Year |
Date |
Event
|
1903 |
|
The May Coup d'Etat results in the assassination of the royal couple King
Aleksandar Obrenović and Queen
Draga Mašin by
Black Hand activists.
|
1906 |
|
The
Pig War between
Austria-Hungary and the
Kingdom of Serbia begins. Austria imposes an economic blockade on Serbia following Serbia's decision to improve cooperation with France, Britain and Bulgaria. Serbia eventually triumphs with the aid of Western allies.
|
1908 |
|
At the peak of the economic blockade
Austria-Hungary annexes
Bosnia and Herzegovina triggering the
Bosnian crisis in Europe.
|
|
The
Young Turk Revolution starts within the
Ottoman Empire. As
Bulgaria proclaims independence
Serbia starts looking toward
Kosovo and
Macedonia in the south having to accept the Bosnian occupation.
|
1910 |
|
The
Kingdom of Montenegro is proclaimed in
Cetinje under King
Nicholas I of Montenegro. His long-term programme is the restoration of the
Serbian Empire with himself as an Emperor. Two rival Serbian dynasties now fight for supremacy among Serbs.
|
1912 |
|
The
Balkan Wars begin as
Montenegro and
Serbia declare war on the
Ottoman Empire followed by
Bulgaria and Greece. The
Balkan League besieges
Constantinople.
|
|
Albania proclaims independence from the Ottoman Empire and is approved in the
Treaty of London forcing Serbo-Montenegrin troops to withdraw from the country.
|
1914 |
28 June |
The
Assassination in Sarajevo of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparks a major European crisis. The
July Ultimatum is delivered to Serbian authorities demanding that Austro-Hungarian troops march into Serbia. The
Kingdom of Serbia rejects the proposal supported by
Imperial Russia, France and Great Britain.
Austria-Hungary and the
German Empire declare war on the
Kingdom of Serbia triggering the outbreak of World War I
|
August |
The
Battle of Cer marks the First Allied Victory in the War as the
Serbian First Army under
field marshal
Stepa Stepanović pushes the
Austro-Hungarian Army across the
Drina and
Sava rivers expelling them from the
Kingdom of Serbia. Serbia suffers 16,000 casualties, compared to 30,000 Austro-Hungarian casualties in this part of the
Serbian Campaign.
|
August |
Three months later
Austria-Hungary launches the 2nd invasion on the
Kingdom of Serbia.
Belgrade population falls from 110,000 to 20,000 following the bombing from the
Sava and
Danube rivers. The
Battle of Kolubara begins resulting in the second decisive victory of the
Serbian First Army and retreat of Austria-Hungary across the rivers a month later. Field marshals
Radomir Putnik and
Živojin Mišić's strategy has been hailed throughout the country. Serbia is free for almost a year but at a terrible cost; it lost approximately 170,000 men – almost a half of its entire army.
|
1915 |
October |
A
typhus epidemic begins. 150,000 people die in Serbia this year alone. The country's population has already dropped by 10% since the beginning of the war
|
October |
The 3rd invasion of Serbia begins in October.
Austria-Hungary conquers
Belgrade marching toward the south.
Bulgaria invades Serbia cutting its supply route from Greece. The
Serbian First Army is forced to retreat across the
Sar Mountains of
Albania and
Kosovo. Despite Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian occupation and the retreat of Serbian Army the Kingdom of Serbia never capitulated.
|
October |
The
Yugoslav Committee, founded by the
Austro-Hungarian
Serbs and
Croats in exile, is proclaimed in London. Its primary goal is the liberation of the
South Slavic lands from
Austro-Hungary with the intention of joining the
Kingdom of Serbia.
|
October |
The secret
London Pact offers, among many other European territories, western
Dalmatia to the
Kingdom of Italy and the eastern parts to the
Kingdom of Serbia that would also be combined with
Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of
Slavonia and a large part of
Vojvodina and northern
Albania.
