Yugoslavia
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== Occupation and resistance == | == Occupation and resistance == | ||
| − | During [[World War II]], after Yugoslavia was conquered by the [[Nazi]]s, the [[Communism|Communist]] guerilla movement led by half-[[Slovenia|Slovenian]] half-[[Croatia]]n Josip Broz Tito came to power in the parts where the Nazis had been driven | + | During [[World War II]], after Yugoslavia was conquered by the [[Nazi]]s, the [[Communism|Communist]] guerilla movement led by half-[[Slovenia|Slovenian]] half-[[Croatia]]n Josip Broz Tito came to power in the parts where the Nazis had been driven out. This left Tito in position to rule the country as a Communist after the war ended. Because Tito's forces had mostly pushed the Nazis out on their own, with only minimal [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] aid, Tito and Yugoslavia enjoyed greater autonomy within the Communist bloc. In the end, Tito broke with Stalin and Yugoslavia became a neutral Communist country. (Throughout the 1950s, "Titoism" was considered the greatest Communist ideological sin.) |
== Dissolution == | == Dissolution == | ||
Revision as of 14:09, 3 January 2012
Yugoslavia was name of three post-World War I Balkan multinational states. All Yugoslavias fell victim to ethnic nationalism.
Country of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The Country of Slovenians, Croats and Serbs (known as SHS) was created after the First World War I, out of the remnants of the Balkan parts of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.
Occupation and resistance
During World War II, after Yugoslavia was conquered by the Nazis, the Communist guerilla movement led by half-Slovenian half-Croatian Josip Broz Tito came to power in the parts where the Nazis had been driven out. This left Tito in position to rule the country as a Communist after the war ended. Because Tito's forces had mostly pushed the Nazis out on their own, with only minimal Soviet aid, Tito and Yugoslavia enjoyed greater autonomy within the Communist bloc. In the end, Tito broke with Stalin and Yugoslavia became a neutral Communist country. (Throughout the 1950s, "Titoism" was considered the greatest Communist ideological sin.)
Dissolution
Tito managed to keep the ethnic tensions under control and instead foster a greater "Yugoslav" identity. Experts are divided on how well he managed this; however, until the 1990's there did seem to be a strong sense of "Yugoslav" identity.
However, in the early 1990s, opposition leaders trying to make a name for themselves played up the possibilities of ethnic and religious tension within the multi-national state, and in both Croatia and Serbia nationalists with dreams of ethnic cleansing came to power. This led to the civil wars of that period, and the breakup of the country. Slovenia, high up in the Alps with lots of money, fled first, followed by the departure of Macedonia (to this day still involved in an intense diplomatic dispute with Greece over its name, which Greece claims sole right to) and intense fighting between Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia marked with sectarian-driven mass murder (the term "ethnic cleansing" was coined here), the genocide of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica and elsewhere (this had been going on for hundreds of years, and in WWII Bosnian Muslims killed off a similar number of Serbs while being sponsored by Germans, who wished to break the Serb-led partisan movement.), as well as massive military administration from the Clinton administration and allied countries such as Italy. An internal civil war within the remaining portion of Yugoslavia (changed to Serbia and Montenegro) led to the collapse of Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic's administration after attempting to negate an unfavorable democratic election. Serbia and Montenegro parted ways in 2006, while Serbia's Albanian-majority province Kosovo, a primary target of ethnic hatred in the civil war, declared independence in 2008 amid protests from Serbia itself as well as other countries with native separatist movements such as Russia and Spain.
Thus dismembered beyond completely, Yugoslavia stands as a reminder of the strength of nationalism, both to create and to destroy, to bring people together and to drive them apart.