Pa1010

Well... Maybe not, but things wouldn’t happen the way they happened. Kosovo is completely different example because it happened more than 15 years after the death of Yugoslavia which was considerably stronger force than only Serbia is. And not to mention it happened after the wars when international reputation of Serbia was completely lost.

If Croatia or Slovenia wanted to separate against international law JNA would go full strength on it, wouldn’t it? The whole genesis of war would be different. In that case you’d have JNA against rebel army, and in reality you had JNA and Serbian paramilitary forces (Tsetniks) against Croatian National Guard.
This brings me to one question. Why did JNA stop after the battle of Vukovar?! Why it besieged the cities, but didn’t go a step forward?! (I’m talking at opening years of war)

urtel

Secession of Kosovo was started in 1989(google kosovo-demonstartion-1989-Milosevic), which pretty much help Milosevic to get on power, acctualy Serb-Albanian disagreement over teitorry of Kosovo exsits at last 100 years

Man JNA soldiers was Croats and Slovenian's between others do you really think ppl shoot on they own families and houses because something in law say this is right?
i mean no matter what law u have and u order me to go shoot mine ppl i will surly not do that.

Why u think international law (whatever that will be) actually have any power? USA have no backup in any international law for at last 3 military interventions in last 20 years do u think that is stop them, have u see USA army general said hey we not have UN authorization for this i will not bomb them ?

County was apart because ppl decide they want to live separately not together (why and how come to this is long story), and war was not come because of separation, but like any other war in history, because of borders (territory). To make long story short Serbs not agree to have half of population out of they country borders others not agree to abandon anything they already get... nothing to complex simple territorial war, just little more bloodiest because unsettle history from ww2 as someone already said...

arras

When Czechoslovakia broke, it was done by vote of federal assembly. They voted law which broke federation. But what preceded it was long process of negotiations between representatives of Slovaks and Czechs (made mostly of parties which won elections). All details were negotiated including split of common ownership, borders, international responsibilities. Nothing like that happened in Yugoslavia.

When Slovenia and Croatia seceded from Federal Yugoslavia it was without any such negotiations and from one side only. It was done chaotically and that is reason for war. Given background of relations between those nations and history of Yugoslavia itself it could not end differently in such case.

Question is why Yugoslavia could not have dissolved peacefully like Czechoslovakia did? Why representatives of different nationalities of Yugoslavia could not have negotiated peaceful breakdown?

My opinion is that it could have been done if not some foreign powers messing in to the affairs of Yugoslavia from outside. My opinion is that certain foreign countries encouraged some Slovenian and Croatian politicians to bring matters in to extreme and gave them backing for doing so. And those foreign countries done that on purpose of destroying Yugoslavia.

Most important of those foreign countries was Germany. I read article written by one Czech ex-diplomat from that era where he claimed that when elements of Czechoslovak diplomacy wanted to mediate between sides of conflict in Yugoslavia in order to calm things down, they were strictly forbidden to do so from Berlin.
Military and diplomatic support Germans gave to Croats after start of conflict is well know.

I also remember radio interview with Slovak officer serving peacekeeping mission in Bosnia where he stated that without Great Powers approval, there would be no war. He did not say which powers but there were not so many out there.

Another country which I see often unofficially blamed for what happened in Yugoslavia is Vatican. That is something I can not judge however. If there was some interference it was well concealed. But Vatican is known to be long hostile to Serbs (which are orthodox) and to give support to Croats during WWII so it is nothing impossible.

