The ethnic conflict in Yugoslavia?

[The Grey Blur]

What exactly happened? Was it even in Yugoslavia it went down? I mean the Sebian-Muslim violence, i think...

Bear in mind I have absolutely no clue about this so don't use any familiar terms please

Also, where do the Chechens come into this?

[Cunni]

The conflict in Yugoslavia is divided down national, racial and religious lines. The Serbs are slavic and Eastern Orthodox in religion - they are the biggest group. The Croats are Slavic as well but are Catholic. The Albanians are Muslim. The main theatre for the conflicts have been Bosnia and Kosovo. In Bosnia ethnic serbs attacked Bosnian croats and Bosnacs (Muslim Bosnians descended from the old land-owning class that existed under the ottoman Empire). Serbia then got involved on the side of Bosnian Serbs and Croatia got involved on the side of the ethnic Croats. They killed each other, NATO killed them and everyone killed the Muslims. In Kosovo, a large influx of ethnic Albanians in the last century means that they were a mojority in this region of Serbia, they rose up and tried to expel the Serbs with ethnic cleansing, the serbs responded with ethnic cleansing and Nato sent in troops. Thats about it really.

Historically, this is the result of Ottoman Imperialism in the region twinned with the negative effect that Stalinist State-Capitalism has had on the Left in the Balkans. After the death of Tito, opposition forces became nationalist and increasingly right wing which exacerbated old divisions left over since theTurkish Empire, leading to extreme zenophobia and ethnic cleansing. It is yet another crime to lay at the door of Imperialism and Stalinism.

Tiocfaidh ar la!

[Andy Bowden]

Also, where do the Chechens come into this?

Chechnya is in Russia, it's not anywhere near Yugoslavia.

[The Grey Blur]

Originally posted by Andy [email protected] 05, 2006 10:06 pm

Also, where do the Chechens come into this?

Chechnya is in Russia, it's not anywhere near Yugoslavia.
My bad

Thanks to Cunni for the basic history lesson

[Janus]

Also, where do the Chechens come into this?
The Chechen conflict is somewhat similar to the post-Yugoslavia wars in that an ethnic group became increasingly more militant after the breakup of a previously stable republic that had helped to suppress ethnic dissension.