Previously there was Yugoslavia and now. USSR and Yugoslavia: a story of lost friendship

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) is a territory formed in 1918. Its flag was modified several times from the founding of the state until its collapse, but it was always based on a blue-white-red banner. Yugoslavia on the map was located at the crossroads of East and West, and was a place of mixing of ethnic and religious faiths. The state's multiculturalism was a source of strife, culminating in a series of bloody conflicts in the 1990s. The map of Yugoslavia before and after the collapse was radically different: a state with an area of ​​almost 256 thousand square kilometers fell apart into 6 countries.

Countries that were part of Yugoslavia

The union was created at the end of the First World War by uniting Croatian, Slovenian and Bosnian territories with the Kingdom of Serbia.

List of republics that made up Yugoslavia:

• Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• Socialist Republic of Croatia;
• Socialist Republic of Macedonia;
• Socialist Republic of Montenegro;
• Socialist Republic of Serbia;
• Socialist Republic of Slovenia.

Serbia included two Socialist Autonomous Provinces - Vojvodino and Kosovo.

The Federation was the undisputed leader in population among other Balkan countries: the permanent population in 1987 was estimated at 23.4 million, and the country's population density increased from 62 people per square kilometer in 1948 to 92 per square kilometer in 1988.

Yugoslavia broke up into independent states. After the collapse, new countries appeared on the map: Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Macedonia. Some territories were able to defend their sovereignty peacefully, but the main period of disintegration was accompanied by bloodshed. The capital of Yugoslavia before the collapse - Belgrade - became the capital of independent Serbia.

History of the formation of Yugoslavia

In the 19th century there was an Illyrian movement, the main idea of ​​which was the creation of a “Greater Illyria”. It could be the result of a merger of the South Slavic regions and attracted many prominent Croatian scientists and politicians. But plans for a single state did not develop from a concept into a real movement, largely because few supporters of this idea seriously thought about what form the new state should take as a result.

As a result of the fact that Ottoman Empire became increasingly weaker, and Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece strengthened their positions, the idea of ​​an alliance between them again gained strength and attracted an increasing number of like-minded people.

Ante Trumbić, Ivan Meštrović, Nikola Stojadinović and other famous politicians emigrated abroad with the outbreak of the First World War. In 1915, in London, they organized a committee whose task was to represent the interests of the southern Slavs of Austria-Hungary. Thanks to their status, the participants in the Yugoslav unification were able to convey their views to the allied governments, strengthening their authority in their eyes, because the fate of Austria-Hungary became increasingly uncertain.

The date of the coming to power of the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs is considered to be October 6, 1918, this happened after the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, in the capital of Croatia, Zagreb. On October 25, this council repealed all laws connecting the Slavic regions with Austria and Hungary. Shortly thereafter, on November 5, the National Council in Zagreb asked the Serbian military for help in fighting anarchy in Croatia. Since help did not arrive until the end of November, the National Council again turned to the Serbian army for help, saying: “The population is in revolt. We have complete anarchy, and only the Serbian army can restore order.”

The Yugoslav Committee was tasked with representing the new state abroad. However, quarrels immediately began about the terms of the proposed union with Serbia. Svetozar Pribičević, a Croatian Serb, leader of the Croatian-Serbian coalition and vice-president of the state, wanted an immediate and unconditional union. Others (non-Serbs) who favored a federal Yugoslavia were more hesitant. Opponents demanded the creation of a Confederation of South Slavs, which would be headed by three heads of state: the Serbian king, the Croatian leader and the president of the Slovenian National Council. The National Council, whose powers were actually limited, feared that Serbia would simply annex former Habsburg territories. After much debate, the National Council agreed to create a union with Serbia.

Preconditions for collapse

Since the mid-1960s, the Yugoslav economy was in decline: inflation was growing rapidly, unemployment was seriously alarming, and foreign debt was increasing. The difference in the standard of living of different subjects became too obvious. The country clearly identified wealthy regions, such as Croatia and Slovenia, and poor regions of the country, Macedonia and Kosovo. The economic unification of Yugoslavia required investments; it seemed possible to continue it at the expense of richer subjects who were no longer satisfied with this situation. At the same time, national feelings awakened in some republics and regions, which were hidden by the policy of “Brotherhood and Unity”: the residents of Kosovo, the majority of the population of which were Albanians, came out demanding secession from the union or obtaining powers of self-government due to national discrimination.

For these reasons, in the 1970s, Yugoslav politician Josip Broz Tito carried out major reforms, and the capital of Yugoslavia, the city of Belgrade, became the site of the adoption of a new constitution. This briefly eased the intensity of passions, but in 1980 Tito dies, and civil conflicts grow with renewed vigor.

In general, the factors that influenced the collapse of Yugoslavia can be divided into several groups:

• economic– uneven development of regions, maintenance of poorer subjects at the expense of richer ones had consequences in the form of conflicts. In addition, Yugoslavia's external debt was constantly increasing, since Belgrade could not close the holes in the budget with its own funds;
• national– rich regions did not want to be donors for the poor, which set in motion emancipation in order to create more comfortable conditions. This fueled the awakening of national feelings among the residents of belonging to another nation, different from the Yugoslav one;
• demographic– the large natural increase of Kosovo Albanians reduced the share of Serbs in the region, which allowed them to feel like the dominant people.

As a result of the increase, the Serbian population was subjected to daily oppression.

The Yugoslav War, sometimes referred to as the "Balkan War", was a series of separate but related conflicts that arose from ethnic divisions, struggles for independence and rebellion and ended with the collapse of Yugoslavia. Most of these conflicts ended in peace agreements and international recognition of the independence of the new states. However, the Yugoslav War became the most bloody war in Europe, second only to the First World War and the Second World War. The collapse of Yugoslavia took many lives, in contrast to the peaceful collapse of Czechoslovakia, which also occurred during this time period. As a result of the division of Czechoslovakia, an independent Czech Republic appeared on the map, with Prague as its capital, and Slovakia with Bratislava as its capital.

The first link in the chain of conflicts was the Ten Day War, which occurred between the Yugoslav People's Army and the Territorial Defense of Slovenia - it was caused by Slovenia's secession from Yugoslavia.

This was followed by the Croatian War, which lasted four years, which was also caused by Croatia's declaration of independence. After it there was a three-year Bosnian War - an acute interethnic clash in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, caused by the confrontation between Serbs, autonomist Muslims, Bosnian Muslims and Croats.

Opposing parties

There were a large number of participants in the conflict: throughout Yugoslavia, clashes flared up daily based on religion, nationality and class differences. But the main sides of the discord were:

• Serbs;
• Serbs living in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian Serbs);
• Croats;
• Bosnian Croats;
• Bosnians;
• Autonomist Muslims are Slavs whose traditional religion is Islam;
• indigenous people of Albania living in Kosovo.

In addition to them, the UN, the United States of America and the USSR took part in the conflict directly or indirectly. The Republic of Macedonia did not participate in hostilities and managed to defend its independence, avoiding bloodshed.

The Serbian position in these conflicts was that the Yugoslav War began due to attacks on the integrity of the state. During military conflicts, the Serbian people were discriminated against and oppressed and were forced to fight for life, which was the reason for uniting with each other on the same territory. The Serbs believed that they had the right to prevent division in areas where the Serbian population predominated. Such Serbian territories were located in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Croats insisted that when entering the union, each participant recognized the right of others to freely leave the association. Croatian leaders and people sought to create an independent state, as they were unhappy with the role of a donor region for the poorer members of the federation.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's rule in the conflict did not have a clear position until 1992, when the collapse of Yugoslavia became inevitable. The Bosnian Muslim soldiers were the smallest army in the entire chronicle of the Yugoslav military events. In the late spring of 1992, the Bosnians declared independence, which led to an invasion by the armed forces of the Republika Srpska.

The position of foreign states in the Yugoslav conflict

The world shared its views regarding the collapse of Yugoslavia. The United States was against disintegration and showed its positive attitude towards maintaining a unified state. For a long time The United States of America did not recognize the independence of the seceded states and considered them part of the disintegrated Yugoslavia. The position of the European Union remained neutral, recognizing the independence of all states that submitted a corresponding request.

It was only in 2004 that Yugoslavia managed to agree on the division of property. The agreement signed in Vienna divided the gold and foreign exchange assets and property of the diplomatic missions of the SFRY between the former members of the union, and also divided between them the debts of other countries to Yugoslavia.

Thus, now on the world map there are several countries instead of one territory. Historians believe that the Serbs suffered the most as a result of the conflicts: more than a hundred representatives of this ethnic group were convicted by the International Tribunal.

