Global Studies Review:

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Global Studies Review

• The Conflict in the Balkans
• Nationalism.
• Religion
• Ethnocentrism.

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Global Studies Review 5/23

• Do Now Set up your Notebook 1/3 2/3
• Homework Mark Twain Document
• 5 Paragraphs
• Paragraph 1 Summary of the action of the
  document
• Paragraphs 2, 3 4 3 main points/observations/c
  omments on the document
• Paragraph 5 connect the text to the conflict
  in the Middle East.

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Global Studies Review

• Big Picture
• Long term conflict Area
• Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Muslims.
• Disputes over Borders
• Ethnic Groups in close proximity
• WWI and Beyond

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Global Studies ReviewThe Balkans

• Geography

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The Balkans

• Wide view
• Ancient History 1453- Familiar? Constantinople
  Istanbul (Connection!)
• The Balkans, part of the Christian Empire of
  Byzantine, is taken over by the Muslim Ottomans,
  and this begins a period of long term control of
  various Christian groups by the Ottomans in this
  area.

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The Balkans

• Key Point about the Ottomansand this explains a
  lot about the long term division in the areaThey
  were interested in taxing people in this areaand
  they left them to manage their areas (Jew,
  Orthodox Christian, Catholics) pretty much
  untouched.
• Hence, their has always been a sense of identity
  in this area, (both religious and ethnic)
• Independent Groups lived under a controlling
  umbrella

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The Balkans

• Further, this area may be the classic example of
  what can happen when particular Ethnic groups
  live in close proximity, and have a long term
  hatred and distrust for each other.

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The Balkans

• Ottoman Decline The rise of Nationalism and WWI.
• Serbia sought independence and a coastal outlet
  from the Austro-Hungarian Empire that controlled
  them.
• A Serbian nationalist assassinates the Archduke,
  and War is declared on Serbia by Austria-
  Hungary.

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The Balkans

• The area remained in ethnic turmoil after WWI.
• By the end of WWII, things had changed radically
  in this area, and that was a direct result of the
  growth of the Soviet Empire.
• Yugoslavia, which was the large state controlled
  by Marshall Tito had become a controlling factor
  for the Serbs, the Croats and the Albanians.
• Tito ruled essentially independent of Soviet
  control, and would do so until his death in 1980.
• What happens after this is crucial.

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The Balkans

• Players in the Area
• Serbs They are Orthodox Christians
• Croats They are Roman Catholic
• Albanians They are Muslims.
• This area will become an absolute war zone after
  the fall of the Soviet Union, who had helped to
  keep all of these groups at bay.

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The Balkans

• Here is the Balkans in a simple analogy
• Two Pit bulls are on leashes and they have an
  intense hate for each other
• One pit bull (the Serbs) is stronger and meaner
  that the other (The Albanians)
• Without intervention, the Albanians will suffer
  greatly, and that is what happens.

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The Balkans

• What happens after the breakup of Yugoslavia, and
  the Soviet control in the Balkans?
• We have many groups now vying for control, and
  ethnic conflict will break out almost
  immediately.
• What happens in the next decade, (1989-1999) was
  quite severe

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The Balkans

• Here are the players again
• Serbs Orthodox Christians
• Croats Roman Catholics
• Albanians - Muslims
• Lets talk about the Serbs first
• Slobodan Milosovic was the president of
  Yugoslavia. When it crumbled, and there was no
  Soviet presence, he began a campaign of
  persecution of other groups. He is a serious bad
  guy.

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The Balkans

• The Croats were able to expel the Serbs from
  Croatia and they (the Serbs) flooded into
  neighboring Bosnia.
• The Muslims in Bosnia then became a target for
  the Serb led forces, and this became the
  beginning to the Ethnic Cleansing that would
  see upwards of 200,000 Muslim Albanians killed by
  Milosovic and the remaining part of the Yugoslav
  army.
• We are talking about concentration camp type
  settings for the Muslims. Serious war atrocities.

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The Balkans

• Milosovic will persecute the Muslims in the area,
  primarily the Albanians.
• So, we have the Serbs, led by Milosovic,
  instituting a campaign of ethnic cleansing of the
  Albanians, specifically the Albanians in the area
  known as Kosovo.
• What is done about this?
• Well

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The Balkans

• By 1995, the United Nations sends in peace
  keeping forces, but a great deal of the killing
  of the Albanian Muslims had already taken place.
• The United States will also send troops, but this
  will happen much later (1997)
• Milosovic had been branded a war criminal, and
  several of his officers have been tried for war
  crimes.

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The Balkans

• Conflict in Kosovo.
• Kosovo is a Muslim area that the Serbs wanted to
  control.
• There were Albanians fighting against the forces
  of Milosovic the loses by the Muslims were
  heavy.
• The United States intervenes on the side of the
  Kosovars. (Too late, in reality)

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The Balkans

• Tens of Thousands of Kosovars had fled their
  homes and returned only to find all their
  possessions destroyed, or Serbs living in their
  homes with no way to expel them
• The KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) is fighting,
  (like the IRA), to get rid of the Serbs, and the
  U.S. troops are simply trying to keep a lid on
  the whole area.

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The Balkans

• Remember, that Milosovic and the Serbs look to
  1453 as the beginning of the conflicts, and that
  they blame the Muslim Albanians because of what
  the Ottomans did to the area.
• Hence we have a long standing religious and
  ethnic feud that has no immediate end.

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The Balkans

• Updates on the conflict
• The United States has a 5 Million Dollar on the
  head of Milosevic for crimes of torture, murder,
  and hostage taking in Bosnia and Kosovo. He as
  yet, has not been brought to trial.
• The United States presence in Bosnia is changing
  as well.
• It is an un-winnable conflict, and we are
  re-evaluating our role as peace keepers.

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The Balkans

• There is presently a bill in Congress to have the
  United States pull out of Kosovo.
• It has been labeled another Vietnam by many
  lawmakers.
• If we pull out, many fear that Milosevic will
  continue his campaign against the Albanians.
• If we stay, others believe that we will become
  the primary military force in a centuries long
  ethnic and religious struggle .

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The Balkans

• Presently, the move to pull US troop out of
  Kosovo had been defeated in congress.
• We have 5,900 troops keeping the KLA and the
  Serbs from Killing each other.
• There is no end in sight to the divisions in this
  area.
• But, it has been this way for almost 700 years.
  Why do we think that we can change it?
• But, can we turn our back on attempts at genocide?

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The Balkans

• Casulties
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-95)
• U.S. State Dept. 250,000 (Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1996
• 29 April 1999 AP 250,000

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