Slovenia, Croatia declare independence from Yugoslavia - UPI Archives Slovenia, Croatia declare independence from Yugoslavia By NESHO DJURIC | June 25, 1991 Comments BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- The Yugoslav government, proclaiming independence decrees by the republics of Croatia and Slovenia void, Wednesday said it will ensure the normal workings of the ethnically divided nation brought to the brink of civil war. After more than four hours of talks, the government of Prime Minister Ante Markovic said the Slovenian and Croatian decisions taken Tuesday were 'unilateral acts taken without the agreement with other constituent members (republics) of Yugoslavia, and therefore are illegal and illegitimate, and all consequences of these acts are void.' Slovenia and Croatia declared independence despite warnings from Western countries and the federal government. In a symbolic act, the government empowered federal troops and police to replace local officers and take over control of Slovenia's frontiers. Under the independence declaration passed Tuesday, Slovenia was to post its own troops and police to man international borders.

To save Yugoslavia's territorial integrity, the government said it 'has taken indispensable decisions and orders which should ensure normal functioning of the Yugoslav state, ensure its existing (external) state and internal frontiers and fulfill its international obligations.' Political observers said the federal government planned to direct the military and police to enforce Yugoslavia's internal borders, but no confirmation to this claim could be obtained. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman told Zagreb Radio Tuesday night the 'federal government has no authorization to use the armed forces, and I do not believe in such a move.' A government announcement published after 2 a.m. Wednesday by the national news agency Tanjug did not elaborate on these decisions and orders. The government, which went into an emergency session at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, asked the feuding leaders of the six republics to 'continue without delay their talks on solving the constitutional crisis and the future order of Yugoslavia with consent from all of them.' It urged the republics of Serbia and Montenegro to lift the blockade on the election of the Yugoslav eight-member state presidency that has left the country without its formal head of state since May 15.

Stjepan Mesic of Croatia was to be named president for a one-year term in Yugoslavia's leadership rotation system but Serbia and Montenegro refused to agree, accusing Mesic wants to dissolve the federation. The federal government 'calls and obligates all the citizens of Yugoslavia to peace, to avoid violence and to respect the Constitution and laws of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.' Tuesday in Zagreb, the Croatian Assembly passed a package of four decrees that invalidated the federal constitution in the republic. The legislature's chairman, Zarko Domljan, said Croatia is now 'a sovereign and independent state.' In Ljubljana, the Slovenian Assembly passed virtually identical independence decrees that also would strip the Communist red star from the republic's flag and its coat of arms. In Zagreb, Domljan said Croatia and Slovenia should 'form the alliance of two independent, sovereign states' and with all the other Yugoslav states which respect each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two republics also said they would seek international recognition. Leaders of both republics emphasized that their declarations of independence did not amount to secession but the beginning of a dissolution of the tight Yugoslav federation into a looser alliance.

Slovenian Assembly Chairman France Bucar told the legislature, 'We are not against co-existence with peoples who live in this area. Cooperation is in our own interest. Our new Slovenian state is not an end to our efforts, but only the beginning of a new life in co-existence with other peoples.' And Tudjman acknowledged that the process of dissolution will take quite some time, 'for some things it may take days, for some things months and for some things years to separate Croatia from the federation.'NEWLN: 1stadd stands At the same time, the Slovenian Assembly in the republican capital of Ljubljana, 350 miles west of Belgrade, went into session Tuesday evening to pass independence decrees stripping the red star from its national flag and the coat of arms, officials said.

And in Belgrade, the federal government of Prime Minister Ante Markovic convened an emergency session later in the evening after the Federal Chamber of the Yugoslav Parliament decided that that all the federal bodies, including the military and police 'are obliged to undertake measures to prevent the re-cutting of Yugoslavia and changing its borders.' The Federal Chamber urged the Slovenian Assembly to begin discussing the future order of Yugoslavia and condemned a unilateral secession. Both Slovenia and Croatia announced they would withdraw their deputies from the Federal Chamber but would keep deputies in the Chamber of Republics and Provinces of the Yugoslav parliament.NEWLN: more Slovenia and Croatia announced they would now ask for international recognition. In Zagreb, Domljan said Croatia and Slovenia should 'form the alliance of two independent, sovereign states' and with all the other Yugoslav states which respect each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Croatian and Slovenian officials said their independent republics have now opened the process of dissolution from the federation and could immediately begin talks with the other Yugoslav republics. Addressing the assembly, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said, 'With this act the Republic of Croatia begins the process of dissolution from the other republics and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

