93-652: Yugoslav Revolution may refer to: Revolution in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, also known as the Bulldozer Revolution or the 5 October Revolution, a series of protests leading to the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000 National Liberation War and Socialist Revolution in Yugoslavia during World War II, that overthrew the Axis occupation in
186-583: A " Greater Serbia " from parts of Croatia and Bosnia . Other irredentist movements have also been brought into connection with the Yugoslav Wars, such as " Greater Albania " (from Kosovo , idea abandoned following international diplomacy) and " Greater Croatia " (from parts of Herzegovina , abandoned in 1994 with the Washington Agreement ). Often described as one of Europe's deadliest armed conflicts since World War II ,
279-651: A CIA official who worked in the Balkans, said Milosevic was a "genocidal maniac"; when asked whether U.S. intelligence supported protests against the Serbian president, he said "It was a broad-spectrum involvement." David Shimer quotes an unnamed senior U.S. administration official in 2000 who took umbrage at the revelations of former U.S. intelligence officers: "I can’t talk about what we did or didn’t do. I’m just not going to talk about it...They may not take their oaths and legal obligations seriously, but I do." A DOS victory
372-630: A June 2000 meeting in Berlin that she wanted to see Milošević removed from power. Homen also met at the U.S. Embassy in Hungary with former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia William Dale Montgomery . According to Montgomery, "Milošević was personal for Madeleine Albright, a very high priority." He added: "She wanted him gone, and Otpor was ready to stand up to the regime with a vigor and in a way that others were not. Seldom has so much fire, energy, enthusiasm, money — everything — gone into anything as into Serbia in
465-449: A Yugoslav Royalist and Serbian nationalist movement and guerrilla force , committed mass crimes against Muslims and Croats that are considered a genocide by several authors, and they also supported the instatement of a Serbian monarchy and the establishment of a Yugoslav federation. The Communist -led Yugoslav Partisans were able to appeal to all groups, including Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks, and also engaged in mass killings. In 1945,
558-562: A decade been a symbol and bastion of Milošević's rule. When their studios were taken over, the station was quickly renamed Novi RTS ("New RTS") as a sign that the regime had lost power. Although the protest was mostly peaceful, without a larger escalation of violence, 65 people were injured in the riots and two people died: In the time between elections and the protest, Milošević said that he would gladly resign but only when his term expired in June ;2001. Due to pressure caused by
651-504: A highway attack between Pristina and Mitrovica, and arrested more than 100 Albanian militants. Adem Jashari, as one of the founders and leaders of the KLA, was convicted of terrorism in absentia by a Yugoslav court on 11 July 1997. Human Rights Watch subsequently described the trial, in which fourteen other Kosovo Albanians were also convicted, as "[failing] to conform to international standards". The NATO North Atlantic Council claimed
744-617: A lesser extent, Croatian populations in Bosnia-Hercegovina". A telegram sent to the White House on 8 February 1994 by U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, Peter W. Galbraith , stated that genocide was occurring. The telegram cited "constant and indiscriminate shelling and gunfire" of Sarajevo by Karadzic's Yugoslav People Army; the harassment of minority groups in Northern Bosnia "in an attempt to force them to leave"; and
837-542: A potential electoral opponent. His decomposed body was found three years later in March ;2003. The four officers who had kidnapped him were sentenced. Milošević was charged for initiating the assassination. Soon after the announcement, the anti-government youth movement Otpor! led the campaign to topple the administration and introduce a transparent democracy. To unify opposition, eighteen parties in Serbia formed
930-607: A referendum on "sovereignty and autonomy of Serbian people in Croatia" on 17 August 1990. Their boycott escalated into an insurrection in areas populated by ethnic Serbs, mostly around Knin, known as the Log Revolution . Local police in Knin sided with the growing Serbian insurgency, while many government employees, mostly police where commanding positions were mainly held by Serbs, lost their jobs. The new Croatian constitution
1023-611: A result, the JNA opposed Croatian independence and sided with the Croatian Serb rebels. The Croatian Serb rebels were unaffected by the embargo because they were supported and supplied by the JNA. By mid-July 1991, the JNA moved an estimated 70,000 troops to Croatia. The fighting rapidly escalated, eventually spanning hundreds of square kilometers from western Slavonia through Banija to Dalmatia. Border regions faced direct attacks from forces within Serbia and Montenegro. In August 1991,
SECTION 10
