the balkans eastern and central europe in film and print
TRANSCRIPT
The Balkans
Eastern and Central Europe in Film and Print
Origins of Slavic People
500 - 1000 A.D.
1000- 1300 A.D.
Ottoman Empire 1566-1700
1700 - 1800
1812
Religious Majorities 1900
The First Balkan War: 1912• Russia & Austrian-Hungarian Empire two
great powers
• Balkan League formed to drive Turks out – Bulgaria– Serbia– Montenegro– Greece
• Threatened war with A-H if status quo upset
• Albania declared independence
• A-H and Turks feared Russia port on Adriatic (threat to both empires)
The Second Balkan War: 1913• Serbs turned against Bulgarians
• Occupied Kosovo and Macedonia
• Regarded Kosovo as cradle of their civilization
• Serbs wanted to expand and create a Greater Serbia
• Threatened status quo and neighboring empires
• A-H wanted to create alliance of Southern Slavic states against Russia
KOSOVOKOSOVO
World War I• 1914: Franz Ferdinand (heir to King)
shot in Sarajevo by Serb nationalist
• Wanted to unify Southern Slavs in Bosnia and Kosovo as bulwark against Serb expansion
• Ignites WWI
• A-H defeated
• Kingdom of Southern Slavs (Yugoslavia) uniting Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Slovenia
• Serbs dominate; Croats prefer independence
World War II• WWII: Croatian Ustashi Fascists welcome
Hitler, become independent state (inc. Bosnia)
• Serbs, Jews, Gypsies , and anti-Fascist Croats killed in concentration camps
• Balkans controlled by Axis powers
– Germany controls Serbia
– Italy controls Montenegro
– Albanians occupy Kosovo
– Bulgaria occupies Macedonia
1941-45 W.W. II
After World War II
• Tito (communist) and Mikailovic (Serb nationalist) emerge as political rivals
• Tito creates communist federation of six republics:
– Croatia
– Montenegro
– Serbia (including Kosovo and Vojvodina)
– Bosnia-Herzegovina
– Macedonia
– Slovenia
Soviet Union & Satellites - 1970
Collapse of Soviet Union: 1989- 91
The Balkans: 1991-1992• 1992: Federation falls apart
• Nationalism replaces communism as force
• Slovenia and Croatia break away after conflict with Serbia
• Tudman’s HDZ party stirs Croatian nationalism
• Rural Serbs in Croatia resist Croat nationalization (remember WWII Ustashi)
• Milosovic’s Chetnik agitators stir up Serbs in Slovenia
• Fighting breaks out in Croatia and Slovenia
• UN cease fire; Serbs get 1/3 Croatia
• Croats “ethnicially cleansed” from region
The Balkans: 1991-1992
• Conflicts between:
– Bosnian Muslims & Serbs
• Belgrade backs Bosnian Serbs who want to remain part of Yugoslavia and create a greater Serbia
• Muslims driven from homes (ethnic cleansing)
• 1993: Bosnian Muslim gov’t besieiged
• Bosnian Muslims fight separate war withBosnian Croats who want to be part of Croatia
The Balkans: Dayton Agreement (1995)
• Two entities in Bosnia:
– Bosnian Serb Republic
– Muslim-Croat Federation
• Croats reclaim territory captured by Serbs
• 200,000 Serbs leave Croatia
The Balkans: 1998
• 1998: Kosovo Liberation Army and majority ethnic Albanians rebel against Serbian rule
• International community opposes independence
• NATO launches air strike against Serbs (1st ever attack on sovereign European country)
• Thousands of Kosovo Albanian Muslim refugees flee Serb atrocities
• Atrocities reported on both sides
The Balkans: 1991-1998COUNTRYMinority
CROATIA
Serbs (rural; remember CroatUstashi in WWII)
SLOVENIA
Serbs
PARTY/ARMY
Democratic Croatian Union (HDZ)
Serbian-backed Chetnick agitators
Slovenian Territorial Defense (TD)
JNA
KEY EVENTS& OUTCOME
Serbs get 1/3
Croats “cleansed”
Serbs defeated in ‘95
Serbs “cleansed”
Croatian recognized as independent
TD defeats JNA in 10- day war
Declares independence
The Balkans: 1991-1998COUNTRYMinorities
BOSNIA
Muslims (president)
Croats
PARTY/ARMY
Serbian SDS (blue & white) + JNA
Muslim SDA (green crescents)
Croat HDZ (red-checkered shield)
KEY EVENTS& OUTCOME
SDS-SDA alliance
SDA purges Serbs
JNA builds defenses in Sarajevo
SDA-HDZ win EC vote recognizing Bosnia
War breaks out
JNA + Chetnicks vs BiH Muslims
Non-Serbs “cleansed”
The Balkans: 1991-1998COUNTRYMinorities
BOSNIA
Muslims (president)
Croats
PARTY/ARMY
Serbian SDS (blue & white) + JNA
Muslim SDA (green crescents)
Croat HDZ (red-checkered shield)
KEY EVENTS& OUTCOME
Muslims + Croats fight each other
1995: Croats defeat Serbs
US/NATO launch raids on Serbs
UN peacekeepers deployed
3.5 million Croats and Muslims displaced
The Balkans: 1991-1998COUNTRYMajority
KOSOVO
Muslim Albanians(2/3 population)
PARTY/ARMY
Serbian JNA
KLA
KEY EVENTS& OUTCOME
1960s: Albanians repressed Serbs
57,000 Serbs flee
Serb gov’t “harasses” Albanians
KLA formed
“Cleansing” and refugees
NATO bombing
“Autonomy”
Criticisms of US, UN & European Policies
• Failed to intervene in Croatia
• US against Croatian and Slovenia independence
• Gave Serbs invitation to intervene militarily to prevent the independence of these republics and to seize territory for “Greater Serbia”
• Failed to support democratic movements
• Serbs: We helped Kosovo, but didn’t help minority Serbs in Croatia
• UN failed to heed warnings of rape/atrocities
• NATO bombings killed many innocent people