The largest South Slavic state, Yugoslavia, ceased to exist in the 90s of the last century. Now at school while studying new history Children are told about which countries Yugoslavia broke up into. `

Each of them today carries its own culture and history, one of the important pages of which is its entry into the once flourishing major power, part of the powerful Socialist camp, with which the whole world reckoned.

Year of birth European state, located on the Balkan Peninsula, is 1918. Initially, it was called in the abbreviated version KSHS, which in the spread means the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. A prerequisite for the formation of a new territorial unit caused the collapse of Austria-Hungary. The new power united 7 small territories:

1. Bosnia.
2. Herzegovina.
3. Dalmatia.

The political situation in the hastily created country could hardly be called stable. In 1929 there was a coup d'etat. As a result of this event, the KSHS changed its long name and became known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (KY).

Democratic Federal Yugoslavia-state on the Balkan Peninsula in 1945.

The new name remained until 1963, when the territory was renamed the Socialist Federative Republic (SFRY). Federalism was the basis for building socialism in a state that united 7 compact socialist republics. They remained in this composition as long as their powerful brother, the Soviet Union, existed. After its collapse, the situation in the country began to change radically.

Collapse of Socialist Yugoslavia. Prerequisites

It is difficult to say whether peoples united by common territories managed to live in harmony. Perhaps the reason for peaceful coexistence was the control of the omnipresent USSR. Five or six ethnic groups were found throughout the Soviet period mutual language and gradually mixed, borrowing traditions, culture and other features of the national mentality from their neighbors.

This is not to say that there were no disagreements at all. Small conflicts broke out from time to time. None of them led to serious consequences. Many grievances were associated with the slow development of the state, whose government lacked economic and political experience.

Beginning of disagreement

Attention is not often focused on this, but the beginning of disagreements between previously united peoples began during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War. The fascist leadership adhered to a dishonest leadership principle based on the ancient Roman dogma of “divide and conquer.”

The emphasis was placed on national differences, which was successful. Croats, for example, supported the Nazis. Their compatriots had to wage war not only with the occupiers, but also with their fellow countrymen who helped them.

During the war the country was divided into pieces. Montenegro, Serbia, and the Croatian state appeared. Another part of the territories fell under the annexation of the Third Reich and the Nazis. It was during this period that cases of cruel genocide were noted, which could not but affect subsequent relations between peoples already in peacetime.

Post-war history

The torn parts of the state were reunited after the victory. The previous list of participants has been restored. The same 7 ethnic territories became part of Yugoslavia.

Within the country, its new government drew borders in such a way that there was no correspondence to the ethnic distribution of peoples. This was done in the hope of avoiding disagreements, which were not difficult to predict after what happened during the war.

The policies undertaken by the Yugoslav government have yielded positive results. In fact, relative order reigned on the territory of the state. But it was precisely this division, undertaken after the war with the Nazis, that later played a cruel joke and partially influenced the subsequent collapse of a large state unit.

Josip Broz Tito-Yugoslav revolutionary and political activist

After the collapse of the USSR, a series of falls of socialist regimes began around the world. At this time, Yugoslavia was gripped by a deep economic crisis. Nationalist parties ruled throughout the territory, each pursuing an unfair policy towards its recent brothers. So in Croatia, where a large number of Serbs lived, the Serbian language was banned. The leaders of the nationalist movement began persecuting Serbian cultural figures. It was a challenge that could not but lead to conflict.

The beginning terrible war It is considered the “Day of Wrath” when, during a game at the Maksimir stadium, fans of the Serbian and Croatian sides fought. As a result, after several weeks, a new independent state is formed - Slovenia. Its capital was a city with the romantic name Ljubljana.

Other republics that were part of a large state are also beginning preparations for withdrawal. At this time, disagreements and military skirmishes continue with mass casualties and threats of serious hostilities.

city ​​and lake of the same name Orchid, Macedonia

The next on the list of retiring republics was. The role of its capital was taken over by the city of Skopje. Immediately after Macedonia, the experience is repeated by Bosnia (Sarajevo), Herzegovina and Croatia (Zagreb). Only the union between Serbia and Montenegro remained unshakable. They entered into a new agreement, which remained legal until 2006.

The division of the once large state into small pieces did not produce the expected results. Conflicts within disparate territories continued. Interethnic strife, based on blood grievances dating back to the 40s of the last century, could not subside so quickly.

A year ago, on December 21, 2017, the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) completed its work. He left a very ambiguous memory of himself, but when criticizing or approving his activities, it is worth remembering that war crimes were committed against each other by absolutely all parties to the conflict - Serbs, Croats, Muslim Bosniaks, Albanians and Macedonians. The bloody collapse of Yugoslavia, the international tribunal and its main defendants - in the material TUT.BY.

Ceremony in The Hague to mark the closing of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The event was attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, the chairman of the tribunal, members of the diplomatic corps, the Dutch government, former and current judges, representatives of academia and the civil community. December 21, 2017. Photo: UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia / Flickr

History of civil wars in Yugoslavia

— To try to understand the history of the Yugoslav (the war in Croatia, the Bosnian war, the Kosovo war and others. - Note TUT.BY), and in essence the civil wars, we need to turn to the milestones historical development situation in the country, including in the international context, which led to a bloody collapse in the Western Balkans, says an expert on the former Yugoslavia Alexey Dedkov.

— It all started back in those post-war years, when the brewing and yet unexpected conflict between the leaders of Yugoslavia and the USSR, Tito and Stalin, in 1949 led to the severance of mutual ties. The United States, and then Great Britain and France, began to provide gratuitous, including military, assistance to Yugoslavia, to provide loans and credits. Such ties with the Western bloc were maintained by the United States, since economic independence allowed Yugoslavia, which had become the core of countries not aligned with the opposing blocs, to continue to pursue an independent policy from the USSR, preventing it from closing the geopolitical arc from the Baltic to the Mediterranean.

The other side of this coin was the credit dependence of Yugoslavia, whose external debt by 1980 amounted to $20 billion. The country soon became insolvent, but there was no strong pressure, since the USSR was still strong and Yugoslavia was needed, given its disintegrating role in the socialist bloc.

However, with the weakening of the USSR, which was already beginning to leave the Central and of Eastern Europe and did not pose a threat, economic assistance to Yugoslavia, which was provided by international financial organizations, including the IMF, is beginning to be subject to increasingly stringent conditions. The IMF’s “recipes” also turned out to be disastrous for Yugoslavia, where, according to mandatory recommendations, large-scale liquidation of thousands of enterprises began - by the end of 1990, more than 600 thousand Yugoslavs lost their jobs because of this. This became fertile ground for nationalist sentiments, as, for example, in developed Slovenia and Croatia, where they did not want to “feed” the weaker republics.

All together, nationalism and external influence, led to the weakening, disintegration and collapse of Yugoslavia.

The departure of the relatively ethnically monolithic Slovenia took place quickly and with “little” bloodshed. At the same time, a peaceful exit of Croatia from 12.2% of the Serbian population, which, due to the predominant residence in rural areas, was compactly located on a third of the territory of the republic, was impossible. The Serbs, remembering the recent events of World War II, accompanied by mass destruction and ethnic cleansing by the Ustasha, did not want to secede from Yugoslavia or live in the Croatian state.

The situation was similar in culturally “diverse” Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a third of the population consisting of Serbs, where radical Muslim leaders occupied key positions in Sarajevo.

Throughout 1998, Yugoslav police and army fought against Albanian rebels. Many civilians fled to Albania and Macedonia. International observers said the Serbs committed war crimes during the operations. About 10 thousand Albanians and 2-4 thousand Serbs and other non-Albanians died from the actions of the parties in the Kosovo War.

In February 2003, Yugoslavia was renamed the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. In May 2006, as a result of a referendum, Montenegro was transformed into an independent state, Yugoslavia ceased to exist. During all the Yugoslav wars, according to various estimates, from 130 to 250 thousand people died.

Before the collapse, Yugoslavia included six socialist republics and two autonomous regions. 23.5 million people lived on an area of ​​260 thousand square kilometers. At the end of the 80s, the socialist camp began to disintegrate, and nationalist sentiments intensified in the republics of Yugoslavia.

Slovenia and Croatia were the first to declare independence on June 25, 1991. Slovenia managed to secede quite easily. The clashes lasted only ten days there, 64 people were killed, and soon after the end the Yugoslav army completely abandoned the country. One of the main reasons for this outcome was the ethnic homogeneity of Slovenia.

In Croatia, about 12% of the population were Serbs. In response to the policy of discrimination on the part of the Croats, they announced the creation of autonomy in the territory where they constituted the majority. The Croatian authorities regarded this as a rebellion.

Since July 1991, active military operations began by the Yugoslav People's Army (by that time it mainly consisted of Serbs and Montenegrins) together with the armed forces of Croatian Serbs against the militia and police of the self-proclaimed Croatian state.

