What countries was Yugoslavia divided into? Former Yugoslavia - Your guide to @po_serbii and the Serbian language

Attention! Kosovo is still only a partially recognized state, and Russia does not recognize it. But since this state actually exists (like the DPR, Nagorno-Karabakh, Taiwan or Somaliland), exercises border control and establishes its own order in a certain territory, it is more convenient to call it a separate state.

Short review

They like to compare Yugoslavia with the Soviet Union, and its collapse with the collapse of the USSR. I will take this comparison as a basis and briefly describe the main peoples of the former Yugoslavia by analogy with the peoples of the former Soviet Union.

Serbs are like Russians, an imperial-forming Orthodox people who united everyone, and then did not want to let go. The Serbs also believed that the whole world hated them, that they were a stronghold of the true faith and an outpost against the corrupting influence of the West. But after a decade of bloody wars with their neighbors, they somehow calmed down, stopped believing that the main thing in life is the greatness of Serbia and the protection of the Serbian people, and took up the organization of their country. In 2000, the Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown, a sane government came to power, and since then Serbia has been developing like all normal countries.

Serbian priest and his friend.Vicinities of the city of Mokra Gora (Serbia)

Montenegrins are like Belarusians. A people more calm and less concerned about the great mission, close to the Serbs so much that it is even difficult to say what is the difference between them. Only Montenegrins (unlike Belarusians) have a sea, but (again, unlike Belarusians) do not have their own language. Montenegrins have been with the Serbs longer than others. Even when the Serbs finally recognized that Yugoslavia had collapsed, the Montenegrins formed a confederal state with them - the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. And only in 2006, at a referendum, a little more than half of the Montenegrins decided to leave the confederation and form a new state.

Montenegrin trucker. On the way from Cetinje to Kotor (Montenegro).

Croats are like Ukrainians, or rather, even Western Ukrainians. Although the Croats are close in language and culture to the Serbs and Montenegrins, they have long accepted Catholicism, considered themselves part of Europe and always considered themselves above any Orthodox cattle. They even had their own analogue of the "Banderites" - the so-called "Ustashe" (Croatian fascists who helped Hitler) and their own analogue of "Novorossia" (the so-called Serbian Krajina - a region of Croatia inhabited by Serbs and proclaimed independence in the early 1990s. ). However, the Croats were faster and more successful than the Ukrainians in crushing separatism and moving into Europe. Croatia has already become a member of the European Union and looks like a fairly prosperous and civilized country.

Croatian policemen and a saleswoman. Zagreb (Croatia)

Slovenes are like our Balts. Among the Yugoslavs, they have always been a more developed, civilized and European-oriented people. It seems that even the Serbs agreed with this, so they gave them independence relatively easily. Slovenians have been in the European Union and the Eurozone for a long time, they have a clean, pleasant, developed and safe country.

Former mayor of the Slovenian town of Kanal and director of the Hitchhiking Museum in Bled (Slovenia)

Bosnia and Herzegovina is difficult to compare with something, because in the history of the USSR there was no similar conflict. However, it can be imagined. Imagine, purely hypothetically, that in the early 1990s in Kazakhstan, the Russian population of the north of the country proclaimed an independent republic and started a war with the south, populated predominantly by Kazakhs. At the same time, the Ukrainians living in Kazakhstan remembered their independence and, in the places of their compact residence, began to fight both Kazakhs and Russians. Later, the country would be divided into two autonomous parts - Russian and Kazakh-Ukrainian, and in the Russian part, no one would still recognize the government of Kazakhstan, hang Russian flags and wait for a reason to finally separate. Approximately such a story happened in Bosnia: first - a mutual war between Serbs, Bosnian Muslims and Croats, and then - the division of the country into two parts - Serbian and Muslim-Croatian.

City tram passengers. Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Macedonians - I don't even know what. One could compare them with Moldovans or Georgians - also Orthodox peoples living in small and poor countries. But Moldova and Georgia broke up into several parts, while Macedonia still retained its integrity. Therefore, let's say that Macedonia is like Kyrgyzstan, only Orthodox. The Serbs did not even fight here: Macedonia separated - and God bless her. The Yugoslav war came here in the early 2000s: in 2001, clashes broke out in the country between the Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority, which demanded more autonomy. Well, something like in Kyrgyzstan several times there were clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

Our friend - an Albanian from the Macedonian city of Tetovo (on the right) and his friend

Well, Kosovo is obviously Chechnya. A region that officially could not secede from Serbia, but which nevertheless long and stubbornly resisted. The result turned out to be formally different (Kosovo achieved de facto independence, but Chechnya did not), but peace and tranquility have been established there, and one can go there without fear.

Street corn vendor in Pristina (Kosovo)

Albania does not belong to Yugoslavia, but has always been close to this region. Josip Broz Tito, the leader of socialist Yugoslavia, even wanted to annex Albania to Yugoslavia as another union republic. There is a version that he allowed the Albanians to live in Kosovo in order to show them the benefits of living in his country, after which all of Albania, in unison, was to enter Yugoslavia. As a result, Albania never visited part of Yugoslavia, but has always been considered a congenial and eternally poor neighbor. In general, Albania for Yugoslavia is something like Mongolia for the Soviet Union.

Albanian girl. City of Durres (Albania)

For a deeper dive into the history of Yugoslavia and Yugoslavia, I recommend the wonderful documentary film by Leonid Mlechin "The Yugoslav Tragedy". The film does not lean towards the pro-Serbian or anti-Serbian side, does not depict anyone as white and fluffy, and quite honestly tries to tell about the time when people in the former Yugoslavia went crazy en masse and started killing each other.

Relation to the past

Yugoslavia was by socialist standards a very developed country. Here was the highest standard of living among the socialist countries, not counting the GDR. In Russia, the older generation may still remember that a trip to Yugoslavia was almost equal to a trip to a capitalist country.

Then in the early 1990s there was a war, an economic downturn and unemployment. Therefore, many people still treat the socialist past normally and even with nostalgia. It is clear that socialism is remembered more warmly in less developed countries (Bosnia, Serbia, etc.), while in more developed countries (Slovenia and Croatia) it is rather negatively treated.

Graffiti on the wall in the city of Cetinje (Montenegro)

Even before the trip, I heard that the Balkan peoples still respect Josip Broz Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia in 1945-1980, despite the fact that in the early 1990s. so actively derbanili his inheritance. This is true - in many cities in the former Yugoslavia, including Croatian, Macedonian and Bosnian, there are Tito streets and squares.

