The Yugoslav Wars were a series of armed conflicts on the territory of the former
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) that took place between 1991 and 2001. This article is a timeline of relevant events preceding, during, and after the wars.
Yugoslav leader
Josip Broz Tito removes
Aleksandar Ranković, an intelligence officer and main Serbian cadre, from his position. A purge of Serbian cadres from the establishment follows.
1968
Protests in 1968 are echoed in Yugoslavia. The protests are partially student demonstrations. In Kosovo, demonstrators demand greater rights for the Albanian people. Ailing Tito, in his late seventies, allows some liberalization, but despite his old age, refuses to retire.
Croatian terrorists plant bombs at cinemas; several people die.
1971
Nationalist demonstrations in Croatia, known as the
Croatian Spring or MASPOK, occur. Tito and the communist government condemn the demonstrations. Many radical nationalists were later convicted for hate-speech, including
Stipe Mesić and
Franjo Tudjman. A government crisis follows.
A group of Croatian neo-Ustashas from Australia infiltrates Yugoslavia and begins planning terrorist attacks, but their actions are prevented and the group is destroyed.
1972
Yugoslavian Airways (JAT)
Flight 364 is downed by the
Ustaše; 23 of the 24 on board are killed.
Vesna Vulović, a stewardess, is the only survivor after more than a 10,000-meter freefall.[dubious –
discuss]
1974
A new constitution of Yugoslavia is proclaimed, which grants more power to federal units and to the autonomous provinces Kosovo and Vojvodina of Serbia, giving them a vote in all relevant decisions in the federal government. It was aimed at addressing grievances of non-Serb nations within Yugoslavia, under what later became known as the weak Serbia, strong Yugoslavia concept.
Bosnian Muslims (after 1993 the name was changed to Muslim-Bosniacs, and finally to
Bosniaks) were recognized as a sixth "nation" of Yugoslavia (note: "nations" or officially: "narodi" were Slavic majority peoples, while "nationalities" of officially "narodnosti" were all other national minorities) and one of the three constituent peoples of
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
An economic crisis in Yugoslavia begins. Albanian nationalist demonstrations in Kosovo, demanding the status of a republic and more rights (the slogan "Kosovo republika" which translates to "Republic of Kosovo" or more literally "Kosovo republic"). Demonstrations are suppressed and condemned by all Yugoslav communists, including Albanian communists from Kosovo, calling them counterrevolutionary. Arrests follow.
1983
A group of Bosnian Muslim nationalists are convicted under a Yugoslav law that prohibited spreading international hatred. Among them is
Alija Izetbegović who was, among other things, tried for his
Islamic Declaration.
Serb
chetnik (
archduke)
Momčilo Đujić (in emigration), promotes
Vojislav Šešelj to Chetnik duke by declaration in the USA on
Vidovdan, 28 June 1989, a Serbian religious holiday. In his instructions to Šešelj, Đujić orders him to "expel all Croats, Albanians and other foreign elements from the holy Serb ground".[1]
Perceived prosecution of Serbs by Kosovo Albanians fuels growing Serbian nationalist sentiment. Additional police forces are sent to Kosovo.
Slobodan Milošević, a high government official at the time, gives a speech to a small group of Kosovo Serbs where he promises that "no one will beat them", which is aired in the main television news programme. Milošević instantly becomes very popular in Serbia.
Milošević rises to power in Serbia.
Antibureaucratic revolution demonstrations bring pro-Milošević governments to Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro.
Kosovo Albanian miners
strike in the Stari Trg mine. The Slovenian government holds a large rally in the Cankar Congress Centre, supporting the Albanians of Kosovo. Albanians outside Serbia, mostly in Slovenia and Croatia, request alliance between Kosovo and their respective nations.
Relations between Slovenia and Serbia deteriorate. An unofficial embargo on Slovenian products is introduced in Serbian stores (see
Radmila Anđelković). Slovenia's independence movement grows.
The 600th anniversary of the
Battle of Kosovo is celebrated by Serbs across Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milošević gives a speech in
Kosovo, described by his opponents as nationalist.
