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• Ethnic/religious groups of Habsburg Empire
• Historical breakup of Yugoslavia ('91-'09)
• Muslim populations in European countries
• History of Christianization of Europe
• Soviet Union, Communist influence
• Map of European ethnic groups
• Map of Fascism in Europe (1922-75)
• History of Islamic conquest in Europe
• Religions & ethnic groups in Russia
• Detailed map of French colonization
• Detailed map of British colonization
• Napoleon's conquests & legacy
• Ethnic & religious map of pre-Nazi Poland

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Pecs, Hungary: collision point between
Muslim and Christian empires
• Auschwitz and Birkenau
• Poland's resistance to Nazis in pictures
• Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
• Stalin's private summer home
• Ravenna: capital of Gothic empire
• Czar Nicholas II's Ukrainian palace
• European traditional cultural costumes
• Inside the Vatican, house of all wealth
• Banknotes/currencies of Europe
• Croatia's Dubrovnik, untarnished gem

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Islamic Mujahidin vs. Christian Spain
• Poland-Lithuania vs. Teutonic Order
• Nevskiy's Russia vs. German Crusaders
• Prussia vs. France (Nazi Propaganda)
• Libya: Europe will soon be Islamic
• Ivan the Terrible vs. Muslim Tatars
• Soviet Propaganda: Defeat of Germany  

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• An analysis of Mussolini's 1938 racialist legislation
• The disastrous effects of Soviet collectivization on Kazakhstan
• Changing meaning of Italian identity under Fascist rule
• Yugoslavia's independent break from East and West
• The Galicians: the Celts of Spain
• The modern Macedonian Slavs and Alexander the Great
• An argument for the Romanians' links to ancient Dacians
• Mussolini's Italian death camp for Jews, Slovenes, and Marxists
• The disappeared Jews of Hungary and the Arrow Cross regime
• The Gypsies in history and today, Europe's public enemy
• History of Jihad in Chechnya vs. Russians
• History of the Muslim Tatars in Eastern Europe
• Post-WWII expulsion of 10 million ethnic German civilians
• Ethnic & religious history of Serbs, Croats, & Bosnians
• Breakaway states and independence movements in Europe
• The ancient Germanic Runic alphabet and Runestones
• Teutonic Order and their 800-year legacy in Eastern Europe
• 460-year struggle for Albanian homeland, and 540 for Kosovo
• 2,800-year-old white mummies of China, bringers of Buddhism?
• Alexander the Great's Greek descendents in Pakistan?
• Visual History of Yugoslavia and its breakup (1918-2008)

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

Visual History of Yugoslavia and its breakup in the Yugoslav Wars (1918-2008)
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)

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Below is a step-by-step visual walkthrough of the history of Yugoslavia from its roots as the post-WWI Kingdom of Yugoslavia, to the division of the Yugoslavs over support for Fascism or socialism, to the foundations of a dictatorial socialist power after World War II, until the total decay and collapse under the Serbian regime of Milosevic from 1991-1995, followed by the schism of Kosovo and Montenegro in 2008. It is accompanied with simplified and exclusive EHL maps to aid in understanding. For the exclusive ethnocultural and historical EHL guide to the evolving historical relations between the Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians from 1000-1995, and how this contributed to the formation of ethnically-based Yugoslavia, read this Library essay.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia, political division during World War II, & the People's Republic of Yugoslavia:

The Croats, Serbs, Slovenes, Bosnians, Montenegrins, and (with some debate) the Macedonians all descend from a common genetic and shared ethnic Slavic line that settled in the Balkans by the 8th century. Often passed between various European empires, a foundational genesis of Catholic Croatia, along wth Orthodox Serbia and Bosnia, was planted by the early 11th century. In the 15th century, the awesome jihad of the Ottoman Turks plunged the blade of Islam into the heart of the Balkans, conquering Albania, what is now Greece, Slavic Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, and had supplicated Hungary and Croatia to their knees. This rule and process of both relegated and voluntarily conversion continued for nearly 400 years. Intense conversion efforts by Muslim Bektashi mystics, and also as an effort to avoid second-class status, caused Bosnia to become half-Muslim as it remains today. Ostensibly to save the Slavic and Hungarian Christians from the jihad, the massive German empire of Habsburg Austria gradually annexed Slovenia, Croatia (1526), Hungary (1526), and Bosnia (1908). Serbia freed itself on its own from Islamic rule after two brutal wars of independence, finally to be liberated by 1878.