Although Tito was a dictator, he was soft by the standards of the 20th century. He carried out repressions only against his political opponents, and not against entire ethnic groups or social groups. In this regard, Tito is more like Brezhnev or Franco than like Hitler and Stalin. Therefore, in the people's memory, his image is rather positive.

The grave of Josip Broz Tito in the Museum of the History of Yugoslavia in Belgrade (Serbia)

It is interesting that Tito - the son of a Croat and a Slovene - actively mixed the population, encouraged interethnic marriages and cohabitation of different peoples. His goal was to create a new nation - "Yugoslavs". We met such people several times - those who were born from mixed marriages or are married to a representative of another nation. But he failed to finish the job. During the collapse of the country, it turned out that there were no Yugoslavs, just as there was no "Soviet people", but there are different peoples.

City of Travnik (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Then there was the "Yugoslav War" - a series of armed conflicts in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia. It was the bloodiest war on the European continent since the Second World War, more than 100 thousand people died in it. The level of mutual hatred of the peoples, who had lived peacefully next to each other not long before, has increased to an extreme degree. Still, it's amazing how quickly people are able to divide into "us" and "them" and violently destroy each other. Unfortunately, there are always gopniks who will only be glad that it is possible to kill, rob and rape, and not just like that, but for a lofty idea - say, for Allah or for the Orthodox faith.

People in the Balkans went crazy on the basis of national and religious hatred very quickly, but, fortunately, they came to their senses just as quickly. The conflict has not turned into an eternally smoldering one, as in some Palestine or Nagorno-Karabakh. When the main troglodyte cannibals left power, the new governments quickly tuned in to constructive cooperation. For example, in 2003 the presidents of Croatia and Serbia formally apologized to each other for what their predecessors had done.

City of Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

And this is most pleasing when traveling through the former Yugoslavia - the former enmity is almost forgotten and people gradually got used to the fact that not enemies live nearby, but exactly the same people. Today, Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims coexist peacefully and travel to visit each other, on business, to visit relatives. The worst thing they told me was that some car with Serbian license plates in Croatia could get scratched on the door.

Probably, the same feelings would have been in Western Europe in the 1960s. The war seems to have been quite recently, but there is no mutual hatred and people are already worried about completely different issues.

True, some tension is still felt in Serbian regions outside of Serbia. Serbs living in Kosovo and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it seems, still have not come to terms with the fact that they have become a national minority in a foreign state. Perhaps the same is happening with the Serbs in Croatia. They do not like and do not recognize these new states of theirs, hang Serbian flags everywhere and scold both the government of their current states and the Serbian government (they say that Serbia betrayed and forgot them). But even in these places it is now safe - for example, Serbs can safely travel to Albanian areas and vice versa. So let's hope that sooner or later all these contradictions will be resolved.

Bridge across the Serbian and Albanian parts of the city of Mitrovica (Kosovo)

Economy and level of development

What is most surprising about Yugoslavia is how good the countries that made it up look. Of course, they are far from Western Europe, but still they are noticeably ahead of the countries of the former Soviet Union. There are very good roads here, including high-speed autobahns, good and beautiful houses rise in the villages, all the fields are sown, new trams and buses run around the cities, the streets in the cities are clean and well-maintained.

Sleeping area of the city of Novi Sad (Serbia)

A characteristic feature is that almost everywhere in the former Yugoslavia it is very clean. In cities, there is no layer of dirt or dust on different surfaces, like ours, you can almost always sit on a curb or steps without fear for the cleanliness of your pants. There are no clouds of dust from passing cars, and there are no dirty roadsides on country roads, so you can fearlessly put your backpack down when you catch a car.

In short, although the Yugoslavs are also Slavs and also experienced socialism, for some reason they know the simple rules, thanks to which the cities remain clean. Those interested in this topic can read Varlamov's post "How to make sidewalks" and Lebedev's post "Russian Drist"; it describes in detail and clearly why our cities are dirty, but European ones are not.

Berat city center (Albania)

This picture is circulating on the Balkan Internet.

Translation: “Ships and planes disappear in this triangle. And in this triangle, young people, investments, happiness and the future are disappearing.

It seems to me that the Balkans (if they painted the picture) are too self-critical. All these countries are developing and looking quite good. Especially when compared with our Slavic triangle Russia-Ukraine-Belarus, where for the past few years, investments and the future have really disappeared.

The poorest country in the region is Albania, but it also looks relatively good. The outback there is generally much better than the Russian one. Things are somewhat better in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo. Even better - in Croatia, and very good - in Slovenia.

Village in eastern Serbia

People and mentality

The Balkans are mostly Slavs who survived several decades of socialism. Therefore, in their character you can find a lot in common with us. As I said, people here are not particularly religious, and the fascination with Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Islam has become more of a fashion than a deeply conscious choice. The Albanian, with whom we stayed in Pristina, convinced us that all the problems in Europe were from Muslims, and if it were his will, he would have expelled all Muslims from Europe. To my question: "Aren't Albanians Muslims?" he replied: “Come on, these are European Muslims! We are completely different, we have no religious fanaticism!”

Rules of conduct in the mosque. Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

People here are a little more careless about the law than Western Europeans. This, of course, has its pluses for the traveler - for example, the car can stop and pick you up in a place where stopping is prohibited. But there are also disadvantages - for example, the same car in the city will park on the sidewalk and interfere with pedestrians.

Our Belgrade acquaintance, a completely pro-Western guy with a European mindset, nevertheless, said that you don’t have to pay for the bus fare, “and if they come in to check tickets, go to the door, stand with your back to the controllers and don’t react to their remarks - they are likely to fall behind quickly.” Very familiar attitude to established rules.

It is sad that many are beginning to scold America (they say, she quarreled everyone in the Balkans) and praise Putin (here, they say, a normal leader, we need such a one). Such an infantile attitude to politics is a little annoying - like one big uncle came and ruined everything, but another big uncle should come and fix everything, and we are not in business at all.

Putin, as usual, is much more loved here than in Russia itself - and not only Serbs, but even some Croats, Albanians and representatives of other nationalities. One might think that they are saying this out of politeness, but no - when we answered that we ourselves were cool towards Putin, people were surprised. How can you not love him, he is so bravely fighting America? True, T-shirts with Putin are sold only where the Serbs live, in other places it is somehow not customary to demonstrate this.