#17328009712391116-496: A second round between Koštunica and Milošević would take place. The vote was largely boycotted in Montenegro and by Kosovo Albanians (not under Yugoslav control). Yet, Milošević officially won by a large margin in these parts of the country. These unexpected results provoked stronger accusations of election fraud and led DOS to call for peaceful protests to topple the government. Some obvious irregularities could be found in
1209-414: A strategy to strip the leader of his legitimacy, turn his security forces against him, and force him to call for elections, the result of which he would not acknowledge. In 1998, a dozen students met to form Otpor! (Serbian for "resistance"). Analysing the mistakes of the 1996–97 protests , they realised they needed more effective organisation, strategy, planning, recruiting, and everything necessary for
1302-535: A sustained fight. Galvanised by outrage over new laws that imposed political control of their universities and harassment of independent media, the Otpor students called for the removal of Milošević and the establishment of democracy and the rule of law. Prior to this, Milošević was cracking down on opposition, non-government organisations and independent media. From 1991 onwards there were campaigns of civil resistance against his administration that were to culminate in
1395-645: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bulldozer Revolution Anti-government protesters led by Democratic Opposition of Serbia Civic organizations: [REDACTED] Federal government of Yugoslavia Government parties: Vojislav Koštunica Zoran Đinđić Velimir Ilić Goran Svilanović Čedomir Jovanović Srđa Popović Slobodan Milošević Momir Bulatović Mirko Marjanović Radomir Marković Mirjana Marković President of Serbia and Yugoslavia Elections Family The Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević began in
1488-620: Is thought to have inspired the Georgia's Rose Revolution . Serbia's opposition organisation Otpor has been involved in training students in civil disobedience in Georgia. Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related ethnic conflicts , wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFR Yugoslavia). The conflicts both led up to and resulted from
1581-531: The Battle of Vukovar began, where fierce fighting took place with around 1,800 Croat fighters blocking the JNA's advance into Slavonia. By the end of October, the town was almost completely devastated as a result of land shelling and air bombardment. The Siege of Dubrovnik started in October with the shelling of UNESCO World Heritage Site Dubrovnik , where the international press was criticised for focusing on
1674-466: The Bosniaks , who wanted to preserve the territorial integrity of the newly independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina , and the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb proto-state Republika Srpska and the self-proclaimed Croat Herzeg-Bosnia , which were led and supplied by Serbia and Croatia respectively, reportedly with a goal of the partition of Bosnia , which would leave only a small part of land for
1767-512: The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition, with Vojislav Koštunica as the candidate to confront Milošević. Apart from this, two major opposition parties, Serbian Radical Party and Serbian Renewal Movement also had candidates ( Tomislav Nikolić and Vojislav Mihailović , respectively), but the main battle of the elections was the one between Milošević and Koštunica. The election campaign lasted for about two months and
1860-574: The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FPRY) was established under Josip Broz Tito , who maintained a strongly authoritarian leadership that suppressed nationalism . After Tito's death in 1980, relations between the six republics of the federation deteriorated. Slovenia , Croatia and Kosovo desired greater autonomy within the Yugoslav confederation, while Serbia sought to strengthen federal authority. As it became clear that there
1953-486: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the general election on 24 September 2000 and culminated in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević 's government on 5 October 2000. As such, it is commonly referred to as the 5 October Revolution ( Serbian : Петооктобарска револуција, Petooktobarska revolucija ) or colloquially the Bulldozer Revolution ( Serbian : Багер револуција, Bager revolucija ), after one of
SECTION 20
#17328009712392046-778: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by the UN in The Hague, Netherlands , to prosecute all individuals who had committed war crimes during the conflicts. According to the International Center for Transitional Justice , the Yugoslav Wars resulted in the deaths of 140,000 people, while the Humanitarian Law Center estimates at least 130,000 casualties. Over their decade-long duration,
2139-547: The Kolubara mines on 29 September, which produced most of Serbia 's electricity. The protest reached its height on 5 October 2000. Several hundred thousand protesters from all over Serbia arrived in Belgrade to protest, chanting "Gotov je!" ("He's finished!") Unlike previous protests, there was no large scale police crackdown. The parliament was partially burned during the protests. Ljubisav Đokić (1943-2020)
