History

A Sketch of Serbian, Montenegrin, and Yugoslavian History to 1990

Slavs settled (6th–7th cent.) in the Balkans and were Christianized in the 9th cent. A Serbian kingdom emerged (13th cent.) and under Stephen Dušan (r. 1331–55) became the most powerful Balkan state. Defeat (1389) at Kosovo Field (see under Kosovo) brought Serbia under Turkish domination from the 14th to 19th cent., with Serbia securely in Turkish hands by 1459. At the time of the defeat at Kosovo field the region now constituting Montenegro was the virtually independent principality of Zeta in the Serbian empire. The mountainous principality continued to resist the Turks, but by 1499 most of Montenegro was held by the Turks, while Venice held the port of Kotor and the Montenegrin princes ruled their remnant stronghold from Cetinje. Montenegro's independence was recognized by the Ottoman Empire in 1799, and in 1829 the Turks granted the Serbs autonomy under a hereditary prince. Montenegro and Serbia were formally recognized as independent states by the European powers at the Congress of Berlin (1878). Serbia was proclaimed a kingdom in 1882, and it emerged from the Balkan Wars (1912–13) as a major Balkan power. (See Serbia and Montenegro for greater detail.)

When a Serbian nationalist assassinated (1914) Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Austria declared war on Serbia, thus precipitating World War I. Serbia and Montenegro were overrun by the Central Powers, but Serbian troops were evacuated to Allied-held Corfu, Greece, where representatives of the South Slavic peoples proclaimed (July, 1917) their proposed union under Serbian king Peter I. Montenegro's last monarch, Nicholas I, was deposed in 1918, and Montenegro was united with Serbia. In Dec., 1918, the “Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes” was formally proclaimed.

The Paris Peace Conference recognized the new state and enlarged its territory (with Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia) at the expense of Austria and Hungary. Its name was changed to Yugoslavia (sometimes spelled Jugoslavia) in 1929. Yugoslavia faced disputes with Italy (over Fiume [see Rijeka] and Dalmatia), and was torn internally by Croat and Macedonian nationalist movements. Yugoslavia adhered (Mar., 1941) to the Axis Tripartite Pact, but two days later a coup ousted the regent, and the new government proclaimed its neutrality. The next month Axis forces invaded Yugoslavia and quickly won control, partitioning it among Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Croatian and Serbian puppet states. Two main resistance groups coalesced: the chetniks under Mihajlović and an army under the Communist Tito. In 1943 civil war broke out between the two factions, and Tito, supported by the USSR and Britain, emerged the victor. In 1944 the Germans were driven from Yugoslavia, the Soviet army entered Belgrade, and Tito's national liberation council was merged with the royal government. The next year Tito became premier, the non-Communist members of the government resigned and were arrested, and national elections—from which the opposition abstained—resulted in a Communist victory. The constituent assembly proclaimed Yugoslavia a federal people's republic.

The constitution of 1946 gave wide autonomy to the six newly created republics (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia), but actual power remained in the hands of Tito and the Communist party. Under Tito and his “national communism,” or “Titoism,” Yugoslavs possessed greater freedom than the inhabitants of any other Eastern European country. although intellectual freedom was still restricted. In 1963 the country officially became the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the early 1970s, agitation among the nationalities revived, particularly among the Croats. Although controls over intellectual life were stiffened, the autonomy of the six republics and Serbia's two autonomous provinces increased through the 1970s. With the death of Tito in 1980, an unwieldy collective leadership was established. Ethnic divisions continued to deepen in the 1980s, as did economic problems. (See Yugoslavia for more detail.)

The Disintegration of Yugoslavia

In 1987, Slobodan Milošević became the Serbian Communist party leader. To the alarm of most of the other republics Milošević and his supporters revived the vision of a “Greater Serbia” consisting of Serbia proper, its provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo, the Serb-populated parts of Croatia, large sections of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and possibly Macedonia. In early 1989, Serbia rescinded Kosovo's autonomy and sent in troops to suppress the protests of Kosovo's largely Albanian population, an action that helped Milošević win the Serbian presidency later that year. Slovenia and Croatia elected non-Communist governments in early 1990 and, threatening secession, demanded greater autonomy.