T-shirts for sale in Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

In general, there is almost always a common language and topics for conversation with the Yugoslavs. Even if people have completely different political views, but, so to speak, the cultural code is still common: they understand our problems, and we understand their problems. You travel through the former Yugoslavia, almost like in your native land, but which looks and develops much better.

Kingdom Yugoslavia It was formed in 1918 as an association of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after the end of the First World War. After World War II in 1945. Yugoslavia began to be called a socialist federation of six union republics and occupied an area of 255.8 thousand square kilometers. and the capital Belgrade. Having existed for about 88 years, the state collapsed and after 2006. no longer existed as a single state space.
The flag of Yugoslavia contained blue, white and red stripes, not in the foreground a large five-pointed star.

2 step

So, Yugoslavia, a European state that existed on the Balkan Peninsula and had access to the Adriatic Sea, now consists of six independent states and two autonomous regions.
Today, the former Yugoslavia is the countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, which includes 2 autonomous regions of Vojvodina and Kosovo, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro.

3 step

Bosnia and Herzegovina, state capital Sarajevo. The area of the country is 51.129 thousand square kilometers, there are several official languages in the country - Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian.
Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, and then the city became the center of hostilities during the civil war in Yugoslavia in 1992-1995.
Today the country is popular for its medical balneological resorts, ski resorts and beach holidays. has a narrow outlet to the Adriatic Sea.

4 step

Macedonia, state capital Skopje. This is an ancient city that arose in the 3rd century BC. The area of the country is 25.7 thousand square kilometers, the state language is Macedonian. Macedonia is a mountainous country, almost the entire area is occupied by mountain ranges of various heights. Macedonia did not get access to the sea, but on its territory there are several ski resorts and historical monuments associated with the Roman Empire and Turkish domination in this part of the Balkan Peninsula.
Macedonia

5 step

Serbia, state capital Belgrade. The area of the country is 88.361 thousand square kilometers, the state language is Serbian.
Belgrade arose in the first century AD, since 1284 it fell under the rule of Serbia and today is its capital. Of all the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Serbia has the most flat fertile lands and deciduous forests. There is no access to the Adriatic Sea, but there is an artificial Belgrade Sea. Also, rivers of extraordinary beauty flow through Serbia, on the mountainous part of which you can raft on rafts, the largest river in Serbia is the Danube.
Serbia also includes two autonomous provinces Kosovo, capital Pristina and Vojvodina, capital Novi Sad.
Serbia

6 step

Slovenia, state capital Ljubljana. The area of the country is 20.251 thousand square kilometers, the state language is Slovenian.
Slovenia is a small but very beautiful country. It has everything, and the snow-capped Alpine peaks, and valleys with orchards and vineyards, and the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Even the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, has an unusual history: according to legend, the city was founded by the Argonauts when they returned from Colchis after a journey for the Golden Fleece.
Slovenia today mainly lives on tourism, and also has a developed industry, including pharmaceuticals.
Slovenia.

7 step

Croatia, state capital Zagreb. The area of the country is 56.538 thousand square kilometers, the state language is Croatian. Zagreb is quite a large but cozy city with many architectural and historical sights.
Croatia is a country that has the longest Adriatic coast of all the countries of the former Yugoslavia. That is why it is famous for its resorts around the cities of Split, Shebenik, Trogir, Dubrovnik. On the territory of Croatia there are unique nature reserves Krka, Paklenica, Kornati and others. One of the cities of Croatia, Split is one of the oldest cities in Dolmatia (region of Croatia), its age exceeds 1700 years. In the center of the city of Split is the Diocletian's Palace, which still houses the residential apartments of the inhabitants of the city.

The final, second in a row, disintegration of Yugoslavia took place in 1991-1992. The first occurred in 1941 and was the result of the defeat of the Yugoslav kingdom at the beginning of World War II. The second was associated not only with the crisis of the socio-political system of Yugoslavia and its federal structure, but also with the crisis of the Yugoslav national identity.

Thus, if the unification of the Yugoslavs stemmed from their lack of confidence in their ability to withstand and assert themselves as self-sufficient nations, being in a hostile environment, then the second disintegration was the result of this self-assertion, which, it must be admitted, occurred precisely due to the existence of a federal state. At the same time, the experience of 1945–1991 also showed that stakes on collectivist interests, even under the mild regime of Yugoslav socialism, did not pay off. The “time bomb” was the belonging of the Yugoslav peoples to three mutually hostile civilizations at once. Yugoslavia was doomed to disintegration from the very beginning.

On December 18, 1989, in his report to the parliament, the penultimate Prime Minister of the SFRY A. Markovic, speaking about the causes of the economic catastrophe in which Yugoslavia found itself, made a bitter but truthful conclusion - the economic system of "market, self-governing, humane, democratic" socialism, which created by Tito and which they have been building for more than 30 years with the help of Western loans and allies, in the conditions of 1989, without annual systematic subsidies from the IMF and other organizations, is not viable. In his opinion, in 1989 there are only two ways.

Either return to a planned economy, or with open eyes carry out a complete restoration of capitalism with all the ensuing consequences. The first way, according to A. Markovich, unfortunately, in the conditions of 1989 is unrealistic, because it requires that Yugoslavia lean on the strength of the socialist community and the USSR, but under the leadership of Gorbachev, the socialist countries have weakened so much that they are unlikely to be able not only to others, but to themselves help. The second way is possible only if Western investments are provided in full.

Western capital must be given guarantees that it can buy whatever it pleases in Yugoslavia - land, factories, mines, roads, and all this must be guaranteed by a new federal law, which must be adopted immediately. Markovic turned to Western capital with a request to speed up investments and take control of their implementation.

A reasonable question may arise: why is it that the United States, and at the same time the IMF and the West as a whole, which so generously financed the Tito regime, suddenly stopped not only financial support at the end of the 80s, but also changed their policy towards Yugoslavia by 180 degrees? An objective analysis shows that in the 1950s-1980s the West needed the Tito regime as a Trojan horse in the fight against the socialist community led by the Soviet Union. But everything comes to an end. Tito dies in 1980, and closer to the mid-80s, the Yugoslav mouthpiece of anti-Sovietism becomes completely unnecessary - the West found conductors of its destructive policy in the very leadership of the USSR.

