Why did Yugoslavia disintegrate?

Yugoslav Federal Crisis and International Crisis in the Process of Disintegration

At the end of 198s, the Yugoslav Federation was plunged into increasingly serious political, economic and national crisis. On June 25th, 1991,

Slovenia and Croatia, two republics of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, took the lead in unilaterally declaring their independence. Two days later, the federal army made a thousand preparations, which triggered the largest armed forces in Europe after World War II. On April 27, 1992, with the establishment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the unified Federal State of Yugoslavia was divided into five and officially disintegrated. The reasons why the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia went from crisis to disintegration in a short time < P > are very complicated. Among them, the most important and basic factors are domestic factors, including the deterioration of ethnic relations among the main bodies in the country and the huge negative impact brought by the real political and economic crisis since the late 198 s. At the same time,

we should also see the important role played by international factors in the crisis and division of Yugoslavia. This paper will focus on the analysis of the role of international factors in the crisis and disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in three parts.

I. Historical Review of the External Environment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia is located in the hinterland of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe, which is located in the main road of communication between the east and the west, and has always been the place where various cultures and foreign forces meet. In the history of more than 1 years, the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Russia and other external forces have successively ruled or

intervened in all ethnic groups in Yugoslavia. The ethnic groups in Yugoslavia have formed great differences in religion, language and writing. Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia accepted Orthodox culture, Croatia and Slovenia accepted Catholic culture with strong Germanic traces, and some residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted Islam. It can be said that a history of Yugoslavia is not only a history of relations between the people of all ethnic groups in Yugoslavia, but also a history of struggles and exchanges between the people of all ethnic groups in Yugoslavia and external forces. The influence of external forces on the Slavic people in South

has a long history and deep roots.

After World War II, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was established, and its foreign relations can be divided into three stages. External forces have different influences on Yugoslavia at different stages.

The first stage is from the end of World War II to the two resolutions of the * * * Production Party Intelligence Bureau on Yugoslavia. At this stage, Yugoslavia's diplomatic < P > policy is characterized by one-sided. In the late World War II, the Western Allies accepted the surrender of about 2, remnants of Osta, Cetnik and other partners of the occupier, and took them in, forcing the South People's Liberation Army to withdraw from Klagenfurt and Filah. Put strong pressure on Yugoslavia on the issue of

Astor. All these have aroused the strong indignation of the people of Yugoslavia and South Africa, and greatly strained the relations between Yugoslavia and western countries. Under this circumstance, Tito visited the Soviet Union, and the two countries signed the Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Post-war Cooperation between the South and the Soviet Union. They cooperated in an all-round way, actively participated in the establishment of the "* * * Production Party Intelligence Bureau" and provided assistance to the Greek * * * Production Party guerrillas. Nan < P > became a very active member in eastern bloc. It is regarded by the United States as "the most powerful

force in the East against the West except the Soviet Union" and "the most combative and offensive regime." To this end, the United States and other western countries have exerted

various political, economic and military pressures on Yugoslavia, including manipulating the United Nations Relief Agency to stop its assistance to Yugoslavia; Refusing to return the gold stored in the United States in wartime and part of the fleet plundered by Germany in 1945, blocking the fleet of the South Danube for a long time, actively assisting various hostile organizations and elements in exile abroad, and establishing a spy center to subvert Yugoslavia in the west. (1)

(1) [South] Today Weekly, October 11, 1988.

The second stage was from the two resolutions of the Communist Party Intelligence Bureau on South to the middle and late 195s. In the early post-war period, while Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union cooperated in an all-round way, the contradictions between the two countries were also intensifying. In June, 1948 and November, 1949, the * * * Production Party Intelligence Bureau made

two resolutions on South China, which removed Nankai from the Intelligence Bureau. The countries in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe severed all kinds of relations with South China and exerted tremendous

pressure on South China. Under this circumstance, Yugoslavia adjusted its foreign policy and sought to establish economic ties with western countries. In this regard, western countries are in high spirits

. Truman administration quickly changed its hostility to Yugoslavia, and regarded Tito as "the greatest rebel after Henry VIII", and Tito's government was regarded as "an erosive and non-integrated force within the sphere of Soviet influence". Western countries began to provide large

batches of military and economic assistance to the south, and the United States, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and West Germany all intervened in this process. According to "Today" magazine, the United States alone provided $15 billion in aid to South China in the mid-196s. The United States also politically supported Yugoslavia's election as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and < P > signed the Balkan Treaty with Greece and Turkey to indirectly control Yugoslavia through these two NATO countries.