2232-692: The Socialist Republic of Serbia , Kosovo's autonomy suffered and so the region was faced with state-organized oppression: from the early 1990s, Albanian language radio and television were restricted and newspapers shut down. Kosovar Albanians were fired in large numbers from public enterprises and institutions, including banks, hospitals, the post office and schools. In June 1991, the University of Priština assembly and several faculty councils were dissolved and replaced by Serbs. Kosovar Albanian teachers were prevented from entering school premises for
2325-413: The breakup of Yugoslavia , which began in mid-1991, into six independent countries matching the six entities known as republics that had previously constituted Yugoslavia: Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Montenegro , Serbia , and Macedonia (now called North Macedonia ). SFR Yugoslavia's constituent republics declared independence due to unresolved tensions between ethnic minorities in
2418-610: The 1940s and established the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Yugoslav Revolution . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yugoslav_Revolution&oldid=1238153818 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2511-570: The 1992 referendum on independence. They failed to persuade people not to vote, and instead the intimidating atmosphere combined with a Serb boycott of the vote resulted in a resounding 99% vote in support for independence. On 19 June 1992, the war in Bosnia broke out, though the Siege of Sarajevo had already begun in April after Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared independence. The conflict, typified by
2604-523: The 2022 Ukraine war. The areas of "Sector East", unaffected by the Croatian military operations, came under UN administration ( UNTAES ), and were reintegrated to Croatia in 1998 under the terms of the Erdut Agreement . On 2 April 1992, a conflict engulfed Bosnia and Herzegovina as it also declared independence from rump Yugoslavia. The war was predominantly a territorial conflict between
2697-694: The Bosniaks. On 18 December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly issued resolution 47/121 in which it condemned Serbian and Montenegrin forces for trying to acquire more territories by force. The Yugoslav armed forces had disintegrated into a largely Serb-dominated military force. The JNA opposed the Bosnian-majority led government's agenda for independence, and along with other armed nationalist Serb militant forces attempted to prevent Bosnian citizens from voting in
2790-633: The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina required the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska to recognize all "constituent peoples" as entitled to full equality throughout the nation. Similarly, Article X of the constitution declares that the rights and freedoms defined in Article II may not be altered. Features like these are common throughout the constitution in order to assuage feelings of mistrust between
2883-592: The Croatian Army and the combined Bosnian and Croat forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted an operation codenamed Operation Mistral in September 1995 to push back Bosnian Serb military gains. The advances on the ground along with NATO air strikes put pressure on the Bosnian Serbs to come to the negotiating table. Pressure was put on all sides to stick to the cease-fire and negotiate an end to
Yugoslav Revolution - Misplaced Pages Continue
2976-563: The Croats and Serbs who lived there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many early proponents of a united Yugoslavia came from this region, such as Ante Trumbić , a Croat from Dalmatia. However, by the time of the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars, any hospitable relations between Croats and Serbs in Dalmatia had broken down, with Dalmatian Serbs fighting on the side of the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina . Even though
3069-502: The Federal Electoral Committee official results. For example, the sum of the numbers of valid and invalid votes was not equal to the number of voters; the sum of the numbers of the voters voting at the polling stations and the voters voting at home exceeded the total number of voters; the sum of the numbers of the used and the unused ballot papers was short by 117,244 in comparison to the number of eligible voters,
3162-445: The KLA undertook a series of attacks against police stations and Yugoslav government employees, saying that the Yugoslav authorities had killed Albanian civilians as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign. On 22 April 1996, four attacks on Serbian security personnel were carried out almost simultaneously in several parts of Kosovo. In January 1997, Serbian security forces assassinated KLA commander Zahir Pajaziti and two other leaders in
3255-516: The KLA was "the main initiator of the violence" and that it had "launched what appears to be a deliberate campaign of provocation". Pursuing Jashari for the murder of a Serb policeman, the Serbian forces again attempted to assault the Jashari compound in Prekaz on 22 January 1998. Between 1991 and 1997, mostly in 1996–97, 39 persons were killed by the KLA. Attacks between 1996 and February 1998 led to