On Yugoslavia, all in debt and without reliable allies, directs its eyes, blunted until the second half of the 1980s, and now again on fire, powerful German capital. By the early 1990s, West Germany, having swallowed the GDR, was indeed becoming the leading force in Europe. The alignment of internal forces in Yugoslavia by this time also favored the defeat. The partyocracy of the Union of Communists (UK) has completely lost its authority among the people. Nationalist forces in Croatia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina receive systematically powerful support from Germany, the United States, Western monopolies, the Vatican, Muslim emirs and bigwigs. In Slovenia, the UK received only 7% of the vote, in Croatia no more than 13%. The nationalist Tudjman comes to power in Croatia, the Islamic fundamentalist Izetbegovic in Bosnia, the nationalist Gligorov in Macedonia, and the nationalist Kucan in Slovenia.

Almost all of them are from the same deck of the reborn Titov leadership of the UK. The sinister figure of Izetbegovic is especially colorful. He fought in World War II in the famous SS Khanjardivizia, which fought against the Soviet Army near Stalingrad, and also "became famous" as a punitive formation of the Nazis in the fight against the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. For his atrocities, Izetbegovic was tried in 1945 by the people's court, but he did not stop his activities, now in the form of a nationalist, fundamentalist, separatist.

All these odious figures, having been in opposition to the ruling elite of the Union of Communists for some time, were waiting in the wings. Tudjman and Kuchan are closely connected with German politicians and German capital, Izetbegovic - with Islamic extremists in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran. All of them, as if on command, put forward the slogans of separatism, secession from Yugoslavia, the creation of "independent" states, referring (irony of fate!) At the same time to the Leninist principle of the right of nations to self-determination up to secession.

Germany also pursued special interests. Having united itself two years before the start of the war in Yugoslavia, she did not want to see a strong state at her side. Moreover, the Germans had long-standing historical scores with the Serbs: the Slavs never submitted to the warlike Germans, despite two terrible interventions of the 20th century. But in 1990, Germany remembered its allies in the Third Reich - the Croatian Ustashe. In 1941, Hitler gave statehood to the Croats who had never had it before. Chancellor Kohl and German Foreign Minister Genscher did the same.

The first conflict arose in mid-1990 in Croatia, when Serbs, of whom there were at least 600,000 in the republic, expressed their will to remain part of the federal Yugoslavia in response to growing demands for secession. Soon Tudjman is elected president, and in December the parliament (Sabor), with the support of Germany, adopts the country's constitution, according to which Croatia is an indivisible unitary state - despite the fact that the Serbian community, called the Serbian or Knin (after the name of its capital) Extreme, historically, with XVI century, existed in Croatia. The constitution of this former socialist republic of 1947 stated that Serbs and Croats were equal.

Now Tudjman declares the Serbs a national minority! Obviously, they do not want to put up with this, wanting to gain autonomy. In a hurry, they create police detachments to protect themselves from the Croatian "territorial defense troops". Krajina was proclaimed in February 1991 and announced its withdrawal from Croatia and joining Yugoslavia. But the neostashi did not want to hear about it. A war was looming, and Belgrade tried to curb it with the help of units of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), but the military was already on opposite sides of the barricade. Serb soldiers came to the defense of Krajina, and the fighting began.

Not without bloodshed in Slovenia. On June 25, 1991, the country declared its independence and demanded that Belgrade withdraw its army; the time for playing the confederate model of the state is over. Already at that time, Slobodan Milosevic, who headed the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Yugoslavia, declared the decision of Ljubljana hasty and called for negotiations. But Slovenia was not going to talk and again demanded the withdrawal of troops, already in the form of an ultimatum. On the night of June 27, fighting began between the JNA and Slovenian self-defense units, which tried to take key military installations by force. For a week of battles, the victims numbered in the hundreds, but then the "world community" intervened and convinced the Yugoslav government to begin the withdrawal of the army, guaranteeing its safety. Seeing that it was useless to prevent the secession of Slovenia, Milosevic agreed, and on July 18 the troops began to leave the former Soviet republic.

On the same day as Slovenia, June 25, 1991, Croatia declared its independence, in which the war had been going on for almost half a year. The number of dead speaks of the fierceness of the fighting; according to the Red Cross, their number for the year amounted to ten thousand people! Croatian troops carried out the first ethnic cleansing in Europe since the Second World War: three hundred thousand Serbs fled the country in the same year. At that time, the Russian democratic press, which had kindergarten ideas about geopolitics, blamed Milosevic for everything: if he is a communist, then he is bad, but the fascist Tudjman leads the democratic party, which means he is good. Western diplomacy also adhered to this position, accusing Milosevic of plans to create a "Greater Serbia". But this was a lie, because the president demanded only autonomy for the Serbs who had settled in Western and Eastern Slavonia for centuries.

It is characteristic that Tudjman declared Zagreb, a city located just in Western Slavonia, the capital of Croatia; less than a hundred kilometers away was Knin, the capital of the historic Serbian Krajina. Fierce battles unfolded on the Zagreb-Knin line. The Croatian government, naturally supported by NATO countries, demanded the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops. But not a single Serbian soldier would have left Krajna, seeing the atrocities of the revived Ustashe. The JNA units, transformed into the Serbian Self-Defense Forces (for Milosevic nevertheless gave the order to withdraw troops), were led by General Ratko Mladic. By November 1991, troops loyal to him laid siege to Zagreb and forced Tudjman to negotiate.

The indignation of the "world community" knew no bounds. Since that time, the information blockade of the Serbs begins: all the Western media talk about their, mostly invented, crimes, but the Serbs themselves are deprived of the right to vote. Germany and the United States with their allies decide to punish them for their willfulness: in December 1991, the Council of Ministers of the EU (not the UN!) Imposes sanctions against the Federal Yugoslavia (of which only Serbia and Montenegro remained by that time) allegedly for violating the UN ban on supply of weapons to Croatia. Somehow no attention was paid to the fact that Tudjman's gangs were armed no worse than the Serbs. Since then, the economic strangulation of Yugoslavia has begun.

The following facts speak about how the Croatian state gradually became. To begin with, the Ustasha symbols and the uniform of the army were restored. Honorary pensions were then awarded to Ustaše veterans and they received a special civil status; President Tudjman personally made one of these murderers a member of parliament. Catholicism was proclaimed the only state religion, although at least 20% of the Orthodox population still remained in the country. In response to such a "gift", the Vatican recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia earlier than Europe and the United States, and on March 8, 1993, the Pope of Rome cursed the Serbs from the window of his office overlooking St. Peter's Square and prayed before God for revenge! It got to the point that Tudjman began to seek the reburial of the remains of the main Croatian fascist Ante Pavelic from Spain. Europe was silent.

