The Yugoslav wars were a series of violent conflicts in the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of 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", and the "Third Balkan War" (a short-lived term coined by British journalist Misha Glenny, alluding to the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913).

They were characterised by bitter ethnic conflicts between the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between the Serbs on the one side and Croats, Bosniaks or Albanians on the other; but also between Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia and Macedonians and Albanians in Republic of Macedonia. The conflict had its roots in various underlying political, economic and cultural problems, as well as long-standing ethnic and religious tensions.

The 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. 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 International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by United Nations to prosecute these crimes.

The Yugoslav wars can be split in two groups of several distinct conflicts:

• Wars during the breakup of SFRY:
  1. War in Slovenia (1991)
  2. Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995)
  3. Bosnian War (1992-1995)
• Wars in Albanian-populated areas:
  1. Kosovo War (1999)
  2. Southern Serbia conflict (2001)
  3. Macedonia conflict (2001)

Major tensions arose from the first, monarchist Yugoslavia's multi-ethnic makeup and relative political and demographical domination of the Serbs. These tensions were exploited by the occupying Axis forces in World War II, which established a puppet-state spanning much of the present day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In charge of this "Independent State of Croatia" was a Croatian fascist organisation, Ustashe, which pursued a genocidal policy against the Serb civilians on the territory. The Serb Chetnik militia retaliated against Croats. Both were confronted and eventually defeated by the communist-led anti-fascist Partisan movement composed of members of all ethnic groups in the area, allowing the formation of second, federalist Yugoslavia.

In the case of Albanian-populated areas, the root cause was the growing Albanian population in areas where they were previously a minority. In the case of Kosovo, Serbians perceived this Albanian influence as a loss of their ancestral lands.

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 or the War in Slovenia, was nominally fought to prevent the breakup of Yugoslavia and ended with the withdrawal of the Yugoslav People's Army in 1991.

The second in this series of conflicts, the Croatian War of Independence 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 January 1992 the Vance peace plan proclaimed UN controlled (UNPA) zones for Serbs and brought an end to major military operations, though sporadic artillery attacks on Croatian cities and occasional intrusions of Croatian forces into UNPA zones continued until 1995.

In 1992, the conflict engulfed Bosnia. It was a three way conflict between local Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, primarily differing in their traditional religion: Islam, Christian Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, respectively. It was by far the bloodiest and most widely covered of the Yugoslav wars.

The fighting in Croatia ended in the Summer of 1995, after Croatian Army launched two rapid military operation, codenamed Operation Flash and Operation Storm, in which it managed to reclaim all of its territory except the UNPA Sector East bordering Serbia. Virtually all of Serbian population in these areas became refugees. The remaining Sector East came under the UN administration (UNTAES), and was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia in 1998.

In 1994 US brokered peace between Croatian forces and the Bosniak Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The NATO intervention against Bosnian Serbs following the Srebrenica massacre and offensive of Croatian troops into Serb-controlled areas following Operation Storm caused Bosnian Serbs to lose some of the areas controlled by them, and pressure was put on all sides to stick to the cease-fire and finally negotiate an end to the war in Bosnia. The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement on December 14th 1995.

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

The conflict in Kosovo (1996-1999) became a full-scale war in 1999, while the Macedonia conflict (2001) and Southern Serbia conflict (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.

See also: Serbian-Albanian conflict

Main article: Timeline of the Yugoslav wars

1968

Protests in 1968 are echoed in Yugoslavia too. There are student demonstrations, while in Kosovo demonstrators demand greater rights for Albanian minority.

1971

Demonstrations in Croatia, known as Croatian spring, condemned by the government. Many participants were later convicted as nationalists, including Stipe Mesić and Franjo Tuđman. Government crisis follows.

1974

New constitution of SFRY proclaimed, granting more power to federal units, and more power to autonomus provinces Kosovo and Vojvodina of Serbia, giving them a vote in all relevant decisions in the federal government. Bosniaks were recognized as a constituent "nation" of Yugoslavia and of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1980

Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito dies.

1981

Economic crisis in Yugoslavia has begun. Albanian nationalist demonstrations in Kosovo, demanding status of a federal unit.

1986-1989

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

Slobodan Milošević rises to power in Serbia. Antibureaucratic revolution demonstrations bring pro-Milošević governments to Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro.

1990

League of Communists of Yugoslavia dissolves on republic and ethnic lines at its 14th Congress.

Constitutional changes in Serbia revoke some of the powers granted to Kosovo and Vojvodina, effectively giving Serbia 3 out of 8 votes in the federal council.

First democratic elections in socialist Yugoslavia. Nationalist options won majority in almost all republics.

Croatian Serbs start a rebellion against the newly elected Croatian government lead by Franjo Tuđman.

Constitutional changes in Croatia remove the status of a constituent nation from Serbs.

1991

Slovenia and Croatia declare independence. War in Slovenia lasts ten days.

The Yugoslav army leaves Slovenia but supports rebel Serb forces in Croatia. War begins in Croatia.

1992

Vance peace plan signed, creating 4 UNPA zones for Serbs and ending large scale fighting in Croatia.

Macedonia and Bosnia declare independence. Bosnian war begins.

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

United Nations impose sanctions against FR Yugoslavia and accepts Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia as members.

1993

Bosniak-Croat conflict in Bosnia begins.

Fighting begins in the Bihać region between Bosnian Government and Bosniaks loyal to Fikret Abdić.

1994

Peace treaty between Bosniaks and Croats arbitrated by the United States.

1995

Srebrenica massacre reported, 8,000 Bosniaks killed.

Croatia launches Operation Flash and Operation Storm, reclaiming all UNPA zones except Eastern Slavonia, and resulting in exodus of Serbs from the zones. War in Croatia ends.

NATO launches a series of air strikes on Bosnian Serb artillery and other military targets.

Dayton Agreement signed in Paris. War in Bosnia and Herzegovina ends.

1996

FR Yugoslavia recognizes Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Following a fraud in local elections, hundreds of thousands of Serbs demonstrate in Belgrade against Milošević regime for three months.

1998

Fighting breaks out between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Eastern Slavonia peacefully reintegrated into Croatia.

1999

NATO starts the military campaign Operation Allied Force in Kosovo. Control of Kosovo is given to the United Nations, but still remains a part of Serbia.

Franjo Tuđman dies. Shortly after that, his party loses the elections.

2000

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

2001

Conflict between Albanian militants and goverment in Macedonia.

Brief Conflict in Southern Serbia between Albanian militants and Serbian security forces.

2002

Milošević is put on trial in The Hague on charges of war crimes in Kosovo.

2003

FR Yugoslavia becomes the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Alija Izetbegović dies.

2006

Death of Slobodan Milošević in the Hague prison.

Montenegrins declare independence from the state union with Serbia.

• 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/
• Dr. R. Craig Nation. "War in the Balkans 1991-2002." Strategic Studies Institute, 2002, ISBN 1-58487-134-2