1990
The Communist Party dissolves on republic, and partially national, lines at the 14th Congress of Yugoslav Communist Party (SKJ, Savez komunista Jugoslavije), with Slovenian and Croatian communists leaving the Congress protesting Milošević's actions.
Constitutional changes in Serbia revoke some of the powers granted to Kosovo and Vojvodina by the Constitution of 1974, including the power to cast a vote in the federal council completely independently from Serbia, which in fact stripped off their nigh-to-republic status. This effectively gave Serbia 3 out of 8 votes in the federal council (4 with support from Montenegro).
Serbian nationalist meetings were held in some Serb-populated areas of Croatia, with iconography that was considered provocative by many Croats.
The
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) subjects the formerly-republic and -territorial defense system to a central command, effectively disarming Croatia and Slovenia.
The first democratic elections in 45 years are held in Yugoslavia in an attempt to bring the Yugoslav socialist model into the new, post–Cold War world. Nationalist options win majorities in almost all republics.
The Croatian winning party,
HDZ offers a vice-presidential position to the
Serb Radical Party, which refuses.
Croatian Serbs start a rebellion against the newly elected government, an event frequently referred to as the "Balvan revolution" (tree-log revolution).
Constitutional changes in Croatia deny the status of a constituent nation to Serbs in Croatia, equating them with all other non-national minorities.
Slovenia holds a referendum on independence from Yugoslavia. which passes with 88.5% of the electorate in favor of independence.
January 1991
Evidence of illegal arming of Croatia and preparations for the war aired on TV. Despite the claims that the tapes were heavily tampered with, Croatian government dismisses
Martin Špegelj.
Unsuccessful negotiations between heads of the republics were held in several rounds.
March 1991
Opposition demonstrations in Belgrade against Milosevic rule, ending in two deaths. Army puts tanks on the streets.
Plitvice Lakes incident results in first Croatian fatality when Croatian policemen are ambushed.
Armed fighting 1991–1993
May – June 1991
Rising ethnic violence in Croatia.
Slovenia and
Croatia declare independence.
JNA intervenes in Slovenia by deploying troops to take border areas. Following the
Ten-Day War, JNA is defeated. The ethnic homogeneity of Slovenia allows the country to avoid much fighting. The Yugoslav army agrees to leave Slovenia, but supports rebel Serb forces in Croatia.
July 1991
A three month cease fire agreed on Brioni. Yugoslav forces would retreat from Slovenia, and Croatia and Slovenia put a hold on their independence for three months.
EU propose
Carrington-Cutileiro plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina. All sides agree, but Izetbegovic later withdraws his signature. (1991 or 1992? - clarification needed)
The Serb entity in Croatia proclaimed itself the
Republic of Serbian Krajina, but remained unrecognized by any country except Serbia.
January 1992
Vance peace plan signed, creating 4 UNPA zones for Serb-controlled territories, and ending large scale military operations in Croatia.
UNPROFOR forces arrive to monitor the peace treaty.
Macedonia declares independence. No wars erupted in this area. Slovenia and Croatia are internationally recognized (European Community countries, several EFTA and Central European countries).
February–March 1992
The Carrington–
Cutileiro peace plan, resulted from the EC Peace Conference held in February 1992 in an attempt to prevent Bosnia-Herzegovina sliding into war. It proposed ethnic power-sharing on all administrative levels and the devolution of central government to local ethnic communities. However, all Bosnia-Herzegovina's districts would be classified as
Muslim,
Serb or
Croat under the plan, even where no ethnic majority was evident.
On 18 March 1992, all three sides signed the agreement; Alija Izetbegović for the Bosniaks, Radovan Karadžić for the Serbs and Mate Boban for the Croats.
Yugoslav army retreats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving a large part of its armory to Bosnian Serbs. Military personnel who were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina retain ranks in the newly founded VRS.
United Nations impose sanctions against
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and accepts Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as members.