3348-476: The KLA. The KLA sought to destabilize the region, hoping the United States and NATO would intervene. Serbian patrols were ambushed and policemen were killed. It was only in the next year that the KLA organization took responsibility for these attacks. The KLA, originally composed of a few hundred Albanians, attacked several police stations and wounded many police officers in 1996–1997. In February 1996
3441-571: The Ten-Day War in Slovenia. The Croatian War of Independence began when Serbs in Croatia , who were opposed to Croatian independence , announced their secession from Croatia. In the 1990 parliamentary elections in Croatia, Franjo Tuđman became the first President of Croatia . He promoted nationalist policies and had a primary goal of the establishment of an independent Croatia. The new government proposed constitutional changes , reinstated
3534-527: The West (in 2000, the average monthly salary in the country was $ 30). Researcher David Shimer wrote that most Serbs did not realize that the U.S. was directing the opposition's electoral strategy and funding the creation and distribution of campaign materials, although this was no secret. Among other things, U.S. President Bill Clinton instructed the CIA to direct efforts to prevent the Serbian leader from winning
3627-412: The Yugoslav Wars were marked by many war crimes , including genocide , crimes against humanity , ethnic cleansing , massacres , and mass wartime rape . The Bosnian genocide was the first European wartime event to be formally classified as genocidal in character since the military campaigns of Nazi Germany , and many of the key individuals who perpetrated it were subsequently charged with war crimes;
3720-489: The Yugoslav parliament, it was now to be directly elected via the two-round voting system of presidential elections with a maximum of two terms. Many onlookers believed that Milošević's intentions for supporting such reforms had more to do with holding power than with improving democracy. On 27 July 2000, the authorities announced that the early elections were to be held 24 September 2000, although Milošević's term wouldn't expire until 23 July 2001. The elections for
3813-495: The areas of the breakaway SAO Krajina. The JNA had disarmed the Territorial Units of Slovenia and Croatia prior to the declaration of independence, at the behest of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević. This was greatly aggravated by an arms embargo, imposed by the UN on Yugoslavia. The JNA was ostensibly ideologically unitarian, but its officer corps was predominantly staffed by Serbs or Montenegrins (70 percent). As
Yugoslav Revolution - Misplaced Pages Continue
3906-735: The attacks that were coming from the UÇPMB. The insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia was an armed conflict in the northwestern part of the country which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) militant group began attacking the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia at the end of January 2001, and ended with the Ohrid Agreement in August. The goal of the NLA
3999-533: The beginning to xenophobic nationalist in the late 1980s and 1990s. In Serbia and Serb-dominated territories, violent confrontations occurred, particularly between nationalists and non-nationalists who criticized the Serbian government and the Serb political entities in Bosnia and Croatia. Serbs who publicly opposed the nationalist political climate during the Yugoslav wars were reportedly harassed, threatened, or killed. However, following Milošević's rise to power and
4092-471: The campaign against Milošević, organizing meetings with opposition leaders outside the country and "providing them with cash" inside Serbia. Also, he said, "Many of the key players who became senior figures in the follow-on government continued to meet with us and continued to tell us that it was our efforts that led to their success." CIA Deputy Director John E. McLaughlin noted that "I know stuff about that, but I’m not able to talk about it." Douglas Wise,
4185-486: The city's architectural heritage, instead of reporting the destruction of Vukovar in which many civilians were killed. On 18 November 1991, the battle of Vukovar ended after the city ran out of ammunition. The Ovčara massacre occurred shortly after Vukovar's capture by the JNA. Meanwhile, control over central Croatia was seized by Croatian Serb forces in conjunction with the JNA Corps from Bosnia and Herzegovina, under
4278-471: The conflict in which the Yugoslav government requested KFOR support in suppressing UÇPMB attacks, since the government could only use lightly armed military forces as part of the Kumanovo Agreement, which created a buffer zone so the bulk of the Yugoslav armed forces could not enter. Yugoslav president Vojislav Koštunica warned that fresh fighting would erupt if KFOR units did not act to prevent
4371-492: The conflicts resulted in major refugee and humanitarian crises. In 2006 the Central European free trade agreement ( CEFTA ) was expanded to include many of the previous Yugoslav republics. In order to show that despite the political conflicts economic cooperation was still possible. CEFTA went into full effect by the end of 2007. The Yugoslav Wars have alternatively been referred to as: The state of Yugoslavia