On November 21, 1991, the third union republic, Macedonia, declared its independence. She turned out to be more perspicacious than Slovenia and Croatia: first she got the UN to bring in peacekeeping troops, and then demanded the withdrawal of the JNA. Belgrade did not object, and the southernmost Slavic republic became the only one to secede without bloodshed. One of the first decisions of the government of Macedonia was the refusal of the Albanian minority to create an autonomous region in the west of the country - the Republic of Illyria; so the peacekeepers did not have to sit idle.

On December 9 and 10, 1991, in Maastricht, the heads of the 12 states of the European Economic Community (EEC) decide to recognize all the new states (Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia) within the boundaries corresponding to the administrative division of the former Yugoslavia. Purely conditional borders, hastily drawn by Tito's henchmen in 1943, in order to formally not give the Serbs more rights than all other peoples, are now recognized as state. In Croatia, the Serbs did not even get autonomy! But since it actually already existed (no one lifted the siege of Zagreb, and the Ustashe were strong only in words), they assigned a certain “special status” to the extreme, which from now on will be guarded by 14,000 “blue helmets” (“peacekeeping” UN troops). The Serbs, albeit with reservations, are getting their way. The war ends, and self-government bodies are formed in Krajna. This small republic lasted a little over three years...

But Maastricht laid another ethnic mine. Until now, the most ethnically complex republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, has not declared its independence. The southwestern part of the country has long been inhabited by Croats; it was part of the historical region of Dalmatia. In the north adjoining Slavonia, the northwest, the east (on the border with Serbia) and in most of the central regions, the majority were Serbs. The Sarajevo region and the south were inhabited by Muslims. In total, 44% of Muslims, 32% of Orthodox Serbs, 17% of Catholic Croats, 7% of other nations (Hungarians, Albanians, Jews, Bulgarians, and so on) lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By "Muslims" we mean basically the same Serbs, but who converted to Islam during the years of the Turkish yoke.

The tragedy of the Serbs lies in the fact that the same people, divided by religion, shot at each other. In 1962, Tito ordered by special decree that all Yugoslav Muslims should henceforth be considered one nation. "Muslim" - has since been recorded in the "nationality" column. The situation was also difficult on the political stage. Back in 1990, in parliamentary elections, Croats voted for the Croatian Democratic Commonwealth (the Bosnian branch of the Tudjman party), Serbs for the Democratic Party (leader - Radovan Karadzic), Muslims for the Democratic Action Party (leader - Aliya Izetbegovic, he was also elected chairman of parliament, i.e. head of state).

Regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, on January 11, 1992, the following decision was made in Maastricht: the EEC recognizes its sovereignty if the majority of the population votes for it in a referendum. And again, according to the existing administrative boundaries! The referendum took place on February 29, 1992; he became the first page of the tragedy. Serbs did not come to vote, wishing to remain in Federal Yugoslavia, Croats and Muslims came to vote, but in total - no more than 38% of the total population. After that, in violation of all conceivable norms of democratic elections, the referendum was extended by Izetbegovic for another day, and many armed people in black uniforms and green headbands immediately appeared on the streets of Sarajevo - Aliya did not waste time to establish independence. By the evening of the second day, almost 64% had already voted, of course, the absolute majority was in favor.

The results of the referendum were recognized by the "world community" as valid. On the same day, the first blood was shed: a group of militants attacked a wedding procession passing by an Orthodox church. The Serbian who carried the national flag (this is the Serbian wedding ceremony) was killed, the rest were beaten and wounded. Immediately, the city was divided into three districts, and the streets were blocked by barricades. The Bosnian Serbs, represented by their leader Karadzic, did not recognize the referendum and hastily, literally within a week, held their own referendum, where they voted for a single state with Yugoslavia. The Republika Srpska was immediately proclaimed with its capital in the city of Pale. The war, which seemed impossible a week ago, broke out like a stack of dry hay.

Three Serbias appeared on the map of the former Yugoslavia. The first is the Serbian Krajina in Croatia (the capital is Knin), the second is the Republika Srpska in Bosnia (the capital is Pale), the third is the Serbian Republic (the capital is Belgrade), part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, proclaimed in the spring of 1992, where Montenegro entered the second part ( capital - Podgorica). Belgrade, unlike the EEC and the US, did not recognize independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. Milosevic demanded an end to the unrest in Sarajevo and the hostilities that had begun throughout the country, demanded guarantees of autonomy for the Bosnian Serbs, and called for the UN to intervene. At the same time, he ordered the troops to remain in the barracks for the time being, but to prepare for a possible evacuation; in the case of armed attempts to seize weapons depots and other military facilities - to defend. In response to the demands of Milosevic, Izetbegovic ... declared war on Serbia, Montenegro and the JNA on April 4, 1992, while signing an order on general mobilization. Further more.

In April 1992, the Croatian regular army invades the territory of Bosnia from the West (during the conflict, its number reached 100,000 people) and commits massive crimes against the Serbs. UN Security Council Resolution 787 directs Croatia to immediately withdraw its troops from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nothing of the sort followed. The UN was silent. But by resolution No. 757 of May 30, 1992, the UN Security Council imposes an economic embargo against Serbia and Montenegro! The trigger was an explosion in a market in Sarajevo, which most foreign observers in the city believe was carried out by Muslim terrorists.

On April 8, 1992, the United States recognized the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina; By that time, the war was already in full swing. From the very beginning of the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the US ruling circles took an open anti-Serb position and unashamedly supported all the separatists. When it came to the creation of Serbian autonomy, the United States did everything to prevent this. The reasons for this behavior are not difficult to find. First, the desire to finally destroy the communist camp; The states understood very well that the Serbian people were the unifying element in Yugoslavia, and if hard times were arranged for them, the country would fall apart. Serbs in general, as representatives of the Orthodox civilization, have never enjoyed the favor of the West.

Secondly, the oppression of the Serbs undermined the authority of Russia, which was unable to protect its historical allies; By doing this, the States showed to all countries oriented towards the former Soviet Union that now they are the only superpower in the world, and Russia no longer has any weight.

Thirdly, the desire to find the support and sympathy of the Islamic world, with which tense relations were maintained due to the American position on Israel; oil prices directly depend on the behavior of the countries of the Middle East, which, due to American imports of petroleum products, have a significant impact on the US economy.

Fourth, support for Germany's position on the former Yugoslavia, in order to prevent even a hint of a divergence of interests among NATO countries.

