkans, creating the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.  The 
Yugoslavs, suddenly unified and on their own, were unable to cooperate.  
Years of bickering and threatened succession created a very weak state 
unable to deal with the growing Axis Powers.
        The Kingdom waffled between neutrality and attempts to appease 
Hitler and Mussolini.  The Fascists had had enough and invaded the country 
in 1941, and it was divided up between Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, and 
Albania.  But foreign occupation was nothing new to the Yugoslavs and 
resistance groups were formed.

The New Yugoslavia
        The World War II resistance is thought of as a very romantic time.  
The brave exploits of the rebels are portrayed in many movies.  But there 
was no glamour.  The two main groups of rebels, the Chetniks and the 
Partisans, fought amongst themselves as well as the four external armies 
occupying the country.  Eventually the Chetniks, of Serb origin, proved 
themselves so ineffective that the Allies began to back the Communistic 
Partisans.
        Josip Broz, also known as Tito, was head of the Communist Party.  He 
was a Croat, and unlike the Serbian Chetniks, was able to unify the Yugoslav 
people.  They fought a vicious battle, and kept the Axis busy while the 
Allies attacked them on other fronts.  Eventually the Partisans linked up 
with the Soviets to the east, and the country was liberated.  The Federal 
Democratic People's Republic of Yugoslavia was born.
        The Yugoslav's own brand of socialism was markedly different from 
Soviet Communism, and Yugoslavia found itself sitting on the fence between 
the East and West.  But Tito led the country into the modern era and brought 
a long sought peace.  Internal grumblings heightened after Tito's death in 
1980.  The Serbians vied for more power within the government, remembering 
their past glories.

Collapse
        The Eastern bloc countries collapsed like dominoes after the 
dissolution of the Soviet Union.  Small ethnic regions began to form their 
own countries.  Yugoslavia was no different.
        Croatia succeeded from the Yugoslav state.  Soon after, in 1992, 
Bosnia and Hercegovinia succeeded as well.  This left what remained of 
Yugoslavia in the hands of the Serbs, who were not happy with the situation.
        During the socialist domination, the country had been at peace and 
people moved freely within the Yugoslavia's borders.  Many Serbs moved to 
other regions, but were now cut off from their homeland.  Serbia invaded 
Bosnia and Hercegovinia the day the succeeded in order to 'protect' their 
people.  The action was reminiscent of Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia 
to protect Germans living their.
        All sides involved saw the minorities living in their own lands as 
possible threats, so they began to round them up and neutralize them in 
various ways.  Concentration camps, castration, execution, and other means 
were used.
        The UN blockaded the warring countries, hoping to reduce the 
devastation.  But the Serbs had the old Yugoslav military machine still 
under their control, while regions like Croatia and Bosnia did not.  It was 
a slaughter.  The Serbians wiped out any non-Serbians they found.  UN forces 
came in to try to give relief to the besieged, but the Serbians even 
attacked them.
        Countless treaties have been signed by the warring parties.  Bosnia 
has capitulated time and time again.  But the Serbians, even after signing 
the peace treaties, continue to fight.  The main reason for this is the 
Serbians fighting in Bosnia are mainly natives of Bosnia, and do not 
(supposedly) take direct orders from the Serb state.  The Bosnia Serbs want 
to control the entire area and are not interested in peace.  Evidently 
Serbia is not interested in peace either, for they supply their allies in 
Bosnia.
        The world leaders, aside from the few successful humanitarian 
missions, have done their best to ignore the situation and continue the 
blockade.  They keep a trickle of supplies going to besieged cities like 
Sarajevo, just enough to keep the Bosnians alive.  But as for hope, they 
have none.
        There are many reasons that the United States, England, France, and 
others want to have little to do with the war.  Vietnam still lingers over 
everyone's heads. as does other failed missions to stop conflict.  Everyone 
agrees that to send combat troops would be suicide, and probably would not 
solve anything at all.
        Another problem is divided interests.  The Western media has 
sympathized with the losers.  The Bosnians and Croats are the ones who are 
being exterminated en masse.  There is a great deal about them to sympathize 
with, especially when the Serbs show no signs of wanting to end the war.  
However, the Serbs are ethnically linked with the Russians.  Few want to 
give any excuse to the Russians for going off half cocked and supporting the 
Serbians with more than words.
        Perhaps the only people who are willing to do anything are the 
Muslim nations, who see the West's total indifference to the plight of the 
Muslim Bosnian's as a slap in the face.  They have been vehement about 
sending money and arms through secret channels to their Islamic brothers and 
sisters.
        Recently the American's voted to lift the arms embargo, but the 
other countries involved may not agree.  The other countries have peace 
keeping troops their, and the last thing they want to happen is have their 
troops in the middle of an even bigger war.  The US has draw up plans to 
remove the UN troops using American troops, but this would put American 
lives on the line - a politically suicidal position.
        The situation is a mess.  Without a lifting of the arms embargo, 
Serbia will win the war and perhaps commit tremendous atrocities.  Even if 
they do not, the Serbs may cast their eyes to other pursuits - such as 
attacking Greece.  But if the Bosnians and Croatians receive heavy weapons, 
the war will escalate.
        What the Western powers DO NOT want is for the hostilities to 
spread.  World War I started in the Balkans.  Given a bit of tender, ethnic 
rivalries and nationalistic pressures could throw Europe into chaos again.  
The hope is that the conflict in Yugoslavia will fade away.  But it will 
not.  And if the powers do not choose the right course of action, their 
worst nightmares may be realized.