|
Creation of Yugoslavia
|
1918 |
October |
Austria-Hungary capitulates disintegrating into several statelets; the largest one being the
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs governed from
Zagreb
|
October |
Joint Serbian, British and French forces expel
Bulgaria from the pre-war Serbian territories (including
Kosovo and
Macedonia). Bulgaria capitulates.
|
October |
World War I comes to an end following the decisive
Entente Powers victory. Contribution to the Entente had large consequences: the
Kingdom of Serbia has lost 28% of its entire prewar population falling from 4.5 to 3.2 million people.
|
October |
Syrmia breaks off from the
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and joins the
Kingdom of Serbia.
|
October |
Vojvodina (Banat, Bačka and Baranja) joins the
Kingdom of Serbia by the decision of the
Serb National Board in
Novi Sad.
|
October |
The
Kingdom of Montenegro overthrows its dynasty of the
Petrović and accepts the supremacy of the
House of Karađorđević.
|
November |
The
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs joins the
Kingdom of Serbia fearing the possible Italian invasion. The newly created South Slavic state is considered a
legal successor of the Kingdom of Serbia and is openly labelled as hostile by the Kingdom of Italy which was hoping to annex the rest of
Istria,
Dalmatia and
Montenegro
|
November |
The
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (
First Yugoslavia) is proclaimed in
Belgrade under
Regent Alexander I. Belgrade unites with
Zemun and
Pančevo (formerly Serb-populated cities under the Habsburg Monarchy).
|
1919 |
January |
The
Christmas Uprising erupts in
Montenegro as supporters of the
House of Petrović, allegedly aided by the Kingdom of Italy, oppose to acknowledge the
Karađorđević dynasty and the decision of the Grand National Assembly. Guerilla clashes would continue for another 6 years and result in the defeat of the separatists.
|
September |
Italian poet and fascist
Gabriele d'Annunzio enters the
Free State of Rijeka bringing the two neighbours to the verge of war.
|
1920 |
|
The
Treaty of Rapallo recognizes the state's independence.
|
1921 |
|
The Kingdom of Italy invades
Rijeka and annexes it despite
Belgrade's objections.
|
1924 |
|
the
Balkan Entente is formed by the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the
Kingdom of Romania, Greece and
Turkey as a counterbalance to the revisionists (chiefly Italy and Hungary). It also served as a buffer-zone with the
Soviet Union.
|
1929 |
|
January 6 Dictatorship is introduced by King
Alexander of Yugoslavia following the assassination of the
Croatian Peasant Party leader and the most important Croatian politician at the time,
Stjepan Radić, by a Montenegrin Serb member of the
Serbian People's Radical Party,
Puniša Račić. The Constitution is suspended and the Parliament dissolved as the King starts his 2-year dictatorship aimed at restoring order in the ethnically divided Kingdom. The state is renamed as the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia and its internal borders are reintroduced through 9 banovinas.
|
1931 |
|
The new Constitution of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia is introduced by King Alexander putting an end to his 2-year long dictatorship. The Croatian question again becomes activate again as many start demanding federalization of the unitary monarchy. Many Croatian politicians end up in prison, including
Vlatko Maček leader of the CPP, under the pretext that they dismiss the Constitution.
|
1934 |
|
King
Alexander I of Yugoslavia is shot dead by the Bulgarian and Croatian fascists,
Vlado Chernosemski and the Ustaše.