At the same time we begin a campaign for international recogntion of the republic of Croatia.' Tudjman criticized the federation and Serbia, saying they 'heavily, deliberately and permanently violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the republic of Croatia or support activities against its interests.' He said the 'ruthless' blockade of the work of the Yugoslav eight- member state presidency and the election of Croatia's Stjepan Mesic as the federal head of state for a one-year tenure was such an example. Serbia blocked the election of Mesic on May 15 arguing he would work on dissolution of the federation, and for the past 41 days Yugoslavia has been without its formal head of state.NEWLN: more BBC News | MEDIA REPORTS | Slovenians mark independence Thursday, 28 June, 2001, 20:26 GMT 21:26 UK Slovenians mark independence Yugoslav tanks failed to crush Slovenia's independence bid The Slovenian media has been remembering this week the anniversary of their declaration of independence 10 years ago and the tense 10 days of war which followed when it hung in the balance.

TV news bulletins have been dominated by coverage of the many commemorative events. On 25 June 1991 the parliaments of Slovenia and Croatia voted to declare independence from Yugoslavia, the first republics of the federation to do so. Slovenians asserted their newly-found sovereignty in 1991 In response to Slovenia's proclamation the Yugoslav Army sent in the tanks. This prompted a 10-day war in which Slovenians defied the might of the army. Slovenian TV showed archive footage of tanks rolling over the border and young men on rooftops firing machine guns at Yugoslav army jets. It showed pictures of jubilant celebrations around parliament after the declaration and a lasting image of a Yugoslav army tank with a pink rose placed inside the barrel. A flower placed in the barrel of Yugoslav gun Proud of progress Slovene President Milan Kucan - who made the declaration at the time- used the occasion to praise his country's progress over the last ten years. "We have perceived the swift changes in the world, making our own set of rules to judge the world as well as to estimate our position and possibilities.

"This gave us the self-confidence, which sparked the courage necessary for a country to be born," he told a large crowd in the main square in the capital Ljubljana. We announced our decision on this very square and solemnly communicated it to the world... We are proud to have done it successfully, with dignity and with honour President Kucan Painful memories The Slovene daily Dnevnik has published a survey saying that 94% of respondents think it was right for the country to declare independence in 1991. Music, dancing and other cultural displays added to the popular appeal of the central celebrations in the capital, Ljubljana. But many also associate the 1991 events with painful memories. Sixty-four people are reported to have died in the 10-day war. The Slovene-Austrian border crossing of Holmec, which was burnt and where many lost their lives, suffered in particular. Unravelling Slovenia was the only one of the former republics whose bid for independence ended peacefully. Elsewhere, in Croatia and Bosnia, the quest for independence from Belgrade led to bloody inter-ethnic warfare and what came to be known to the world as ethnic cleansing.

Slovene Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek has been quick to challenge allegations that Slovenia threw the first stone in the break-up of Yugoslavia. He has referred, instead, to the role played by ousted Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Celebrations on the border with Austria which became the front line It was only after the air strikes against Yugoslavia that it "finally became clear" that it was Milosevic's politics that caused the fragmentation of Yugoslavia, Mr Drnovsek told the Slovene newspaper Vecer. "However, there are still some people who believe - in spite of everything - that Slovenia and Croatia moved towards independence too quickly," he added. And President Kucan has said that the process of dissolution in the territory of former Yugoslavia has not yet been completed. The Macedonian crisis confirms that the Yugoslav crisis seems to be the "site of a fire" where the flames cannot be put out until a decision has been taken on "what to do with hot coals", he said. BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

See also: The Independent State | slovenia.si The Independent State The Independent State 25 June, 1991 - the declaration of independence. Photo: UKOM archive Slovenia’s economy developed rapidly, particularly in the fifties, when it was heavily industrialised. Slovenia was fast heading towards a market economy and managed to maintain a high level of economic development. Slovenia’s domestic product was 2.5 times the state average. The second half of the 1980s proved crucial on the path to independence , particularly the critical writing of intellectuals in the circle of Nova revija magazine. Its 57th issue focused on Slovenia's independence. In 1988 and 1989 the first political opposition parties emerged, which in the 1989 May Declaration demanded a sovereign state for the Slovenian nation. In April 1990, the first democratic elections in Slovenia took place and were won by DEMOS, the united opposition movement, led by Dr Jože Pučnik. In the same year more than 88% of the electorate voted for a sovereign and independent Slovenia . The declaration of independence followed on 25 June 1991.