At that time, the US policy toward South had two goals, one was to foster South as a regional force against the Soviet Union, and the other was to try to pull Tito into the western bloc and subvert the socialist regime in South Africa. However, the latter goal was not achieved. Yugoslavia adhered to the socialist road, and relations between South and Soviet Union gradually normalized after Stalin's death. Under this circumstance, the United States readjusted its policy toward South Africa, thinking that "the enemy of the enemy is our friend". Les, a beauty historian, thinks that Tito didn't become "our man", but this can't deny the strategic value of Nan < P >. Therefore, the U.S. foreign policy is determined to support a "free, independent and territorial integrity of South Slavov." The United States believes that this strategy has two values. One is that it can influence or divide the Eastern European bloc politically, and the other is that it can make South a buffer zone between East and West strategically. This policy of the United States continued until the late 198s. During this period, the United States and < P > did not give up their efforts to influence and subvert Yugoslavia's ideology and social system.

The third stage is from the late 195s to the late 198s. During this period, on the one hand, South Africa maintained various < P > cooperative relations with the East and West groups, on the other hand, it actively advocated and engaged in the development of the Non-Aligned Movement, and established extensive strategic cooperative relations with non-aligned countries and developing countries, making South Africa one of the most influential countries in the world.

2. International factors in the crisis of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (from the end of 198s to June, 1991)

At the end of 198s, with the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union fell into a serious internal crisis, and the external environment faced by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changed greatly

. As the strategic position of South Africa has plummeted among the eastern and western countries, the western countries have once again made major adjustments to their policies toward South Africa. The core of the new policy is to politically disintegrate the South * * * alliance regime and integrate South Africa into the process of Eastern Europe's transformation to capitalism.

On October 12th, 1989, when meeting with Federal Chancellor malkovich, Bush clearly stated that he "welcomed malkovich's promise of market-oriented economic reform and democratic pluralism". In 199, groups within the US government demanding political pressure on Yugoslavia gained the upper hand, and the Bush administration made clear its policy toward Yugoslavia, that is, strengthening human rights pressure on Yugoslavia and promoting the development of democracy, human rights and freedom in the south. Publicly accuse Yugoslavia of falling behind other eastern European countries in this respect, encourage it to catch up quickly, and < P > indicate that it can influence the domestic situation of Yugoslavia by economic and financial means. In March, 199, when US Deputy Secretary of State eagleburger visited South Africa, she publicly said that with the great changes in the international situation, South Africa's strategic significance as a buffer zone between East and West and a model for splitting the Eastern bloc in the West had greatly declined. The western policy towards South Africa has been adjusted on a large scale again, and promoting democratization in South Africa is the center of the policy. (2) In a policy statement on May 24th, 1991, U.S. Secretary of State Baker stated the goal of the new policy toward Yugoslavia: "The U.S. < P > policy toward Yugoslavia is based on the interrelated goal of supporting democracy, dialogue, human rights, market reform and unification". ③

Under the offensive of peaceful evolution of western countries, the domestic political situation in Yugoslavia has undergone major changes. In 1988, Slovenia was the first country to object to

① "Maintaining Yugoslav reunification is the policy goal of the United States", which was published in The New York Times on July 1, 1991.

② [South] Today Weekly, May 3, 199.

⑧ Same as above.

The Slovenian League, a political party, was established. Since then, various opposition parties have been established, most of which have two characteristics: opposing * * * and emphasizing nationalism. At the same time, there has also been a major crisis within the South * * * alliance, and the national loyalty of the party organizations in various countries has become more and more serious, and the trend of liberalization has intensified. The Slovenian Party Organization publicly approved the implementation of the multi-party < P > system in this Republic, and the Croatian Party Organization suggested that the guiding clause of the South * * * alliance should be abolished in the South Constitution and political pluralism should be implemented. At the 14th Congress of the South * * * Alliance, the Slovenian Party organization openly proposed to face Europe, demand human rights and freedom, and change the basic features of the federal structure. When their ideas were frustrated, they publicly withdrew from the party congress, which led to the actual disintegration of the South * * * alliance. In the multi-party local elections in April and May of 199, the opposition parties of Sri Lanka and Croatia came to power successively, and the strategy of peaceful evolution of the West achieved initial results. While rejoicing in the changes in the political situation in Yugoslavia, the western countries are deeply dissatisfied with the victory of the Serbian Socialist Party in the election. They think that Serbia is "the last stubborn fortress of capitalism in Europe" and must be eliminated soon. Continue to intervene in the affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. For example, in the event of "disbanding illegal armed forces" in the first half of July 1991, in the event of "Serbian government suppressing anti-* * threats" and in the event of "Fuehrer's storm", the western countries all made extensive naked interventions in the south, which aggravated the political and national crisis of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Unlike most Eastern European countries, the political crisis in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia can easily lead to the disintegration of the Federation. From the internal cause, the ethnic relations in the Southern Federation are complicated and the ethnic contradictions are sharp, and all the main ethnic groups have their own republics. Under this It7i, after the multi-party system was implemented, most of the ruling parties and opposition parties in the republics flaunted nationalism and advocated ethnic separatism or confederalism, thus intensifying ethnic contradictions and inciting ethnic separatism. For example, in the

"Fuehrer's Storm", on the one hand, Mesic violently attacked the Serbian regime, on the other hand, he publicly declared that the most important task after he was elected as the president of the Federal Presidium was to "prepare for the establishment of a loose confederation of sovereign countries."

