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Breakup of Yugoslavia
The Breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political crisis in 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslaviasplit apart, but the unsolved issues caused bitter inter-ethnic Yugoslav wars. The wars primarily affected Bosnia andCroatia.
After the Communist victory in World War II, Yugoslavia was set up as a federation of six republics, with borders drawn along ethnic and historical lines: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro andMacedonia. In addition, two autonomous provinces were established within Serbia, Vojvodina and Kosovo. Each of the republics had its own branch of the Communist party and a ruling elite, and any tensions were solved on the federal level. The Yugoslav model of state organization, as well as a "middle way" between planned and liberal economy, had been a relative success, and the country experienced a period of strong economic growth and relative political stability up to 1980s, under firm rule of president-for-life Josip Broz Tito. After his death in 1980, the weakened system of federal government was left unable to cope with rising economic and political challenges.
In the 1980s, Kosovo Albanians started to demand that their autonomous province be granted the status of a constituent republic, starting with the 1981 protests. Ethnic tensions between Albanians and Serbs remained high over the whole decade, which resulted in homogenization of Serbs across Yugoslavia, who increasingly saw the high autonomy of provinces, and ineffective system of consensus at the federal level as an obstacle for Serbian interests. In 1987, Slobodan Milošević came to power in Serbia, and through a series of populist moves acquired de facto control over Kosovo, Vojvodina and Montenegro, garnering a high level of support among Serbs for his unionist policies. Milošević was met with opposition by party leaders of western republics of Slovenia and Croatia, who also advocated greater democratization of the country in lieu of weakening of Communism in Eastern Europe. League of Communists of Yugoslavia dissolved in 1990 along federal lines.
During 1990, Communists lost the power to nationalist parties on first multi-party elections held across the country, except in Serbia and Montenegro, where they were won by Milošević and his allies. Nationalist rhetoric on all sides became increasingly heated. In 1991, one by one republics proclaimed independence (only Serbia and Montenegroremained federated), but the status of Serb minorities outside Serbia was left unsolved. After a string of inter-ethnic incidents, the Yugoslav Wars ensued, first in Croatia and then, most severely, in multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina; the wars left long-term economic and political damage in the region.
THE REGION IS A GREAT TOURIST DESTINATION AS NOW THERE IS PEACE IN MOST OF THE NATION PROVICES THOGH SOME REMOTE AREAS NEED TO BE VERIFIED ON BEFORE EMBARKING ON A TRAVEL.
Here are scenic pictures of some of the places.
Split, the second largest city of Croatia
The Summer Festival of Croatia being held at Split
Trogir, another coastal city of Croatia
Trogir Waterfront lined with Palm Trees
Dubrovnik another coastal city of the Aegean sea of Croatia.
Plitvice lakes (Croatia) are the most known Croatian national park and they are registered in the UNESCO Register of World Natural Heritage.
Sixteen little lakes interconnected with waterfalls created by deposition of travertine, a special kind of limestone, constitute the main attraction of this unique park. The park includes the spring of the Korana River in the area surrounded by dense forests of beech, fir and spruce, partly in the form of primeval virgin forest. Apart from the lakes, the Park is ornamented with several caves, springs, flower meadows, and different animals species.
Plitvice Park Gardens in Autumn
Oh for a walk through the turquoise lakes, waterfalls, natural rock cliffs and fresh air of Plitvice National Park.
A Monastry Island in Lake Bled near Ljubljana City, Slovenia
Lake Bled, Radovljica, Slovenia:The lake is situated in a picturesque environment, surrounded by mountains and forests.
A view of Lake Bled from a garden front.
Zagreb the capital of Croatia
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. Here is the Croatian National Theater.
Cemetery Kovači in Sarajevo is one of many places where fallen defenders of Sarajevo, including 10,000 victims of the siege of Sarajevo, were laid to rest.
Beautiful Countryside of Sarajevo
Topola is a town and municipality situated in the Šumadija region of Serbia. It was the place where Karađorđe, aSerbian revolutionary, was chosen as the leader of the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire in 1804.
The Durmitor is a massif and the name of a national park in northwestern Montenegro. The highest mountain peak here, Bobotov Kuk, reaches a height of 2,522 meters.Emerald beauty of Crno Jezero (1416 m) lake, famous symbol of DURMITOR National Park
The beauty of Durmitor National Park
Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 18,000 (2011) inhabitants. Here is Sveti Stefan – an islet and a resort of Budva.
Another view along the Skader Lake.
The Bay of Kotor , known simply as Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro. The bay, once called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a ria of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Orjen.The bay is about 28 km long from the open sea to the harbor of the city of Kotor. It is surrounded by mountains of Orjen on the west and Lovćen on the east.
Perast Beach Resort of Kotor Bay
An Island Church on the Bay of Kotor
Mostar (Cyrillic: Мостар) is a city and municipality in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inhabited by 113,169 people, it is one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region, its cultural capital, and the center of theHerzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation.
Here is a scenic picture with its ancient traditional bridge.
Bohinj or the Bohinj Basin is a 20 km long and 5 km wide basin within the Julian Alps, in the Upper Carniolaregion of northwestern Slovenia. It is traversed by the Sava Bohinjka river. Its main feature is the periglacial Lake Bohinj.
A beautiful Holiday Homestead Resort at Bohinj
Sunflower fields of Vojvodina a province of Serbia. It is an autonomous province of Serbia, located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonian Plain of Central Europe.
Kosovo is a partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe, which declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. While Serbia recognises the Republic's governance of the territory, it still continues to claim it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.