Fifthly, the expansion of its influence in the Balkan region, which is one of the steps in the plan to create a new world order in which the United States will have absolute power; The writings of the ideologists of American imperialism such as Z. Brzezinski, F. Fukuyama, and so on testify to the fact that such sentiments dominate a part of American society. For this, it was supposed to create several "pocket" Balkan states, burdened with constant inter-ethnic conflicts. The existence of these midgets would be supported by the US and its instrument of the UN in exchange for a pro-American policy. Relative peace would be maintained by NATO military bases, which would have absolute influence over the entire Balkan region. Assessing the situation today, we can say that the United States has achieved what it wants: NATO reigns supreme in the Balkans...

At the turn of 1980-1990, only in Serbia and Montenegro, progressive forces, having dissociated themselves from the rotten leadership of the Union of Communists, torn apart by nationalist aspirations and unable to make any constructive decisions to save the country from collapse, took a different path. Having organized the Socialist Party, they came out under the slogan of maintaining a united, indivisible Yugoslavia and won the elections.

The Union of Serbia and Montenegro lasted until May 2006. In a referendum organized by the ardent Westerner Djukanovic, President of Montenegro, its population voted by a narrow majority for independence from Serbia. Serbia has lost access to the sea.

The next piece that will inevitably be torn away from Serbia is its historical core of Kosovo and Metohija, where there is practically no Serbian population left. It is also possible to separate from Serbia Vojvodina, in which the percentage of the Hungarian population is significant. Macedonia is also on the verge of collapse, having once accepted a large number of Albanians, who are now actively demanding autonomy.

The independent state of the South Slavic peoples was formed in Europe in 1918. Since 1929, it became known as Yugoslavia, in 1945, after the country was liberated from fascist occupation, it was proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, and in 1963 it received the name of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). It included the union republics of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro. In addition, two autonomous regions were identified as part of Serbia - Vojvodina (with a significant Hungarian population) and Kosovo and Metohija (with a predominance of the Albanian population).

Despite the kinship of all the South Slavic peoples, significant religious and ethnolinguistic differences remained between them. So, Serbs, Montenegrins and Macedonians profess the Orthodox religion, Croats and Slovenes - Catholic, and Albanians and Muslim Slavs - Islam. Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins and Muslim Slavs speak Serbo-Croatian, Slovenes speak Slovene, and Macedonians speak Macedonian. Two scripts were used in the SFRY - based on Cyrillic (Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia) and Latin (Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina). It is important to emphasize that these ethnolinguistic features were supplemented by very significant differences of a socio-economic nature, primarily between the more developed Croatia and Slovenia and the less developed other parts of the SFRY, which also exacerbated many social contradictions. For example, Orthodox and Catholics believed that one of the main reasons for the country's high unemployment rate was the high population growth in its Muslim areas.

For the time being, the authorities of the SFRY managed to prevent extreme manifestations of nationalism and separatism. However, in 1991-1992. ethnic intolerance, aggravated by the fact that many borders between the union republics were initially drawn without due regard for the national and ethnic composition of the population, acquired a very large scale, and many political parties began to act under frankly nationalist slogans. As a result, it was during these years that the SFRY collapsed: in 1991, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia stood out from it, and in 1992 a new Yugoslav federation was formed - the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which included Serbia and Montenegro (Fig. 10). This rapid disintegration of the SFRY proceeded in various forms - both relatively peaceful (Slovenia, Macedonia) and extremely violent (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

The most peaceful character was the branch Slovenia, during which, although it was not possible to avoid a small armed conflict, it turned out to be only an episode in this rather calm “divorce” process. And in the future, no serious political, and even more so military-political complications did not arise here.

Separation from the SFRY Macedonia was accompanied not by military, but by diplomatic conflict. After the declaration of independence of this state, neighboring Greece refused to recognize it. The point here is that until 1912 Macedonia was part of the Ottoman Empire, and after the liberation from Turkish rule, its territory was divided between Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania. Consequently, independent Macedonia, separated from the SFRY, covered only one of the four parts of this historical region, and Greece was afraid that the new state would lay claim to its Greek part as well. Therefore, in the end, Macedonia was admitted to the UN with the wording "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".

Rice. ten. Independent states that emerged on the site of the former SFRY

Separation from the former SFRY was accompanied by much larger military-political complications. Croatia, in the population of which in the early 1990s. the share of Serbs exceeded 12%, and some of its regions have long been considered primordially Serbian. First of all, this refers to the so-called Military Krajna, a border region created back in the 16th-18th centuries. Austria and preserved in the XIX century. after the formation of Austria-Hungary along the border with the Ottoman Empire. It was here that many Orthodox Serbs settled, who fled from the persecution of the Turks. Based on their numerical superiority, even during the existence of the SFRY, these Serbs announced the creation of their autonomous region of Krajina within the Federal Republic of Croatia, and after Croatia left the SFRY at the end of 1991, they proclaimed the formation of an independent Republic of Serbian Krajina with a center in Knin , announcing its separation from Croatia. However, this self-proclaimed republic was not recognized by the UN, which sent a peacekeeping contingent to Croatia to prevent the military development of the conflict. And in 1995, Croatia, choosing the moment when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was economically greatly weakened by a severe embargo from Western countries, sent its troops to Krajina, and a few days later the Republic of Croatian Serbs ceased to exist. In 1998, Croatia also regained the territory of Eastern Slavonia, captured by the Serbs back in 1991 as a result of a bloody military operation. This development of events gave reason to the Serbian radicals to accuse the then President of the FRY Slobodan Milosevic of "betraying Krayna."

Rice. eleven. Resettlement of the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The former Soviet republic of the SFRY became the arena of even more irreconcilable military-political and ethno-religious confrontation Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was distinguished by the most multinational composition of the population, which for many centuries served as the root cause of various kinds of ethnic conflicts. According to the 1991 census, Serbs made up 31% of its inhabitants, Muslims 44%, Croats 17%, and the rest were other ethnic groups. After the declaration of independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it turned out that Serbs make up the majority in its northern and eastern regions, Muslims in the central regions, and Croats in the western regions (Fig. 11).

