Origins of the Breakup of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in the 1990s - Fierce Disputes Between Serbs and Croats, Rise of Serbian President Milosevic, Croatian Franjo Tudman, U.S. Involvement in Bosnian Conflict

This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) broke apart violently in the early 1990s. This thesis explores evidence about the root causes of Yugoslavia's turbulent disintegration. It evaluates the cogency of the most prominent suggested causes of the SFRY's breakup, and draws conclusions regarding the most convincing explanations. The most frequently discussed potential causes of the breakup include nationalism, international politics, economic competition, contention among the Yugoslav political elites, and "ancient hatreds." From the creation of Yugoslavia in 1918 until the combat began in 1991, there was constant tension between the different ethnicities, and the fiercest disputes were between the Serbs and the Croats. The thesis concludes that none of the proposed causes alone can provide an explanation for the SFRY's dissolution, which involved the interaction of multiple factors. However, the self-interested republic-level Yugoslav political elites, backed by certain foreign countries, constituted the decisive factor in the Yugoslav federation's collapse.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

The breakup of Yugoslavia happened simultaneously with the fall of the Soviet Union. The era of communist society was coming to an end in Europe. Western powers sought to democratize the world. Socialist Yugoslavia could not remain untouched by developments in the Soviet empire. The only way to preserve the country was through a smooth transition to democracy. There was no powerful leader, such as Josip Broz Tito (the ruler of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1980), who could reach out to all parts of Yugoslavia and unite the country in this transformation. Why were the Yugoslav republics unable to find a peaceful solution for transformation from socialism to a democratic government? Over the course of the existence of Yugoslavia nationalism emerged regularly, and the republics were unable to find unity beyond Tito's charismatic leadership. After his death in 1980, unity was unattainable, and discord led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia, followed by an extremely violent civil war with crimes against humanity.

The saga of the breakup of Yugoslavia has become an important case study in the evaluation of fragility in the unity of a nation. Thus, an examination of the contributing factors that led to the demise of Yugoslavia may help guide analysis of the strength of cohesion in a union. By investigating what led to the creation of the Yugoslavian state after World War I, the emergence of the communist party leader Josip Broz Tito, the victorious outcome of World War II, and post-World War II international relationships, and how these events have affected the rise and fall of Yugoslavia, this thesis sheds some light on the possible underlying causes of the breakup of Yugoslavia. The history of the Yugoslav republics will also be a factor to consider as a reason for the break up. This thesis analyses the weakness in Yugoslav unity looking through the lenses of nationalism and economics. Furthermore, it assesses the motives of the Yugoslav political elites and foreign powers as factors in the dissolution of Yugoslavia. In examining the ways in which nationalism, economics, the Yugoslav political elites, and the international political environment influenced unity in Yugoslavia, this thesis attempts to contribute to the larger body of work that studies the foundations of national unity in federations.

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