The next day, the Yugoslav Army attacked the newly-founded state. After a ten-day war , a truce was called, and in October 1991 the last soldiers of the Yugoslav Army left Slovenia. In December 1991 the independent Republic of Slovenia adopted its constitution , which is based on the rights of free citizens. In its general provisions, the constitution defines Slovenia as a democratic republic governed by the rule of law, and a social state. The adoption of the constitution formally ended the former communist system. The European Union recognised Slovenia in the middle of January 1992, and the UN accorded it membership in May 1992. To some members of Demos and outsiders, this and international recognition provided the basis for the argument that Demos had done its job and could be dissolved.

In December 1992, at new elections under a new, more democratic law, the strongest force in the single chamber parliament became the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) led by Dr Janez Drnovšek, with 23 per cent of the vote, which balanced the Slovenian political arena by forming a coalition with one left-wing (reformed communists) and one right-wing party (Christian Democrats). With a similar coalition, the LDS was able to govern for twelve years, with only one interruption in the second half of 2000. It managed to establish a liberal political culture by passing numerous fundamental laws, for example with regard to education, and to carry out a social and economic transition into a social market economy with private initiative. In 2004 Slovenia joined the EU, with considerable popular support, and NATO (common objectives of both the ruling coalition and the opposition). At the parliamentary elections in the autumn of 2004, the Slovenian Democratic Party won and formed a centre-right government, headed by the leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party, Janez Janša, with the Christian Democrats, the Slovenian People's Party, and the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia as coalition partners.

On 1 January 2007 Slovenia joined the Eurozone. Slovenia was also the first new Member State to assume the Presidency of the Council in the first half of 2008. At the elections in 2008 the Social Democrats won the elections and formed a centre-left government, headed by the leader of the Social Democrats Borut Pahor. On 10 February 2012 the National Assembly confirmed the cabinet of Janez Janša, completing the formation of the 10th Slovenian government following the 4 December 2011 parliamentary election. More Slovenia has been populated since the Stone Age. Read the overview of the last 1500 years - since our Slavic ancestors arrived in this territory. Ljubljana | Ten-Day War 24 Slovenian War of Independence The Ten-Day War, sometimes called the Slovenian War, was a brief military conflict between Slovenia and Yugoslavia that took place in 1991 following Slovenia's declaration of independence. When Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito died in 1980, underlying ethnic, religious, and economic tensions within Yugoslavia were quick to rise to the surface.

In 1989 Slobodan Miloevic, Chairman of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia since 1986, became president of Serbia, the largest and most populous of the six Yugoslav republics. In April of the next year, Slovenia held its first democratic multi-party elections, won by the DEMOS coalition. On 23 December 1990, Slovenia held a referendum on independence which passed with 88% of the vote. The Slovenian government expected the federal government in Belgrade to use military force to rein in Slovenia's moves towards independence, and they were right. Immediately after the Slovenian elections, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) announced that a new defence doctrine would apply across the country. The Tito-era doctrine of "General People's Defence", in which each republic maintained a territorial defence force (teritorialna obramba or T.O.), would be replaced by a centrally-directed system of defence with immediate effect. All of the Yugoslav republics would lose their role in defence matters and their T.Os would be disarmed and subordinated to JNA headquarters in Belgrade.

The Slovenian government resisted these moves, successfully ensuring that the majority of Slovenian T.O. equipment was kept out of the hands of the JNA. It also declared in a constitutional amendment passed on 28 September 1990 that its T.O. would be under the sole command of the Slovenian government. While all of this was going on, the Slovenian government were also in the process of setting up a secret alternative command structure, known as the Manoeuvre Structures of National Protection (Manevrska struktura narodne zaite, or MSNZ). This was an existing but antiquated institution, unique to Slovenia, which was intended to enable the republic to form an ad hoc defence structure, pretty much the same as a Home Guard. It was of negligible importance prior to 1990, with practically obsolete weapons and few members. However, the DEMOS-led government realised that the MSNZ could be adapted to provide a parallel organisation to the T.O. that would be entirely in the hands of the Slovenian government. When the JNA tried to take control of the Slovenian T.O., the TO's command structure was simply replaced by that of the parallel MSNZ.