It can be seen that the process of encouraging the peaceful evolution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by western countries is objectively a process of splitting the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. But subjectively speaking, there are differences within western countries. On the one hand, Britain, the United States, France and other countries want to see the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia establish a non-* * party regime, on the other hand, they don't want to see the secession of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, fearing that the war caused by the secession will

lead to instability in the Balkans, which will further affect the stability of Europe. The British and American governments have talked about this many times in public.

According to The Times on May 8, 1991, tudjman appealed to Britain and the United States to split the South Federation, and described the Croatian rebellion as a struggle between * * * capitalism and western civilization, but Britain was unmoved. A few days before Slovakia and Croatia were preparing for independence, U.S. Secretary of State Baker visited Yugoslavia and publicly supported the unification of Yugoslavia. He said: "It is not only extremely important but also necessary to respect the principles of human rights, democracy, reunification and Yugoslav territorial integrity." (1)

However, the Central European countries and the forces of the Catholic Church, represented by Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary and the Vatican, have other plans. Their

goal is very clear, that is, to actively support the separatist forces in Slovenia and Croatia during the political, economic and national crisis in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, so as to combine the dual goals of peaceful evolution and federal division. To this end, they used two ways:

peaceful dismemberment and encouraging military secession, in an attempt to split the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, restore their traditional influence in this region, and establish a new sphere of influence after the Cold War.

Germany, Austria, Italy and other countries believe that the peaceful dismemberment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is the best policy, and they adopt various means to this end: First, they actively support the separatist forces in Croatia and Sri Lanka politically. In the event of "disarming illegal weapons" within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the struggle between the Confederacy and the Federation, and the "Fuehrer's storm" and other major political events, he openly sided with Croatia and Slovakia and supported secession. Second, the close relationship between Croatia, Slovakia and the West

in history, religion, culture and economy is greatly exaggerated in propaganda, so as to gain the

support of the people of their own countries for the government's activities to split the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and arouse the people of Croatia and Slovakia's return to Germany, Austria and Hungary. Thirdly, in law, we try our best to avoid the principle of national sovereignty, the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, and unilaterally advocate the principle of "national self-determination" in order to find a legal basis for splitting the South Federation.

① Belgrade, Reuters, June 21st, 1991.

Facts have proved that Germany, Austria and other countries did not stick to the peaceful dismemberment of the Yugoslav Federation. Due to the opposition of the Federal Government of Yugoslavia, People's Army and many political parties, and the complexity of ethnic relations within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Germany, Austria and other countries, while trying to dismember the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia peacefully,

actively provided weapons and information to the separatist forces in South Africa, in order to prepare for secession. According to a report of the Federal Parliament by Brolet, Deputy Minister of Defence of Yugoslavia, since August 199, with the participation of the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Slovenian Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the two countries have illegally imported tens of thousands of guns, a large number of anti-armor weapons, grenades, mines, millions of bullets, radio stations and specialized equipment. The main sources of these equipment are Austria, Germany and Germany. A Slovenian company alone bought 5, automatic rifles and 4, anti-tank rockets from Austria. On January 25th, 1991, Belgrade TV broadcasted a documentary

photo of Croatia's illegal arms import from abroad (mainly Hungary), which caused a strong shock at home and abroad. According to Yugoslav Politburo on February 1, 1991, the Vatican provided Croatia with a loan of $4 billion to support Croatia's purchase of weapons from abroad. Nanfang Daily also revealed the news that German military experts helped Slovenia train < P > local troops and cooperated with Slovenian and Croatian intelligence agencies. (2)

With the support of Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary and other countries, Slovenia and Croatia imported a large number of weapons and formed the armed forces of the Republic of China. With the growth of the armed forces of the two countries and the completion of the preparatory work, they finally declared their independence on June 25, 1991, and

the Yugoslav crisis entered a new stage.

III. International factors in the process of the disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Slovenia and Croatia unilaterally declared their independence, which caused an uproar in the international community. As a founding member of the United Nations, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia founded the Non-Aligned Movement.