During the armed conflict, both sides committed war crimes. Most Serbs were expelled from territories controlled by Croats, most Croats from territories under Serbian control.

On December 8, 1991, Macedonia bloodlessly seceded from Yugoslavia after a referendum.

Croatian independence received international recognition on December 19, 1991, in response, the Croatian Serbs announced the creation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) in the territories they controlled. The leadership of the RSK announced its desire to become part of the renewed Yugoslavia.

At the beginning of 1992, Yugoslav troops began to leave Croatia, the territories they occupied remained under the control of the Armed Forces of the Serbian Krajina. In March 1992, UN peacekeeping forces were brought into Croatia, and the conflict entered a sluggish phase.

Neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina has always been a multi-ethnic republic. Muslim Bosniaks (44%), Serbs (31%) and Croats (17%) lived here. As in Croatia, local Serbs expressed their reluctance to leave Yugoslavia. In early 1992, they announced the creation of the Republika Srpska in territories with a predominant Serb population.

In the spring of 1992, the parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in response to the proclamation of Republika Srpska, and on the same day the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognized by EU countries. The Serbs strongly opposed this and began to form their own government bodies.

With the support of nationalist forces from Croatia, the Bosnian Croats also announced the creation of their republic of Herzeg-Bosna. They planned to unite with Croatia. Armed clashes began between the three sides.

All participants in the conflict committed war crimes, engaged in ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and created concentration camps. One of the most notorious incidents of that war was the killing of eight thousand Muslims by the Serbs (according to the tribunal) in the city of Srebrenica.

At different stages of the war, the sides fought against each other, the Serbs fought together with the Croats against the Muslims, and the Muslims with the Croats against the Serbs. In the spring of 1994, Muslims and Croats united in the federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Meanwhile, in May and August 1995 in Croatia, the local army carried out two large-scale operations and took control of most of the territories controlled by the Serbian Krajina.

Most Serbs fled Croatia, and international observers reported war crimes committed by the Croats during the cleansing of the territory. Only one region on the border with Serbia remained not under Croatian control - Eastern Slavonia. For the transition period, it was taken under the control of the UN.

At the end of 1995, the Dayton Agreement was ratified in Paris, ending the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In accordance with it, the country consists of two parts: the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. During the fighting, 62 thousand Muslim Bosniaks, 25.5 thousand Serbs, 8.5 thousand Croats died.

On January 15, 1998, Eastern Slavonia was peacefully incorporated into Croatia, and the latter's territorial integrity was fully restored. During the entire war in Croatia, according to various estimates, from 13.5 to 16 thousand people from the Croatian side and about 8 thousand from Yugoslavia and the Serbian Krajina died or went missing.

After the end of the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the conflict in Kosovo escalated. The majority of the population of this autonomous Serbian region were Albanians. In February 1998, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began an armed struggle for the independence of the region.

Throughout 1998, Yugoslav police and army fought against Albanian rebels. Many civilians fled to Albania and Macedonia. International observers said the Serbs committed war crimes during the operations. About 10 thousand Albanians and 2-4 thousand Serbs and other non-Albanians died from the actions of the parties in the Kosovo war.

Throughout 1998, NATO countries increased pressure on Yugoslavia to end the conflict in Kosovo. At the beginning of 1999, the United States and Great Britain presented a draft settlement. The Kosovo Albanians accepted it, the Serbs were only partially satisfied with it, and they did not completely agree with it.

To force Yugoslavia to accept the proposed plan, NATO troops launched a military campaign against it in March 1999. As a result, the Yugoslav army left Kosovo, power there passed into the hands of local Albanians and the UN interim administration, and the majority of the Serbian population left the region. As a result of NATO bombing, 1000-1200 military personnel and, according to various estimates, 500-5700 civilians were killed.

In February 2003, Yugoslavia was renamed the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. In May 2006, as a result of a referendum, Montenegro was transformed into an independent state, Yugoslavia ceased to exist. During all the Yugoslav wars, according to various estimates, from 130 to 250 thousand people died.

In February 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence. On this moment it is recognized by 111 out of 193 countries (57%). Belarus is among the countries that have not recognized the sovereignty of Kosovo.

Why was the tribunal created and why is it criticized?

It was to investigate war crimes - genocide, crimes against humanity, violations of the laws and customs of war, as well as serious violations of the Geneva Conventions - that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, or, as it is more commonly called, the Hague Tribunal, was created in 1993. It examined war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001.

10,800 days of court hearings, 2.5 million pages of transcripts of interrogations, 4,650 witnesses were interviewed, 171 people were accused, 161 of them were convicted: this is the result of almost 25 years of work of the tribunal.

However, the Hague Tribunal is often accused of bias. First of all, because among the accused, more than 65% were Serbs and Montenegrins, 23% were Croats, and the rest were Bosniaks and Albanians.

Also among the accused were almost the entire military and civilian leadership of the Serbs, including ex-presidents, members of the government, chiefs of the General Staff, senior military commanders, heads of law enforcement agencies and intelligence services, but from other nations the accused were most often soldiers, and rarely officers, and even more so more senior level.

In response to these reproaches, supporters of the Hague Tribunal note that the number of war criminals of a certain nation should not at all be proportional to the share of this nation in the total population of Yugoslavia. Another argument is that after the collapse of Yugoslavia, conflicts most often broke out in those areas of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Kosovo, where Serbs lived. And it was Belgrade, which received most of the army and weapons after the collapse of Yugoslavia, that fueled separatist sentiments, for example, in the Serbian Krajina, and that is why, from the point of view of ICTY supporters, the Serbs bear most of the responsibility for the Balkan Wars.

Dead Men of The Hague

Another complaint against the Hague Tribunal is the high mortality rate among defendants and convicts. Over the entire period of the ICTY's work, 13 people died before, during the trial or in custody. During the arrest, 6 accused died.

Slobodan Milosevic, President of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The most famous defendant of the International Tribunal

Slobodan Milosevic was arrested in Belgrade on April 1, 2001. He was charged with five counts of crimes against humanity - murder, persecution on political, racial and religious grounds, deportation - and one count of violation of the laws and customs of war. The trial with his participation was interrupted 22 times due to health problems, but Milosevic was never sentenced. He died in The Hague prison on 11 March 2006, according to the official autopsy, from a myocardial infarction.
Slobodan Praljak, General of the Croatian Defense Council
Suicide Live

The Bosnian Croat general surrendered voluntarily in 2004. Praljak was found guilty of war crimes against Bosnian Muslims in order to create an ethnic Croat state in the Balkans during the Bosnian War. In 2013, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. On November 29, 2017, in The Hague, the appeal commission decided to uphold Praljak's earlier sentence. After this, the 72-year-old former general was right in court, in front of photo and video cameras, with the words “Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal! I despise this sentence! Despite the ICTY investigation, it remains a mystery how the vial of poison got into the prison, where security measures are tight, and how Praljak managed to smuggle it into the courtroom.
Slavko Dokmanovic, Mayor of Vukovar
First suicide

Croatian Serb Slavko Dokmanovic became the first politician to come under the jurisdiction of the ICTY, and the first prisoner in the famous Scheveningen prison in The Hague. He was accused of crimes against humanity committed during the war with Croatia in 1991 - there was an Ovčara camp near Vukovar, where Croatian prisoners of war were brutally treated and executed en masse. He was arrested in June 1997, and a year later the 48-year-old former mayor of Vukovar was found dead. He hanged himself with his tie, securing the end of it to the top door hinge of his cell's closet. The case of defendant No. 001 was closed.
Mile Mrksic, Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Krajina Army
Death in custody

After Dokmanović's suicide, one of the main defendants in the case of the mass murder of Croatian prisoners of war near Vukovar was General Mile Mrkšić, the former chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Serbian Krajina. He voluntarily surrendered to the ICTY in 2002. Five years later, he was found guilty of aiding and abetting the murder, torture and ill-treatment of 194 prisoners of war and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In 2015, 68-year-old Mile Mrkšić died in prison in Portugal, where he was serving his sentence. Official cause of death: fulminant lung cancer. Mrkšić's relatives and lawyers believe that he died from lack of treatment.

Milan Babic, first president of the Serbian Krajina
Suicide in custody

The first president of the Serbian Krajina, Milan Babic, actively collaborated with the ICTY and even acted as a witness for the prosecution in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic. Despite his cooperation with the investigation, in 2003 he was charged with organizing the genocide of the forced eviction of Croats from the territory of the Serbian Krajina. A year later he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. On March 5, 2006, Babic was found dead in his cell at Scheveningen Prison. The expert report stated that he hanged himself with a trouser belt attached to the window frame. A bag from a trash can was placed over his head. The official conclusion was suicide, but the leadership of the tribunal was unable to explain how this happened in a cell with round-the-clock video surveillance and where the prisoner in the cell came from with a belt - an item strictly prohibited in prison.

