Balkans The Powder Keg of Europe

Ed SchreiberDenver, Coloradohttp://ed.schreiber.org

ed@schreiber.org

Southern Europe

Geography of former Yugoslavia

Ethnic majorities of former Yugoslavia

Pre-War Yugoslavia Nationalities

Yugoslavia before and after 1990s wars

Republics of Yugoslavia

Balkans timeline – Neanderthals to Ottomans

80,000 BCE Neanderthals5,000 BCE Illyrians300 BCE Romans

400-700 Slavs penetrate the Balkans from the north and eventually split into different tribes, which are reflected today in the different languages of the region,

including: Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Macedonian, and Bulgarian. Three independent states arise out of the fall of Rome: Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria.

550 Avar invasion. 950 Croatian kingdom

1200s A Serbian kingdom and a separate Serbian orthodox church is formed.1200s Mongol Invasion.

1331 Under the reign of Stephen Dusan, Serbia emerges as a strong state.1355 Dusan dies and the Serbian state falls apart.

1389 Turks defeat Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo.1459 Serbia incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.

1817 Serbs win autonomy under the rule of Prince Milos Obrenovic.1913 Ottoman territory is ceded to Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria.

Balkans timeline – World Wars and Tito

1914 Serb nationalist assassinates Archduke of Austria in Sarajevo, precipitating World War I.

1918 Following the fall of the Habsburg dynasty after World War I, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro form the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes with

Peter I of Serbia as monarch 1929 After years of dispute, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes is abolished. King Alexander establishes a royal dictatorship and and creates the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which is composed of nine districts. However, hostility

between Serbs and non-Serbs grows steadily.1934 Serbian King Alexander assassinated by Croatian terrorists.

1941 Yugoslavia agrees to an alliance with Hitler, but Hitler invades the country, followed by Italian, Bulgarian, and Hungarian forces. Croatia and Bosnia are placed

under fascist Croatian rule, which organizes a campaign of forced conversion or annihilation of the Serbian Orthodox.

1945 Marshall Tito, who organized partisan resistance against Germany, takes control of the country after the war and establishes a united communist Yugoslavia

under six republics: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia.

1948 Yugoslavia and Russia part ways over economic and political differences and Tito helps establish a group of non-aligned nations with India and Egypt.

1980 Tito dies.

Balkans timeline – The Breakup

1987 Slobodan Milosevic wins control of the Serbian Communist Party.1991 The Socialist Federated Republic of Yugoslavia breaks up as Slovenia and

Croatia declare their independence. Fighting breaks out between Serbs and Croats in Croatia. The Serbs want to reunite with Yugoslavia.

1991 A few weeks later, Yugoslavia agrees to grant Slovenia its independence.1992 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is established. It consists of two republics:

Serbia and Montenegro. Inside Serbia is a special region, Kosovo.1992 Bosnia-Herzegovina declares its independence. Fighting begins in Bosnia

between Croats and resident Serbs, who are supported by the Yugoslavian government.

1994 Muslims and Croats in Bosnia form a federation, which unites them against the Serbs.

1996 Dayton accord ends fighting in Bosnia. Bosnia-Herzegovina is divided into two entities: Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat federation

1997 Expulsion of Albanians from Kosovo begins1999 NATO bombings of Serbia, return of Albanians to Kosovo

2003 Fall of Slobodan Milosevic2006 Death of Slobodan Milosevic, Montenegro declares independence

2008 Kosovo declares independence

Balkans The Powder Keg of Europe

Ed SchreiberDenver, Coloradohttp://ed.schreiber.org

ed@schreiber.org