The unwillingness of Serbs and Croats to end up in a Muslim state, and Muslims in a Christian one from the very beginning of the independent existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina led to a confrontation between them, which in the spring of 1992 escalated into a civil war. At its first stage, the Bosnian Serbs won, who, relying on the forces of the Yugoslav army stationed in the republic, captured almost 3/4 of its entire territory, starting "ethnic cleansing" in Muslim areas and actually turning Muslim cities into enclaves, surrounded on all sides by Serbian troops. The most striking example of this kind is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo, the siege of which by the Serbs lasted more than three years and cost the lives of tens of thousands of its inhabitants. As a result of the national-religious delimitation on the territory with a predominance of the Serb population, the Bosnian Republika Srpska was proclaimed. Croats and Muslims at first also formed their own republics, but in 1994, on the basis of an anti-Serb union, they created a single Bosnian Muslim-Croat federation.

At the same time, during the war, a turning point occurred not in favor of the Serbs, which can be explained by several reasons. First, against the government of the FRY, accused of interfering in the affairs of a neighboring state and armed support for the struggle of the Bosnian Serbs, the UN Security Council imposed severe international sanctions. Secondly, the leader of the unrecognized Bosnian Republic of Srpska, Radovan Karadzic, was accused of organizing "ethnic cleansing" and declared a war criminal. Thirdly, the Western allies and many Muslim states began to arm the Bosnian Muslim army, which, as a result, increased its combat effectiveness noticeably. Finally, fourthly, American, British and French aircraft began to bomb the positions of the Bosnian Serbs.

The Bosnian war ended in the late autumn of 1995. Under the peace agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina formally retained the status of an independent state with a single president, parliament, central government and other authorities. But in fact it was divided into two parts. One of them was formed by the Muslim-Croatian federation with a territory of 26,000 km 2 , a population of 2.3 million people and a capital in Sarajevo, which has its own president, parliament and government. On the other side, the Republika Srpska was formed with a territory of 25,000 km2, a population of more than 1 million people, and the capital in Banja Luka. The configuration of the territory of the Republika Srpska is very bizarre: following the settlement of the Bosnian Serbs, it borders, as it were, the more compact territory of the Muslim-Croat federation on the northern and eastern sides. The Republika Srpska also has its own president, its own parliament and government.

Both the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska are self-proclaimed states, since neither is recognized by the UN. Many of the old contradictions remain between them, especially in view of the insufficiently clearly defined border line. So new armed conflicts are avoided here mainly due to the fact that at the end of 1995, NATO troops were sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina under the flag of peacekeeping, and then the UN peacekeeping contingent; his mandate has already been extended several times. The international peacekeeping forces also include Russian troops.

However, all this is only a visible stabilization of the situation, which has not resolved the main controversial issues. For example, peacekeeping forces have failed to ensure the return of refugees to their places of origin. But this is perhaps the main task of democratizing life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the UN, the number of refugees in the entire territory of the former SFRY amounted to 2.3 million people, with the vast majority of them in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Fig. 12). And only about 400 thousand of them returned, including a little more than 200 thousand to Bosnia and Herzegovina. a few percent.

Rice. 12. Refugee flows in the territory of the former SFRY

The next act of the Yugoslav drama took place in the late 1990s. and was associated with the problems of the historical area Kosovo and Metohija, located in the southern part of Serbia. This region occupies 11,000 km 2 , and its population, 9/10 of which are Muslim Albanians, is 1.9 million people.

The historical region of Kosovo and Metohija (Kosovo occupies its eastern plain, and Metohija - its western mountainous part) played a huge role in the formation of Serbian statehood. Numerous historical and architectural monuments that have survived to this day testify to this. However, in the XIV century. Kosovo's early prosperity was interrupted by the invasion of the Ottoman Turks. It was here, on the now famous Kosovo Field, that the decisive battle took place between the army of the Turkish Sultan Murad I and the Serbian militia, which was defeated by the Turks. Since that time, the lands of Kosovo and Metohija began to fall into disrepair and at the same time be populated by Albanians who adopted the Muslim faith. Gradually, there were more and more Albanians here, and after Turkey lost its possessions in Europe and an independent Albania was formed in 1912, the Kosovo Albanians began to make attempts to reunite their lands with it. To some extent, they were realized only in 1941, when fascist Germany, having occupied Yugoslavia, created a “Great Albania” consisting of Albania, most of Kosovo and Metohija and part of the Macedonian and Montenegrin lands with an Albanian population.

After the Second World War, the historical region of Kosovo and Metohija, as part of the first national and then socialist federal Yugoslavia, from the very beginning received fairly wide autonomy, and according to the 1974 constitution, this autonomous region actually became an independent subject of the federation with very wide rights (with the exception of the right to withdraw from Serbia). However, in the early 1980s, after the death of the leader of the country, Marshal Tito, Albanian nationalism and separatism intensified again, and anti-Serb demonstrations began in Kosovo. In response to this, in 1989 the Serbian central authorities effectively abolished the autonomy of Kosovo and Metohija. However, this action further exacerbated the situation in the province, and it was aggravated by the fact that, according to all the main economic indicators, Kosovo occupied the last place in the country: its share in national income and industrial production was only 2%. But in terms of the number of unemployed and the proportion of illiterates, Kosovo ranked first.

When the collapse of the SFRY began, the Kosovo Albanians also declared independence and created the Republic of Kosovo. Since the authorities of Serbia, of course, did not recognize this republic, dual power actually arose in the region. In preparation for the war, the Kosovo Albanians created their own military organization - the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Illegal deliveries of weapons to Kosovo from Albania began, and militants arrived from there.

The situation became especially aggravated in 1998, when the Yugoslav authorities tried to liquidate the KLA bases. Western countries actually supported the Albanian separatists, who openly declared their intention to secede from the FRY. Negotiations began with the participation of various mediators, which, however, did not lead to anything. As a result, the Serbs faced a choice: either give up Kosovo, or enter into an unequal struggle with NATO. They preferred the second path, and then, without the sanction of the UN Security Council, NATO countries began massive bombardments of Yugoslavia, and the military contingents of this bloc actually occupied Kosovo, dividing the territory of the region into areas of responsibility. So Kosovo actually turned into a protectorate of Western countries, under the control of the UN mission (UNMIK) and NATO control. But the Albanian nationalists continued to insist on the complete independence of the region, despite the UN Security Council resolution on the preservation of the territorial integrity of Serbia. At the same time, they relied on the support of the United States and the EU countries, which intervened in this essentially intra-Serbian conflict, proving that Kosovo is a unique case and will not lead to a chain reaction in other self-proclaimed states. Serbia, Russia and many other countries opposed such a policy, which violates the principle of the territorial integrity of states. Lengthy negotiations failed, and in February 2008 the Kosovo parliament unilaterally adopted a declaration of sovereignty. But it was not accepted by Serbia, which does not want to lose 15% of its territory, Russia, China and dozens of other countries of the world. Because of the position of the permanent members of the Security Council of Russia and China, Kosovo has no chance of joining the UN.