Milan Kovacevic, vice-president of the crisis headquarters in Prijedor
Review of emergency medical procedures

Not all defendants died during the trial or serving their sentences. One of them was the Bosnian Serb Milan Kovacevic, vice-president of the crisis headquarters in the city of Prijedor in 1992. He was accused of playing a key role in crimes committed in the city and its surroundings - the genocide of Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats, as well as the creation of concentration camps. On July 10, 1997, Kovacevic was detained directly at the Prijedor hospital, where he worked as the head physician, after which he was flown to The Hague. On August 3, 1998, 57-year-old Kovacevic died in Scheveningen prison without waiting for trial. The cause of death was initially reported to be a heart attack, but an autopsy revealed a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. No negligence was found on the part of the doctor on duty or prison staff, but the tribunal ordered a review of emergency medical procedures in Scheveningen.

Zdravko Tolimir, General of the Republika Srpska

General Zdravko Tolimir was an intelligence and security assistant to Republika Srpska Army commander Ratko Mladić during the Bosnian War and was considered his “right hand”. In 2005, he was accused of crimes against Bosnian Muslims. He was detained in 2007 and five years later found guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and sentenced to life imprisonment. The 67-year-old ex-general died on February 9, 2016 in Scheveningen; the cause of death was stated to be cardiovascular disease.
Ljubisha Beara, Chief of Counterintelligence at the Republika Srpska Army Headquarters

Like Zdravko Tolimir, Ljubisa Beara was accused of genocide of Bosniaks and participation in the Srebrenica massacre. In 2004, Beara voluntarily arrived in The Hague and surrendered. On June 10, 2010, the court found him guilty on all counts and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The ex-colonel did not admit his guilt and promised to someday tell “the whole truth about what happened in Srebrenica.” Beara, 77, died on February 8, 2017 in a Berlin prison.
Goran Hadzic, second president of the Serbian Krajina
The last person arrested from the list of the International Tribunal

Goran Hadzic was put on the wanted list in 2004. He was charged in absentia with persecution, deportation, wanton destruction and looting of property, destruction, murder, detention, torture and ill-treatment of Croats and other members of the non-Serb population. He was detained in Serbia seven years later. He became the last wanted person on the tribunal's list. Hadzic did not live to see the verdict; in 2015, he was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. The tribunal allowed him to be sent to Serbia for treatment, and on July 12, 2016, 57-year-old Hadzic died at the Vojvodina Clinical Center in Novi Sad.

Loud verdicts

The most high-profile verdicts in the history of the Hague Tribunal were the verdicts against the chief of staff of the Republika Srpska army, Ratko Mladic, and the first president of the Republika Srpska, Radavan Karadzic - both had been hiding for a long time, and the verdict was handed down to both of them only recently.

The Hague demanded the extradition of Mladic back in 1996. But while Milosevic was in power, this issue was not raised in Serbia, and after Milosevic himself became accused, Mladic went underground. It was discovered only in 2011 in the village of Lazarevo, 80 kilometers from Belgrade. At that time he was the most wanted war criminal in Europe; a reward of 10 million euros was offered on his head. When the police entered the house where Mladic was hiding, the former general was armed with two pistols, but surrendered. “I could kill ten of you if I wanted, but I don’t want to. You are just young and doing your job,” Mladic’s neighbor quoted him as saying to the police.

Ratko Mladic. On the left - May 7, 1993, in the center - on the day of arrest, May 26, 2011, on the right - on the day of sentencing, November 22, 2017. Collage: TUT.BY

On November 22, 2017, the Hague Tribunal sentenced the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, Ratko Mladić. He was found guilty on 10 of 11 counts, including the genocide of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica and violating the laws and customs of war. Mladic did not admit his guilt: he accused the tribunal of bias and called it “a trial for the Serbs.”

The Hague Tribunal issued an arrest warrant for Radavan Karadzic in 1995. A $5 million bounty was later placed on his head. Before his arrest in 2008, Karadzic lived under the name Dragan Dabic and worked in a private clinic - in his youth he received a degree in psychiatry at the University of Sarajevo. In order to make sure that it was Karadzic who was detained, it was necessary to conduct a DNA test - the beard and excess weight greatly changed the appearance of the first president of Republika Srpska.

Radavan Karadzic. Left - February 13, 1995, center - shortly before his arrest in 2008, right - on the day of sentencing, March 24, 2016. Collage TUT.BY

Karadzic, like Mladic, was charged with 11 counts - including genocide, murder, unleashing a campaign of terror against civilians, persecution, deportation, taking hostages, and causing serious physical harm.

On March 24, 2016, Radavan Karadzic was found guilty on 10 counts, one of them related to organizing the massacre in Srebrenica. Despite the fact that Karadzic did not take direct part in the fighting, the court found that he did nothing to prevent the violence. He was sentenced.

Mladic and Karadzic last time appeared in public in 1995, 19 years later they had to meet during a meeting of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Ratko Mladic was called as a witness for Karadzic's defense. Mladic first called the tribunal “satanic” and then refused to testify: “I refuse to testify due to the state of my health and because my rights as an accused may be harmed.”

As he passed by Radavan Karadzic, he said in Serbian: “I'm sorry, Radavan, I'm very sorry. But these idiots won't make me talk. They protect NATO bombs."

- In fact, the ICTY condemned almost the entire political and military leadership of the Republika Srpska - the only woman at the Hague Tribunal and the President of the Republika Srpska in 1996-1998, Biljana Plavsic, general of the Bosnian Serb army and commander of the Sarajevo-Romani Corps during the siege of Sarajevo, Dragomir Milosevic, the first Minister of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska Miko Stanisic. The last president of the unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina in Croatia, Milan Martic, is serving a long sentence in the Estonian prison in the city of Tartu. Many figures from Serbia and lesser Yugoslavia were sentenced, among them the Prime Minister of Serbia in 1993-1994 and Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia in 1996-2000 Nikola Sainovic, the Chief of the General Staff and Minister of Defense of Yugoslavia in 1998-2000 Dragoljub Ojdanich, says Alexey Dedkov.

Selective justice

But not all Serbs were found guilty - out of 102 Serbs on the ICTY lists, 17 were acquitted.

— Sometimes something that seemed incredible happened: Milan Milutinovic, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia in 1995-1998 and the President of Serbia in 1997-2002, was completely acquitted in 2009. After eight years of investigation and imprisonment in Scheveningen, the Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army, Momcilo Perisic, was completely acquitted and released in 2013. But this is rather an exception to the rule, the expert notes.

Kosovo Albanians

Carla del Ponte, who served as prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia for eight years, published the book “The Hunt” after leaving her post. Me and the war criminals." In it, she paid a lot of attention to the Kosovo Albanians and accused Kosovo politicians Hashim Thaci and Ramush Haradinaj of crimes.

Hashim Thaci, who currently serves as president of partially recognized Kosovo, was one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and one of the most important field commanders. In his book, del Ponte cites eyewitness accounts that Kosovo Albanians, under the leadership of Thaci, kidnapped about 300 Serbs, Gypsies and Albanians not loyal to Hashim Thaci. According to Carla del Ponte, abducted people were used as donors internal organs. The prosecutor personally promised Hashim Thaci to bring him to justice, but due to pressure from the United States and NATO, who feared that due to the prosecution of one of the political leaders in Kosovo, difficulties would arise with a peaceful settlement and the creation state institutions, could not keep her promise - Hashim Thaci was never accused of war crimes.

The ICTY prosecutor was able to bring the case of Ramush Haradinaj, who is currently the Prime Minister of Kosovo, to trial. True, without any special consequences for the person involved.

During the hostilities in Kosovo, he was one of the field commanders. According to eyewitnesses, not only Serbs and Gypsies, but also Albanians, Haradinaj personally tortured, raped and killed people. In 2005, the Hague Tribunal accused Haradinaj and two of his associates in 17 cases of crimes against humanity and in 20 situations of violation of the laws or customs of war. ABOUT However, already in 2008, Haradinaj was acquitted in The Hague on all 37 counts. According to Carla del Ponte, during the investigation into the Haradinaj case, nine key witnesses were killed, many refused to testify, did not appear in court, and some simply disappeared. However, the ICTY issued a refutation of the words of the now former prosecutor.

Soon, in 2010, the acquittal was nevertheless overturned with the justification that it could have been unfair, since there may have been intimidation of witnesses. In 2012, Ramush Haradinaj was again acquitted “for lack of direct evidence.”

Nevertheless, at the beginning of last year, the Special Court for Crimes of the Kosovo Liberation Army began operating in The Hague.

Croats

The trial of three senior Croatian military personnel also ended in scandal.