Prince Paul temporarily seizes the throne. Alexander's son
Peter II was a minor at the time.
|
1939 |
|
Former political prisoner
Vlatko Maček is appointed vice premier of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia following an appeasement policy of the Royal Court towards the
Croats. An autonomous
Banovina of Croatia is carved out of large parts of Croatia as well as parts of Bosnia and Vojvodina. As
Vlatko Maček announces the potential independence of the province[
citation needed] and a deep crisis in the Kingdom follows. Yugoslavia has started to disintegrate.
|
1941 |
|
Massive
Luftwaffe airstrikes hit the Yugoslav capital as
Hitler decides to crush the rebellion causing 17,000 casualties in the
Battle of Belgrade. Other Serbian cities follow suit such as
Leskovac,
Kraljevo and
Niš.
|
|
The
Kingdom of Italy,
Third Reich,
Fascist Hungary and
Fascist Bulgaria invade and dismantle the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia aided by
Banovina of Croatia,
Albania and some domestic minorities.
|
|
The
Kingdom of Yugoslavia capitulates as its royal army disintegrates following the evacuation of the royal family to Africa and a multi-party occupation. Greece succumbs to the
Axis 10 days later.
Operation Barbarossa begins with a months delay enabling the
Soviet Union to regroup during the Axis invasion of Southern Europe.
[5]
|
|
The
Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland, a guerilla force loyal to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's
government in exile, is founded on
Ravna Gora by Colonel
Draža Mihajlović. Until the
Yalta conference in 1943 this royal army would be considered a chief ally to Great Britain, the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union. Their chief opponents within the country would be the communist Yugoslav partisans.
|
|
The Serbian division of the
Partisan resistance movement, loyal to communists of
Josip Broz Tito, launches an uprising in the Nazi-occupied town of
Užice proclaiming it a free state, The
Republic of Užice. Uprisings also erupt in Italian-held
Montenegro,
Bosnia and
Slovenia. Užice succumbs to the Germans 4 months later.
|
|
First clashes between the
royalists of
Draža Mihajlović and the
communists of
Josip Broz Tito occur at this time over the supremacy over Yugoslavia; this would expand the civil war on territory of Bosnia and Hercegovina: Communist partisans, Royalist chetniks and Fascist Ustaše.
|
March |
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia signs the
Tripartite Pact on March 25 in
Vienna fearing an invasion of the
Axis Powers into his weakened Kingdom.
|
March |
After the coup d'état, conducted under command of generals Simović and Mirković and supported by British intelligence with 300,000 pound sterling, massive demonstrations erupt in downtown
Belgrade as an overwhelming majority of Serbs denounce the Pact Treaty. Following a military coup d'état 17-year-old
Peter II assumes the throne naming
Dušan Simović as his chief general. The
Kingdom of Yugoslavia withdraws its support for the
Axis Powers on March 27.
|
September |
Captain
D. T. Hudson of the
Royal Navy, meets with the commander of the royalists,
Draža Mihajlović.
|
|
Several joint
Axis offensives, made of German, Italian,
NDH,
Bulgarian and
Chetnik units, is launched in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, aimed at crushing the partisan strongholds in the area. The decisive victory of the Yugoslav National Liberation Army (
YNLA) in the
Battle of Neretva results in the devastation of Chetnik forces in Bosnia.
|
1943 |
October |
As
Fascist Italy capitulates in October, Nazi troops march into its territories along the coast of Yugoslavia (Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Raška, Kosovo).
|
November |
The 2nd Congress of
AVNOJ (Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia) proclaims the
Yugoslav federation, denouncing the King's right to return to the country after World War II is over. The next day, the
Tehran Conference, a meeting between
Joseph Stalin,
Franklin D. Roosevelt and
Winston Churchill, decides to shift their support from the
Yugoslav Royal Army to their rivals, the Communist
Yugoslav partisans, and de facto legitimize a Communist regime in Yugoslavia.
|
1944 |
June |
The Royal Yugoslav
government in exile recognizes the partisans as Yugoslavia's legitimate armed forces, ordering the
Royal Army to join the newly named Partisan Yugoslav army, following the
Tito-Šubašić agreement on the Adriatic island of Vis. The King calls for
Serbs,
Croats and
Slovenes to unite into a single army under partisan flag.