In 2000–2002 on the territory of the former SFRY there was a new aggravation of the domestic and foreign political situation. This time it was connected with Macedonia and Montenegro.

Aggravation of the situation in Macedonia also directly linked to Kosovo.

Approximately one third of the population of Macedonia are Muslim Albanians, living compactly in areas adjacent to the territories of Albania and Kosovo. At the same time, the number and proportion of Albanians in the population of this country are gradually increasing due to the higher rates of natural growth characteristic of this ethnic community and the recent increase in migration inflow. The events that took place here in the spring of 2001, when large groups of Albanian militants invaded Macedonia from Kosovo and began shelling its settlements, in essence, represented another attempt to implement the old idea of creating a “Great Albania”. These actions brought discord into the relationship between the Macedonian Albanians and ethnic Macedonians, who had always coexisted relatively peacefully before. Not only ethnic, but also economic division between them has intensified. Local Albanians also began to demand self-determination. Truces between Albanians and Macedonians have been concluded and broken many times. As a result, NATO sent its peacekeeping contingent to Macedonia.

The aggravation of relations between the two constituent parts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Serbia and Montenegro - has been brewing for a long time. Management Montenegro began to insist not even on the transformation of the federation into a confederation, but on secession from the FRY and obtaining full independence. A referendum was being prepared on this issue. Only thanks to the efforts of Western diplomacy in early 2002 was it possible to achieve a more or less compromise solution - to transform the FRY into a new state called Serbia and Montenegro. The final formalization of the confederation of Serbia and Montenegro took place at the end of 2002, and at the beginning of 2003 it became the 45th member of the Council of Europe. However, the new state lasted only until May 2008, the new government of Montenegro held a referendum on full sovereignty, for which 55% of all residents voted. So a new state appeared on the map of Europe, and the collapse of Yugoslavia was completely completed.

One of his works devoted to the problems of the former SFRY, Professor of Moscow State University E. B. Valev, a prominent specialist in the geography of the Balkan countries, called the “Yugoslav tangle”. Indeed, such a phrase is perhaps most suitable for characterizing the geopolitical and national-religious situation that has developed in this part of Europe over the past decade.

One of the important crises of the last century was the collapse of Yugoslavia. Despite the fact that now there are no special claims on the part of this state, the crisis played a major role in the foreign policy situation that continues to this day.

Let's try to figure it out: what are the reasons for this event, how did it develop, the main positions of the participants in the crisis, how did the world map change after this "war"?

How many countries was Yugoslavia divided into? How did American intervention affect this process?

List of countries of the former Yugoslavia and their capitals

Yugoslavia (the current capital of the country - Belgrade) was part of the Soviet Union as one of the republics - the SFRY.

Information about its member states and their capitals, about areas and population is displayed in the table:

In addition, this territory was inhabited by people of different nationalities. The vast majority were Serbs. In addition to them, Croats, Albanians, Montenegrins, Macedonians and Slovenes were present in the population.

Reasons for the collapse of Yugoslavia

Why did the Balkan crisis occur?

The main factors identified by historians:

death of the first president (former leader) Tito;
the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent "wear and tear" of the socialist system;
flourishing nationalism throughout the world.

As another prerequisite for the split, many scientists attribute the wrong internal policy of a multinational state. According to the constitution of Yugoslavia, at that time the authorities of the republics could create groups within their "possessions".

The beginning of the collapse

This story began at the same time as the collapse of the USSR, in 1991. The date of complete collapse is considered to be 2006. What happened?

A civil war began, during which 4 sovereign parts separated from Yugoslavia. Only Serbia and Montenegro remained, the rest became independent states.

post-war period

It would seem that there should be an end to the conflict, the division of countries to come to naught. However, hostilities broke out due to an external factor.

Under the influence of NATO, there were major bloody military dramas in Serbia and Croatia, in which more than 2 million people were injured. And only after the agreement signed in 1995, the society recognized the withdrawal of 4 republics from Yugoslavia.

Despite all UN peacekeeping actions, at the end of the 20th century, extremist uprisings of Albanians broke out, which resulted in the death of another 0.5 million people.

The "Kosovo crisis" still remains an unresolved problem of the early 21st century.

Division of territory in the late 20th century

By the end of the 20th century, Yugoslavia was divided into 5 countries. But the financial division of property dragged on for quite a long period of time.

It was not until 2004 that an agreement was reached that specified the countries and the amounts assigned to them. Moreover, a large amount went to Serbia (about 39% of total assets).

Many of our domestic historians believe that such a division is unfair, because the USSR had huge debts to foreign branches of Yugoslav companies. Therefore, in 2006 the Russian Federation paid this amount.

Map of Yugoslavia: before and after the collapse

The first picture shows a map of Yugoslavia before it was divided into separate independent states.

The second picture shows a map of Yugoslavia with new states.

What countries did the country split into

Five states into which Yugoslavia broke up by 2003:

Croatia;
Bosnia and Herzegovina;
Slovenia;
Macedonia;
FRY (successor of the former multinational state):
- - Slovenia;
  - Montenegro.

Yugoslavia was finally divided when Montenegro left the FRY in June 2006.

American intervention

From the very beginning of the Balkan crisis, America actively intervened in this process. Her policy was aimed at using force (on Serbia) and supporting 2 opposition parties. This led to the impossibility of peaceful regulation of the conflict.

In 1995, with the support of NATO, hostilities were unleashed in Serbia and Croatia, during which more than 1 million people were killed and about 2 million people were injured.

At the end of the same year, at the initiative of American diplomats, an agreement was signed on the withdrawal of 4 countries from Yugoslavia and the cessation of hostilities throughout the territory of the former multinational state.

At the end of the 20th century, America played an important role in the "fight against extremists", inflicting huge damage with its numerous raids, which prompted the withdrawal of Montenegro from the FRY.

Of particular importance was NATO's intervention in the Kosovo crisis. To this day, this conflict remains unresolved.

Conclusion

Despite the difficult geopolitical situation, Russia is now conducting a diplomatic policy with the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In addition, technological progress is planned in almost all spheres of life in these independent states.