Between May and October 1990, some 21,000 T.O. and police personnel were secretly mobilised into the MSNZ command structure, of which the federal government had no idea. The Slovenian government also made detailed plans for a military campaign against the JNA, resulting in the production of an operational and tactical plan by November 1990 -- More than seven months before the conflict actually began. The Slovenes weren't foolish enough to believe that they would be able to resist the JNA for a very long time. Under Defence Minister Janez Jana, they adopted a strategy based on an asymmetric warfare approach. T.O. units would carry out a guerrilla campaign, using anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft missiles to ambush JNA units. Tank columns could be trapped by destroying the lead and rear vehicles in favourable terrain -- on a narrow mountain road where room for manoeuvre was limited, for example - enabling the rest to be tackled more easily. In preparation for this, the Slovenian government covertly bought lightweight missile systems from foreign suppliers, notably the SA-7 Grail (Strela) anti-aircraft missile and the German-designed Armbrust anti-tank system.

Hit-and-run and delaying tactics were to be preferred, with frontal clashes to be avoided; For the reason that the JNA's superior firepower would have been very difficult to overcome in these situations. On the diplomatic front, neither the European Community nor the United States were willing to recognise the independence of Slovenia and strongly advocated the continuation of a unified Yugoslavia. The Slovenian government asked for international assistance in negotiating a peaceful breakup of Yugoslavia but was repeatedly turned away by Western countries who preferred to deal with a single federation rather than numerous small states. However, the Slovenes argued that they had no choice in pushing for independence, due to the blatant lack of commitment to democratic values on the part of the Belgrade authorities. Slovenia unexpectedly declared independence on 25 June 1991, even though it had previously announced that it would declare independence on 26 June. This "advance" on the date of independence was a vital element of the Slovenian plan to gain an early advantage in the expected conflict. The Slovenian government fully expected the Yugoslav military to respond with force on the day of the declaration of independence or shortly afterwards.

By secretly advancing the date by 24 hours, the Slovenians wrongfooted the Yugoslav government, which had planned 26th of June as the date for its move. Although the Yugoslav army was strongly against Slovenian independence, it was divided about what to do. The JNA Chief of Staff, Colonel-General Blagoje Adi, advocated a large-scale military operation to remove the Slovenian government and bring "healthy forces" to power in the republic. His political superior, the Yugoslav Defence Minister Colonel-General Veljko Kadijevi, preferred a more cautious approach - basically a show of force that would convince the Slovenian government to back down on its declaration of independence. After some debate, Kadijevi got his way. It is not known how much the civilian members of the Yugoslav government were involved in the decision to resort to force in Slovenia. Ante Markovi, the President of the Federal Executive Council (equivalent to Prime Minister) is quoted as saying that the federal government had not been informed of the Army's actions.

On the morning of 26 June, the first day of the war, units of the Yugoslav People's Army's 13th Corps left their barracks in Rijeka, Croatia to move towards Slovenia's borders with Italy. The move prompted a strong reaction from local Slovenes, who organised spontaneous barricades and demonstrations against the JNA's actions. No fighting took place though, as both sides seemed set on not being the first to open fire. By this time, the Slovenian government had already put into action its plan to seize control of the republic's border posts and the international airport at Brnik. The guards manning the border posts were, in most cases, already Slovene, so the Slovene take-over was pretty much a matter of changing uniforms and insignia, without any fighting. This was undertaken, in the words of Janez Jana, to "establish our sovereignty in the key triangle, border-customs-air control." It also had important practical effects. By taking control of the borders, the Slovenians were able to establish defensive positions against an expected JNA attack. This meant that the JNA would have to fire the first shots, which would enable the Slovenians to portray the Yugoslav military as aggressors.

On the 2nd day of the war, further JNA troop movements took place in the early hours, including a column of tanks and armoured personnel carriers of the JNA 1st Armoured Brigade leaving their barracks at Vrhnika near the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, and heading for the airport at Brnik. They arrived a few hours later and took control of the facilities. To the east, JNA units left Maribor heading for the nearby border crossing at entilj and the border town of Dravograd further west. The Yugoslav Air Force dropped leaflets over various parts of Slovenia bearing the somewhat contradictory messages "We invite you to peace and cooperation!" and "All resistance will be crushed." In the early hours of 27 June the Slovenian leadership was told of the movements of the JNA. The military leadership of the Fifth Military District, which included Slovenia, was in telephone contact with Slovenian president Milan Kuan, telling him that the troops' mission was limited to taking over the border crossings and airport. A meeting of the Slovene presidency was hastily convened at which Kuan and the rest of the members decided on armed resistance.