In 2001, generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač and Ivan Cermak were accused of involvement in massacres, forced relocations, and violations of the rules and customs of war during Operation Storm against the Serbian Krajina in 1995.

Mladen Markac, Ivan Cermak and Ante Gotovina. Photo: Reuters

Ten years later, in April 2011, Ante Gotovina received 24 years in prison, Markac - 18, and Cermak was completely acquitted. This decision of the ICTY caused an extremely negative reaction in Zagreb - the generals in Croatia were and are considered national heroes. A year and a half later, in November 2012, the Appeals Chamber of the Hague Tribunal fully acquitted Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač.

Bosniac Muslims

The trial of the former bodyguard Slobodan Milosevic and the commander of the Srebrenica group of the army of Bosnia and Herzegovina Naser Oric ended in a similar way. It was he who led the Bosniac Muslim units that operated against the Serbs in eastern Bosnia.

In 2003, in The Hague, he was charged with ordering the destruction of villages and towns unjustified by military needs, as well as with failing to take measures to prevent the killings and ill-treatment of Bosnian Serbs.

Serbian military leaders have repeatedly claimed that the actions of his units led to the scandalous operation of the Serbian military to storm Srebrenica, which ended in genocide in this locality. The same was stated by the prosecution witness, former commander of the UN forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, French General Philippe Morillon. According to him, Oric himself admitted that he led military actions that led to massacres of the Serb population of the surrounding villages. And, according to the general, the Srebrenica massacre was a “direct reaction” to these massacres.

Naser Oric was sentenced to two years in prison, but appealed the sentence and was completely acquitted.

NATO

NATO conducted two operations in Yugoslavia. The genocide in Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo in 1995 became the reason for the “Considerated Force” in the Balkans - aerial bombings of Bosnian Serb positions by Alliance aircraft.

The second, Operation Allied Force, which was officially justified as a humanitarian intervention, began with the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia from March 24 to June 10, 1999. Both military facilities and civilian infrastructure were under attack. According to the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (which at that time included Serbia and Montenegro. - TUT.BY note), during the bombing, the total number of civilian deaths was over 1,700 people, including almost 400 children, about 10 thousand were seriously injured .

NATO emphasized that “the military has taken all possible precautions to reduce civilian casualties and attack only militarily significant targets.” But sometimes they missed: This photo shows a hospital in Belgrade after a NATO airstrike on May 20, 1999. Three people died in the attack. Photo: Reuters

Carla del Ponte believed that all war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, including NATO, fell under the jurisdiction of the tribunal, and in this vein she was interested in the air attack on a passenger train in Grdelica, a television center and the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

“No one in NATO stopped me from investigating the bombings or pressing charges. But I quickly realized that it was impossible to conduct such an investigation: neither NATO nor the member states of this organization are willing to cooperate with us. We were not given access to documents. Moreover, I discovered that I had reached the limits of the political universe in which the tribunal was allowed to operate,” del Ponte recalls in his book.

The former prosecutor also acknowledged that if NATO's military campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were declared illegal, it would fall under the category of "crimes against peace", and such crimes are still not subject to the jurisdiction of the tribunal.

Rude - a man who was not there

In 1995, Serbian reporter Nebojsa Jevric, in a conversation with American journalists, said that one of the guards named Gruban in the Omarska camp on the territory of Republika Srpska committed mass rape of Muslim women. Gruban's story immediately caused a great public outcry: Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Richard Goldstone included Gruban (not to be confused with Mosilo Gruban, who is also mentioned in this document. - Note TUT.BY) among the wanted war criminals.

The deception was revealed immediately, but Gruban was recognized as a “non-existent person” and removed from the list of accused only in 1998.

Now this would be called a fake, but then the reporter Evrich said that he was making fun of his American colleagues, and at the same time appreciated how information about the crimes of the Serbs was verified.

End of story

Although the ICTY formally concluded its work on December 21 last year, not all cases are closed yet. They are dealt with by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMUT), and the structure is not sitting idle.

In 2003, the ICTY charged the Serbian nationalist Vojislav Seselj with financing and leading Serbian volunteer forces and inciting ethnic hatred during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. He remained in a holding cell at Scheveningen Prison as a defendant for almost 12 years, after which he was paroled for health reasons. In 2016, the Hague Tribunal acquitted him on all counts. In April of this year, the MOMUT overturned Seselj's acquittal and issued a new verdict: 10 years in prison. The Serbian politician will not serve his sentence - he was given almost 12 years of pre-trial detention.

The IOMUT will also hear appeals from Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

The very idea of ​​​​creating the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and its declared goals - bringing to justice those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, establishing justice for victims, preventing new crimes and contributing to the restoration of peace by promoting reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia - seem logical and correct.

A photograph of the “execution” wall in the House of Culture in the village of Pilica, near Srebrenica. It is estimated that about 1,200 people were shot in Pilica. Photo: ICTY/Flickr

But, unfortunately, the tribunal failed to cope with many tasks. Almost every verdict rendered by the Hague Tribunal caused fierce controversy in the former Yugoslavia. And it cannot be otherwise - each side of civil wars has its own truth and its own idea of ​​justice.

But the reconciliation of peoples cannot happen at the request of the tribunal. Even if it’s international.

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes . At the beginning of the First World War of 1914, the Serbian government declared that it was fighting for the liberation and unification of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Political emigrants from Slovenia and Croatia formed the Yugoslav Committee in Western Europe, which began to campaign for the creation of a united Yugoslav (Yugoslav) state. On July 20, 1917, the Serbian émigré government and the Yugoslav Committee announced a joint declaration on the island of Corfu (Greece). It contained demands for the separation of Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian lands from Austria-Hungary and their unification with Serbia and Montenegro into a single kingdom under the control of the Serbian Karadjordjevic dynasty. In August 1917, representatives of the emigrant Montenegrin Committee of National Unification also joined the declaration.

Opportunities for implementing the plan presented themselves in the fall of 1918, when the Habsburg monarchy, unable to bear the burden of war, began to disintegrate. Local power in the South Slavic lands was taken by the people's councils. On October 6, 1918, the Central People's Assembly of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs met in Zagreb, which on October 25 announced the abolition of all laws connecting the Slavic regions with Austria and Hungary. The creation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (SSHS) was proclaimed. Meanwhile, Entente troops and Serbian units, having broken through the front, occupied the territories of Serbia and Montenegro. On November 24, the People's Assembly elected a committee to carry out the merger of the State Agricultural Union with Serbia and Montenegro. On December 1, 1918, these states officially united into the Yugoslav state Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (KSHS). The Serbian monarch Peter I (1918-1921) was proclaimed king, but in reality the functions of the regent passed to Prince Alexander. In 1921 he took the throne.

On December 20, 1918, the first central government was formed, headed by the leader of the Serbian “Radical Party” Stojan Protic. The cabinet included representatives of 12 Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian and Muslim parties (from right-wing to social democrats). In March 1919, a provisional parliament of the country, the State Assembly, was established.

The economic and social situation in the new state remained catastrophic. The decline in production, inflation, unemployment, land shortage, and the problem of employing former soldiers posed a serious challenge to the government. The internal political situation was aggravated by the bloody clashes that continued in December 1918 in Croatia, Montenegro, Vojvodina and other areas. In the spring of 1919, a powerful wave of strikes arose among railway workers, miners and workers of other professions. There were violent protests in the village by peasants demanding land. The government was forced to begin carrying out an agrarian reform, which provided for the redemption of landowners' land by peasants. The authorities forced a low exchange rate for the Austrian currency against the Serbian dinar, which worsened the economic situation of the population and sparked further protests.

The question of the shape of the future remained acute government structure. Adherents of the former Montenegrin monarchy opposed the unified state, and the Croatian Peasant Party (HKP), led by Stjepan Radić, demanded that Croatia be given the right to self-determination (for which it was persecuted by the authorities). Various government projects were put forward, from centralist to federalist and republican.

The government formed in August 1919 by the leader of the Serbian democrats Ljubomir Davidović (it also included the Social Democrats and a number of small non-Serbian parties) adopted a law on an 8-hour working day, tried to cope with the state budget deficit (by raising taxes) and curb inflation by carrying out monetary reform. However, these measures did not prevent a new wave of strikes in the country. 1919.

In February 1920, the radical Protic returned to the post of head of government, having received the support of the clerical “Slovenian People’s Party” and the “People’s Club”. In April of the same year, the authorities suppressed a general strike of railway workers. In May, a coalition cabinet with the participation of democrats, Slovenian clerics and other parties was headed by another radical leader, Milenko Vesnic. His government held elections to the Constituent Assembly in November 1920. The bloc of radicals and democrats failed to achieve a majority (the democrats received 92, and the radicals 91 out of 419 seats). The influence of left-wing parties has increased: the Communists came into third place, receiving approx. 13% of the vote and 59 seats, and the HKP (Croatian People's Peasant Party) in fourth (50 seats). The HCP achieved an absolute majority in Croatia. In December 1920, it was renamed the Croatian Republican Peasant Party (HRKP) and declared its goal to be the proclamation of an independent Croatian Republic.

