The Yugoslav wars were a series of violent conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia that took place between 1991 and 2001. They comprised two sets of successive wars affecting all of the six former Yugoslav republics. Alternative terms in use include the "War in the Balkans", or "War in (the former) Yugoslavia", "Wars of Yugoslav Secession" or rarely the "Third Balkan War" (a term coined by British journalist Misha Glenny, alluding to the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913).

The wars were characterised by bitter ethnic conflicts between the peoples of the former Yugoslavia. The conflict had various underlying political, cultural and ethnic causes, including a fear of perceived Serb expansionism and dominance.

However, much weight has also been given to long-standing ethnic tensions. In the case of Kosovo, they root back to the perceived loss of ancestral Serbian lands (Kosovo was integral to all historical Serbian kingdoms), while other tensions arose from the legacy of World War II during which Croatian fascists (Ustaše) and Serbian monarchists (Chetniks) fought on opposite sides (though not all Croats or Serbs belonged to either of these two movements), with the Ustaše regime (which controlled present day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina within the 'Independent State of Croatia') pursuing an officially hostile and violent policy against Serb inhabitants. Meanwhile, a great number of people from all ethnic groups fought with the anti-fascist Partisan movement led by the Croat-Slovene communist who would later become the leader of Yugoslavia - Josip Broz Tito.

The Yugoslav wars ended with much of the former Yugoslavia reduced to poverty, massive economic disruption and persistent instability across the territories where the worst fighting occurred. The wars were the bloodiest conflicts on European soil since the end of World War II, resulting in an estimated 300,000 deaths and with millions more driven from their homes. They were also the first conflicts since World War II to have been formally judged genocidal in character and many key individual participants were subsequently charged with war crimes.

The Yugoslav wars were initiated by the secession of the two northernmost regions of the former Yugoslavia - Slovenia and Croatia - for a wide array of grievances including economic and political issues, among others.

The first of these conflicts, known as the Ten-Day War (1991) or the War in Slovenia, was nominally fought to prevent the breakup of Yugoslavia and ended with the withdrawal of the JNA (Yugoslav National Army) in 1991.

The second in this series of conflicts, the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995) was also nominally fought for the same reasons, but rapidly became overtly nationalist in character, with a clash between the Serbian and Croatian nationalist ideologies personified by President Slobodan Milošević in Serbia and President Franjo Tuđman in Croatia.

In 1992, the conflict engulfed Bosnia (1992-1995) and what was initially seen as a Serb-Croat conflict became complicated by the presence of a large Muslim (Bosniak) population. This caused it to develop into a three-way conflict that was by far the bloodiest and most widely covered of the Yugoslav wars.

The conflict in Croatia did not end until August 1995, when Croatia launched a successful four-day military operation (codenamed Operation Storm) in which it managed to reclaim over 70% of its pre-war territory. Shortly thereafter, Serbian forces (both military and militia) withdrew from or ceased hostilities within the rest of Croatia.

With the war in Croatia drawing to an end, the newly signed agreement of military cooperation between Croatian Army and the Army of BiH (Bosniak), and NATO intervention against Bosnian Serbs following the Srebrenica massacre increased pressure was put on Serbia and Bosnian Serbs to agree to a cease-fire and negotiations to end the war in Bosnia. The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement on December 14th 1995.

In Kosovo, Macedonia, and southern Serbia, the conflicts were typified by ethnic and political tension between Serbian and Macedonian governments and Albanian national minorities which sought autonomy, as was the case in Macedonia, or independence, as was the case in Kosovo.

The conflict in Kosovo (Kosovo War (1996-1999)) became a full-scale war in 1999, while the Conflict in Macedonia (2001) and Conflict in Southern Serbia (2001) were characterised by armed clashes between state security forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas.

The war in Kosovo ended with NATO intervention against Serbian forces, although further widespread unrest in Kosovo broke out in 2004. The NATO intervention is often counted as yet another separate war. The conflicts in southern Serbia and in Republic of Macedonia ended with internationally-overseen peace agreements between the insurgents and the government, but the situation in both regions remains fragile.

1968

Protests in 1968 are echoed in Yugoslavia too. Student demonstrate, but so do Albanian separatists. Ailing Tito, a lifetime president in his late 70s, allows some liberalisation, but despite old age, refuses to retire.

1971

Nationalist demonstrations in Croatia, known as Croatian spring.

1974

Yugoslavia offered membership in European Union, but Tito declines it.

New constitution of SFRY proclaimed, granting more power to federal units, and more power to autonomus provinces Kosovo and Vojvodina within Serbia, who were granted almost as much power as republics themself. The changes are seen in the context of power struggle for the inevitable years after Tito.

May 1980

Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito dies. Without Tito's strong leadership, Yugoslavia begins its slow collapse.

