The most important factor contributing to ethnic disharmony in Yugoslavia is the civil war and genocide initiated by the independent state of Croatia during World War II during the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The idea of a big Serbia; And pan-Slavism in the Balkans.
Before World War II, the main tension was due to the diverse ethnic groups in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the rule of Serbs who had a dominant population. The tension in the relationship stems from the fact that the two sides have completely different ideas about the new country. Croats want to establish a federal state, and they will gain more autonomy than during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Croats only enjoyed autonomy in education, law, religion and 45% taxes. Serbs tend to think that the new country was rewarded by Serbia's allies for its contribution in World War I, and it was only the territorial expansion of the Serbian kingdom.
The tension between the two ethnic groups often leads to open conflicts. During the elections, the national security agencies, mainly Serbs, intervened and assassinated Croatian political leaders in the Federal Parliament, such as Stepan Radic, who opposed the autocracy of Serbian monarchs. It also assassinated people who advocated the protection of human rights and played down the dissent of intellectuals, including Albert Einstein. In this high-pressure environment, the radical opposition organization U Stasa was founded.
during world war ii, the axis countries invaded yugoslavia and established a puppet state called the independent state of Croatia. The territory of the independent state of Croatia includes today's Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Axis countries also appointed people from Stasa as the leaders of the independent state of Croatia.
Stasa believes that the Serbian minority is the fifth column of Serbia's expansion policy, and has implemented a policy of persecuting Serbs. In Stasa's plan, one third of Serbs will be killed, one third will be expelled, and the remaining one third will be forced to believe in Catholicism and assimilate with Croats. At the same time, Milan Nedi, a Serb, was appointed as the leader of the Serbian puppet country by the Axis countries, and he recruited Serbs to join the Gestapo and Serbian Volunteer Team. * * * The production organization organized anti-fascist guerrillas, and finally defeated fascism and established the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Yugoslav officials estimated that 1,74, people died in World War II. In the 198s, historian Vladimir? erjavi? With Bogoljub Ko? ovi? It is believed that the actual number of victims is about 1 million, of which 33,-39, Serbs died in Croatia and Bosnia.
In the new Yugoslavia, there is still opposition between decentralization and centralization, mainly Croats and Slovenes demand more autonomy, while Serbs are mostly centralization. And there have been demonstrations demanding more autonomy (such as the Croatian Spring), but they have been suppressed. The 1974 Constitution is an attempt to maintain the federal structure and affirm the national power. Yugoslavia was once a regional economic power and achieved economic success. From 196 to 198, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Yugoslavia increased at an average annual rate of 6.1%. The medical system in Yugoslavia is free, the literacy rate is 91%, and the life expectancy is 72 years. However, after ten years of aid from western economies to Yugoslavia and five years of disintegration, war, boycott and embargo, Yugoslavia's economy collapsed.
Yugoslavia is a unique country, in which a balance is maintained between countries in the eastern camp and those in the western camp. Yugoslav President josip broz tito was one of the founders of the Group of 77. More importantly, Yugoslavia played the role of buffer state between the western countries and the Soviet Union, which also made it impossible for the Soviet Union to have a stronghold in the Mediterranean.
However, after Tito's death, mikhail gorbachev came to power, and the Soviet Union implemented the policy of economic reform and opening up. Western countries thought that the Soviet Union was safe enough and Yugoslavia no longer had an important strategic position. Although Yugoslavia has maintained a non-aligned policy and has trade relations with Europe and the United States, the Reagan administration once made a confidential report on Yugoslavia's economic situation. In 1984, the national security decision-making guidelines included a section on "American policy toward Yugoslavia" (NSDD 133), and in 199, the declassified version (NSDD 54) recorded the American policy toward Eastern Europe since 1982. It is recorded that "efforts are made to expand and promote peaceful evolution" to overthrow the * * * production party and the * * * production party regime in Eastern Europe and return Eastern Europe to the market economy.
