Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in all south Slavic languages, in Cyrillic ???????????) is a term used for three separate but successive political entities that existed during most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. Translated, the name means Land of the South Slavs (jug in the word Jugoslavija means south).

The Second Yugoslavia

Main article: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

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On January 31, 1946 the new constitution of Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, modeling the Soviet Union, established six constituent republics and two autonomous province:

Related Topics:
January 31 - 1946 - Constitution - Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia - Soviet Union

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• Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• Croatia,
• Macedonia,
• Montenegro,
• Serbia and
• Slovenia (republics);
• Vojvodina and
• Kosovo (autonomous provinces).

Vojvodina and Kosovo are part of the Republic of Serbia. The country distanced itself from the Soviets in 1948 (cf. Cominform and Informbiro) and started to build its own way to socialism under strong political leadership of Josip Broz Tito. The country criticized both Eastern and Western bloc nations and, together with other countries, started the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, which remained the official affiliation of the country until it dissolved.

Related Topics:
Vojvodina - Kosovo - Serbia - 1948 - Cominform - Informbiro - Socialism - Josip Broz Tito - Eastern - Western bloc - Non-Aligned Movement - 1961

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On April 7, 1963 the nation changed its official name to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Tito was named President for life.

Related Topics:
April 7 - 1963 - Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Tito - President for life

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In SFRY, each republic and province had its own constitution, supreme court, parliament, president and prime minister. At the top of the Yugoslav government was a collective Presidency, the federal Prime Minister, and the federal Parliament.

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An important role was one of the president of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for each republic and province, and the president of presidency of Central Committee of the Communist Party.

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Josip Broz Tito was the most powerful person in the country, and after him there were republic and province premiers and presidents, plus Communist Party presidents. People whom he did not favor varied greatly. Slobodan Penezi? Kr?un served under Tito and then after he started to complain about Tito's politics, he was found dead under unknown circumstances. Aleksandar Rankovi? lost all of his titles and rights after a major disagreement with Tito regarding state politics. Sometimes ministers in government were more important than the premier, such as in the case of Edvard Kardelj or Stane Dolanc.

Related Topics:
Edvard Kardelj - Stane Dolanc

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The suppression of national identities escalated with the so-called Croatian Spring of 1970-71, when students in Zagreb organized demonstrations for greater civil liberties and greater Croatian autonomy. The regime stifled the public protest and incarcerated the leaders, but many key Croatian representatives in the Party silently supported this cause, so a new Constitution was ratified in 1974 that gave more rights to the individual republics and provinces. According to this constitution, individual republics had a right for self-determination, up to secession, which made later break-up easier.

Related Topics:
Croatian Spring - Constitution - 1974

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Breakup

After Tito's death in 1980, ethnic tensions grew in Yugoslavia. Some members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts drafted a memorandum in the 1980s that opposed the policy of the federation and promoted Serbian nationalism. The ethnic Albanian miners in Kosovo organized strikes which dovetailed into ethnic conflict between the Albanian majority and the Serbian minority in the province.

Related Topics:
1980 - Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts - Ethnic Albanian - Kosovo

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Serbian communist leader Slobodan Milo?evi?, the new strong man of Yugoslavia, tried to play on the revived Serb nationalism, but ended up alienating all the other ethnic groups in the federation. Autonomy of Vojvodina and of Kosovo and Metohija was reduced, though both entities retained a vote in the Yugoslav Presidency Council.

Related Topics:
Communist - Slobodan Milo?evi? - Vojvodina - Kosovo and Metohija

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In January 1990, the extraordinary 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia was convened. The Serbian delegation, led by Milo?evi?, insisted on the reversal of 1974 Constitution policy that empowered the republics and rather wanted to introduce a policy of "one person, one vote", which would empower the majority population, the Serbs. This caused the Slovenian and Croatian delegations (led by Milan Ku?an and Ivica Ra?an, respectively), who instead favored more economic liberalization (such as perestroika), to leave the Congress in protest.