The Slovenian government had received warnings that the JNA would use helicopters to ferry special forces troops to strategic locations. It issued a warning to the JNA's 5th Military Command District in Zagreb that if helicopters continued to be used they would be shot down. The warning was disregarded by the JNA leadership, which still believed that the Slovenians would back down rather than fight. This was, however, a disastrous miscalculation. That afternoon, the Slovenian T.O. shot down two JNA helicopters over Ljubljana, killing the occupants. The ironic part of this story is that one of the pilots was a Slovene. The first casualty of the war, a Slovene shot down by the Slovene forces! At Brnik, a T.O. unit attacked the JNA troops, and in Trzin a firefight developed in which four JNA soldiers and one T.O. soldier were killed and the remainder of the JNA unit was forced to surrender. Despite the confusion and fighting, the JNA nonetheless successfully accomplished much of its military mission.

By midnight on 27 June it had taken control of all of the crossings along the Italian border, all but three crossings on the Austrian border and several of the new crossing points established along Slovenia's border with Croatia. However, many of its units were still stuck in vulnerable positions across Slovenia. On the third day of the war, the Slovenian defence ministry ordered: At all locations where RS [Republic of Slovenia] armed forces have the tactical advantage, offensive actions against enemy units and facilities will be carried out. The enemy will be summoned to surrender, the shortest deadline possible for surrender given and action taken using all available weapons. While in action, the necessary arrangements will be made to evacuate and protect the civilians. At Medvedjek in central Slovenia, another JNA tank column came under attack at a truck barricade, where air raids killed six truck drivers. Heavy fighting broke out at Nova Gorica on the border with Italy, where the Slovenian Special Forces destroyed three JNA T-55 tanks and captured three more. Four JNA soldiers were killed and nearly 100 more surrendered.

The border crossing at Holmec was captured by Slovenian forces, with two fatalities on the Slovenian side and three on the JNA side; 91 JNA soldiers were captured. The Yugoslav Air Force carried out attacks at a number of locations across the country, most notably at Brnik Airport, where two Austrian journalists were killed and four Adria Airways airliners were seriously damaged. The Air Force also attacked the Slovenian military headquarters at Koevska Reka and flew sorties against radio and television transmitters at Krim, Kum, Trdinov vrh and Nanos in an attempt to silence the Slovenian government's broadcasts. By the end of the day, the JNA still held many of its positions but was rapidly losing ground. It was already beginning to suffer problems with desertions -- many Slovenian members of the JNA quit their units or simply changed sides - and both the troops on the ground and the leadership in Belgrade appeared to have little idea of what to do next. On the fourth day of the war three EC foreign ministers met with Slovenian and Yugoslav government representatives in Zagreb during the night and agreed on a ceasefire plan. The plan was not put into practice.

In the morning, the Slovenes achieved several significant military successes. The JNA troops at Brnik Airport surrendered to Slovenian forces, who had surrounded the facility overnight. In the north, several JNA tanks were captured near Strihovec and later reorganised into a T.O. tank company. JNA special forces attempted a maritime landing at Hrvatini but were ambushed and repulsed by the Slovenians. The JNA-held border crossings at Vrtojba and entilj also fell to the Slovenians, who seized the federal troops' weapons and tanks, providing a much-needed boost to their arsenal. The JNA issued an ultimatum to Slovenia, demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities by 0900 on 30 June. In response, the Slovenian Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a peaceful solution to the crisis that did not jeopardise Slovenian independence, and rejected the JNA ultimatum. The fifth day of the war saw continued skirmishing in several places. Slovenian forces captured the strategic Karavanke Tunnel under the Alps on the border with Austria and captured nine JNA tanks near Nova Gorica.