After attempts by Serbia to impose its authority on the rest of the country, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence on June 25, 1991. Fighting immediately broke out as the largely Serbian federal army moved into Slovenia. By the end of July, 1991, however, all federal forces had left Slovenia, although fighting continued throughout the summer between Croatian forces and the federally backed Serbs from Serb areas of Croatia. In Sept., 1991, Macedonia declared its independence, and the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted for independence that October.

In Jan., 1992, a cease-fire was negotiated in Croatia. The European Community (EC; now the European Union) recognized Croatia and Slovenia as independent states, and in April the EC and the United States recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina, which descended into a three-way civil war among Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks. In a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” carried out mostly by the Serbs, thousands of Bosniaks were killed, and many more fled Bosnia or were placed in Serb detention camps.

In May, 1992, the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro and called for an immediate cease-fire in Bosnia. Serbia and Montenegro declared the establishment of a new Yugoslavian federation (the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) in 1992, but the EC (and later the United Nations) announced that the new government could not claim the international rights and duties of the former Yugoslavia, because those rights and obligations had devolved onto the different republics. Macedonian independence was widely recognized the following year. After Serbia reduced its support for the Bosnian Serbs, the United Nations eased the sanctions against Yugoslavia. In late 1995 Yugoslavia (in the person of President Milošević of Serbia) participated in the talks in Dayton, Ohio, that led to a peace accord among Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia (Yugoslavia). Milošević became president of all Yugoslavia (consisting of Serbia and Montenegro) in 1997.

Serbia and Montenegro since 1997

Tensions increased in Kosovo in 1997 and 1998, as a period of nonviolent civil disobedience against Serbian rule gave way to the rise of a guerrilla army. In Mar., 1999, following mounting repression of ethnic Albanians and the breakdown of negotiations between separatists and the Serbs, NATO began bombing military targets throughout Yugoslavia. Thousands of ethnic Albanians were forcibly deported from Kosovo by Yugoslav troops. In June, Milošević agreed to withdraw from Kosovo, and NATO peacekeepers entered the region. Demonstrations in the latter half of 1999 against Milošević failed to force his resignation. Meanwhile, Montenegro sought increased autonomy within the federation and began making moves toward that goal.

In July, 2000, the national constitution was amended to permit the president to hold office for two terms and to institute direct presidential elections; the changes were designed to permit Milošević to remain in power beyond a single term and reduce Montenegrin influence in the federal government. When elections were held in September, however. Milošević was defeated by Vojislav Koštunica, who was supported by a coalition of 18 opposition parties (Democratic Opposition of Serbia; DOS). The election commission initially refused to certify Koštunica as the outright victor, but Milošević conceded after a general strike was called, demonstrators took over the federal parliament building, and Russia recognized Koštunica.

A coalition consisting of the DOS and Montenegrin Socialists formed a Yugoslav government, and in early elections (Dec., 2000) the DOS won control of the Serbian parliament. Koštunica replaced several top military officers—a move designed in part to placate Montenegro—but he initially refused to hand Milošević over to the international war crimes court in the Hague. In early 2001 Milošević and some of his associates in the former government were arrested on various charges. The former president was turned over to the war crimes tribunal by the Serbian government in June, prompting the Montenegrin Socialists to resign from the federal coalition. Relations between Koštunica and Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjić became strained, with the former concerned more about preserving the federation with Montenegro and the latter about winning Western foreign aid and reforming the economy.

In Mar., 2002, Serbian and Montenegrin representatives, under pressure from the European Union and other nations opposed to immediate Montenegrin independence (fearing that it could lead to further disintegration and fighting), agreed on a restructured federal union, and a constitutional charter for a “state community” was adopted by the Serbian, Montenegrin, and federal parliaments by Feb., 2003. Following the federal parliament's approval of the charter, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was reconstituted as Serbia and Montenegro. Most governmental power shifted to the two republics. Although the two republics have a common foreign and defense policy, they now have separate currencies and customs regulations, and after three years either republic may vote to leave the union. Svetozar Marović, of Montenegro, was elected president of the union in March. Despite increased autonomy, Montenegrin leaders have generally avoided any moves that would be supportive of the union and have continued to call for Montenegro's independence.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2006, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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