1981

Albanian separatists demonstrate in Kosovo, demanding status of a republic.

1986

Memorandum of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts protests unequal position of Serbia in Yugoslavia

1987 - 1989

Slobodan Milosevic promisses to Kosovo Serbs that noone will beat them. Prosecution of Serbs by Kosovo Albanians is fuelling growing Serbian nationalist sentiment.

Milosevic rises to power in Serbia.

600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo is celebrated by Serbs.

1990

Constitutional changes in Serbia decrease some of the power of the autonomous provinces Kosovo and Vojvodina.

First democratic elections in 45 years are held in Yugoslavia in an attempt to bring the Yugoslav socialist model into the new, post-Cold War world. Nationalist options win majority in almost all republics.

Constitutional changes in Croatia decline Serbs the status of constitutive nation of Croatia

Serbs, frightened with a possibility of repetition of crimes from NDH, rebell in Croatia in an event frequently referred to as the "Balvan revolution" (tree-log revolution).

March 1991

Oposition demonstrations in Belgrade against Milsevic rule, ending in two deaths. Army puts tanks on the streets.

May - June 1991

Rising ethnic violence in Croatia. Slovenia and Croatia declare independence. The ethnic homogeneity of Slovenia allows the country to avoid much fighting. The Yugoslav army leaves Slovenia quickly but supports rebel Serb forces in Croatia. A full scale war follows.

January 1992

Vance-Owen peace plan, granting Croatian Serbs a protected zone in Croatia, accepted

Macedonia declares independence. No wars erupted in this area. Slovenia and Croatia are internationally recognized.

April 1992

Bosnia declares independence. The diversity in this republic causes an ethnic strain and war ensues.

The Siege of Sarajevo begins. The Siege was fought between Bosnian and Serb forces.

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia proclaimed, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, the only two remaining republics.

May 1992

Yugoslav army retreats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving some of the armory to Bosnian Serbs.

United nations impose sanctions against Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

December 1992

Serbia elects Slobodan Milošević as a president for the second time.

March 1993

Fighting begins between Bosnian Muslims and Croats.

March 1994

Peace treaty between Bosnian Muslims and Croats is signed. The treaty was arbitrated by the United States.

May 1995

Croatia launches Operation Flash and in 2 days reclaims Western Slavonia.

July 1995

Srebrenica massacre reported.

August 1995

Croatia launches Operation Storm and in 4 days reclaims almost 70% of its pre-conflict territory, resulting in exodus of approximately 250,000 Serb refugees.

Following a mortar attack on Sarajevo city market (38 civilians killed, around 100 more injured), NATO launches a series of air strikes on Bosnian Serb artillery and other military targets on August 30th.

November 1995

Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia sign a cease-fire.

December 1995

Dayton Agreement signed in Paris ending the war in Bosnia and Croatia.

1996

FR Yugoslavia recognizes Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

winter 1996/97

Following a fraud in local elections, hundreds of thousands of Serbs demonstrate in Belgrade against Milosevic regime for 3 months. The West quietly supports Milosevic, who is branded the main factor of stability in the Balkans after Dayton, and Milosevic remains in power, after issuing lex specialis and admiting victory of opposition at the local level.

March 1998

Fighting breaks out between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Milosevic sends in troops.

March 1999

NATO starts the military Operation Allied Force and bombs Serbia. Unexpectedly, Serbs unite behind Milosevic.

Albanian refugees start pouring into Macedonia and Albania in hundreds of thousands until the end of the bombing.

June 1999

Control of Kosovo is given to the United Nations, but still remains a part of Serbia.

Exodus of 300,000 of Serbs and other non-Albanians follows in the wake of revenge attacks by Kosovo Albanians.

October 2000

Slobodan Milošević is voted out of office, and Kostunica becomes new president of Yugoslavia.

2001

Fighting between Albanians and Macedonians erupts in Macedonia, but ends later on in 2001.

February 2002

Milošević is put on trial in The Hague on charges of war crimes in Kosovo, to which charges of violating the laws or customs of war and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions in Croatia and Bosnia and genocide in Bosnia were latter added. Defiant Milosevic, representing himself, mounts a strong defence, which is aired in Serbia. His popularity in Serbia soars as a result.

February 2003

Yugoslavia becomes the nation of Serbia and Montenegro.

March 2004

Peak of anti-Serbian violence in Kosovo. Hundreds of acient Ortodox-christian Serbian monastires and churces were burned up to that point.

March 2006

Milošević dies in the Hague prison, with no verdict reached on any of the counts.

May 21st 2006

Scheduled date for the referendum on possible independence of Montenegro.

• Information and links on the Third Balkan War (1991-2001)

Wiebes, Cees. Intelligence and the War in Bosnia 1992-1995, Publisher: Lit Verlag, 2003 http://213.222.3.5/srebrenica/