Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars and military actions that are related only to the extent that they occurred in the power vacuum created by the destruction of Yugoslavia.
Contents
Precedents
Tito led the Yugoslav Partisans to liberate the former kingdom from German occupation and client states.
After Tito died, the chair of the presidency council began to rotate among members. When Mesić became chair of the presidency council, he ceased to attend meetings. The members from Slovenia and Macedonia similarly abandoned government, leaving just Milošević and his supporters.
Log Revolution
In 1990, Tuđman pushed constitutional changes in Croatia to establish greater autonomy. For example, 'Socialist' was removed from the official name of 'Socialist Republic of Croatia', and the official language of government was changed from Serb-Croat to Croat.
It was largely apparent that the Croat government was preparing to declare independence, so a Serb separatist movement organized in Krajina. Violence erupted; local governments and police forces largely sided with Krajina. This proto-civil war became known as the Log Revolution.
Ten Day War
Slovenia re-established multi-party democracy in late 1989, and the first contested elections in early 1990 handed effective power to Pučnik.
Croatia followed with similar democratization reforms, which placed the aforementioned Tuđman in power and led to the aforementioned Log Revolution. He also held an independence referendum on May 19, 1991.
Both states formally declared independence from Yugoslavia on June 25. This led into the Ten Day War from June 27 through July 7.
The Brijuni Agreement established an armistice; declarations of independence were frozen and the Yugoslav army had to vacate the relevant territories. It proved impossible to reconcile the separatist movements with the federal government, and these declarations of independence eventually were allowed to execute.
Slovenia
Slovenia was quickly admitted to the UN. There was no major separatist movement.
Croatian War of Independence
Croatia was also quickly admitted to the UN. The Serb separatists in Croatia declared the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Milošević effectively funded the separatists by transferring command of the local Yugoslav army garrison over to the Krajina government, but Serbia and Montenegro did not enter the war.
The UN appointed Vance to intercede and negotiate an armistice. This was achieved in January 1992, with the Sarajevo Agreement. Fighting only occurred sporadically thereafter.
Bosnian War
Bosnia and Herzegovina held a referendum on independence in February 1992, and declared independence on March 3. They also were quickly admitted to the UN.
In October 1991, Serb members of parliament abandoned the government. By January they had established a National Assembly and declared an independent Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By August this had developed into Republika Srpska.
Violence erupted first between Srpska and the recognized government in Sarajevo. By 1993 however, the government had also erupted into ethnic violence between Bosniaks and Croats, leading to the declaration of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, which Croatia sponsored.
The worst atrocities of this wide-ranging Bosnian War included the Srebrenica genocide.
Operations Mistral, Flash, Storm
In 1995, Croatia and NATO launched a joint invasion into and bombing campaign of Krajina, Srpska, Serbia, and Montenegro. Milošević was forced to negotiate on behalf of all Serb separatists.
Krajina was occupied by the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) and reorganized into a provisional state called Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia. This provisional state was dissolved and integrated into Croatia itself in 1998.
The Dayton Agreement established the current state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Kosovo War
An Albanian terrorist organization called the Kosovo Liberation Army was established in the early 1990s. Their campaign escalated into the Kosovo War by 1998.
NATO attempted to diplomatically intervene. However, that intervention took the form of the Rambouillet Agreement, which would have recognized Kosovoan independence, established a NATO peacekeeping force of 30,000 soldiers, and granted NATO immunity from Yugoslav law. Serbia did not agree to these terms.
Abandoning diplomacy, NATO launched an invasion and bombing campaign. The Kumanovo Agreement established the current state of Kosovo.
Macedonia
Macedonia held a referendum on independence on September 8, 1991. That date is recognized also as the declaration of independence.
There was no significant violence following the declaration.
However, in the late 1990s, a pair of Albanian terrorist organizations called the National Liberation Army and Albanian National Army was established. Their campaigns escalated into the 2001 insurgency.
The Ohrid Agreement was negotiated in late 2001 following diplomatic intervention by the EU and United States.
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
The UN Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague to prosecute war crimes.
It's notable that this tribunal largely targeted the former legitimate government of Yugoslavia, a leading Third Way power that was denied representation in the UN in the preceding decade.
It's also notable that the tribunal was never authorized by the General Assembly.
It's also notable that the United States had influence over the tribunal to slow or halt prosecution of allies.
It's also notable that Milošević died, before his trial ended, in his cell after being denied medical treatment.