On the sixth day of the war the JNA's ammunition dump at rni Vrh caught fire and was destroyed in a massive explosion, damaging much of the town. In the meantime, the JNA's leadership sought permission to change the tempo of its operations. Defence Minister Veljko Kadijevi informed the Yugoslav cabinet that the JNA's first plan - a limited operation to secure Slovenia's border crossings had failed, and that it was time to put into operation the backup plan of a full-scale invasion and imposition of military rule in Slovenia. However, the cabinet -- headed at the time by Serbia's Borislav Jovic -- refused to authorise such an operation. The seventh day of the war saw the heaviest fighting so far, and it was a day of disasters for the JNA. The JNA tank column in the Krakovski forest came under sustained attack from TO units, forcing it to surrender. Units from the JNA's Fourth Armoured Corps attempted to move up from Jastrebarsko in Croatia but were beaten back near the border town of Bregana. The Slovenian T.O.

mounted successful attacks on border crossings at entilj, Gornja Radgona, Fernetii and Gorjansko, capturing them and taking a number of JNA troops prisoner. A lengthy engagement between JNA and Slovenian forces took place during the afternoon and evening at Dravograd, and a number of JNA facilities around the country fell to Slovenian forces. At 9pm, the Slovenian Presidency announced a unilateral ceasefire. However, this was rejected by the JNA leadership, which vowed to "take control" and crush Slovenian resistance. On the eight day of the war a large JNA armoured convoy set off from Belgrade for Slovenia. It never arrived; according to the official account, this was due to mechanical breakdowns. However, observers have suggested that the real reason for the troop movement was to position the JNA for its imminent attack on the Croatian region of eastern Slavonia. On the ninth day of the war and with a ceasefire now in force, the two sides disengaged. Slovenian forces took control of all of the country's border crossings, and JNA units were allowed to withdraw peacefully to barracks and to cross the border to Croatia.

The Ten-Day War was formally ended the next day with the agreement of the Brioni Accord, signed on the Croatian Brioni Islands. The terms were distinctly favourable to Slovenia; a three-month moratorium on Slovenian independence was agreed -- which in practical terms had little real impact -- and the Slovenian police and armed forces were recognised as sovereign on their territory. It was agreed that all Yugoslav military units would leave Slovenia, with the Yugoslav Government setting a deadline of the end of October to complete the process. The Slovenian government insisted that the withdrawal should proceed on its terms; the JNA was not allowed to take much of its heavy weaponry and equipment, which was later either deployed locally or sold to other Yugoslav republics. The withdrawal began about ten days later and was completed by 26 October. Enjoyed it? Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Federation 240.2 /sq mi Currency Yugoslav dinar Preceded by The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( Serbian : ?????????????? ??????????? ????????? ???????????

/ Socijalisti?ka Federativna Republika Jugoslavija)was the Yugoslav state that existed from the end of World War II (1945) until it disintegrated in the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s . It was a socialist state that comprised the area of the present-day independent states of Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia , Republic of Macedonia , Montenegro , Serbia and Slovenia . Formed from the remains of the pre-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia , the country was proclaimed in 1943 and named Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. In 1946 , it became the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia [1] and in 1963 the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the Cold War , it became one of the three founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement . History Democratic Federative Yugoslavia was constituted at the AVNOJ (Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia) conference in Jajce , Bosnia-Herzegovina ( November 29 - December 4 , 1943 ) while negotiations with the royal government in exile continued.

On November 29 , 1945 the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia was established as a socialist state during the first meeting of democratically established and Communist-led Parliament in Belgrade. On January 31 , 1946 , the new constitution of FPR Yugoslavia selected the six constituent republics. [1] The first president was Josip Broz Tito and prime minister Ivan Ribar . In 1953 , Tito was elected as president and later in 1974 named " President for life ". Like the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that preceded it, the SFRY bordered Italy and Austria to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Romania and Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, Albania to the southwest, and the Adriatic Sea to the west. Yugoslavia, unlike other Eastern and Central European communist countries, chose a course independent of the Soviet Union (see Informbiro ), and was a member of neither the Warsaw pact nor NATO . Yugoslavia was subsequently expelled from the World Communist League by the Soviet Union for its refusal to follow Moscow 's lead.

Because of Yugoslav designs on her territory, this expulsion prompted Albania to align itself with Moscow, on the theory "my enemy's enemy is my friend." Subsequent thawing of relations between Moscow and Belgrade in the years after the death of Josef Stalin , combined with the break in relations between the U.S.S.R. and China , led Albania to realign itself in 1961 with Beijing . That same year, Yugoslavia became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (established in 1961 ), and, alongside countries like Indonesia, one of its central-left influences that promoted a non-confrontational policy towards the U.S. The most significant change to the borders of the SFRY occurred in 1954, when the adjacent Free Territory of Trieste was dissolved by the Treaty of Osimo . The Yugoslav Zone B, which covered 515.5 kmï¿½, became part of the SFRY. Zone B was already occupied by the Yugoslav National Army. In 1974 , a new federal constitution was ratified that gave more autonomy to the individual republics, thereby basically fulfilling the main goals of the 1971 Croatian Spring movement.

