Transcript No Slide Title

Slide 1
Battle in the Balkans
Major Carlos Rascon
Slide 2
Introduction
During the 1980s and early 90s, the fall of
Communism in Yugoslavia led to the
emergence new governments in the formerly
controlled republics. With the struggle for
power taking place, many atrocities of war
were committed by Slobodan Milosevic in
Serbia. On 24 March 1999 the United
Nations launched air-strikes to end the war in
Serbia.
Slide 3
Learning Objectives
1. The student will understand the reasons for
the downfall of Yugoslavia
2. The student will comprehend the battles of
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
3. The student will comprehend the reasons for
war in Kosovo
4. The student will comprehend the effects of
NATO involvement in Kosovo
Slide 4
References
1. Brawley, Mark R., Martin, Pierre, Alliance
Politics, Kosovo, and Nato’s War: Allied
Force or Forced Allies, 2000
2. DiPrizio, Robert C., Armed Humanitarians:
U.S. Interventions from Northern Iraq to
Kosovo, 2002
3. Donia, Robert J., Fine, John V.A. Jr.,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1994
Slide 5
References Cont.
4. Hosmer, Stephen T., Conflict over Kosovo,
2001
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History of Yugoslavia
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1. Under Josip Tito, Yugoslavia had strong
Communist control
Republics were established in 1946
2. After his death in 1980, many of the
Republics pushed for independence from
Serbian rule
3. Slobodan Milosevic became the President of
the Communist Party in Serbia
4. 1989- Milosevic became the President of
Serbia
Slide 8
History Cont.

In the first meaningful election in 1990, Nationalist
representatives won in 5 of the 6 Republics
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1991-Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina
declare their independence from Yugoslavia

All feared living under Serbian rule
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War Breaks Out
Slobodan Milosevic immediately sent troops
to Slovenia
 Slovenia was an industrial area under
Yugoslav rule and is well prepared for attack
 Easily repel JNA (Yugoslavia National Army)
and Serbian forces
 Withdrawal in two weeks
 Milosevic then sent JNA and Serbian troops
into Croatia
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Slovenia and Croatia
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By early 1992, Serb forces control 1/3 of
Croatia
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Cease-fire ends the conflict temporarily
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U.N. sends in 14,000 forces to monitor
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1995- Better equipped Croation military
pushed out JNA and Serb forces
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Bosnia-Herzegovina
After declaring independence, they
immediately elect a Croat-Muslim
Government
 44% Muslim
 31% Serb
 17% Croat
 2. Serbs initiated the attack
 Hit vulnerable Muslim and Croat targets
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Slide 14
Bosnia-Herzegovina Cont.
Serbs wanted to take Bosnia to extend
Serbian territory
 Serbs were able to take about 70% of Bosnia
 Early in the war, Croats and Muslims were
fighting as allies
 uneasy alliance
 The Croatian fighting forces in Bosnia were
being supplied from Croatia
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Slide 15
Bosnia Cont.
In 1993, the Bosnian-Croats had turned on
their Muslim allies
 Wanted to gain the Herzegovina area for
Croatia
 1995- Increased U.S. and U.N. pressure
persuaded the Bosnian-Croats to cease
fighting with the Muslims and focus on Serbs
 Muslims were poorly equipped

Slide 16
Bosnia Cont.
Needed the Bosnian-Croats support to
survive Serbian attack
 1995- NATO forces assist BosniaHerzegovina forces with air-strikes and resupplies
 Serbs are forced to sign the Dayton Peace
Accord
 Calls for NATO troop enforcement
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Slide 17
Battle for Kosovo
Slide 18
Kosovo
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1995- Due to violations of the Yugoslavia
Constitution in 1946 , ethnic Albanians in Kosovo
resorted to violence against Serb officials
 The Constitution declared Kosovo an autonomous
providence of Serbia
 Albanians were given the right to run internal affairs
of Kosovo
 Albanian population in Kosovo was about 90%
Milosevic had abolished Kosovo’s autonomy
Slide 19
Kosovo Cont.
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was formed to
try to gain rights for the Albanians
 Milosevic had a deep hatred for the
Albanians in Kosovo
 Was elected as President on a promise to fix
the “Albanian Problem” in Kosovo
 Wanted stronger political control of Kosovo
 Wanted to eliminate the Albanian race from
Serbia
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Kosovo Cont.
In 1998, Milosevic launched a military
campaign is Kosovo to end the KLA attacks
 Burned down homes
 Killed thousands of ethnic Albanians
 Many Albanians were forced to flee
 In October 1998, U.N. threatened air-strikes
if the violence did not cease
 Milosevic backed down

Slide 21
Kosovo Cont.
January 1999- Serb forces massacred 45
civilians in the villiage of Racak
 March 1999- Serbia launches an all out
offensive in Kosovo
 Was based on the belief of “ethnic cleansing”
 Wanted to eliminate the ethnic Albanian
population from Serbia
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Slide 22
Kosovo Cont.
24 March 1999 NATO launches Operation
“Allied Force”
 Led by U.S.
 11 nations involved
 Bombing campaign lasted about 12 weeks
 Destroyed most of the Serbian Infrastructure
 Serbs responded by murdering more
Albanians
 Video 3min Air War in Serbia
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Slide 23
Kosovo Cont.
20 June 1999 the campaign is ended
 Milosevic gives in to NATO demands
 Makes a 4 phase withdrawal
 NATO peace-keeping forces still remain in
the region today
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Aftermath
NATO Losses
 3 aircraft (including 1 F-117A)
 2 Apache helicopters
 30 UAV’s
 No published Reports
 Much of the Serb infrastructure was thought
to be destroyed based on the declining
resistance later in the campaign
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Slide 26
Aftermath Cont.
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1 Chinese Embassy
Slide 27
War Crimes Tribunal
1 April 2001 Serbian police arrested
Milosevic
 29 June 2001 Serbian officials hand
Milosevic over to international authorities
 Extradited to the Hague to stand trial for war
crimes
 Trial is still going on today
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Slide 28
Summary
History of Yugoslavia
 Croatia and Slovenia
 Bosnia-Herzegovina
 Kosovo
 Operation “Allied Force”
 War Crimes Tribunal

Slide 29
Questions?
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