Related Topics:
1990 - League of Communists of Yugoslavia - Milan Ku?an - Ivica Ra?an - Perestroika

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Following the "fall of Communism" in the rest of Eastern Europe, each of the republics elected a new government democratically, but the unresolved issues remained. In particular, Slovenia and Croatia elected governments oriented towards independence (under Milan Ku?an and Franjo Tu?man, respectively), while Serbia and Montenegro elected candidates who favoured Yugoslav unity.

Related Topics:
Fall of Communism - Eastern Europe - Milan Ku?an - Franjo Tu?man

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In March 1990, the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija, JNA) met with the Presidency of Yugoslavia (an eight member council composed of representatives from six republics and two autonomous provinces) in an attempt to get them to declare a state of emergency which would allow for the army to take control of the country. The representatives of Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo-Metohija, and Vojvodina voted for the decision, while Croatia (Stipe Mesi?), Slovenia (Janez Drnov?ek), Macedonia (Vasil Tupurkovski) and Bosnia (Bogi? Bogi?evi?) voted against. The tie delayed an escalation of conflicts, but not for long.

Related Topics:
1990 - Yugoslav People's Army - State of emergency - Stipe Mesi? - Janez Drnov?ek - Vasil Tupurkovski - Bogi? Bogi?evi?

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Following the first multi-party election results, the republics of Slovenia and Croatia proposed transforming Yugoslavia into a loose confederation of six republics in the Autumn of 1990, however Milo?evi? rejected all such proposals, arguing that all Serbs should live in the same country.

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On March 9, 1991 demonstrations were held against Slobodan Milo?evi? in Belgrade, but the police and the military were deployed in the streets in order to restore order, killing two people. In late March, 1991, the so-called Plitvice Bloody Easter incident was one of the first sparks of open war in Croatia. The Yugoslav People's Army maintained an impression of being neutral, but as time went on, it was becoming more and more involved in state politics.

Related Topics:
March 9 - 1991 - Belgrade - Plitvice Bloody Easter - Yugoslav People's Army

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In late June, 1991, Slovenia and Croatia became the first republics to declare independence from Yugoslavia, but the international community pressured them to place a three-month moratorium on the decision in the Brioni Agreement, agreed upon by representatives of all republics.

Related Topics:
Moratorium - Brioni Agreement

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Secession of the newly-formed states marked the beginning of the bloody Yugoslav wars. These began with a short war in Slovenia and continued with a war in Croatia in 1991. In September 1991, the Republic of Macedonia also declared independence, but no war erupted there, and NATO observers were placed at its northern border.

Related Topics:
Yugoslav wars - 1991

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As a result of the conflict, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted UN Security Council Resolution 721 on November 27, 1991, which paved the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia. http://www.nato.int/ifor/un/u911127a.htm

Related Topics:
United Nations Security Council - UN Security Council Resolution 721 - November 27 - Peacekeeping

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Bosnia and Herzegovina held a referendum on independence in early 1992; this vote was boycotted by the sizeable Serb population there (35% of Bosnian population), which advocated continued union with Yugoslavia. Heavy pro-independence sentiment among Bosnians Muslims and Croats resulted in a Yes vote in the referendum. While everyone advocated that any decision had to be made with the consent of all the three nations, the referendum was declared valid, the opinion of the Serbs was ignored, and the republic's government declared its independence. The Serbs immediately declared the independence of Republika Srpska, and the war in Bosnia followed shortly thereafter.

Related Topics:
1992 - Republika Srpska

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The so-called Badinter Commission formed by the European Community declared in early 1992 that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had "dissolved".

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Various dates are considered as the end of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia:

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• June 25, 1991, when Croatia and Slovenia declared independence
• October 9, 1991, when the July 9th moratorium on Slovenian and Croatian secession was ended
• January 15, 1992, when Slovenia and Croatia were internationally recognized
• April 28, 1992, the formation of FRY (see below)