Under these conditions, the KSHS government, which primarily reflected the interests of the Serbian elite, decided to strike at its opponents. On December 30, 1920, the “Obznan” decree was adopted, which prohibited the propaganda activities of the Communist Party and related workers’ organizations and trade unions; their property was confiscated and activists were arrested. On January 1, 1921, the leader of the Radical Party, Nikola Pasic, formed a cabinet that included representatives of Serbian radicals, democrats, farmers, as well as Muslims and small parties.

In 1921, the KHRKP deputies were forced to leave the Constituent Assembly. On June 28, 1921, the constitution of the KSHS was adopted, according to which the kingdom was proclaimed a centralized state. The Constitution was called "Vidovdan" because it was approved on the day of St. Vid. After a series of assassination attempts on Prince Alexander and a number of politicians, in August 1921 the assembly adopted a law On the protection of security and order in the state, which officially outlawed the Communist Party. In March 1923, in the elections to the People's Assembly, the radicals received 108 of 312 mandates. Pašić formed a one-party radical cabinet, which in 1924 included representatives of the Independent Democratic Party, which had broken away from the Democrats.

The HRKP, having received 4% less votes in the elections than the Serbian radicals, received 70 seats. Party leader Radić proposed to unite the opposition and transform the KSHS into a federation. Having been refused, he came to an agreement with the ruling radicals. In the summer of 1923 he was forced to go abroad, and in his homeland he was declared a traitor. In domestic politics, the Pašić government widely resorted to methods of repression against political opponents. In the beginning. In 1924 it lost the support of parliament and dissolved it for 5 months. In response, the opposition accused him of violating the constitution. In an atmosphere of mass discontent in July 1924, Pašić was forced to resign.

The government of the democrat Davidovich (July-November 1924), which also included Slovenian clerics and Muslims, promised to ensure peaceful and equal coexistence of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, as well as to establish diplomatic relations with the USSR. The new government restored regional administration in Zagreb. The charges against Radić were also dropped and he was allowed to return to the country. In November 1924, Pašić returned to power in alliance with independent democrats. In December, the government banned the activities of the HRKP and ordered the arrest of Radić, and in February new elections to the People's Assembly were held. In them, the radicals received 155 out of 315 seats, and supporters of the HRKP 67. The authorities ordered the cancellation of the mandates of the Croatian Republicans, but then Pasic held secret negotiations with the imprisoned Radić and obtained from him a refusal to put forward slogans for the independence of Croatia. The Croatian leader was released and appointed minister. In July 1925, Pašić headed a new coalition government, which included representatives of the radicals and the HRKP. It passed a reactionary press law, raised the payroll tax, and introduced changes to the agrarian reform that allowed landowners to sell land subject to alienation to strong farms of wealthy peasants. In April 1926, the cabinet resigned due to the refusal of the Croatian coalition partners to ratify the convention with Italy, in which the KSHS made significant economic concessions to the neighboring state. The new government was formed by the radical Nikolai Uzunovich, who promised to pay special attention to the development of agriculture and industry, to help attract foreign capital, to reduce taxes and government spending as part of austerity. But the country's political system remained unstable. The “Radical Party” split into 3 factions, the “Democratic Party” into 2. In the beginning. 1927 KhRPK left the government, and Slovenian clerics became Uzunovich’s support. In February 1927, the opposition demanded that the Minister of the Interior, who was accused of mass police reprisals against voters during local elections, be put on trial. The scandal gained international resonance, and Uzunovic resigned.

In April 1927, the radical V. Vukicevic headed a government consisting of radicals and democrats, who were later joined by Slovenian clerics and Bosnian Muslims. During the early parliamentary elections (September 1927), the radicals won 112, and the opposition HRKP 61 seats. The government refused to provide state aid unemployed, reduce the debt of peasants and unify tax legislation. The confrontation between the authorities and the opposition grew. KHRKP agreed with independent democrats to create a bloc. The split in the Democratic Party deepened, and its various factions left the government coalition. Massive protest demonstrations, strikes and peasant uprisings took place. Opposition MPs who accused the regime of corruption were often forcibly removed from the Assembly. On June 20, 1928, in the midst of disputes about the ratification of economic agreements with Italy, the radical P. Racic shot two Croatian deputies in the parliament hall and wounded Radic, who died from his wounds in August of the same year. In Croatia, mass protests and demonstrations escalated into barricade battles. The opposition refused to return to Belgrade and demanded new elections.

In July 1928, the leader of the clerical Slovenian People's Party, Anton Koroshec, formed a government that included radicals, democrats and Muslims. He promised to carry out tax reform, provide credit to peasants and reorganize the state apparatus. At the same time, the authorities continued to arrest oppositionists, and laws were being prepared to tighten censorship and give the police the right to interfere in the activities of local governments. In conditions of worsening social crisis, the Koroshetz government resigned at the end of December 1928. On the night of January 5-6, 1929, King Alexander carried out a coup d'etat: he dissolved parliament, local governments, political parties and public organizations. The law on the 8-hour working day was also repealed and strict censorship was established. The formation of the government was entrusted to General P. Zivkovic.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The established military-monarchical regime announced its intention to save the unity of the country. KSHS was renamed "Kingdom of Yugoslavia". The administrative-territorial reform carried out in October 1929 abolished historically established regions. Strengthening of pro-Serbian tendencies, manifested incl. in the preferential lending to agriculture in Serbian regions, as well as in the field of education, led to increased activity of separatists in Croatia (Ustasha) and in other areas of the country.

In the beginning. In the 1930s, Yugoslavia was gripped by an acute economic crisis. Trying to mitigate its impact, the government created the Agrarian Bank and introduced a state monopoly on the export of agricultural products until 1932, but categorically refused to regulate working conditions and wage levels. Workers' protests were suppressed by the police.

In September 1931, the king promulgated a new constitution that significantly expanded the powers of the monarch. The opposition boycotted the elections to the Assembly held in November 1931. In December 1931, the ruling coalition was reorganized into a new party, called the Yugoslav Radical Peasant Democracy (from July 1933 it was called the Yugoslav National Party, UNP).

After the representatives of Slovenia and Croatia left the government and Zivkovic was replaced as Prime Minister by V. Marinkovic in April 1932, the cabinet was headed by M. Srskic in July of the same year. In January 1934, Uzunovich was again appointed head of the government.

In October 1934, King Alexander of Yugoslavia was assassinated in Marseille by a Macedonian nationalist. Power in the country passed to the minor King Peter II, and the regency council was headed by Prince Paul. In foreign policy the new authorities were ready to compromise with Germany and Italy, internally with moderate opposition factions.

In May 1935, the government, which was headed by B. Eftich from December 1934, held parliamentary elections. The UNP won 303 seats, the united opposition 67. But a split occurred in the government bloc. The formation of the cabinet was entrusted former minister finance M. Stojadinovich, who created a new party in 1936 “Yugoslav Radical Union” (YURS). Stojadinović won over some of the former radicals, Muslims and Slovenian clerics, promising to implement decentralization state power and solve the so-called "Croatian question". However, negotiations with the opposition HRKP failed. The government decided to reduce the debt obligations of peasants (frozen in 1932) and issued a law on cooperatives. In foreign policy, it moved towards rapprochement with Italy and Germany, which became Yugoslavia's main trading partner.

Early elections to the Assembly (December 1938) showed a significant strengthening of the opposition: it collected 45% of the votes, and the KhRPK received an absolute majority of votes in Croatia. Party leader V. Macek said that further coexistence with the Serbs is impossible until the Croats receive complete freedom and equality.

The new government was formed in February 1939 by the representative of the YuRS D. Cvetkovich. In August 1939, the authorities signed an agreement with V. Macek, and representatives of the KhRPK joined the cabinet along with the “Democratic Party” and the “Peasant Party” of Serbia. In September 1939 Croatia received autonomy. The government of the autonomy was headed by Ban Ivan Subasic.

In May 1940, Yugoslavia signed an agreement on trade and navigation with the USSR, and in June of the same year officially established diplomatic relations with it. After some hesitation, Cvetkovic was inclined to cooperate with Germany. In March 1941, the government discussed the issue of joining the Germany-Italy-Japan bloc. A majority of ministers voted in favor of the move, and the losing minority left the cabinet. On March 24, the reorganized government unanimously approved the agreement, and it was officially signed in Vienna.

