The two empires are dissolved, and new Balkan political borders are drawn up by victorious allied powers. Yugoslavia is born. Yugoslav Croats join with Nazi ranks after Germany invades the country. Josef Broz Tito begins a Serb-led partisan war against the Germans and Croats. Also during World War II, Bulgaria joined the Axis powers, Greece was occupied by Germany and Turkey remained neutral.
Fighting breaks out between Greek and Turkish ethnic groups living in Cyprus.
The Yugoslav government grants the country's Kosovo region autonomy. The Yugoslav government rescinds Kosovo autonomy. The move results in a bloody civil war involving Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs that lasts more than three years. Serb forces begin a campaign to eliminate ethnic Albanian nationalistic aspirations in Kosovo. Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan is apprehended by Turkish authorities.