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The Decade Of Change - Yugoslavia 1980-90 - Coggle Diagram
The Decade Of Change - Yugoslavia 1980-90
Ethnic Tensions between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians
The Rise of Serb Nationalism in Mid 1980s
March 1981- Protest over quality of food in a university cantenn in Prisitina
Protests evolved and became widespread, people criticized authorities
Federal government rushed tanks and troops to the province and they rolled out on streets, state of emergency declared
Unleashed Latent nationalism among both Kosovar Albanians and Serbs that were repressed by Tito
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) members put on trial and imprisoned.
After 1981- Serious of purges of party officials took place.
Intial reaction to the protests increased hostility between Kosovo and Central Government
Mid 1980s- Propaganda emerged from Belgrade, was false and loosely based on myth and perception
Fanned the flames of nationalist sentiment and had a heavy impact on Serbian public opinion
Social and economic problems
Kosovo's unemployment levels were the highest in the country.
Kosovo was the poorest of the Yugoslav regions
Many who choose to migrate were economic migrants
Demographics
Although Serbs still held most of the positions of power in Kosovo, many chose to emigrate to other parts of the ountry
After WW2, 25% of the population was Serbs and almost 70% were Albanians
1960- Serb percentage dropped to 20%
1981- Serbs only constituted for 15% of the population
due to emigration of serbs
due to Muslim Albanians having more children than Christian Orthodox Serbs
Constitutional reform in Yugoslavia , 1989 - 91
1974 constitutional reforms - gave each republic one vote in the federal presidency.
Milosevic turned on Vojvodina and Kosovo and Montenegro and then placed allies in those republics to be able to gain control of Yugoslavia itself
Milosevic consolidation of power
After gaining power Milosevic moved to consolidate it by fostering and flourishing nationalist sentiment
he continued orchestrating large demonstrations in other areas of Yugoslavia and made Kosovo a leading issue
1988 and 1989 - Serbs organized meeting of truths which were compared to religious rival meetings. Milosevic was the evangelist, who would bring Serbs salvation
October 1988 - leadership of Vojvodina was ousted by a stage managed campaign organized by a Milosevic follower
Rallies were arranged to demonstrate against them, leaders responded by giving them yoghurt to calm down
Protestors then threw yoghurt containers and the event was called the yoghurt revolution
November 1988 - leaders of Kosovo communist party were stripped and Kosovo was going to be stripped of its autonomy
The Rise of Slobodan Milosevic
1986- Milosevic was a determined young communist with a degree in law in Belgrade and close friend of Serbian President Ivan Stambolic
April 1987- Stambolic sent him to Kosovo to a meeting at Kosovo Polje
Milosevic presence at the meeting was to quell any trouble and assure Serbs living there of the government concern.
Milosevic instead planned to have the Belgrade media there to broadcast events he planned
Serbian Protestors were chanting at the police saying "Murderers"
Milosevic said to them and the cameras "No one should dare to beat you"
This transformed the relationship between Milosevic and Stambolic
September 1987- central committee meeting for Serbian communists
Milosevic turned on the Serb leader with the words "The fatherland is under threat"
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1984- Memorandum by Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts that stated Serbs outside of Serbia were facing Genocide
Shambolic and communist authorities condemned the document, saying it could bring about the end of yugoslavia
Milosevic condemned it publicly but would later adopt it to further his purpose and destroy Stambolic's career