The signing of this document caused mass protests in Belgrade, held under anti-German and anti-fascist slogans. The army went over to the side of the demonstrators. On March 25, 1941, a new government was formed headed by General D. Simovich. The agreement with Germany was terminated. King Peter II was declared an adult. The coup was supported by communists operating underground. On April 5, Yugoslavia signed a treaty of friendship and non-aggression with the USSR. The next day German troops(with the support of Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania) invaded the country.

The period of occupation and the people's liberation war. The balance of forces between the parties was unequal, the Yugoslav army was defeated within 10 days, and Yugoslavia was occupied and divided into occupation zones. A pro-German government was formed in Serbia, Slovenia was annexed to Germany, Vojvodina to Hungary, and Macedonia to Bulgaria. A regime of Italian and, from 1943, German occupation was established in Montenegro. Croatian Ustasha nationalists, led by Ante Pavelic, proclaimed the creation of the Independent State of Croatia, captured Bosnia and Herzegovina and launched massive terror against Serbs and Jews.

The king and government of Yugoslavia emigrated from the country. In 1941, on the initiative of the emigrant authorities, the creation of armed detachments of Serbian “Chetnik” partisans began under the command of General D. Mikhailovich, who received the post of Minister of War. The partisans not only fought the occupying forces, but also attacked communists and non-Serb minorities.

Large-scale resistance to the occupiers was organized by the Yugoslav communists. They created the General Staff partisan detachments and began to form rebel units, raising uprisings in various parts countries. The units were united into the People's Liberation Army under the command of Communist Party leader Josip Tito. Insurgent authorities and people's liberation committees were created locally. In November 1942, the first session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) took place in Bihac. At the second session of AVNOJ, held on November 29, 1943 in the city of Jajce, the veche was transformed into the supreme legislative body, which formed a provisional government - the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia, headed by Marshal Tito. The Veche proclaimed Yugoslavia a democratic federal state and spoke out against the return of the king to the country. In May 1944, the king was forced to appoint I. Subasic as prime minister of the emigrant cabinet. Great Britain sought an agreement between the emigration and the partisans led by the Communist Party. After negotiations between Subasic and Tito (July 1944), a unified democratic government was formed.

In the fall of 1944, Soviet troops, who fought fierce battles with the German army, entered the territory of Yugoslavia. In October, as a result of joint actions of Soviet and Yugoslav units, Belgrade was liberated. The complete liberation of the country's territory ended by May 15, 1945 by units of the Yugoslav Army (NOAU) without the participation of Soviet troops. Yugoslav troops also occupied Fiume (Rijeka), Trieste, and Carinthia, which was part of Italy. The latter was returned to Austria, and according to the peace treaty with Italy, concluded in 1947, Rijeka and most of Trieste went to Yugoslavia.

The Yalta Conference of the Heads of Government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain recommended that Tito and Subasic implement the agreement reached between them in 1944, create a unified government, and also replenish the AVNOJ with representatives of the old Assembly. In March 1945, the king appointed a regency council; The exile cabinet and the National Liberation Committee resigned, and Tito's government was formed, in which Šubasic took over as foreign minister. Local governments were also created in parts of Yugoslavia. In August, AVNOJ was transformed into the People's Assembly of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. Laws were passed on the nationalization of enterprises, lands and farms of Germans and accomplices of the occupiers. Foreign trade was brought under state control, the new agrarian reform established the maximum size of land ownership for private individuals.

In November 1945, elections to the Constituent Assembly were held. The Popular Front was led by the Communist Party. On November 29, 1945, the Constituent Assembly proclaimed Yugoslavia a Federal People's Republic (FPRY).

Tito's reign. In January 1946, the Constituent Assembly adopted the constitution of the FPRY, and Tito formed the government of the country. During 1946, the Popular Front parties (except the communist one) ceased to exist, and a one-party system was established in Yugoslavia.

The authorities of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia carried out rapid nationalization of the industrial sector. In 1946-1948, all leading enterprises, transport, banking, wholesale and most retail trade were nationalized; state economic planning began; the law on cooperatives was adopted; a system of mandatory government procurement of agricultural products was introduced. In 1947, the first five-year plan was adopted, which provided for the industrialization and electrification of the country. Since 1949, mass collectivization began in the villages.

The severance of relations between Yugoslavia and the USSR in 1948 influenced not only foreign policy guidelines, but also the domestic and economic policies of the country. The Yugoslav leadership decided to abandon the Soviet development model. In June 1950, a law was adopted on the transfer of management of state enterprises to labor collectives, according to which the director was responsible to the state and a committee elected by the collective. In 1951, a new law on planning was introduced: some functions were transferred to republics, local authorities and enterprises themselves, sectoral ministries were abolished, and their functions were transferred to territorial bodies and sectoral associations. Since 1952, uniform state prices were abolished, and the transition to market prices began. Self-supporting connections were established between enterprises, in which they could accept independent decisions within the framework of general plans and independently manage the profit remaining after mandatory contributions to the state. In Yugoslavia, the proposed model was called “socialist self-government.” Problems in agriculture forced the government in the 1950s to dissolve most agricultural cooperatives.

Changes in the economy have also led to changes in political structure. In 1953, amendments were made to the constitution, which provided, in particular, for the creation of the Producers' Assembly as a special chamber of the assembly. It was elected only by employees National economy. The post of President of Yugoslavia was also introduced. It was occupied by Tito, who at the same time remained the head of government of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

During the period of the 2nd and 3rd five-year plans (1957-1965), the industrialization of the country was mainly carried out. At the same time, the authorities reduced the share of investments in production, increased investments in the non-productive sphere and agriculture, in which the state and cooperative sectors gradually expanded. Economic reforms continued: in 1957–1961, enterprises received full independence in the distribution of the remaining 45% of the national income they created. The role of economic sectoral and intersectoral associations expanded.

In 1963, a new constitution was adopted, declaring Yugoslavia a Socialist Federal Republic (SFRY). Tito remained president of Yugoslavia, but refused the post of head of government. In subsequent years, the post of chairman of the SIV was occupied by Petar Stambolic (1963–1967), Mika Špiljak (1967–1969), Mitja Ribicic (1969–1971) and Djemal Biedić (1971–1977).

The reforms had a mixed impact on the Yugoslav economy. Having gained independence, enterprises often used their funds not for production, but to increase the consumption fund, which increased the standard of living of the population. At the same time, the growth of labor productivity lagged significantly behind the growth of personal income. Industrial production growth has slowed. The mining industry and agriculture lagged further and further behind the manufacturing industry, and disproportions in the development of the republics and territories increased. The deficit in the foreign trade and balance of payments reached significant proportions, and inflation grew. The country's authorities tried to implement the so-called. “socio-economic reform”, based on the establishment of the principle of growing the accumulation fund at a faster rate than the growth of the consumption fund, changing the exchange rate of the dinar and liberalizing foreign trade. Enterprises could keep up to 2/3 of the produced product at their disposal. The participation of republics and territories in resolving economic issues expanded.

Economic problems contributed to the aggravation of the internal political situation in the country. In 1968, there were demonstrations by students protesting against bureaucracy, corruption, social inequality and government control over public life. Students demanded the expansion of public self-government and filling it with real content.

National problems have also worsened. Tito (Croatian by nationality) tried to maintain a balance between the elites of various national groups, considering this to be the key to maintaining the unity of the country. The leadership of Yugoslavia was multinational, it resolutely suppressed any manifestations and tendencies that could be regarded as nationalist. Nevertheless, such tendencies were present in the sentiments of both part of the intelligentsia and among some party leaders of the republics. In party circles in the more economically developed republics (Slovenia, Croatia), dissatisfaction was often expressed with the fact that the central government carries out a certain redistribution of foreign exchange earnings (income from tourism, etc.) in favor of Serbia and less developed regions, as well as with the fact that that military personnel are sent to serve in other parts of the country.

In 1967, representatives of the Croatian intelligentsia and a number of party leaders signed a declaration containing a demand to recognize the independence of the Croatian language and ensure its use in public life and in the education system. The initiators of the declaration were punished, in particular, the director of the Zagreb Institute for the History of the Labor Movement, General Franjo Tudjman, was expelled from the party and removed from his post. However, this document gave impetus to the movement that sought to expand the rights of Croatia. In 1971, mass student demonstrations took place in the republic demanding recognition national language and national symbols, redistribution of financial resources between the republics, the inclusion of Bosnia and Herzegovina into Croatia, etc. The authorities accused the organizers of nationalism and chauvinism and suppressed the movement. Tudjman and a number of other figures, including members of the communist youth organization and teachers, were arrested.