One of the provisions of the new constitution was that each republic officially had the option to declare independence from the federation. After Tito's death in 1980 , tensions between the various peoples grew. In June 1991 , Slovenia and Croatia decided to end all the relationships with other federal republics and become independent states (allowed by the 1974 federal constitution), which was the end of the SFRY (as proclaimed by the Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the former Yugoslavia ). They were followed by the republics of Macedonia in September of 1991 and Bosnia and Herzegovina in March of 1992 . According to the 1974 constiturion for a republic to be independent all other republics had to agree. Serbia and Montenegro generally did not agree with the fact that Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina were leaving. Also when Slovenia left, Serbia and Montenegro did vote in support to that idea. It was the idea of all ex-yu politicians of that time to create independent etnicly clean nations.

Most of the regions of Croatia (Serbian Krain) and Bosnia had Serbian population, and it was the plan of Slobodan Miloshevic to unite them all in a great Serbian republic. This however lead to a conflict of interests. See more in articles Ten-Day war , Croatian War of Independence and war in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Serbia and Montenegro , formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in April 1992. The FRY was reformed and renamed Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 . In June 2006 it was split into the two independent countries when Montenegro seceded after a vote. Administrative divisions Numbered map of Yugoslav republics and provinces Internally, the state was divided into six Socialist Republics, and two Socialist Autonomous Provinces that were part of SR Serbia. The federal capital was Belgrade . Republics and provinces were (in alphabetical order): Macedonia - Macedonians Also, there was an ethnic designation of Yugoslavs , for the people who were southslavs and wanted to identify with the entire country. Cultural diversity was a major factor for the dissolution of the federation.

Nationalism during Tito's rule was cracked down upon wherever it sprung up. Nationalism had sprung up with the Memorandum of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in mid 1980's. Tito's successors chose a different way towards the nationalists, instead promoting their ideas and taking their side on some issues, claiming they will defend them and fight, even war, for their cause. Nationalists from other ethnic groups responded with arguments such as "During your [Tito's] rule, our culture had been cracked down upon, our people oppressed ... but now you won't anymore" and so forth, initiating hatred towards the different nationalities. Economy Despite common origins, the economy of socialist Yugoslavia was much different from economies of the Soviet Union and other Eastern European socialist countries, especially after the Yugoslav-Soviet break-up of 1948 . Rather than being owned by the state, companies were socially owned and managed with workers' self-management. The occupation and liberation struggle in World War II left Yugoslavia's infrastructure devastated. Even the most developed parts of the country were largely rural and the little industry the country had was largely damaged or destroyed.

With the exception of a recession in mid- 1960s , the country's economy prospered formidably. Unemployment was low and the education level of the work force steadily increased. Due to Yugoslavia's neutrality and a leading role in the Non-aligned Movement , Yugoslav companies exported to both Western and Eastern markets. Yugoslav companies carried out construction of numerous major infrastructural and industrial projects in Africa, Europe and Asia. The fact that Yugoslavs were allowed to emigrate freely from 1960s onwards prompted many to find work in Western Europe, notably Germany . This contributed to keeping unemployment in check and also acted as a source of capital and foreign currency. In 1970s , the economy was reorganized according to Edvard Kardelj 's theory of associated labour , in which the right to decision making and a share in profits of socially owned companies is based on the investment of labour. All companies were transformed into organizations of associated labour. The smallest, basic organizations of associated labour, roughly corresponded to a small company or a department in a large company.

These were organized into enterprises which in turn associated into composite organizations of associated labour, which could be large companies or even whole industry branches in a certain area. Most executive decision making was based in enterprises , so that these continued to compete to an extent even when they were part of a same composite organization. The appointment of managers and strategic policy of composite organizations were, depending on their size and importance, in practice often subject to political and personal influence-peddling. In order to give all employees the same access to decision making, the basic organisations of associated labour were also introduced into public services, including health and education. The basic organizations were usually made up of no more than a few dozen people and had their own workers councils, whose assent was needed for strategic decisions and appointment of managers in enterprises or public institutions. The Yugoslav wars , consequent loss of market, as well as mismanagement and/or non-transparent privatization brought further economic trouble for all former republics of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Only Slovenia 's economy grew steadily after the initial shock and slump. Croatia reached its 1990 GDP in 2003, a feat yet to be accomplished by other former Yugoslav republics.

