After two years of communicating
with their peers in Kosovo, Holmdel students are learning a little Balkan
history. They are also gaining insight into American foreign
policy in the region. For the novice, Balkan history 101 can be
fairly easy to understand.
The Versailles Treaty brought peace to Europe after World War I.
It created the country of Yugoslavia, or “land of the southern Slavs’.
A monarchy, the country experienced the difficulties of forging a Yugoslav
identity while trying to abandon regional ethnicities, such as Serbian, Croatian
or Bosnian.
In 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the forces of Nazi Germany, coming
under occupation until 1945. Various partisan groups of conflicting
ideologies fought against their oppressors. Finally, Josip Broz or
“Tito” became the communist dictator of Yugoslavia. He forged his own political
path, independent from the Soviet Union. Tito was an ‘equal opportunity
dictator”, persec-uting anyone from any ethnic group that resisted his policies.
Yugoslavia enjoyed relative stability and peace for the next 35 years.
In 1980, Tito died, and Yugoslav government began to rotate presidents
every few years; a Bosnian would serve two years, then the communist president
of the Republic of Croatia would serve, followed by a Serbian, and the like.
This created tensions and caused internal conflicts. Declarations of
independence were adopted by Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in
1991. Brutal warfare erupted between Croatia and Serbian forces, and
this spilled over in Bosnia. Genocidal behavior called ‘ethnic cleansing’
resulted in the massacre of 250,000 people, the construction of concentration
camps for the first time since World War II, and refugees numbering in the
millions.
In 1995, the parties involved accepted the fragile Dayton Peace Accords,
and a tentative cease-fire was declared. Shortly thereafter, the first
American peace- keepers arrived in Bosnia.
In 1998, ethnic tension began flaring up in Kosovo, a region of the Republic
of Serbia. The population of Kosovo is roughly 90% ethnic Albanian
as well as Muslim. In an effort to suppress movements for civil rights
by Albanians, the Milosevic regime began a crackdown. ‘Ethnic cleansing”
came to Kosovo in 1999, causing a major refugee crisis as 900,000 people
fled.
Operation Allied Force began in March 1999, a 78-day NATO bombing campaign
to prevent genocidal behavior. In June 1999, the Military Technical Agreement
was reached and Serbian military forces retreated from the interior of Kosovo.
U.S. peacekeepers arrived in Kosovo, their mission to provide for the safety
and security of all people in Kosovo. Today, 39 nations participate
in peacekeeping activities in Kosovo, where 6,000 American troops are now
deployed.