4464-578: The country , with Yugoslav Prime Minister Ante Marković declaring that the secessions of Slovenia and Croatia were both illegal and contrary to the constitution of Yugoslavia, and he also expressed his support for the Yugoslav People's Army in order to secure the integral unity of Yugoslavia. The Slovenes (represented by Milan Kučan and Lojze Peterle ) and Croats argued that the act was not secession but disassociation ( Slovene : razdruževanje , Croatian : razdruživanje ) from Yugoslavia as
4557-524: The deaths of 10 policemen and 24 civilians. A NATO -facilitated ceasefire between the KLA and Yugoslav forces was signed on 15 October 1998, but both sides broke it two months later and fighting resumed. When the killing of 45 Kosovar Albanians in the Račak massacre was reported in January 1999, NATO decided that the conflict could only be settled by introducing a military peacekeeping force to forcibly restrain
4650-508: The different ethnic groups and maintain lasting stability. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the United States reported in April 1995 (three months before Srebrenica massacre ) that nearly 90 percent of all the atrocities in the Yugoslav wars up to that point had been perpetrated by Serb militants. Most of these atrocities occurred in Bosnia . After September 1990 when the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution had been unilaterally repealed by
4743-577: The end of 1992, tensions between Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks rose and their collaboration fell apart. In January 1993, the two former allies engaged in open conflict, resulting in the Croat–Bosniak War . In 1994 the US brokered peace between Croatian forces and the Bosnian Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Washington Agreement . After the successful Flash and Storm operations,
SECTION 50
#17328009712394836-614: The end of these operations, Croatia had reclaimed all of its territory except the UNPA Sector East portion of Slavonia, bordering Serbia. During and after theses offensives, around 150,000–200,000 Serbs of the area formerly held by the ARSK were ethically cleansed and a variety of crimes were committed against some of the remaining civilians by Croatian forces. The Croatian Serbs became the largest refugee population in Europe prior to
4929-555: The federal government ordered the Yugoslav People's Army to secure border crossings in Slovenia. Slovenian police and Slovenian Territorial Defence blockaded barracks and roads, leading to stand-offs and limited skirmishes around the republic. After several dozen casualties, the limited conflict was stopped through negotiation at Brioni on 7 July 1991, when Slovenia and Croatia agreed to a three-month moratorium on separation. The Federal Army completely withdrew from Slovenia by 26 October 1991. Fighting in Croatia had begun weeks prior to
5022-462: The federation was originally established as a voluntary union of peoples. The Badinter Commission ruled in November 1991 that the act was not secession but a separation as provided for by the constitution of the second Yugoslavia. According to Stephen A. Hart, author of Partisans: War in the Balkans 1941–1945 , the ethnically mixed region of Dalmatia held close and amicable relations between
5115-494: The first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes. His role in the Yugoslav Wars led to international sanctions against Yugoslavia, which had a devastating impact on the Yugoslav economy and society, while NATO bombing significantly damaged the country's infrastructure. While the overthrow of Milošević was reported as a spontaneous revolution, there had been a year-long battle involving thousands of Serbs in
5208-488: The former commander of the fifth army in Zagreb Martin Špegelj , 50% of the command positions were previously held by Croats, while a few years later at the beginning of the war all key positions were held by Serbs. The first of the conflicts, known as the Ten-Day War, was initiated by the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) on 26 June 1991 after the separation of Slovenia from the federation on 25 June 1991. Initially,
5301-536: The influence of Slobodan Milošević , whose government invoked Serbian nationalism as an ideological replacement for the weakening communist system . As a result, the JNA began to lose Slovenes , Croats , Kosovar Albanians , Bosniaks , and Macedonians , and effectively became a fighting force of only Serbs and Montenegrins . According to a 1994 report by the United Nations (UN), the Serb side did not aim to restore Yugoslavia; instead, it aimed to create
5394-401: The largely non-violent revolution of October 2000. As the end of his first term in office of the president of Yugoslavia approached (previously, he had been elected president of Serbia , in two terms, from 1989 to 1997), on 6 July 2000, the rules of the election of the president were changed. Whilst the president of Yugoslavia had previously been chosen for one term only by the legislature, in
