Yugoslavia and the Genocide

The brake of Yugoslavia and the Genocide in Bosnian
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The Break Up of Yugoslavia
Conflict among the main ethnic groups (Serbs, Muslims, and Croats) in the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina resulted to genocide against the Bosnian Muslims by the Serbs. Yugoslavia broke-up after World War I into its small ethnic groups after victory of the Western allies. In World War II, the German Nazi invaded Yugoslavia and partitioned it. This led to a fierce resistance movement led by Josip Tito that reunited Yugoslavia. Josip Died in 1980 and this left Yugoslavia without a strong leadership and it entered into economic and political chaos.[(The Histrory Place 1999)] [(The Histrory Place 1999)]
A new leader, Slobodan Milosevic used nationalism and religious hatred to amass power. Through this, he propelled the tension that existed between the Serbs and Muslims in Kosovo. This political unrest led to the loss of Kosovo's independence. This marked the beginning of Yugoslavia's breakdown and in 1991 Croatia and Slovenia were declared independent from Yugoslavia, an event that spurred civil war. With the failure of the Yugoslavian army to contain the separatist protestors, Yugoslavia lost its power and control as Milosevic continued to dominate and dividing the rest of the newly formed states hence the breakdown of Yugoslavia.[(The Histrory Place 1999)] [(The Histrory Place 1999)]
Struggle for Control in Bosnia
Bosnian Serbs did not only want independence from Yugoslavia. Their nationalist leader Milosevic together with his followers wanted to create a greater Bosnia and be part of the dominant Serbian state in the Balkans-‘the Greater Serbia' and this was the main reason for riots and separatist ideas by the Serbian Separatists . In 1992, Bosnia was recognized as an independent state by the United States and European community- now the European Union.[(Malcolm 1994)]
What ensued was an offensive attack to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, where the Bosnian Serb forces with the help of predominantly Serbian Yugoslav army and backing of their leader Milosevic bombarded the capital, attacking towns dominated by Bosnians in eastern Bosnia. These towns included; Zvornik, Foca, and Visegard where Bosniaks were brutally evicted (ethnic cleansing).[(Malcolm 1994)]
The Bosnian forces from the government tried defending their territories with the help of Croatian forces, who neglected to recognize Bosnia as an independent state. Bosnian forces were dominant as they had help from the Yugoslav army and had control of three-quarters of the whole country until 1993 CITATION Mal94 \l 1033 (Malcolm 1994). During this period, Karadzic, founder of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), president of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he named Republika Srpska, had set a republic in east Bosnia.[(Malcolm 1994)] [(Malcolm 1994)]
The Bosniak Croats fled the country but a relatively large number of Bosniaks remained within the smaller towns. The Serbs refused to relinquish territory, and hence peace proposals between the Croatian-Bosniak federation and Bosnian Serbs were unsuccessful. The international community did not want involvement in this conflict and the most conspicuous was the United Nations with only humanitarian aid being provided to the displaced, malnourished and injured population
Attack on Srebrenica: July 1995
The Srebrenica massacre is one of the most horrific genocide attacks in recent history where 8000 men of Muslim origin of all ages were murdered in the most inhumane ways imaginable. Following the brutal executions, victims were buried in mass graves and then dug and reburied elsewhere to remove any evidence that would link the events to the Bosnian-Serb troops.[(Long and Leann 2006)]
These events can be understood by taking a chronological history that led to the genocide. The fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I led to the formation of the Kingdoms of Serbs and Croats in1918. The Kingdom was renamed to Yugoslavia that fell apart during World War II and reunited after the war under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito as an Eastern Europe Communist state. The new Yugoslavia comprised of six states; Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Slovenia which maintained peace only during Tito' rule.[(Long and Leann 2006)] [(Long and Leann 2006)]
According to the Center for Balkan Development (2006), the death of Tito during the Cold war plunged Yugoslavia into a state of apathy. Nationalist and separatist ideologies became dominant disrupting the country's peace and harmony.[(Long and Leann 2006)]
Slobodan Milosevic a former Serbian Communist took advantage of the situation and strongly adhered to the nationalist campaigns and finally, in 1989 he became the leader of Serbia and an authoritative Yugoslavian dignitary CITATION Lon \l 1033 (Long and Leann 2006). This marked the beginning of the fall of Yugoslavia and the events that would to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. Croatia and Slovenia sought independence from Yugoslavia and were immediately followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina.[(Long and Leann 2006).]
The Muslim, Serbs, and Croat population in Bosnia did not recognize Bosnia as an independent state; therefore, they began to fight for Bosnian territory. The idea the Muslim had was that the Yugoslav National Army (YNA) would protect their community. However, this army was under Milosevic's command, who intended to create a greater Serbia and, therefore, it launched ruthless attacks on non-Serbs. This led to war between the Serbs and Bosnians with the attempts for making peace failing.[(Malcolm 1994)]
During the war, innocent civilians took refuge at Srebrenica under the protection weakening Dutch peacekeeping ...