Draža Mihajlović and many of his
chetniks refuse to obey and continue fighting on their own, with neither royal nor Allied support, calling on Serbs to emancipate themselves from
Yugoslavia in the form of
Greater Serbia.
|
1945 |
January |
The
YNLA liberates the
Jasenovac concentration camp, following a retreat of Nazi and Ustaše forces. 50,000 prisoners who were able to walk were freed and led from the camp. Massive destruction of data preceded the liberation, making it hard to determine the extent of the
Serbian Genocide. The numbers reach several hundred thousand victims.
[6]
|
January |
Aided by the
Soviet army,
Yugoslav Partisans expel fascist and Nazi forces from the country, ultimately defeating the
royalists as well.
Ustaše flee the country as well, among whom also
Ante Pavelić,
Petar Brzica, etc. Yugoslav
Danube Swabians are also forced to leave the country, as well as many
Hungarians and
Italians.
|
November |
Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia or
Second Yugoslavia is proclaimed by the Yugoslav Federal Parliament in
Belgrade. The monarchy is officially abolished and the royal family banned from entering the country.
|
November |
Serbian lands are dismantled under a pretext of Serbian
hegemony and self-determination,
[7] being given to republic of
Montenegro, provinces of
Kosovo and
Vojvodina, republic of
Macedonia, republic of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, even to republic of
Croatia (
Baranja region), leaving Serbia, in form of
Serbia proper, crippled in territory and population despite its
Allied-orientation. Territories of
Croatia are expanded into
Baranja,
Dalmatia and
Istria under the ethnic balance policy put forward by the new
communist government of
Josip Broz Tito.
|
1946 |
|
The National Committee for the War Crimes and Reparations concludes that 1,7 million people have died during
World War II in Yugoslavia. However, subsequent estimates by statisticians revealed the actual number of deaths to be approximately one million. Many were victims of civil war, including the Ustaše genocide of Serbs and the Chetnik genocidal campaign against Bosnian Muslims and Croats. Approximately 350,000 Serbs fell victim under the Ustaše. About 100,000 total victims (Serbs 45,000–52,000, Roma 15,000–27,000, Jews 12,000–20,000, Croats and Bosnian Muslims 5,000–12,000) in the
Jasenovac concentration camp. Around 68,000 Muslims and Croats perished under the Chetniks.
|
1948 |
|
The
SFRY is expelled from the World Communist League, after refusing to accept the
Soviet Union's supremacy in the communist world. Yugoslavia, therefore, has never signed the
Warsaw Pact nor has it been, consequently, behind the
Iron Curtain, unlike its immediate neighbours. From that point on
Yugoslav history differs from that of cold-war Eastern Europe
|
1954 |
|
The
Free Territory of Trieste is dissolved by the
Treaty of Osimo, splitting it roughly in half between the
SFRY and Italy, putting an end to a decade-long dispute between the
Adriatic neighbours.
|
1968 |
|
The Belgrade Spring erupts among studentry of Yugoslavia, ignited by
Belgrade and
Zagreb's student demands to improve the conditions in the two largest Universities. Croats also ask for their own literary language apart from
Serbian language, for the first time since the Vienna Treaty in 1850.
|
1974 |
|
A new federal Constitution awards greater powers to individual republics and provinces, shifting it into a voluntary confederation with a right of
self-determination for each of the subjects. The Serbian Provinces of
Kosovo and Metohija and
Vojvodina are de facto separated from Serbia, as they were awarded state-treatment in the Federal Parliament, where they could veto any Serbian decision.
|
Timeline of the breakup of Yugoslavia
|
1980 |
|
President
Josip Broz Tito dies in
Ljubljana at the age of 88.
Ethnic tensions rise across the country.
|
1981 |
|
Riots erupt among
Albanians of
Kosovo, as they ask for the recognition of the State of Kosovo. The uprising was brutally suppressed by the
JNA, as
Kosovo Serbs fear being pulled into a civil war. By this date, the population share of
Kosovo Serbs has dropped down to 15% compared to 25% a decade earlier.
|
1986 |
|
The
Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is proclaimed in
Belgrade, calling for a fundamental change and the country's reorganization. This document marks the rise of
Serbian nationalism within
SFRY, opening the Serbian Question,
[8] at the time the country was battling ever-high recession and unemployment rate.