The currency of the SFRY was the Yugoslav dinar . Military Much like the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that preceded it, the socialist Yugoslavia maintained a strong military force. The Yugoslav People's Army or JNA/JLA was the main organization of the military forces. It was composed of the ground army, navy and aviation. The regular army mostly originated from the Yugoslav Partisans of the Second World War . Each of the six Republics had their own "territorial defense", a National Guard of sorts, which were established in the frame of a new doctrine called ï¿½general peopleï¿½s resistanceï¿½ as an answer to the brutal end of the Prague Spring by the Warsaw Pact in Czechoslovakia . Context: The Balkan Wars, 1991-1995 Context: The Balkan Wars, 1991-1995 02. juni/lipanj, 2014. Pošaljite prijatelju Print The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was established in 1943; its breakup, beginning in 1991, was protracted and bloody.

Although the roots of the political crisis were deep, the process of dissolution began when Slovenia, one of Yugoslavia’s six constituent republics, declared independence on 25 June 1991. This led to the so-called Ten-Day War (27 June-7 July 1991) between the Slovenian Territorial Defense and the Yugoslav People’s Army, headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia. Over the next 15 years (1991-2006), Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro all declared themselves independent states, and that was accompanied by varying degrees of violence. Croatia and, above all, Bosnia became embroiled in wars that took a particularly heavy toll on the civilian population, with total casualties estimated at 15-20,000 (Croatia, 1991-5) and more than 100,000 (Bosnia, 1992-1995). In February 2008, Kosovo[B2] became the last region of the old Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to declare independence (formerly it had been an autonomous province).

Leading to the breakup were the first multi-party elections in Yugoslavia (1990), which were mostly won by nationalist parties, committed to the protection of the interests of their respective ethnic groups. Croatia contained a sizable Serb minority, while Bosnia was the most ethnically mixed of all the former Yugoslav republics (including ethnic Muslims, Serbs, Croats, Jews, and others, with no single group exceeding 50% of the population). As Croatia and then Bosnia moved toward independence, in both cases backed by the majority of their respective populations, Serb nationalist parties in both republics organized armed resistance to the central governments, citing the defense of ethnic Serb rights as a pretext. Serbia’s Milosevic regime in Belgrade backed the Serb nationalists in Croatia and Bosnia, who were thus able to count on military support of the Yugoslav People’s Army as well as paramilitary units from Serbia. Serb nationalists carved out independent entities (SAO Krajina in Croatia, the Serb Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina), and began “ethnic cleansing”, ridding those areas of their non-Serb populations.

In Bosnia, Croat nationalists seized the opportunity to proclaim their own independent entity (Herceg-Bosna), and eventually were in conflict with Bosnian government forces as well as with Serb nationalists in an attempt to gain more territory from Bosnia-Herzegovina. During the dissolution of the Yugoslav republic, cities including Dubrovnik, Vukovar, Sarajevo, and Mostar were besieged and bombarded by Serb nationalist forces, and later Croat nationalists in Mostar. Civilians made up most of the casualties. According to all available data, Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) made up a disproportionate number of Bosnian war victims (about 66% of the total, and 83% of the civilian deaths). The war in Bosnia was characterized by an artillery siege of Sarajevo that lasted almost four years and by some of the worst atrocities committed on European soil since 1945, including the massacre of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.

The Srebrenica massacre, among others, led to the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) indictments for war crimes of Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, and Bosnian Serb political and military leaders (Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic). In August 1995 the Croatian Army recaptured the Serb-held parts of its country in a swift and decisive military operation (Storm-Oluja), followed by the mass-exodus of ethnic Serbs from Croatia. Later that year, the war in Bosnia was concluded with the signing of the Dayton Accords [B4] (November-December 1995), which established a unified state of two entities (Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Serb Republic, or Republika Srpska). The final chapter of the dissolution of Yugoslavia began with Kosovo’s declaration of independence and the war between the Yugoslav army and the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army). Following the failure of international mediation, and reports of ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population NATO intervened.

An 11-week bombing campaign begun in March 1999 forced the Yugoslav army to withdraw, and a NATO-led peacekeeping force (KFOR) entered Kosovo as part of an international peace plan to end the fighting and establish Kosovo as an independent country. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have both cited NATO’s intervention in Kosovo as a precedent for Russian intervention in Crimea, and the region’s secession from Ukraine.

Question: On 25 June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia became the first republics to declare independence from which country?
Answer: Yugoslavia