The oil crisis in p>1973 and trade barriers with western countries seriously hindered the rapid economic growth of Yugoslavia. In order to solve these problems, Yugoslavia joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and obtained loans from it. Yugoslavia has thus owed a large amount of debts to the IMF. As a condition for obtaining loans, the IMF requires Yugoslavia to liberalize its market. By 1981, Yugoslavia had a foreign debt of $1.99 billion. In addition, there were 1 million unemployed people in Yugoslavia in 198. The domestic economic development level of Yugoslavia is very different, and a large part of the financial revenue of the more developed areas in the north is used to subsidize the less developed areas in the south. The economic crisis in Yugoslavia has aggravated this problem and caused dissatisfaction among Slovenians and Croats. Between 1979 and 1985, the real income level of the Yugoslavs dropped by 25%. In 1988, the remittances sent by Yugoslav nationals from overseas to Yugoslavia reached 45 million US dollars, and in 1989, this figure reached 62 million US dollars, accounting for more than 19% of the world total at that time. Institutional problems
The federal system makes the relationship between countries increasingly tense, and the * * * production party hopes to begin to weaken the control of the federal system by supporting national self-determination. After the constitution was enacted in 1974, the two autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina in Serbia gained a lot of autonomy. This aroused the fear of Serbia, and also had an impact on Serbian nationalism. Most Serbs regard Kosovo as the "cradle of the nation" and cannot accept the loss of Kosovo. The federal subsidies to underdeveloped areas have also caused dissatisfaction among the more developed Slovenia and Croatia. After Tito's death, Yugoslavia implemented the collective leadership system of the presidium, and the national leaders were held by the presidents of various countries in turn, which led to the emergence of a power vacuum.
In 1989, when Serbia commemorated the 6th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, Slobodan Milosevic gave a speech in front of 2, Serbs, in which he mentioned the great history of Serbia. Milosevic also believes that the federal system is incompetent and demands the construction of a centralized government. He also believes that Slovenia and Croatia are trying to seek independence, which is unacceptable. Slovenia declared its independence in 1991, and the Ten-Day War broke out, and Slovenia won. And Croatia also declared independence. Yugoslavia began to disintegrate.
Constitutional Debate and Nationalism
In 1974, Yugoslavia adopted a new constitution. According to the 1974 Constitution, Yugoslavia established a Federal Presidium, which consists of eight people from six Yugoslav republics and two autonomous provinces of Serbian socialist republics, namely, the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo and the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.
Since the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was founded in 1945, Serbia has included these two autonomous provinces. The 1974 Constitution greatly increased the power of the autonomous provinces, which gained almost the same autonomy as other countries, which weakened Serbia's influence on the autonomous provinces. In the Federal Presidency, the two autonomous provinces are not always in step with Serbia. This has aroused resentment in Serbia, and some nationalist intellectuals believe that Serbia is divided.
Tito's death
After the death of Yugoslav President josip broz tito on May 4, 198, the relations between various ethnic groups in Yugoslavia became increasingly tense. Western observers and many Yugoslavians believe that Tito's death weakened the cohesion of the country. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Science and Art (SANU) published a memorandum on Serbia's status in Yugoslavia, opposing the weakening of the power of the Serbian central government, which intensified nationalist sentiment.
In the socialist autonomous province of Kosovo in Serbia, the relationship between Serbs and Kosovo is becoming increasingly tense. In the 198s, the Albanians in Kosovo demanded the status of a republic, which would give Kosovo the same right to secede from the federation as other republics. For Serbs, if Kosovo becomes a federal republic from Serbia, it will cut off Serbia's historical, ethnic and cultural ties with Kosovo. If Kosovo leaves the Federation, this sense of loss will be even stronger. Slobodan Milosevic
In p>1987, Slobodan Milosevic, the leader of Serbian industrialism, was transferred to Kosovo in order to alleviate the protest movement of Serbs in Kosovo against the Albanian-led Kosovo provincial government. Milosevic was a staunch supporter of * * * productism, and once criticized all nationalism as an act of rebellion. Milosevic also criticized the memorandum of Serbia's status in Yugoslavia, which advocated that Yugoslavia was controlled by Croats and Serbs were suppressed, claiming that "this is nothing but propaganda of dark nationalism". However, Kosovo's autonomy is often hated in Serbia. In order to gain support from this situation, Milosevic gave up his previous neutral position on the Kosovo issue as a traditional producer. Milosevic promised Serbs that "the persecution of Serbs by Albanians should stop". Milosevic also criticized the conservative leaders of Serbia and Yugoslavia and demanded that the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina be reduced. These actions made Milosevic gain high support from Serbs, and Milosevic gained the position of Serbian leader. Milosevic and his supporters adopted an aggressive nationalist policy demanding to regain Serbia's lost strength within the framework of Yugoslavia, and promised to protect Serbia and Serbs. At the rally in 1988, Milosevic clearly expressed his views on the position of Serbia in Yugoslavia.