Summer 1992
Bosnian Serbs gain control of 70% of territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hundreds of thousands of refugees result from the war and large portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina are ethnically cleansed of non-Serbs.
Vance–Owen peace plan offered. Under pressure from
Slobodan Milošević,
Karadžić signs the plan, but after a vote in assembly of Bosnian Serbs he withdraws his signature.
March 1993
Fighting begins between Bosniaks and Croats.
July 1993
Owen-Stoltenberg peace plan offered. Refused by Izetbegović in August.
September 1993
Fighting begins in the
Bihać region between Bosnian government and Bosniaks loyal to
Fikret Abdić. It lasts until August 1995.
March 1994
Peace treaty between Bosniaks and Croats is signed (
Washington Agreement), arbitrated by the United States.
February–October 1994
Contact Group (U.S., Russia, France, Britain, and Germany) made steady progress towards a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Bosnia, but no agreement was reached.
August 1994
Serbia closes border with Bosnian Serb republic and imposes embargo, as a measure of pressure to accept the plan of Contact Group.
May 1995
Croatia launches
Operation Flash and in 2 days enters Western Slavonia UNPA zone, retaking the territory. The exodus of 11,500–15,000 Serbian refugees follows.
July 1995
Srebrenica genocide reported, 8,000 Bosniaks killed by units of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) under the command of General Ratko Mladić.
Croatia launches
Operation Storm and reclaims over 70% of its pre-war territory, entering all UNPA zones except Eastern Slavonia. Although it effectively ended the war in Croatia's favour, it also resulted in the exodus of the entire Serbian population in these areas, approximately 200,000 refugees.
NATO decides to launch a series of air strikes on Bosnian Serb artillery and other military targets on August 30th, after many incidents with civilian deaths during the years of siege of Sarajevo and in particular the
Srebrenica and
Markale massacres.
FR Yugoslavia recognizes Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia.
1996 - 1998
The process of peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region began on 15 January 1996, with the adoption of the Resolution 1037 which established
UNTAES.
[1]
Winter 1996/97
Following a fraud in local elections, hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Belgrade against the government for three months. The West quietly supports Milosevic, who is branded the main factor of stability in the Balkans after Dayton, and Milosevic remains in power, after issuing lex specialis and admitting victory of opposition at the local level.
March 1998
Fighting breaks out between Yugoslav forces and ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo. Milošević sends in troops and police.
Ethnic cleansing of Albanians has begun and the Albanian refugees are deported by Yugoslav forces into Macedonia and Albania in hundreds of thousands until the end of the bombing.
June 1999
Control of Kosovo is given to the United Nations, but still remains a part of Serbia/FR Yugoslavia.
An exodus of 200,000 of Serbs and other non-Albanians follows in the wake of revenge attacks by Kosovo Albanians.
Slobodan Milošević is voted out of office, and
Vojislav Koštunica becomes new president of Yugoslavia.
January - November 2001
Fighting between Albanian militants and Macedonians erupts in Macedonia, but ends later on in 2001.
June 2001
Conflict in Southern Serbia ends in defeat for Albanians.
February 2002
Milošević is put on trial in
The Hague on charges of war crimes in Kosovo, to which charges of violating the laws or customs of war and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions in Croatia and Bosnia and massacres in Bosnia were later added. Milošević did not recognize the court and represented himself. His defence is aired in former Yugoslavia and his popularity among Serbs greatly increased as a result.
Clashes between the
Republic of Kosovo and ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo began on 25 July 2011 when the Kosovo Police crossed into the Serb-controlled municipalities of North Kosovo, to control several administrative border crossings. This was done without the Kosovo Police consulting either Serbia or Kosovo Force (KFOR)/EULEX (
European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo).[3]
^Philip J. Cohen: World War II and modern Chetniks. Their historical-political continuity and effects to stability of the Balkans, Zagreb: Ceres, 1997. (Twolingual Croatian-English edition)
^Committee for Collecting Data on Crimes Committed Against Humanity,
Mujaheddin Prisoner Camps, January 1998
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of armed conflicts on the territory of the former
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) that took place between 1991 and 2001. This article is a timeline of relevant events preceding, during, and after the wars.
