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Death of Josip Broz Tito
When the president of Yugoslavia dies of gangrene, all the countries' ethnicities begin to bicker. This begins a long chain of racial cleansing and genocide within the next decade. -
Slovenia and Croatian Independence
The parliaments of Slovenia and Croatia declare their independence from Yugoslavia. In Croatia, the Serbian troops' ally with Serb rebels who oppose independence. The town of Vukovar is burned to the ground by the Yugoslavs and Dubronovic is damaged. -
Ethnic Cleansing
Hundreds of thousands of Bosnian Muslims are sent to prison camps, murdered and raped by Serb forces -
Bosnian Referendum
The Muslim and Croatian populations in Bosnia, around four million people, move for their independence. Belgrade-backed Bosnian Serbs voted against it, but the majority of Bosnian citizen's won the vote. -
Siege of Sarajevo
Bosnian Serbs begin a siege on Sarajevo, the countries capital, for over 44 months. The citizens could not access the basic necessities and are killed by sniper fire and shelling. -
Bosnian War
War breaks out between Bosnia's Muslims and Croats against the Bosnian Serbs. Radovan Karadzic, armed by the Yugoslav forces, declare their territory to be under Republica Srpska.
The Croats then turn against the Muslims -
Legal Postscript
The International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia, established in 1993, has continued prosecuting those responsible for war crimes since the end of the conflicts. It has indicted 161 people, convicted 83 and acquitted 19. Among those sentenced is Bosnian Serb wartime leader Karadzic, while Milosevic died in prison before being judged. The court is scheduled to close down on December 31, and a separate tribunal has been set up to handle remaining appeals and other issues. -
Srebrenica Massacre
In July 1995 Bosnian Serb forces took over the UN-protected "safe area" of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia and massacred up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys. -
NATO Airstrikes and the Dayton Agreement
In August 1995, after the fall of Srebrenica and the bombing of a Sarajevo market in which 41 people were killed, NATO unleashed airstrikes on Bosnian Serb positions. On November 21, 1995, following three weeks of talks in the US city of Dayton, Ohio, the leaders of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia agreed to a peace deal. -
Kosovo
War then breaks out in 1998 in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo between ethnic Albanian rebels seeking independence and Serbia's armed forces. The fighting ended in 1999 after an 11-week bombing campaign by NATO, by which time about thousands had been killed and even more had fled their homes. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo's Independence to this dy
