Eastern Europe: Lessons to Learn

1. Eastern Europe: Lessons to Learn

2. Nationalism in the Balkans • The Balkan peninsula is a mountainous region whose difficult terrain has created isolated ethnic groups, and discouraged cultural unity. • At the turn of the 20th century, European competition between Austria-Hungary and Russia focused on the Balkan peninsula.

3. Nationalism in the Balkans • Before 1900, much of the Balkans was ruled by the Ottoman Empire. • Muslim rule was resented by the Slavic, Christian people of the Balkans, and both Austria and Russia planned to take the Balkan territories from the Turks.

4. Nationalism in the Balkans • An intense rivalry between Austria and Russia began. • Austria had taken Slovenia and Croatia by 1800’s, and in 1878 they occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina • Many Balkan ethnicities desired to become independent. • In time, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania became independent nations. • History was violent. Two Balkan wars were fought by these countries in 1912 and 1913, and boundary disputes kept tensions high amongst them all. • 1908: Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina from the Ottoman Empire.

5. Nationalism in the Balkans • Serbia, Austria’s tiny neighbor to the east resented Austrian control of Bosnia, and desired to blend the Slavic Bosnians with its own nation. • On June 28, 1914, the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, was in Sarajevo (the Bosnian capital). • A secret Serbian nationalistic society (Black Hand) planned to assassinate the Archduke and hired seven young Serbs to carry out the plot. • Enter WWI

6. Nationalism in the Balkans • After WWI, the Treaty of Versailles and treaties similar were signed with other Central Powers • Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia lost territory • Many countries experienced a change in their borders, and new countries were created

7. The Former Yugoslavia • A result of the Treaty of Versailles • Following WWI, the provinces of: Croatia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slovenia, Voyvodina, Montenegro, (an independent state) and Serbia (established as a separate kingdom in 1878) joined together to form Yugoslavia. • Many ethnic groups: Serbs, Montenegrins, Bosnians, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians

9. The Former Yugoslavia • The end of the Cold War meant the end of Yugoslavia as it was known. Croatia and Slovenia declared independence in June 1991; Macedonia did the same months later. • 1992: Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence

10. The Former Yugoslavia • Following the breakup of the republics, Serbia and Montenegro joined together to declare a new republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. • Kosovo, a province of Serbia with an Albanian majority, declared its independence, which Serbia has refused to recognize.

11. DIFFERENCES: Language and Religion Ethnic Albanians Serbs • Albanians speak an Indo-European language as old as Latin and as different in vocabulary and grammar from Serbian as Italian is from Russian. • Serbs speak a Slavic language that resembles Bulgarian and Russian. Ethnic Albanians Serbs • Most ethnic Albanians are Muslims, descendants of Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians who converted to Islam during 500 years of Ottoman Turkish rule. • Serbs are staunchly Orthodox Christian, following traditions similar to the Russians, Greeks and Bulgarians.

12. Differences: History and People Ethnic Albanians Serbs • The mostly-Muslim ethnic Albanians believe they are descendants of the Illyrians, the Balkan tribe which inhabited the region in ancient times. • Serbs regard Kosovo as the cradle of civilization. Once the seat of the Serb Orthodox church, the province still has Orthodox monasteries. The 1389 defeat of the Serb army by the Turks is a part of Serb history. Serbs regained Kosovo during First Balkan War (1912) when Serbia and others defeated the Ottoman Turks. Ethnic Albanians Serbs • Before World War II, the Serbs made up about half of Kosovo's population. • High birth rate among ethnic Albanians and a steady Serb exodus from rural province to urban areas of Serbia caused a decline in the Serb population. • Ethnic Albanians accounted for an estimated 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people.

13. The Yugoslav Wars • 1974: Yugoslav leader Josip Tito granted Kosovo autonomy and its own vote in the Yugoslav federal council, essentially allowing it to function as a republic in all but name. • 1980: Tito dies, and ethnic tensions grew in Yugoslavia • Constitutional crisis that followed resulted in a rise of nationalism in all republics: Slovenia and Croatia demanded loose ties within the Federation, Albanian majority in Kosovo demanded status of a republic, and Serbia sought absolute control over Yugoslavia

14. The Yugoslav Wars • In 1989, Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic became Yugoslav president, revoking Kosovo's autonomous status and instituting military rule: • Took land from the other republics • Called on Serbs that lived in other republics to vote to give Serbia more influence in the country • Used army to prevent non-Serbs from breaking away. • Sent troops against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo who wanted self-rule • Serbs went against Muslims • Enter the Yugoslav Wars

15. The Aftermath in Yugoslavia • 1990s: leadership of the Kosovo Albanian population pursued independence with a non-violent resistance. • 1995: War in western parts of former Yugoslavia ends with U.S.-sponsored peace talks • 1999: NATO bombarded Serbia and Montenegro for over two months, until an agreement was brokered between NATO and Milošević's government. First time violence ever used. • Kosovo declared independence in February 2008, but is not yet a member of the United Nations and is only recognized by 60 governments.

16. Bosnia and Herzegovina • The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was a consequence of the instability in former Yugoslavia, and the involvement of neighboring countries Croatia and Serbia (with Montenegro) raises the question: civil war or war of aggression? • One thing was certain, the Serbs were “to inflict the greatest possible suffering on civilians in order to force Bosnian authorities to accept the Serb demands.” • Serb (Christian) forces attacked Bosnian (Muslim) civilian populations in eastern Bosnia. Once towns and villages were secured, Serb forces (military, police, paramilitary, even Serb villagers) applied this pattern: Houses/apartments systematically ransacked or burnt down, civilians rounded up or captured, and sometimes beaten or killed in the process. Men and women were separated, with many of the men detained in camps.

17. The Toll in Bosnia • Number of deaths: as low as 100,000 and as high as 250,000 • Refugees: Close to 1 million refugees fled throughout Europe and the United States (Idaho is 19th in refugees) • The massacre in Srebrenica is widely considered a major fiasco in UN peacekeeping efforts: “In 1995, Ignorance, slow action, and errors in political calculations gave Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces the opportunity to slay over 7,000 Muslim men and boys after taking over the town designated by the UN Security Council as a "safe area.”” • Milošević was brought to trial for war crimes, but died before decisions were made. • Radovan Karadzic is currently on trial in the Hague for war crimes

18. Former Yugoslavia Serbian flag • Lessons learned? • National borders are not permanent • Rebellion/civil war results from neglecting people’s needs • And as Rezak Hukanovic explains in his book The Tenth Circle of Hell: “The great powers kept their distance. They did not understand that it is not about armed might but a capacity and will to act in the name of ethical principles without which a society cannot be civilized. Charged with the protection of the weak, the U.N. demonstrates its own weakness, its lack of initiative, as soon as it is called upon to oppose aggressors of any kind.” Croatian flag Bosnian flag Slovenian flag Macedonian flag