What Happened to Yugoslavia
Why did the nation fall apart after Tito’s death?
Yugoslavia was a country created after World War I which attempted to pull the complicated politics of the region into a single entity.
History
The widely accepted catalyst for the start of World War I was the assassination of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Pincip. The response by Austria-Hungary was a list of demands that was so excessive that it could not be accepted. Threats and demands between Austria and Serbia ultimately pulled Europe into war due to an ill-conceived alliance system.
At the end of World War I, the victorious powers of Europe drew national lines to carve up Europe. Most of the new countries were constituted of a single ethnic block like: Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia for example . But the area of Yugoslavia was created as a mix of nationalities and was called “The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.” The King of Serbia, Peter I, was the first royal. In 1929, the new King (Alexander I) renamed the state “The Kingdom of Yugoslavia” which translates loosely to “The Kingdom of the South Slavs”. Books of the day document a country of different ethnicities tied together uncomfortably. Rebecca West’s book Black Lamb and Grey Falcon document this period well.
During World War II, Yugoslavia was occupied primarily by Germany, with smaller sections occupied by Italy and Bulgaria. (A puppet fascist regime was set up in Croatia, that still angers the people of Serbia.) Joseph Tito lead the guerrilla resistance against he Fascist powers. The most successful resistance group was communist at the time, and Joseph Tito lead both the military and political insurgents.
After World War II, Joseph Tito took power in Yugoslavia, with the backing of Russia. He was a unifying leader, born to Slovene and Croatian parents. He was well loved but most of the country, and is still beloved in many of the new republics. moved Yugoslavia out of Moscow’s orbit in 1948. He managed a non-aligned path in a world that was forced to choose a side.
Field Marshall Tito kept the country together, giving each region more autonomy and control, which keeping Yugoslavia firmly together. He died in 1980. As other Eastern European countries overthrew communist leaders, Yugoslavia began to break up.
Geography
The maintenance of a central government by Joseph Tito was quite a feat in retrospect. After his death, the country fell apart along some traditional fault lines.
The Fault Line of Europe
The geographic position of Yugoslavia was along some of the most difficult and complex areas of Europe. For example:
The Julian Alps delineate a divide between east and west. In areas like Bosnia and Montenegro a series of mountainous valleys define the central area and make travel problematic.
The religious schism of Rome left the western half of Europe Catholic, and the Eastern half Orthodox. The line dividing these religions left Croatia and Slovenia as Catholic and Serbia, Montenegro and North Montenegro as Orthodox.
The furthest reach of the Ottoman Empire reached into Yugoslavia and left a third religion, Islam, in the region. Bosnia Herzegovina and Kosovo have very significant populations of Muslims.
The primary alphabet used was Cyrillic in Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The Latin alphabet was used in Croatia and Slovenia. Technically both alphabets were official, but the Latin alphabet had more and more adherents.
Serbia is more aligned with Russia than the West. The other countries that arose all look towards the West with membership in NATO, and the fact or desire to join the European Unions.
The Cold War divided Europe up into Communist and Western blocks. Yugoslavia was on the border. It started in the Communist camp, but later Tito pulled the region into the non-aligned movement. It was courted and threatened by both groups. This led to major differences of opinion in each Republic.
Economically, Croatia and Slovenia were focused on tourism while Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia were more reliant on heavy industries. This led to a marked difference in unemployment rates, with rates in Slovene and Croatia much lower than Kosovo and Macedonia (for example). And the associated nationalism that comes with such differences.
Currently
The dissolution of Yugoslavia fell along the line of the previously constituted Republics, albeit in steps across a few decades. All of these countries are proclaimed democracies, albeit flawed in many cases. Serbia is drifting into an Illiberal Democratic system.
Bosnia Herzegovina is kind of a democracy, but still based on along the ethnic lines the Dayton Accords from 1995. The accords were originally due to expire fairly quickly with a permanent peace negotiated between the Bosnia Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks – which are religious divisions not racial. Almost no progress towards a politic solution has been made yet.
Serbia still looks towards Russia as a senior partner, and has allowed Russians access to the country. One reason the Russia is so popular in Serbia is that Russia does not recognize the country of Kosovo, which Serbia still maintains is part of Serbia.
The Balkan region, particularly the southwest portion (ex-Yugoslavia + Albania), has been a flash point in Europe for over 1,000 years, expecting the future to be the same seems the most probable outcome.