Kosovo Serbs and
Croatian Serbs are pointed out as the main victims of ethnic hatred and chauvinism,
[9] following several clashes with local
Albanians and
Croats, respectively[
citation needed].
|
1989 |
28 June |
Slobodan Milošević delivers his Gazimestan Speech in front of 1,000,000
Serbs at the central celebration marking the 600th anniversary of the
Battle of Kosovo. He calls for a "full equality among peoples of Yugoslavia", demanding an end to the "dramatic ethnic and political divisions". This was basically a message to both his political (democratic) and nationalist (Croat, Bosniak) opponents. His popularity skyrockets among nationalist
Serbs, leading to his victory in the elections for the Serbian president a few months later.
|
1990 |
|
The
League of Communists of Yugoslavia dissolves along ethnic lines, as
Slovene and
Croatian representatives storm out of the Congress after opposing the strengthening of the Union. The first
free elections are held several months later in Croatia (
Croatian parliamentary election, 1990) and Slovenia, where separatist options have prevailed overwhelmingly.
|
|
The Parliament of Croatia ratifies a new Constitution, declaring the indigenous
Serbs of Croatia (12.2%) a national minority rather than a constituent nation. Serbs have enjoyed that autonomy de facto since the Croat-Hungarian Ausgleich in the 19th century.
[10]
Franjo Tuđman, leader of the
Croatian Democratic Union, publicly denies the
Serbian Genocide and the extent of the
Holocaust,
[11] spreading fear among minority
Croatian Serbs as he assumes power as the president of
Croatia.
|
|
Serb-populated regions of
Croatia organize a poll on their self-rule within Croatia. The Log Revolution is also launched in the hinterland of
Dalmatia, the Serbian city of
Knin, blocking Croatian roads and splitting the country into two parts. The National Council of the Croatian Serbs, led by
Milan Babić, declares "the autonomy of the Serbian people on ethnic and historic territories on which they live and which are within the current boundaries of the Republic of Croatia as a federal unit of the SFR Yugoslavia" in form of
Kninska Krajina.
|
|
The Slovenian independence referendum passes with an 88% support. Independence would have been declared within the succeeding 6 months
|
1991 |
|
Hundreds of thousands of people gather in downtown
Belgrade peacefully demonstrating against
Slobodan Milošević. The government orders "restoration of order" by force deploying tanks onto the streets of the capital. 2 people are killed and over 300 injured in the clashes that follow; the democratic opposition led by
Vuk Drašković and
Zoran Đinđić is de facto suppressed for years to come.
|
|
Croatian War of Independence begins, following the
Plitvice Lakes incident. Security forces of the
Republic of Croatia clash with rebel
Serbs of Croatia as they take over the Serb-populated territory of the national park. 2 policemen die – one from each side. An emergency session of the Federal Parliament decides to send the troops of the
JNA into the region. The
National Assembly of Serbia supports this decision asking for the protection of
Serbs.
|
|
The
Borovo Selo massacre takes place in the Serb-populated village of
Borovo Selo in eastern
Croatia as 4 Croatian police-officers attempt to change the
Yugoslav flag with the Croatian one after which they are captured by
Vojislav Šešelj's troops. Attempting to free them Croatian policemen are led into an ambush and twelve are killed and some mutilated.
[12] Numbers of the
Croatian Serbs killed in the incident varies anywhere between four on one side to twenty on the other.
[13]
[14]
|
June |
A series of
Yugoslav wars begin as
Croatia and
Slovenia declare independence from the
SFRY opposed by the Serbs and the
JNA. Slovenia is granted its independence following a
Ten-Day War, however the conflict in
Croatia is bound to last, as the
Republic of Serbian Krajina emerges.
|
June |
Serb forces embark on an ethnic cleansing campaign in the territory under their control. 78,000 people – virtually the whole Croat, Muslim and non-Serb population is forcibly removed, deported or killed.
