The Common South Slav State

On 1 December 1918 a common state was formed in the Balkans called the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and was ruled by the Serbian dynasty of Karadjordjevic. The name of the country was changed in 1929 to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. This country remained in existence until the beginning of the Second World War. Throughout its existence the Kingdom had many internal problems as the many different groups in their population fought for their interests.

The Yugoslav government signed a treaty in March 1941 to join the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan in the war, but news of this event caused a massive revolt with people taking to the streets. Thus brought about a military coup and the new government annulled the agreement with the Germans. This sparked an immediate reaction from Germany’s leader, Hitler who had Belgrade bombed early on 6 April 1941 along with an attack by his army without declaring war on the country. After a short period of resistance the Yugoslav Royal Army was defeated.

The Germans established puppet governments in Croatia, and Belgrade, while Italy occupied Montenegro.

The resistance against Germany and Italy was underway and on 7 July 1941 Communists carried out an armed rebellion against the occupiers of their country. Josip Broz Tito (Tito) led the Communist Partisan Movement. The Communist leaders held a conference in November 1942 at Bihać in Bosnia Herzegovina and formed the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation. In November 1943 another conference was held and the group declared themselves to be the government of Yugoslavia. The Communist Partisan Movement with the help of the Russians fought the German, Italians, Croatian Ustashas (pro-Fascists), and Serbian Chetniks (old royalists) until October 1944 when they were able to liberate Belgrade.

After the Communist Partisan Movement led by Tito played a central role in liberating Yugoslavia, it took control of the country after the Second World War. Tito led the Communist party as it established a socialist state in 1945, naming it the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia. It was renamed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia later.

Tito had a complicated society to govern as the population of Yugoslavia included a mix of cultural, language, and religious groups that all had to work together to make the nation function. There were Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslims speaking different languages. The official language of Yugoslavia was declared to be Serb-Croat, with both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets being used. Yugoslavia had six republics and two provinces, eight major ethnic groups within twenty-four distinct ethnic groups over all.

To maintain control of Yugoslavia, Tito developed and enforced a plan he called “Brotherhood and Unity.” This plan demanded that purges be carried out among the Serbs, Montenegrins, Croats, Muslims, Slovenes, Macedonians, and Albanians of those who were nationalistic and did not support the greater Yugoslavia. Those who were purged faced with being sent to jail or exile. As well, citizens of Yugoslavia were encouraged to marry others from different cultural, religions, or ethnic groups. In 1974, Tito responded to the strong local demands for more independence by changing the constitution and making Yugoslavia a confederation. Each republic had a veto over political and economic decisions made at the federal level.

In April 1980 Tito died and a joint presidency took his position, but the mounting national debt, political and economic instability led to the break up of Yugoslavia. By early 1991, nationalism among the various groups in Yugoslavia led many to form their own republics like Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia.

Although Tito had been very successful in holding the various national groups together to form Yugoslavia he achieved it through the extensive use of rights violations, imprisonment of political foes, and creation of a sense of terror in the general population. Tito violated many human rights as he carried out policies like imprisoning over 7,000 individuals who spoke out against his government or policies on the barren island of Goli Otok. Media were not allowed to travel there which allowed atrocities against the political prisoners.

Tito was dealing with a much divided population that had a long history of infamous tribal conflicts and ancient antagonisms, which was especially intense in the Kosovo Province. Kosovo is where the Serbians claimed the heart of the medieval homeland, but an Albanian majority made up 90 percent of the population and claimed to be the original inhabitants. They trace their heritage to the Illyrians that inhabited the area around 1000 BC.

The war in Yugoslavia officially began in 1990. Slovenia in the north became an independent nation in 1991 following a ten day war that quickly removed the Serb army from their territory. Slovenia had strong ties to the West, a strong economy, and stable democratic government that allowed the country to develop international relationships that led to membership in the United Nations in 1992, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union in 2004.

When Croatia made it clear that it also was going to create a new nation, military action began as Serb generals led the Yugoslav army against the new Croatian army. With the opening of war, Yugoslavia faced massive human rights violations. The wide spread violation of human rights reached its most intense levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By 1992, the war that had been fought between Croatia and Serbia turned to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was the most ethnically diversified republic. The Croats and Serbs had already agreed to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina between them before this stage of the war began.

The efforts of the Serbs failed and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was removed as a member of the United Nations in 1992.

Although the focus turned to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serb army remained in parts of Croatia. There was sporadic and intense fighting for several years, but it was not until 1998 and with the help of the United Nations the last of the Serb army left.

Economic sanctions are international agreements to restrict trade with any nation that they want to stop from acting in an unacceptable manner. It is generally accepted as a diplomatic tool that will pressure the offending country to cease what it is doing. It is expected that that when leaders are faced with the hardships created by sanctions they will be more cooperative.

Economic sanctions can include many elements that include restrictions on what can be sold to or bought from the offending nation. Sanctions can also include restrictions on who can travel to or from a country. Sanctions may also include the limitation of the transportation of good through a particular nation.

When economic sanctions are imposed on a country that are many expectations about what effect they have. For example, when the population of a country suffers the hardships of sanctions it is hoped that they will act to replace the existing government. However, the history of economic sanctions has shown that they do not bring rapid and immediate results. When considering the effectiveness of economic sanctions, one must measure their effectiveness according to what role they play in the larger situation.

The European Community responded to the increasing violence and instability in Croatia late in the spring of 1991 and in Bosnia Herzegovina by deciding to implement economic sanctions against Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This action was followed by a meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations in September 1991 because the increasing conflict in the Balkans states was a threat to international peace and security. By December there was a plan to send peacekeepers to the Balkans. A peace plan was accepted by Slobodan Milosevic, partly a result of the economic hardships already caused by economic sanctions. The peace plan was not accepted by the Serbian leaders in Croatia and Bosnia where the same pressure had not been felt.

When the first economic sanctions were imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in May 1992, the country had already suffered many years of economic downturn. As the sanctions came into effect both the public and the government of Yugoslavia were optimistic that they would not last long and would not have a significant effect.

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