Yugoslav Wars

The Yugoslav Wars were a series of extremely complex wars. Although in simplified terms, the Yugoslav Wars were ethnic in nature, but several incidents provided loopholes in the classification of the Conflict. For example the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) had several clashes with the fellow Croatian militia, the Croatian Defense Forces (HOS). The HVO then accidentally assassinated the HOS leader (how this is possible, the HVO tried to kidnap the leader in order to force him into a joint offensive but he fought back and they killed him). Another example is that Bosniak gangster Juka switched his allegiances from the Bosnian government to the Croats due to the fact that the Croats offered him a better deal. A 3rd example is that Western Bosnian Muslims (pictured above) under Fikret Abdic allied themselves with the Serbs against the Bosnian Muslim government.

The background of the conflict is the various ethnic groups under Tito's communist Yugoslavia had very tense relationships with each-over, and Tito was the only thing the various ethnic groups together. After Tito's death, nothing kept Yugoslavia from breaking up. Several nationalistic movements among the Serbs, Bosniaks, and the Croats attempted to fill the vacuum of Tito. What resulted was a very complex war with continuous alliance sifting among the Serbs, Croats, and the Bosniaks. After a year or two of Bosniak-Croat fighting, the two sides formed an alliance with each-over against the Serbs. Soon in 1995, after mass rape and other methods of ethnic cleansing committed by all sides, a peace accord was finally signed between the factions.