[15]
|
June |
Starting in July, Serb forces and the JNA start to attack Croatian-majority areas in the
Operation Coast-91. In August they
attack Vukovar starting the most bloody battle of the Croatian war.
[16]
|
June |
In December Serb paramilitary forces kill 43 civilians in the
Voćin massacre.
[17]
|
17 September |
A Serbian teenage girl is killed in
Sisak by a bullet fired through a window which is a matter of ongoing investigation.
[18]
|
1 October |
JNA,
Montenegro and Serb forces
attack Dubrovnik bombing a tourist attraction. Between 82 and 88 civilians are killed.
[19]
[20]
|
10 October |
the
Lovas massacre begins in which Serb paramilitary forces kill 70 civilians which is a matter of ongoing investigation.
[21]
|
16 October |
120 Serbs
[22] are
massacred in the town of
Gospić (region of
Lika, Croatia) by members of a Croatian paramilitary unit in what the Croatian human rights activists called the first major massacre of civilians in the Yugoslav civil wars. The mastermind of the massacre,
Mirko Norac, was charged with
crimes against humanity by both
Croatia and the
ICTY for his involvement in the mass killings of Serbian civilians during the
Croatian War of Independence
|
18 November |
Vukovar falls and Serb paramilitary forces
massacre over 250 civilians and POWs.
[23]
|
1992 |
|
SFRY (Second Yugoslavia) is abolished following the declaration of independence of the
Republic of Macedonia.
|
|
Montenegro's independence referendum fails as its citizens overwhelmingly support union with
Serbia.
|
|
The
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or
Third Yugoslavia comes into existence in April.
|
May |
The
Siege of Sarajevo is officially imposed by the
Bosnian Serbs and their forces led by
Radovan Karadžić as chief commander. It is aimed at murdering and terrorizing the civilian population of the city. It lasted for 44 months and resulted in 12,000 casualties; chiefly among
Bosniaks.
|
1993 |
|
The
Croatian army invades southern regions of the self-proclaimed
Republic of Serbian Krajina. In the
clashes that follow between different paramilitary units up to 500 Krajina Serbs and 120 Croats lose their lives. The
Croatian Army withdraws its forces after a successful campaign.
|
|
A Croatian military operation in the
Medak Pocket is launched in September 1993 led by
Mirko Norac and
Rahim Ademi, the
Hague Tribunal indictees. The predominantly
Serbian population of the several adjacent villages, 400 strong, leaves the area. 16 are killed.
[24]
[25]
|
1995 |
|
Operation Flash, conducted by the
Croatian Army in May, successfully recaptures
Republic of Serbian Krajina-held west
Slavonia. 30.000
Croatian Serbs were forced out of the area and 285 have been killed during this action. 1,500 were arrested and imprisoned.
[26]
|
|
Milan Martić, leader of the RSK (war criminal according to the
ICTY), orders the shelling of
Zagreb far beyond the Serbian held-territories. 7 people are killed and hundreds wounded in the
Zagreb rocket attack.
[27]
|
|
Operation Storm, a large-scale military operation is carried out throughout the self-proclaimed
Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) by the
Croatian Army in August 1995 de facto ending the
Croatian War which took 20,000 lives. In the aftermath of the operation 250,000
Croatian Serb civilians fled the area. More than 1,200 civilians who had remained in the area were killed by the members of the
Croatian army, police forces and armed civilians during several days fighting as well as some 700 Serbian military forces.
[28]
[29]
|
|
After coming under international pressure, Serbia cut off support for the RSK in early 1995.
[30] In early May 1995, Croatian forces recaptured western
Slavonia. In August 1995, Croatian forces recaptured
Krajina, leaving only eastern Slavonia under RSK control.
[30] On August 3, 1995, under UN mediation in Geneva, the RSK and Croatia engaged in discussions and the U.S. ambassador announced that Croatia had agreed to make significant concessions.