As the massive German Habsburg Empire collapsed after World War I (1918), the newly-independent South Slavs (Bosnians, Croats, Serbs, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Macedonians) united behind a common ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage to form the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes in 1918. Quickly changing its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the monarchy was centered at Belgrade and dominated by ethnic Serbs as it would be until its total collapse in 1995. Kosovo (by then majority non-Slavic Albanian Muslim) was part of Serbia, as it had been for 1,000 years. Montenegro merged with Serbia, but remained autonomous. This was not a socialist state, but rather a monarchical dictatorship.

In World War II, Yugoslavia was initially very close with Adolf Hitler. Internal political conflict, as well as a prescient concern that Italy's Mussolini would conquer German-dominated Yugoslavia, prompted Hitler to lead the Germans to conquer the whole area. Axis Bulgaria also yearned to "re-take" Macedonia, whose Slavs it considered to be nothing more than Bulgarians. The broken kingdom became split between the political worldviews of Fascist National Socialism, monarchy, or socialist-Communism. The destroyed kingdom was now a warground between socialist rebels like Marshall Broz "Tito" and Albania's Enver Hoxha, nationalist-monarchists like the Chetnik legions (on-and-off allies of Germany), and independent ethnic nationalists. Most Croats welcomed the Fascist invasion as a solution to Communist overthrow, as well as a chance to counterbalance the consistent domination of Croatia by the Serbs. All of Yugoslavia excluding Croatia (which then incorporated Bosnia) was a mere province of Germany and Italy, a warzone between partisans and the German army.

Croatia became a semi-independent ally of the Third Reich under the government of Ante Pavelic of the Ustashe brigade. It is reported by many sources (especially in The Balkans by Misha Glenny) that the Fascist Croats perpetrated some of the worst acts of violence in the war, killing more of the total population than in any other nation. Ante Pavelic is lionized as a hero by many Croats today because he brutally protected Croatia from Serbian domination. Thousands and thousands of Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats joined SS killing squads (especially SS-Handschar) due to a mutual opposition to Jews, Communists, Serbs, and progressive secular liberals. The "treason" of the Bosniaks and Croats against the Serbs and Yugoslavs would not be forgotten after the war, nor during the Yugoslav Wars. Whereas many Bosniaks and Croats, as with many other ethnic minority volunteers in the SS, believed themselves to be defending their families and homelands rather than participating in extermination, the post-war Yugoslavs equated their membership as direct corroboration with the Fascists and persecuted them accordingly.

By the end of World War II, as the Germans withdrew, the Croatian nationalists and Chetnik monarchists lost support. The fraternity and will of the Communist militias won the war with Soviet support. Although Yugoslavia was one of the only nations to be liberated from Axis rule largely by itself (the other being Albania), and although Yugoslavia soon became famous for its dramatic divorce from Soviet economic influence, Yugoslavia did enjoy Soviet supplies, military advice, and briefly towards the end of the occupation, direct military support. The Chetniks lost in part because they were dominated by Serbs, whilst the socialists included all ethnic groups of ex-Yugoslavia. Marshall Jozip Broz "TITO" led the militias to victory, creating the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Initially, as the great majority of each ex-Yugoslav society proudly notes, Yugoslavia under Tito was one of mutual cooperation free of Serbian domination. In truth, Tito is portrayed as considering Croat, Serb, and Bosnian insignificant; all were merely Yugoslavs, in great contrast to the chauvinism of Milosevic nearly 50 years later. This was a socialist dictatorship centered in Serbia (Belgrade) that granted quasi-autonomy to each province but invested Belgrade and the president with unlimited powers. Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia were all "republics" of Yugoslavia's federation. Kosovo's Albanian Muslims pressured revolt, demanding more autonomy, but received very little until after Tito's death.

Each group in Yugoslavia proudly recalls the independence and tranquilty of Yugoslavia. Tito led a very independent stance, causing Stalin and his Warsaw Pact puppets in Eastern Europe to expel Yugoslavia from the Comintern. Yugoslavia even became an exporter to the United States. Tito is criticized by less romantic nationalists for being passive and apathetic, effectively allowing inter-ethnic problems to fester with a temporary band-aid with unresolved consequences enduring later.

Yugoslavia as a socialist state under Tito in 1944. The monarchy of 1918-1941 had the same borders.

Wars of Independence/Breakup following Tito's death:

Near the death of the charismatic leader Tito, broad corruption, overspending, and infrastructural and economic decline became increasingly disastrous. The authority of Yugoslavia shifted from one of shared inter-ethnic cooperation to one of Serbian chauvinism from the monarchical period, or so most ex-Yugoslavs today angrily claim. As the Yugoslav government was centered at Serbia, "equal" constituent republic Slavic peoples affixed more and more blame to the self-interested and corrupt Serbs. Tito's death in 1980 exploited the hardships between these Slavic peoples. The Serbs still claim that it was the selfish autonomy interests of the Croats that caused the collapse, not any Serb hegemony. The Croats and Slovenes -- the first two to break free -- found great resentment to the fact that the majority of Yugoslavia's industry and economic power was in Croatia and Slovenia, and yet they were forced to pay taxes to and obey the whim of comparatively-impoverished Serbia. Serbia today remains far poorer than still-poor Croatia and quite-rich Slovenia, despite the fact that Belgrade was given total economic control.