"No matter at home or abroad, the enemies of Serbia are uniting to challenge us. Let's tell them,' We're not afraid' and' We won't go to war'! -Slobodan Milosevic, November 19, 1988
On another occasion, Milosevic also made such a speech.
We Serbs will take all forms of actions to safeguard Serbia's interests, whether constitutional or unconstitutional, whether legal or illegal, whether obeying party rules or not. -Slobodan Milosevic
Anti-bureaucratic Revolution
A series of rebellions called "Anti-bureaucratic Revolution" took place in Serbia and Montenegro, and Milosevic took power in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro.
In response to these incidents, Albanian miners in Kosovo organized a strike and demanded the restoration of autonomy. This triggered a conflict between Albanians and Serbs throughout Kosovo. In the 198s, 77% of the population in Kosovo were Albanians, and Albanians were the majority in Kosovo. The decline in the proportion of Serbs in Kosovo lasted for a century, which was the result of ethnic cleansing carried out by Albanians during World War II. In 1999, Serbs accounted for only 1% of Kosovo's population. However, there are also controversies. For example, Misha Glenny, a historian, thinks in his book Balkan that Serbs left Kosovo not only because of persecution, but also for economic reasons. In addition, the birth rate of Albanians is higher than that of Serbs.
At the same time, the Socialist Republic of Croatia and the Socialist Republic of Slovenia supported the protests of Albanian miners. Slovenian state-run newspapers published articles comparing Milosevic with Italian fascist dictator benito mussolini. Milosevic thinks these criticisms are groundless and criticizes that "this is inciting the fear of Serbia". Serbia's state-run media, dominated by Milosevic, said it was inciting separatism between Slovenia and Kosovo as a response to Slovenia. The strike further escalated into a large-scale demonstration, demanding that Kosovo be upgraded to the seventh Republic. This angered the Serbian ruling authorities, who continued to use the police force to suppress the demonstrations. Later, the Serbian-controlled Presidium sent Yugoslav federal troops to suppress the demonstrations.
Serbia controls the Federal Presidium
In February p>1989, the representative of Kosovo, Albanian Asem Frasi, was dismissed and his position was replaced by Milosevic's supporters. Kosovo Albanians launched protests demanding the restoration of Frasi's status, and Frasi also supported these protests. In this regard, Milosevic's supporters believe that this is a reactionary revolution against Serbia and Yugoslavia, and a protest against the Albanian government by force. As Milosevic planned, Serbs who supported Milosevic held protests outside the Yugoslav parliament in Belgrade. The protest demanded that Yugoslavia enter Kosovo, protect Serbs and suppress Albanian protests. Milan kucan, the Slovenian representative of the Yugoslav Grand Council, opposed the Serbian demands and left Belgrade to openly support the Albanian protest movement demanding the restoration of Frasi's status. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) documentary "The Death of Yugoslavia" broadcast in 1995, in 1989, Milan Kucan was uneasy about the success of the "anti-bureaucratic revolution" initiated by Serbia and its two autonomous provinces, as well as Milosevic of Montenegro, and pointed out that if this trend could not be stopped in Kosovo, the small country ruled by Milan Kucan would become the next target of Milosevic's supporters. Serbian state-run television station criticized Milan Kucan as a separatist, traitor and supporter of Kosovo separatism.
In Belgrade, protests organized by Serbs demanding intervention in Kosovo continue. Milosevic, when discussing the Kosovo issue with Serbian representative Perthar Gulachani of the Federal Presidency, asked him not to stop the protest movement. Therefore, Milosevic successfully created the image that Milosevic, who called for the suppression of the Albanian movement in Kosovo, won a lot of support and also had the purpose of putting pressure on other presidium members. Borisay Jovic, Speaker of the Serbian Parliament and a strong ally of Milosevic, asked the Federal Government of Yugoslavia to comply with Serbia's demands during his talks with Raif Dizdarevic, Chairman of the Federal Presidency of Yugoslavia and representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the talks with Jovic, Dizdarevic pointed out that "you (Serbian politicians) organized demonstrations, and you