Ch 14

Today’s Issues

Europe

Roots of the Balkan Conflict

• One conflict in the Balkans is that different groups want to control the same area.

• 500’s Slavic people migrated from Poland and Russia and settled in the Balkan Peninsula.

• South Slavs- Croats, the Slovenes, and the Serbs all formed their own kingdoms.

Foreign Rulers

• 1300’s Muslim Ottoman Empire tried to conquer the Balkan Peninsula.

• 1389 Ottomans defeat Serbian Empire

• Ottomans also ruled Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Yugoslavia is Formed

• 1878 Serbia broke free of the Ottoman Empire.

• 1918 the Kingdoms of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed.

• 1929 the king renamed the country Yugoslavia.

Communist Rule

• During WWII, Germany and Italy invaded Yugoslavia.

• Croat leaders ordered the massacre of the Jews and Serbs.

• Josip Broz Tito was head of Communist Party.

• After the war he became dictator of Yugoslavia

Fears of Serbia

• Slobodan Milosevic proposed the creation of a Greater Serbia.

• The plan alarmed Croat and Bosnians.

• 1991 Serbia blocked a Croat from becoming president.

• June 1991 Slovenia and Croatia declared independence.

War in Bosnia

• March 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence.

• Bosnia’s Muslim and Croats back the move, but the Serbs launched a war to stop it.

• Ethnic Cleansing- policy of trying to eliminate an ethnic group through violence.

• 200,000 people died

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82AAh0SUUno

War in Kosovo

• 1990 Kosovo was inhabited mostly by Albanians.

• Milosevic tried to wipe out Albanian culture.

• KLA- Kosovo Liberation Army began to carry out attacks against Serbian Officials.

• 1999 NATO started bombing Serbia to force it to stop the violence.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulPsNrMMZ3E

Uncertain Future

• 2000 Yugoslavia elected Vojislav Kostunica as president.

• Ethnic Loyalties still create tension.

Cleaning Up Europe

• 2000 a gold mine in Romania released cyanide in local streams.

• Cyanide- deadly poison.• Before the incident the rivers held some of

Europe's rarest fish. • The poison killed 80% of fish in the rivers.•

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Web3UQbJ7Jc

Causes of Water Pollution

• Mines and Factories create much of Europe's water pollution.

• Acid Rain changes the chemistry of lakes and rivers often killing fish.

• Most countries want to develop industry, and some accept environmental damage as the price they must pay for progress.

Causes of Water Pollution

• Sewage- cities should have treatment plants that remove harmful substances from sewage before it is released into bodies of water. 1988-1990 44 % of the cities had no sewage plants.

• Chemical Fertilizers- rain washes fertilizers from fields into bodies of water, where they cause algae and plants to grow faster then fish can eat them.

Causes of Water Pollution

• Oil Spills-in December 1999, a tanker sank of the west coast of France and spilled 10,000 tons of oils that spread along 250 miles of coastline.

Cleaning Up The Water

• Pollution levels in the Rhine river rose sharply in the mid 1900’s.

• France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland formed the International Commission of the Protection of the Rhine.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAttP0fY3Vo

Causes of Air Pollution

• Air pollution is made up of harmful gases and particulates, very small particles of liquid or solid matter.

• Using Fossil Fuels- burning of petroleum, gas, and coal causes much air pollution.

• Smog- brown haze that occurs when gases released by burning fossil fuels react with sunlight to create harmful chemicals.

Causes of Air Pollution

• Fires- Forest fires caused by carless human behavior and the burning of garbage release smoke particulates into the atmosphere.

• Chemical Use- Dry cleaning, refrigeration, air conditioning, and the spraying of pesticides are among the human activities that release harmful chemicals into the air.

Causes of Air Pollution

• Industry- Factories discharge chemicals such as sulfur into the air.

• Factories of the former Communist countries have been especially heavy polluters.