In 1997, Slobodan Milosevic ascended to power as the president of Yugoslavia. Instead of attempting reconciliation, he and other hard-line nationalists promoted "Yugoslavism," an ideology that sought to set aside local minority interests in the name of the state. Since the "state" was in many ways Serbia, this was felt by Croats and others to be mere hegemony and domination. One of the biggest problems was the problematic Albanian Muslim minority in Kosovo and throughout the federation, who frequently fought for statehood (independence) via jihad and terrorism, especially under the Kosovo Liberation Army. Internal schism forced the Serbs to become even more dominant and nationalistic.

As a result, Slovenia and Croatia -- the two wealthiest regions of Yugoslavia -- declared independence in 1991. The Ten-Day War for Slovene independence saw a short but bloody war. Slovenia remains one of the cleanest and wealthiest countries in Europe, in contrast to the wicked poverty of Serbia. Croatia followed suit in the Croatian War of Independence, a horrific and bloody war in which thousands on both sides were killed, slaughtered, and displaced, leading to American claims of war crimes on both sides. Civilians were massacred in small family villages. The war between Croatia and Serbia continued until 1995, when the Croats with American and NATO support effectively expelled every Serb from the country. Ante Gotovina, the Croatian general, is criticized for using scorched earth and massacre tactics on Serbian civilians. Gotovina remains a hero in Croatia today, much like the Nazi Ante Pavelic is lionized still by many for repelling the Serbs. Croatia's former Serb-dominated territory of Srbija Krajina is now almost Serb-free due to the expulsions. Croatia was now broken, and "Yugoslavia" only included Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Serbian Kosovo. Macedonia broke off by 1993 without bloodshed from the Serbs.

What followed was by far the worst portion of the Yugoslav Wars between the Serbs and Bosnians. Bosnia, which is 40% Muslim due to the legacy of forced and relegated conversion during Ottoman conquest, suffered some of the worst atrocities in the 20th century. Their "treason" from an increasingly-nationalistic Yugoslavia made them a particular target. Their polar quality of being "Muslim" (although a very liberal form thereof, and only a minority) made them victims of an even more smoldering discrimination. Muslim civilians and soldiers were reported as being raped, slaughtered, beheaded, starved, and killed, although tremendous exaggeration and unproved claims appear on all sides of this debate. Of course, Bosniak Muslims were guilty of equal atrocities, employing jihad and terrorist attacks against Serbian women and civilians at the same degree of brutality. The terrible war in Bosnia lasted from 1992 until 1995, when the Clinton-sponsored Dayton Accords established independent Bosnia. UN, NATO, and American forces kept the Serb militias out of Bosnian cities, and still occupy Bosnia today.

Today, the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina is divided tensely in three: the east, known as Republika Srpska (Republic of Serbia) is Serbian Christian, the southwest is Catholic Croatian, and the remainder is divided into a blend of all three groups, including Bosnian Christians and Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks). The division in Bosnia today is evident in the fact that Republika Srpska even prints its own money. Officially, the national Muslim population of Bosnia is noted at roughly 40%, but the percentage of Islam in comparison with the entire population is offset by the large Serbian and Croatian population, thus setting the percentage of Islam among Bosnians higher than 40%. Bosnia's and Albania's Islam is less conservative than Turkey's Islam or other forms.

A cultural map of Bosnia. The difficult division of cultural and religious groups in today's Bosnia is clearly a result of the difficult internal Yugoslav wars. Note: the EHL is not the owner of this map. I was unable to isolate the original creator.