[30] On August 5, 1995, however, Croatian forces attacked Krajina and began to move to eastern Slavonia. On August 7, 1995, Serbia deployed tanks to the Croatian border.
[30] The Croatian offensive led to the displacement of 150,000 Serbs, leaving them refugees.
[30] Croatia's
Operation Storm from August 4–7, 1995, was the most intense period of fighting between Croatian and Serb forces affecting Serb civilians during the war; during the shelling in Knin, many were forced to flee.
[31]
Ante Gotovina and
Mladen Markač, the Croatian commanders of the operation, were put on trial by the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, but ultimately acquitted.
[31]
|
|
Srebrenica massacre, the largest mass murder in Europe since the end of World War II, takes place in a Bosniak enclave within
Republika Srpska following the retreat of the Dutch soldiers from this "UN safe zone". More than 8,000
Bosniak men, mostly civilians, are systematically executed by the Police and
Army of Republika Srpska under the command of general
Ratko Mladić who is still at large. Eventually the massacre in Srebrenica is confirmed as genocide at the International Court of Justice – The ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case brought by Bosnia and Herzegovina against Serbia was delivered on February 26, 2007.
|
|
Amidst intense pressure by the
Contact Group, the
Dayton Peace Agreement, is reached by the three leaders
Franjo Tuđman of Croatia,
Alija Izetbegović of Bosnia and
Slobodan Milošević of Yugoslavia putting an end to a three-year-long
Bosnian war which claimed 100,000 lives.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is acknowledged as a sovereign state of 2 equal-sized entities; the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Republika Srpska.
|
1998 |
|
Clashes between the Yugoslav Army and the rebel Albanian forces started in
Kosovo (
KLA) escalate into a violent conflict. A civil war between the majority
Albanians and minority Serbs is underway.
|
1999 |
|
In January the
Račak massacre occurs in which Serb forces kill at least 45 Albanians including the leader of the
KLA
Adem Jashari.
|
|
In response to Serb forces' ethnic cleansing of Kosovo,
NATO starts bombing targets in Serbia.
Slobodan Milošević announces the mandatory mobilisation of the troops.
|
|
Ethnic cleansing
[32] of
Albanians continues in
Kosovo despite NATO bombardment of the Yugoslav troops.
|
|
There are numerous killings of
Albanians and Serbs following the armed clashes between the two.
NATO bombs major Serbian cities including downtown
Belgrade as well as
Niš city market, the bridges of
Novi Sad and the oil refinery of
Pančevo.
|
|
16 technicians are killed following the bombing of the national television
RTS in downtown
Belgrade and tens of others in civilian bombings on trains in Grdelica gorge, Niš market, Belgrade and Varadin hospitals, and refugees north of Pristina.
|
|
The Kosovo war ends following an agreement reached in
Kumanovo after 3 months of aerial bombardments. Serbian casualties range anywhere between 3,500 and 7,000 including the ones missing, while Albanian casualties stand at about 10,000 victims overall including the pre-war period. UN
Resolution 1244 acknowledges sovereignty of
FR Yugoslavia over the province but puts it under UN-occupation.
|
|
An ethnic cleansing of the Serbian population
[33] begins following the retreat of the Yugoslav Army and the arrival of
Albanians protected by the UN and
NATO. 200,000
Kosovo Serbs are expelled from or escape from
Kosovo leaving only a fraction of pre-war Serbian population behind – about 140,000. Serbs fall to a mere 7% of the overall population as
Albanians repopulate former Serbian houses and take over their businesses. Tens of medieval
Serbian Orthodox churches are leveled to the ground. Around 3,000
Kosovo Serbs are believed to have been killed.
[34]
|
2000 |
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Slobodan Milošević is ousted following the
overthrow on October 5th and million-strong demonstrations in central Belgrade.
Vojislav Koštunica assumes power as the first democratic president of Yugoslavia.
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