Yugoslav leader
Josip Broz Tito removes
Aleksandar Ranković, an intelligence officer and main Serbian cadre, from his position. A purge of Serbian cadres from the establishment follows.
1968
Protests in 1968 are echoed in Yugoslavia. The protests are partially student demonstrations. In Kosovo, demonstrators demand greater rights for the Albanian people. Ailing Tito, in his late seventies, allows some liberalization, but despite his old age, refuses to retire.
Croatian terrorists plant bombs at cinemas; several people die.
1971
Nationalist demonstrations in Croatia, known as the
Croatian Spring or MASPOK, occur. Tito and the communist government condemn the demonstrations. Many radical nationalists were later convicted for hate-speech, including
Stipe Mesić and
Franjo Tudjman. A government crisis follows.
A group of Croatian neo-Ustashas from Australia infiltrates Yugoslavia and begins planning terrorist attacks, but their actions are prevented and the group is destroyed.
1972
Yugoslavian Airways (JAT)
Flight 364 is downed by the
Ustaše; 23 of the 24 on board are killed.
Vesna Vulović, a stewardess, is the only survivor after more than a 10,000-meter freefall.[dubious –
discuss]
1974
A new constitution of Yugoslavia is proclaimed, which grants more power to federal units and to the autonomous provinces Kosovo and Vojvodina of Serbia, giving them a vote in all relevant decisions in the federal government. It was aimed at addressing grievances of non-Serb nations within Yugoslavia, under what later became known as the weak Serbia, strong Yugoslavia concept.
Bosnian Muslims (after 1993 the name was changed to Muslim-Bosniacs, and finally to
Bosniaks) were recognized as a sixth "nation" of Yugoslavia (note: "nations" or officially: "narodi" were Slavic majority peoples, while "nationalities" of officially "narodnosti" were all other national minorities) and one of the three constituent peoples of
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
An economic crisis in Yugoslavia begins. Albanian nationalist demonstrations in Kosovo, demanding the status of a republic and more rights (the slogan "Kosovo republika" which translates to "Republic of Kosovo" or more literally "Kosovo republic"). Demonstrations are suppressed and condemned by all Yugoslav communists, including Albanian communists from Kosovo, calling them counterrevolutionary. Arrests follow.
1983
A group of Bosnian Muslim nationalists are convicted under a Yugoslav law that prohibited spreading international hatred. Among them is
Alija Izetbegović who was, among other things, tried for his
Islamic Declaration.
Serb
chetnik (
archduke)
Momčilo Đujić (in emigration), promotes
Vojislav Šešelj to Chetnik duke by declaration in the USA on
Vidovdan, 28 June 1989, a Serbian religious holiday. In his instructions to Šešelj, Đujić orders him to "expel all Croats, Albanians and other foreign elements from the holy Serb ground".[1]
Perceived prosecution of Serbs by Kosovo Albanians fuels growing Serbian nationalist sentiment. Additional police forces are sent to Kosovo.
Slobodan Milošević, a high government official at the time, gives a speech to a small group of Kosovo Serbs where he promises that "no one will beat them", which is aired in the main television news programme. Milošević instantly becomes very popular in Serbia.
Milošević rises to power in Serbia.
Antibureaucratic revolution demonstrations bring pro-Milošević governments to Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro.
Kosovo Albanian miners
strike in the Stari Trg mine. The Slovenian government holds a large rally in the Cankar Congress Centre, supporting the Albanians of Kosovo. Albanians outside Serbia, mostly in Slovenia and Croatia, request alliance between Kosovo and their respective nations.
Relations between Slovenia and Serbia deteriorate. An unofficial embargo on Slovenian products is introduced in Serbian stores (see
Radmila Anđelković). Slovenia's independence movement grows.
The 600th anniversary of the
Battle of Kosovo is celebrated by Serbs across Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milošević gives a speech in
Kosovo, described by his opponents as nationalist.