By 1992 Yugoslavia was no more than de facto Serbia-Montenegro, though this would not be entirely apparent and recognized by the Serbs until 1995 or even later. The Muslim revolt of the Albanian minority in Serbia's Kosovo region -- as well as claims of war crimes in the revolting regions of Croatia and Bosnia -- caused the US to bomb Serbia for several weeks under the guise of NATO and UN peacekeeping action. The destruction of the Serbian army and airforce by American bombings exacerbated and ensured Yugoslavia's collapse, though a downward spiral was evident beforehand. Following the bombing, in which not a single American soldier was killed and hundreds or even thousands of Serbian civilians are often claimed to have been slain, the United States indirectly administered Kosovo as a UN-governed province. The overwhelming expenses and casualties endured by Serbia, US and NATO bombing, corruption, and total bankruptcy caused a new Serb (Yugoslav) regime to be elected by the end of 1999, when Milosevic was turned over to NATO for trial in the International Criminal Court for slaughter of Croatian, Bosnian, and Albanian [rebelling] civilians during the many wars the Balkans have suffered from 1991-2000. As it quickly became apparent that the concept of "Yugoslavia" was entirely meaningless as it referred now to no more than Serbia and Montenegro, a new name was adopted for the personal union of the two as "Serbia & Montenegro." Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovenia, and Macedonia were now all independent states. Croatia today has largely refused to hand of its war heroes to international courts for human rights affairs, as has Serbia.

In 2006, further, Montenegro of post-Yugoslav Serbia-Montenegro resolved its political weakness in Serb politics (due to its tiny comparative size) by declaring independence; Yugoslavia had ended for good. Many Montenegrins and Serbs today have no idea why their country declared independence, as many polls show overwhelming support for Serbia still today. Many consider it the work of politicians, as in the former Czechoslovakia. The Montenegrins are culturally, religiously, linguistically, and ethnically identical to Serbs, but have a distinct history that dates back nearly a millennium and remained the only state in the Balkans free of Ottoman rule indefinitely.

Kosovo's Muslim Albanian independence wars:

Read my article on the 510-year struggle for an Albanian homeland, and 552 for Kosovo to gain a fair and full understanding of the Albanian perspective on the Kosovo conflict.

Albanians are the only Muslim-majority culture in Europe, occupying Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo. The region, never a nation, was divided by two Christian hill tribes -- the Tosk and Gheg -- who unified as Christians under Albanian national hero Gjergj Skanderbeg to resist the Islamic Jihad of the Ottoman Turkish empire. They failed, and after 400 years of strict occupation, the Albanians are today Muslim-majority. Despite the Serbian clash with Albanians and their mutual hatred, it was the Serbs who have ruled Kosovo as an integral part of their history and heritage for nearly 1,000 years. It was the Serbs who liberated Kosovo from Ottoman rule. Most of Serbia's most important historical triumphs occurred in Kosovo against Muslim conquest that the Serbs had never provoked. Read my Inside Albania article for a rare inside look at Albania, the hermit state of Europe. The American and Western claims of ethnic cleansing of Albanians by Serbs and other Slavs unfairly ignores the brutal violence, terrorism, and jihad that the Albanians in Kosovo performed to secure their independence as well. Both sides are guilty of brutal violence, religious persecution, and murder (see 2004: a bloody year in the Kosovo conflict). The Kosovars hoped to gain their independence just as Croatia and Slovenia were, resulting in an intese reprisal by the Serbian Christians against Kosovo.

Having been seized from Serbia/Yugoslavia by 1999, the region, now protected by the United States and NATO, operated independently with almost no say to the nation from which it was taken. Independence calls continued, though failed to materialize because of the tenuious political implications of such an act of forced succession. Some (like the US) argued that Kosovo needed to be free in order to repair the horrors of Serbian genocide, despite the fact that Kosovars did the same to the Serbs. Others argued that the non-Serb, non-Christian population had a right to represent its own affairs. Some Muslims argued that a Muslim, independent nation should be established at any cost. Other Albanian nationalists wanted to re-establish a pan-Albanian nation, championing the largely ahistorical myth of an Illyrian/Epir Roman-era origin. There were disputes also in the size of this nation to be carved out of another country's sovereign land. Albanians demanded "Greater Albania" stretching from the border of Greece to central Serbia. America and the European Union only supported the claim to a small portion thereof (see the maps below). In 2008, Kosovo formally declared independence. Much of the world completely ignored or refused such an act, but the United States and the European Union recognize Kosovo as a new nation. The status of Kosovo will continue to be difficult, especially for Serbs who refuse to simply give up more than 10% of their national land as well as an integral part of their vivid Slavic Serbian national heritage. See the maps below.

The EHL map of the often-sought "Greater Kosovo" and "Greater Albania". This is the maximum extent of Albanian Muslim claims to sovereignty, though they have only acquired a small portion thereof (see below). Albanians also claim parts of Macedonia.

The EHL map boundaries of the new nation of Kosovo as it is recognized by the United States and European Union.

________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Mayfield is a historian and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies (language and history), am presently working for my Masters in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate. I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles of native European and immigrant minority identities. See my staff entry for more information.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES USED:

The image used as the basis for the maps is widely redistributed and is not protected.

Glenny, Misha. The Balkans: Nationalism, War & the Great Powers, 1804-1999. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2001.