What is puzzling me is role of USA. They intermingled massively in to Yugoslav affairs, that is clear. But their stance at the beginning of conflict seem to have been one of supporting unity of Yugoslavia and they seemed to be very friendly to Milosevic himself. If it is true, then question is what caused them to change 180 degrees...?

urtel

There was negotiations for whole year presidents of all 6 republic was travel from place to place and talk but they not find solution first because they incompetence***, second are borders. I m not remember Czechs and Slovaks have territorial disputes so much easier to separate

About foreign powers off curse some of them have inters to break apart last successful (mine opinion) communistic state, but blaming others for our misery have only one propose - hiding our incompetence, every state in world have enemies but they not falling apart …
Vatican o common, why? To make more Catholics in total atheistic and pagan state i m not buying that...it is just couple unsettled history debts with them, couple of high lvl Ustase leaders was runaway with Vatican help, nothing more. This payout still waiting so i m sure many years from now Vatican will still be on Serbs black list…

USA is slow and inert super power, and because of that not making decisions on first ball, they need time to find on which side is better to invest.
But when USA take side it never change it, no matter anything, just look they still have sanctions for Cuba – 50 years after Bay of Pigs... as super power they can’t admit they rong ever no mater of collateral damage…
Why they chose separation after some time of thinking?
It is simple they calculate what they get in one case what in other and make best choice in they own interest like any reasonable man do…not to mention there was urgent need to relocate soldiers from Germany somewhere in Europe and SFRJ for sure will never accept them…


***those first generation so call “democratic” leaders was worse we can get (by any standards) many of then just get out communistic jails or come back from long exiles, with wish to revenge whole country, actually country is not enough for they hate…
They need to destroy any idea that there can be unity between south Slavic nations (Jugoslavia means Jug=South, Slavija = Slavs), because of that war was necessary.

They all played (from any side) on fear card only political paroles they had is if u not vote for as then other side (who will vote for they which are same as we) will wipe u – and it is not need much to assure ppl in that claims, refresh memories of ww2, couple destroyed graveyards, bomb here and there, ww2 Nazi emblems and here u go worse we had ride again, and we all know what time comes with riders of apocalypse
If someone had balls and put them to wall and shoot all 6 in same time, non will drop tear for them, at last no me…
Last president in Yugoslavia is guy who actually said: “ I will be last president of Yugoslavia” (in meaning there will no be Yugoslavia after me)

Imagine that USA put for president guy who say “I will be last USA president”?!?

Helios

I'm just gonna say something you should think about about the hate that had been there for a long time, about something that Yugoslavia tried to unite but the hate and difference were just to much or not?
When germans attacked Yugoslavia the Croatians betrayed yugoslavia and made a puppet state to germany called NDH(Nezavisna drzava Hrvatska-Independent state of Croatia) crimes they committed were enormus, killing entire villages children women everyone but mostly serbs ofc.
Take a look at one concentration camp

please somone google it and post the link as i am not allowed to post links yet, concentration camp Jasenovac

Now for something else, when Croatia separated from Yugoslavia in 1991 and even few months before that Serbs (my father among them) were fired from their jobs hate was enormus towards them by the croatians so Serbs had to make a stand and made a revolt against the separation( serbs in croatia made a state called Srpska Krajina) because we made 12,2% population in Croatia in 1991 and now we make 4.5%, croatians made a ethnic cleansing with the help of AMERICANS in the end of the war and other peace organizations just stood by and did nothing,
My entire family fled from Croatia to Bosnia, we still have a house there and go for summer holidays, things are much better now, when my grandmather started going in 1999 she was molested and beaten by the croatians. There is a lot to say on this topic
Maybe i can get my father if you folks want to sit and talk while i write and translate in English, he fought in the war but he is an objective open-minded person

Yu_Višeslav

U cant say Croatians betrayed Yugoslavia in WWII.. The Ustasa ideology was not popular when it entered.. Hitler at first did not appoint Ante Pavelic to be leader... Instead Vlatko Macek(Leader of the Peasentry Party of Croatia) was offered but refused... This party was the most popular party which did not spread any hatred towards Serbs..
Since the Ustasa was given place,, there was conscription and so forth and people have to follow their rules etc... Kind of like a dictatorship..
Many who did not wish for this fled and joined the partizans...

arras

Tito was Croat after all.

Yu_Višeslav

and half Slovene

GalataTurk

I respectfully commemorate the martyrs of our Bosnian brothers and sisters...

arras

What about rest of the fallen?