Trying to stabilize the situation, Yugoslav leaders carried out a wide change of leaders at all levels, from members of the highest party and state bodies and the party leadership of the republics and territories to leading administrators in enterprises and communities. Measures were taken to strengthen party control over social and cultural life. In the economic sphere, the 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (1974) spoke in favor of strengthening the unity of the economic system and planning principles in the economy, price control, etc. The new constitution, adopted in the same year, expanded the autonomy of individual republics (up to the recognition of their right to secede) and consolidated the so-called system. “organizations of united labor” as the basis of socialist self-government. Tito was elected president for life of Yugoslavia.

In the beginning. In the 1970s, Yugoslavia achieved some acceleration in economic growth, the foreign trade and balance of payments deficits decreased, as well as the debt of most enterprises. But then the economic situation in the country worsened: inflation began to rise again, and unemployment increased (it was mitigated by the mass labor migration of Yugoslav citizens abroad).

In 1977-1982 the government of the country was headed by V. Djuranovic. In 1980, Marshal Tito's health rapidly deteriorated, and on May 4 of that year he died.

Collapse of Yugoslavia. After the death of President Tito, the leaders of the Yugoslav federation announced their intention to continue the previous course. A system of collective leadership was agreed upon, according to which representatives of the republics and territories were replaced annually in the posts of party leader and chairman of the Presidium of the SFRY. The government of the country in 1982-1986 was headed by Milka Planinc, and in 1986-1988 by Branko Mikulic.

Throughout the 1980s, economic problems in Yugoslavia continued to worsen. In July 1983, an economic stabilization program was adopted, which included measures aimed at increasing labor productivity, equalizing the level of development of various republics and regions, increasing employment, reducing inflation, foreign trade and payments deficits, as well as pursuing austerity policies. The implementation of the program did not bring tangible results. By 1987, the country's external debt exceeded $19 billion, inflation reached 167%, and real incomes of the population decreased by 7%.

Economic and social difficulties led to a deterioration in relations between individual republics and regions of Yugoslavia and contributed to the growth of nationalist sentiments. In 1986, a number of members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts issued a memorandum with sharp criticism of the federation, which contained a demand to strengthen Serbia's role in Yugoslavia. In the autonomous region of Kosovo, which was part of Serbia, unrest began among Albanians who demanded expanded autonomy and even the creation of a separate Kosovo Republic within the SFRY. In response, Slobodan Milosevic, who headed the Union of Communists of Serbia in 1987, went to limit the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina, and in 1990 the autonomy of Kosovo was abolished and Serbian control was introduced. Milosevic's policy was aimed at strengthening the role of the Serbs in the Yugoslav state, as a force cementing the federation. In Slovenia, the new party leader Milan Kucan (since 1986) began to liberalize the economy and public life. The nationalist Slovenian and Croatian leadership opposed Milosevic.

The Yugoslav government, led by Ante Markovic (in power from 1989 to 1992), attempted to improve the situation in the country by tightening austerity measures, establishing wage controls and liberalizing the economy. It provided for a complete transition to a market economic system, the introduction of equality of all forms of property, and in the political field, the introduction of a multi-party system and the creation of a rule of law state.

In 1990, it was possible to stop the growth of inflation and reduce external debt. But the further deterioration of the economic situation of the population as a result of economic liberalization led to a wave of strikes and protests, especially in Serbia, Vojvodina and Montenegro. A number of leading figures resigned.

At the 14th Extraordinary Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, held in January 1990, Milosevic called for the abandonment of the constitutionally enshrined rights of the republics and the introduction of voting on the principle of “one person one vote” (this was to ensure the predominance of Serbs in the leadership of the federal government). level). Slovenian and Croatian delegates, who emphasized economic and political liberalization, left the congress, after which the League of Communists of Yugoslavia effectively disintegrated.

As a result of the multi-party elections to the republican parliaments held in 1990 in Slovenia, a coalition of non-communist opposition parties won, in Croatia the opposition nationalist party “Croatian Democratic Union” led by Tudjman, in Bosnia and Herzegovina nationalist parties of Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs, and in Macedonia nationalist “Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization”. Slovenian, Croatian, Bosnian and Macedonian national parties demanded independence. In Serbia and Montenegro, the successors of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia remained in power.

In the fall of 1990, the leaders of Slovenia and Croatia proposed turning Yugoslavia into a confederation of 6 republics, but the Serbian leadership rejected these proposals, advocating the unity of the state. Other republics perceived this as a desire to break away from them areas inhabited by Serbs. In March 1991, Croatian nationalists began armed clashes in Croatia, in which the Yugoslav army later intervened. On June 25, Slovenia and Croatia unilaterally declared their independence, and the Yugoslav army was sent to the republic to maintain order, but the JNA columns were routed on the march by Slovenian territorial troops. On July 3, short-term hostilities were stopped under pressure from foreign powers. As a result of the agreement reached, Yugoslav troops were withdrawn from Slovenia and Croatia, and these republics agreed to a three-month moratorium on declaring independence.

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One of the important crises of the last century was the collapse of Yugoslavia. Despite the fact that now there are no special claims on the part of this state, the crisis played a major role in the foreign policy situation that continues to this day.

Let's try to figure it out: what are the reasons for this event, how did it develop, the main positions of the participants in the crisis, how did the world map change after this “war”?

How many countries was Yugoslavia divided into? How did American intervention affect this process?

List of countries of the former Yugoslavia and their capitals

Yugoslavia (the current capital of the country is Belgrade) was part of Soviet Union as one of the republics - the SFRY.

Information about its member states and their capitals, areas and population is displayed in the table:

In addition, this territory was inhabited by people of different nationalities. The vast majority were Serbs. In addition to them, the population included Croats, Albanians, Montenegrins, Macedonians and Slovenes.

Reasons for the collapse of Yugoslavia

Why did the Balkan crisis happen?

The main factors that historians highlight:

• death of the first president (former leader) Tito;
• the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent “wear and tear” of the socialist system;
• the flourishing of nationalism throughout the world.

As another prerequisite for the split, many scientists attribute incorrect domestic policy multinational state. According to the Constitution of Yugoslavia, at that time the authorities of the republics could create groups within their “possessions”.

The beginning of the collapse

This story began at the same time as the collapse of the USSR, in 1991. The date of complete collapse is considered to be 2006. What happened?

Started Civil War, during which 4 sovereign parts separated from Yugoslavia. Only Serbia and Montenegro remained, the rest became independent states.

Post-war time

It would seem that the conflict should end, the division of countries should come to naught. However, hostilities broke out due to an external factor.

Under the influence of NATO, major bloody military dramas occurred in Serbia and Croatia, in which more than 2 million people were injured. And only after the agreement signed in 1995, society recognized the secession of 4 republics from Yugoslavia.

Despite all the UN peacekeeping efforts, extremist uprisings of Albanians broke out at the end of the 20th century, which resulted in the death of another 0.5 million people.

The “Kosovo crisis” still remains an unresolved problem of the early 21st century.

Division of territory at the end of the 20th century

By the end of the 20th century, Yugoslavia was divided into 5 countries. But the financial division of property dragged on for quite a long period of time.

It was not until 2004 that an agreement was reached that specified the countries and the amounts prescribed to them. Moreover, a large amount went to Serbia (about 39% of total assets).

Many of our domestic historians believe that such a division is unfair, because the USSR had huge debts to foreign branches of Yugoslav companies. Therefore, in 2006 Russian Federation paid this amount.

Map of Yugoslavia: before and after the collapse

The first picture shows a map of Yugoslavia before it was divided into separate independent states.

The second picture shows a map of Yugoslavia with new states.

What countries did the country split into?

The five states into which Yugoslavia disintegrated by 2003 are:

1. Croatia;
2. Bosnia and Herzegovina;
3. Slovenia;
4. Macedonia;
5. FRY (successor to the former multinational state):
   • • Slovenia;
     • Montenegro.

Yugoslavia became finally divided when Montenegro left the FRY in June 2006.

American intervention

From the very beginning Balkan crisis America actively intervened in this process. Her policy was aimed at forceful influence (on Serbia) and support for the two opposition parties. This led to the impossibility of peaceful resolution of the conflict.

In 1995, with the support of NATO, military operations were launched in Serbia and Croatia, during which over 1 million people were killed and about 2 million were injured.

At the end of the same year, on the initiative of American diplomats, an agreement was signed on the withdrawal of 4 countries from Yugoslavia and the cessation of hostilities throughout the territory of the former multinational state.

At the end of the twentieth century, America played an important role in the “fight against extremists,” causing enormous damage with its numerous raids, which prompted Montenegro’s exit from the FRY.

NATO's intervention in the Kosovo crisis was of particular importance. Until now, this conflict remains unresolved.

Conclusion

Despite the difficult geopolitical situation, Russia is now pursuing diplomatic policy with the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In addition, technological progress is planned in almost all spheres of life of these independent states.