1990
The Communist Party dissolves on republic, and partially national, lines at the 14th Congress of Yugoslav Communist Party (SKJ, Savez komunista Jugoslavije), with Slovenian and Croatian communists leaving the Congress protesting Milošević's actions.
Constitutional changes in Serbia revoke some of the powers granted to Kosovo and Vojvodina by the Constitution of 1974, including the power to cast a vote in the federal council completely independently from Serbia, which in fact stripped off their nigh-to-republic status. This effectively gave Serbia 3 out of 8 votes in the federal council (4 with support from Montenegro).
Serbian nationalist meetings were held in some Serb-populated areas of Croatia, with iconography that was considered provocative by many Croats.
The
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) subjects the formerly-republic and -territorial defense system to a central command, effectively disarming Croatia and Slovenia.
The first democratic elections in 45 years are held in Yugoslavia in an attempt to bring the Yugoslav socialist model into the new, post–Cold War world. Nationalist options win majorities in almost all republics.
The Croatian winning party,
HDZ offers a vice-presidential position to the
Serb Radical Party, which refuses.
Croatian Serbs start a rebellion against the newly elected government, an event frequently referred to as the "Balvan revolution" (tree-log revolution).
Constitutional changes in Croatia deny the status of a constituent nation to Serbs in Croatia, equating them with all other non-national minorities.
Slovenia holds a referendum on independence from Yugoslavia. which passes with 88.5% of the electorate in favor of independence.
January 1991
Evidence of illegal arming of Croatia and preparations for the war aired on TV. Despite the claims that the tapes were heavily tampered with, Croatian government dismisses
Martin Špegelj.
Unsuccessful negotiations between heads of the republics were held in several rounds.
March 1991
Opposition demonstrations in Belgrade against Milosevic rule, ending in two deaths. Army puts tanks on the streets.
Plitvice Lakes incident results in first Croatian fatality when Croatian policemen are ambushed.
Armed fighting 1991–1993
May – June 1991
Rising ethnic violence in Croatia.
Slovenia and
Croatia declare independence.
JNA intervenes in Slovenia by deploying troops to take border areas. Following the
Ten-Day War, JNA is defeated. The ethnic homogeneity of Slovenia allows the country to avoid much fighting. The Yugoslav army agrees to leave Slovenia, but supports rebel Serb forces in Croatia.
July 1991
A three month cease fire agreed on Brioni. Yugoslav forces would retreat from Slovenia, and Croatia and Slovenia put a hold on their independence for three months.
EU propose
Carrington-Cutileiro plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina. All sides agree, but Izetbegovic later withdraws his signature. (1991 or 1992? - clarification needed)
The Serb entity in Croatia proclaimed itself the
Republic of Serbian Krajina, but remained unrecognized by any country except Serbia.
January 1992
Vance peace plan signed, creating 4 UNPA zones for Serb-controlled territories, and ending large scale military operations in Croatia.
UNPROFOR forces arrive to monitor the peace treaty.
Macedonia declares independence. No wars erupted in this area. Slovenia and Croatia are internationally recognized (European Community countries, several EFTA and Central European countries).
February–March 1992
The Carrington–
Cutileiro peace plan, resulted from the EC Peace Conference held in February 1992 in an attempt to prevent Bosnia-Herzegovina sliding into war. It proposed ethnic power-sharing on all administrative levels and the devolution of central government to local ethnic communities. However, all Bosnia-Herzegovina's districts would be classified as
Muslim,
Serb or
Croat under the plan, even where no ethnic majority was evident.
On 18 March 1992, all three sides signed the agreement; Alija Izetbegović for the Bosniaks, Radovan Karadžić for the Serbs and Mate Boban for the Croats.
Yugoslav army retreats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving a large part of its armory to Bosnian Serbs. Military personnel who were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina retain ranks in the newly founded VRS.
United Nations impose sanctions against
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and accepts Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as members.