5487-478: The late 1920s after the assassination of Croatian politician Stjepan Radić . This nation lasted from 1918 to 1941, when it was invaded by the Axis powers during World War II, which provided support to the Croatian fascist Ustaše (founded in 1929), whose regime carried out the genocide of Serbs , Jews and Roma by executing people in concentration camps and committing other systematic and mass crimes inside its territory. The predominantly Serb Chetniks ,
5580-771: The leadership of Ratko Mladić . In January 1992, the Vance Plan established UN controlled (UNPA) zones for Serbs in the territory which was claimed by the Serbian rebels as the self-proclaimed proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) and brought an end to major military operations, but sporadic artillery attacks on Croatian cities and occasional intrusions into UNPA zones by Croatian forces continued until 1995. The majority of Croatian population in RSK suffered heavily, fleeing or evicted with numerous killings, leading to ethnic cleansing . The fighting in Croatia ended in mid-1995, after Operation Flash and Operation Storm . At
5673-469: The majority voted in favour of the independence of Croatia. Croatia declared independence and dissolved its association with Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. Due to the Brioni Agreement , a three-month moratorium was placed on the implementation of the decision that ended on 8 October. The armed incidents of early 1991 escalated into an all-out war during the summer, with fronts being formed around
SECTION 60
#17328009712395766-644: The military protection of the Kosovo Force (KFOR). The 15-month war had left thousands of civilians killed on both sides and over a million displaced. The Insurgency in the Preševo Valley was an armed conflict between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and ethnic-Albanian insurgents of the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB), beginning in June 1999. There were instances during
5859-411: The months before Milošević went". The International Republican Institute trained 400 activists outside the country, who returned to Serbia and trained another 15,000 people to observe polling stations inside the country. On election day, the opposition was able to get a minimum of two trained observers to each polling station in Serbia. Each observer's participation was paid at $ 5 - money provided by
5952-579: The most memorable episodes from the day-long protest in which a heavy equipment operator charged the Radio Television of Serbia building, considered to be symbolic of the Milošević regime's propaganda . Milošević's rule has been described by observers as authoritarian or autocratic , as well as kleptocratic , with numerous accusations of electoral fraud , political assassinations, suppression of media freedom and police brutality . He became
6045-472: The new countries, which fueled the wars. While most of the conflicts ended through peace accords that involved full international recognition of new states, they resulted in a massive number of deaths as well as severe economic damage to the region. During the initial stages of the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) sought to preserve the unity of the Yugoslav nation by eradicating all republic governments. However, it increasingly came under
6138-410: The new school year beginning in September 1991, forcing students to study at home. In the 1990s, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was formed. They started carrying out attacks on Serb civilians. By the early 1990s, there were attacks on Serbian police forces and secret-service officials in retaliation for the abuse and murder of Albanian civilians. A Serbian policeman was killed in 1995, allegedly by
6231-409: The number of eligible voters was different from the one announced before the elections and has differed in the presidential, federal and local elections results. All of these discrepancies provoked massive outrage. The results were declared false immediately after Milošević was removed, and revised official results were released shortly afterwards. The new results were practically the same, except for
6324-454: The number of total votes and the votes for Milošević, both of which were lower by 125,000–130,000 votes, thus giving Koštunica an absolute, if narrow, first-round victory; Koštunica finished with just 11,843 votes over the threshold to avoid a runoff (4,916,920 voters cast their votes, so 2,458,461 votes were needed for a "50% of turnout + 1 vote" first round victory; Koštunica got 2,470,304 votes ). The protests initially started with strikers at
6417-428: The outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars, numerous anti-war movements developed in Serbia. Protests were held against the actions of the Yugoslav People's Army, while protesters demanded the referendum on a declaration of war and disruption of military conscription , resulting in numerous desertions and emigrations. With the escalation of the Yugoslav crisis, the JNA became heavily dominated by Serbs. According to
6510-432: The peacekeepers by force, using this refusal to justify the bombings. The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia followed, an intervention against Serbian forces with a mainly bombing campaign, under the command of General Wesley Clark . Hostilities ended 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 months later with the Kumanovo Agreement . Kosovo was placed under the governmental control of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and
