Muslim-Croat Alliance and War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Muslim-Croat Alliance and War - Research Paper Example The country was home to ethnic and religious groups that had been rivals in history and enemies at times, including Muslims, Croats and Serbs. World War II led to the invasion of Yugoslavia by Nazi Germany and its subsequent disintegration. The division was transient however, because as soon as Germany was defeated Josip Tito reunified Yugoslavia, inspiring the unification of Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and two self governing provinces namely Kosovo and Vojvodina. This new Yugoslavia was inspired by Tito who was a communist leader. He was a shrewd leader who played with both the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war and obtained financial assistance from both sides as a result. This unity, however, could last as long as Josip Tito’s life as Serbia plunged into political and economic chaos after his death. Disintegration of the New Yugoslavia and its fall out:- The death of Tito led to the rise of a new leader Slobodan Milosevic, a former communist. Milosevic believed in the principle of divide and rule to further his goals. He turned to triggering nationalism and religious hatred to gain power. His first plan of action was to set fire to the long-standing tensions between Muslims and Serbs of Kosovo. The minority populace of Serbs (Orthodox Christians) was led to believe that they were being ill-treated by the Muslim majority. The purpose of triggering this conflict was to broaden Milosevic’s power by eventually taking control of the politically broken Kosovo. Kosovo eventually lost its independence and was taken over by Milosevic. His politically twisted motives led to violence and chaos in other parts of Yugoslavia as well. Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991. This was not met well by the leaders and populaces of the mentioned states and led to civil war. Milosevic tried to regain control by sending his Serbian concentrated army to Slovenia however his attemp ts were fruitless. This failure led to Milosevic’s shift in focus from Slovenia to Croatia. Croatia was a catholic country with people from diverse ethnic groups residing there. It was however a pro-Nazi and anti-Serb state which followed policies of fascism underlined by the Ustasha party. In 1991, the independence of Croatia led to a tilt of the country’s orientations towards doctrines of the Nazi era which involved enactment of discriminatory laws against orthodox Serbs. The Croat state consisted of a minority Serbian population of 12 %. Milosevic, loyal to his people and oblivious to territorial boundaries, was aided by Serbian guerrillas in Croatia in its invasion. The constant bombardment of the city of Vukavor turned it to ruins. The might of Milosevic’s army was too much for the Croats to handle. The arms embargo imposed by the UN on all former Yugoslavian states was of little use due to the military might of Milosevic’s Serbian forces. The fighti ng led to monumental damage for the weak Croats and the their infrastructure, military might and financial strength was significantly impaired by the time a US Sponsored ceasefire was exercised between the Serbs and Croats. The Muslim-Croat Alliance: Chronology and fall out. Bosnia had been fighting for its independence for a considerable period of time. It was a Muslim majority country. At the time Chairman of the