Summer 1992
Bosnian Serbs gain control of 70% of territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hundreds of thousands of refugees result from the war and large portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina are ethnically cleansed of non-Serbs.
Vance–Owen peace plan offered. Under pressure from
Slobodan Milošević,
Karadžić signs the plan, but after a vote in assembly of Bosnian Serbs he withdraws his signature.
March 1993
Fighting begins between Bosniaks and Croats.
July 1993
Owen-Stoltenberg peace plan offered. Refused by Izetbegović in August.
September 1993
Fighting begins in the
Bihać region between Bosnian government and Bosniaks loyal to
Fikret Abdić. It lasts until August 1995.
March 1994
Peace treaty between Bosniaks and Croats is signed (
Washington Agreement), arbitrated by the United States.
February–October 1994
Contact Group (U.S., Russia, France, Britain, and Germany) made steady progress towards a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Bosnia, but no agreement was reached.
August 1994
Serbia closes border with Bosnian Serb republic and imposes embargo, as a measure of pressure to accept the plan of Contact Group.
May 1995
Croatia launches
Operation Flash and in 2 days enters Western Slavonia UNPA zone, retaking the territory. The exodus of 11,500–15,000 Serbian refugees follows.
July 1995
Srebrenica genocide reported, 8,000 Bosniaks killed by units of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) under the command of General Ratko Mladić.
Croatia launches
Operation Storm and reclaims over 70% of its pre-war territory, entering all UNPA zones except Eastern Slavonia. Although it effectively ended the war in Croatia's favour, it also resulted in the exodus of the entire Serbian population in these areas, approximately 200,000 refugees.
NATO decides to launch a series of air strikes on Bosnian Serb artillery and other military targets on August 30th, after many incidents with civilian deaths during the years of siege of Sarajevo and in particular the
Srebrenica and
Markale massacres.
FR Yugoslavia recognizes Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia.
1996 - 1998
The process of peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region began on 15 January 1996, with the adoption of the Resolution 1037 which established
UNTAES.
[1]
Winter 1996/97
Following a fraud in local elections, hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Belgrade against the government for three months. The West quietly supports Milosevic, who is branded the main factor of stability in the Balkans after Dayton, and Milosevic remains in power, after issuing lex specialis and admitting victory of opposition at the local level.
March 1998
Fighting breaks out between Yugoslav forces and ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo. Milošević sends in troops and police.
Ethnic cleansing of Albanians has begun and the Albanian refugees are deported by Yugoslav forces into Macedonia and Albania in hundreds of thousands until the end of the bombing.
June 1999
Control of Kosovo is given to the United Nations, but still remains a part of Serbia/FR Yugoslavia.
An exodus of 200,000 of Serbs and other non-Albanians follows in the wake of revenge attacks by Kosovo Albanians.
Slobodan Milošević is voted out of office, and
Vojislav Koštunica becomes new president of Yugoslavia.
January - November 2001
Fighting between Albanian militants and Macedonians erupts in Macedonia, but ends later on in 2001.
June 2001
Conflict in Southern Serbia ends in defeat for Albanians.
February 2002
Milošević is put on trial in
The Hague on charges of war crimes in Kosovo, to which charges of violating the laws or customs of war and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions in Croatia and Bosnia and massacres in Bosnia were later added. Milošević did not recognize the court and represented himself. His defence is aired in former Yugoslavia and his popularity among Serbs greatly increased as a result.
Clashes between the
Republic of Kosovo and ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo began on 25 July 2011 when the Kosovo Police crossed into the Serb-controlled municipalities of North Kosovo, to control several administrative border crossings. This was done without the Kosovo Police consulting either Serbia or Kosovo Force (KFOR)/EULEX (
European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo).[3]
^Philip J. Cohen: World War II and modern Chetniks. Their historical-political continuity and effects to stability of the Balkans, Zagreb: Ceres, 1997. (Twolingual Croatian-English edition)
^Committee for Collecting Data on Crimes Committed Against Humanity,
Mujaheddin Prisoner Camps, January 1998