6603-449: The policies throughout the entire socialist period of Yugoslavia seemed to have been the same (namely that all Serbs should live in one state), political scientist Dejan Guzina argues that "different contexts in each of the subperiods of socialist Serbia and Yugoslavia yielded entirely different results (e.g., in favour of Yugoslavia, or in favour of a Greater Serbia )". He assumes that the Serbian policy changed from conservative–socialist at
6696-546: The presidential election. According to the American president, "There’s a death threshold, and Milošević crossed it." Vince Houghton, who later became historian of the International Spy Museum, said the U.S. had no intention of allowing Milošević to remain in power. John Sipher, who became station chief in Serbia immediately after Milosevic's ouster, said the agency spent "certainly millions of dollars" on
6789-501: The protests, Milošević resigned on 5 October 2000. For a year leading up to the elections, the United States-funded consultants played a crucial role in the anti-Milošević campaign. The key symbol of the campaign was the slogan Gotov je! ( Serbian Cyrillic : Готов је! , meaning "He is finished!"), created by Otpor!. Part of the U.S. funding of the opposition (a reported $ 41 million) included 2.5 million stickers with
6882-565: The single-party system. However, Slobodan Milošević, the head of the Serbian Party branch ( League of Communists of Serbia ) used his influence to block and vote down all other proposals from the Croatian and Slovene party delegates. This prompted the Croatian and Slovene delegations to walk out and thus the break-up of the party, a symbolic event representing the end of " brotherhood and unity ". The survey of Yugoslav citizens that
6975-527: The slogan and 5,000 spray cans for anti-Milošević graffiti. Material was channeled by the U.S. Department of State through QUANGOs . In the months leading up to the election, the National Endowment for Democracy provided funding to opposition parties and media, unions and student groups, with Otpor! being the largest beneficiary. Slobodan Homen, head of international affairs at Otpor, recalled how Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said at
7068-399: The standard of the war-torn country. He even said that during Milošević's regime he was the owner of a company which operated with success, but that post-Milošević politicians made such unhealthy economic conditions, that his business failed and he went bankrupt, even selling his iconic wheel loader and living on 180-euro social benefits. Đokić died 11 July 2020. The Bulldozer Revolution
7161-402: The term "ethnic cleansing" itself a euphemism for genocide denial created by Slobodan Milošević and Serbian propagandists. In its report published on 1 January 1993, Helsinki Watch was one of the first civil rights organisations that warned that "the extent of the violence and its selective nature along ethnic and religious lines suggest crimes of genocidal character against Muslim and, to
7254-477: The traditional Croatian flag and coat of arms , and removed the term "Socialist" from the title of the republic. The new Croatian government implemented policies that were openly nationalistic and anti-Serbian in nature, such as the removal of the Serbian Cyrillic script from correspondence in public offices. In an attempt to counter changes made to the constitution, local Serb politicians organized
7347-563: The two sides. Yugoslavia refused to sign the Rambouillet Accords , which among other things called for 30,000 NATO peacekeeping troops in Kosovo; an unhindered right of passage for NATO troops on Yugoslav territory; immunity for NATO and its agents to Yugoslav law; and the right to use local roads, ports, railways, and airports without payment and requisition public facilities for its use free of cost. NATO then prepared to install
7440-499: The upper house of the federal parliament, Council of Citizens ( Veće građana ), as well as the local elections were also scheduled to be held on the same date. On 25 August 2000, Ivan Stambolić , a former mentor and political ally of Milošević, was mysteriously kidnapped and detained from his home and was summarily executed in Fruška Gora . The hit was believed to have been initiated by Milošević so he could prevent Stambolić from being
7533-672: The war in Bosnia. The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement on 14 December 1995, with the formation of Republika Srpska as an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Along with ending the war, the Dayton Agreement also established the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The constitution is consociational in nature and describes Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs as "constituent peoples," giving each ethnic group far reaching veto powers in government. In 2000,
7626-508: The warring factions. In 2012, Chile convicted nine people, including two retired generals, for their part in arms sales. It is widely believed that mass murders against Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina escalated into genocide. On 18 December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly issued resolution 47/121 condemning "aggressive acts by the Serbian and Montenegrin forces to acquire more territories by force" and called such ethnic cleansing "a form of genocide ". Genocide scholars consider
7719-758: The years-long Sarajevo siege and the Srebrenica genocide , was by far the bloodiest and most widely covered of the Yugoslav wars. The Bosnian Serb faction led by ultra-nationalist Radovan Karadžić promised independence for all Serb areas of Bosnia from the majority-Bosniak government of Bosnia. To link the disjointed parts of territories populated by Serbs and areas claimed by Serbs, Karadžić pursued an agenda of systematic ethnic cleansing primarily against Bosnians through massacre and forced removal of Bosniak populations. Prijedor ethnic cleansing , Višegrad massacres , Foča ethnic cleansing , Doboj massacre , Zvornik massacre , siege of Goražde and others were reported. At
7812-470: Was a wheel loader operator who became the main symbol of the overthrow. Đokić turned on his wheel loader and filled a public broadcaster building in Belgrade with it. The loader served as a kind of elevator and bullet protection. Đokić had a spinal deformity and at the time he was a timber yard and construction material warehouse owner. The building's tenant, Serbian state television RTS , had for
7905-552: Was able to heavily influence decision-making at the federal level, since all the other Yugoslav republics only had one vote. While Slovenia and Croatia wanted to allow a multi-party system, Serbia, led by Milošević, demanded an even more centralized federation and Serbia's dominant role in it. At the 14th Extraordinary Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in January 1990, the Serbian -dominated assembly agreed to abolish
7998-409: Was conducted in 1990 showed that ethnic animosity existed on a small scale. Compared to the results from 25 years before, there was a significant increase in ethnic distance among Serbs and Montenegrins toward Croats and Slovenes and vice versa. Upon Croatia and Slovenia's declarations of independence in 1991, the Yugoslav federal government attempted to forcibly halt the impending breakup of
8091-495: Was created in the aftermath of World War I , and its population was mostly composed of South Slavic Christians , though the nation also had a substantial Muslim minority. Clear ethnic conflict between the Yugoslav peoples only became prominent in the 20th century, beginning with tensions over the constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in the early 1920s and escalating into violence between Serbs and Croats in
8184-402: Was extremely tense, with numerous incidents, accusations of treason, independent media shutdowns and even murders. The vote took place on 24 September 2000. The DOS coalition reported that Vojislav Koštunica won over half of the votes, enough to defeat Milošević in a single round. The government-controlled Federal Electoral Committee claimed that no candidate won over 50% of the votes and that
8277-560: Was guaranteed in parliamentary elections in December , where they achieved a two-thirds majority. On 1 April 2001, Milošević was detained by Serbian police and later transferred to The Hague to be prosecuted by the ICTY . He died in his cell on 11 March 2006, a few months before the conclusion of his four-year trial . Soon after the overthrow, Ljubisav Đokić started opposing the new government, saying it had done almost nothing to improve
8370-497: Was no effective authority at the federal level. The Federal Presidency consisted of the representatives of the six republics, two provinces and the Yugoslav People's Army, and the communist leadership was divided along national lines. The representatives of Vojvodina , Kosovo and Montenegro were replaced with loyalists of the President of Serbia, Slobodan Milošević . Serbia secured four out of eight federal presidency votes and
8463-401: Was no solution that was agreeable to all parties, Slovenia and Croatia moved towards independence . Although tensions in Yugoslavia had been mounting since the early 1980s, events in 1990 proved to be decisive. In the midst of economic hardship and the fall of communism in eastern Europe in 1989, Yugoslavia was facing rising nationalism among its various ethnic groups. By the early 1990s, there
8556-514: Was ratified in December 1990, and the Serb National Council formed SAO Krajina , a self-proclaimed Serbian autonomous region. Ethnic tensions rose, fueled by propaganda in both Croatia and Serbia. On 2 May 1991, one of the first armed clashes between Serb paramilitaries and Croatian police occurred in the Battle of Borovo Selo . On 19 May an independence referendum was held, which was largely boycotted by Croatian Serbs , and
8649-548: Was to give greater rights and autonomy to the country's Albanian minority, who made up 25.2% of the population of the Republic of Macedonia (54.7% in Tetovo). There were also claims that the group ultimately wished to see Albanian-majority areas secede from the country, although high-ranking NLA members have denied this. The United Nations Security Council had imposed an arms embargo in September 1991. Nevertheless, various states had been engaged in, or facilitated, arms sales to
#238761